An article by Randolph Schmid, writing for the AP, sheds disturbing new light on the dangers of global warming. New research indicates that the climate crisis is even worse than thought. Researchers from Stanford, Princeton and around the world have concluded that the drastic consequences of climate change scientists previously reserved for a 1.8 to 3.6 degree Fahrenheit rise will be felt much sooner. These consequences include more extreme weather patterns and heat waves.Worse still, the report, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, determined that humanity is not as able to adapt to these changes as well as previously imagined. Vulnerable populations, including the poor and elderly in developed as well as developing countries, are at particular risk.
All this means that we have to be even more vigilant in our efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Each of us has a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint, and to be carbon neutral, offset the remainder. Carbonfund.org recently launched new carbon calculators to help everyone determine their carbon footprint and offset. The calculators can be accessed here.
Read more about the AP story here.
Photo courtesy of Environment News Service/ENS.
2 comments:
Are you able to explain why it is that there are now several reports, from presumably reputable scientists, stating that we are entering a period of global cooling? Whilst I applaud sustainablility and the reduction of emmissions I am confused as to the validity of all these statements - from both sides!
Hello Grandpa David, thanks for your comment.
2008 was certainly the one of the cooler years that we have had in recent memory, but it doesn't quite buck the warming trend caused by global warming. In a really great article in the Environment New Service, Dr. James Hansen states that 2008 was the 9th warmest year on record since 1880 and,
"Hansen says the Earth's cooler temperature last year is due in part to the fact that the Sun is just passing through solar minimum, the low point in its 10 to 12 year cycle of electromagnetic activity, when it transmits its lowest amount of radiant energy toward Earth.
The GISS analysis found that the global average surface air temperature was 0.44°C (0.79°F) above the global mean for 1951 to 1980, the baseline period for the study."
So there has been a noticeable relative change, but I think that we have all just gotten used to the warmer temperatures.
For more information on the continued debate, admittedly from the POV of a global warming supporter, see this article in Grist.
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