Global Warming

By John de Waal

global warming

 

The Met Office and Climatic Research Unit at Britain’s University of East Anglia reported that the Earth’s average temperature has increased by 1-degree C (1.8 F). The world’s biggest network of sensors that measure the constituents of the Earth’s atmosphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that has been tracking carbon dioxide concentrations for many decades because it is vital for plant life and traps the sun’s heat to make our planet warmer, also reports that CO2 concentrations have risen 0.5 % during 2013, which is average for the decade, but that methane and nitrous oxide has increased much faster and warming of the planet increased by 36 % since 1990.

 WMO Secretary General Michel Jarraud said: “We are moving into unchartered territory at a frightening speed and soon we’ll be living with globally averaged CO2 levels above 400 parts per million as a permanent reality (the carbon dioxide levels should remain well below 400 ppm to avoid long-term disruptions to the Earth’s climate). The implications for the planet are hotter global temperatures, more extreme weather events, melting ice, rising sea levels and increased acidity in oceans. It is an invisible threat, but a very real one!”

Mauna Loa Observatory too reported a 24 % increase since they began record keeping (1958) and NASA’s Dr. Michael Gunson observed:

“We are on an inexorable march to 450 PPM (parts per million) and…it should be a psychological tripwire for everyone.”

Other scientists at NASA said: Climate change is a threat to life on Earth and we can no longer afford to be spectators. The next threshold is the…point of no return in mankind’s unintended global-scale geo-engineering experiment.

As a football score: It is Catastrophic Climate Change 400, Humanity 0.

If we want to survive we must listen to the scientists, vote wisely, beat carbon addiction and put humanity into the game. Pew Research reports that majorities in all the 40 nations polled say that climate change is a serious problem (the global median is 54%), 78% want greenhouse gas emissions limited and 67% support major life style changes. In the US only 20% of Republicans believe that climate change is a serious problem, but 68% of Democrats do. 

We must reduce 80% of CO2 emissions by 2020 by changing over to 100% electric vehicles and renewables for all other power needs. We also must get into the habit of frugality with Earth’s resources. Family planning, education and healthcare for all are essential. The choice is obvious.

 

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