We’re doing a lousy job of fighting global warming, despite science giving us a pretty good understanding of the impacts continuing along this current path. Rather than cut emissions, global CO2 emissions in 2011 increased by 2.5% to a new record of 34 billion metric tons, according to Scientific American. It’s depressing that we can’t solve this problem…but the reality is, people are more worried about themselves than future generations. Or at least, that’ll be the case until those future generations grow up and realize who’s to blame for the mess they face.
Presidential Debates avoid climate change
It’s sad, but for the first time in 24 years, climate change wasn’t mentioned in the presidential debates. This is an issue of growing concern to our national security and well-being, yet it’s become so incredibly polarized and political in this country that we can’t even talk about it. That’s just plain wrong. We need to set aside the politics and look at the facts, for this is an issue that will be harder to deal with the longer we wait.
(more on this issue here)
UPDATE: The New York Times has a great article on this subject here, too.
Climate scientists got it wrong
Climate scientists screwed up. Predicting climate change is a tricky business, and as a result, there are many competing models that attempt to predict how global warming will impact our climate. When it comes to arctic sea ice, they were all wrong. Take a look at the graph here, showing actual arctic sea ice extent versus the various predictions. It turns out that the reality is far worse than any scientists were predicting, and this should scare you. These same models have been used to help convince people how we need to reduce CO2 emissions or face really bad consequences on a global scale…and yet…these models were too optimistic.
Think about that for a minute.
Scientists are even starting to call this a ‘planetary emergency‘. If you don’t know why you should care, then please, at least TRUST the scientists and experts in this field of study. The fact is, they know more than you do about this – and there’s no shame in that, it’s their job! Don’t listen to politicians and business experts who don’t understand climate change…either become an expert yourself, or defer to those who ARE experts. Just don’t let others interpret the results for you. Don’t let ME interpret the results for you – read for yourself what the scientists are saying and don’t let others influence you.
Arctic Ice Reaches New Minimum
Weeks ago, the extent of ice in the arctic had already reached record lows and was continuing to melt as we reported here. Now, the melting has stopped (as expected for this time of year). So, how bad was it? According to the NY Times, the low point was about 1.32 million square miles, or 24 percent of the Arctic Ocean (the previous low was 29%, set back in 2007). It used to be around 50% when satellite-based ice tracking began back in the 70’s.
The question is, what’s it going to take before people get serious about halting global warming?
Imminent Food Crisis due to Climate Change
We already face growing food demands from a growing population, but researchers looking at the effect that climate change has on severe weather (specifically, severe droughts) are painting an alarming picture. Instead of this being a ‘far off’ problem that we’re dumping on future generations, they found that the increased risk of severe drought to become a reality within only ten years in Asia (China and India especially). We are running out of time to solve these problems! In the US, people can’t even agree that climate change is happening and that humans are the main cause. How can we hope to solve the problems it’s bringing if we deny reality? This makes me frustrated, as I feel we’re a creative, inventive society that can solve great problems when we unite behind it.
(read more here).