Unless you’re ignoring the science, the Earth continues to exhibit signs of global warming. 2016 came in as the second hottest year (behind 2012) on record for the US. With El Niño expected to fade in 2017, things should cool off a little this year but the upwards trend continues. As for the ice in the oceans, global sea ice levels have never been as low as they are currently. Troubling signs overall, and with climate change deniers poised to take control of the US, attempts to avert this impending disaster are not likely to succeed. 🙁
Senators go on the record on Climate Change
Some recent votes have put Senators on the record on their position on climate change. Despite them not being climate scientists themselves, many of them are choosing to ignore the conclusions that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists have reached. Specifically, Senators defeated a proposed amendment that stated that “climate change is real (and) human activity significantly contributes to climate change.” To any educated person, that statement is kinda obvious and not a big deal. However, 49 Senators voted ‘NO’ to that statement. Children of the world…these 49 people are blocking efforts to combat climate change at the Federal government level in this country. The science is indisputable…your future is being put at risk by these and others that agree with them. Know this, and remember this, for in the coming years, chances are there will be some pretty creative spin put on the climate change issue as people worldwide are forced to face the reality…they’ll talk about uncertainties, doubts that people had…but know that the IS no doubt in the climate science community. The only doubt is that which is created by those who seek to block efforts to reduce CO2 emissions (the ‘why’ is a subject for another day, but a quick tip there, just follow the money).
Read more at NBC or ThinkProgress.
The names of the Senators who voted ‘NO’ are shown below (full results are here). Note that Harry Reid (D-NV) did not vote on this amendment so his position is unknown. Note that not a single Democrat voted ‘NO’. To their credit, five brave Republican Senators broke ranks and voted ‘YES’! Nice to see…but we need more like them!
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Climate science: what you need to know
Climate change IS happening and WE are causing it. Here’s a great video that sums up ‘what you need to know’ in 24 simple steps. Check it out, and share!
Computer simulation of CO2 in the atmosphere
This is a really fascinating video showing CO2 levels dispersed throughout the atmosphere over a year, as simulated by NASA’s climate modeling program GEOS-5. It’s really interesting to see how the levels change over the year based on plant growth, and also the stark differences between the northern and southern hemispheres. Check it out below, or read about it more over at Wired.
Polar ice disappearing fast
Ice sheets over Antarctica and Greenland are shrinking at an incredible rate of 120 cubic miles per year, and accelerating (the rate of ice loss has more than doubled since 2009). While part of Antarctica is actually increasing in ice cover, overall the continent is on a definite decline. Most of the ice loss, 90 cubic miles per year, is as a result of melting in Greenland. The data comes from the CryoSat-2 satellite measuring the altitude of the ice over the continents. Scientists have been using satellites to measure ice levels for about twenty years now. You can read more about this at this link.
It’s sad to see our society at such an advanced level technologically, yet turning a blind eye to this problem. Man-made climate change is a fact and one that will have to be dealt with sooner or later. It’ll be expensive, but the costs only go up over time.