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.
April 2014: warmest April on record
Yet another temperature record being broken… April 2014: warmest April on record – Boing Boing.
Why climate change scares me
If you want to know why I feel the way I do about climate change, watch this video from a TEDx conference two years ago:
The speaker talks about the path we’re on, where it’s headed, and what that really means for us. He paints a pretty dire picture…and it’s worth noting that this video is two years old. In that time, there’s been no action taken, and no science found to refute these conclusions…yet we remain mired in place, unable to embrace the science and take action.