GLOBAL MELTDOWN

The catalogue of disasters that are happening right now

Across the planet, rising temperatures are taking their toll

CARBON DIOXIDE

New research has found that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - the main cause of global warming - are higher than at any time in the past 625,000 years. HOTTEST EVER

This year is expected to be the warmest ever recorded; 1998 was the hottest so far, but the past three years currently occupy the next three places.

DESERTIFICATION

The giant Kalahari desert, already four times the size of Britain, threatens to become larger still, covering farmland in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

EXPANDING OCEANS

The level of the world's seas and oceans is rising twice as fast as in the past, as their waters expand in rising temperatures and glaciers melt.

OCEAN EXILES

The people of the Carteret Islands, a scattering of atolls off Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific, have started to leave as their homes succumb to rising seas.

HURRICANES

Hurricane Epsilon - the 14th of the year - is forming in the Atlantic, even though the worst recorded hurricane season by far formally ended on Wednesday.

GLACIER MELT

Greenland glaciers have suddenly started racing towards the sea and melting. Much the same is beginning to happen to glaciers in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

WATER SHORTAGE

Areas such as the western USA, which depend on mountain snows for their water supplies, are running short as less snow falls - and what does fall melts earlier.

DISAPPEARING SPECIES

Sealife and birdlife have declined catastrophically this year along America's north-west Pacific coast, after a similar meltdown in the North Sea.

CORAL REEFS

Corals on the Great Barrier Reef are bleaching out and dying as sea temperatures rise and scientists fear that the whole reef may perish by 2050.
Also in this section

The Challenge

  • The earth is getting warmer (0.6 +/- 0.2 °C in the past century; 0.17 °C/decade over the last 30 years.
  • People are causing this.
  • If greenhouse-gas emissions continue, the warming will continue and indeed accelerate.
  • This will be a problem and we ought to do something about it.

The scientific community is in consensus to a great degree about the first three points, and to a lesser degree about the last point. While the physical science assessing climate change is quite clear, scientists are less inclined to comment on the need for social and economic/political actions which may help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to halt the trend in global warming.

External Links:

  • Going Under?: Scientists estimate that melting of the polar ice caps could raise sea levels by about 6m over the next 300 years. The British Columbia chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada has prepared a Google Earth map showing the effects this would have on the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area of BC.
  • The Truth About Global Warming, is an article in the Seattle Times, October 9, 2005. In the article, one researcher estimates that the scientific consensus is now about 99 to 1, with the holdouts funded primarily by the coal and oil industries.
  • An interesting transcript of a live Q & A session about global warming between readers and climate researchers at the University of Washington was published in the Seattle Times, October 12, 2005. One of the researchers, John M. Wallace, was formerly a skeptic who tried to talk Al Gore out of his strong concern about global warming in 1994. Now Wallace "no longer doubts the problem is real and the risks profound".
  • The Politics of Climate change: articles and debate at openDemocracy. Debate going on now!
  • An interesting commentary on the marketing (and branding) of global warming can be found at reknowned, American management guru and author, Tom Peters' blog, tom!peters: Wednesday Edition. (Be sure to read the 64 comments below the post.)

The Evidence

External Links

"Real Climate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. We aim to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary.
In order to limit the scope to those issues where we can claim some competence, the discussion here is restricted to scientific topics. Thus we will not get involved in political or economic issues that arise when discussing climate change. The validity of scientific information is completely independent of what society decides to do (or not) about that information."
"IGBP’s mission is to deliver scientific knowledge to help human societies develop in harmony with Earth’s environment.
Our scientific objective is to describe and understand the interactive physical, chemical and biological processes that regulate the total Earth System, the unique environment that it provides for life, the changes that are occurring in this system, and the manner in which they are influenced by human actions." (Follow the link on the left sidebar "About Us" ->"Why is IGBP needed?")
  • The Inuit Circumpolar Conference is an international organization that gives voice to the Inuit people of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chokotka (Russia). One of the ICC's prime initiatives concerns environmental and sustainable development. The ICC quarterly journal, Silarjualriniq, details much of the work they have done.
  • Arctic Wisdom: 1000 Inuit Elders and children brave sub-zero temperatures to create a human poster for global warning. (Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic, April 22, 2005) Sponsors of this event range from the Union of Concerned Scientists to the Rainforest Action Network.
  • Climate Change is an in-depth report by the Canadian national broadcaster, CBC. Follow the link, Artic Climate Change: Interactive Map, on the report's main page for very compelling observations of environmental change.
  • The Melting of Mount Kilimanjaro's Glaciers
If current climatic conditions persist, the legendary glaciers, icing the peaks of Africa's highest summit for nearly 12,000 years, could be gone entirely by 2020.

What Can I do? Personal Responses

External Links:

"The One-Tonne Challenge asks you to reduce your annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by one tonne. How? Use less energy. Conserve water and resources. Reduce waste.
"Climateprediction.net is the largest experiment to try and produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century. To do this, we need people around the world to give us time on their computers - time when they have their computers switched on, but are not using them to their full capacity."

What Can We Do? Collective Responses

External Links:

  • Listen to an episode of Canada's CBC Radio programme, The Current, where the potential of technology to help build sustainable society is discussed. (Originally aired May 22, 2006.)
  • Montreal, Canada will host the 11th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference from November 28th to December 9th, 2005. This is the first Meeting of the Parties since the Kyoto Protocol came into effect in February 2005. This event represents a milestone in the global effort to address climate change. It opens a new chapter in the international dialogue on the Kyoto Protocol, including discussions about long-term measures to address climate change, and will engage the world to pursue and enhance efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A parallel event, A World of Solutions will be open to the public. Highlighting everything from the latest climate research and carbon market trends to the newest in environmental technologies and adaptation strategies, A World of Solutions offers a unique opportunity to better understand not only the size of the challenge, but also the extent of our capacity to meet this challenge – and prosper from it! A World of Solutions will focus on four distinct themes including: 1) Understanding and Preparing for Change; 2) Showcasing Solutions; 3) Sharing Best Practices; and, 4) Raising Awareness.
  • The Kyoto Protocol (Wikipedia)
  • Taking Action on Climate Change The Canadian government's response to Kyoto
  • Urban and Ecological Footprints
  • Redefining Progress: Sustainability Indicators "The Sustainability Indicators Program documents where we really stand with respect to our society’s natural and social limits. The Genuine Progress Indicator, for example, subtracts destructive costs and adds in social and economic benefits ignored by the Gross Domestic Product. The Ecological Footprint tracks the consumption and waste patterns of individuals, communities, businesses, and nations, and has rigorously shown that we overuse our planet’s natural capital by up to 25%."
  • Climate Solutions "Climate Solutions mission is to stop global warming at the earliest point possible by helping the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia become world leaders in practical and profitable solutions."
  • Climate Change: Impacts and Solutions The Suzuki Foundation's position on climate change.

Threads: Climate Change


Page last modified on November 12, 2006, at 01:12 PM