global-warming

GLOBAL WARMING.

The Human Species faces extinction due to climate change. If you think that I am exaggerating, read the following quotes from authoritative sources:-

The following quote is from New Scientist (magazine), issue for April 9th, 2022, page 7, Article:- Urgent Climate Warning, by Adam Vaughan:- “ Global emissions (of Carbon Dioxide) rose by a record 5.5 percent - - - - -”. The author quotes Antonio Guterres at the UN:- “puts us firmly on track towards AN UNLIVABLE WORLD.” (My capitals.)

The following quote is from New Scientist (magazine), issue for April 9th, 2022, page 8, Article:- 1.5 Degree Goal Is Barely Still Within Reach, by Adam Vaughan:- “The current trajectory is for a planet that has warmed by a hellish 3.2 degrees centigrade - - - Time is almost up.”

The following quotes are from the book The Long Emergency, by James Howard Kunstler, published by Atlantic Books, 2005.

Page 8:- “Global warming is no longer a theory being disputed by political interests, but an established scientific consensus.”

Page 158:- “Climate change - - - - very negatively affect the world’s food supply. A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL GO HUNGRY IN THE DECADES AHEAD AND MANY OF THEM WILL DIE.” (My capitals.)

The next few quotes from this book make the point that climate has altered sometimes very suddenly and dramatically in the past history of The Earth. We cannot necessarily rely on a very gradual increase in world temperature. A temperature rise might occur suddenly and abruptly, without prior warning, and with devastating effects upon Humankind.

Page 152:- “The Greenland ice core record shows that the past 100,000 years have been a climatic roller coaster - - - once climate change begins, it can occur very erratically. - - - - As Elizabeth Kolbert reports: “Around fifteen thousand years ago, Greenland ABRUPTLY WARMED BY SIXTEEN DEGREES IN FIFTEEN YEARS OR LESS.” ” Kolbert then cites other similar instances of sudden, abrupt temperature rises.

Page 155:- “As Kolbert points out - - - “The only period in the climate record as stable as our own is our own.”

Page 155:- “Climate models project that the earth will warm by 2.5 to 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit between 200 and 2100, with most land areas warming more than the global average. Eleben of the last twelve years have been the hottest ever recorded since scientific instruments came into use.” (My highlighting.)

Page 153:- Carbon dioxide is - - - an effective greenhouse gas, and the amount of carbon dioxide as a percentage of the atmosphere today has not been so high since the days of the dinosaurs. - - - - - MIGHT PRODUCE A DRASTIC CHANGE WITHOUT MUCH PRIOR WARNING.” (My capitals.)

Page 156:- The author mentions a recent heat wave “accompanied by an unprecedented drought that devastated crops. France’s wheat loss was 20 percent - - - AND UKRAINE’S A STAGGERING 80 PERCENT.” (My capitals.)

Page 161:- The author tells us of the collapse of the giant Larsen B ice shelf in 2002 “greatly altering the salinity of the surrounding seas and killing off plankton and krill that were the basis of the region’s wild food chain.”

The next quotes are from the book How Everything Can Collapse, by Pablo Sevigne (an agronomist with a PhD in biology) and Raphael Stevens, published by Polity, 2020

Pages 47 to 48:- “When the atmosphere of the last 100 million years contained levels of CO2 (Carbon dioxide) that we could reach at the end of the century, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF THE PLANET WAS 16 DEGREES CENTIGRADE HIGHER THAN IT IS TODAY. - - - - According to James Lovelock, if the CO2 level reaches 500 ppm (parts per million) or more (we reached 400 ppm on 9th May 2013) MOST OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE WILL TURN INTO DESERT AND BUSH, LEAVING A REMNANT OF CIVILISATION – just a few million people in the Arctic Basin and Greenland.” (My capitals.)

The following quotes are taken from the Wikipedia article on Global Warming:-

Since the 1950s, droughts and heat waves have appeared simultaneously with increasing frequency. - - - - - Global sea level is rising as a consequence of - - - - melt of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, - - - - the possibility of a 2-meter sea level rise by 2100 . - - - - Dead zones in the ocean, regions with very little oxygen, are expanding - - - - The greater the amount of global warming, the greater the risk of passing through ‘tipping points’, thresholds beyond which certain impacts can no longer be avoided - - - - - Some large-scale changes could occur over a short time period, - - - - Climate change has contributed to - - - - the expansion of deserts - - - - Overall, it is expected that climate change will result in the extinction of many species. - - - - Continued warming has potentially “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” for people and ecosystems. - - - - - The WHO has classified climate change as the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. Extreme weather leads to - - - - - crop failures - - - - - Climate change is affecting food security. It has caused reduction in global yields of maize, wheat, and soybeans between 1981 and 2010. Future warming could further reduce global yields of major crops.

This quote is from the book The Power of Geography, by Tim Marshall, published by Elliott and Thompson, 2021, pages 20 to 21:- “Global warming was a significant factor in the devastating wildfires of - - - - 2020 which were exacerbated by record temperatures.”