Why is climate change is so dangerous and uncontrollable? Let’s say you are driving down a road. A rock appears in your path. You stomp on the brakes, but your car still surges forward over many yards owing to its momentum. Climate change is far worse because not only does its warming engine surge for 30 years, it multipliers keep stomping on the accelerator to feed in more warming gases. Even after mankind firmly hits the brakes, climate change will keep bearing down. Tragically, few people are fully aware of the multipliers that accelerate runaway climate change and some of its unexpected results.
The atmosphere 1. The carbon dioxide (CO2) you add to the air today will warm Earth’s atmosphere like a blanket for about 30 years. So far, Earth’s oceans have absorbed a significant percentage of the CO2. https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/2013/07/03/how-much-co2-can-the-oceans-take-up/ That CO2 in the air already causes extensive drought and wildfires in the US Southwest (damaging California’s farms) and West. www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/facts.html 2. Methane is a global warming gas on steroids. Methane is roughly 28 to 34 times more potent a warmer than CO2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane Methane will break down in about 8 years—into CO2. Lately, huge quantities of methane are being released by careless oil/gas drillers, a warming tundra, and warming under-sea methane hydrates (more on those later). 3. Even if humanity suddenly decides to minimize fossil fuel use, it takes quite a bit of fossil fuel energy to build the alternative energy infrastructure (wind, solar, geothermal, wave, hydrogen, hydropower, public transportation, etc.). And to recover from the increasing damages of climate change. 4. According to scientists who study the subsea deposits and gas composition in glaciers and Artic/Antarctic sea ice, the amount of CO2 now in the atmosphere is the highest it has been in 800,000 years. http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/history.html The land plus its complement of lakes, rivers, streams 5. As dry parts of the country grow drier and hotter, organic compounds in the soil will break down and decompose, emitting CO2. Without these organics to gum soil particles together, topsoil risks becoming dust and blowing away. Note the two massive dust storms seen in Phoenix, AZ, last year. And the dust released via storms and dustbowls can cause dust pneumonia. This dangerous condition occurred in Oklahoma during the Great Depression in the 1930s and harmed many lives. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/transcript/dustbowl-transcript/ 6. To generalize, in a nutshell, on land the dry areas will become drier and risk drought. Wet areas will become wetter and more at risk of flooding because clouds grow larger because of the extra heat injected by climate change. The southern part of America’s grain basket is threatening to become drought ridden. Its aquifers already face depletion. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/last-drop-americas-breadbasket-faces-dire-water-crisis-n146836 7. Storms (driven via greater evaporation over the land and water to yield clouds super-sized with moisture and more energetic air masses) will grow more violent. The result will be more damaging thunderstorms, hailstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, derechos, blizzards, ice storms, and intense rainstorms. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/future.html Earthquakes and volcanoes, too. www.theguardian.com/... www.theguardian.com/... 8. This year's East Coast blizzard and last winter’s polar vortex also are part and parcel of climate change, not a refutation. Warmer air over the oceans will super stuff clouds with moisture that will yield larger blizzards. The polar vortex was triggered by a bulge in the jet stream. The distorted path of the jet stream was shaped by forceful surges of hot, moist air pushing across the Pacific Ocean. Australia experienced a record heat wave and Alaska enjoyed an exceptionally mild winter during Mid-America's polar vortex. http://science.time.com/2014/01/06/climate-change-driving-cold-weather/ www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/30/anchorage-alaska-never-saw-a-day-below-zero-in-2014/ While the middle of our nation experienced much cold this winter, Siberia and Alaska broke heat records. Keep your eye on the average total Earth temperature. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/05/3607735/2014-hottest-year-by-far/ NASA and NoAA agree that 2014 was the hottest year on record. www.iflscience.com/environment/nasa-and-noaa-agree-2014-was-hottest-year-record 9. As noted earlier in item 2, the tundras of Alaska, Canada, Siberia and South America have been melting at record rates, adding large volumes of methane because of rotting buried vegetation. Roughly 900 gigatons of carbonaceous material are frozen in permafrost worldwide. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/02/17/207552/nsidc-thawing-permafrost-will-turn-from-carbon-sink-to-source-in-mid-2020s-releasing-100-billion-tons-of-carbon-by-2100/ Scientists speculate that the massive explosive blow-holes in Siberia may be caused by buried methane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_release 10. Climate change is happening at a rate that is so rapid that ecosystems will be unable to adapt fast enough to thrive. Plants unable to handle the rapid changes will die, releasing more greenhouse gases. And animals, though they can migrate, may starve if they cannot adapt to the new vegetation or prey. Evolving a sophisticated ecosystem takes roughly 10 million years. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/july/sixth-mass-extinction-072414.html 11. Mild winters allow the survival of destructive tree beetles and fungi, yet another greenhouse gas accelerator. In the early 2000s warm winters allowed various particularly destructive tree bark beetles to survive the winter and to kill massive numbers of trees across the US and Canada. Thus, Canada had become a net CO2 contributor instead of a net absorber. www.climatecentral.org/news/why-bark-beetles-are-chewing-their-way-through-americas-forests-15429 In the Pacific northwest, tropical fungi gained ground and sickened animals and humans. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126198896 12. The loss of water sources and drought helped trigger conflicts in Sudan and Syria, and will destabilize other regions. The Pentagon sees climate change as among the most destabilizing forces at work in the world. www.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/us/politics/climate-change-deemed-growing-security-threat-by-military-researchers.html 13. Glaciers everywhere are retreating, including those in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska, and Africa. Reflective white ice, which serves as a storage for drinking water in many parts of the world is replaced by heat-absorbing soil and vegetation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_of_glaciers_since_1850 14. U.S. lakes (and sea coasts) have seen an increase in toxic blue-green bacterial algae and its lands are hosting more pests (many mosquito borne) previously only seen in distant tropical areas. Climate change will accelerate the spread of dangerous ailments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algal_bloom www.nrdc.org/health/climate/disease.asp The coasts and seas 15. The oceans will rise as the Antarctic ice cap and Greenland ice melt, drowning the rich soil of our planets’ river deltas (also sinking for other reasons, such as underground water and oil/gas depletion). Deltas include much of the most productive agricultural land on the planet, which cannot easily or rapidly be replaced. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090920204459.htm 16. As the oceans rise, some of the most densely populated areas of the world will face more frequent and dangerous levels of flooding. Nearly all of Bangladesh's 100+ million live within 40 feet of sea level. The Philippine Islands and Indonesia also are at risk of storm floods. Whole island nations in Micronesia may be abandoned. There will be massive migrations climate refugees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_migrant www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/15/the-rate-of-sea-level-rise-is-far-worse-than-previously-thought-study-says/ 17. As the oceans rise, the world’s great harbors will be frequently flooded and damaged, because having just a few more inches of water will greatly increase the destructive energy and dangers of storm surges driven by wind into powerful flood waves. Examples are Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_surge 18. The Arctic ice cap has seen a long-term retreat in sea ice area. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVzCOoQY28Y As the ice melts, heat-absorbing dark ocean replaces reflective white sea ice, accelerating the rate of ice melting and climate warming. Statistics on extent of ice melt and sea level rise have trumped all the predictions so far. Where sea ice used to provide a barrier for ships, say, of the Soviet Union, more of the Arctic seas remain thawed for longer. More Navy manpower will be needed to patrol and defend the north, plus U.S. naval bases are located on coastlines and are susceptible to flooding. Consider the expense. The Navy foresees a total loss of summer Arctic sea ice by 2020. www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/dec/09/us-navy-arctic-sea-ice-2016-melt 19. As oceans absorb excess CO2, seawater acidity has increased 30%. Shell-making mollusks, corals, many varieties of algae and other undersea animals normally remove CO2 from seawater but may be less able to in the future. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification As oceans warm, their seawater holds less oxygen. Some of our most valuable fish, such as trout, sole, and cod, prefer the colder, more highly oxygenated waters of the north. Warm, oxygen-depleted waters favor squid and jellyfish. Warming tropical seas has caused the bleaching and death of many coral reefs. Coral reefs serve as incubators for ocean life, so hastens “ocean deserts.” 20. Along the continental shelf and under polar seas exist from 1 to 10 trillion tons of methane hydrate crystals (aka methane clathrates). When warmed, these hydrates might rapidly decompose. The methane release is a strong multiplier for climate change. www.truth-out.org/news/item/28490-the-methane-monster-roars http://worldoceanreview.com/en/wor-1/ocean-chemistry/climate-change-and-methane-hydrates www.adn.com/article/20131130/researchers-say-arctic-ocean-leaking-methane-alarming-rate www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/revealed-the-arctic-ocean-is-releasing-large-volumes-of-methane/ Yet another accelerator is climate change denial funding Sadly, the value of the billions and trillions of dollars worth of fossil fuel assets that must be left below the ground to keep the planet safe are so tremendous, that the owners of these assets see a need for a modest investment in denial to maximize their short-term gains. www.scientificamerican.com/article/dark-money-funds-climate-change-denial-effort/ An article summarizing the disparity of quality between the papers of climate change advocates and deniers. www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/apr/11/climate-change-research-quality-imbalance Both the amount of ice in polar regions and rate of melting are measurable. Luckily there is a large amount of ice. Like the ice in a cold drink, the drink (Earth) stays cool as long as its ice (polar regions) cools it. Once ice cubes melt, mankind will face a devastating climate heating apocalypse. Either say extra prayers for your grandchildren and great grandchildren, or take action now so they won't curse this generation. http://blogs.law.widener.edu/climate/2014/04/05/crimes-against-humanitythe-genocidal-campaign-of-the-climate-change-contrarians/