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Climate in
Progress: Global Warming
MIND MAGAZINE | If you’re
suspecting that something is wrong with the temperature in the last few
years, well your intuition wasn’t wrong. And you’re not the only one
wondering why winters are now so mild and how come the months of July
and August are now painfully warm. Many people from the scientific
community have been analysing the question and they came up with some
answers.
The conclusions on the readings in emissions of carbon dioxide (C02) are
unquestionable: they have been going up dramatically in the last years.
The quantity of C02 is measured by evaluating its concentration in the
ocean and in the ice of the North Pole. It was recently discovered that
in the last 160,000 years the C02 level was stable at around 300 ppm
(parts per million), but at the end of the 20th century, the quantity
ultimately rose to 370 ppm, an increase of 23 per cent. Among the
negative effects of the increase in C02 concentration is the green house
effect. Carbon dioxide is greatly responsible for the green house
effect; meaning that once the heat entered the atmosphere it gets stuck
inside provoking an increase in temperatures.
The cause of this great concentration of carbon dioxide is human
activity. Household, offices, factories and means of transportation are
all to be pinpointed for the responsibility of the current situation. In
1990, one ton of carbon dioxide was produced for every person on the
planet. But if we look deeper, the average Canadian is responsible for
20 tons of C02 every year, four times more than a typical European. Out
of the six billion tons of carbon dioxide produced every year, planktons
and the rest of the ocean biomass recycle about 50 per cent of that
amount. Then, what’s really causing pollution is the remaining three
billion tons. But so far, if the Kyoto Accord manages to reach its goal,
the reduction will be of about 300 million tons… over 10 years.
This means that the current effects of global warming: droughts, heat
waves and stronger tornados, to name a few, are there to stay. Also,
human activities have increased the quantity of sulphur, creating
important health effects - like asthma and many allergies- through for
example, the increase of Smog in great cities.
Recently, a study was released, predicting the state of the climate in
the year 2099. It foresees vast changes in the way temperature currently
is. For example, in about 100 years from now, the climate in Pittsburgh
will be closer to the temperature in Atlanta. As for Minneapolis, the
climate will slowly become similar to what is going on in St-Louis. The
projected increase of temperature is a bit of taste of things to come in
the future. While the American continent will be likely to become
intensively warmer, some scenarios have projected that parts of Europe
are likely to encounter noticeable decreases in temperature. Another
study suggested that the effects of changes in weather patterns are also
linked to the apparition of outbreaks. Many disease outbreaks appeared
after major floods in Bolivia, and viruses like the West Nile virus or
the apparition of killer bees were all things unknown to the North
Americans until very recently.
More than causing a different climate, global warming will provoke vast
changes in the level of water if the global temperature goes up by only
a few degrees. This disaster scenario could come as the result of the
meltdown of ice around the North and the South Pole: Cities and all
other human habitations on coastal areas are threatened by this
eventuality. Moreover, the melting of ice itself - since it also
releases carbon dioxide - will increase C02 emissions.
Although the future outlook is rather negative if attitudes don’t
change, it is still possible to turn around the errors of the past. To
achieve this, a lot of work has to be done to change the current ways we
consume and we need to think about the future impacts of today’s
actions. First of all, switching to more environmentally friendly
sources of energy is one sure way to change the levels of carbon
dioxide, there is also the creation of more energy efficient cars and
buildings, friendlier for the environment. All of this means fewer
emanations and therefore fewer changes will affect our lives in the
coming years. To achieve this goal, it must be understood that much
investments must be done to enhance our technology level and also in the
way people think. Most experts in climate changes will tell that the
benefits of switching to a greener way of living will far exceed the
sacrifices to make it there.
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