Lots more to come: Weird weather dept.
The episodes of anomalous and formerly rare weather events continues. But you ain’t seen nothing yet:
When it’s already 100 degrees outside, one degree more doesn’t seem like much. But in terms of the global average, a one-degree temperature rise has huge implications for people and the planet.
Since pre-industrial times, the global average surface temperature has increased by 1.4 degrees — with more than one degree of that warming happening in the past three decades. And we are already witnessing significant changes. In many parts of the world, cold days and nights have become rarer, and hot days and nights more common, over the past half-century. Arctic sea ice, Greenland’s ice sheet, and glaciers in the Alps and the Antarctic Peninsula are all melting faster. The oceans have become more acidic as a result of the buildup of greenhouse gases, and the warming of rivers and lakes is affecting freshwater fish and other species. As are result, animals and plants are migrating toward poles or higher elevations in search of more hospitable habitats.
And all this is happening with just 1.4 degrees of warming. What’s more, this is just an average, with actual temperatures rising at different rates, and with varying impacts, around the world. Without action to reduce carbon emissions, many leading climate scientists are projecting that the planet’s average temperature could rise as much as 11.5 degrees by the end of the century. The consequences are hard to imagine.
The consequences will rather obviously include massive die-offs of all species, including our own (due to massive crop failures and the disappearance of ocean fish). Unfortunately for us, the GOP strategy of shutting one’s eyes, clamping hands over ears, and singing, “Lalalala” in a loud voice is ineffective. Well, ineffective at stopping global warming, but incredibly effective at keeping it going—and even accelerating it.
UPDATE: A column in the NY Times on living with the greenhouse effect.
