The world’s temperature has increased to levels not seen in at least 12,000 years, U.S. climate scientists report in today’s issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” Rapid warming has occurred in the past 30 years, the researchers said, and there is little doubt that human activities are the primary factor.
Study coauthor James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies said the new findings imply that the world is “getting close to dangerous levels” of manmade greenhouse gases.
The study concludes the Earth is now reaching and passing through the warmest levels in the current interglacial period, which has lasted nearly 12,000 years. This warming is also forcing a migration of plant and animal species toward the poles, the researchers said.
“But if further global warming reaches 2 or 3 degrees Celsius, we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet than the one we know.” Hansen said.
European scientists recently reported dramatic openings over large areas of the Arctic’s perennial sea ice pack in August and a study released last week found Greenland’s ice sheet is melting far faster than scientists had previously thought.
Two other studies published this month by NASA scientists indicate that Arctic sea ice is melting at extraordinary rates.
Furthermore, British scientists reported this month that ice core records from Antarctica show the current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide – the leading greenhouse gas – are higher now than at any time in the past 800,000 years and increasing at an unprecedented rate.
[Source: Environment News Service]
I did a post few days ago around this subject.
Global warming is a real threat to us and specially for our kids. It is just not getting enough attention!
http://samsoum-usa.blogspot.com/2006/09/global-warming-warning.html
Thank you for sharing that; I’d missed it.
Here in southwestern Florida we know we live on future sea bottom, our communities to be interesting venues for future scuba divers. It’s just that we now think that the future will fall within our lifetimes. (“We” are sadly in the minortity here. Our many Republican Party neighbors will ignore this slight inconvenience until the rising waters stop their denying mouths and wipe out their real estate holdings.) Of course, hurricanes may by then have left the whole place too fraught with peril for permanent settlement. Then there are the recent earthquakes, deep below the Gulf of Mexico.
And if there’s enough Greenland and Arctic icemelt to turn off the Great Conveyor Belt of the Atlantic Gulf Stream…well, if you’ve seen the movie “The Day After Tomorrow,” be prepared for many new immigrants to Africa and South America. (Perhaps our Muslim neighbors will treat our broken remnants better than we’ve of late treated them.)
Trust Eman and Adam are happy and well.
A Happy Ramadan to you all.
J.
I highly recomment Al Gore’s movie/lecture, An Inconvenient Truth. While you are doing that I’ll be moving to higher ground and buying more sun screen.
I don’t believe in this whole global warming thing. Did you know that the temp is increasing on Jupiter AND Mars as well? Jupiter has 2 more red spots. It’s impossible that we are the cause of those as well. The founder of the Weather Channel even said that this whole global warming thing is just a fraud. And regarding Al Gore, well, let’s just say that he is a lot richer than he was before this stuff came out.
The governor of Alaska even says that the polar bear count is rising, not falling.