Tag Archives: anthropogenic

When Ice Sheets Melt

Posted on by

when-western-antarctic-ice-sheet-melts

The Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is part of the continental ice sheet covering West Antarctica on the side of the Trans-antarctic Mountains in the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by the Ronne Ice Shelf on the North, by the Ross Ice Shelf on the Southeast, and outlet glaciers that drain into the Amundsen Sea on the Southwest. A remnant of the ice age, it is larger than Mexico and makes up 10 percent of the estimated 25.4 million cubic kilometers Antarctic ice sheet. Should it break up due to global warming, which is feared could happen sooner than anticipated, the sea level could rise by 12 feet or more.

The Western Antarctic Ice Sheet is just one region. Ice in other regions could melt too and over time the world’s coastlines will be submerged in water along with many great cities old and new. During a climatic period around 125,000 years ago, the sea level had risen to 20 to 30 feet higher compared to today’s sea level.

For half a century, scientists have been monitoring the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and had assumed that the worst effects of climate change would be realized over a span of hundreds, and even thousands of years. But new research suggests that the ice is melting at a lot faster rate than anticipated. According to a study published on March by the journal, Nature, continued high emissions of greenhouse gases would cause the disintegration of the ice sheets within decades. This would in turn cause the sea level to rise up to 3 feet by the end of this century. Beyond 2100, the situation would grow far worse as the sea could rise more than a pace of a foot per decade by the middle of the 22nd century.

While it might be possible that the actual situation could turn out far less catastrophic than anticipated, the fact that this disaster scenario has been brought to light strongly suggests that if proper measures to decelerate climate change are not put into place and strictly observed, then humanity will suffer immeasurable loss and damage. The melting of sea ice and the consequential rise in sea levels is just but one among many disaster scenarios resulting from climate change.

Please Share this page

2016: Temperatures Rising

Posted on by

The World Meteorological Organization report on March 2016 has confirmed that 2015 was the hottest year on record. The average global temperature was 1.37°F (0.76°C) above the average from 1961-1990. The report is based on data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.K. Met Office, and NASA.

Moreover, NOAA data indicate an unprecedented spike in global carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with a whopping 3.05 parts per million growth rate. It’s the fourth year in a row that the atmospheric carbon dioxide rose over 2 parts per million.

Another indication of climate change is the depressed sea ice levels. The Artic sea ice has hit a record low winter maximum extent and saw its fourth lowest summer minimum extent. The weather has also reached extremes with some parts of Asia experiencing major heat waves while much of the Pacific had a flurry of storm activity.

But what is perhaps most alarming are further reports that show the startlingly high temperatures has continued well into the first half of 2016 with no signs of a slowdown. Temperatures from April 2015 through June 2016 were record high. NASA’s records show that from January to June 2016 were the warmest respective months in the modern temperature record, which dates to 1880. The worrying data that just keeps getting worse has, in fact, prompted scientists to declare a “climate emergency.” And if the past 14 months is anything to go by, 2016 could well be in the running to beat 2015 as for the hottest year record.

climate-change-temperatures-rising-record-high-global-temperatures

World leaders and organizations are trying to make progress in addressing the concurrent climate issue and consequential crises like drought, food and water shortages, and deaths. They gathered in record numbers at the United Nations on April 22, 2016, Earth Day, to sign the Paris Agreement, which stipulates that over 195 countries agree to take action, commit to and work together in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to keep global temperature to about 1.5°C and never above 2°C.

Please Share this page

Is the Current Climate Change Man-Made?

Posted on by

Anthropogenic climate change refers to the major warming trend the Earth is currently experiencing due to human activities. The burning of fossil fuels the use of automobiles and machines in factories, the slash and burn practice in agriculture and the use of various chemicals add to the greenhouse gases already present in the atmosphere and those naturally produced on the planet’s surface.

But are we really to blame for the global warming and climate change? Not many really believe that human activities over the last hundred years have caused the surface temperatures to rise. Many anthropogenic climate change skeptics believe that climate change is a natural process.

anthropogenic-climate-change-man-made

Indeed, the planet naturally is capable of causing changes in climate primarily due to how it everything within it reacts to various influences. It is these complex integrated systems and processes that probably made Earth life-sustaining in the first place. Over the last 4.6 billion years the Earth’s climate has undergone several cycles of freezing and melting.  Long before humans ever came to being, the Earth’s climate has changed dramatically due to natural process including the movement of the Earth’s crust, plant and animal respiration, volcanic activities, and solar irradiance.

However, various evidences points that there have been unusual spikes in the emissions of greenhouse gases from the Earth’s surface. That basically means that other than the naturally occurring greenhouse gases, there are other sources. Various data collected by various agencies show that post-industrialization and post-war, there have been a steady rise in greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 1750 was 280 parts per million (ppm) and has risen up to 379ppm by 2005. In comparison, over the past 8, 000 years and just before 1750, the atmospheric CO2 increased only by 20ppm. Moreover, at the conclusion of the most recent ice age there was an estimated 80ppm increase.

Humanity have been working towards understanding life and the universe and have learned what the Earth’s atmosphere is made up of. Humanity has understood the systems and processes that naturally occur on this planet, humanity now knows how weather becomes and what drive changes in the weather or climate, humanity knows what gases are used and emitted by machines, humanity knows how biology impacts everything else. Humanity knows the implications of human activities on the planet. Will humanity own up to the fact that the current warming trend is caused by the general human population?

Please Share this page