For the last two weeks where I live, the average high temperature has been greater than 100 degrees. Record high temperatures are being recorded in many places throughout the world this summer. Surely nobody would disagree that global warming is happening. Anybody who has been outside has experienced it. Instead, the current debate centers on whether human activities are contributing to the problem and to what degree.
Most climate scientists who have studied the problem agree that human activities play a large part in climate change. There have been a few detractors, mostly funded by oil companies and other dubious interests, but the majority opinion in the scientific community is that greenhouse emissions caused by human activities contribute a great deal to climate change.
But just for the sake of argument, let’s set that information aside for a moment and just focus on the fact that global warming is real and it is happening, whatever the cause.
Since global warming is obviously happening, what can we assume the ecological results might be? One effect is the loss of polar ice. Studies continue to verify the fact that the polar ice caps are melting. To see a graphic illustration of this fact, click here.
As the polar ice melts, sea levels will continue to rise. If the seas continue to rise, that will obviously have an impact on humanity, since some estimates say that up to 50% of the world's population lives near the sea. I have a friend who bought a beach house on Ocean Isle, NC in the 1980s. When she bought it, it was three blocks back from the ocean. When she sold it last year, it was oceanfront property. The rest of the houses between her and the ocean had to be demolished as they sank into the sea. Consider the impact of moving half of humanity within the next century or so. What will that do to the global economy?
Another issue is that of rising temperatures. As temperatures rise, the demand for energy will increase, due to increased air conditioning alone. Our current energy grid is growing at less than 25% of the rate of growth of the demand, according to the Department of Energy. How will we keep up with even more demand?
Eventually all the fossil fuels will run out. The more we need energy, the faster this will happen. So increased demand means more rapid depletion. They aren't making any more fossil fuels. Crude oil and coal aren't renewable resources, unless you bury a few billion tons of plant and animal material and wait a few million years.
In other words, whether humans are causing global warming or not, we're still going to have to have sustainable alternatives. The sooner we get moving on it, the better. If we wait until the last minute, the current war in Iraq will seem like a fight on a kindergarten playground compared to the wars over resources that will happen when the oil runs out and we don't have anything to replace it with.
Most climate scientists who have studied the problem agree that human activities play a large part in climate change. There have been a few detractors, mostly funded by oil companies and other dubious interests, but the majority opinion in the scientific community is that greenhouse emissions caused by human activities contribute a great deal to climate change.
But just for the sake of argument, let’s set that information aside for a moment and just focus on the fact that global warming is real and it is happening, whatever the cause.
Since global warming is obviously happening, what can we assume the ecological results might be? One effect is the loss of polar ice. Studies continue to verify the fact that the polar ice caps are melting. To see a graphic illustration of this fact, click here.
As the polar ice melts, sea levels will continue to rise. If the seas continue to rise, that will obviously have an impact on humanity, since some estimates say that up to 50% of the world's population lives near the sea. I have a friend who bought a beach house on Ocean Isle, NC in the 1980s. When she bought it, it was three blocks back from the ocean. When she sold it last year, it was oceanfront property. The rest of the houses between her and the ocean had to be demolished as they sank into the sea. Consider the impact of moving half of humanity within the next century or so. What will that do to the global economy?
Another issue is that of rising temperatures. As temperatures rise, the demand for energy will increase, due to increased air conditioning alone. Our current energy grid is growing at less than 25% of the rate of growth of the demand, according to the Department of Energy. How will we keep up with even more demand?
Eventually all the fossil fuels will run out. The more we need energy, the faster this will happen. So increased demand means more rapid depletion. They aren't making any more fossil fuels. Crude oil and coal aren't renewable resources, unless you bury a few billion tons of plant and animal material and wait a few million years.
In other words, whether humans are causing global warming or not, we're still going to have to have sustainable alternatives. The sooner we get moving on it, the better. If we wait until the last minute, the current war in Iraq will seem like a fight on a kindergarten playground compared to the wars over resources that will happen when the oil runs out and we don't have anything to replace it with.
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