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It was not until we saw the earth from space in the 1960’s that man came to see how small and fragile our earth is. We previously assumed that the earth was so large how could we change or influence it. Yet in reality the earth is a very thin layer that we are able to change.

How the greenhouse effect works:

Where it started

In the 1950’s some scientists started to measure CO2 levels in Hawaii. In the Northern hemisphere there is a minor decrease in levels due to the large amount of forests in this region, but over the last fifty years there has been a continual increase in CO2 levels.

This rise in CO2 has also corresponded with a rise in temperature. Many of the glacial regions of the world have shown massive retreat: Mt Kilimanjaro Grinnel glacier (Alaska), Himalayas, Swiss glaciers, Peruvian glaciers etc.)

Ice core drilling has kept a record of CO2 concentrations. Up till the last century CO2 conc’s have been consistent but we have seen a rapid increase in the last century.     

Today we are faced with a moral issue not a political one.

Atmospheric measurements

 The hottest recorded years have occurred in the last 14 years, of which the hottest occurred in 2005. This has also been linked to an increase in more extreme disaster events (heat waves in Europe and India in 2005).

 Ocean temperature ranges have become warmer. Hurricane Katrina (2005) corresponded with warmer water in the Gulf of Mexico. El Nino influences are linked to an increase in water temperature across the Pacific causing many climatic disasters around the Pacific rim.

Today when it rains, more water falls in intense downpours. This was seen with flooding in 2006 in Europe, China and India. Precipitation patterns have changed and relocated where the water falls. The African sahel has become a victim to these changing rainfall patterns (eg. Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia). With greater evaporation comes with it a loss in soil moisture which impacts farming practices.

The Arctic

The Artic has been experiencing more rapid consequences from climate change. Changing permafrost rates have impacted settlements, oil pipelines and forests. USA subs have recorded a marked decline in pack ice thickness. Since the 1970’s there has been a 40% decrease in thickness. This has caused a number of problems like:

• Ice acts as a deflector of incoming radiation. Less ice and more water will absorb heat intensifying the heating.
• Polar bear have to travel further to reach their food source (seals) on the receding pack ice.
• Ocean and air currents redistribute heat around the globe. Ocean currents such as the Nth Atlantic current could be impacted by melting ice caps disrupting their energy flows (Day after Tomorrow scenario). The melting of Greenland could be a threat to this area.

 Seasonal changes to climate:

• Migratory birds no longer match up their breeding grounds with food sources. Food niches have changed with temperature changes.
• Greater incidence of introduced species with changing weather patterns.
• Infectious diseases have increased (malaria, SARS, bird flu etc.)
• The coral reefs are being bleached with a rise in ocean temp’s.

 Antarctica

The disappearing ice-shelf has caused alarm with how fast it has disappeared. Example, of the Larsen B ice-shelf which broke apart in 2002. Ice melt has intensified the breaking up of the ice-shelf. Ice flows from the land mass are now causing an increase in sea level.

Similar melting is today being seen in Greenland which will have counter sea level rise issues in the northern hemisphere.

Population

An exponentially growing population has put extreme pressure on the planet. Pressure ranges from:

• Food needs and famines
• Water issues
• Resource use (burning the forest like the Amazon, Haiti, Madagascar)
• A technology revolution has compounded these pressures. Eg. Aral Sea has rapidly decrease due to its use in irrigation.

Greenhouse misconceptions

There is disagreement amongst scientists.

Over the last ten years, of 928 articles on climate change issues, all supported each other. A small lobby group (oil and gas ) have tried to make global warming be seen as a theory not a fact.

Do we have to choose between the environment and the economy?
Do we gain wealth at the expense of the planet? We need to challenge short term greed over the future of our children.

The problem is too big.

As our minds are changed we are able to cross over thresholds to our challenges. We already know what we need to do, so we must take personal responsibility to help this problem.

We can be efficient in many ways like:

• How we generate electricity. The type of appliances we use and their energy rating
• Transport and vehicle choices
• Using renewables
• Carbon capture
• Watching what we consume

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All these initiatives can make it possible for us to be below the 1970 threshold limits. In the past we have shown we can change the world, so we can rise above the challenge.

End  – looking back at the earth.