"The End of the World is nigh, and it's already been published in Nature."
I'd like to meet:
A QUICK SUMMARY OF WHAT THIS BOOK IS ALL ABOUT...
THE BOOK TALKS OF GLOBAL WARMING AND A KNOCK-ON EFFECT WITH TEMPERATURE INCREASES. GLOBAL WARMING IS A NATURAL CYCLE, BUT IT IS US WHO COULD HAVE TIPPED THE BALANCE...+1ºC INCREASE; SEA ICE MELTS. ICE REFLECTS 85% OF SOLAR RADIATION. THE DARKER SEA ABSORBS 95% OF SOLAR RADIATION. THE ICE FREE SEA ABSORBS MORE HEAT AND ACCELERATES GLOBAL WARMING, FRESH WATER LOST FROM A THIRD OF THE WORLD'S SURFACE; LOW LYING COASTLINES FLOODED...+2ºC INCREASE; EUROPEANS DYING OF HEAT STROKE DUE TO INTENSE SUMMER TEMPERATURES. DRY FORESTS RAVAGED BY FIRE PUTTING MORE CO2 INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. NOW STRESSED PLANTS STOP ABSORBING CARBON, AND BEGIN TO EMIT CARBON GASES. A THIRD OF ALL SPECIES NOW FACE EXTINCTION...+3ºC INCREASE; AS VEGETATION DIES AND THE GROUND DRIES UP, MORE CARBON GAS IS RELEASED, THUS SPEEDING UP GLOBAL WARMING. THE AMAZON RAIN FOREST, 'EARTH'S GREEN LUNG', DIES. FREQUENT SUPER HURRICANES SMASH COASTAL CITIES CAUSING DEATH AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF DAMAGE. MASS STARVATION AS CROPS FAIL ACCROSS AFRICA...+4ºC INCREASE; RUNAWAY THAW OF PERMAFROST NOW MAKES GLOBAL WARMING UNSTOPPABLE; MUCH OF BRITAIN AND EUROPE IS MADE UNINHABITABLE BY SEVERE FLOODING, MOST MAJOR COASTAL CITIES WILL BE ALL BUT GONE, THIS INCLUDES LONDON; MEDITERRANEAN REGION IS NOW ABANDONED DUE TO DESERT TEMPERATURES, FAILURE OF CROPS, ECONOMY, AND GOVERNMENTS. MASS MIGRATION NORTH...+5ºC INCREASE; AS THE LAND AND SEA HEATS, THIS STARTS A CHAIN REACTION THAT WILL UNLEASH THOUSANDS OF TONNES OF METHANE, A GREEN HOUSE GAS 20 TIMES MORE POTENT THAN CO2, FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR AND INTO THE ATMOSPHERE; ICE HAS NOW ALL BUT GONE FROM BOTH POLES; HUMANS ARE NOW LEFT TO MIGRANT IN SEARCH OF FOOD AND SHELTER...+6ºC INCREASE; LIFE ON EARTH AS WE KNOW IT NOW ENDS. APOCALYPTIC STORMS, KILLER FLASH FLOODS, HYDROGEN SULPHIDE GAS RELEASED FROM STAGNANT OCEANS WILL BE A SILENT KILLER. ALSO METHANE FUELED FIREBALLS WILL FALL FROM THE SKY WITH THE IMPACT OF AN ATOMIC BOMB... ONLY FUNGHI SURVIVE...
Music:
"Warming near the Pole is much faster than the global average, with the result that Arctic ice caps and glaciers have lost 400 cubic kilometres in 40 years."
Four hundred CUBIC Kilometres!
"The disappearance of 720,000 square kilometres of supposedly permanent ice in a single year testifies to the rapidity of planetary change." As the sea ice and glaciers melt the sea levels will rise. The more the sea rises, the faster the ice melts. As the sea level rises it will also be warming up. As the sea warms up, the water will expand, increasing the sea level further... The melting of sea ice and of the polar ice caps has now tipped into an irreversible cycle. The ice caps are melting. They are going to continue melting.
But, it is still up to us to determine how long they will remain frozen... As well as the ice caps melting, the mountains are also suffering...
"Mountains are starting to come apart. In the Alps most ground above 3000 metres is stabilised by permafrost. In the summer of 2003, however, the melt zone climbed higher than 4600 metres, higher than the summit of the Matterhorn and nearly as high as Mont Blanc". During this summer, glaciers in the alps lost upto 10% of their mass, in one year. Melting twice the speed they were in 1998, a former record year. Currently we have really hot summers every, say, five years. These devastating summers are going to become more frequent, and worst still, hotter. the Alpine glaciers could be gone in little under, 50 years. As the temperatures keep rising and the permafrost and glaciers keep melting, the mountains are going to become increasingly unstable. Whole Alpine towns and villages will be at great risk of falling boulders and major landslides. The towns and villages in the valleys will eventually lose their water supply forcing the people away from their homes... At the other end of the disaster spectrum are the low lying countries such as The Maldives, The Caribbean and Pacific Islands, The Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern U.S.A. These parts of the world will be wiped out by rising sea levels, frequent super hurricanes, and massive tidal surges. The cities and their infrastructure will break down. The coastal population will move further inland. Millions of refugees will migrate northwards crossing borders into already stressed countries, causing racial tension and the very real possibility of war. What would be stopping a super power like America from "invading" the likes of Canada. China swarms north into Siberia. Supply chains will be cut off. Disease, Famine, and the break down of social order will kill millions. New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina was merely a taster of what could be around the corner... According to this arcticle we now have about a 50 year window in which to slow global warming, and keep it at an almost acceptible +1ºC increase (well, acceptible in comparison with a +2ºC increase!). If we miss this 50 year window, we will quickly reach a +2ºC increase, this will almost certainly become a +3ºC increase. This is the point of no return. A +4ºC increase inexorably leads to a +5ºC increase and see's off most species of life. +6ºC is pretty much the end... Lets not miss this one chance, eh?
Heroes:
Mark Lynas... Any one who reads this page, thinks about it, and does something to change their luxurious and comfortable way of life... We already have so much in our lives, maybe it's now time to start giving up some of our "wants", some of our, "needs". It is all very good changing all your bulbs to energy savers, and turning your television off of stand-by. But these changes will only do so much. It will need the entire civilised and "sophisticated" world to change the way they live. To slow, if not cease, some mass production of the things we really do not need. Yes, I know, what about all the jobs? All the wealth? The people? Well, there are many better ways to employ and train people, than making you another piece of expensive, useless plastic. Wealth? Economy? Prosperity? Greed? These are the only reasons we are where we are today. Besides, our economies will always bounce back. There has been atleast six or seven major wars and conflicts in the last 100 years. Countless ecological disasters. Each time, our economies have lasted. And of course the people. To this argument i say, what about the millions of "third world" inhabitants who have not even been able to contribute to global warming? They are the people who will die first. They will get it the hardest. Famine, disease, and war are already widespread in these regions. These climatic changes will finish them off. I am afraid to say that global warming is the responsibilty of a priveleged few. And that my friend is you, me, our families, our governments, our industries, our power plants, our televisions, our cars, our trains, our holidays to warmer countries, our holidays to colder countries, our washing machines, and yes, even our ipods and our latest Nokias. I am not saying "stop your way of life, you are killing the planet". No, I am saying "take heed". Don't use your car everyday, cycle or walk to work. Turn off the lights when you leave the room. Ask yourself next time you go to buy something you know was mass produced in a factory from China, "Do i really need this?" Think twice, you might not only be helping to save the planet, but also saving yourself 50 or 60 quid... This planet of ours is constantly in motion, it has been flowing through ice ages for millions of years. We are currently in a so-called "ice age". These ice ages have been caused, and ended by natural cycles. Our distance from the Sun, Major Volcanic eruptions, even the possible impact of massive meteors. But this time, as this ice age comes to an end, man is having a massive input. Nobody knows for certain what affect we are having. And nobody knows for certain the outcomes of these affects. If the planet wants to warm up, she will warm up. we cannot stop nature. But we can certainly not interfere. I hope that these theories are all wrong, but, what if they are correct? What if we do nothing? We can change our life styles slightly now, or maybe we will be paying a much higher price in the future... Some would call this book "fear science" or "fear politics". Maybe, just maybe, we are not nearly scared enough... Thanks for taking your time to read this. If you want to find out more from this book. The author is Mark Lynas, the book is called, "SIX DEGREES: OUR FUTURE ON A HOTTER PLANET". £12.99 HarperCollins. Now please pass this message on. It could help change the world.
