Climate is changing and it’s changing not for some good, but for to explode. Explode because never has New York witnessed a fall extending only two weeks (instead of two months), never did in the recorded history has New Orleans was left devastated with a hurricane with ferocity of that of Katrnia (2005), never before did southern parts of Greenland witness shrinking glaciers, never before did Thar Desert (India) got flooded from rain waters, never did Bush fires got lit with such frequencies and probably never did the sweet water Dolphins ever became extinct from china. It is everywhere. These consequences of Global Warming are triggering all sorts of unusual weather events - from hotter heat spells and droughts in some places to heavier snow in others, to more violent storms, more intense flooding, downpours, forest fires and species loss is still another.
that we have never seen before.
Unusual climate – weather patterns are erupting with blitzering pace, and thus to call it Global Warming is a misnomer. It is like disrespecting a Mammoth with an Asian Elephant. All this is definitely something greater then “Global Warming”. To put it straight – we have created a death trap for our future generations, and somehow it is progressing devastatingly to challenge our very own survival – we are already too late to save ourselves, cause its Global Weirding ( as coined by Hunter Lovins, cofounder of the Rocky Mountain Institute).
According to Al Gore (Nobel Laurette) the Arctic will be completely ice free by the
by the year 2020.
The logic that puts Global Warming in the back seat is that; global warming is a slow & steady rise in temperatures and is opposite to global cooling, which again is a slow & steady decrease in average global temperatures and takes shape in thousands of years. These two phenomenon can be caused by three reasons:No.1 is that earth’s orbit is not circular, it is stretched-out circle – an ellipse. So the earth’s distance from the sun changes over so slightly as its orbit changes and this affects much radiation we get from sun. these changes go in cycles of roughly 1,00,000 years.
No.2 is that, the tilt of earth’s axis. Tilt on axis gives us seasons. If there were no tilt, New Delhi would have the same season all year round, because it’s latitude would always get the same amount of radiation. Because the earth is tilted we get more radiation in summers and less in winters, and that gives us seasons. But what happens over a period of 40,000 years is that tilt of earth gradually by a degree or two and that in turn brings variations in the amount of radiation that hits different parts of earth and, No.3 climate pattern differs when there are subtle changes in the plane of the earth’s orbit relative to the sun. again what happens in 21,000 years is that it leads to slight increase or decrease in solar radiation that hits the earth.
It were these reasons that consequenced into warmer periods in northern hemisphere during 11th & 15th century to a cooler temperature during 17th & mid 19th century. It were the scientist studying the sudden rise in global temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s, who were first to point to this fact that “natural variability” as a factor cannot afford to do what is happening today, as has done in the past. So, what is the factor that is actually making us feel the heat. The answer is – the “Human Factor”.
The gasses from burning of fossil fuel makes our environment thick and hot, adding to which is widespread deforestation, large scale – cattle grazing and industrialization. There is an increase of 0.8 degree Celsius in global average temperature, with the most rapid rise occurring since 1970. One might think that this a mere increase to do much harm, but think for a moment about your body temperature which with a slight increase of a degree, makes you sick and also brings underprivileged on the verge of death. Al Gore rightly say’s that earth has “a fever” and the warmest years, since thermometer was invented way bak in 1860, have been in half – past the previous decade. Therefore it won’t be fiction if I say that only a slight increase in average temperatures affects the weather drastically because what drives the wind and their circulation on surface brings differences in monsoon and global precipitation too. So, when we increase emissions, we create a thick atmosphere which does not let the hot infrared escape out of earth, which in turn increases average surface temperature and unknowingly we end up changing global wind patterns and the before we know we have already done enough to ensure a drought every second year. Cnn.com reported in August 7, 2007: England and Wales have witnessed their hottest May - July period since record keeping started in 1766…. Four Monsoon depressions, double the normal, caused heavy flooding in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh… In May heat wave swept across Russia…… Sudan Flood and heavy rain caused 23,000 mud brick homes to collapse, killing 61….. An unusual cold southern winter brought wind , blizzards and rare snowfall to various parts of South America…… In May swell waves upto 15 feet high swept into 68 islands in the Maldieves, causing severe flooding and damage……. In June South Africa had its first significant snowfall since 1981, with a record of 10 inches in some parts of the country.
Indeed the incessant rapid emission of greenhouse gases for we all want to live our lives the way Americans live, the way Persians and Saudi’s enjoy and just how reluctantly we close our eyes to the consequences the people of these nations suffer and now the entire globe to run for this remorseless chase. More than half of the total greenhouse emission is done by the developed nations, followed by emerging economies like China and India. But that is not all.
Oil, which unleashes majority of greenhouse gasses, is of concern not only for destabilizing our biodiversity and climate, but a major threat that it possess is to global peace, harmony and progress. How? – Because as the price of oil goes up, the pace of freedom goes down; and as the price of oil goes down, the pace of freedom goes up.
The remains of a house, destroyed by bushfire, lie in a collapsed heap near Toodyay about 75km (47 miles) north east of Perth December 30, 2009.
Photo: Nic Ellis
A major bushfire in the west Australian outback has destroyed almost 40 homes, officials said on Wednesday, as firefighters end a third month of fighting bushfires across the country.
Fire officials say the Australian summer could be one of the worst bushfire seasons, with a series of catastrophic warnings already issued for big fires in at least three states.
Australia's most deadly bushfires occurred last February, when the "Black Saturday" infernos killed 173 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the southern Victoria state.
As a result of the "Black Saturday" fires, officials adopted a "catastrophic" warning which advises residents to evacuate homes in the face of major bushfires.
Until the west Australian fire this week, property losses had been few. No one has died in the fires this summer.
Three firefighters and a woman from the wheat-belt town of Toodyay, in Western Australian state, suffered minor injuries in the latest bushfire, which burned 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres).
A decade-long drought and hot, dry interior outback winds have left much of Australia a tinderbox.
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