Things you should know about climate change
Things you should know about climate change
Some groups deny that continuing global warming will lead to famine, arguing that the warmer climate exerts beneficial effects on food production and that the increased carbon dioxide (CO2) production from global warming serves as a fertilizing agent for plants, The majority of research, however, paints a very different picture. Numerous researchers associated with respected organizations conclude that climate change is real and that it is possible to predict when and where the most severe famines are likely to occur.
Established in 1990, the Hadley Centre has been located in Exeter, England, since 2003 and has been recognized for the quality of the research on climate change carried out by its more than 150 scientists. In 2006, it predicted that about one-third of the Earth will become desert by 2100, as a result of drought and its consequent desertification. Those areas of the world that are already victims of drought, such as Africa, will likely experience the most severe effects. The people predicted by the Hadley Centre to be the first victims of world climate change, called climate canaries, will be about three million pastoral nomads in northern Kenya. A way of life that has been sustained for thousands of years therefore faces eradication. Myriad herders have forsaken their traditional way of life to settle in Kenyas northeastern province after their livestock were decimated. The situation is not limited to Kenya: At least eleven million people are affected from Tanzania to Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) likewise predicts the most severe impact of diminished food production and resulting famine to occur in African countries below the Sahara Desert. Desertification could result in an increase of as many as 90 million hectares of arid land, an area almost four times the size of Britain. The FAOs predictions are not limited to Africa: Sixty-five developing countries, including more than half of the total population of the developing world in 1995, are expected to lose around 254 million metric tons of potential grain production because of climate change. Nor are the extreme weather events limited to drought and desertification. Flooding will bring devastating effects as well. During the first decade of the twenty-first century, more than six hundred floods have caused $25 billion in damage, a substantial amount of which includes the loss of some 254 million metric tons of potential cereal production. Another FAO study reported that at least ten million people in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Swaziland are threatened with starvation; even at harvest time, a serious food crisis persists.
Mark Scholze of Bristol University has conducted research for the organization Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System (QUEST) involving world climate simulation predictions through the twenty-first century based on sixteen climate models. He poses several scenarios regarding fire, flood, and famine by the year 2100 and predicts that effects of an average of 2 Celsius in global temperature rise are inevitable and will cause deforestation of up to 30 percent in parts of Europe, Asia, Canada, Central America, and Amazonia. Freshwater shortages, likely due to drought, can be expected with a rise of between 2 and 3 Celsius in parts of West Africa, Central America, southern Europe, and the eastern United States. As trees are lost, tropical Africa and South America will be subject to flooding.
Should a 3 temperature increase occur, an even more dangerous scenario is likely: As temperatures rise, plants may begin to grow more vigorously and take up more carbon oxide from the air. When saturated, the ecosystem begins to respire more than it is taking up. Scholzes data, which are in line with findings of the Hadley Centre, indicate that this tipping point could arrive by mid-century. These phenomena would cause a decrease in worldwide cereal crop production of between 18 million and 363 million metric tons and put 400 million more people in famine conditions. Scholze insists that fossil fuel combustion must be significantly curtailed before 2040.
During the past two million years, the climate on Earth has alternated between cooling and warming. Thus, one might question the concern during the latter twentieth and early twenty-first centuries over global warming. The concern arises, because the Earth is growing warmer faster than it has in the past, as more greenhouse gases (GHGs) are released into the atmosphere. Over one hundred years ago, people worldwide began using more coal and oil for homes, factories, and transportation, thereby releasing CO2 and other GHGs into the atmosphere. Scientific data reveal that during the past century, the worlds surface air temperature increased an average of 0.6 Celsius. Even one degree can affect Earths climate.
Heavier rainfall is causing flooding in some areas, while there is extreme drought in others, resulting in famine. The first half of the twentieth century was not unusual: The period of 1900 to 1939 brought mild winters, characteristic of a high North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) condition. However, in the 1950s, the global average temperature fell, and some thought an ice age was imminent. Then, the NAO suddenly flipped to high, and some scientists declared that the warming was a permanent phenomenon because of humans promiscuous use of fossil fuels. If so, the likelihood of famine remains a constant.
Day Excursion To Aqua Parks City - Family Tour & Trip In Sharm Epoch-making Innovation In Hair-Style By Dr. Kirill Sozinov, The Mentor Of Advance Hair Extensions in London Six Biggest Brands For Women's Wellington Rain Boots Home Business Ideas - How To Start And Make Money How To get FarmVille Money For several Effortless Measures Try Online Shopping For Wedding Gowns Would You Like To Save Money On Your Online Shopping Bills? Now You Can! Hollywood Smiles Influence Cosmetic Dentistry Buying Insurance: What Savvy Consumers Should Know Online Paid Surveys - Are They the Best Surveys Opportunity Out There? Using Relevant Keywords For Effective Online Optimization Evening Gown Tips for Women Over 40 Advantages Of Buying Mens Footwear Online