Maybe you are old enough to remember when, in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore introduced the “Hockey Stick” graph. Global temperatures, running pretty much the same for centuries and then, beginning in the late 1900s, suddenly going up.
It looks like this
Take a look at the sea temperature chart at the top of this post.
If the “hockey stick” was frightening, the data on sea temperatures that is coming out is exponentially worse. Petrifying? Appalling? No. Worse. Much worse. Here’s a link to the story in the New York times about global ocean temperatures.
The oceans have served as a giant heat sink, absorbing as much as 60 percent of the excess heat that is being created by human-caused greenhouse gasses. Now the oceans have his some kind of tipping point. The results are going to be catastrophic.
Sure, stronger hurricanes. We’ve know that for years. But other effects will include more coral bleaching—the damaging and potential destructions of some of the earth’s most important biospheres.
The melting of the polar ice caps will be accelerated. Sea levels will rise.
There are predictions that major ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream will slow down and possibly stop. That will cause major climatic changes on the other side of the Atlantic from the U.S.
Who Pays the Price?
I saw another story recently about the drouth in Zambia. I remember reading it because I wasn’t sure exactly where Zambia was, so I looked it up on Google maps.
Last year, Zambia was dealing with disastrous floods. This year, it’s drouth.
This is not fair. There are 20 million people living in Zambia, paying the price for the “developed” world’s over-reliance on fossil fuels.
We’ve got to do better.
What Can One Person Do?
Well, for starters, we can be upset about it. And we can let other people know we are upset. We can shout “fire” now and then. And do it again. And again. Strategically, of course.
And then do all the little things that we have control over. Agitate for renewables, and go electric when we can. Use less gas. Less plastic. Less of everything.
Contribute to good causes. Keep caring. Keep sharing. Keep going.
And listen to Shtinky.
Anon.
Ridge
YOU, the reader, are significantly responsible for warming the planet, given that it is now possible for most homeowners to live at home at net zero using off the shelf solar panels driving geothermal heat pumps, which are actually less expensive (30% tax credit) to purchase than regular systems of furnaces and air to air heat pumps.