Climate change is a serious threat.
And we need to take action.
By Lachlan Campbell
Here’s a graph of global temperature, 1880–2014.
Temperature anomaly, ºF
Wait, 2 ºF difference?
- 1º is the difference between ice & water
- Temperature rose 7-12 ºF over ~5,000 years when the ice age ended
- We’re now seeing a 2+ ºF rise in 2% of the time (130 years), when the climate should be cooling
Human greenhouse gas emissions are the clear cause.
Let’s isolate the factors.
There is extremely broad agreement among scientists that climate change is real and caused by humans.
Including 97% of scientists, the U.S. National Academy of Science, NOAA, NASA, and the scientific societies of all industrialized nations.
Charles Fourier discovered the impacts of CO2 in 1827.
Scientists have been publishing about climate change since the 1950s.
The atmosphere now has ~404 ppm CO2 (350 ppm is safe).
There is no way to undo our damage, but stopping carbon pollution will reduce further damage.
Scientists project 9+ ºF this century—and 4º F would be disastrous.
The majority of models so far have underestimated warming.
Climate change impacts everything. It is certainly unethical to threaten 25% of species, but the consequences of climate change to humans will be immense.
- Torrential rain, floods, heat waves, and drought will stress food and water supplies.
- Mass migrations as coastal cities go underwater: New York, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco, Melbourne, etc.