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Friday, February 02, 2007
IT IS TRULY AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
I am actually not sure how the topic changed into Global Warming that night when we were at this little cafe having our little servings of fancy cakes that cost 3 times their sizes. We were talking about Hendry's work, then talked about the recent windy weather, then, AHA! Yeah, we were talking about the weather, when Hendry started the whole discussion about Global Warming.
It got me thinking though. Global Warming? I've heard that term over and over again, in Science class, on TV, almost everywhere come to think of it. What was weird, was that it never struck me how severe it has become. While scientists have been diligently trying to find ways of saving our one and only planet, I've been ignorant and moving on with life as if there were no tomorrow. In fact, with the rate Global Warming is going now, would there even be a tomorrow? Yikes! Better not think so far yet.
But seriously, have we ever sat down to think how seriously damaged our planet is? And how much worse it could get if nothing is done about it? After all, we too are citizens of planet Earth, not just the environmentalists and the scientists.
Shockingly yet again, I came across this quote on a website - a simple quote, straight to the point, but OUCH! - "most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributed to human activities."
Human activities have been causing our planet to go through so much pain. Think about it... our planet is getting hotter, we cannot deny it, science proves it to us, and our bodies feel it too. The ice is melting in the supposedly coldest corners of the planet, natural disasters just pop up out of nowhere, without any warning sometimes, and it is all linked with our planet's warming temperature. Wouldn't it be interesting to say that the warming happening now, is just Earth's 'warming up' session to an even worse thing?
I simply cannot imagine what worse things could happen in the next few decades.
Rising sea levels are a result of Global Warming. Flood The Whole Globe could be Earth's next agenda. But no, I doubt it. I take the rainbow that God showed Noah during the great flood as a promise that will last eternally. But still, it doesn't mean a whole country couldn't get flooded. God has flooded the world before, so flooding a small country could be an easy job.
I found some interesting facts on the net:
- These changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes and tornados.
- The United States is, as of 2005, the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.
- Since 1979, land temperatures have increased about twice as fast as ocean temperatures (0.25 °C/decade against 0.13 °C/decade (Smith, 2005).
- The increased CO2 in the atmosphere warms the Earth's surface and leads to melting of ice near the poles. As the ice melts, land or open water takes its place. Both land and open water are on average less reflective than ice, and thus absorb more solar radiation. This causes more warming, which in turn causes more melting, and the cycle continues.
- In the Sahel, there has been on average a 25% decrease in annual rainfall over the past 30 years.
- In December 2006, a large ice sheet broke free from Canada's Artctic. In January 2007, the UK and Northern Europe experienced hurricane-force winds. This was unexpected, and very unusual for that part of the world.
- Over the past five decades there has been a global warming of approximately 0.4°C at the Earth's surface
- Global mean sea level has been rising at an average rate of 1 to 2 mm/year over the past 100 years, which is significantly larger than the rate averaged over the last several thousand years. Projected increase from 1990-2100 is anywhere from 0.09-0.88 meters.
- The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years
- The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.
Well you get the point. Check out http://www.climatecrisis.net/thescience/ and see for yourself how much worse things could get if we do not start being careful.
I love our planet. It was our home since the day we were born.
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The good you find in others,
is in you too.
The faults you find in others,
are your faults as well.
After all, to recognize something you must know it.
The possibilities you see in others,
are possible for you as well.
The beauty you see around you,
is your beauty.
The world around you is a reflection,
a mirror showing you the person you are.
Show your best face to the mirror,
and you'll be happy with the face
looking back at you.
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