Saturday, June 7, 2014

Can you tell that I'm concerned about the weather?

Okay even though I know I'm not the only one who seriously believes that mankind is messing with this planet's weather, I am rather disappointed that a more concerted worldwide effort is not being made to educate all societies about the impending danger. Yes, I'm back on the weather because the signs may be slow in coming to fruition but ominous nonetheless. When I think of the freaky weather occurrences I've experienced in recent times, and have wondered why they are happening, most scientists agree that humans are to blame. This planet is our home and I am concerned that people, generally, are seemingly oblivious to the warning signs about future extreme weather events.

Chairman of the United Nation's (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Rajendra K. Pachauri at a conference in Stockholm (2013) reported that "each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the earth's surface than any preceding decade since 1850." Qin Dahe, co-chair of the IPCC group that wrote the long-awaited 2007 global warming report summed it up this way: "our assessment of the science finds that the atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amount of snow and ice has diminished, the global mean sea level has risen and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased". View more at Scientists finalize climate warming report and IPCC climate report: human impact is 'unequivocal'

All across the globe we are finding any number of reports about the problems associated with global warming or climate change, whichever you prefer to call it, and all incidents point to a serious need to address this planet's weather system. The examples below represent only a few of the many unusual events:

May 2014: In a report titled "Australia’s 2014 Heat Wave Picks Up Where 2013 Left Off" was a startling revelation: "… 12 stations across Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia all saw temperatures rise above 118.4°F over the first three days of the New Year [2013]. The hottest temperature recorded over that stretch was 120.7°F, which occurred in Moomba, South Australia on January 2."

Feb 2014: The guardian blogs an interactive global map showing January 2014's extreme weather worldwide.


May 2013: a report by weather.com reveals that the "Arctic Ocean [is] Rapidly Accumulating Carbon Dioxide" because of the gas pumped into the atmosphere by humans.

Adding to these, Pachauri in January of this year also warns that Asia [is] under 'increasing threat' from climate change.

I think the Showtime documentary Years of Living Dangerously is a good way to begin making us more aware of the impending doom from our weather system if human beings do not change the way we interact with our environment. I hope this all leads to a new paradigm in our way of thinking about, and living on, this planet we call Earth.

3 comments:

  1. You know, for your knowledge sharing/tracking assignment, you should consider doing it on the weather. I would definitely be interested to see the collection you come up with :)

    Also, I agree with you that people should be educated about this worldwide. Perhaps your collection would be a good start ;)

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  2. You're right, I'm terribly fascinated with our planet's weather system but at the same time concerned that man's damaging influence on it might be irreparable. I feel like once the damage is done there will be no turning back. There are simply no overnight fixes. Sure afforestation (cultivating a forest or set of trees in an area where there was no forest) for example, sounds catchy, but trees take years to grow and develop and I don't believe this effort would be sufficient to address the multifaceted issues that are contributing to climate change.

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  3. I look forward to seeing your collection :) It's a step towards creating more awareness.

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