Since 1980, climate related disasters have tripled. Climate change doesn’t cause a drought or a storm but it kills through heat waves and that is more intense. 70,000 people died in Europe alone in the unprecedented heat wave of 2003. What should ideally be a 1 in 500 year event has turned to 1 in 40. Research shows that if climate change is allowed to continue, it will be in this century alone that people along the Persian Gulf won’t be able to move outside because of intense heat.
Global warming is causing drought as moisture is removed from land and oceans. Areas lacking in rain suffer the most and in some areas, the rain is so intense it causes flooding such as the flooding in Paris and Houston in 2003. Heating up of the ocean is packing more muscle into storms and hurricanes making them fiercer even if they are not frequent.
Image Source: www.pressherald.com
Animals and plant species are disappearing from natural ranges and habitats. The Bramble Cay melomys, a ratlike rodent has disappeared from its natural habitat, a low lying island in Australia’s Torres Strait. That is the first scientific documentation of extinction today.
Global warming is making species migrate towards the poles. Species of penguins and birds are reducing, thousands of walruses are being forced onto land in Alaska all because of depletion of ice. Alpine ecosystems are vanishing off mountain tops and coral reefs are dying around the world. While some species like humpback whales are adapting and thriving, it won’t be for long.
Image Source: www.mindfood.com
In every scenario depicted in the last six problematic facts about climate change, the solution lies in your hands. It lies in our hands as a collective species whose beautiful world is being threatened. If climate change wasn’t important, 195 countries would never have signed the Paris Agreement committing themselves to keep global temperatures below 2 degrees centigrade. (3.6 degrees F).
Even as the USA is now threatening to withdraw from it, the Paris Agreement is our only hope. Solar energy is reducing in cost and is the best way of obtaining energy without taxing our planet. In the US alone, solar energy is responsible for more employment than gas, oil and coal combined. Renewables can easily be made new sources of energy and electricity. Studies have shown the average American is melting 525 sq feet of Arctic ice annually. If the world does not convert to carbon free sources of energy, who knows, man won’t be around to even discuss climate change. Protect your world by reducing your carbon footprint now!!!
Image Source: www.wordpress.com