Earth’s climate is changing. If you’re not wearing blinkers, and usually follow the news, this should no longer be a controversial statement to you. (Of course, climate change is a better descriptor than global warming. Earth’s temperatures will not literally rise everywhere all the time. Instead, extremes of climates will become more extreme, and the overall nature of Earth’s climate will shift dramatically.)
For example, from this great New York Times piece:
Especially lately. China is enduring its coldest winter in nearly 30 years. Brazil is in the grip of a dreadful heat spell. Eastern Russia is so freezing — minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and counting — that the traffic lights recently stopped working in the city of Yakutsk.
Bush fires are raging across Australia, fueled by a record-shattering heat wave. Pakistan was inundated by unexpected flooding in September. A vicious storm bringing rain, snow and floods just struck the Middle East. And in the United States, scientists confirmed this week what people could have figured out simply by going outside: last year was the hottest since records began.
“Each year we have extreme weather, but it’s unusual to have so many extreme events around the world at once,” said Omar Baddour, chief of the data management applications division at the World Meteorological Organization, in Geneva. “The heat wave in Australia; the flooding in the U.K., and most recently the flooding and extensive snowstorm in the Middle East — it’s already a big year in terms of extreme weather calamity.”
The question, then, apparently shifts to: ‘Is this climate shift man-made? Or at the least, is the climate shift exacerbated by human contribution?’ People who are ‘skeptics’ on this matter hold forth on how Earth’s climate has changed many times before. On the one hand, they doubt claims made by climate scientists—that the Earth is becoming hotter—based on their research, and on the other hand cite the very same scientists’ results on how temperatures on Earth have varied over the millenia.
A crude example—in the New York Times article cited above, a commenter writes:
Hasn’t “extreme weather” raged world wide since time began.? I think the dinosaurs might have something to say about that. It is time to put your words in the proper respective in regards to how long the Earth has existed………Solve our current pressing problems, then worry about how to pay for “climate control”. If you can.
So very true. The question is—where did said climate change, so naturally occuring on Earth over millenia, leave species that existed in those times? Thriving and healthy? Or as dust covered fossils scattered around the world? About 90-99% of all species of life to have existed on Earth are now extinct. Yes, that many.
What many people don’t realize is—it doesn’t matter if the climate shift is man-made. The Earth does not need humankind; we need the Earth to maintain a certain kind of climate for us to thrive, and, indeed, survive. If the Earth’s climate changes to an extreme, and we are not able to adapt to the new conditions quickly enough, we will run a very real risk of joining those 99% of extinct species. The Earth will happily continue to exist, and a new burst of evolution will spring forth a new dominant species to rule the Earth, just like homo sapiens now, and the dinosaurs before us.
Let’s stop fighting over whether we are the reason climate change is accelerating. (Most likely, we are, but as I said, that’s besides the point.) There’s absolutely no doubt human activities at least contribute to global warming (via burning fossil fuels, for example), and there’s no doubt a drastic change in climate is not good at all for the overall health of the human species. We already know what a runaway global warming process leads to: just look at Venus! It’s currently so toxic that we have a hard time even getting our space craft to operate on its surface. We will be extinct long before Earth’s global warming reaches even a percentage point of that of Venus. Not in 10 years, not in 100, not even in 1000, but the seeds of the far future are being planted now.
So let’s do something about it! I can understand the influence exerted by industries that would suffer if we changed our energy usage, but seriously, the health of the human species should take precedence over the relatively shorter term goals and ambitions of interested parties. Let’s stop being tone deaf; let’s take our collective hands off of our ears and eyes and start believing our own data. And please, let’s not selectively trust our scientists. They are experts in their field, and know what they’re talking about.
And no, climate science is not the same as economics and statistics.
The Earth is the only home we have; let’s not burn it down. Even if we are not the primary cause of the fire, we have to make our best effort to contain it, and if possible, put it out. Our survival depends on it.
P.S.: While looking for a suitable link for global warming on Venus, I found more links disputing the comparison than affirming it. Interestingly, most of such articles, with analyses, are written by, for example, Economists, and medical doctors; articles by climate scientists seem to be curiously missing. I will address this “dispute”, since I brought up the comparison with Venus, but in a separate post—let’s only focus on Earth for now.
Hali ya hewa ya Dunia inabadilika. Kama wewe si kuvaa blinkers, na kawaida kufuata habari, hii haipaswi tena kuwa taarifa ya utata kwa wewe. (Bila shaka, mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa ni ufafanuzi bora kuliko ongezeko la joto duniani. Joto la dunia halitaongezeka kila mahali wakati wote. Badala yake, hali ya hewa ya kupita kiasi itakuwa kali zaidi, na hali ya hewa ya Dunia itabadilika sana.) "Kwa mfano, katika makala hii ya New York Times, ""Mimi ni mzee sana.""" China inakabiliwa na majira ya baridi kali zaidi katika miaka 30 iliyopita. Brazil imekumbwa na msukosuko mkubwa wa joto. Joto la joto la joto la Urusi la chini ya 50 ° F (minus 50 ° F) limesababisha taa za barabarani za jiji la Yakutsk kuzimia. Moto wa misitu unaenea Australia nzima, ukichochewa na joto kubwa sana. Pakistan ilifunikwa na mafuriko yasiyotarajiwa mnamo Septemba. Dhoruba kali ilileta mvua, theluji na mafuriko iligonga Mashariki ya Kati. Wanasayansi nchini Marekani wamethibitisha kile ambacho watu wanaweza kuwa wamejua kwa kwenda nje: Mwaka uliopita ulikuwa wa joto zaidi tangu rekodi za joto zilipoanza. "Kila mwaka tuna hali mbaya ya hewa, lakini ni jambo lisilo la kawaida kuwa na matukio mengi ya hali mbaya duniani kote kwa wakati mmoja, "alisema Omar Baddour, mkuu wa mgawanyiko wa maombi ya usimamizi wa data katika Shirika la Hali ya Hewa Ulimwenguni, Geneva." "Mvua ya joto nchini Australia, mafuriko nchini Uingereza, na hivi karibuni mafuriko na dhoruba kubwa ya theluji katika Mashariki ya Kati, tayari ni mwaka mkubwa kwa suala la maafa ya hali ya hewa kali. ""Swali, basi, inaonekana hubadilika kuwa: ""Je, mabadiliko haya ya hali ya hewa ni ya binadamu?" Au angalau, je, mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa yamezidishwa na mchango wa binadamu? <unk> Watu ambao ni <unk> sceptics <unk> juu ya suala hili kushikilia juu ya jinsi hali ya hewa ya Dunia imebadilika mara nyingi kabla. Kwa upande mmoja, wanashuku madai yaliyotolewa na wanasayansi wa hali ya hewa kwamba Dunia inakuwa moto zaidi kulingana na utafiti wao, na kwa upande mwingine wanataja matokeo ya wanasayansi hao wenyewe juu ya jinsi joto duniani limebadilika kwa maelfu ya miaka. Mfano mbaya - katika makala ya New York Times iliyotajwa hapo juu, mfafanuzi mmoja anaandika: Je, "hali ya hewa mbaya sana" haijaenea ulimwenguni pote tangu mwanzo wa wakati? Nadhani dinosaurs inaweza kuwa na kitu cha kusema kuhusu hilo. Ni wakati wa kuweka maneno yako katika sahihi husika kuhusiana na jinsi muda mrefu Dunia imekuwapo......... Kutatua matatizo yetu ya sasa ya kushinikiza, kisha wasiwasi kuhusu jinsi ya kulipa kwa <unk>udhibiti wa hali ya hewa<unk>. Ikiwa unaweza. Ni kweli sana. Swali ni <unk> ambapo alisema mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, hivyo kiasili kutokea juu ya Dunia juu ya millennia, kuondoka spishi kwamba zilibaki katika nyakati hizo? Kuwa na Afya na Ustawi? Au kama visukuku vilivyofunikwa na vumbi vilivyotawanyika kotekote ulimwenguni? Karibu 90% ya spishi zote za uhai zilizowahi kuwepo duniani sasa zimetoweka. Ndiyo, ni wengi sana. Kile ambacho watu wengi hawatambui ni kwamba haijalishi kama mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa ni ya binadamu. Dunia haihitaji wanadamu; tunahitaji Dunia kudumisha hali ya hewa fulani ili tuweze kusitawi, na kwa kweli, kuishi. """Ikiwa hali ya hewa ya dunia itabadilika kwa kiwango kikubwa, na hatuwezi kukabiliana na hali mpya haraka vya kutosha, tutakuwa na hatari ya kweli ya kujiunga na 99% ya spishi zilizopotea." "Dunia itaendelea kuwepo kwa furaha, na mlipuko mpya wa mageuzi utaibuka, spishi mpya ya kutawala Dunia, kama vile Homo sapiens sasa, na dinosaurs kabla yetu. """ Hebu tuache kupigana juu ya kama sisi ni sababu ya mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa ni kuharakisha. (Inawezekana zaidi, sisi ni, lakini kama nilivyosema, hiyo ni mbali na uhakika.) Hakuna shaka kabisa shughuli za binadamu angalau kuchangia joto la dunia (kwa njia ya kuchoma mafuta ya makaa ya mawe, kwa mfano), na hakuna shaka mabadiliko makubwa ya hali ya hewa si nzuri kabisa kwa afya ya jumla ya spishi ya binadamu. Tayari tunajua ni nini mchakato wa ongezeko la joto duniani huongoza kwa: tu kuangalia Venus! Kwa sasa ni sumu sana hivi kwamba tuna wakati mgumu hata kupata meli yetu ya anga kufanya kazi juu ya uso wake. Tutaangamia muda mrefu kabla ya ongezeko la joto duniani kufikia hata asilimia moja ya ile ya Venus. Si katika miaka kumi, si katika mia moja, wala hata katika elfu moja, lakini mbegu za siku zijazo za mbali zinapandwa sasa. Kwa hiyo hebu tufanye jambo fulani kuhusu hilo! "Ninaweza kuelewa ushawishi unaofanywa na viwanda ambavyo vingeathiriwa ikiwa tungebadilisha matumizi yetu ya nishati, lakini kwa kweli, afya ya spishi ya binadamu inapaswa kuchukua kipaumbele juu ya malengo ya muda mfupi na matarajio ya wahusika.""" Hebu tuache kuwa viziwi; hebu tuondoke mikono yetu ya pamoja kutoka masikio na macho yetu na kuanza kuamini data zetu wenyewe. Na tafadhali, hebu tuwatumaini wanasayansi wetu kwa hiari. Wao ni wataalamu katika uwanja wao, na kujua nini wao ni kuzungumza juu. Na hapana, sayansi ya hali ya hewa si sawa na uchumi na takwimu. Dunia ni nyumba pekee tuliyo nayo; tusiteketeze. Hata kama sisi si chanzo kikuu cha moto, ni lazima tufanye juhudi zetu zote kuuzima, na ikiwezekana, kuuzima. Uhai wetu unategemea jambo hilo. P.S. Wakati nikitafuta kiungo kinachofaa kwa joto la dunia kwenye Venus, nilipata viungo vingi vinavyopinga kulinganisha kuliko kuithibitisha. Kwa kushangaza, makala nyingi kama hizo, na uchambuzi, zimeandikwa na, kwa mfano, Wataalamu wa Uchumi, na madaktari wa matibabu; makala na wanasayansi wa hali ya hewa wanaonekana kutokuwepo kwa kushangaza. Nitazungumzia hii <unk>mjadala<unk>, tangu nilileta kulinganisha na Venus, lakini katika chapisho tofauti <unk>hebu tu kuzingatia Dunia kwa sasa.