A recent report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been released commenting on the effects of climate change, due to the production of gasses, over next several decades. This report is the second in a series of four being published this year. The report reveals some startling speculations about the future of this planet, and our species in particular.By 2080, between 200 million and 600 million people could be hungry because
of global warming's effects.
About 100 million people each year could be flooded by 2080 by rising
seas.
Smog in U.S. cities will worsen and "ozone-related deaths from climate
(will) increase by approximately 4.5 percent for the mid-2050s, compared with
1990s levels," turning a small health risk into a substantial one.
2080 is rapidly approaching, and it is critical that we begin to make changes to our li
fe style world wide. The effects we have begun to experience can be reversed. The ozone layer, for example, is a naturally regenerating component of our planet’s stratosphere. The Ozone layer works by absorbing ultraviolet radiation at the expense of its own degradation, and, until recently, was regenerating at relatively the same degradation rate; however certain chlorinated compounds have increased the degredation of ozone beyond its capacity to regenerate fast enough. (for more info see The Ozone)The draft document says scientists are highly confident that many current
problems -- change in species' habits and habitats, more acidified oceans, loss
of wetlands, bleaching of coral reefs, and increases in allergy-inducing pollen
-- can be blamed on global warming
It may come as some surprise that we wouldn’t be the first organisms on this planet to completely overhaul (for better or for worse) the environment. Roughly three billion years ago the atmosphere consisted primarily of methane with a thriving population of methane utilizing bacteria; however the majority of these organisms became extinct (those that survived were confined to restricted areas) after the evolution of photosynthetic bacteria filled the atmosphere with oxygen. Our fate may follow a similar path, but, unlike archaic bacteria, we have the chance control the destiny of our species whether it be destruction or life.
Solutions to our environmental situation go above the individual, especially given the timetable we have. Governments need to become seriously involved, not only in establishing pollution guidelines, but also working to develop alternative sources for energy, transportation, and waste management.
Things are happening and happening faster than we expected
We still have time to turn these predictions from fact to fiction. As long as the sun is in the sky, there will always be life on earth, the question is whether or not we will be a part of it. I am still confidant that the human species will survive to see the sun rise on the next century.
