Global warming warning

 

Global warming, or climate change, isn't a future scenario but at our doorstep. Now. Witness the extreme weather events in recent years if you care to doubt it. Yet global temperatures are only nudging 1.01 degrees post industrial, and the battle continues to keep it under 1.5 degrees. 

Imagine the impact of another 0.5 of a degree and the future doesn't look pretty. Increase to above 2 degrees, and to paraphrase 17th century English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, and his statement that "life would be nasty, brutish and short".  This is hardly the legacy we want to leave to our children, their peers and their offspring.

The alarm bells have been ringing at several COP conferences and the IPCC and climate experts are not crying "wolf" but outlining their scientific findings in very measured ways. 

See NASA Climate Time Visualisations here. 

See above NASA link for interactive galleries.

Carbon Dioxide

In 2013 I did a climate change MOOCs course at the University of Melbourne. At the time the carbon dioxide readings were about 397 PPM which is an increase of about 20 PPM. This is evident on the latest Keeling Curve below.