Time to stop worrying about global warming?

Mar 30, 2014 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Surface temperatures may not be rising as quickly as they were, but that’s just one small part of a much bigger and more troubling picture.
Climate skeptics are finding it even harder to persuade the public that the climate isn’t changing. So now some are turning to a more last-ditch line of attack: even if climate change is happening, it’s not worth worrying about.
They have been emboldened by scientists’ acknowledgment that temperatures on the planet surface have risen less sharply than expected in recent years. The scientists say that’s down to natural variability; the doubters say it is a sign that climate change amounts to little more than ignorable, or even beneficial, “lukewarming”.
This has been presented as a credible position on television, in newspaper headlines and magazine articles – and it is echoed in public policy. The UK prime minister, keen to reduce winter fuel bills, is rethinking levies and policies aimed at making the country’s energy use more sustainable. Perhaps he thinks the climate can wait.
But it is misguided to focus only on the temperature of the thin layer of air that we live in. That is just one of the many important indicators. In particular, the oceans are warming too: recent research suggests that in the last 60 years, the depths of the Pacific have warmed 15 times as fast as at any time in the previous 10,000 years.
And the oceans may have been soaking up heat faster still over the past few years. That may in turn explain why the atmosphere isn’t warming as fast as it was (see “Climate slowdown: The world won’t stop warming”). Warmer oceans have consequences. Consider typhoon Haiyan, thought to be the fourth strongest storm in history. Such storms usually stir up cooler waters that limit their strength; Haiyan, by contrast, kept gaining energy from exceptionally warm waters extending far below the surface. More such storms will follow as the oceans heat up.
Warming oceans also pump more moisture into the air, which can lead to unprecedented rainfall – as Colorado discovered earlier this year. And water expands as it warms: around a third of the continuing rise in sea levels is due to water expansion. That sea level rise is expected to accelerate, putting many of the world’s greatest cities at risk.
Of course, the nature of climate science makes measurement tricky; and its predictions are fraught with uncertainties. But there are also certainties. We know global warming continues – the sea levels alone show that. We know human emissions of greenhouse gases are to blame. We know warming will accelerate as long as emissions keep rising. And we know from history that societies struggle to adapt when the climate changes. Filipinos thought they knew what to expect from a tropical cyclone. They weren’t expecting Haiyan.
You might be able to ignore surface temperatures for the moment, if you live in one of the few places yet to be seriously adversely affected – so not places like Sydney or California. Those are getting fewer, however; and temperatures will at some point start climbing sharply again.
There is still sea level rise, extreme weather, disrupted jet streams, receding polar ice, biodiversity collapse, forest fires, ocean acidification and more to be concerned about – to say nothing of the huge challenges of “greening” our societies.
Time to stop worrying about warming? On the contrary. Guyana has dedicated a significant part of its forest toward combating global warming but even here one gets the impression that we are not paying too keen an attention to the arguments about global warming.
Recently, investigations revealed that Guyana’s rate of deforestation was far higher than that which it agreed to when it entered into an agreement with Norway for US$250 million. And even now we are working out an arrangement with Brazil for the generation of hydro power.
The argument may be that with less dependence on fossil fuel then the need for the rainforest would also diminish. The other argument may be that if the forest means money for Guyana then it had better use it.
The warning is that it is not yet time to stop thinking about global warming.

Latest News

Time to stop worrying about global warming?

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Clarendon College too good for Dolphin as Annai Sec’ holds Speyside...

Glasgow excided for MLS journey with Chicago Fire

Matthews slams unbeaten 85 as Windies Women...

No room to breathe as five more teams to advance...

Sammy to be appointed as West Indies Senior...

Bangladesh hold nerve to defend 148 and take 1-0...

Features/Columnists

The stakes are high in Guyana’s democracy

Let the asylum seekers go: a first step for Venezuela to rebuild relations in the Americas

Cash grant-he last stop

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Time to stop worrying about global warming?

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]