“Unless we take extreme measures now to alter the direction of climate, worldwide catastrophes will continue to take place!”

By Linn Smith

In the western state where I reside in the summers, record high and low temperatures continue to be broken. The average number of above 90 degree days each year in my city is 30. Since 2000 the number has spiked to 48 days above 90 degrees.

Surviving our Warming Planet

As the earth warms, we rely more and more on our air conditioners. Air conditioning, in many places, have become essential for survival. Phoenix, Arizona is an example of this. June temperatures hit a record breaking 106 degrees yesterday! Air conditioning will be essential for future survival, but as population grows and becomes concentrated in bigger cities, we will be vulnerable to power outages, leaving elderly and small children at risk.

Last week temperatures reached 100.4 degrees in Verkhoyansk, a small town in Siberia within the Arctic Circle, where the average temperature in June is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The rise in temperatures in Siberia has allowed for increased wildfires with greater intensity. May was the hottest in Siberia since records began. Also, permafrost melted which caused oil tanks to be unsupported, resulting in a massive diesel spill.

Unprecedented Warming Trend

Nasa.gov states, “The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades.”

Climate Warming Facts

Scientific graphs show that the rise in temperatures since the 1900’s correlate with the rise in CO2 in our atmosphere, which traps the greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere.

Scientific data shows the following facts:
*2010-2019 was the hottest decade on record.
* 2016 was the hottest year on record with 2019 being the 2nd hottest year since records began 140 years ago.
* 9 of 10 of the warmest years have been since 2005.
*The average temperature of our earth in 2019 was 1.71 degrees F above the 20th century average.
* In 2019 the amount of heat stored in the ocean surface was the highest on record.
* 2020 is on its way to being one of hottest years ever recorded, just behind 2016 (2016 was affected by El Nino which is known to be warmer years.)
* May 2020 was tied with May 2016 as the warmest May on record.

Through the study of ice cores, satellites and ocean acidity, scientist have been able to obtain accurate information over many years. The earth’s warming is causing not only the earth to heat up, but also extreme weather around the world, which is resulting in floods, fires, an earlier hurricane season and many other manifestations of climate change.

Scientists warned of world wide pandemics as a result of climate change. Unless we take extreme measures now to alter the direction of climate, worldwide catastrophes will continue to take place!

Climate Change