Globalization & Climate Change

CHUQ · Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 3:32 am Post subject: Globalization & Climate Change

A well written article and makes some good observations.

Climate change no longer seems to be an abstract and remote concept. In the last few years, its manifestations have been many and varied, so much so that they are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Unseasonal rains, debilitating droughts, excessive floods, devastating cyclones and storms — all these are warning signals being sent out to humankind. For example, the August 2007 floods in South Asia (India, Bangladesh and Nepal) caused hundreds of deaths and made more than 20 million people homeless.

Climatologists and scientists, for their part, have been studying manifestations of climate change, such as receding arctic ice caps and disappearing wildlife habitats, which are not readily apparent to the rest of us. They are coming up with convincing proof that our climate is indeed changing in ways that differ from its usual cyclical behavior.

When a somewhat similar threat — also caused by human activity — surfaced nearly three decades ago, the global community reacted with alacrity to cobble together a cohesive and coordinated response. Three scientists working independently linked the "hole in the ozone layer" to CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) from refrigeration, air-conditioning, sprays, and foams. The scientists could show that the relationship between the ozone layer hole and the resultant ultraviolet radiation could lead to an exponential increase in skin cancer. Alarm bells rang around the world, loudly enough to persuade countries to think and act collectively. As many as 150 nations came together to sign and ratify the Montreal Protocol, which effectively limited the amount of CFCs released into the atmosphere. So effective was this effort that already there are signs that the ozone is mending. By 2004 the ozone hole over the Antarctic had already shrunk by 20 percent. Scientists remain hopeful that the ozone layer will return to its original form in 50 years, thanks to timely intervention by humanity.

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Tumbleweed · Black Ops Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 3687 votes: 3

Quote:

As many as 150 nations came together to sign and ratify the Montreal Protocol, which effectively limited the amount of CFCs released into the atmosphere.

Without the worlds biggest polluters on board it's not going to help much. The U.S. is at the top of the list, yet they were against committing to anything. Until everyone's attitude changes all we will see is lip service.
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CHUQ · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 2:46 am Post subject:

As I have said in the past, the US does not want to sacrifice for any reason, they want everbody else to do it for them. Not the best plan to have for a failing environment.
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CHUQ · Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:49 am Post subject:

More sad news about global climate change.

ONG KONG (Reuters) - Global warming is one of the most significant threats facing humankind, researchers warned, as they unveiled a study showing how climate changes in the past led to famine, wars and population declines.

The world's growing population may be unable to adequately adapt to ecological changes brought about by the expected rise in global temperatures, scientists in China, Hong Kong, the United States and Britain wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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