It s Getting Hotter, Or Hadn t You Noticed?
Reading a BBC report, it states that it has been the warmest winter since 1882 which was when the first weather pattern was recorded. The article states that the combined land and ocean temperature from December to February was 0.72C higher than average. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that temperatures are rising at a rate of a fifth of a degree every decade. And it is predicted that 2007 could be the hottest year on record.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC has been reported as presenting the following key findings in its first of four reports scheduled for release in 2007. The findings state that it is likely that human activities are causing global warming. It further states that temperatures could be rising between 1.1C and 6.42C. Sea levels could like by between 28-43cm, and that artic summer sea ice could disappear in second half of the century. It further says that it is likely that there will be increases in the number of heatwavess and that the climate change will likely lead to increased intensity of tropical storm.
On the other hand two leading UK climate researchers have criticised some of their peers for "overplaying" the global warming message. They feel that putting a Hollywood spin on global warming, could induce unnecessary confusion in the public"s mind. Further it could also damage the reputation of scientists. They feel a more sober and reasoned explanation of the future changes in the Earth"s climate should be presented.
This is a fair statement. On the other hand I do think that the evidence of global warming is really quite plain to see, even to unscientific eyes. The winter snow skiing areas have not had as much snow during this season as in previous years. The artic snow cap is melting and pictorial evidence is available to show this. The spread of the desert in Africa, is easy to view via aerial photographs. The numbers of people starving in Africa is growing into huge numbers. This is due to drought. Tsunamis, hurricanes and floods have caused immense damage to life and homes.
There is sufficient evidence so that even politicians have started to work on solutions to slow down the warming effect by introducing carbon dioxide emission level reduction targets. The EU leaders have agreed to a binding target of 20% boost in renewable fuel use by 2020. The UK is proposing legally binding carbon reductions with a target of a cut in emissions by 60% by 2050. This might not seem to be enough, but it is a step forward. And these steps may always be augmented as the situation worsens.
Anja Merret lives in Brighton, UK. She has recently started a blog and writes on issues that interest her from self-improvement to tech stuff for amateurs. Anja has had a varied and interesting career journey. She started as a high school teacher, changed professions to become an admin manager at her late husbands law firm because this allowed her the flexibility to look after her small children at the time. After many years she left this position to try her hand at an art gallery, moved across to public relations and finally found her niche in education again managing a computer training centre for many years. During this time she also involved herself in writing standards and qualifications in the new media field. 10 months ago she moved from South Africa to join her younger daughter. She now writes a blog and also looks after the business interests of her daughter who is a Flash and Accessibility expert. She has BA (Hons) MBA degrees and on rare occassions she feels like a frustrated wannabe academic. That passes quickly though. Source: http://ezinearticles.com/