| Global Warming Part 1: What Is It? |
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| Written by Suzann Kale | |
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The spiral begins with our increased use of fossil fuels. Global warming is a major earth climate change-in-progress, caused primarily by humans burning too much fossil fuel, like oil, coal, and gas. Burning fossil fuel gives off carbon dioxide. And carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere.
HBO recently did a documentary called Too Hot Not to Handle, which speculates that "almost all our use of energy leads to global warming."1
But this doesn't necessarily mean everything gets hot. In fact, lots of places could get cold. Siberia-type cold. This is because global warming affects the temperature and salinity of the ocean's currents as well.
 Here's what happens:
As the global temperature rises, the oceans' salinity is diluted by the influx of new sources of fresh water. This began in a big way in the 1970's, got really exaggerated in the 1980s, and continues today. 2005 was the warmest year in recorded history2. The excess fresh water comes from melting glaciers and more rain. The extra rain means more continental run-off.3
And too, as the glaciers melt they also move, causing all sorts of imbalances in the ecosystem.
Amidst all this, and during this same time period, the earth is absorbing more heat from the sun than is being released back into space4. So the planet's getting hotter. As Al Gore explains in his DVD An Inconvenient Truth, glaciers and snow reflect heat from the sun. The ocean absorbs heat from the sun. If the glaciers and snow melt, there's more ocean absorbing more heat.
So we've got all that going on. And we still need to discuss ocean currents, specifically in the North Atlantic. Think of current as a conveyer belt. Warm water flows northward from the Equator, creating a temperate European climate, and shuttles cold water back to the Equator from the far north, keeping the lower latitudes from becoming uninhabitably hot.
Oh, and did I mention Greenland? It's melting, too. Dr. Ruth Curry from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution calls it the "wild card"5 because we don't know exactly how much fresh water it will be dumping into the Nordic Sea, which is part of the North Atlantic current. But it could be a lot.
Let's do the math. The function of the North Atlantic current + excess fresh water from all the rain + melting glaciers + Greenland
 + the increasing annual temperature of the planet from fossil fuel burning = major global climate changes. Dr. Curry does say that the increased fresh water by itself is probably not enough to cause an immediate catastrophe6. Other scientists concur.7 But Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf from Potsdam University in Germany believes the chance of the North Atlantic current actually shutting down is about 30%, and he considers that to be unacceptable8.
And many scientists are far less conservative.
If the current did malfunction, western Europe could get so cold it would be almost uninhabitable. In other places, tropical storms would intensify9. Droughts, wildfires, floods, and disease would be more widespread - and indeed, the Amazon has already been hit by its worst drought in forty years10. Climate changes would hit agriculture and transportation hard, creating shortages of all kinds, including food and medicines. Eco-systems would be destroyed11.
And here is exactly how we are heading toward an irreversible catastrophe: We are accelerating and aggravating all the risk factors because we continue increasing our use of fossil fuels. The planet can't handle it.
"Global warming is one of the most serious challenges facing us today," according the Union of Concerned Scientists. "To protect the health and economic well-being of current and future generations, we must reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases by using the technology, know-how, and practical solutions already at our disposal."12
A scientist focusing on only one or two aspects of the situation, may conclude that the danger is minimal. But when you take all the information together, and shake it up, you get a catastrophic scenario.
You can see what an elaborate, complex, balanced, and interconnected series of web-like systems we humans are messing with.
Unlike, say, a meteor slamming into earth without warning, our global warming problem is reversible. We can clean up our act and leave our children and grandchildren a green planet. According to An Inconvenient Truth, we have about ten years to get it together. After that, it may not be fixable.
How can we reverse global warming? According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, "Using energy more efficiently and moving to renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy) would significantly reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases."13
 Driving more energy efficient cars and trucks is something we can all do. If we demand the hybrid, hydrogen, or electric car, the market will create them for us. (One would hope.)
Using fewer products that come from the forest is another action we can take. Forests trap and store carbon, which is a good thing. But we are cutting and burning our planet's forests at an alarming rate, which is a bad thing.
Part 2 of our Global Warming series, which will be out shortly, will list action-items we can build into our lives. Yes, we can all be heroes if we choose.
∞
Nov. 14, 2006
Watch the trailer for the HBO Documentary on Global Warming: Too Hot Not To Handle, executive produced by Laurie David.
2. The Earth Institute at Columbia University: Intro to Climate Change
3. Dilution of the Northern North Atlantic Ocean in Recent Decades by Ruth Curry and Cecilie Mauritzenfrom Science, June 17, 2005.
4. The Earth Institute at Columbia University
5. Dr. Ruth Curry of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as quoted in National Geographic News, June 27, 2005.
6. Curry and Mauritzen
7. Global Warming May Alter Atlantic Currents, Study Says, by John Roach for National Geographic News, June 27, 2005
8. Ibid
9. The Earth Institute at Columbia University
10. Nature.com
13. Ibid
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