Shut up about climate change.
ALRIGHT. I have just about had it with these news reports telling me about climate change. I had to write an essay about climate change for one of my exams, but we weren't allowed to mention ANYTHING that happened in the last 100 years. Do you know why? Because climate change isn't a recent thing. This planet's global temperature has fluctuated A LOT over it's history. The Earth experiences a sharp increase in average global temperature every 100,000 years or so, which coincides with a natural spike in carbon dioxide levels. In fact, right now were are in a minor ice age, or still recovering from the last one (which was only about 10,000 years ago). The Earth very rarely has polar ice caps, and in comparison to the climate that's been around for most of Earth's history, we're in quite a cold patch.
I need to stress this. There is no definitive proof that increases in greenhouse gases are responsible for the increase in temperature we've seen. The average global temperature HAS increased by one degree Celsuis over the last century, which is a notable. But we cannot be sure if this was a natural occurence or not (the Earth may be recovering from the ice age, who knows). Also, we don't know if this was just an anomaly. Perhaps the temperature rose quite a bit and it may fall soon. I mean, climate change is meant to affect the UK in the following ways: winters become milder with more precipitation, summers become very hot with less precipitation. Okay, so in May it was pretty warm here. But for the last few weeks, it's been grey and rainy. There really isn't any way of telling what is caused by climate change and greenhouse gases etc. It's not like it's something you can test in a lab, recreate results for and use controls. Weather is something you can't retest when it's over.
People go on about it like it's the end of the world as we know it. Listen. Sea levels are pretty low at the moment compared to what they have been. Global temperatures are pretty low compared to what they have been. The world may be warming naturally because it's just transitioning to a new climate. For most of Earth's history, the climate worldwide has been very hot and humid. Fossils have been found around the UK which indicate that there used to be a huge SWAMP covering it. Native fauna would have been rhinoes and hippoes! Does that sound like a temperate maritime climate to you? The only place you find those animals today is in the African savannah, which gives some indication to the temperatures found globally. If the world is warming naturally, then, yes, the polar ice caps will eventually melt, and the animals living in the arctic will either die off or adapt to another habitat. This process has gone on for millions of years. So a few places next to the sea get swallowed up into the sea. I'm sure that by the time THAT happens, those places will have been evacuated for decades. It's not like it's going to happen over night. No one's going to die.
People miss the point about this. Yes, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and amplifies the greenhouse effect. But the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are still relatively tiny. 0.04% of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, and it has been MUCH MUCH greater than this at many points in Earth's history. And yes, there is a "hole" in the ozone layer. But do you know where it is? Antarctica. And the hole lasts for 6 weeks around spiring time (that's southern hemisphere spring time, it occurs in October). The hole doesn't stop as much UV-B radiation as it should, so the radiation is stronger and penetrates further into the ocean's surface. The plankton in antarctic waters are not equipped to deal with this much radiation, so quite a bit die off. Obviously, this then has a chain reaction on food chains. In total, the productivity of Antarctic waters drops by about 3%. This is notable, but by no means catastrophic. The thing we have to worry about if ozone is depleting in certain areas is that more radiation makes it to Earth's surface, which will probably have a marked effect on the amount of skin cancer cases. However, ozone itself IS a greenhouse gas, and it becomes a problem in cities. Also, trees produce greenhouse gases. They do absorb carbon dioxide, but they release other chemicals like nitrogen oxides. So you can see how this isn't a black and white issue.
Anyways. Yeah, I'm tired of people on the news saying "OMGZ WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!111ELEVEN" Just be QUIET. No one knows what's going to happen, and no one can guess where this is going. I mean, I saw a news report about how the tundra in Canada is warming, and there was a reporter from the BBC there. And how did he get there? He magically teleported over? No, he went on a PLANE. Don't you think that's slightly hypocritical given he's doing a report on the effects of climate change from greenhouse gases? I mean, do you KNOW how many greenhouse gases a plane gives off?? It's a HELL of a lot more than a car.
Well I'm done ranting XD God damn, why does everything get me grumpy these days??
I need to stress this. There is no definitive proof that increases in greenhouse gases are responsible for the increase in temperature we've seen. The average global temperature HAS increased by one degree Celsuis over the last century, which is a notable. But we cannot be sure if this was a natural occurence or not (the Earth may be recovering from the ice age, who knows). Also, we don't know if this was just an anomaly. Perhaps the temperature rose quite a bit and it may fall soon. I mean, climate change is meant to affect the UK in the following ways: winters become milder with more precipitation, summers become very hot with less precipitation. Okay, so in May it was pretty warm here. But for the last few weeks, it's been grey and rainy. There really isn't any way of telling what is caused by climate change and greenhouse gases etc. It's not like it's something you can test in a lab, recreate results for and use controls. Weather is something you can't retest when it's over.
People go on about it like it's the end of the world as we know it. Listen. Sea levels are pretty low at the moment compared to what they have been. Global temperatures are pretty low compared to what they have been. The world may be warming naturally because it's just transitioning to a new climate. For most of Earth's history, the climate worldwide has been very hot and humid. Fossils have been found around the UK which indicate that there used to be a huge SWAMP covering it. Native fauna would have been rhinoes and hippoes! Does that sound like a temperate maritime climate to you? The only place you find those animals today is in the African savannah, which gives some indication to the temperatures found globally. If the world is warming naturally, then, yes, the polar ice caps will eventually melt, and the animals living in the arctic will either die off or adapt to another habitat. This process has gone on for millions of years. So a few places next to the sea get swallowed up into the sea. I'm sure that by the time THAT happens, those places will have been evacuated for decades. It's not like it's going to happen over night. No one's going to die.
People miss the point about this. Yes, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and amplifies the greenhouse effect. But the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are still relatively tiny. 0.04% of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, and it has been MUCH MUCH greater than this at many points in Earth's history. And yes, there is a "hole" in the ozone layer. But do you know where it is? Antarctica. And the hole lasts for 6 weeks around spiring time (that's southern hemisphere spring time, it occurs in October). The hole doesn't stop as much UV-B radiation as it should, so the radiation is stronger and penetrates further into the ocean's surface. The plankton in antarctic waters are not equipped to deal with this much radiation, so quite a bit die off. Obviously, this then has a chain reaction on food chains. In total, the productivity of Antarctic waters drops by about 3%. This is notable, but by no means catastrophic. The thing we have to worry about if ozone is depleting in certain areas is that more radiation makes it to Earth's surface, which will probably have a marked effect on the amount of skin cancer cases. However, ozone itself IS a greenhouse gas, and it becomes a problem in cities. Also, trees produce greenhouse gases. They do absorb carbon dioxide, but they release other chemicals like nitrogen oxides. So you can see how this isn't a black and white issue.
Anyways. Yeah, I'm tired of people on the news saying "OMGZ WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!111ELEVEN" Just be QUIET. No one knows what's going to happen, and no one can guess where this is going. I mean, I saw a news report about how the tundra in Canada is warming, and there was a reporter from the BBC there. And how did he get there? He magically teleported over? No, he went on a PLANE. Don't you think that's slightly hypocritical given he's doing a report on the effects of climate change from greenhouse gases? I mean, do you KNOW how many greenhouse gases a plane gives off?? It's a HELL of a lot more than a car.
Well I'm done ranting XD God damn, why does everything get me grumpy these days??