Tuesday, 7 August 2018

Cat on a Hothouse Roof

Climate scientists, in a recent scholarly article, have suggested that, on some models, anthropogenic-mediated increases in the mean global temperature beyond a modest point might well lead to changes that spiral out of control to generate a 'hothouse' condition for the planet(https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/06/domino-effect-of-climate-events-could-push-earth-into-a-hothouse-state). This would be a consequence of some changes producing contributions to climate change (e.g. the release of methane from permafrost locations or the reduced reflection of solar energy by the loss of ice from polar regions) that would be virtually impossible for humans to quickly reverse (certainly, reducing human release of 'greenhouse gases' would not, at this time, reduce the average global temperature and it would continue to rise). Such a hothouse condition would result in a loss of fertile land by increasing the sea level making it impossible to feed the global human population (quite apart from their being directly exposed to risks associated with climate change e.g. flooding and fires).

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