This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Sunday, 20 March 2022
Burning the Planet at Both Ends?
At this time of the year, the Antarctic should be rapidly cooling after its summer. The Arctic should be slowly heating up after winter. In actuality, simultaneous heatwaves are occurring at both of the Earth's poles (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/20/heatwaves-at-both-of-earth-poles-alarm-climate-scientists). In Antarctica, record temperatures have reached 40 degrees Centigrade above normal in places. Concomitantly in the Arctic, some temperatures are way ahead of their typical schedule, being 30 degrees Centigrade above normal. These 'unprecedented events' naturally worry climate scientists. The simultaneous heatwaves suggest that climate breakdown is occurring much more quickly than has been assumed. Humans probably have considerably less time to reverse the impact of global heating than has generally been assumed. If it comes, the consequences of climate breakdown are also likely to be very abrupt. Climate scientists shouldn't only be the only folk to worry. Political pledges don't remove any 'greenhouse gases'! Getting your oil and gas from a different country, won't reduce global heating!
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