Facts about climate change

by Ed Biado / http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideLifestyle.htm?f=/2010/september/28/lifestyle2.isx&d=2010/september/28

It’s been a year since Ondoy saw, came and, unfortunately, conquered many parts of the country. As much as there were a lot of factors that contributed to its disastrous effects, global rising temperatures played a huge role. Still unconvinced that climate change is something to be concerned about? Read on...

1. Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades. The 20th century’s last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millenniums. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.

2. Last year was one of the five warmest years since 1850 and the United Kingdom’s Met Office predicts that, with a moderate El Niño, 2010 will likely be warmer, breaking 2009’s record.

3. The summer sea ice in the Arctic could disappear as early as 2040, resulting in the extinction of animals such as the polar bear. Arctic areas are being impacted the hardest, with Alaska, Canada and Russia already warming at twice the average global rate.

4. The East Antarctica ice sheet, which is thought to be colder and more stable that the West, is also shrinking. Antarctic ice melt will result in wildly uneven sea level rises of up to 21 feet in the heavily populated northern hemisphere.

5. Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century’s end, the IPCC’s February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia. A 1-meter sea level rise will directly affect about 145 million people (more than 100 million of which live in Asia).

6. The human population of the world is expected to be nearly tripled by the year 2100. Every day, 50 to 100 species of plants and animals become extinct as their habitat and human influences destroy them. More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans. Already over half of the world’s tropical forests have been lost.

7. According to a report by the United States Geological Survey, slight changes in the climate may trigger abrupt changes to ecosystems that may not be reversible, such as insect outbreaks, wildfire and forest dieback. Two hundred million people around the world who could be displaced by more intense droughts, sea level rise and flooding by 2080.

8. An upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events, such as wildfires, heat waves and strong tropical storms, is also attributed in part to climate change by some experts. A recent scientific paper produced by Nagoya University in Japan affirmed the role of global warming in the appearance of devastating storms like Ketsana (Ondoy) in the Philippines.

9. The current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 390 parts per million, which is higher today than at any time in at least the last 2.1 million years. Previous peaks of CO2 were never more than 300 ppm over the past 800,000 years, and the concentration is rising by around 2 ppm each year.

10. Around 1.5 billion people currently live in water-stressed regions. Climate change and population growth could increase this to seven billion by the 2050s. If current trends continue, two planets would be needed by 2050 to meet humanity’s demands.