The report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the "State of the Climate in 2016" reveals that the health of the world is not good because of climate change. A number of pointers to the bad health of the Earth have surfaced and these include Global warming, sea level rise and greenhouse gas effect.
The report indicates that the global land surface temperatures in the year under reference were the highest in the last 137 years of record keeping. This, in the opinion of NOAA, could be attributed to a strong El Niño early in the year and long-term global warming.
However, climate scientists believe that the role of an El Niño to cause rise in surface temperatures is insignificant when compared to the role played by humans who are more responsible.
There had been a corresponding rise in sea surface temperatures also and, when it comes to rise in sea levels, the observation for 2016 is that they were at record highs in the 24 years ever since satellite recording started.
Similarly for greenhouse gases – the increase is faster than any year and CO2 readings had crossed the above a 400 parts per million average for the year. It was a first time this has been noticed and is a matter of concern.
Findings of the study
NOAA is an agency in the Commerce Department and it has reported that 2016 was the third consecutive year of record warmth.
The report highlights the effect of climate change and will justify the need to take necessary actions to fight off the ill effects of global warming.
One option to achieve this goal is to control greenhouse gases that are by-products of fossil fuels. Obviously, if this factor is kept under control, it would help the cause.
The bottom line is to discourage use of fossil fuels and promote alternate fuels like electricity.
The report should be shared
The NOAA report is a federal report and is still in the draft stage. It has to get the approval of the Trump administration before it can be released in the public domain. The authors are worried that the White House could intervene because the findings are not in sync with the strategy of those who engineered the pullout from the Paris accord.
It must be realized that climate change is a subject one can no longer ignore because it has a direct bearing on the lives of people all over the world. The melting of glaciers, flash floods, unseasonal rains, wild fires and drought are a few examples of what global warming can do. It disturbs the ecological balance and natural habitats of all living beings disappear. Therefore, it is important to control this evil otherwise a time may come when the very existence of man will be under threat.
