The Prime Minister of Canada isn't shy when it comes to his thoughts about climate change. Act now, he tells Canadians, while it is still a choice.
The causes of climate change -- CO2 rise is a reality
The cause of climate change, the potential effects of climate change, and combating climate change are debated often, but the rising CO2 levels are a reality. And so are the rising flood waters which accompany global warming. Scientists are aware of multiple potential causes of global warming and while the arguments continue, tempers are rising as fast as the flood waters!
Even worse than wrong assumptions, are those factions that try to ram their own opinions down the throats of skeptics with threats and violence.
CO2 levels continue to rise while politicians and business interests debate the expense of battling climate change. The focus is on the spike in CO2 levels and the increase in global temperatures accompanying it. Some advocates, of climate change, blame the Industrial Revolution. However, by looking into the past, much farther than the Industrial Revolution, we see patterns in the earth's temperature fluctuations indicating an eventual cataclysmic probability.
NASA reports that CO2 levels are on the rise at an unprecedented rate. From 1950 until now, this spike has been almost vertical.
This trend seems to have followed the fossil fuel industry's growth. It is convenient to draw the conclusion that the spike in global CO2 is caused by fossil fuel combustion. This is substantiated by many studies. It is pretty obvious that the beginning of the dramatic rise in CO2 levels coincides with the Industrial Revolution.
However, it is an assumption that the current phenomena, which we see in the atmosphere, it is created by ourselves.
Our planet's future deserves more than an assumption
There is enough scientific data available to substantiate other possible causes of the global warming effect. Climate research has demonstrated a wide array of fluctuations in the earth's temperature, throughout its history.
Of course, there was the demise of the dinosaurs, which was likely the result of a large comet strike, and the ensuing saturation of the atmosphere with megatons of debris, which took thousands of years to settle. This happened about 65 million years ago. But there have been many changes in our atmosphere, both before and after, the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. There have been hundreds of spikes, both up and down, during the history of the earth. And, if climate change proves to be other than the result of emissions from our own making, we should start acting on that information now.
Are we prepared? Scientists are warning that a temperature rise of only 2° will result in the water levels rising and engulfing coastal towns and cities.
And, if we look back at the past 1 million years, there have been temperature spikes of 10 to 12 degrees. Are we prepared for the current spike to continue? Often, this increase lasts for 1000 years or more before returning to the current levels. The evolutionary theorist, Charles Darwin, based his theories around the ability of creatures to adapt to the changing environment. We are able, but are we prepared to adapt to our new changing environment?
Canada's proactive Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is telling his citizens to prepare now for bigger floods and worse storms, with higher frequency! Al Gore agrees that now is the time to act. A group connected with him is raising funds to fight climate change outside the political arena.
This world could be a very different place for our grandchildren to live in if we fail to protect them.
The implications of climate change and the potential effects are the most important issues facing mankind, today. The popular environmentalist, Wendell Berry, wrote in his book, "The Unforeseen Wilderness" in 1971, "The world is not given by our fathers, but borrowed from our children." What are we leaving behind us?