Climate Change – Genesis of a Threat
The temperature of the earth is remarkably stable. That is to say, if you measure the temperature everywhere in the world all at once, and then average those results together, you will get a number that is always the same. Of course, in any given moment some places on earth are very hot and others are very cold, but they all average out to be the same number every day, every month, every year. That number might change less than one degree in ten thousand years.
In fact, the average temperature of the earth is one of the most stable numbers in all of nature at just a tad below 59 degrees Fahrenheit – all the time. Like the rising of the sun and the passing of the seasons, this is a fact you can really depend upon. And for good reason. All the plants and animals on earth have adapted to the temperature of their local environment as well as its fluctuations through the seasons. From blossoming of flowers in the spring to shedding of leaves in the fall, from gathering of food in the summer to hibernating underground in the winter, plants and animals are exquisitely well-adapted to the baseline temperature and its seasonal fluctuations.
A good analogy for the earth comes from my world of medicine. The human body also seeks a stable temperature– of 98.6 degrees – and vigorously defends it. A two degree rise in our body temperature is defined as a fever, a diseased state that prompts an investigation to determine the cause. A five degree increase severely impairs us. An eight degree increase can be fatal. Why? Because our cells, organs, and tissues have evolved to work best at our baseline temperature, just like living organisms in the environment. Biology and climate -a stable marriage for the ages. Until it isn’t.
Today, more than 33 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas are released into the air each year. That CO2 is a greenhouse gas is well-established. That atmospheric CO2 levels are steadily rising has been confirmed by direct measurement. Based on increasing levels of greenhouse gases, scientists predicted that global temperatures would rise as a result. By the mid-1990s, their voices had swelled to a chorus.
By now it is abundantly clear that those predictions have come true. According to measurements by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the earth’s temperature has risen by two degrees over the past 100 years. What is worse, the change is accelerating. While it took 75 years to gain the first degree, it took only 25 years to gain the second. Thus, it appears that our earth is running a fever, about two degrees above our baseline. A diseased state. So here is a truth that cannot be denied: Global warming is no longer a prediction. It actually came true.
To get the full story about the global warming, please check out my video essay on this website: Climate Change – Genesis of a Threat. Here you will learn that the reason the earth is becoming dangerously hot is not the carbon cycle, but rather the election cycle.