Right now, climate change seems to be future in the minds of many, but some predict that, by 2036, it will reach a critical point.
So far, climate change has resulted in the occurrence of more severe weather events, driven by rising average global temperatures. So far, average temperatures have risen 1.4°F in the last 140 years, most of that in the last forty years or so, and the rate of increase appears to be accelerating. By 2036, global temperature averages could reach 2.0°F over pre-Industrial Age temperatures, around 1880.
This temperature increase corresponds with what climate change scientists estimate to be double the carbon dioxide concentration levels of pre-industrial times, or 560 ppm (parts per million). Interestingly, carbon dioxide crossed the 400 ppm level briefly in mid-May, 2013, and has already reached 400 ppm mid-March, 2014, and will most-likely stay above 400 ppm for a few months. It seems that we’re well on our way, if nothing is done, to hit 560 ppm by 2036, or earlier.
Most climate change scientists agree that reaching 2.0°F over 1880 levels will have irrevocable impact on every facet of our civilization, including food production, access to freshwater, health care, and arable and habitable land distribution. Every single one of these will impact national security, energy use, and economic prosperity. Unfortunately, it seems that maintaining the status quo, or simply proceeding with business as usual, we’ll reach that point in as little as twenty years, and the world will change forever.
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