Climate change: What we don't know
Global warming should not have been called global warming at all.This misnomer has confused many, and has added to its development as such a controversial subject in the world today.
"If global warming exists, why is it so darn cold outside?"
You may have heard these kind of retorts quite often. Globally, the Earth has warmed about 2 degrees Celsius. This number is really not very big,and should not raise our eyebrows. What we should really be talking about is the climactic effect this raise in temperature has rather than the warming itself. Many of us do not know how delicately our atmosphere is balanced. Wind speeds and rain patterns are heavily dependent on the global temperature gradient. Our easterly and westerly winds are so well set that we have a very well defined climate geography. Even if there is a slight change in the global temperature gradient, be it half a degree, it will affect global wind patterns which in turn affects rain patterns. This is why many places that used to receive regular rainfall are now suffering from drought, and many formerly dead-dry places are flooded. Colder regions are becoming milder and some hot regions are getting surprise snowfalls. It is hard to comprehend that all this abnormal weather behavior is because of a 2 degree temperature hike.
Global warming is not heating up our neighborhood. The localrise in temperature is because the disturbed wind pattern, which actually is caused by the 2 degree rise in global temperature, circulates warm air from hotter regions to colder regions and vice-versa where it did not used to before. To make it moreclear, if you see an unusual rise of 20 degrees in the winter, it is the side effect of disturbed weather patterns because of the 2 degree global temperature rise.
The orientation of forests and grass lands are fully dependent on global rain patterns. It is the stability of this system that keeps our ecosystems consistent, which is something that we all depend on. Anychange in rain patterns will have disastrous effects.
We are very dependent on mother nature, and this dependency will be heavily challenged in the days to come. Whether we believe in global warming or not, the underlying issue is that we should not be living under the mercy of a delicately balanced ecosystem. Throughout man's history, Mother Nature has provided for us, and we had no other alternative but todepend on her. But now with all our technological developments, we have the tools necessary to break our umbilical cord with Mother Nature. However, it is not happening fast enough, and the reason for this is pureand simple - money. Anything that Mother Nature gives us is free (e.g.food, water,air,light).This has made us develop environmentally dependent technologies (irrigation, fresh water utilization) and stuck to this system. Now as the same ecosystem is changing, it is throwing us a challenge. Rain is not dependable any more. Fresh water supply is changing. The economics of food supply is being rewritten. Floods, hurricanes, and twisters are happening more frequently and are causing billions of dollars in damages. These challenge from global climate change are forcing us to move away from our dependency on the ecosystem and control our own world.
Even without man-made global warming, climate change would have been inevitable as our atmosphere is delicately balanced. The world climate has historically gone through a cyclic pattern of climate shifts and ice ages. It is a great relief that climate change is happening in this current age, when we are ready with technology. Surviving thru the ice age and preserving the human race is something our ancestors have proved is possible, but if it had happened just two hundred years ago, we would have lost all the marvels of human civilization and survived with only with the bare necessities. But now the scenario is different. It is just a matter of time before we integrate robotics and automation in our lives and evolve towards an advanced future. We have the technology to protect us,and free us from our dependency on nature.
- R.S. Amblee
Author "The Art of Looking Into the Future: The Five Principles of Technological Evolution"
"If global warming exists, why is it so darn cold outside?"
You may have heard these kind of retorts quite often. Globally, the Earth has warmed about 2 degrees Celsius. This number is really not very big,and should not raise our eyebrows. What we should really be talking about is the climactic effect this raise in temperature has rather than the warming itself. Many of us do not know how delicately our atmosphere is balanced. Wind speeds and rain patterns are heavily dependent on the global temperature gradient. Our easterly and westerly winds are so well set that we have a very well defined climate geography. Even if there is a slight change in the global temperature gradient, be it half a degree, it will affect global wind patterns which in turn affects rain patterns. This is why many places that used to receive regular rainfall are now suffering from drought, and many formerly dead-dry places are flooded. Colder regions are becoming milder and some hot regions are getting surprise snowfalls. It is hard to comprehend that all this abnormal weather behavior is because of a 2 degree temperature hike.
Global warming is not heating up our neighborhood. The localrise in temperature is because the disturbed wind pattern, which actually is caused by the 2 degree rise in global temperature, circulates warm air from hotter regions to colder regions and vice-versa where it did not used to before. To make it moreclear, if you see an unusual rise of 20 degrees in the winter, it is the side effect of disturbed weather patterns because of the 2 degree global temperature rise.
The orientation of forests and grass lands are fully dependent on global rain patterns. It is the stability of this system that keeps our ecosystems consistent, which is something that we all depend on. Anychange in rain patterns will have disastrous effects.
We are very dependent on mother nature, and this dependency will be heavily challenged in the days to come. Whether we believe in global warming or not, the underlying issue is that we should not be living under the mercy of a delicately balanced ecosystem. Throughout man's history, Mother Nature has provided for us, and we had no other alternative but todepend on her. But now with all our technological developments, we have the tools necessary to break our umbilical cord with Mother Nature. However, it is not happening fast enough, and the reason for this is pureand simple - money. Anything that Mother Nature gives us is free (e.g.food, water,air,light).This has made us develop environmentally dependent technologies (irrigation, fresh water utilization) and stuck to this system. Now as the same ecosystem is changing, it is throwing us a challenge. Rain is not dependable any more. Fresh water supply is changing. The economics of food supply is being rewritten. Floods, hurricanes, and twisters are happening more frequently and are causing billions of dollars in damages. These challenge from global climate change are forcing us to move away from our dependency on the ecosystem and control our own world.
Even without man-made global warming, climate change would have been inevitable as our atmosphere is delicately balanced. The world climate has historically gone through a cyclic pattern of climate shifts and ice ages. It is a great relief that climate change is happening in this current age, when we are ready with technology. Surviving thru the ice age and preserving the human race is something our ancestors have proved is possible, but if it had happened just two hundred years ago, we would have lost all the marvels of human civilization and survived with only with the bare necessities. But now the scenario is different. It is just a matter of time before we integrate robotics and automation in our lives and evolve towards an advanced future. We have the technology to protect us,and free us from our dependency on nature.
- R.S. Amblee
Author "The Art of Looking Into the Future: The Five Principles of Technological Evolution"
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