It isn't usually like this
23/07/23 03:28
When we lived in North Dakota more than four decades ago, we used to joke that the weather in North Dakota was never normal. It didn’t seem to matter what the weather was, there was someone at the city cafe who would say, “It isn’t usually like this.” We moved to North Dakota in the summer and were told that the hot weather was unusual. “It isn’t usually like this.” Then, when we had a couple of weeks of below-zero weather in the winter, local folks were once again saying, “It isn’t usually like this.” The reality was that we were quite comfortable. The parsonage in which we lived had a good furnace and we were able to be warm and comfortable inside during the winter. Although we didn’t have air conditioning in our home or in our car, it wasn’t a problem. the number of days in which air conditioning would have been nice was small. We learned to open up the house and sometimes put a fan into a window during the night and to close it up to keep the heat out during the day. There were a few hot days traveling by car. Later, when we decided to have two cars, we did get one with air conditioning. I remember saying to friends, there is no need for two cars with air conditioning. When it is hot we can drive the one that has cool air.
We haven’t had a car without air conditioning for nearly 30 years. The home in which we have lived for the past couple of years has central air conditioning. We don’t need to run it for extended periods of time, but a couple of hours in the late afternoon and early evening keeps us comfortable.
However, it turns out that the people we met in North Dakota were right - if not back then, at least now. “It isn’t usually like this.” Dangerous heatwaves in Europe are breaking records. The oceans are warmer than they have ever been. Antarctic sea ice is melting at alarming rates. Scientists who study the weather say that the speed and timing of the warming of the earth is unprecedented.
It isn’t like we didn’t expect this to happen. Scientists have been warning us that the over consumption of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming for decades. International conferences have brought attention to the climate crisis that is bearing down upon the planet. Of course there are those who are in denial. They tend to be some of the same people who think that the Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t real.
It does appear, however, that the scientists, including some who predicted worst case scenarios, were correct. There is significant evidence that there has never been a period when all parts of the climate system were in record-breaking territory, according to Thomas Smith, an environmental geographer at the London School of Economics. Imperial College London climate science lecturer Dr. Paulo Ceppi agrees, “The Earth is in uncharted territory.”
The world experienced its hottest day ever recorded in July, breaking the global average temperature record set in 2016. There is little doubt among scientists that ongoing emissions from burning fossil fuels like oil coal, and gas are behind the planet’s warming trend.
The heat wasn’t just a single day in July. This year also saw the hottest June on record. El Nino, the world’s most powerful naturally occurring climate fluctuation that brings warmer water to the surface in the tropical Pacific, came earlier than predicted. It isn’t just the absolute temperatures, but also the rate of change that has scientists wondering what the next decade will bring. Although the climate predictions of a decade ago are relatively accurate, scientist are less confident about their predictions for the next ten years because the rate of change is accelerating so quickly.
All of the last three months, May, June, and July have seen average global ocean temperatures rising well above record heats. The extreme heat in the North Atlantic ocean is particularly alarming to scientists. People tend to think about trees and grasses dying when they talk about heatwaves, but scientists are even more alarmed at the impact of rising sea temperatures on marine ecosystems. The oceans produce 50% of the world’s oxygen. Rapid depletion of ocean plants will cause the warming trends to accelerate.
Warm oceans mean less sea ice. The area covered by sea ice in the Antarctic is at record lows. An area around 10 times the size of the United Kingdom has disappeared. It isn’t just a record being broken - the amount of sea ice in the Antarctic is 10% lower than the previous low. The depletion of sea ice is much more rapid than previously predicted. This means that it is nearly impossible to obtain sufficient data to make long term predictions. No one is sure how much more sea ice will be lost in the next few years, let alone decades.
More heat brings more wildfire which increases the carbon in the atmosphere. It is a viscous cycle that is accelerating in ways that alarm even casual observers. Scientists now talk about “a livable future for many,” acknowledging that the changes in the atmosphere may mean that the planet will not be able to sustain current levels of human population. Reductions of population by deaths due to heat, flooding, fire, and pandemic seem like drastic predictions, but they are not beyond reason. Extreme heat is already the most dangerous weather phenomenon in terms of human lives lost.
It isn’t usually like this.
In the short run, rapid heat increases result in increased use of air conditioning, much of it powered by fossil fuels, the use of which increase the carbon in the atmosphere in turn increasing the temperature. We have decided that the fact that we have air conditioning in a region where it isn’t common means that we need to install solar panels to generate the electricity we use so that we don’t increase our carbon footprint. But one house has such a tiny impact that we can’t reverse global trends.
The truth is that we are all in this together. We humans have only one planet as far as we know. And it is getting uncomfortably hot. There no longer is time for a debate about whether human caused climate change is a reality. Our energies are needed to find solutions to save lives. If we cannot envision a livable future for all at least we must work for a livable future for many.
We haven’t had a car without air conditioning for nearly 30 years. The home in which we have lived for the past couple of years has central air conditioning. We don’t need to run it for extended periods of time, but a couple of hours in the late afternoon and early evening keeps us comfortable.
However, it turns out that the people we met in North Dakota were right - if not back then, at least now. “It isn’t usually like this.” Dangerous heatwaves in Europe are breaking records. The oceans are warmer than they have ever been. Antarctic sea ice is melting at alarming rates. Scientists who study the weather say that the speed and timing of the warming of the earth is unprecedented.
It isn’t like we didn’t expect this to happen. Scientists have been warning us that the over consumption of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming for decades. International conferences have brought attention to the climate crisis that is bearing down upon the planet. Of course there are those who are in denial. They tend to be some of the same people who think that the Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t real.
It does appear, however, that the scientists, including some who predicted worst case scenarios, were correct. There is significant evidence that there has never been a period when all parts of the climate system were in record-breaking territory, according to Thomas Smith, an environmental geographer at the London School of Economics. Imperial College London climate science lecturer Dr. Paulo Ceppi agrees, “The Earth is in uncharted territory.”
The world experienced its hottest day ever recorded in July, breaking the global average temperature record set in 2016. There is little doubt among scientists that ongoing emissions from burning fossil fuels like oil coal, and gas are behind the planet’s warming trend.
The heat wasn’t just a single day in July. This year also saw the hottest June on record. El Nino, the world’s most powerful naturally occurring climate fluctuation that brings warmer water to the surface in the tropical Pacific, came earlier than predicted. It isn’t just the absolute temperatures, but also the rate of change that has scientists wondering what the next decade will bring. Although the climate predictions of a decade ago are relatively accurate, scientist are less confident about their predictions for the next ten years because the rate of change is accelerating so quickly.
All of the last three months, May, June, and July have seen average global ocean temperatures rising well above record heats. The extreme heat in the North Atlantic ocean is particularly alarming to scientists. People tend to think about trees and grasses dying when they talk about heatwaves, but scientists are even more alarmed at the impact of rising sea temperatures on marine ecosystems. The oceans produce 50% of the world’s oxygen. Rapid depletion of ocean plants will cause the warming trends to accelerate.
Warm oceans mean less sea ice. The area covered by sea ice in the Antarctic is at record lows. An area around 10 times the size of the United Kingdom has disappeared. It isn’t just a record being broken - the amount of sea ice in the Antarctic is 10% lower than the previous low. The depletion of sea ice is much more rapid than previously predicted. This means that it is nearly impossible to obtain sufficient data to make long term predictions. No one is sure how much more sea ice will be lost in the next few years, let alone decades.
More heat brings more wildfire which increases the carbon in the atmosphere. It is a viscous cycle that is accelerating in ways that alarm even casual observers. Scientists now talk about “a livable future for many,” acknowledging that the changes in the atmosphere may mean that the planet will not be able to sustain current levels of human population. Reductions of population by deaths due to heat, flooding, fire, and pandemic seem like drastic predictions, but they are not beyond reason. Extreme heat is already the most dangerous weather phenomenon in terms of human lives lost.
It isn’t usually like this.
In the short run, rapid heat increases result in increased use of air conditioning, much of it powered by fossil fuels, the use of which increase the carbon in the atmosphere in turn increasing the temperature. We have decided that the fact that we have air conditioning in a region where it isn’t common means that we need to install solar panels to generate the electricity we use so that we don’t increase our carbon footprint. But one house has such a tiny impact that we can’t reverse global trends.
The truth is that we are all in this together. We humans have only one planet as far as we know. And it is getting uncomfortably hot. There no longer is time for a debate about whether human caused climate change is a reality. Our energies are needed to find solutions to save lives. If we cannot envision a livable future for all at least we must work for a livable future for many.
