The year 2013 tied with 2003 as the fourth warmest year globally since records began in 1880. While it was not the hottest all time record for a year, it shows that the earth is continuously warming up and may soon reach the critical two degree Celsius (2C) global temperature rise. For the record, the world’s new record high goes to the former second-place world’s highest temperature of 134°F (56.7°C) at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California on July 10, 1913 (World Meteorological Organization). According to the latest UN report, thirteen (13) of fourteen (14) warmest years on record occurred in the 21st century. So, where is the world going?
What does the 2C global temperature increase mean? How will it affect the earth? Scientists have determined that this increase in global temperature will be catastrophic to the earth. Floods, droughts, extreme weather conditions, diseases, food and potable water shortages, and many more climate related upheavals are predicted. World leaders are expected to make drastic decisions in order to lessen greenhouse gas emissions which are the main culprit for global warming.
But the problem is how to rally everyone to this cause. The things to be done are already lined up and are just waiting to be shouldered and brought to completion. Everyday we experience temperature changes which ranges are even more than 2C. But nothing critical and serious seem to be happening. And yet, it is there, effective, lingering, creeping, and snowballing. That is because we are not talking about daily temperature fluctuations but global average temperatures. The signs are there: melting of the ice in the Arctic, increase in water vapor, climate changes, etc. The response is wanting.
Two Johns collaborated to lead other scientists to make calculations and presentations which, hopefully, will make people stop and talk about global warming even for a while: John Cook, climate communication research fellow at University of Queensland, and oceanographer John Church.
Their calculations first considered the presence of the ocean which absorbs 90% of the heat generated by the earth. Thanks to the oceans, global warming has been containable, so far. At first, the team measured the heat being absorbed by the ocean in Joules units. But that calculation, they realized, is only meaningful and calculable for scientists. Thus, they resorted to something more or less known, memorable and measurable by everyone—the nuclear bomb exploded in Hiroshima, Japan. Result? The earth is absorbing 345,600 Hiroshima nuclear bombs per day which is four bombs per second!
How about the reverse, that is, when the earth’s temperature was 2C below the 1750 level? This, we do not have to imagine. It already happened 18,000 years ago over a span of a hundred years. It was a result of different natural forces and changes in earth’s orbit. It was known that then, there was an ice sheet measuring one mile thick! I leave to your imagination how earth was at that time!
One way to imagine global warming is to think of the earth as a kind of open icebox which has been neglected at a party. The ice inside reacts to the warmer climate outside and melts. As it melts, the resultant water remains cold until all the ice has melted. Eventually the icebox fails to prevent the drinks from heating up.
But then again, climate change is complex. There are a lot of factors involved in its occurrence. The hardest to predict is how the weather will be periodically. Our instruments maybe the latest but they are not perfect. They are only as good as the available data and their technology. Human factor is also crucial. Even now, given a certain scientific finding, scientists differ in their explanation and acceptance. Some are willing to commit while others elect to be more conservative.
Let the scientists do their thing. Meanwhile, people must get involved. Finding images, memes, icons, analogies or whatever effective media which will make people equally attentive about what is happening in our world today as far as global warming and climate change are concerned, is paramount. In the end, the world’s response will need the cooperation of every living thing on earth.
“The end of the world is on people’s minds. We have the power to destroy or save ourselves, but the question is what do you do with that responsibility.” — Nicholas Cage
Credits to David Holmes, Senior Lecturer, Communications and Media Studies at Monash University
Photo credit: Red Alert Politics