![]() ![]() So when you get that figure in your mind then you start to understand how we've been able to melt most of the sea ice in the summer Arctic or raise the level of the oceans. It's the heat equivalent, again every day, of 400,000 Hiroshima-sized explosions. The amount of extra heat that we trap in the narrow envelope of atmosphere in which we live, the amount of heat that we trap there every day, because of the carbon that we've poured into the atmosphere. The rise in temperature, think about it in other units Pat. But I confess I do very little to help the good people who run it. And the Vermont chapter is a wonderful and active one. We've organized 20,000 demonstrations in every country on earth except North Korea. Well, so first of all, I should just say if I founded three, which works all over the world. How much does a degree or two in record temperature changes make? You founded 350-Vermont to try to get people aware of what seems like a minor change in global temperatures have a massive impact. I mean these incredible heat waves, these melt events, these wildfires and since warm air holds more water vapor than cold these downpours and deluges like the one that's you know, come to my town in Vermont now a couple of times this summer producing landslides, closing roads, destroying homes, on and on and on. We think that's about the last time when it could have been this hot on our planet. Those records go back we think 125,000 years, something like that. And as you know it featured the hottest days we've ever measured on this planet, one after another. July was the warmest month we've ever measured on this planet. The temperatures really, really went up dramatically in June and July. And this step, seems the riser on this step seems larger than any of the ones we've encountered before. So we start from a higher place each time. But that comes, each time we get a new El Nino now we get a new global temperature record because it's coming on top of the heat that we're trapping with all the fossil fuels that we've burned. ![]() It's just kind of clicking in now in the Pacific and that will warm the planet as these always do. We are at the beginning of an El Nino period. Well, there's several things going on here. ![]() How big a factor and how does that factor into what we're experiencing or is that something that's yet to come? We've heard about that along with the rising ocean temperatures. ![]() You mentioned the concerns about the oceans and the ocean currents. You know, those forest fires in Canada have burned more acreage already than any total year ever in Canadian history and we're only halfway through the summer. That we're seeing, extensive and unpredicted melt of the sea ice in the Antarctic. So surprises include the fact that the oceans, particularly the North Atlantic, are way, way, way higher, five standard deviations higher, hotter. And this summer is demonstrating that, since this is an experiment we haven't run before, we should be prepared for surprises. I think especially for scientists because the change that's happening is coming quite quickly and faster than anticipated is the kind of motto of climate scientists, I'm afraid. We're definitely seeing what climate change, what the climate crisis, looks like in its early but very real stages. A prolific writer, nearly 30 years ago he published “The End of Nature.” WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley spoke with McKibben and asked if we are now seeing the end of global environmental stability: A study published in Nature says a current in the Atlantic Ocean crucial to stabilizing the climate is likely to collapse between 20.īill McKibben is among the world’s preeminent environmentalists and teaches in flood-ravaged Vermont. Europe is also experiencing extreme weather. This summer included the hottest July ever recorded on the planet. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |