11,000 scientists warn: climate change isn't just about temperature

phys.org | 10/29/2019 | Staff
srqlolo (Posted by) Level 3
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Exactly 40 years ago, a small group of scientists met at the world's first climate conference in Geneva. They raised the alarm about unnerving climate trends.

Today, more than 11,000 scientists have co-signed a letter in the journal BioScience, calling for urgently necessary action on climate.

Number - Scientists - Publication - Climate - Action

This is the largest number of scientists to explicitly support a publication calling for climate action. They come from many different fields, reflecting the harm our changing climate is doing to every part of the natural world.

Why no change?

Years - Greenhouse - Gas - Emissions - Effects

If you're thinking not much has changed in the past 40 years, you might be right. Globally, greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, with increasingly damaging effects.

Much of the focus to date has been on tracking global surface temperatures. This makes sense, as goals like "prevent 2℃ of warming" create a relatively simple and easy-to-communicate message.

Change - Temperature

However, there's more to climate change than global temperature.

In our paper, we track a broader set of indicators to convey the effects of human activities on greenhouse gas emissions, and the consequent impacts on climate, our environment, and society.

Indicators - Population - Growth - Cover - Loss

The indicators include human population growth, tree cover loss, fertility rates, fossil fuel subsidies, glacier thickness, and frequency of extreme weather events. All are linked to climate change.

Profoundly troubling signs linked to human activities include sustained increases in human and ruminant populations, global tree cover loss, fossil fuel consumption, number of plane passengers, and carbon dioxide emissions.

Concurrent - Trends - Impacts - Climate - Change

The concurrent trends on the actual impacts of climate change are equally troubling. Sea ice is rapidly disappearing, and ocean heat, ocean acidity, sea level, and extreme weather events are all trending upwards.

These trends need to be closely monitored to assess how we are responding...
(Excerpt) Read more at: phys.org
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