We're Getting Hot, Hot, Hot

Global carbon dioxide emissions are worse than we thought.  According to the U.S. Department of Global emissions, carbon dioxide emissions grew globally by 564 million tons, which is an increase of about 6%. It’s the biggest increase in emissions on record, almost as much by itself as the entire nation of India emits in a year.

That’s crazy!  It’s like we just gained another India.  

This is not good in the light of recent research by a group of climate skeptics (those still exist?) confirming what most already believe:  Earth’s warming, and it’s warming fast.  What’s worse you ask?  Well, the Department of Energy numbers show that carbon dioxide emissions have grown faster than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s worst-case scenario estimates from just 2007—estimates that at the time were widely criticized for being too alarmist. The growth in emissions puts the planet on a path to warm 10 degrees or so by the end of the century.

So, remember when climate skeptics claimed that people like Al Gore were alarmists, trying to shock us into thinking that climate change was a real threat?  Well, as it turns out these “alarmists” were actually underselling the real problem.  It’s worse than they thought.  Can you imagine Earth being 10 degrees warmer (on average) by the end of the century?   Think of what that will do to sea levels and sea temperatures?  Warmer oceans increase the frequency and severity of hurricanes, so people that live on the southern and eastern coasts of the U.S. could be hit harder.

So what do we do?  Well, if there was a painless solution we’d have already done it.   It is important to note that of the countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol (the U.S. refused to sign), many of them have reduced that emissions.  However, what often goes unnoticed is that many of these countries have sent their manufacturing to China.  So in addition to outsourcing jobs, these countries have also outsourced their carbon dioxide emissions.

News like this brings things into perspective though doesn’t it?  The upcoming presidential election, political bickering the Kardashian wedding (just kidding…wait, people do actually think this is important, never mind) all seem petty compared to the biggest problem facing our planet: learning to live within the confines of Earth’s resources. 

-------

The Takeaway:  It’s getting hot, hot, hot.   We’re to blame, so we’re the ones that have to fix it.