Climate Change Consequences Might Come Sooner than We Think

While whole nations have vowed to take drastic measures in order to reduce the terrible effects of climate change, scientists are warning that the consequences might take place even sooner than previously thought. The world will experience a dramatic and rapid shift in the climate unless we change the current pace of fossil fuel usage.

These changes will come in diverse forms, from the melting of the ice sheets at the poles to the increase of the sea level and superstorms. Experts warn that entire coastal cities are at risk of being flooded over the next decades.

The previous study on the matter suggested that climate change consequences will take place over the next centuries. According to the leader of the research and retired climate scientist from NASA James E. Hansen, the findings were worrying: the efforts humans are currently making in order to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases are not taking place fast enough to prevent environmental disasters. This has subsequently led to a controversial debate among scientists since some of them believe the results of the study should have been reviewed first.

However, the final version of the study has just been released, and the conclusions of the draft stay the same. Those who agree with the results have stated that the findings provide us with evidence that some phenomenons are linked to the history of our planet, which has gone through several climate changes.

The opposition that Hansen faces could be a repercussion of his reputation as a political activist: the scientist has been previously arrested at several rallies and has filed suit along with a youth group against the government of the U.S. because of its inability of preventing climate change. On the other side, Hansen has stated that the current state of the world has determined him to take on multiple roles for saving it.

The newest climate study is focused on the changed that took place more than 120,000 years ago on Earth, when the global temperature reached values a bit higher than today. It is believed that during this event the polar ice melted while the levels of the oceans rose with twenty or thirty feet. While most scientists agree that the same will happen again, they also state the process will take a few hundred years. Hansen pointed out the changes will occur much earlier than that.

With the rise of the temperatures, the ice from the poles will melt and thus determine the rise of the sea levels. Furthermore, the differences between the tropics and the poles of our planet will create powerful and ravaging storms.

The study was published in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics journal.

Image Source: Conspiracy Theory Guy

Bio
Latest Posts

Alan O’Leary

Alan is a happily-married, New York-based writer with over 5 years of experience in journalism. He mainly focuses on subjects such as international politics, arts culture, social media and national news.