I am not an expert on Global Warming, nor am I a politician. But I am a Human Being who is concerned that we should do whatever possible to preserve the planet for future generations.Sir Nicholas Stern’s review in 2006 concluded that global warming could shrink the global economy by 20%.
And droughts may create tens or even hundreds of millions of “climate refugees”, for example around the shrinking Lake Chad in Dafur & Niger.
Melting glaciers could cause water shortages in areas that are dependant on the runoff. 40% of all the people in the world get their drinking water from rivers and springs fed more than half by melt-water from glaciers.
And there may be an increased flood risk in some areas. Global warming increases evaporation off the oceans which results in heavier rainfall and storms.
The Arctic ice cap is melting. This may impact the warm Gulf Stream surface current which gives the UK our relatively warm climate. The melting ice shelves in the Antarctic and Greenland will increase sea level creating up to 100 million refugees.
Al Gore understands how vulnerable the globe is. In his film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ he says “What we take for granted might not be here for our children”. What a shame he never made it to President. The current administration has abdicated their responsibilities and with Australia is one of only 2 countries not to have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Now I hope that the recent heat-waves and devastating hurricanes & tornados in the US will have focused political minds.
We can deal with the impact of global warming by introducing water-wise gardening (see my post on 21 February). And we can all do a little bit to reduce Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere by turning off electronic devices when they’re not in use, and maybe by planting a tree. The total area of gardens in the UK is around 400,000 hectares. That’s space for a lot of trees…
