Global warming is a hot issue these days and along with extreme changes in our weather patterns and rising sea levels, it is becoming a hotter one.
Most climatologists and scientists are of the consensus that mankind is responsible for the earth’s rising temperatures. Hard to believe but more than 50 percent of Canadians have no concerns about climate change. However, our own Prime Minister is partly to blame. During the election campaign he said that climate change would be put on the front burner. Justin seems intent to lay pipelines east, west and south while gearing up production in the tar sands. Is his goal for Canada to become the prime source of oil in the world and therefore its biggest polluter? I can remember when I was really excited about Canada becoming rich like the middle east oil producers, but now I’m wondering? Even countries in emerging economies like India and China take global warming more seriously than us. In fact, global warming is near the bottom of the list of concerns for Canadians.
Al Gore got the ball rolling in 2005, with his iconic statement that travelled the globe, “The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences.” Rather than sign on, most people, especially the Republicans, thought he was either looney-tunes or it was the start of another conspiracy.
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report corroborating what Mr. Gore had proclaimed. Janet McCabe of EPA said, “Climate change is a present threat and underscores the need to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and prepare our children’s future.” How the children will cope is scariest of all. It has though, brought attention to the prisoners incarcerated in jails in Texas. Since more than 97 percent of residences in the state have air-conditioning, human rights are advocating for cool air in all prisons — a most contentious issue.
Eight of the top 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1998, and 2012 and 2015 were the two warmest years; wait until 2016 results are tabulated! It could set a new mark. Rising seas, a problem exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions, already endanger coastal communities through tidal floods and storm surges. Hilary Clinton, on the campaign trail, is saying, “If sea levels continue to rise at the same rate by 2030, then $30 billion worth of waterfront property damages will have occurred. Projecting a rise of one metre or more this century and if emissions continue at a high level, it could disrupt the lives of more than 13 million people in the United States. No one has predicted yet what would happen if the Ottawa River permanently rose by one metre. Would the lower half of Clem’s Trail be submerged, the trailer park at Spotswood’s Landing disappear, let alone Greenway Drive or Turtle Bay? Maybe people would move back to the villages which sit more than two metres above the current high water mark. Westmeath might see another boom like the mid-1800’s, population growing again. Renting out rooms to the displaced could be an extra source of income. The shuttered WPS may even be opened to students once more!
Economists, always looking out for our best interests, have figured out that a hotter planet equals less humans having sex which equals less babies being born which equals less people to pay into social security. It is thought that anything hotter than 25 degree temperatures will discourage cuddling and see the bedroom less active more and more. Those who could still afford air conditioning would likely enjoy bucking the trend.
There is one kick in the butt looming: Almost everyone owns a pair of blue jeans. But water shortages and drought will have an impact on cotton production, causing price fluctuations and even a shortage in denim. There will be a lot of people wearing jeans with worn-out knees and frayed at the bottom, even wearing them with too much skin exposed.
Peanut butter prices are spiking, thanks to the extreme heat over the summer, and the peanut harvest is down nearly 15 percent compared to last year. People accustomed to toast and peanut butter will panic. Imagine their dismay when bread itself becomes scarce!
Many of the best wines come from the high-quality grapes grown in California; but warming projections could cut wine production in half within 30 years. With not enough Chardonnay and Zinfandel to satisfy, it would leave an unpleasant taste in our mouths.
Brace yourselves, chocolate lovers: The anticipated one-degree rise in world temperature by 2030 will devastate small cocoa farms, according to Colombian researchers. If the world temperature increases two degrees by 2050, it will be virtually impossible to grow cocoa plants at the elevations where current farms are located. If there’s ever a reason now to switch to energy-efficient lightbulbs and drive less, this is it!
For 60 years, weather modification has seen a worldwide industry of cloud-seeding by means of airplanes and chemical burning generators – with no results to show. The next generation is geoengineering — which some believe is our ‘hail mary pass’. This latest but dangerous technology used to address climate change and global warming will attempt solutions ranging from painting roofs of houses white, to genetically modified crops that reflect light, and even mirrors (how big?) installed in space to reflect the sun away from the earth. If it is white roofs, I’m refusing to comply, as last year I had mine painted black.
Despite the consensus on climate change, a small number of critics continue to deny that it exists or that humans are causing it. Rather, they look at its silver lining: The world hunger problem will be solved because no snow means an extra season for growing crops and more money on hand as expensive winter clothes or heating of homes won’t be necessary. Wasn’t it Donald Trump who said, “Global warming is a hoax invented by China.”
Whether or not humans can prevent what the future has in store, seniors won’t be around to agonize the disorder, maybe not even the baby boomers but the millennials and younger and those yet to be born are in for challenges not yet conceived.
