Global warming: a perspective from earth history
I found this educational and scary, despite what I've already read on the subject. It's fairly long so I'm posting an extract from near the end of the paper, which is a position paper of the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London. It's worth reading the earlier sections on earth history, IMHO.
[Excerpt] Implications
"The threat to humanity is clear: such a disappearance of living space (with some 100 million people living less than one metre above present sea level) would represent a virtually impossible burden to a human population that is already struggling to feed itself, and is set to add another three billions to its numbers this century.
"We note that it may not be the amount of sea level rise, as its speed, which may be catastrophic for a large section of humanity. The geological record shows that the melting of icecaps does not proceed smoothly, but occurs in fits and starts. Thus, the last retreat of the great ice-sheets included at least three episodes where sea level rose some 5-10 metres within the space of a decade. This is because a modest sea level rise can destabilize the edge of a mass of land ice, causing large parts of it to rapidly slide into the sea.
"The consequences of such a sea level rise would be calamitous, comparable to (and perhaps including as a consequence) a global war. Unlike a world war, though, civilization cannot get back to normal afterwards, as much of the landscape will have been drowned, effectively forever. We consider the threat to be imminent, the timescale of the global changes seeming likely to include the lifespans of our children." [my emphasis - N]
Full text: The Guardian
I found this educational and scary, despite what I've already read on the subject. It's fairly long so I'm posting an extract from near the end of the paper, which is a position paper of the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London. It's worth reading the earlier sections on earth history, IMHO.
[Excerpt] Implications
"The threat to humanity is clear: such a disappearance of living space (with some 100 million people living less than one metre above present sea level) would represent a virtually impossible burden to a human population that is already struggling to feed itself, and is set to add another three billions to its numbers this century.
"We note that it may not be the amount of sea level rise, as its speed, which may be catastrophic for a large section of humanity. The geological record shows that the melting of icecaps does not proceed smoothly, but occurs in fits and starts. Thus, the last retreat of the great ice-sheets included at least three episodes where sea level rose some 5-10 metres within the space of a decade. This is because a modest sea level rise can destabilize the edge of a mass of land ice, causing large parts of it to rapidly slide into the sea.
"The consequences of such a sea level rise would be calamitous, comparable to (and perhaps including as a consequence) a global war. Unlike a world war, though, civilization cannot get back to normal afterwards, as much of the landscape will have been drowned, effectively forever. We consider the threat to be imminent, the timescale of the global changes seeming likely to include the lifespans of our children." [my emphasis - N]
Full text: The Guardian
Nora posted item above at 2:02 AM | Permalink
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