Problem #8: Climate Change
This post will be very simple: climate change is coming, like it or not. Humanity has spent the last 250 years or so- since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution- pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As Scotty would say, “ye cannae change the laws of physics!” And the laws of physics say that carbon dioxide creates a greenhouse effect. This isn’t a mystery, and nor are its results: the world is heating up. Statistics confirm this: the hottest years on record are almost all in the very recent past1. The North Pole has, literally, melted, forming a small lake2. Global warming is in the process of opening the legendary Northwest Passage3. And, most worrisome, some of the world’s great cities- such as Amsterdam, Osaka, New Orleans, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mumbai, Shanghai, New York City, and Miami-.could well be put underwater by rising sea levels4, Beyond this, greater heat has been suggested as the cause of massive climate disruption, such as more and more violent tropical storms, and hotter heat waves. This, in turn, is likely to lead to population disruption, as people move from areas either put underwater or made unbearably hot. Population movement, in turn, can lead to greater violence, as it puts people into conflict with each other.
What can be done to prevent this? Frankly, I’m not sure anything can be done to stop it. The industrialised world continues to pour carbon dioxide into the air, and this continues to heat the world, causing more of the above effects. The best thing that we can do is- and here’s where this post connects to the one on peak oil- move away from carbon-based energy sources to ones such as water, wind, and solar power. Ironically, though, one effect of greater warming will be higher wind levels...
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