IMAGINATION: Consequences of Global Climate Change
IMAGINATION: Consequences of Global Climate Change
It’s the year 2100; we are living on a giant ship. Not every one of us got the opportunity to live here. We are one of the luckiest ones who have managed to have a little space on the ship. No lowland is above the sea water level anymore. They are under water with our resources as well as with our modern architectures. Some of the financially sound people like us have made this so far. But the so-called “far in the future “is not guaranteed.
We have a few lands above the sea water level and they are not fertile enough to produce adequate food for ourselves. The food price is not high, it’s untouchable. In the meantime, we are intelligent enough to make some kind of nutrition pill. We invented many wonders to advance our progress in the world but unfortunately most of those were not environment friendly. Our way of living was in clash with nature that we are now at existential risk. Oh, I need a break to have some oxygen. Yes, we have oxygen crisis here too. We were much wealthier than we thought we would be able to buy Oxygen for us. But we are facing the truth now. The truth that we all knew then but did not want to acknowledge with urgency. We were so busy in prosperity neglecting the crisis of nature.
Luckily this was an imagination of our future earth depicting the consequences of global climate change. According to NASA, the rising rate of sea water level is 3.3 millimeters per year. If the rate increases in such a way, Sustainability of humans will be endangered.
Figure-1: Rate of Seal water Level Change
NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies says the average rate of temperature rise is 0.8 degree Celsius (1.4 Fahrenheit) since the year 1800. Two thirds of the warming has occurred since 1975, at a rate of 0.15 to 0.20 degree Celsius per decade. The rate is increasing alarmingly. The one degree change in the global temperature has a huge impact on the overall condition. We may not realize that the slight change in the temperature can have a significant impact globally. One degree global change is substantial because it takes a huge amount of heat to warm all the oceans, atmosphere, and land.A one to two degree drop was all it took to plunge the earth into the Little Ice Age and a five-degree drop was sufficient to bury a large part of North America under a vast mass of ice. So one degree of change should be a concern of higher degree.
Figure -2: Rate of Temperature Change
We are on FIRE. When the lungs of earth, Amazon is on fire, our existence is definitely threatened. But when do we give more attention to Climate Change rather than strengthening country defenses?
We are the residents of earth divided by some border lines. Those lines do not stand when natural disasters happen. When one tree is cut down in any corner of the world it does make an impact in the whole oxygen production of the world. When some pollutants are disposed of in some part of the world it does have an adverse effect on the whole world environment. So it’s time to imagine the consequences of climate change and addressing it as the first priority to sustain on this beautiful earth before it’s too late.
References:
Figure 1. www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-us-and-global-temperature
Figure 2: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-level
