Throughout its history, humanity has enjoyed free natural resources home planet. The benefits provided by nature at our disposal were taken for granted. Parallel to the development of human civilization, there was a merciless appropriation of earthly wealth. Even though our earthly home is huge, it is able to independently regulate the processes occurring in nature, but still the human environment today does not look as ideal as it was during the last 1-2 thousand years ago. One of the most visible consequences of the development of human civilization is global climate change.
Over the past 150-200 years, when mankind entered the active phase of its development, the climate on the planet has changed quite noticeably. The geography of the planet has changed, the living conditions in different parts of the Earth have changed dramatically. Where previously ideal weather conditions were observed, the climate is changing, the habitat becomes harsher and less hospitable. Fewer and fewer are the conditions necessary for the normal and prosperous existence of the human race.
What is the essence of the warming problem?
It should be recognized that the consequences of global warming are not entirely the result of thoughtless human activity. Changes in the planet's climatic conditions are influenced by a number of factors.
On the scale of the Universe, our civilization is a fleeting period. What is 200 thousand years of the existence of Homo sapiens in comparison with 4.5 billion years of the life of our planet? Over the entire lifetime of the Earth, the climate on its surface has changed many times. Dry and hot periods gave way to global cold snaps that ended with ice ages. Huge glaciers covered most of the planet with their shells. The further consequences of global warming in prehistoric times became catastrophic. The melting of glaciers led to large-scale floods. The rapidly rising ocean level on the planet led to the flooding of vast territories.
According to scientists, the process of global warming was launched a long time ago and without human intervention. This is facilitated by the natural course of geophysical and astrophysical processes occurring in our solar system, in our galaxy and in the universe. The theory that existed at the end of the 20th century that man is to a certain extent involved in the deterioration of the climatic situation in the world has been revised today. Analysis of the catastrophes that have engulfed our planet in the last 20-30 years, the study of astrophysical and geophysical data gave scientists a reason to believe that the outlined changes in the climate are of a dynamic nature. To date, two factors have been established that affect changes in weather conditions on the planet and climate transformation:
- natural;
- anthropogenic.
The first factor is uncontrollable and is explained by the inevitable processes taking place in space. The increasing expansion of the Universe affects the astrophysical parameters of the motion of all celestial bodies. In other words, the presence of climatic changes on our planet is a consequence of the cyclical nature of astronomical processes.
While one category of scientists is closely studying the influence of the Universe on earth processes, another part began to study the scale negative impact human civilization on the natural environment. The impact of anthropogenic factors began with the advent of the industrial revolution. New technologies and subsequent globalization of the economy led to a rapid deterioration ecological situation on the planet. As a result, anthropogenic factors from year to year began to influence the environment and affect the planetary climate.
The damage caused is local in nature, therefore, at the regional level it is not so noticeable. However, in the aggregate, the harmful influence of man on the Earth's biosphere is of a global scale. As a result of emissions of products of the activity of petrochemical and metallurgical enterprises, the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases. Deforestation of equatorial forests in Brazil, in turn, leads to a decrease in oxygen in the atmosphere of our planet. All this and much more leads to the appearance of the greenhouse effect. As a result, there is an increase in the average temperature on the planet, melting polar ice and, accordingly, the level of the world ocean rises.
It becomes obvious that it is necessary to radically change your attitude towards your own planet. This can be achieved by eliminating or limiting anthropogenic factors that have a harmful effect on our habitat.
The problem is of a planetary scale, so it is necessary to study it and seek a solution through joint efforts. Individual activities of some individual international organizations and social movements will not solve the problem. But unfortunately, at the present time there is a situation of a global scale of misunderstanding of what is happening, the absence of a real and objective assessment of the factors influencing climatic conditions.
New facts in the history of global warming
Studies of ice samples taken from a two-kilometer depth at Vostok station in Antarctica showed a significant change chemical composition atmosphere of the Earth for two hundred thousand years. As mentioned, the Earth's climate has not always been uniform and stable. However, now there is information in the scientific community that the main causes of global warming in the prehistoric era were associated not only with geophysical processes, but also with a high concentration of greenhouse gases - CO2 and CH4 (methane). Glaciers have always melted. Another thing is that today this process is happening more rapidly. Global warming on earth may occur much earlier - not in a thousand, not in a hundred, but much faster - within ten years.
In terms of the amount of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere, the 20th century looks like a record one. We can say that this is due to the influence of cyclical natural factors, but today these processes are clearly not without human participation. Climate change is happening more dynamically than it is determined by the natural cycle. A real confirmation of this is the rapidly increasing number of cataclysms on a planetary scale.
According to scientists from the Meteorological Department of the University of Washington, in the 80s of the XX century, the planet experienced an average of 100-120 catastrophes and natural disasters per year. In the 2000s, the number of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and other natural disasters that occur annually on the planet increased 5 times. Droughts have become more frequent and the monsoon season has increased.
According to meteorologists, this is a direct consequence of the fact that fluctuations in atmospheric temperatures on the planet have become significant. Seasonality on Earth is no longer the norm, the boundaries between the warm and cold periods are becoming clearer and more expressive. Cold winters are abruptly replaced by hot summers and vice versa. Cold weather sets in after the warm season. In areas of the planet where a mild maritime climate prevailed, the number of hot and dry days is increasing. In cold regions, instead of bitter frosts, a prolonged thaw is observed.
An intensive increase in the use of organic fuels in industry and in the process of human life leads to an increase in emissions of CO2, methane and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere. The predominance of these gases in the composition of the earth's atmosphere prevents heat exchange between the air layers, creating a greenhouse effect. The earth's surface, heated by solar energy and "wrapped" in an air coat of greenhouse gases, gives off less heat, respectively, heats up faster.
Most of all, an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases is fraught with the following circumstances:
- an increase in the temperature of the air mass;
- changes in the localization of zones of precipitation formation in the earth's atmosphere;
- increasing the intensity and expressiveness of climatic and weather phenomena;
- melting glaciers;
- decrease in fresh water supplies;
- rising sea levels;
- changing existing ecosystems on the planet.
The change average annual temperature just 1-2 degrees leads to irreversible consequences that entail a chain reaction. The rise in the average temperature on the planet leads to the rapid melting of glaciers on the planet, the area of the ice shell of Greenland and Antarctica is decreasing. The average annual thickness of the snow cover is decreasing in Siberia and on the territory of the Canadian tundra. The ice cover, which fetters the Arctic Ocean, is shrinking.
The glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica - the richest natural reserve of fresh water on the planet - are irrevocably dissolved in ocean salt water. The water level of the world's oceans is rising, but due to the rise in sea water temperature and its desalination, the population of commercial fish is decreasing. Accordingly, the fishing industry is also decreasing, and as a result of natural evaporation, huge areas of agricultural land are becoming scarce. In place of fields and rice paddies, zones of semi-deserts and deserts are rapidly emerging, completely unsuitable for growing crops.
As a direct consequence of the changing temperature on the planet, famine and large-scale flooding of coastal areas are becoming an increasingly likely threat to humanity.
The amount of water received as a result of the rapid melting of the glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica will lead to a rise in the water level of the world's oceans by 11-15 meters. Huge areas will be flooded in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and states located in the Western Hemisphere, where up to 60% of the world's population lives.
According to scientists' forecasts, the flooding of coastal areas with sea water in the next 20-30 years will cause natural migration of the population inland. An increase in temperature in the permafrost zone will lead to swamping of vast areas of Western and Eastern Siberia, which will eventually become unsuitable for development. Changes in the intensity of precipitation and a decrease in fresh water reserves will lead to the beginning of a new struggle for the redistribution of resources.
Finding a solution to the problem of global warming
Climate change on the planet is not a private issue. This is a slow-moving disaster that will ultimately affect one and all. In this regard, the ways to solve it are the task of the governments of all countries. No wonder the scale of the problem and its aspects are dominant and are being discussed at the highest international level.
The efforts made to date in this direction are encouraging. For the first time at the state level, it was recognized that it is a person and his commercial activities that lead to an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the planet's atmosphere. Under pressure from the scientific community and public environmental organizations around the world, politicians are most developed countries signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. This agreement is intended to regulate the amount of industrial emissions, which have a high amount of greenhouse gases. The main goal of the Kyoto Protocol was the desire to reduce the volume of harmful emissions by 5.2% and bring the pollution parameters to the 1990 level. The atmosphere, as a result, must be cleared of harmful gaseous compounds, which will lead to a decrease in the greenhouse effect.
Within the framework of the Kyoto document, quotas for harmful emissions were determined:
- for the EU countries, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions will need to be reduced by 8%;
- for the United States, emissions should be reduced by 7%;
- Canada and Japan pledged to reduce this figure by 6%;
- for the Baltic States and Eastern Europe, the amount of greenhouse gases in emissions should be reduced by 8%;
- for Russian Federation and Ukraine, a special, favorable regime has been created, as a result of which the economies of both countries must adhere to the parameters of harmful gas emissions at the 1990 level.
Despite the global scale of the event, not all countries with massive sources of emissions have ratified this agreement at the state level. For example, the United States - the largest economy on the planet - has yet to go through a ratification process. Canada has withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol altogether, while China and India have only recently become members of the international agreements on climate conservation.
The latest achievement on the front of the struggle to preserve the climate on the planet was the Paris international Conference on climate, held in December 2019. Within the framework of the conference, new quotas for greenhouse gas emissions were determined and new requirements were announced for the governments of countries whose economies are dependent on the use of mineral fuels at industrial facilities. The new agreement defined the ways for the development of alternative energy sources. The emphasis is on the development of hydropower, an increase in heat content in production technologies, and the use of solar panels.
Combating global warming now
Unfortunately, today industrial giants scattered around the world have concentrated in their hands over 40% of the world economy. The noble desire to limit the amount of emissions of harmful components into the atmosphere by introducing restrictions in the field of industrial production in a number of countries looks like an attempt to artificially put pressure on the economies of competitors.
Global warming in Russia is assessed as one of the constraining factors for the development of the domestic economy. Despite the country's active position on the world stage in matters of climate protection and preservation, the country's economy is highly dependent on the use of mineral fuels. The weak energy intensity of the domestic industry and the slow transition to modern energy-intensive technologies are becoming a serious obstacle to real achievements in this direction.
To what extent all this turns out to be true, our near future will show. Whether global warming is a myth or a harsh reality, other generations of businessmen and politicians are already learning.
If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.
Fossil fuel consumption has contributed significantly to degradation over the past few decades environment... Global warming, climate change, species extinction, ozone depletion and increased air pollution are just a few of the problems that plague the environment. If you are not indifferent to this problem, then we bring to your attention 23 facts about global warming.
Fact 1: Global warming is the result of an increase in the average temperature at the Earth's surface due to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Fact 2: Greenhouse gas emissions will remain in the atmosphere for many years, making it impossible to eliminate the problem of global warming for several decades.
Fact 3: According to the 2007 IPCC report, sea level due to global warming will rise by 19-60 cm by the end of this century.
Fact 4: Since 1880, the average air temperature has increased by 0.7-0.8 ° C.
Fact 5: According to research on climate change, the last two decades of the 20th century were the hottest in the last 400 years.
Fact 6: Arctic ice is rapidly melting. By 2040, there will be no ice at all in summer period.
Fact 7: B national park Glacier, USA today there are only 25 glaciers left instead of 150 that were there in 1910.
Fact 8: Due to warming and, coral reefs began to die en masse.
Fact 9: Global warming causes drastic changes in weather patterns that subsequently lead to wildfires, heat waves and severe tropical storms around the world.
Fact 10: Human activities produce more carbon dioxide than plants and oceans can absorb.
Fact 11: Sea level has risen by 17-18 cm over the past 100 years, which is higher than the previous 2000 years. Rising sea levels threaten people living in coastal areas.
Fact 12: Melting glaciers will cause sea levels to rise on one side and water shortages in areas that depend on water sources.
Fact 13: A large number of animal species and flora became extinct due to the disappearance of habitats and the increase in acidity of the oceans caused by global warming.
Fact 14: Global warming could dramatically change ocean currents, which in turn will lead to a mini - ice age in Europe.
Fact 15: Higher temperatures cause more greenhouse gases to be released from ice and soil.
Fact 16: Due to the industrial revolution, the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas on a global scale has increased greenhouse gas emissions as well as increased deaths from asthma and other respiratory diseases.
Fact 17: Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in 1700, the level of carbon dioxide on Earth has increased by 34%.
Fact 18: Human activities annually release about 37 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Fact 19: By 2100, the average temperature could rise by 2-4 ° C.
Fact 20: Every year in the 21st century ranks among the hottest since 1880.
Fact 21: Over the past 30 years, the average consumption of fossil fuels in the United States has been 80%. Fossil fuels are the most dangerous contributors to global warming.
Fact 22: Global warming makes the cold regions of the world more vulnerable to diseases that are characteristic of countries with hot climates.
Fact 23: Global warming can lead to massive food and water shortages.
More and more often we see from TV screens, hear and read in the news that the tendency of global warming on earth is one of the environmental problems. It is not unreasonable that these phenomena are associated with emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is a by-product of the industrial activities of mankind. Is it really? I invite you to understand the question posed step by step.
800 thousand years, before the beginning of the industrial-industrial era, the content of carbon dioxide in the air was regulated by geological processes occurring on the surface and in the ocean and by organisms producing photosynthesis. On average, the concentration ranged from 150 ppm to 300 ppm (parts per million). The fluctuation depended on certain time periods on the planet, including glacial ones.
The Earth keeps a detailed diary recorded in last year's snow. Scientists in climatology are taking cores for research - ice samples from the glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica, in which ancient air has been preserved. Analyzing it, you can keep a continuous record of the state of the earth's atmosphere over the past 800 thousand years.
Ice core mining
During all this time, the content of carbon dioxide in the air never exceeded three hundredths of a percent. One of the first to find a way to accurately measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was an oceanographer named Charles David Killing. He made his discovery in 1958. Thanks to this discovery, we know that our Earth breathes, but very slowly. One breath takes a whole year. Most of earthly life is in its forests. And most of the forests are located in the Northern Hemisphere.
When spring comes north, making the land green. The CO 2 content in the atmosphere is dropping. When autumn comes, trees shed their leaves, which decompose and release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. When autumn comes north, so does the Southern Hemisphere. But most of the Southern Hemisphere is ocean, so it is the forests of the north that control the annual changes in global carbon dioxide levels.
The breathing process of our planet has been going on in a similar way for tens of millions of years. It would seem that no one can upset the global equilibrium of the ecosystem on our planet. But man already existed and developed on Earth.
Increase in CO 2 in the atmosphere
IN 14000
year BC, agriculture laid the foundation for a settled life and the emergence of permanent settlements. This was the period of the formation of the most ancient civilizations, such as the Sumerian, on the territory of modern Iraq. To grow crops, people began to cut down forests in ancient times, using the vacated places for sowing crops. Wood has been and is used everywhere as: building material, tool, fuel.
Already in 1750
year, Western Europe begins to use mechanisms that burn coal. For several decades, new methods of chemical production, steam boilers and machine tools have completely replaced manual labor. Since then, a close relationship has been established between pollution, carbon dioxide emissions and human activities.
IN 1781
the first steam engine was patented. This was an important step in the industrial revolution and allowed the introduction of traction vehicles, vehicles and railway locomotives. Which led to an increase in the production and use of coal. Do not forget about the growth of the population and its needs. It was at that time 800 million people. Up to 1 billion remained about 17 years.
IN 1850
-x oil was used as a fuel and raw material in various industrial industries. This "new gold" is widely used by national and international companies.
By the end of the 19th century, the oil sector accounted for about 1/3 of global carbon dioxide emissions.
IN 1908
year, a Ford car enters the market, which gives rise to mass production in the automotive industry. The population of the Earth at that time exceeded 1 billion 650 million people.
Currently, over a billion people own a car.
Already in 1950
there is a boom civil aviation, and people everywhere are starting to use the services of air carriers. And the population of the planet this year has reached the number of 2.5 billion people. 8 years later, David Killing discovered a dramatic growth unprecedented in the history of mankind general level CO 2, which has only intensified since then. Compared to the content of this gas during the rise of agriculture and civilizations, the gap was shocking. For 3 million years, nothing like this has happened on earth.
Right now in 2000
-ies, more than half of the world's population lives in cities and consumes approximately 70 percent of the primary energy produced by humans. The world's population is approaching 8 billion.
Summarizing all the factors affecting the excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we can say that with the growth and development of mankind and the improvement of its comfortable existence, the content of carbon dioxide in the air increases.
As of 2018, the main sources of carbon dioxide are:
- Burning coal;
- Combustion of oil;
- Gas combustion;
- Cement production;
- Combustion of associated gas;
- Change in the type of land use (deforestation, construction, agriculture).
Minor factors such as an increase in population, pastures and cattle combine to add to the total CO 2 emissions and lead to global warming.
Causes of global warming on Earth
By burning coal, oil and gas, our civilization exhales carbon dioxide much faster than the Earth can absorb it. Because of this
Each warm object emits a certain light in the range invisible to the naked eye, this is thermal infrared radiation. We all glow with invisible heat radiation even in the dark. The light coming from the sun hits the surface, and the Earth absorbs significant amounts of this energy. This energy heats up the planet and causes the surface to radiate in the infrared range.
Infrared Earth
But the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere absorbs most of this outgoing thermal radiation, reflecting it back to the Earth's surface. This warms the planet even more - this is the greenhouse effect that leads to global warming. The simplest physics of maintaining energy balance.
Okay, but how do we know that the problem is with us? Is the rise in CO 2 levels caused by the Earth itself? Perhaps burning coal and oil, has nothing to do with it? Perhaps it's all about these damn volcanoes? The answer is no, and here's why.
Once every few years, Mount Etna in Sicily empties into a rampage.
Each major eruption releases millions of tons of CO 2 into the atmosphere. Add to this the results of the rest of the volcanic activity on the planet, take the largest estimated number of about 500 million tons of volcanic carbon dioxide per year. It seems like a lot, right? But this is less than 2% of the 30 billion tons of CO 2 emitted every year by our civilization. The increase in carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere coincides with the known emissions from the combustion of coal, oil and gas. It is quite obvious that the reason for the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air lies not in volcanoes. Moreover, the observed warming is in line with the forecasts, based on the results of the recorded increase in carbon dioxide.
30 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, is that a lot? If you compress it to solid state, then the volume will be equal to all the "white rocks of Dover" and this amount of CO 2 we emit into the atmosphere every year without interruption. Unfortunately for us, the main by-product of our civilization is not some other substance, namely carbon dioxide.
Evidence that the planet is warming is everywhere. For a start, take a look at thermometers. Weather stations have been recording temperature data since the eighties of the 19th century. NASA scientists used this data to compile a map that shows changes in average temperatures around the world over time.
The biggest impact on climate change is now caused by the burning of fossil fuels, an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, which traps more solar heat. This extra energy has to go somewhere. Part goes to heating the air, and most of it ends up in the oceans and they become warmer.
Rising ocean surface temperatures due to global warming are affecting phytoplankton development by limiting the amount of nutrients flowing from the cool ocean depths to the surface layers. A decline in phytoplankton means a decrease in the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide and an additional acceleration in global warming, which in turn will accelerate damage to the marine ecosystem.
Warming is most evident in the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding areas. Because of the heating of the oceans, we are losing summer ice in places where almost no one goes. Ice is the lightest natural surface on earth, and the ocean is the darkest. Ice reflects incident sunlight back into space, water absorbs sunlight and heats up. Which leads to the melting of new ice. This in turn exposes even more of the ocean's surface, absorbing even more light - this is called positive feedback.
At Cape Drew Point, Alaska, the coast of the Arctic Ocean, 50 years ago coastline was more than a kilometer and a half further out to sea. The coast retreated at a rate of about 6 meters per year. Now this speed is 15 meters per year. The Arctic Ocean is warming up more and more. Most For a year, there is no ice in it, this makes the coast even more vulnerable to erosion due to storms, which are becoming more powerful each time.
The northern regions of Alaska, Siberia and Canada are mostly permafrost. For 1000 years, the soil there has been frozen all year round. It contains many organic matter- old leaves, roots of plants that grew there before freezing. Due to the fact that the Arctic regions heat up faster than others, the permafrost melts, and its contents begin to rot.
Melting permafrost is releasing carbon dioxide and methane, an even stronger greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. This further exacerbates global warming - a new example of positive feedback. Permafrost contains enough carbon to more than double the CO 2 content in the atmosphere. At the current rate, global warming has the potential to release all this carbon dioxide by the end of this century.
What consequences can global warming have
What is the danger of carbon dioxide in high concentrations in the air and what will global warming lead to? Such a future has been predicted for a long time and this is what it will be like in 2100.
In the absence of action to mitigate the effects of climate change, with methods and rates of economic activity similar to those of today, we will live in an energy-intensive world based on the use of increasingly scarce and expensive fossil fuels. Humanity will experience big problems in the field of energy security. Forest cover in the tropics will be replaced by agricultural and rangelands almost everywhere. By the end of the 21st century, the global temperature will reach about 5 ° C higher than before the industrial revolution.
The contrast of natural conditions will sharply increase. The world will change completely when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is equal to 900 ppm. Wide transformations will take place natural environment, often to the detriment of human activity. The cost of adapting to new conditions will far exceed the cost of mitigating the effects of climate change.
Consequences in the ocean
Arctic waters could be completely ice-free in summer by 2050. Sea level will rise by 0.5-0.8 meters and will continue to rise after 2100. Many settlements and coastal infrastructure around the world will be at risk of destruction. There will be a significant increase in coastal extremes (damage from tsunamis, storms and associated tides).
There will be widespread loss of coral reefs as a result of ocean acidification and heating, sea level rise and intensified tropical cyclones and rainstorms. Changes in fisheries are not even predictable.
Consequences on land
Areas of permafrost will shrink by more than 2/3, resulting in emissions to the atmosphere equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions in the history of deforestation. Many plant species will not be able to adapt quickly enough to new climatic conditions... The rise in temperature will negatively affect the harvest of wheat, rice and maize in tropical and temperate latitudes. As a result, there will be a massive extinction of species. There will be a shortage of food for people everywhere, hunger will become one of the main problems of human civilization.
Consequences in the atmosphere
The intensity and duration of periods of abnormally hot days will at least double compared to today. Cold and humid northern regions will become even more humid, and regions with semi-arid and desert climates will become even drier. Extreme precipitation will become more intense and frequent over most of the temperate and tropical latitudes. There will be a global increase in precipitation, and the annual flood area will increase 14 times.
Consequences for humans
The calculated safe level of CO2 concentration for humans of 426 ppm will be achieved in the next 10 years. The projected increase to 900 ppm in the atmosphere by 2100 will have a very negative impact on humans. Constant lethargy and fatigue, a feeling of stuffiness, loss of attention, exacerbation of asthmatic diseases - this is just a small part of the inconvenience that we will feel on ourselves. Constant changes in temperature and weather conditions will not bring the human body no benefit. Labor productivity will drop dramatically. Epidemiological and painful risks will increase dramatically in big cities.
- an increase in the average air temperature on planet Earth. This definition is given by modern scientists, explaining various natural disasters in 2019. Global warming is also called one of the most terrible and catastrophic scenarios for humanity in the near future, giving various examples. What is its essence, what are the reasons and what possible consequences await us? I hear the UN swearing again, Activists with Posters are walking around, Articles appear in the media and this makes you want to rush to the thermometer outside the window, to make sure that the world still exists.
Let us ask you, "Guest" and "Reader", what do you think about Global Warming now, and then ask again your answer at the very end of the article. The opinion will change or not. The poll is anonymous, after answering you will see what opinion prevails in society, what the majority thinks.
Global warming for me is ...
50 to 50%. Bad, but not critical. 21%, 102 votes
Let's deal with "global warming" once and for all. Why are there people who support the idea, and why are there people who deny the very fact of "global warming"?
Let's figure it out interesting and funny!
I guarantee!
P.S. Hello, Anno domini .
1. The essence of global warming.
Reference! The temperature on the planet has an amazing property. go down and up. Just like the temperature on the thermometer outside your window. Hot in summer and cold in winter. The overall temperature may rise or fall. Therefore, not so long ago, in the past, there was an ice age on Earth, which ended 11 thousand years ago. You remember how they dug mammoths out of the permafrost, and they still had unreserved grass in their stomachs. What am I doing? Were the people to blame there too? Smoked meat on an industrial scale, or did alien factories smoke the sky, triggering an Ice Age?
Or did natural cycles lead to wool on elephants?
The essence of global warming boils down to the fact that as a result of some factors, natural and artificial, including human activities, our planet's overall air temperature is growing. Scientists and ecologists are sounding the alarm that the rise in temperature will lead to the disappearance of glaciers, they will melt, the water level in the ocean will rise, the coasts of the continents will drown, people will flee from the coasts. Let's take a look at the official reasons for this.
2. Causes of global warming.
Scientists name several reasons for the increase in temperature: the activity of the Sun, the greenhouse effect inside the atmosphere, volcanic eruptions, that is, the release of huge amounts of ash into the atmosphere and the cyclic rotation of the Earth around the Sun, shorter cycles in nature.
There are no questions at all about cycles in nature. Look at your calendar and see 12 months, 4 seasons. It has always been this way, from the time I was born and when I die.
Now imagine that our planet has GREAT cycles where the temperature goes up GLOBALLY and goes down GLOBALLY. For one reason she understands. It's like her big Winter and Summer. We don't know all the seasons and laws, right? We ourselves have been living here for the last 200 thousand years, of which we began to study science for the last 500 years!
Here is a graph that shows how the temperature has changed over the last HUNDREDS of thousands of years. At the bottom it says "thousands of years", where "250" means "250 thousand years ago." See the big peaks in the blue graph? These are the temperature fluctuations HIGHER than those outside today. Can you imagine? The graph was obtained from scientists from Vostok station, who drilled ice in Antarctica to a depth of 2 km, and as they looked at the textbook, what was the temperature on the planet in the distant past. And she was ABOVE. Oh God! Just don't tell anyone ... It was warmer by as much as 2 degrees ...
But propaganda stubbornly molds the thesis that now is the highest temperature in history, people are to blame for the warming, and countries with dirty industries are to blame most of all. Judging by this graph, were people to blame in the past, 4 times in a row? Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years ago? Everytime? Or is it a cyclical natural process on Earth? What do you think?
Others causes of global warming I will not consider, because we do not affect the Sun, volcanoes, the rotation of the Earth, and so on. And if we don't, then what are the main supporters of "global warming" suggesting to solve the problem?
3. Who is the main fighter in the warming world, who is the main = Climat Warrior ??
The climate issue was inflated from time to time by the American media, there are excellent examples of how TIME magazine frightened its readers in the 1970s that the Global Cooling was approaching and soon everyone would freeze. And after the Big Freeze and the Coming Ice Age of the 1970s, the tone changed to Global Warming in 2001 to 2010 (Global Warming).
The most important Thermo Warrior was Al Gore- a failed US presidential candidate who lost to George W. Bush in 2000. Suddenly he realized his purpose in life - "Save All", and became the Prophet of the new church. Churches "Climatology".
The politician who never had any interest in climate, did not participate in projects related to warming / cooling, was right hand Bill Clinton's entire presidency, a noble liar, remembering the Monica Lewinsky scandal and his sworn lies in Congress. Suddenly such a friend-politician, knowing the pathological lies of any politicians, becomes the main Climate Warrior. Why would it suddenly? After all, his chickens do not peck money, he is a member of the directors of Apple, Google, owns his own TV channel, which he sells for $ 500 million to the Arabs, and suddenly became imbued with concern for polar bears and ice ... Yes, okay?
Instantly wrote the book "Inconvenient Truth", instantly received for it the prize on literature Quills in 2006. Then he instantly made a film based on the book and immediately received 2 Oscars in 2007. TALENT indescribable! Immediately he is discharged Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for "studying the consequences of global climate change and developing measures for their possible prevention." Just think, a Politician turns into a Scientist in a split second!
For a normal person, such a speed of the highest successes of a politician in incoherent spheres of life looks, as it were, = fishy(suspiciously)?
Targeted promotion like a PR textbook?
Now Al Gore is the Prophet of the Climatic Faith, but who is his Inquisition?
The IPCC became the inquisition for heretics and dissent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(eng. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC) is an organization created to assess the risk of global climate change caused by technogenic factors (human impacts).
1902 — « Disappearing glaciers ... worsening conditions, now it is clear that they will disappear ... scientific fact ... will definitely disappear " — Los Angeles Times
1912 — Professor Schmidt Warns Us Of The Coming Ice Age - New York Times, October 1912
1923 — « Scientists believe the Ice of the Arctic will sweep Canada off the face of the Earth"- Professor Gregory of Yale University, US Representative at the Pan-Pacific Science Congress, Chicago Tribune
1923 — « Discovery of cycles of activity on the Sun and southern movement of glaciers for last years talk about an impending new ice age» - Washington Post
1924 — « McMillan Report Indicates Signs of a New Ice Age» - New York Times, September 1924 .
1929 "Most geologists believe the world is getting hotter, it will continue to heat up." — Los Angeles Times, in the article « A new ice age is coming?»
1932 - "If this is true, if it is obvious, then we should already touch the ice age" — Atlantic Magazine, in the article “ Cold, cold world«.
1933 — America's Longest Warm Magic Since 1776; Temperature graph indicates a 25-year rise — New York Times, March 27, 1933 .
1933 - "... a persistent trend in warmer weather ... is our climate changing?" — Federal Bureau of Weather "Monthly Weather Review".
1938 — Global warming caused by human activity, its CO2 emissions “is likely to be beneficial for humanity in different way, in addition to generating heat and energy " - Quarterly Magazine Royal Meteorological Society.
1938 -"Experts are baffled by the 20-year rise in mercury levels ... Chicago is at the forefront of those cities that will feel the mysterious trend of climate warming over the past two decades." — Chicago Tribune.
1939 — "The old people who say that winters were harsher in their times are completely right ... Climatologists say without a doubt that the world is getting warmer." — Washington Post.
1952 — "... we have already realized that the world is getting warmer over the past 50 years" — New York Times, August 10, 1962.
1954 — “… Winters are getting milder, summers drier. Glaciers are receding, deserts are increasing " — US News and World Report.
1954 — Climate - Heat's End - Fortune Magazine.
1959 — "Arctic discoveries point towards a theory of rising Global Temperatures" - NY Times.
1969 - “… the layer of Arctic ice is decreasing and the North Arctic Ocean will soon remain ice-free for the next 10-20 years "- New York Times, February 20, 1969.
1969 - "If I were a player, I would bet all my money on the fact that England will no longer be in 2000" - Paul Ehrlich (although he predicts disaster due to global warming, his quote was torn from the conversation about overpopulation).
1970 - "... hold on tight to your warm underpants, those who do not like cold weather - the worst is yet to come ... there are no signs of calm on the horizon" — Washington Post.
1974 - « Global cooling over the past 40 years " — Time magazine.
1974 - “The Climate Cassandras (prophets / clairvoyants) are very concerned about the data they see. They resemble the messengers of a new Ice Age " — Washington Post.
1974 — “The cold trend is clearly visible. Leading climatologists have concluded that this is a very bad sign for everyone. ". — Fortune Magazine who got Science Prize from the American Institute of Physics for their hazard analysis.
1974 - "... the facts that we now possess indicate that with a high degree of probability we will get crop failures ... mass deaths from hunger, and, possibly, anarchy and violence" -New York Times.
1975 - Scientists Ponder Why the Global Climate Is Changing: A Global Cooling Is Inevitable — New York Times, May 21, 1975 .
1975 - “The threat of a new Ice Age stands next to the threat nuclear war... These are the causes of enormous sacrifices and poverty for all mankind " Nigel Calder, editor New Scientist, in an article for Wildlife International.
1976 - "Even US farms will be hit by the cold climate" — US News and World Report.
1981 - Global Warming - "the most unexpected scale" — New York Times.
1988 - I want to highlight 3 main findings. Number 1, Earth is warmer in 1988 than any other period we have studied. Number 2, global warming is already so obvious that we can describe it with great confidence as it is caused by greenhouse gases. Number 3, our computer simulations indicate that the greenhouse effect is already severe enough to even affect things like summer heatwaves. — Jim Hansen, NASA testimony before the US Congress in June 1988 .
1989 - “On the one hand, as scientists, we are obliged to follow the scientific method, to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth - this means talking about all doubts, reservations,“ if ”,“ and ”,“ but ”. On the other hand, we are not only scientists, but also living people. And like most people, we want to see the world as clean, good, which means to reduce the risk of the potential threat of climate change. To achieve this, we need to provide widespread support in society, capture the public's imagination. And this means wide media coverage of our topic. SO WE SHOULD SPREAD DISASTER PROPHECIES, MAKE Void DRAMATIC STATEMENTS, AND ALWAYS REMEMBER Doubts, IF WE HAVE THEM. These are the "double standards" that fetter us. Everyone must personally decide for himself what is more important for him: result or honesty. I hope you can combine both ways. " - Stephen Schneider, lead author of the Inter-Parliamentary Group on Climate Change, Discovery Magazine, October 1989.
1990 - “We need to further promote the topic of global warming. Even if the whole theory of global warming is nonsense, we are still on the right track in terms of developing our economy and caring for the environment. " — Senator Timothy Veers.
1993 - “Global climate change will change temperatures and rainfall patterns. Scientists are worried about what changes await us in agriculture. " — US News and World Report.
1998 - It doesn't matter if the whole scientific basis of [global warming] is sucked from the thumb…. climate change gives us tremendous leverage on how to achieve justice and equality for the whole world. " - Christine Stewart, Minister of the Environment Canada, Calgary Herald, 1998.
2001 - "Scientists have no doubt that global warming is taking place, and almost no one doubts that people are at least partially involved in it." — Time Magazine, April 9, 2001 .
2003 - “The emphasis on catastrophic scenarios may be appropriate when the public and decision-makers in the country do not yet know the details. Energy from the sun, shale oil, and wind energy will receive significant help from the state. " — Jim Hansen, NASA, Global warming activist. Can we defuse the Global Warming bomb?.
2006 - “I believe it’s worth doing this: exaggerating the danger so much to attract the audience and, when they listen carefully, show our solutions to a fictitious crisis, and how great we are dealing with it.” — Al Gore, Grist Magazine, May 2006.
Now: the global temperature has been dropping for 4 years in a row, so there are no catastrophic articles about the actual temperature, although scientists, journalists and economists continue to mold the theory about carbon dioxide taxes ... How long will it take until talk about a new impending "Ice Age" starts again?
Red shows - confident news about warming, blue - confident news about a cold snap, yellow - a period of "confusion and vacillation" of scientists.
Naturally, NOW they stand screaming that "the Earth has been warming up all the past XX century", ignoring all those years when people were frightened with cold.
But in fact, the temperature on the planet, as it should, however, fluctuates up and down, a little bit, because this is an open system, and not a small office with an air conditioner on the wall. But it is in the office that another bureaucrat-scientist sits, looking at the thermometer, looking out the window, draws a line up or down from the thermometer, and then sensationally prophesies the imminent death of all living things.
Here is the opinion NORMAL scientists.
2006 “It’s not a question of whether the temperature on Earth has been warming up for the last hundred years. The earth always heats up and cools down, exactly by a few tenths of a degree a year ... "- Richard S. Lindzen, professor of meteorology at MassachusettsInstitute of Technology.
2006 - “We forget the basic school course. Climate ALWAYS is changing. It always ... heats up or cools down, it cannot be stable ... But if it became STABLE, that was very interesting, because it would have happened FOR THE FIRST TIME in 4.5 billion years. " - Philip Stot, professor of bio-geography at the University of London.
2006 - “Since 1895, the media have been predicting either global warming or global cooling. From 1895 to 1930, we were all waiting for the Ice Age. Then, from 1920 to 1960, Global Warming was expected. From 1950 to 1970 - Ice Age again. And now we have a warming fashion again. " - Senator James Inhof. September 25, 2006 .
2007 “I recently spoke (criticizing global warming) and 3 members of the Canadian government, the Environment Department, came up to me and said:“ We agree with you, but this is unacceptable for our work. In fact, we have created a huge business on the climate and many people are employed in it. " - Dr. Tim Ball, radio station Coast-to-Coast, 6 February 2007.
2008 “John Hansen can't be shut up anymore, even though he outright violated NASA's climate prediction rules ( we cannot predict the climate in advance and say how much people influence the climate ). Hansen thus framed NASA when he came to Congress on their behalf and talked about Global Warming "- Dr. John Theon, Head of the NASA Climate Research Program, see above Hansen's statement in 2003 year.
The inscription on the chart " Global Sneaky Temperature «.
Here is a graph for you " NORMAL SCIENTISTS«.
ALL GLOBAL WARMING is less than 1 degree in 114 years. If I used the scale in degrees Celsius on the left, then you saw a stupidly straight line! Therefore, I will expand the graph only in this desired area, and write degrees in Fahrenheit, where 54 and 56 degrees Fahrenheit = 12.2 and 13.2 degrees Celsius.
Are you cold?
4. Climatology is NOT a SCIENCE.
Modern real science tests any theory experimentally. This is called the empirical method of knowing the world. If a scientist puts forward any hypothesis, then he must come up with an experiment how to test it. And this experiment has the right to be repeated by other scientists, with their equipment, in their laboratory, to make sure that it is honest.
If a scientist cannot come up with an experiment on how to test fantasies, then such a hypothesis remains a fantasy, is not accepted, it is simply ignored.
What can climatologists offer as an experiment for their data?
Nothing!
Can they create a global climate? Not.
Can they predict the weather even a month in advance? Not... At the same time, they loudly predict it for 50 years ahead, for the whole planet!
Have they already made mistakes in their predictions? Oh yeah…
Example 1... The event called " Climategate", By analogy with the scandal" Watergate"In the USA in 1974. The scandal that led to the only impeachment of US President Richard Nixon. By the way, this was the only case in US history when the president was kicked out of the White House ahead of schedule.
So what is " Climategate"? This is a confirmed case in history when it was revealed that one of the three official scientific institutions(Climatology Department of the Eastern University of England), transmitting data on the temperature of the planet directly The IPCC simply adjusts them to the desired results.
Scientists themselves talk to each other about how their "data" is obtained:
- November 16, 1999 Phil Jones wrote:
“I just used Mike's trick from Nature and added actual temperatures to each set of values ... to hide the decline. "
- March 11, 2003 Jones wrote:
"I will write to the magazine and tell them that until they get rid of this problematic editor, I will not have anything to do with them."
- June 4, 2003 years Michael Mann:
“It would be good to try to limit the supposed medieval warm period, even though we have no temperature reconstruction yet for hemispheres for that time".
- 12 October 2009 of the year Kevin Trenbert wrote:
“The fact is that we cannot account for the lack of warming at the moment. and it is a travesty that we can't) … Our observation system is inadequate. "
Example 2... Remember those screams around Ozone and the Ozone hole over the South Pole? When all the media were packed with articles that a man was to blame for everything, refrigerators and cans of freon. Because of us, an ozone hole appeared over the South Pole. Soon the sun will shine right through the hole onto the ice, it will melt, the ocean level will rise, we will all drown.
And then the news comes out: The hole in Antarctica is gone! Here she took and disappeared! Can you imagine? Where are the rallies and fireworks all over the world ??
The Great Blue Spot is the ozone hole over Antarctica. There was…. And no ...
All that climatologists do is statistics. To erase your eyes about the numbers on the computer, which shows some unknown game. I will ask 1 simple and understandable question for any summer resident, gardener, grandmother with a cucumber garden.
——>>> Where is a 100% accurate model of weather development for at least 1 next week around the world ???
You have cool complex models, super computers, a million stations with sensors around the world stumbled upon.
Can you 100% accurate weekly forecast ???? NOT???! And suddenly you can 50 years ahead! <<<——
Statistics are not science! And climatology = Statistics.
Statistics = analysis tool. It does not create anything, it only analyzes what is loaded into it, and here everything depends on the data. You don't call the wrench "science".
Both you and I know that statistics is the most venal discipline. Pay it and twist it. What average temperature over the planet? Who displays this figure ????
This is what average temperature in the hospital everyone knows: a bunch of patients with a temperature of +40 in the wards and a couple of corpses in the morgue with -2, and average temperature in the hospital +36.6... Everyone is healthy!
This is what average salary in the country (RF)? In 2018 - 43,400 rubles. But now I will go out into the street and ask 1,000 people what their salary is. God grant that 50 out of 1,000 people have such a salary. And this is average. Not even big!
« There are three types of lies: lies, blatant lies and statistics. ».
So, Climatology is STATISTICS which is based on the calculation of the past. And the question here is not in "science", which does not exist, but in the ability to analyze history, looking after the departed train of temperature, to predict where it will turn after 10 kilometers.
Is that where the train will turn ?? BUT?? Right or Left ????????
Here is the blue graph. Where will he go next ?? Down or Up ??
It reminds me of FOREX. Here is the schedule.
Where will the price go? Down or up? Nobody knows that! And people who try to predict the future by looking at the past are left without money. Those who have done FOREX will understand what I mean.
CANNOT PREDICT THE FUTURE BY LOOKING BACK.
However, another theory has the same level of evidence base -. Which cannot come up with any sensible experiment in its defense, but tells how living species turned out billions of years ago.
And if climatology is not science, what is it?
And this is another RELIGION with their Fanatics, the fires of the Inquisition, the monetary tithe from the income of the inhabitants of the Earth, and the official Churches!
5. Climatology - RELIGION of the XXI century.
Chosen a deity... Climate = Nature = Mother Earth.
Symbol of faith- “The Ghost of Global Catastrophe”. They must convey this truth to all the lost sheep. They will not communicate with you in the normal sense. Like any fanatics, they ignore any opinion, except for a set of their stamps.
Sacred books. IPCC documents, UN, speeches by Al Gore, which already says it all.
Commandments... Sort your trash carefully, do not use plastic bags, do not use plastic cups, ride a bike, be a vegetarian.
Churches... Climate organizations, which are funded by grants from Western organizations. They are the ones who spread this heresy in their territories, organize local actions, demonstrations and other game.
Regular gatherings with posters, songs, clashes with the police.
Financing. For every inhabitant of the Earth, it is planned to introduce a carbon dioxide tax = air tax. Just do not try to interfere with breathing!
Criticism of climatology prohibited. Scientists are deprived of grants, apostates are not allowed in the media, on television, in magazines, in a cultural society.
Victory condition. The adoption of climate laws around the world and the end of the industry of undeveloped countries. Permanently cement the hegemony of the West over the rest of the world, which simply cannot produce anything in principle, otherwise they shit in OUR WESTERN ATMOSPHERE!
Treatment: very simple ... Offer a Global Warming fanatic corny not breathe... After all carbon dioxide Is the main thing Evil for the Planet... Let it not clog the air with its breath, really cleanse the planet ...
There it will be seen how strong his faith is ...
conclusions: climatology is a religion that pursues several goals at once. From a banal budget cut to complex steps, such as restricting other countries in development with the help of "climate bans". This is achieved with the help of the UN, which directs the movement, although, as we know, the UN is a hotbed of all heresy. Stories like , non-existent pandemics and other mess. Serious money has been invested in this topic and no one will just retreat. In the coming years, we will see a surge in publications and tantrums. Any hurricane, earthquake, snow, heat or rain will be declared a sign of "Global Warming".
This ends the first part of the article, although it is already too long. I will write the second part , and I will show what absurd methods the "puppeteers" resort to to convince you of the imminent "climate change".
Does a person influence the Climate of the whole planet?
Poll Options are limited because JavaScript is disabled in your browser.
In the distant past, the Earth was much hotter than it is today, which means that global warming can seriously heat the planet. Lately it has been getting warmer on it anyway. In November 2015, the British got the hottest November days in the UK since recording began. News from the World Meteorological Organization followed shortly thereafter: 2015 is likely to be the hottest year since records began.
World temperatures are 1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is half of the politically agreed upper limit of 2 degrees, which was set by world leaders in 2009. Everything goes to the fact that the temperature of the world will become higher and higher. How Hot Can the Earth Get? Is there any warming limit that human actions can lead to?
The Earth has experienced climate change before. The planet has gone through countless temperature fluctuations in its 4.6 billion-year history, from snowball earth to scorching tropical heat. And despite all these changes, the Earth always returns to about the same temperature range. Because she has mechanisms to control her own temperature.
We have already seen that warming the planet releases more greenhouse gases, causing even more warming. In theory, this self-feeding mechanism could become unstoppable, heating the planet hundreds of degrees.
This has never happened on Earth: and if there were, then there would be no us. But scientists believe that this happened with the planet Venus, the nearest to us, 3-4 billion years ago.
Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth, so it started out with a higher temperature. The temperature on its surface has risen so much that all liquid water has evaporated into the air. This water vapor trapped even more heat, and the lack of water on the surface meant there was nowhere to hold the carbon dioxide.
This led to extreme greenhouse conditions. Eventually, all water vapor was lost in space, and Venus was left with an atmosphere 96% carbon dioxide. Now this planet has an average temperature of 462 degrees. It is hot enough to melt lead; Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, bypassing even Mercury in this parameter, which is closer to the Sun and is literally "polished" by its cruel influence.
Everything goes to the fact that the Earth can be comprehended by a similar catastrophe in a couple of billion years.
As the sun ages, it slowly burns out its fuel and becomes a red giant. One day it will become so bright that the Earth will no longer be able to dissipate excess heat into space. The planet's surface temperatures will rise, boil the oceans and set off a greenhouse effect that will end all known life and turn the Earth into baked goods under a thick shroud of carbon dioxide.
However, this will not happen soon, so this problem is not of primary importance. The question is, will we be able to trigger the growing greenhouse effect on our own?
In 2013, a study was published that showed that this is possible if we release a truly staggering amount of carbon dioxide. Now there are 400 ppm of this gas in the air (before the industrial revolution it was 280 ppm). In order to trigger the growing greenhouse effect, we will have to raise this figure to 30,000 ppm.
We could increase our carbon dioxide volume by 10 times if we burned all known fossil fuels. There are other sources of greenhouse gases, such as seabed methane that escaped during PETM, so this option should not be ruled out. But it seems very unlikely that we, willingly or unwillingly, will turn the planet into Venus.
It also does not mean that heating the planet will be safe for us. Raising the temperature even a couple of degrees will cause unwanted effects. Parts of the planet are already too hot for humans to live there.
In the hottest place on Earth today, like California's Death Valley, temperatures can exceed 50 degrees Celsius. This heat is dangerous, but with proper measures it can be lived with. Because the air is dry and we can cool ourselves with sweat.
If the air is hot and humid at the same time, like in a tropical jungle, temperatures will be more difficult to cope with. Humidity in the air means that steam evaporates more slowly, which makes it harder to cool down.
The best way to assess the combination of heat and humidity is to measure the "wet bulb temperature". This is the temperature that a thermometer will read if you wrap it in a damp cloth and direct a stream of air from a fan to it. If you sweat, this is the lowest temperature you could cool your skin to.
People should maintain a body temperature of 37 degrees. To make sure we can always cool down, keep the skin temperature close to 35 degrees. This means that a wet bulb temperature of 35 degrees or higher would be fatal if maintained for longer than a couple of hours. Even if we could survive it, we would have to sit still.
Even in the hottest rainforests, the maximum recorded wet bulb temperature has never exceeded 31 degrees. This is because hot and humid air is unstable. It rises, and its place is taken by colder air, which causes tropical showers.
But that could change.
The air can rise only if the air around it is colder and denser. Therefore, if climate change warms up the tropics, that air will be even hotter and more humid before it starts to rise. A study published in 2010 found that for every 1 degree increase in global average temperature, the maximum wet bulb temperature would rise by 0.75 degrees.
This, in turn, leads to frightening conclusions. A 7-degree rise in global temperature, which we may face as early as 2200, will make parts of the globe completely uninhabitable. An increase of 12 degrees will make half of the Earth uninhabitable.
Of course, we could try to adapt by installing a lot of air conditioning equipment. But besides the high cost of this venture, it will also imprison people inside buildings for days or weeks.
Even if not taken to the extreme, the current trend is that the Earth will be 4 degrees warmer by the end of this century than it was before the industrial revolution, and 3 degrees warmer than it is now. It will not kill us directly or render parts of the planet uninhabitable, but it will still create a tremendous shock.
20,000 years ago, the Earth was 4 degrees colder than it is now. This period is known as the "last glacial maximum". Ice covered most of Canada and northern Europe, including the entire British Isles.
Since then, the Earth has warmed up by 4 degrees. This was enough to clear the ice from Europe and North America. Melting ice has led to a rise in sea level by tens of meters and drowned many small islands. When you understand this, it is not difficult to imagine what the next 4 degrees of warming could lead to.
Based on materials from the BBC