Climate change

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Climate change is an issue of growing concern and it is important that we know what is happening. Of course, it is not upon individuals to fix this problem, but an informed individual is better than an uninformed one.

Climate change, however, is not an isolated issue. The earth is a complicated system with many moving parts. We are currently in the 6th mass extinction event and we are responsible. The pressing issues of our time are climate change, loss of biodiversity (deforestation, habitat loss), ocean acidification, permafrost thawing, overpopulation etc.

This is by no means the complete picture. While I have provided sources, I encourage the reader to seek out information.

There are a number of "tipping points" that indicate how serious the issue is:

Thwaites Glacier (also known as the Doomsday Glacier) is expected to collapse in 5-10 years (some expect it to be earlier). For more on this click here. Once the glacier collapses, other Antarctican ice sheets could also collapse leading to huge rises in sea level with unimaginable consequences.

The concentration of CO2 has been on the rise and has crossed 410ppm which is alarming. This is not the only greenhouse gas, there's methane, nitrous oxide among others which have a stronger greenhouse effect.

Keeling curve showing the rise in CO2 concentration over the last ~60 years

The problem is that greenhouse gases capture heat from the sun and keep the atmosphere warm. This leads to loss of ice in the polar regions (and elsewhere; the Himalayas form the third pole). Loss of ice means loss of reflectivity which creates a positive feedback loop leading to further ice loss.

Permafrost is ground that is continuously below freezing and contain large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide (from decomposed biomass). However, the rise in global temperatures has led to permafrost thawing which will lead to the release of these gases. Furthermore, wildfires have become more frequent in regions such as Siberia(link may be out of date), Amazon, California, Austraila etc.

Ocean acidification is another problem. Oceans absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into carbonates and carbonic acid. These lead to a decrease in the pH value, i.e., ocean acidification. This is part of the natural carbon cycle, but unfortunately, our industrial processes have led to an imbalance. It shouldn't be a surprise that this is harmful for the billions of species that live in the ocean: coral bleaching, inability to make shells, population decline, to name a few.

How much time do we have? Are we doomed? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There are a number of "tipping points" that indicate how serious the issue is:

Some news articles (no longer actively maintained because I find it too depressing):