Welcome to this Hell! Here droughts will get dryer, storms will get stormier and floods will get deeper with changing climate. It is a research report of U.S. Climate Change Science Program, accepted by the Bush administration. Greenhouse gases, brand man made, are increasing in the atmosphere at an alarming rate and instead of making serious efforts to get back to 1988 levels, people are talking of alien threats. The scientists of NASA are not amused at this and US Congress has been briefed about the situation.
James Hansen of Goddard Institute of Space Sciences had to do some plainspeaking on the issue and he said that man made carbon dioxide will not allow us to inhabit the world beyond two decades. It was a startling situation that people who are not yet ready to buy his ‘global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions’ theory, were celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hansen’s first representation on global warming. To mark the anniversary, he testified before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. He said that to cut emissions, coal-fired power plants that don’t capture carbon dioxide emissions shouldn’t be used in the United States after 2025, and should be eliminated in the rest of the world by 2030. However, he said that carbon capture technology is still being developed and it does not yet find favour with power plants as it is not cost effective.
During his address to the National Press Club he was called a hero by former Senator Tim Wirth, D-Colo., who headed the 1988 hearing. Hansen said the Earth’s atmosphere has got to get back to a level of 350 parts of carbon dioxide per million. Last month, it was 10% higher: 386.7 parts per million. He testified with informations which are matters of global knowledge now like the rising Arctic and the indecision regarding the fate of Kiribati. He said that in five to 10 years, the Arctic will be free of sea ice in the summer.
However, the US as always, is still not prepared to accept the writing on the wall. Its government sponsored report says that there is a statistical connection between rising sea surface temperatures and hurricane activity, but linking changes in hurricanes to human actions will require more study.
Source : USA Today