Nagging pieces of climate puzzle
A July 2006 photo shows detaching icebergs in Iceland's Vatnajokull glacier, the largest glacier in Europe. Scientists have observed a steady decline in its size. Credit: GETTY IMAGES
When it comes to the weather, the superlatives just keep flying.
2010 clocked in as the wettest year on record, and it tied with 2005 as the hottest. It was the 34th year in a row of higher-than-average global temperatures. Nine of the 10 hottest years since 1880, when record-keeping began, have occurred since the onset of 2001.
Like our recent snowstorms, by themselves these facts prove nothing. But as pieces of the climate puzzle these extreme years contribute to an alarming picture. A preponderance of scientific evidence suggests that human activity is altering the Earth's climate - warming it in ways that lead to weather extremes of all kinds, but higher average temperatures especially. If this theory is correct - and most climate scientists believe it is - the trend will continue for decades no matter how effectively people work to change their behavior.
Given the embryonic state of efforts to reduce fossil-fuel consumption so far, our climate problems could get even worse. Long Island, for example, could be profoundly affected by sea levels that could rise four feet or more in the next 70 years.
The case for human-induced climate change isn't proved, but it's strong enough - and the potential consequences are large enough - that it would be foolish not to act now to reduce carbon emissions and prepare ourselves for a warmer planet. Expenditures of this kind are simply premiums paid for insurance against a disaster that is all too easy to foresee. hN
