Today we are experiencing the most dramatic climate change in recorded history. We see it in the news everyday. Floods, droughts, wildfires, heat waves and cold snaps are becoming everyday events. In a recent survey over ten thousand scientists agreed that the cause of all this climate change is human activity. It’s clear that the way our global economy is being run, its dependence on fossil fuels, its destruction of Earth’s resources, and the overproduction and consumption of goods is driving us over a cliff. And scientists are now saying this could be the last decade before our planet goes beyond the point of no return.
Melting & Drowning
- The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have melted by 30% since 1972, and will drive global sea levels up by close to seven feet by the end of the century.
- Coastal floods that occurred every 100 years are now happening every ten years. Four million Americans are at risk in the Gulf States, New York and California.
- Rising seas are threatening island nations like the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, the Maldives the Seychelles, and Kiribati. By 2100 these countries will be under water.
- The Siberian permafrost, which stores frozen carbon, is melting at an alarming rate, releasing massive amounts of greenhouse gas.
Thirsty & Starving
- Glaciers from California to the Himalayas are quickly melting away, evaporating drinking water for nearly a third of the world’s population.
- Scientists have linked the current famine in Somalia to intense droughts in East Africa.
- Changing rain patterns and warming will cause a 35 percent drop in agricultural output in the U.S. over the next 70 years.
Extremes & Extinction
- 7 of 10 global disasters today are now climate change-related, meaning they are essentially man-made disasters.
- The 10 warmest years on record occurred between 1997-2008. The U.S. could warm by as much as 11 degrees by 2100, increasing droughts, heat waves and desertification.
- Mankind is unleashing the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history. Over a quarter of all living species will be extinct by 2050 at the current rate.
