The media still doesn't understand global warming. Last
summer, when people were dying from the hot weather in
Europe, they wrote about the world warming up. Now, when
incredibly harsh winter weather is sweeping across the
northern hemisphere, they deny the problem exists. But with
global warming, not only will some places heat up?others will
get MUCH colder?and the change could last for thousands of
years. There's new evidence that this is happening right now.
Geoffrey Lean writes in The Independent that Britain and
parts of Europe may be plunged into an ice age within our
lifetime. Scientists at the U.S. Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute have detected a change in the Gulf Stream
circulation of the North Atlantic "of remarkable amplitude"
which is "the largest and most dramatic oceanic change ever
measured in the era of modern instruments." The Gulf Stream
is what keeps Europe's weather mild; without this, it will have
the same weather as central Canada, which is on the same
latitude.
When the Gulf Stream suddenly turned off about 12,700
years ago, it brought about a 1,300-year ice age. Britain had
continuous permafrost, and icebergs existed as far south as
Portugal. Droughts struck worldwide, including in western
parts of the U.S.
The weather in Britain and northern Europe could change
suddenly, which would have a disastrous effect on agriculture
and cause an increased demand for heating oil at a time
when the world is predicting upcoming oil shortages. This
change has been predicted ever since researchers began to
understand the consequences of global warming, but they
thought it wouldn't happen for at least a 100 years. Now it
looks as if it's beginning already. One year very soon?maybe
this year?spring simply won't arrive in some parts of the
world.
Will Steffen, of the International Geosphere-Biosphere
Program, says, "A major finding is that change will not be
progressive. There will be abrupt changes and tipping points.
Never before have we seen the range of change or the rate
of change at the same time."
What's up with the
sun and how does it affect our weather?
To see the future,
click here.
To learn more,
click here and
here.
