Six Degrees

[Abel Tavares]

Six Degrees - Our World Plus 1°C
February 1, 2008

What would happen if the earth's temperature increased by 1°C (1.8°F)? There is no clear way to predict what would occur, but scientific research and climate models indicate some serious changes to out climate. Earth's climate has increased less than a degree of warming, but as researcher/author Mark Lynas outlines in his book "Six Degrees", there are some potentially drastic effects in store for earth's climate.

Our World Plus 1°C

° Severe droughts in the western United States could cause shortages in global grain and meat markets.
° Arid regions of the western United States could revert to desert-like environments.
° New deserts could emerge in the western half of the United States, from Texas all the way up to the Canadian border.
° The Arctic could be ice free for half the year, opening the legendary Northwest Passage for ships.
° Rising tides could submerge thousands of homes around the Bay of Bengal.
° An increase of 1 degree Celsius may cause hurricanes to begin hitting the South Atlantic.
° An increase of 1 degree Celsius may inspire an agricultural makeover in England, as crops previously unable to survive in the United Kingdom begin to thrive. The United Kingdom now has more than 400 vineyards, growing grapes that have typically been grown in France.

[Anicia Tavares]

Stopping the Mercury's Rise

By William Lee

Obviously, the most straightforward way to stop the frighteningly rapid rate of climate change is to reduce humans’ output of carbon dioxide by 60 to 80 percent. But that would require imposition of large-scale, politically unpopular conservation measures in the U.S., a nation addicted to gasoline-thirsty SUVs and plentiful electricity from coal-burning power plants. And good luck with convincing China and India to do anything that might possibly cool their rapidly growing economies. Daunted by the difficulty of changing human behavior quickly enough to avert environmental catastrophe, some scientists are proposing a range of massive geoengineering projects and other extreme measures.