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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Down To Earth

Friday Quote: “Climate change - it’s worse than you think”

We humans have vivid imaginations about the future. From killer robots who nearly wipe out humanity to totalitarian governments becoming the dreaded “Big Brother” we fear, we seem to take an almost morbid fascination about the possibilities that lie ahead. This being the case, let us do a little exercise in imagination. Imagine we all live in the not so distant future. Let’s say the year is 2050. The Earth has warmed by over 0.7 degrees Celsius. Extreme weather events are more frequent and more devastating in nature. Droughts ravage entire sections of the planet. Air quality has worsened. Oceans have gotten warmer and ocean levels have risen, displacing tens of thousands of people who once lived close to the former ocean shore. Glacier volume and mass has continued to decrease. Sound like something out of a bleak, dystopian science fiction novel to you? Well, the cold truth is that this could very well be our future. 

 

According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, if we do nothing to mitigate emissions we could see temperature increases of up to 4 degrees Celsius by 2100. Sea levels could rise by almost 0.8 meters. The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer by the middle of the century. Droughts will become worse in areas already prone to dry weather. Oceans will see higher PH levels, causing potential acidification. Even best case scenarios contained in the report, via models that assume we take drastic steps to curb emissions in the near future, are not exactly what one would call rosy. Strong emission reduction could keep us below the 2 degree Celsius threshold (something that would require an unlikely reduction of emissions by 80 percent by the middle of the century), but the world would stay hotter for centuries into the future. Sea levels could rise by as much as 0.4 meters. Glaciers would still decrease in volume and mass. And droughts would still ravage much of the globe. 

Read the rest here from Blaine Stum at Spokane FAVs and join them at 10 a.m., Nov. 2 for their next Coffee Talk for a conversation on Environmental Stewardship. The discussion will take place at Indaba Coffee and Stum is a panelist. 

 



Down To Earth

The DTE blog is committed to reporting and sharing environmental news and sustainability information from across the Inland Northwest.