A Future Up in Smoke: But What About the Children?
In 2010, greenhouse gas emissions around the world rose by a record 5.9%. If these rates continue, we have a 50/50 chance that by the year 2100 the global average temperature will have increased by more than 4 degrees Celsius, a rise that could lead to loss of land, mass migrations, and bloody conflicts in affected countries.
About three-quarters of that increase comes from developing countries anxious to catch up with their wealthy cousins in the West, suggesting that those of us sucking up most of the resources are starting to get a handle on our myopic habits, despite the zealot naysayers who argue that greenhouse gases and rising temperatures are the stuff of science fiction and of little consequence to our everyday lives.
Calving glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska
But closer examination suggests that all we’ve really done is export our problems to those developing countries that have taken on much of the energy-intensive manufacturing we used to do, while we continue to consume and waste and beg for more. And more is what we’re getting, especially when it comes to greenhouse gases. (more…)
