Global Warming

With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. The climate is changing.

Global Dimming

Research has shown that air pollutants from fossil fuel use make clouds reflect more of the sun’s rays back into space. This leads to an effect known as global dimming whereby less heat and energy reaches the earth. By cleaning up global dimming-causing pollutants without tackling greenhouse gas emissions, rapid warming has been observed, and various human health and ecological disasters have resulted, as witnessed during the European heat wave in 2003, which saw thousands of people die. Global dimming is also hiding the true power of global warming. At first, it sounds like an ironic savior to climate change problems. However, it is believed that global dimming caused the droughts in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 80s where millions died, because the northern hemisphere oceans were not warm enough to allow rain formation.