No, not necessarily, and here’s why:
Most people have heard by now that human industrial activities are adversely impacting our planet’s ecosystems is devastating ways. Global warming, climate change, and the climate crisis are terms now commonly used to describe this predicament.
But what you may not fully appreciate is the extent of the risk associated with this continued behavior. Our situation may be much more dire than scientists predicted even a decade ago.
A single year of burning large quantities of fossil fuels is bad enough, but the cumulative effect of many years of Billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHG’s such as CO2 and Methane) released into the atmosphere is having a devastating long-term impact; and could well be lethal for much of the animal life on our planet (including us).
A tipping point is defined as the critical event in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place. The event horizon is one in which a series of small changes or incidents becomes significant enough to cause a larger, more important change. This can also be characterized as a ‘one-way gate’ through which, once passed, there may be no return.
One such tipping point brought on by the cumulative effect of burning massive quantities of fossil fuels is referred to by scientists as:
The ARCTIC PERMAFROST METHANE RELEASE TIPPING POINT.
This deadly sequence of events is as follows:
- CO2 and other GHG’s cause planetary warming of a few degrees ==>
- This triggers an Arctic belt permafrost melting ==>
- Melting permafrost releases billions of tons of Methane (see image) ==>
- Methane is a 25x more potent greenhouse gas (than CO2 ) ==>
- This greenhouse effect further accelerates melting ==>
- Releasing more Methane ==>
- This FEEDBACK LOOP rapidly accelerates warming of the oceans ==>
- Finally, the warming oceans now start releasing the real threat, a sub-sea bed containing a truly astronomical store of Methane, the sea bed clathrate hydrates.
This takes us beyond the point of no return.
At this level of Methane in the atmosphere, scientists have modeled a rise in the world’s average temperature by up to 7+ degrees C.
Under this scenario, all frozen water at the poles & Greenland will melt within a few decades and snow and ice will no longer be persistent year-round.
Melt-water added to the ocean, plus heat expansion of the mile-deep ocean column of water will raise water levels by over 120 METERS, or 400 FEET.
Furthermore, the higher temperatures will render the Earth’s atmosphere unsustainable — ie, ALL animals will likely perish, leaving only a few virus’, bacteria, algae, insects, etc. left to inhabit the Earth.
THIS is why it is time to take our fossil fuel pollution seriously. Wouldn’t you agree?
[…] carbon pollution mitigation, the final killer of birds (and other wildlife) may turn out to be the Fossil Fuel Induced Methane Tipping Point, a feedback loop process that could render our planet uninhabitable by all but the most hardy of […]