In the year 2013
It was a very bad year
It was a very bad year
For global warning and climate change
With all its twisters and storms
And the earth forlorn
In the year 2013.
It was a no good very bad year for the environment. Two massive EF-5 twisters it Oklahoma in May killing 24 and 19 people respectively. In November over 5,700 people were killed by one of the biggest and most vicious storms ever to hit hand: Typhoon Haiyan. Due to the warming oceans, we're expected to see fewer but bigger typhoons in the Pacific Ocean. The ocean temperature continue to rise. The Arctic and Antarctic continue to melt as well as glaciers continue to retreat worldwide.
At any moment, we could hit a "tipping point" where global warming becomes an unstoppable runaway train. Also called the "snowball effect" as a snowball increases size and speed as it rolls uncontrolled down a mountain.
Here's a shocker: Most estimates of global warming has been significantly underestimated by neglecting the Arctic due to the Arctic warming significantly faster than other parts of the globe. The reason the data was omitted in the first place was that it was not readily available. See the following video:
The end result is that, "global surface temperatures have actually risen about two and a half times faster over the past 15 years than previously estimated." Also, "the planet has been accumulating over 4 Hiroshima atomic bomb detonations worth of energy per second...since 1998." Source.
Global land and ocean surface temperatures for November 2013 was the highest on record which doesn't mean much by itself but it's a typical statistic. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
It was a bad year for animals, especially smaller, lower down on the food chain that serve as canaries in the coal mines: honey bees, butterflies, frogs and amphibians, and birds. Bees and butterflies play an important part of pollination of flowers, plants and food crops. See:
- Sue Kedgley: Let's talk birds and bees seriously: Unless we urgently rethink our heavy pesticide use, we will poison ourselves and the species needed to survive
- Global Crisis: Honeybee Population on the Decline
- Amphibians In Dramatic Decline; Study Finds Nearly One-Third Of Species Threatened With Extinction
6. The oceans changed dramatically, transforming into an acidic stew inhospitable to marine life.Related posts:
Much of the conversation about climate change focuses on rising temperatures. But carbon dioxide emissions is rapidly making the oceans inhospitable for marine life. Why? According to studies “the ocean absorbs about 30 to 40 percent of the atmosphere’s excess carbon, causing its pH to drop.” These acidity levels can corrode the shells of crustaceans, and have lead to an explosion in jelly fish populations. One Oregon fisherman reported, “Sometimes we’ll catch 4,000 or 5,000 pounds of jellyfish.” Another fisherman said that “he saw baby octopuses climbing up his crab line to escape the water. When he pulled up his crab trap, all the crabs were dead.”
