Facts About Climate Change Brought to you by The Heritage Institute Educating for Humanity & the World we Want ww w .hol.edu
Mar 10, 2016
Facts About Climate Change
Brought to you by
The Heritage InstituteEducating for Humanity & the World we Want
www.hol.edu
CLIMATE TIPPING POINTSIn the Anthrocene Period
A group of macro climatic conditions that
hold the fate of life on the planet as
we know it.
Climate experts from around the world have identified a series ofglobal-warming tipping points, any one of which, if triggered,
will likely initiate sudden, catastrophic changes across the planet.
Odds are you've never heard of most of these tipping points, even though your entire genetic legacy—your children, your grandchildren, and beyond—may or may not survive depending on their status.
THE
TIPPING POINTS& How Long TheyWill Take To Tip at Current Rates
1 Melting of Arctic Sea-Ice (approx 10 yrs)2 Decay of the Greenland Ice Sheet (more than 300 yrs)
3 Collapse of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (more than 300 yrs)
4 Collapse of the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation (approx 100 yrs)
5 Increase in the El Nino Southern Oscillation(approx 100 yrs)
6 Collapse of the Indian Summer Monsoon (approx 1 yr)
7 Greening of the Sahara/Sahel and disruption of the West African Monsoon (approx 10 yrs)
8 Dieback of the Amazon rainforest (approx 50 yrs)
9 Dieback of the Boreal forest (approx 50 yrs)
VERY SENSITIVETO ALREADY-HAPPENING CLIMATE CHANGE
Greenland Ice Sheet. In a worst-case scenario, even slightly warmer temperatures will
melt the ice, possibly causing the ice sheet to disappear during thenext 300 years. Global sea levels would rise by over 20 feet.
VERY SENSITIVETO ALREADY-HAPPENING CLIMATE CHANGE
ice. We may have hit this point already.
Arctic Sea Ice. As sea ice melts, the dark ocean surfaced will be exposed,
absorbing solar energy and accelerating the melt. Good-bye, sea
SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE
West Antarctic Ice Sheet. If global temperatures rise, the ice sheet will melt, finally collapsing and raising sea levels
by 15 feet in the next 300 years.
SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE
terrestrial carbon sinks.
Boreal Forest. If northern forests can’t handle the heat, they’ll
die, taking away one of Earth’s primary
SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE
Amazon Rainforest. Deforestation and climate change will probably reduce Amazonian rainfall, causing the rain forests to dry up
and shrink. There goes another carbon sink.
SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Different temperatures in different Pacific water layers interact with varying equatorial temperatures to produce the global weather patterns known as El Niño and La Niña. If
ENSO is disrupted, the El Niño aspect will become more pronounced, leading toharsher droughts in some places and
flooding in others.
SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE
Sahara/Sahel- and West African Monsoon. A warming Atlantic could make the monsoons dry
up or become even more severe. Or both,depending on the year.
SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE
Indian Summer Monsoon. Warmer air carries more water; see previous
tipping point for consequences.
NOT SO SENSITIVE
Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation. Atlantic ocean circulation is driven by seawater cooling and sinking in the North Atlantic. If fresh water is added from warming glaciers, or seawater
warms, then the cooling-and-sinking cycle could stop, causing North Atlantic sea levels to rise and a shift in tropical rainfalls.
TIPPING ELEMENT CHART& KEY IMPACTS
WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY
While most Americans are moderately concerned about global warming, the majority—68%—believe the greatest threats are to people far away or to nonhuman nature. Only 13% perceive any real risk to themselves, their families, or their communities.
As long as this dangerous misconception prevails, the chances of preventing these points from tipping are virtually nil.
This perception is critical, since Americans constitute only 5% of the global population yet produce nearly 25% of the global carbon dioxide emissions.
WHAT WILL IT TAKETO TRIGGER THE ULTIMATE TIPPING POINT?
How can we create a shift in human perception from personal denial to personal
responsibility?
THE TRUTH ISWE CAN CHANGE WITH BREATH TAKING SPEED!
The 18th-century taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus named usHomo sapiens, from the Latin wordsmeaning "prudent & wise.”
HISTORY SHOWS WE ARE NOT BORN WITH WISDOM.WE EVOLVE INTO IT.
40 years ago many people believed human nature required blacks and whites to live in segregation.
30 years ago human nature divided men and women into separate economies.
20 years ago human nature prevented us from defusing a global nuclear standoff.
Nowadays we blame human nature for the insolvable hazards of global warming.