SCIENCE IS IMPORTANT: We can not hide the consequences of global warming | City | Halifax, Nova Scotia

In recent months heat records have been broken worldwide. At the beginning of July, the temperature in Ouargla, Algeria, reached 51.3 ° C, the highest ever recorded in Africa! Temperatures in the eastern and southwestern United States and in southeastern Canada have also peaked. In Montreal, people were submerged by temperatures of 36.6 ° C, the highest ever recorded, as well as extreme heat and humidity at midnight, an unpleasant experience shared by the people of Ottawa. Dozens of people died of heat-related causes in Quebec alone.

Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East also reached unprecedented temperature records. In northern Siberia, along the Arctic coast, the temperature was above 32 ° C on July 5, much higher than ever.

Unusually high temperatures in the Arctic melt ice, exposing darker marine areas, which absorb more heat than ice, causing feedback loops. These are exacerbated by melting permafrost releasing more methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. All of this weakens the polar jet stream, which in turn affects temperatures in mid-latitudes.

As the American meteorologist and geoscientist Nick Humphrey explains, "the weakening is causing the polar jet to become much more vague, with larger waves and blocking modes where the waves are seated at the same place for weeks [and] favor extreme weather conditions (extreme cold compared to normal, extreme heat, very wet and drought). "

Atmospheric carbon dioxide has climbed to 408 parts per million, global average temperatures have risen to 1.8 C since 1880, Arctic ice is declining by 13.2% per decade, sea level is rising 3.2 mm per year on average. According to NASA, "the bulk of the warming has occurred over the last 35 years, 16 of the hottest 17 years ever recorded since 2001. Not only was 2016 the hottest year of the year. History, but eight of the 12 months from January to September, with the exception of June, were the hottest of all the months. "

The equatorial zones are warming, creating drought, water shortages, agricultural losses and inhospitable conditions, we can expect to see more refugees flee to colder regions with better resources.

Despite the calamity unfolding before our eyes Politicians and governments are fighting against the essential measures to cope with the crisis and to ensure that the planet's climate remains stable enough to ensure health and safety. Survival of humanity.

NASA scientists say evidence of past warming of ice cores, dark circles, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and sedimentary rock layers shows that current warming is about ten times faster than the average rate of ice.

We know the heat-trapping properties of CO2 and other gases since the mid-1800s. Again, NASA points out, "There is no doubt that increased levels of greenhouse gases must warm the Earth."

The Reasons We Failed to Solve the Problem have nothing to do with lack of evidence. solutions. We have an abundance of both, but industrial interests and their supporters in the media and politics (with those who have been duped into denial) have actively worked to minimize the problem and hinder progress. [19659089] In our book we present many known and emerging ways for governments, institutions, industry and individuals to solve the climate crisis. Many solutions are used or developed, but not fast enough to prevent a disaster. In Canada, we have federal and provincial governments that want to increase the infrastructure and development of fossil fuels in order to maximize the profits of a moribund industry and respond to the whims of short electoral cycles. . The fossil fuel industry continues to receive mbadive subsidies, including a multi-billion dollar bailout for a US pipeline company, while clean energy receives much less support.

It is scary to consider global warming. the consequences we face in the years to come. But blocking solutions and continuing our dependence on fossil fuels will only worsen the inevitable.

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Science Matters is a weekly column on David Suzuki's science and environmental issues, written with contributions from the David Suzuki Foundation's Editor-in-Chief, Ian Hanington. Learn more about davidsuzuki.org.