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<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://truthout.org/articles/sixth-mass-extinction-ushers-in-record-breaking-wildfires-and-heat/">https://truthout.org/articles/sixth-mass-extinction-ushers-in-record-breaking-wildfires-and-heat/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Sixth Mass Extinction Ushers In
Record-Breaking Wildfires and Heat</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By Dahr Jamail - August 20,
2018<br>
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<div>There have been five mass extinction events on Earth,
and it is a <a
href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/E6089">scientific
fact</a> we are well into the sixth mass extinction
event.
<p>By far, the worst of these was the Permian mass
extinction that occurred roughly 252 million years ago.
That one annihilated 95 percent of all life on Earth.</p>
<p>During the Permian mass extinction, global warming
caused by a massive amount of CO2 released from
volcanism warmed both the oceans and the atmosphere,
which then triggered the release of colossal amounts of
methane that had been trapped underneath the ice in the
Arctic. This caused an even greater spike in planetary
warming, which wiped out nearly all life on Earth.</p>
<p>In our current mass extinction event, however, rather
than the CO2-caused warming coming from a volcano, it is
anthropogenic (human-caused), and the climate is not
just warming, it is disrupted. And this time, rather
than the process taking tens of thousands of years as it
did during the Permian mass extinction, humans are
increasing atmospheric CO2 levels far, far more rapidly.</p>
<p>Whether or not humans go extinct remains to be seen,
but there is no denying that sustaining <a
href="http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/">7.6
billion</a> humans while we are forcing the extinction
of between <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/16/nature-economic-security">150-200
other species</a> each day and have pushed Earth’s
climate out of its natural state is very much in
question. I’ve spoken to prestigious scientists both on
and off the record who believe that sooner rather than
later, global population will be reduced to around 1
billion humans.</p>
<p>Whichever scenario runs its course, we are all facing
massive loss in the future. It is only then can we
decide what is truly important in our lives, and how to
comport ourselves as we go through our days.</p>
<p>Just as warming seas caused the release of methane
stores in the Arctic, driving the Permian mass
extinction, we are now facing what appears to be a
modern-day equivalent of this phenomenon.</p>
<p>Sea surface temperatures in the Arctic are warming at
stunning rates. To give you an idea, look at this <a
href="https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/disappearance-of-arctic-sea-ice.html">blog
containing images showing sea surface temperatures</a>
in one specific location near Svalbard for July 6 for
each of the following years:<br>
2014: -0.8°C or 30.6°F<br>
2015: 6.2°C or 43.2°F<br>
2016: 8.3°C or 47.0°F<br>
2017: 14.4°C or 57.9°F<br>
2018: 16.6°C or 61.9°F</p>
<p>On July 30, 2018, the <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10160578508995161&set=a.10150592349770161.675455.655795160&type=3&theater">sea
surface near Svalbard was as warm as 19.3°C</a> or
66.8°F — 13.9°C or 25°F warmer than it was during
1981-2011.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in the Arctic, Sweden’s highest mountain is
no longer its highest mountain, thanks largely to
anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD), as the top 13
feet of ice <a
href="http://time.com/5357175/sweden-highest-peak-melts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fworld+%28TIME%3A+Top+World+Stories%29">melted
off of it</a>. On July 30, a Norwegian town 350 miles
into the Arctic Circle saw the temperature reach <a
href="http://time.com/5357175/sweden-highest-peak-melts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fworld+%28TIME%3A+Top+World+Stories%29">90°F</a>.</p>
<p>The trend is clear, and should be very alarming to
anyone reading this.</p>
<p><a
href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-climate-change-looks-like-in-2018/">Christie
Aschwanden, writing for FiveThirtyEight</a>, provided
this synopsis on July 19:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s only July, but it has already been a long, hot
spring and summer. The contiguous US endured the <a
href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-201805">warmest
May</a> ever recorded, and in June, the <a
href="https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/data-snapshots/data-source-average-monthly-temperature">average
temperature</a> was <a
href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/national/rankings/110/tavg/201806#1">1.7
degrees Celsius</a> (<a
href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-201806">3.0
degrees Fahrenheit</a>) above the 20th century
average [June was Earth’s fifth warmest June ever
recorded, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration found that the only warmer June months
on record were 2016, 2015, 2017 and 2014, in that
order]. Iowa, New Mexico and Texas set <a
href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/sotc/national/2018/jun/monthlysigeventsmap-062018.png">record
highs for their minimum temperatures</a> in June,
and as of July 3, nearly 30 percent of the Lower 48
was experiencing drought conditions. And it’s not just
the US. During the first five months of 2018, nearly
every continent experienced <a
href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201805">record
warm temperatures</a>, and May 2018 marked <a
href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201805">the
401st consecutive month</a> in which temperatures
exceeded the 20th century average.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As if to underscore all of this, leading scientists
recently <a
href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/31/1810141115">published
a study</a> warning a domino effect of climate events
could easily move Earth into a “hothouse” state, making
any efforts to reduce emissions increasingly futile.
Their paper combines the consequences of 10 climate
change processes (methane release in the Arctic, the
melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the loss of coral
reefs as a few examples), as each of these is a feedback
loop that could amplify the other nine.</p>
<p>While the authors stress that their analysis was not
conclusive, they <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/06/domino-effect-of-climate-events-could-push-earth-into-a-hothouse-state?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">warned
the Guardian</a> that this trajectory “would almost
certainly flood deltaic environments, increase the risk
of damage from coastal storms, and eliminate coral reefs
(and all of the benefits that they provide for
societies) by the end of this century or earlier.”</p>
<p>Another climate researcher, Phil Williamson, <span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/06/domino-effect-of-climate-events-could-push-earth-into-a-hothouse-state?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">put
it this way</a></span>: “In the context of the
summer of 2018, this is definitely not a case of crying
wolf, raising a false alarm: the wolves are now in
sight.”</p>
<h2>Earth</h2>
<p><a
href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-20/climate-change-is-disrupting-the-planet-s-seasons">Scientists
recently pointed</a> out how ACD is shifting the
planet’s seasons. Research spanning decades of satellite
data has proven that human fossil fuel emissions are
shifting what one researcher called the “march of the
seasons themselves.” The researchers also stated that
the odds of this occurring naturally and without human
influence are approximately five in 1 million.</p>
<p>As the planet relentlessly warms, the health of <a
href="http://news.trust.org/item/20180716040058-2j73u?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=27b4983d5d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-27b4983d5d-99065441">more
than 1 billion people</a> is at risk, due to their
inability to stay cool from lack of air-conditioning and
refrigeration to cool and preserve food and medicine.
The countries most at risk include Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Mozambique, Sudan, Nigeria, Brazil,
India and China.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the ancient cedar trees of Lebanon — which
are depicted on the national flag and some of which are
more than 1,000 years old — are <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/18/climate/lebanon-climate-change-environment-cedars.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news">succumbing
to ACD</a>. The trees depend upon a cool, moist
climate, but as temperatures increase and there is less
moisture, the trees are migrating further upslope. By
2100, at the current trajectory, it is expected they
will only exist on the higher mountains in the north of
the country, then after that, likely not at all.</p>
<p>Humans are suffering other types of impacts from ACD,
in addition to the obvious extreme weather events, water
issues and political instability.</p>
<p>A <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/23/rising-temperatures-linked-to-increased-suicide-rates?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=9c94fceab0-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-9c94fceab0-99065441">recent
study</a> has linked increasingly warm temperatures
directly to an increase in suicide rates. The study
showed that ACD impacts could be as significant as the
impacts from economic recessions, which have already
been shown to generate an increase in self-harm. For
example, the study showed that suicide rates in Mexico
rose by 2.1 percent when the average monthly temperature
increased by 1°C.</p>
<p>Ocean acidity will soon reach levels that have not been
seen for 14 million years.</p>
<p>Another<a
href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/03/mental-health-climate.pdf">
study</a> warned of ACD’s looming mental health
crisis. “Things like depression, anxiety, post traumatic
stress disorder, substance abuse, domestic abuse, all
these things tend to go up in the aftermath of natural
disasters,” psychologist Susan Clayton, a co-author of
the study, <a
href="https://www.wired.com/story/climate-changes-looming-mental-health-crisis/">told
Wired magazine</a>. “As we have more natural
disasters, one would expect to also have increases in
those kinds of mental health consequences.”</p>
<p>A group of experts <a
href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-is-unprepared-for-the-health-challenges-of-climate-change-experts-warn/?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=227415e2f7-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-227415e2f7-99065441">recently
warned Congress</a> that the US is ill-prepared for
the health challenges ACD is already bringing across the
country. Things like insect-borne diseases, damage to
hospitals from extreme weather events and the impacts on
impoverished areas are some of their primary concerns.
The experts urged policymakers to invest in preparation
plans, but so far it seems as though this advice has
largely gone unheeded.</p>
<h2><strong>Water</strong></h2>
<p>The most profound impacts of runaway ACD are showing up
in the oceans.</p>
<p>Scientists recently revealed that ocean acidity will
soon reach levels that have <a
href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/acidity-in-seas-to-reach-levels-not-seen-in-14-million-years-1-4772919?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=9c94fceab0-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-9c94fceab0-99065441">not
been seen for 14 million years</a>. Ocean
acidification occurs when oceans absorb CO2 from the
atmosphere, causing the water to have a lower pH, and
was the key driver of the loss of more than 90 percent
of life on Earth during the Permian mass extinction
event.</p>
<p>A <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/science/fish-smell-co2.html">recently
published study</a> showed that fish will begin to
lose their sense of smell as CO2 levels continue to rise
and the oceans become increasingly acidic. This will
change their behavior as their ability to search for
food and avoid predators becomes impaired.</p>
<aside>Meanwhile, the cryosphere continues melting at a
breakneck pace.</aside>
<p>In Canada, a glaciologist who was part of a recently
published study <a
href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/canada-icebergs-shrinking-study-1.4749889?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=1f7e02b352-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-1f7e02b352-99065441">pointed
out</a> how hundreds of glaciers in the Arctic are
shrinking rapidly, and are disappearing into what has
been described as a “city of icebergs.” The study showed
that between the years 2000 and 2016, 1,353 out of 1,773
glaciers had shrunk significantly.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the oceans continue to warm. Sea surface
temperatures near San Diego’s Scripps Pier <a
href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/science/sd-me-scripps-pier-20180802-story.html">recently
logged</a> the highest ocean temperature in its
102-year history of record-keeping when temperatures
registered 78.6°F.</p>
<p>Warming oceans are also causing large species,
including the hammerhead shark, to <u><a
href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/uk-sharks-climate-change-migration-seas-cornwall-hammerhead-great-white-a8449996.html">migrate</a></u>
from the Mediterranean and Spanish coastlines northwards
into British waters — a trend that will continue in the
next few decades as waters continue to warm.</p>
<p>As high temperatures and droughts continue to persist
across the US West, <a
href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Drought-forces-emergency-measures-for-US-West-s-13096426.php">emergency
measures</a> had to be employed to rescue wild horses
across the over-heated and parched region. Volunteer
groups are working feverishly to haul in water and food
to areas that no longer support vegetation in an effort
to keep the horses alive.</p>
<p>Due to the ongoing threat to its food supply, the
country of <a
href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-el-salvador-drought/el-salvador-declares-emergency-to-ensure-food-supply-in-severe-drought-idUSKBN1KE338">El
Salvador recently declared an emergency</a> amidst an
ongoing and severe drought in an effort to save farmers
and food, as tens of thousands of farmers have lost
their crops.</p>
<p>Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a
href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-45075838">recently
announced measures</a> to assist farmers there who
have been impacted by a severe drought, and <a
href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-45075838">stated</a>
that the country is “the land of droughts.”</p>
<h2>Fire</h2>
<p>ACD is making itself obvious in this realm across the
Northern Hemisphere this summer.</p>
<p>In Sweden, <a
href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44871789">forest
fires have raged</a> across the country, including up
into the Arctic Circle where at least <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/18/sweden-calls-for-help-as-arctic-circle-hit-by-wildfires">11
blazed</a>. They have been intense and widespread
enough to cause authorities there to request
international assistance.</p>
<p>And it’s not just Sweden. A weather station in Northern
Finland hit 91°F, and a professor of fire safety at
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences <a
href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/scandinavia-is-on-fire-1827723769/amp?rev=1532027960751&__twitter_impression=true">called
what was happening</a> there the “worst wildfire
season in Scandinavia that can be remembered.” A record
heat wave was behind <a
href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/ecology/2018/07/barents-region-fire">31
fires</a> in the Barents Region of the Arctic alone.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the rest of Europe has been struggling with
extremely hot temperatures and wildfires. At least <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/13/greece-fires-force-evacuation-of-evia-island-near-athens">94
people died</a> in Greece from the deadliest wildfires
seen there in decades.</p>
<p>Back in the US, the heart of Yosemite National Park was<a
href="https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/management/closures.htm"> closed</a>
while crews battled massive wildfires in the area. It’s
the first time that part of the park had to be closed
down since a 1990 wildfire caused the same.</p>
<aside>A large portion of China could literally become
uninhabitable in the coming decades as heat waves are
becoming progressively more intense.</aside>
<p>Elsewhere in California, a record-breaking wildfire
spawned a tornado that packed more powerful winds than
had ever been recorded in such phenomena. The National
Weather Service <a
href="https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1025125984465498112">estimated</a>
the fire tornado packed winds stronger than 143 mph.
“This is historic in the US,” Craig Clements, director
of San Jose State University’s Fire Weather Research
Laboratory, <a
href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jimdalrympleii/the-fire-tornado-that-ripped-through-a-california-city-may">told
BuzzFeed News</a>. “This might be the strongest
fire-induced tornado-like circulation ever recorded.”</p>
<p>At the time of this writing, <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/05/california-wildfires-seventh-victim-trump-declares-major-disaster?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">at
least 10 people</a> had been killed by the fires
across California, and the federal government declared
the situation a natural disaster.</p>
<p>One of the blazes has already become the <a
href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wildfires/california-wildfire-becomes-second-largest-in-state-history-idUSKBN1KR0SA">largest
in the state’s history</a>, and at least 12 other
fires were burning at the time of this writing.</p>
<p>Scientists have long since <a
href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/how-climate-change-contributed-to-this-summers-wildfires">linked</a>
the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires to
ACD.</p>
<h2>Air</h2>
<p>Summer temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere have
been wreaking havoc.</p>
<p>Japan has seen some of its <a
href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44910435">highest
temperatures ever recorded</a> during a heat wave that
killed at least 30 people and hospitalized more than
22,000.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in Asia, recent research has shown that a
large portion of China could <a
href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/heatwave-china-climate-change-carbon-emissions-greenhouse-gas-tropics-mit-a8471751.html">literally
become uninhabitable</a> in the coming decades as heat
waves are becoming progressively more intense.</p>
<p>Across Europe, <a
href="https://www.dw.com/en/calls-for-farm-support-intensify-as-europe-struggles-with-heat-wave-drought/a-44902321?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=12f2a40331-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-12f2a40331-99065441">calls
for assistance for farmers</a> have been common, as
blistering heat has baked the country and deep drought
conditions persist.</p>
<p>Temperatures across that continent have soared this
summer. Sweden saw its hottest July in at least <a
href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/07/the-european-heat-wave-is-brutal/565955/">260
years</a>, along with its <a
href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/07/the-european-heat-wave-is-brutal/565955/">worst
drought in 74</a> years. Northern Ireland and Wales
saw their <a
href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/07/the-european-heat-wave-is-brutal/565955/">hottest
June temperatures ever recorded</a>. <a
href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/07/the-european-heat-wave-is-brutal/565955/">Berlin
baked</a>, the UK has been <a
href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/07/the-european-heat-wave-is-brutal/565955/">wracked
with wildfires</a>, and Paris announced a <a
href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/07/the-european-heat-wave-is-brutal/565955/">heat
alert</a>.</p>
<aside>Some reports are now warning that every weather
event could possibly result in a state of emergency.</aside>
<p>Death Valley, California, <a
href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/399838-death-valley-in-california-hits-its-hottest-month-in-recorded?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=349a4b945e-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-349a4b945e-99065441">broke
its own record</a> for the hottest full month ever
recorded on the planet. It averaged 108.1°F for July,
breaking the previous record, set just last year, by
half a degree. It is worth noting that the record that
was set last year had broken a 100-year-old record.</p>
<p>“In many cases, the [heat] records were not simply
beaten, they were obliterated,” <a
href="https://thinkprogress.org/heat-waves-bother-you-under-trump-climate-policies-add-another-add-12f-fd4ef3ec514e/">ThinkProgress
reported</a> about heat records across California
recently. “As [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)] reported in Southern California,
where temperature records go back 140 years, records for
July 6 were disintegrated by 14°F in downtown Los
Angeles and Camarillo, and by 16°F in San Luis Obispo.
In Van Nuys, it hit 117°F … destroying the previous
record for the day (99°F) by an astounding 18°F — and
that record was just set last year.”</p>
<p>Some reports are now warning that every weather event <a
href="https://theoutline.com/post/5344/climate-change-is-catching-places-off-guard-and-driving-death-counts?zd=1&zi=4cvd32r3">could
possibly result in a state of emergency</a>, as ACD is
amping up weather around the planet.</p>
<p>“This is unfortunately the new normal,” Ahira
Sanchez-Lugo, a physical scientist at NOAA’s National
Centers for Environmental Information, <a
href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/climate-change-heat-waves-1.4751633?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=a1dcb79c70-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-a1dcb79c70-99065441">told
CBC News</a>.</p>
<p>“When it comes to extreme heat, we can say the odds of
extreme heat or heat waves have been significantly
increased by climate change,” <a
href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/climate-change-heat-waves-1.4751633?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=a1dcb79c70-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-a1dcb79c70-99065441">said
Clare Nullis</a>, a spokesperson for the World
Meteorological Organization. “We have to start getting
used to it.”</p>
<p>According to NOAA’s <a
href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201806">June
Global Climate Report,</a> that month ended up being
the fifth-warmest such month on record. “Four of six
continents had a June temperature that ranked among the
seven warmest Junes since continental records began in
1910,” the report noted.</p>
<p>As bad as all of this is, it will all be made worse
thanks to the policies of the Trump administration. The
climate policies of his team, or lack thereof, will
cause these severe and deadly heat waves we are already
seeing to become the new summer normal over just the
next few decades.</p>
<p>According to one report, the typical five-day heat wave
in the US will become 12°F warmer by between 2036-2065
alone, and some heat waves could bring <u><a
href="https://thinkprogress.org/heat-waves-bother-you-under-trump-climate-policies-add-another-add-12f-fd4ef3ec514e/">131°F</a></u>
temperatures, the level above which the human body
cannot continue to function properly, according to the <a
href="https://science2017.globalchange.gov/">US
National Climate Assessment (NCA)</a>. The report
warned that much of the world, including the US, will
begin to see huge “humid heat waves” where the heat
index reaches a fatal 131°F every other year by just the
end of this century, not even to speak of what will
occur after that.</p>
<h2>Denial and Reality</h2>
<p>The Trump administration continues its denial of ACD
and persists in its efforts to eviscerate the natural
environment.</p>
<p>Since the <a
href="https://truthout.org/articles/global-temperature-projections-could-double-as-the-world-burns/">last
dispatch</a>, the administration has moved forward on
plans to <a
href="https://www.apnews.com/5b3fcc01b5694f88b69db56167b8bffc/Trump-replacement-for-Obama-climate-plan-moves-forward">replace
the Obama administration’s climate plan</a> aimed at
cutting US greenhouse gas emissions. The Trump plan is
more of an “all-in” for the coal industry, in addition
to having already withdrawn the US from the Paris
climate agreement. Hence, the US now has no ACD plan.</p>
<p>The Trump administration also announced plans to <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/climate/trump-auto-emissions-california.html">weaken
US fuel efficiency laws</a> and pollution standards,
in effect freezing rules that require cleaner, more
efficient cars. This is another move toward dismantling
Obama’s plan to mitigate ACD.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Congress recently authorized the <a
href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2018/08/01/congress-authorizes-six-icebreakers-in-pentagon-bill/">inclusion
of six icebreakers</a> in the annual defense policy
bill, since oil exploration and drilling in the Arctic
is their chosen path instead of working to mitigate the
impacts of ACD.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a <a
href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0320-y">recent
study</a> revealed that the Gulf Stream current, also
known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning
Circulation, is slowing down due to ACD impacts, and
this is expected to boost planetary warming for 20
years.</p>
<p>Finally, to underscore everything you have just read, a
NOAA oceanographer <a
href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/atmospheric-carbon-last-year-reached-levels-not-seen-800000-years">warned
during a recent press call</a> that even if humans
ceased adding all CO2 to the atmosphere, the amount of
CO2 there already is enough to cause the atmosphere to
continue to warm for the “next couple decades, to maybe
a century.”</p>
<p>The NOAA’s <a
href="https://www.ametsoc.net/sotc2017/StateoftheClimate2017_lowres.pdf">State
of the Climate in 2017</a> report states unequivocally
that last year, Earth’s atmosphere saw CO2 levels reach
the highest levels “in the modern atmospheric
measurement record and in ice core records dating back
as far as 800,000 years.” Furthermore, CO2
concentrations, methane and nitrous oxide — other
impactful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — also all
hit “<a
href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/atmospheric-carbon-last-year-reached-levels-not-seen-800000-years">record
highs</a>.”</p>
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