‘Past a point of no return,’ according to British Journal Scientific Study on climate change; Reducing greenhouse gas emission to zero still will not stop global warming; Scientists see ‘an acceleration of Pandemics’

Humanity may as well be on the brink of some devastating climate adversities.

According to a scientific study recently published, it has mentioned that Humanity is beyond the point of no return when it comes to greenhouse emission of gas and will not be able to halt the melting of permafrost ( it is the ground that continuously remains below 0 degrees Celsius for two or more years)

Even if Humanity successfully reduces greenhouse emissions to zero, the global temperatures will continue to rise in the centuries to come.

Earth has already witnessed a rise in sea level due to the burning of fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, causing a rise in global temperature. 

The scientist modeled their study – the effects of greenhouse gas emission reductions on Earth’s climate from 1850 – 2500 and created projections of an increase in global temperatures and sea-level rise.

The findings of the scientific study are alarming. It shows that irrespective of the reduction of greenhouse gasses, emissions are brought down to zero. It is not sufficient to stall the melting of permafrost. 

The melting of the ice will directly increase the sea levels around the world.

Apart from halting the greenhouse emissions, something more would be needed to suck the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Climate Change Leading to an acceleration in pandemics

The World is currently battling the Novel Coronavirus. As the pandemics shows no sign of decline, the number of infectious cases is on the rise globally. It has compelled the world to come to a standstill.

By 2500, according to the study, the planet’s temperature will be much higher and up to 5.4 degrees Farenhitie warmer than in the 1850s. By that time, the sea levels will be roughly 8 feet higher.

The melting of the Arctic Ice and permafrost from Earth would also reduce the area of light and heat from Earth.

Many viruses are trapped in this ice, and the melting will systematically release trapped viruses in the air. These Viruses could be new for humanity and one that we may not have encountered before. How these new viruses may affect humanity is uncertain.

In its Global Climate Change Report, NASA said Global Climate Change has already had observable effects on the environment. With glaciers melting at a much faster rate than it should, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plants and animal habitations have shifted and reduced considerably, and trees are flowering sooner. More intense heatwaves are on the rise.

It would lead to – 

• A Rise in Temperatures
• Frost-free Season and Growing Season will lengthen
• Changes in precipitation patterns
• More Droughts and Heat Waves
• Hurricanes will become more powerful and more Intense
• Sea level will rise 1-8 feet by 2100
• The Arctic likely to be Ice-Free

Because of unrelenting plundering of natural resources, and human interruptions in the natural environment, cutting down trees, hence reducing the green cover, and human interruptions in the natural environment of several species has caused innumerable environmental disasters – from destructions caused by oil spills to bushfires, floods, and cyclones.

The year 2020 has seen much destruction and the worst environmental disasters across the world.

• Australian Bushfires: A Black Summer descended on Australia indeed when Austalia was engulfed with raging forest fires towards the last months of 2019 and the start of 2020.

The fires were so fierce that it burnt nearly 18 million hectares of land. One billion animals were killed in these fires, and many species were driven to extinction due to these fires.

The fires burnt all these months relentlessly. Despite making all efforts, the fire could not be drowsed by the firefighter officials and was finally extinguished due to heavy rains in February 2020.

• Amazon Fire Forest in Brazil: Surging fires in the Rainforests of Brazil continued for several months. With no measures to control the fire from the government, the fires made global headlines. They compelled the world leaders to criticize the government for its lack of efforts on its part. Joe Biden even called for a world effort to offer $ 20 Billion to end Amazon deforestation. The Rain Forests of Brazil contribute and account for at least 50% of production Oxygen in the air.

• Oil Spill In Russia’s Arctic Region – Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tonnes of diesel leaked into a Russian river. Large amounts of diesel leaked into the river region, which is above the Arctic Circle. The Oil spill can block the respiration of marine life and lead to death. The numerous species of birds that feed on the fish and other marine life would also suffer. The authorities managed to contain and work on the Oil spill, but it did cause damage to marine life.

• Uttarakhand Fires – burnt 51 hectares of land due to forest fires in multiple districts of the state. Enormous forest covers have been lost in the Kumaon region, killing many species. The cause of the fires was the heatwaves that engulfed the entire northern region of the country. 

• Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal and Odisha – Th cyclone that hit West Bengal and Odisha was considered the strongest in over a decade. Widespread floods caused and which killed 4,000 livestock and caused massive damages.

• Spring Tornadoe in the US – a string of tornadoes unleashed on the US, leading to widespread destruction and loss of habitat and death for several species. Incidentally, this was the highest number of Toranodes that hit the US in several decades.

• Wild Fires on the West Coast of America – California‘s devastating fires and burnt 3 million hectares of forest land caused extreme air pollution and the worst west coast fire season in at least the last 70 years. It killed many numbers of species and forced many species towards vulnerability and extinction. Ecologists believe that the fires could inflict lasting damage to species and the ecosystem. 

Humanity in its greed, ego – of being on top of the food chain, and taken for granted attitude – Earth will take care of its own self – has resulted in not only effecting millions of species of flora and fauna and systematic eradication of Forests, Animal Habitat, Polluting the water bodies and relentless plundering of Natural Resources may have dug its own grave.