Its not new but it seems only in 2013 that we hit a threshold where 99% of scientists now believe that global warming / climate change is primarily caused by human activity i.e. burning lots of fossil fuels. Previous outcries of scientific proof way before 2013 such as Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth wasn't moving enough for politicians. (An Inconvenient Truth: The Video; The Book) Unfortunately there are politicians who still weigh the 1% doubting scientists against the 99% as if somehow the numbers balance no doubt they are aligned to the fossil fuel lobby.
I learned about global warming in 1985. At that time I was a 14 year old who loved nature and was upset at the possibility that at the rate of logging then by the year 2000, when I would be 29, most of the virgin rain forests would have disappeared and with it the extinction of many species.
30 years on we are only now unequivocally acknowledging that humankind is an environmental force that nature has to reckon with. Earth Hour and Earth Day have celebrity standing to at least remind us that we have to be conservative in using Earth's resources. A reason of course is because every super weather event–epic blizzards, flooding, super typhoons that hits the front page of news doesn’t end without mention of climate change as a possible contributing factor.
As we get deeper into the 21st century any planning into the future beyond the next decade or so must take into account the changes that global warming might cause. There are nations already reeling from rising sea levels. Small island nations like the Maldives and South Pacific Island Nations are already preparing for the worst by demanding bigger nations provide them refuge in case they need to abandon their paradisiacal islands. It is hard to ever imagine talking about the South Pacific islands as places that once used to be.
The Island President is a docu-movie that highlights just how real the problem of global sea level rise is to the Maldives.
I learned about global warming in 1985. At that time I was a 14 year old who loved nature and was upset at the possibility that at the rate of logging then by the year 2000, when I would be 29, most of the virgin rain forests would have disappeared and with it the extinction of many species.
30 years on we are only now unequivocally acknowledging that humankind is an environmental force that nature has to reckon with. Earth Hour and Earth Day have celebrity standing to at least remind us that we have to be conservative in using Earth's resources. A reason of course is because every super weather event–epic blizzards, flooding, super typhoons that hits the front page of news doesn’t end without mention of climate change as a possible contributing factor.
As we get deeper into the 21st century any planning into the future beyond the next decade or so must take into account the changes that global warming might cause. There are nations already reeling from rising sea levels. Small island nations like the Maldives and South Pacific Island Nations are already preparing for the worst by demanding bigger nations provide them refuge in case they need to abandon their paradisiacal islands. It is hard to ever imagine talking about the South Pacific islands as places that once used to be.
The Island President is a docu-movie that highlights just how real the problem of global sea level rise is to the Maldives.
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