Unfortunately, there are still skeptics out there considering the science behind climate change and the movement of "global warming." This post is for you! Even as a strong advocate of climate change, the documentary featured in this post still baffled me.
A common misconception is believed that climate change is still a topic of debate or considered controversial in the scientific community. This is not actually the case. In fact, 97% of actively publishing scientist agree: "Climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities" (NASA). These human actives are called anthropogenic causes. This graph, provided by NASA, shows the agreement of warming temperatures from four different international science institutions. You can see the rapid warming occurring in the past few decades by the data above the solid horizontal line.
A common misconception is believed that climate change is still a topic of debate or considered controversial in the scientific community. This is not actually the case. In fact, 97% of actively publishing scientist agree: "Climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities" (NASA). These human actives are called anthropogenic causes. This graph, provided by NASA, shows the agreement of warming temperatures from four different international science institutions. You can see the rapid warming occurring in the past few decades by the data above the solid horizontal line.
The IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) organization's purpose is to analyze all the research being done to find the agreements and differences across the scientific community. Therefore, they do not have a biased opinion and do not argue towards one side. In 2007 the following statement was released in the Fourth Assessment Report:
“Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthro- pogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. This is an advance since the Third Assessment Report’s (2001) conclusion that ‘most of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in green- house gas concentrations.’ Discernable human influences now extend to other aspects of climate....”
They continue to discuss evidence observed including increased global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. Notice, this IPCC statement was a change from their previous statement in 2001, meaning over the years more and more evidence has changed the opinions of the majority of scientists. Also, this means there has been a consensus since 2007, eight years ago! In the featured documentary, Chasing Ice, they mention that the consequences of the public opinion not agreeing on climate change is due to unwillingness to change. If we finally accept the immediate necessity of climate change it would include changing our lifestyles. Nobody wants to sacrifice driving less, giving up eating as much meat, or switching to environmental friendly products.
How much longer can we ignore the topic and continue living our destructive life style? Again, lets result to the IPCC:
How much longer can we ignore the topic and continue living our destructive life style? Again, lets result to the IPCC:
"Without additional mitigation, and even with adaptation, warming by the end of the 21st century will lead to high to very high risk of severe, widespread and irreversible impacts globally."
In actuality, the dreaded point of no return is a lot closer than most would like to admit. So how would you like to leave this planet for the following generations? When natural disasters are striking and the Earth's resources have been sucked dry, we will look back and know we could have prevented this if only we would have made simple daily life changes. The first step is acknowledging the problem. I agree, it is difficult to make sacrifices when you can't physically see the damages your choices cause or when they don't effect your immediate daily life.
That's where this documentary comes in! Follow National Geographic's James Balog, who once too was a skeptic of climate change, as he uncovers shattering evidence of our changing planet. He has accomplished his goals in this film by bringing the undeniable images of melting glaciers to you in hopes to open your eyes to the reality of climate change. Watch the trailer below and find the full documentary on Netflix.
Watch with an open mind and hopefully leave with a better understanding!
That's where this documentary comes in! Follow National Geographic's James Balog, who once too was a skeptic of climate change, as he uncovers shattering evidence of our changing planet. He has accomplished his goals in this film by bringing the undeniable images of melting glaciers to you in hopes to open your eyes to the reality of climate change. Watch the trailer below and find the full documentary on Netflix.
Watch with an open mind and hopefully leave with a better understanding!