MAJOR GLOBAL CONCERN

by Mrs Pervin Kavarana
(INDIA)

Animals potentially affected by global warming

Animals potentially affected by global warming

During the past century, the earth's surface temperature has gone up by nearly a full degrees centigrade.

Barry's Response - Big Deal? Maybe, we've seen quite a few environmental disasters and MIGHT be able to blame it on global warming.

What Can I Say?



Nobody knows for sure what it will mean. Except that it has become warmer at times (and cooler at other places and times by the way) and many will blame greenhouse gases. Climate change and global warming have gone hand-in-hand.

Could global warming be blamed for recent plant and animal extinctions? Maybe. It's never trivial assigning causation for any event of this sort.

Species have been known to fail to adapt to changes in their surroundings, and recent extinctions should be no exception. On the other hand, species have appeared and disappeared throughout the history of time and when extinctions occur, that can be considered quite normal.

The earth (along with its natural environments) is a dynamic place; we cannot, nor should we try to, alter that fact.

What Have we Seen?


If it's hard data you're looking for: Check out weatherspark.com - under "more" it extrapolates measured data to come up with a rate of global warming based on the stations selected, following user-specified credentials. If I select all of the world's available stations in their database from 1949 to 2011, with:
  • at least ten years of good data,
  • and missing no more than 100 hours in each of those years,
the extrapolation produces a rate of temperature increase of 1.6°C per century. The calculation used data from 754 stations. That is significant. Thanks for your concern and the graphics you included.

There's nothing more urgent than a polar bear on a shrinking ice cube, right? You're right to be worried. With a sprinkle of mischief, some meteorological honesty, and a generous dollop of curiosity, let's talk about climate change.

I love a weather map

Don't get me wrong. The Earth is a drama queen, so don't panic over a single hot year or soggy summer. It's been tantrums, ice ages, and solar-fueled growth spurts. Is Aunt Doris unpredictable? Try modelling cloud microphysics over the Indian Ocean during a solar minimum!

The great Canadian climatologist once said, "Weather is what you wear, climate is what you pack." Poetic and practical. Short-term, cherry-picked datasets often confuse suitcases with trips. Data isn't as important as politics and funding incentives.

Extrapolating high-quality global temperature records from 754 stations (Weatherspark.com has a nice tool for that) shows a warming trend of 1.6°C per century. It's real, but it's manageable-especially if we don't ignore natural influences like solar irradiance, volcanic activity, and oceanic cycles like El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). They're usually left out of political climate posters.

How about the 40+ species that go extinct every day regardless of temperature changes? Habitat loss, overhunting, and well-meaning green policies don't take local realities into account. The nuance of ecosystems. Forces also shape them.

Make it Better


Do you want to stop environmental degradation? Clean air, better water, resilient agriculture, and community-level stewardship rooted in science and soul are needed. It's good if you're smiling. Great if you're furious. Means you're still thinking about it.

Reframe this global concern with fierce curiosity, not fear. Come on, let's save the planet...with intelligence.

It's a good idea to combine high-precision atmospheric dispersion modeling with rich cultural narratives, visual storytelling, and care principles. You don't need a PhD or UN pass to take care of the environment.

Always ask questions. Feel better knowing your air is being monitored by people who don't mind clearing fog. Comment below to inject some fresh air into this climate conversation.

Search this site for more information now.

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starstarstarstarstar 		its good
by: Hugh Jameson

Many natural species adapt and even mutate due to changes in the environment, but several fail to achieve a new symbiosis with the current habitat. They die out, sometimes completely, and it’s only then that we realize how fragile their place was in the specific ecological niche.

From Barry - Hugh, thanks for stopping by the weather station of reason and curiosity. Before the wind shifts, let's unpack these ideas.

Musical chairs is an evolutionary game. Participation trophies don't exist in nature. Species adapt, migrate, or die. When they're gone, we realize how intricate and precarious their role was. If you lose the triangle player in an orchestra, it's like losing that delicate "ting!" and suddenly your Beethoven sounds empty.

Species like amphibians, corals, and polar-dependent creatures often depend on very specific thermal and hydrological conditions in these fragile systems. In a few degrees, it's game over.

Extinction has always been part of Earth's dynamic system. Consider the Permian extinction (the "Great Dying"). Plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions were the only things around back then.

We should care about extinction, but we shouldn't assume every vanishing beetle is a threat to the climate.
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starstarstarstarstar 		global warming
by: Anonymous

7000 years ago the sharia desert was grass lands. Things change with time and so does the temperature and we have no control over it.

From Barry - Anonymous Sahara Philosopher: That's my kind of time travel! 7,000 years ago, the Sahara was a lush savanna with hippos and elephants. Over time, it evolved into the arid beast we associate with camels and sand dunes. How come? Monsoon dynamics and orbital variations (Milankovitch cycles).

Sunlight. The flaming ball is still the biggest climate influencer, probably. There's never been a static climate on Earth. Shakespeare's plot ebbs and flows. The glaciers change. The forest waxes and wanes. What's with humans? During the third act, we yelled at the director.

Does that mean we don't have any influence? I don't think so. Global temperatures can be shifted by degrees by solar cycles, ocean currents (like the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation), and volcanoes.

We need humility, you're right. Are we dominating the climate? Without a dimmer switch, you can't adjust the sun.

Last but not least: Care and curiosity go hand in hand. There's climate change. The same goes for Earth's natural variability. Ecosystems need to be protected-not so we can freeze them in time, but so we can help them adapt. When you understand the science behind these changes, the drama makes more sense.

When someone says, "This heat wave proves global warming," ask them if they've checked sunspot activity lately. Just to spice things up.

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Thank you to my research and writing assistants, ChatGPT and WordTune, as well as Wombo and others for the images.

GPT-4, OpenAI's large-scale language generation model (and others provided by Google and Meta), helped generate this text.  As soon as draft language is generated, the author reviews, edits, and revises it to their own liking and is responsible for the content.