Continued at link. The author is based in the UK. I think I should assume hard (bad) times are coming for the species that inhabit the earth, much worse thsn today’s heat. Could it have been avoided? I’ll say no, we, the human species was/is just not smart enough… locked into our economies.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Arctic ice is shrinking by almost 13% a decade, a trend that, according to a study by Kim et al indicates ice-free summers by 2050. (Kim, Min, Gillet, & et al, 2023). Sea ice loss has far-reaching effects around the world.
The Arctic’s role in reflecting heat back into space is critical. The Arctic acts as a mirror for the Earth, bouncing heat back into space with its white ice. But this mirror is cracking, as the Arctic is heating up faster than anywhere else on the planet. As the ice melts, more dark ocean is exposed, which absorbs more heat and accelerates the warming. This reduces the Arctic’s ability to reflect heat and keep the Earth cool.
The chilly Arctic is in contrast with the warmer southern areas, creating a powerful wind called the jet stream, which steers the weather patterns across the northern half of the globe. But as the Arctic heats up faster than the rest of the world, this contrast weakens, and the jet stream becomes weaker and possibly faster. This can make the weather more extreme and unpredictable, as hot air from the tropics can invade the north causing heatwaves and droughts, while cold air from the poles could flow south bringing cold snaps and snowstorms. (E360, 2023), (Lerner, 2023
Since 1880, global sea levels have risen by 8–9 inches (21–24 centimetres), with a significant acceleration in the past 25 years. (Lindsey, 2022), (NASA) The melting of Arctic ice caps and glaciers contributes to rising sea levels, posing a direct threat to local communities, marine ecosystems, and the biodiversity that depends on them.
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