Given so Many Salient Forecasts for Disaster, a Sane Society Would Redouble its Efforts

Introduction

If priorities are misguided, proper allotment of time and resources to address existential problems, global and national, is impossible. Anthropogenic climate change and global warming were recognized as fact by the scientific community over fifty years ago. But because of two-party political dysfunction and distorted priorities little was done. Because water covers 71 percent of Earth’s surface, one of the many hazards of global warming is that a single degree Celsius uptick in average global temperature can cause an 8 percent increase in evaporative atmospheric moisture. Where evaporation is supercharged by heat, droughts occur. In areas conducive to condensation, that cumulative moisture becomes heavy precipitation. Given the planet’s current temperature trajectory, it’s no surprise Connecticut just completed its rainiest July since 1905, when meteorological records first were kept. The wet month also contributed to high, often dangerous humidity when combined with searing heat. Deluges and flashfloods not only destroyed lives and personal property, but severely damaged crops in northwestern Connecticut, upstate New York, Vermont, Nova Scotia, Berlin, Beijing and scores of other locales around the globe. Surfeits of rain, sometimes exceeding seven inches an hour washed away buildings, bridges, highways and other infrastructure. Vermont alone suffered $5 billion in damages, and we’re barely mid-summer.

Impact of Climate Change

Continued record-breaking temperatures (over 115º F in Europe) and prolonged heat waves, reaching 110º F for weeks in the southern U.S. and Mediterranean regions, have been key contributors to water shortages, wildfires and hundreds of human deaths. In addition to mobile phones made inoperative by temps, 12 counties in Washington State are suffering drought emergencies, and in Syria water level drops and pollution have reduced fish populations by 90%. Canada has been on fire for months destroying vast natural habitats and vulnerable wildlife within. Air quality over much of the continent has been compromised by smoke. More recently, Algeria, Spain, Italy and Greece have been ravaged by drought-induced fires, as have the Canary Islands and Swiss Alps. Despite Herculean efforts and losses of lives, including firefighters’, abatement is limited.

Oceanic Impact

Hot oceans amplify these weather-intensified catastrophes by drastically “bending’ the jet stream, resulting in heat domes. Contorted-airflow wind shear can sometimes dampen formation of storms, but in general, rising heat and atmospheric energy over the oceans increases sea levels and feeds cyclonic intensities of hurricanes and typhoons. Global ocean surface temps in June were the highest in 174 years of data collection, with emergent El Nino patterns worsening the long-term trend. In Manatee Bay, 40 miles south of the tip of Florida, oceanographic buoys recorded a shocking 101º F seawater temp (comparable to hot tubs). That spells disaster for many marine organisms, especially coral reef communities and fish populations already distressed by global warming. As water temperatures rise to unprecedented levels in uppermost water columns, we’re seeing an oceanic heat wave affecting 40% of the seas. Already, since 1975, days with water temps above 90ºF have increased an alarming 2500% off the Florida Keys. Further coral mass die-offs brought on by heat could be devastating given 25% of all marine animals, including dolphins, turtles and sharks, depend on reefs for survival. Like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Florida Reef Tract (North America’s only barrier reef) has already lost 90% of its live coral cover since the 1980s. As global warming continues to worsen, routine economic losses are projected to exceed $1 trillion a year. Yet, despite culpability, fossil fuel corporations haven’t been held accountable to either pay restitution for the harm or fund long-term restoration, assuming remediation long-shots are feasible. Bottom line: thanks to our relentless carbon emissions, the “seven seas” are losing an ability to act as environmental buffers, softening impacts of excess heat and carbon dioxide we humans produced.

Oceans as Carbon Sinks

For decades, global oceans soaked up 90% of the warming caused by humanity’s CO2, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions. They’ve also acted as carbon sinks absorbing enormous amounts of atmospheric CO2, much of it produced by centuries of hydrocarbon-intensive, ecologically destructive human activities. But the day of reckoning has come for nonrenewable energy production, meat-intensive diets, congested highways and profligate economies overly dependent on coal, oil and petroleum byproducts. The oceans, our ecological protectorates turned cesspools, are less effective buffers. Each year, about 25% of the CO2 emissions humans produce are absorbed by the oceans, the Southern Ocean closer to 40%. But massive gigatonnage of carbon dioxide absorbed from our industrial greenhouse gas emissions, internal combustion engines, etc., especially the last 150 years, has pushed the planet’s oceans inexorably towards CO2 saturation. Their ability to keep up with our atmospheric pollution is waning. Increased CO2 in the oceans also alters seawater chemistry by first forming carbonic acid and then dissociating into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions, making the seas more acidic. That lowering of pH has made marine and freshwater environments less tolerable, even deadlier to many species, whose gills, shells, and exoskeletons evolved for a higher, more favorable pH range.

Implications and Solutions

Bear in mind: while water is much more difficult to heat than either air or land, it’s also much harder to cool. Today’s changes will have a lasting detrimental effect on biodiversity, accelerating the on-going mass extinction we’re causing. Other cascading effects could be unparalleled. New lines of scientific research are studying how global warming affects ground beneath cities. Heat released by buildings and subterranean transportation on especially hot days creates “subsurface heat islands” which can deform soil, rock and building materials. And while bone-dry conditions are dangerously lowering the Mississippi, Colorado and Ohio Rivers here in the United States, Antarctic sea ice has melted to its lowest recorded expanse for this time of year, even though, in the southern hemisphere, it’s winter. That means rising seas are worsening, encroaching on 680 million people around the globe living in low-lying areas and almost 2 billion more (one quarter the human population) residing in half the world’s coastal megacities.

Reallocating Resources

Given

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 14: Life Below Water
• SDG 15: Life on Land

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
• SDG 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
• SDG 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds
• SDG 14.2: By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts
• SDG 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services
• SDG 15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 13.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected people attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
• Indicator for SDG 13.2: Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan that addresses climate change adaptation and mitigation
• Indicator for SDG 14.1: Proportion of coastal and marine areas protected by effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative, and well-connected systems of protected areas
• Indicator for SDG 14.2: Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type
• Indicator for SDG 15.1: Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type
• Indicator for SDG 15.2: Progress towards sustainable forest management

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.

Source: ctexaminer.com

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