An article recently appeared in the journal Science that bore the title "Projections of Climate Change Go From Bad to Worse, Scientists Report." The details in the article confirm that this title is, if anything, an understatement. As University of Copenhagen biological oceanographer Katherine Richardson warned "there's no good news."
It is well-established that global warming will, among other consequences, alter rainfall patterns around the world and raise sea level substantially. Estimates are that altered rainfall will bring droughts to the US southwest, southern Europe, northern Africa, and western Australia, comparable to those that caused the devastating 1930s Dust Bowl in the United States. The rising sea level will inundate low-lying islands and continental shorelines.
The combination of increasing temperatures and dry conditions predicted for some areas suggest that there will be more wildfires and they will be of longer duration. This will require increasing expense both to control the fires and to repair the damage they do. There's convincing evidence that this trend, increases in both frequency and duration of wildfires, is well underway.California Fire
Until a few decades ago noise was seen as no more than a nuisance of modern urban life. Then research began to show that loud, but not uncommon, noise could damage hearing. And numerous studies indicated that many widespread sources of sound near schools impaired children's ability to learn. More recently the World Health Organization (WHO), using data from pioneer studies done in several European countries, including Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, has demonstrated that noise can be a major killer. Plane Over London Neighborhood
The story of rising food prices around the world, and the hunger and unrest it is producing, has been widely reported in the mainstream media. Yet rarely is there any serious analysis to find the cause of the crisis. At best it's assumed, based on past experience, that the cause is temporary, the crisis can be eased by increasing food aid and by taking steps to restore production. However, the causes of the present crisis are not temporary. Food Aid Arrives in Haiti
This past fall humanity celebrated the golden anniversary of the Space Age, as measured by the launch into orbit by the Soviet Union of the first Earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik I, on October 1 1957. Today that stunning technical achievement has become routine. More than 4,500 satellites have been launched into orbit and more than 850 of them still operate. Private companies now launch satellites, as do a large numbers of countries. Less well known is the attempt to put weapons in space.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019