So, in other news far, far away, the amount of Arctic Sea ice has shrunken to its smallest surface area ever recorded. Let me say that again: the smallest amount of ice EVER, since recording began in 1979. And while this is all happening in a place most of us have never set foot, the affects are coming to everybody’s backyard, sooner rather than later.
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic ice is covering 49% square miles less than the 1979-2000 average. Wonder why you couldn’t walk a block without sweating this summer? Rolling Stone reported that June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the U.S. and it was the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average. Think this is just the regular cycle Earth goes through? Not quite. The odds of this occurring were 3.7 x 10-99. That’s larger than the number of stars in the universe.
Raise your hand if you’ve seen The Day After Tomorrow. If you haven’t, rent it immediately because A) Jake Gyllenhaal is in it and B) This stuff is exactly what it’s about. Last week there were two tornadoes in New York City. Not Oklahoma. New York City. Scientists predict weather patterns are going to begin changing all over the Northern hemisphere. Think flooding, droughts, wildfires, rising sea levels, etc. Colleges should start offering a major on storm chasing.
We know exactly what is causing it and how to stop it. Long story short: fossil fuels = bad, so use them less. In climate change scary movies, after a few big hail storms then all the heads of every country meet together, make pacts to cut down oil, become energy efficient, and humanity is saved. In real life, we’re running into a few more problems. People can’t have a discussion because we don’t agree on concrete, scientific facts (as in some deny global warming is happening at all). They stick their head out the window and notice it’s a little warm, but they just turn up the AC in their car on the way to the grocery store.
So major weather patterns aren’t on the top of your “Things I Care About” list. Okay, cool, you have that right. But what about some of the other things climate change would affect? I hope you like goodbyes, because you’re going to be saying it a lot: to things like maple syrup, baby polar bears, football in The South, coffee, chocolate, wine, skiing, and beer just to name a few.
Maybe you can live in a world without chocolate, but I, for one, just can’t.
