June 5th every year is World Environment Day. In 1989, people first set the theme of World Environment Day as "Beware of Global Warming." Since then, the issue of global warming has attracted everyone's attention. The themes of World Environment Day in 1991 and 2009 were respectively "Climate Change - Need for Global Cooperation" and "The Earth Needs You: United to Fight Climate Change". Nowadays, global warming has become an important factor limiting human survival and development. It has gone beyond the narrow scope of scientific topics and become a major international political, diplomatic and economic topic. In addition, there are also skeptics who claim that recent global warming has occurred in the context of the earth's long climate evolution. It is far from threatening the earth. For example, the 45th President of the United States, Trump, has publicly questioned global warming. Some conspiracy theorists even believe that global warming is just a world hoax manipulated by individual countries.
So how much impact will rising temperatures on the earth have on humans? Why do humans always feel powerless to deal with global warming? Why do some people say global warming is just a world hoax? What preparations are humans currently making to face the doomsday that may be caused by global warming? The answers to all these will be answered one by one in this article.
First of all, let’s take a look at the impact that rising temperatures will have on the earth. Doomsday disasters caused by global warming have been described in the movies "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012", and this The two movies are also more in line with scientific theories. The disasters in them are all theoretically possible, but the question is how high does the earth's temperature need to rise before such magnificent scenes in the movie can occur?
From this table, we can see that the temperature of the earth is indeed continuing to rise, but the earth has not been destroyed as a result, and even our daily lives have not had any major impact. According to research in Berlin-Potsdam, Germany Dr. Bill Harr of the institute once made a representative threat of 2. He believed that the average temperature of the earth cannot increase more than 2, which is the bottom line for the survival of the ecosystem and human society. If the average temperature of the earth increases more than 2, global warming will It is irreversible and humanity will gradually move toward destruction. It should be emphasized here that the following average temperature growth refers to the average temperature increase of the earth in the past 30 years or more. This growth is very scary because the previous temperature difference needs to be filled, just like a person's average body temperature in the first year is 36. If you want his average body temperature to rise to 38, you need to keep him with a high fever of about 40 in the second year.
Since the end of the 19th century, the global average temperature has increased between 0.3 and 0.6, which is still far behind 2. However, Dr. Bill Hare speculated based on the current temperature increase that in 2100 the average temperature increase of the earth will reach 2, and disasters that destroy mankind will follow.
First of all, it is an indisputable fact that rising temperatures cause glaciers to melt. In the past 50 years, ten Antarctic ice shelves have completely collapsed, but when the average temperature increases to 2 If the Antarctic melts, the sea level will rise by six to seven meters in some coastal areas. In theory, the first country to suffer from Antarctic melting is the United States, because the Antarctic melting water is not evenly dispersed into the world's oceans, and some ice water It will flow to North America under the strong gravitational pull of the ocean. It is estimated that the sea level in Washington, DC, located on the east coast of the United States, will rise to 6.3 meters and will become the first area to be submerged. At the same time, the extent of flooding in low-lying areas on the west coast of North America, the Canadian coast, Europe and the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific coast will be far greater than expected.
The flow of large amounts of seawater to the northern hemisphere and the overall rise in sea level will also shift the earth's rotation axis, causing the latitude to shift northward, causing the traditional balance of nature to be broken, the most typical of which is vegetation. Distribution pattern, for example, bananas could only be grown in the southern tropics before. With the change of vegetation boundaries, the north where there were no planting conditions before may also be suitable for its growth. It may not sound so scary, but isn’t it just the plants moving? However, changes in the distribution pattern of global vegetation will lead to a series of chain reactions, such as the increase and mutation of harmful organisms, frequent fires in tropical rainforests, and the rapid expansion of desert areas.
In addition, the impact on the Arctic is even more serious. In the past century, the average temperature in the Arctic has increased at almost twice the global average rate. If the average temperature increases to 2, the Arctic will no longer Covered by ice sheets, usually ice sheets can reflect 80% of sunlight. After the ice sheet disappears, the ability of the Arctic region to reflect sunlight is weakened. The sun's heat energy will directly enter the ocean, and the hidden seawater will absorb more solar radiation than the ice sheets. Further causing temperature warming, the continued warming of the global climate will be irreversible under this vicious cycle, and the earth will gradually no longer be suitable for human survival. British writer Mark Linus proposed in his book "6 Things That Changed the World" In 2300, the average temperature of the earth will increase to 12%, and humans will be completely unable to live on the earth.
Since the disasters caused by global warming are so terrible, why don’t humans deal with them? Why is the temperature still soaring today? This is beyond words.
First of all, let’s understand the greenhouse effect of the earth. The earth’s heat comes from the sun. The earth is like a greenhouse, and the atmosphere is equivalent to the greenhouse. When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, it will be destroyed to varying degrees. Weak, when the weakened sunlight hits the surface of the earth, it will rebound. After rebounding to the atmosphere, the atmosphere will absorb the reflection of the earth to a certain extent, so that some heat can be locked in to keep the earth warm, making the earth form the current shape. A state of balanced climate, so if there is a problem with the earth's atmosphere, there will be a problem with the earth's temperature. For example, the atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than that of Earth, so Mars cannot trap heat. The temperature difference between day and night on Mars is about 100°C.
The earth’s atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, chlorofluorocarbons, ozone and other gases. Among them, some greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and carbon monoxide have limited radiation from the sun. It has almost no effect, but it has a strong absorption effect on the heat rebounded from the earth. If the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase, the earth's heat will not be dissipated, causing the earth to become hotter and hotter. And the IPCC has also published an assessment report. The abnormally rapid increase in global temperature coincides with the intensive period of human greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is generally believed in the scientific community that global warming is caused by excessive greenhouse gases.
There are two main types of human impacts on greenhouse gases. One is the direct emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. For example, carbon dioxide and methane are emitted due to burning coal, charcoal, and wood burning in industrial production. The other is It is human activities that have changed the climate. For example, deforestation directly reduces the earth's ability to digest carbon dioxide. Now that humans already know the cause of global warming, we should prescribe the right medicine. We should have fewer children and plant more trees, save energy and reduce emissions and walk more. More than 150 countries and the European Economic Community have even signed the agreement in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The world's first international convention to comprehensively control greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide to combat the adverse effects of global warming on the human economy and society - the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The convention states that each country's carbon emission indicators must be strictly controlled. . Although on the surface this convention seems good, within a few years people have put forward the conspiracy theory of global warming, claiming that global warming is a scam of some developed countries. There are three reasons:
Even Some people point out that the relationship between global warming and greenhouse gases is only theoretically very possible and cannot be determined. They just infer based on data without conducting specific experiments. Others have made statistics saying that 96% of the carbon dioxide in the air is emitted by nature. , only 40% comes from man-made emissions, so no matter how much human control is, it will not help. However, some people later stood up to oppose the conspiracy theory and said that this data is unreliable. Carbon dioxide emissions in the air cannot be distinguished between humans and nature, because humans and nature are inseparable. .
For example, the most typical example is cow farts. According to statistics, the carbon dioxide emitted by cattle accounts for 18% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. This is not only much higher than other domestic animals, but even exceeds the carbon dioxide emissions from human transportation. , this cow fart is indeed natural, but most cows in nature are artificially raised, so it cannot be said to have nothing to do with humans.
In short, the issue of global warming, like genetic modification, is always accompanied by controversy, but now most areas are still actively managing it. Not long ago, a cow fart collector appeared in Argentina to alleviate global warming. , but the main reason is that people in various countries are not aligned. Some are active in governance and others are going their own way. This makes global warming difficult to control.
Finally, let’s take a look at what measures humans have tried to deal with the doomsday disasters that may be caused by global warming. I will only mention five of them that are more representative.
1. Japan - Maritime City
As early as the 1960s, Buckminster Fuller, a famous American engineer, was commissioned by a Japanese millionaire to design Tokyo. A city on the sea, Fuller first designed three types of floating houses, all of which were combined tetrahedral structures with apartment units. However, in the end it was not realized due to the early death of the funder, but after all, Fuller was a leader in the architectural world. A genius with 55 honorary doctorates and 26 patented inventions, his idea of ??a maritime city has been admired and followed by many later architects.
2. The Netherlands - The Floating City
The Floating City looks like three huge water droplets from a distance, and three large translucent balls floating side by side on the water up close. Look carefully. It looks like a honeycomb again. This is the floating city designed by the Netherlands. The outer shell adopts a floating mold structure commonly used in crop cultivation, which is conducive to storing energy and optimizing the temperature cycle in the building. Because this building has been successfully piloted, it is expected to be possible in the future. There will be sales, but since the construction cost of a floating house is 5 to 10 times higher than a house on land, the price is not expected to be too cheap.
3. United States - Freedom Boat
The Freedom Boat is a giant ship designed and built by a company in Florida, USA, that can accommodate 50,000 people for a long time. The length of the ship is 1371.6 Meters, 228.6 meters wide, 106.7 meters high, and weighing 2.7 million tons. There are schools, hospitals, shopping plazas, art galleries, casinos and other living and entertainment facilities on the ship. Later, an airport will be built on the roof. If this project can be realized, it will be The largest ship ever built, but it is said that the housing on the ship is not planned to be rented but can only be purchased. The most expensive mansion is currently estimated to be worth US$44 million.
4. Solar submarine
If global warming and sea levels rise, underwater may be a good choice for living, and submarines powered by solar energy are the most suitable escape devices. Many countries are currently developing them, and the world's first solar-powered submersible The submarine appeared at the bottom of Lake Thun in Switzerland in 2012. This submarine is also the first step in Switzerland's underwater solar energy plan.
5. Paris - Swan Island
If sea levels rise and submerge the land, humans will have to build islands to survive. Swan Island is an artificial island currently located in the Seine River in France. in the middle of the river.
Since the Industrial Revolution, various abnormal weather events have occurred more and more frequently. In the absence of natural causes, we can only temporarily attribute the cause to human activities. Global warming is common knowledge in academic circles, but no one can prove that common knowledge is the truth. The reason why we believe in science is not because it is correct, but because this explanation is more reasonable based on the current phenomenon.