HISTORY IN THE NEWS:
History never dies. It is reborn every minute of every day.
HISTORY IN THE NEWS: DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.
Climate Change
IN BRIEF: There have been large scale oscillations in global temperature over the millennia but there is clear evidence that a warming trend created by man made greenhouse gases has disrupted the pattern.
IN THE NEWS: THE
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION REPORTS THAT THE WORLD WARMED FASTER IN THE LAST DECADE, 2001-2011- THAN IN ANY DECADE SINCE RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT. THIS HAS BEEN THE EXPERIENCE OF 90 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRIES SURVEYED. THE UNPRECEDENTED FREQUENCY OF WEATHER DASASTERS SUCH AS FIRES AND
FLOODING CANNOT, INDIVIDUALLY, BE EXPLAINED BY CLIMATE CHANGE, BUT HAS OCCURRED AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF INCREASING TEMPERATURES AND GREEN HOUSE GASES IN THE ATMOSPHERE. MORE THAN 370,000 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED BY SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS DURING THE PERIOD BETWEEN 2001 AND 2010, DYING FROM EXTREME HEAT AND OLD , DROUGHT, STORMS AND FLOODS.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
-Since its formation, the earth has been cooling, with periods of
warming separated by ice ages along the way. The last 17,000 years or
'Holocene' period, the 'age of man' has been a time of warming since the
end of the last ice age. But the warming part of the cycle has been
distorted by artificially produced greenhouses gases, in addition to the
earth's natural C02. The Holocene is only a sliver of the entire life
of the earth but if indeed C02 emissions prolong this last warm period
and the cycle of ice ages has come to an end, man will have changed the
environment forever, and likely for the worse.
-climate skeptics have a point when they PLACE the the
current trend in global warming within a much larger scale of cooling and warming trends throughout natural and human history. But it is not a strong argument. The empirical evidence points to the presence, quantity and increase of gases that point to human interference in the earth's natural meteorological balance..
IN HISTORY:
In 1892 the first
theory in global warming caused by man-made C02 increases was advanced
by the Swedish scientist, Arrhenius. The 1930s saw the first
warming of the Arctic though it stopped around 1940 to resume again in
1970. In 1949 the British scientist Callendar, made the first provable
links between C02 increases and global warming trends from the 19th into
the 20th centuries. In 1966 there was famine in India. The oscillations
of the 20th century are rather frequent, providing a more complex
picture. 1942 to 1953 was a balmy, mild optimum followed by a cooling
trend until 1980. Afterward, the present trend toward hotter
temperatures began. A 1985 conference of the United Nations
Environmental Program and the World Meteorological Organization
established the first scientific consensus on global warming. There was
widespread agreement that greenhouse gases caused by increased human
economic activity, especially the use of fossil fuels, was affecting
weather patterns.
In 2001, the Kyoto protocol
was signed by 178 countries- a commitment to reducing greenhouse gases
which has since begun to unravel due to disgreements about the need for
fossil-fuel based industries to maintain the lifestyle of rich nations
and raise the living standards of poor nations. Recently, the heating of
the atmosphere has caused record numbers of cyclones and hurricanes,
particularly in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. In 2007 to 2008, heavy
rainfall, mudslides, disastrous flooding, raging forest fires, freak
cold spells and and massive snowfalls have been attributed to the
disruption of natural weather patterns by the Greenhouse Effect.
RELEVANT DATES:
THE LARGE PICTURE
100 million BC- First Cooling Begins: -despite cooling, sub-tropical plants and animals still live far to the north.
1 million BC- global climate is considerably warmer than today. Sea levels are higher by as much as 100 to 300 meters.
The Last Ice Age
100,000
BC –Last Ice Age begins- The advance and retreat of ice ages is
attributed to the Milankovitch effect- slow changes in the orbit of the
earth which change the effect of solar radiation on the earth’s surface.
-‘Saint Germain 1’ heavy forest in NE France.
-CO2 , CH4 and nitreous oxide, commonly known as green-house gases are at low levels.
THE HUMAN PICTURE
6,000 BC world-wide warming
increases- caused by a massive flood of fresh water into the Atlantic
ocean; a warming trend that will last to the present day.
1000 BC- temperatures decline. Rainfall increases.
Medieval Warming.
1000 AD- warming trend begins.
1200- The Pessimum of the Modern Age.
-heavy rains ruin English crops and vineyards.
Late Medieval Cooling: the "Little Ice Age."
1300-1500- cooling of the global climate.
1450-1890-
the ‘Little Ice Age’ at its broadest definition. Rivers freeze in
areas where they are unfrozen today and glaciers reach their lowest
altitude.
Warming returns very slowly after Little Ice Age.
1710- glaciers reach their maximum.
1710-1750- cold winters persist but summers are warmer in Europe.
The Industrial Revolution Increases Greenhouse Gases
1800-1870
-
Level of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) in the atmosphere,
as later measured in ancient ice, is about 290 ppm (parts per million)
Warming and Climate Change
1850- a gradual warming may been caused or influenced by the Industrial Revolution.
1870-1950- glaciers in retreat
1887- about 1 million die in flooding when China's Yellow River overflows its banks.
1892-
Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist is pioneer in the theory of global warming increased by C02 greenhouse gases.
The Mid-20th Century Climatic Optimum
1942-1953- balmy, optimum summers in Europe.
1949-
Callendar, a British scientist connects the 10% increase in C02 gases
between 1850 and 1940 to the warming of Europe and North America since
the 1880s.
The Optimum Gives way to 3 decades of Cooling s Urban air pollution increases.
1950-1980- a cooling trend.
1958-
Keeling, a scientist with the Kripps Institute makes the first reliable
measurements of C02 at 312 parts per million and rising in the
atmosphere at the Mona Loa observatory in Hawaii.
1962- perhaps the first widespread, public warning about the environment appears with
Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring.'
Greenhouse Effect Believed Beyond Doubt.
1980: Greenhouse effect becomes apparent with warming trend. International committees get down to work.
The FCCC and the IPCC.
1992-
Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro- countries meet to sign the United
nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (FCCC) . The Convention's
goal is to "prevent dangerous (human) interference with the climate
system." Industrialized nations agree to implement policies and measures
with the aim of stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at 1990
levels by 2000.
Kyoto.
2001- July 7- 178 countries sign onto the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of Greenhouse gases.
Weather Disasters
2007-2013- a noticeable increase in hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, floods and forest fires. (see those years below in TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE)
2009-
The Copenhagen Summit of leading nations on climate change fails to
produce significant agreements let alone resolutions as developing
nations defend their right to full use of carbon technologies and refuse
to be lectured to by major polluters of the G-8.
2011-Climate change negotiations in Durban.The negotiations’ outcome is a step forward in
establishing
an international agreement beyond Kyoto—one with mitigation commitments
from all major emitters,including developed countries and several major
developing countries.
Weather Disasters and Climate Change.
2012-
Dr. Kevin Trenberth explains in a 2012 paper "Framing the way to relate
climate extremes to climate change": "Scientists are frequently asked
about an event "Is it caused by climate
change?" The answer is that no events are "caused by climate change" or
global warming, but all events have a contribution. Moreover, a small
shift in the mean can still lead to very large percentage changes in
extremes. In reality the wrong question is being asked: the question is
poorly posed and has no satisfactory answer. The answer is that all
weather events are affected by climate change because the environment in
which they occur is warmer and moister than it used to be."
15,000 BC- 1200 AD:
In the long geological record, our own time is called the Holocene and
began as the Last Ice Age started to draw to a close, about 15,000 BC.
Within that larger scale, there commenced a long period of global
warming that continues today; and clearly the original causes of this
17,000 year period of warming were natural, while the causes of its
present extension and acceleration are not. (Large scale climate changes
usually last about 10,000 years- we may prove the exception). As
glaciers and the polar caps receded, sea levels rose at about a meter
per century until about 5,000 BC. Human progress moved more rapidly
taking a leap forward in the "Bolling Warm Period" in northern Europe, a
four-century time of intense development in hunting, crafts and other
skills from about 12,200 BC to 11,800 BC but still associated with the
'Mesolithic' or 'Middle Stone Age' period. Rising water levels produced
the present arrangement of continents, with Australia cut off from
Southeast Asia, England separated from continental Europe,
and the cutting of the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska.
Further warming, favourable to the beginnings of civilization, a period
known as 'the Atlantic Optimum' brought permanent human settlement in
the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East in abo0ut 9,000 BC and regular
farming by about 7,000 BC. A so-called 'golden age' of climate followed
with the 'Holocene Maximim' , a 'Neolithic' or 'Copper Age' period when
ideally warm conditions may have produced the agricultural 'Garden of
Eden' myths found in several cultures. Tropical growth along the Arabian
Sea and relatively humid conditions in the Sahara are typical of this
period. Agriculture improved along with climate and the Bronze Age
European Danubian people of 4,000 BC imported grains from the Middle
East, which wouldn't have survived before that time. At this point, the
natural "greenhouse gases" CO2 , CH4 and nitreous oxide increased to
safe levels which would remain the same until modern, pre-industrial
times. The optimum exceeded itself in Mesopotamia where drought wiped
out much of the population about 2000 BC. In contrast to this early
'optimum' there began a cooling and increase in rainfall known as the
'pessimum' of the Iron age around 1000 BC, descending to an especially
cold wave in 450 BC during the expansion of ancient Greece. By 250 BC,
the rise of Rome was qualified by a decline in rainfall which caused
wheat cultivation to be replaced by vineyards and olive groves. By 170
BC, when wetter conditions had returned, so much of the Italian
peninsula was taken up by vineyards and olive groves that grain had to
be imported to Rome from Egypt. Far to the east, a drying out of the
steppe caused Asian tribes to shift westward around 450 AD and
eventually to invade the Roman Empire. We must remember that these
'pessimums' and 'optimums' are oscillations within the larger and more
gradual warming that we still experience and which began about 15,000
BC. And sometimes, even, they are only local events. The next warming
began around 1000 AD and reached a balmy 'optimum' around 1150 AD in
Europe, although it's difficult to generalize for the rest of the globe.
The 'optimum' was short-lived, for a serious European cooling, known as
the 'Pessimum of the Modern Age' began about 1200. This would give way
to Europe's 'Little Ice Age'.
1200-2008: By
the middle of the thirteenth century, the 'Little Ice Age' had begun in
Europe and glaciers were growing again. Late in the century, a
continent away, in the American south-west, blistering drought drove
native Americans southward. The pessimum in Europe, meanwhile, would
continue with variations, for five hundred years, into the 19th century.
There is some irony in the fact that within the larger, more gradual
Holocene warming that continues today, the largest single trend may have
been this long period of cooling. After 1300, glaciers expanded
quickly, temperatures dropped and rainfall increased. Fishing replaced
the growing of grain in Iceland. The "Little Ice Age" was at its worst
between 1400 and1700. Rivers began to freeze over in winter where they
had not done so before. The 17th century was a history of cruel winters,
crop failures, famine. Glaciers extended farther than ever down
mountain valleys. The nadir was reached at the end of the century. In
1697 one third of the population of Finland was killed by famine.
Glaciers reached their maximum extent in 1710. Cold springs and cool,
wet summers characterized the 18th century in Europe. The 'flour war' of
1775 in the Paris region erupted among farmers suffering crop failures.
The continuing 'Little Ice Age' had its role in sparking the French
Revolution: in 1788, a year before the fall of the Bastille, the French
grain crop was destroyed by hail, causing drastic food shortages. The
summer of 1816 proved the worst on record when famine followed frosts in
July. The Little Ice age then relented and drew to a close in the
middle of the 19th century. Glaciers began their retreat in 1856. The
warming was extremely gradual, though, staggered dramatically in 1883 by
the gigantic eruption of Mount Krakatoa in Indonesia, whose clouds of
ash dimmed and cooled the atmosphere the world over. In 1892 the first
theory in global warming caused by man-made C02 increases was advanced
by the Swedish scientist, Arrhenius. In the early 20th century, a
warming of the North Atlantic increased the growing 'optimum' in Europe.
There was a slower warming in the Middle East and south Asia. In
sub-tropical regions there were fewer cyclones, less rainfall and arid
regions expanded. In China and Russia, political genocide conspired with
periodic drought to cause massive famines. The 1930s saw the first
warming of the Arctic though it stopped around 1940 to resume again in
1970. In 1949 the British scientist Callendar, made the first provable
links between C02 increases and global warming trends from the 19th into
the 20th centuries. In 1966 there was famine in India. The oscillations
of the 20th century are rather frequent, providing a more complex
picture. 1942 to 1953 was a balmy, mild optimum followed by a cooling
trend until 1980. Afterward, the present trend toward hotter
temperatures began. A 1985 conference of the United Nations
Environmental Program and the World Meteorological Organization
established the first scientific consensus on global warming. There was
widespread agreement that greenhouse gases caused by increased human
economic activity, especially the use of fossil fuels, was affecting
weather patterns. Since 1988, the International Panel on Climate Change
and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has worked
toward getting coordinated international action on greenhouse gas
reductions. 1990, meawhile, was the hottest year, globally, on record.
In 2001, the Kyoto protocol
was signed by 178 countries- a commitment to reducing greenhouse gases
which has since begun to unravel due to disgreements about the need for
fossil-fuel based industries to maintain the lifestyle of rich nations
and raise the living standars of poor nations. Recently, the heating of
the atmosphere has caused record numbers of cyclones and hurricanes,
particularly in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
One of the worst was Hurricane Katrina which more or less destroyed New
Orleans, killing at least a thousand in 2005. In 2007 to 2008, heavy
rainfall, mudslides, disastrous flooding, raging forest fires, freak
cold spells and and massive snowfalls have been attributed to the
disruption of natural weather patterns by the Greenhouse Effect.
200 Million BC- 15,000 BC: From
200 million to about 2 million years ago, the world, still cooling from
its creation in the Big bang, was much warmer than it is now. In the
Cretaceous period, beginning about 100 million years ago, the earth was
hot, about 6 to 8 degrees above present temperatures. C02 levels were
much higher than now, significant changes in C02 being detectable over
spans of 1 million years. (As Thomas J. Crowley writes in
Remembrance of Things Past: Greenhouse Lessons from the Geologic Record,
“Barring a radical change in the manner in which energy is utilized in
the future, continued depletion of the fossil fuel reservoir in the next
few centuries could result in levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases
that are comparable to the warm time period of the Cretaceous.”) The
Cretaceous is the age of the first global cooling. But at the end of
that period, around 65 million BC, there was still tropical vegetation
and the presence of dinosaurs near today's Arctic Circle. The dinosaurs
became extinct around that time and in 53 million BC, the Eocene, of the
Age of the Mammals began and early primates and tropical vegetation
still flourished in the north regions. After the Miocene, beginning
about 25 million BC, the Pilocene saw the emergence of Homo Erectus and
the old Stone Age, with temperatures still warmer in 1 million BC than
they are today. Several ice ages followed before the Last Ice Age of
about 100,000 BC, in our Middle Stone Age. CO2 , CH4, and nitreous
oxide, commonly known as green-house gases, were at low levels. Low sea
levels associated with global cooling allowed human migrations across
land bridges from Southeast Asia to Australia and from Asia across the
Bering Strait to North America. The ice age reached its coldest point
around 20,000 BC. Humans survived using new technologies involving fire,
animal skins and methods of building. The Last Ice Age drew to a close
around 15,000 BC.
CROSS-CENTURY SUMMARY:
Since its formation, the earth has been cooling, with periods of
warming separated by ice ages along the way. The last 17,000 years or
'Holocene' period, the 'age of man' has been a time of warming since the
end of the last ice age. But the warming part of the cycle has been
distorted by artificially produced greenhouses gases, in addition to the
earth's natural C02. The Holocene is only a sliver of the entire life
of the earth but if indeed C02 emissions prolong this last warm period
and the cycle of ice ages has come to an end, man will have changed the
environment forever, and likely for the worse.
TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
360 million BC- 70% of life forms on earth destroyed in a cataclysm.
200 to 2 million BC- the world is much warmer than it is now.
Cretaceous Epoch
100
million BC- the Cretaceous period- height of warming- 6 to 8 degrees
above present temperatures. High levels of C02. Significant changes in
levels of C02 are detectable on spans of 1 million years. “Barring a
radical change in the manner in which energy is utilized in the future,
continued depletion of the fossil fuel reservoir in the next few
centuries could result in levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases that
are comparable to the warm time period of the Cretaceous.”- Remembrance
of Things Past: Greenhouse Lessons from the Geologic Record by Thomas J.
Crowley.
First Cooling Begins.
-despite cooling, sub-tropical plants and animals still live far to the north.
65 million BC- end of the age of dinosaurs, whose remains have been found as far north as Alaska.
Eocene Epoch
53 million BC- age of the mammals- tropical plant and primate remains have been found near the arctic circle.
24 million BC- Miocene Epoch
5 million BC- Pilocene Epoch
-hominids walk the earth.
1.6 million BC- Pleistocene Period or Early Stone Age.
-homo erectus.
1 million BC- global climate is considerably warmer than today. Sea levels are higher by as much as 100 to 300 meters.
-in
the last 800,000 years there have been about 17 significant peaks and
valleys of temperature change. The high peaks represent interglacial
periods.
Holstein Period in Western Europe- 700,000 to 123,000 BC.
620,000 BC- Ice age peaks (at its coldest)
420,000 BC- Ice age peaks (at its coldest). Warming begins.
Hoxinian Phase of the Hostein Inter-glacial Period. Middle Pleistocene.
330,000 BC- high sea-levels- 25 meters higher than present- the Hoxinian is named for Hoxne in eastern England.
-development of mixed woodlands in England.
320,000 BC- Ice age peaks.
-during interglacial warming periods advances appear in human development.
The Saale Glaciation Ice Age in northern Europe.
250,000 BC- Ice Age peaks
-Ice age ends, interglacial warming begins.
200,000 BC- northern Europe is semi-tropical.
-appearance of early homo sapiens.
140,000- BC- Ice age peaks (at its coldest)..
130,000 BC- next interglacial warming- temperatures similar to the present.
130,000 BC- 120,000 BC- sea levels are 5-8 meters higher than at present.
125,000 BC- end of the Saale Ice Age.
The ‘Eemian’ or Last Interglacial warming; beginning of Upper Pleistocene or Middle Paleolithic
123,000 BC- in some regions, a period of warming similar to that of the present day.
120,000 BC- ‘Barbados III’ high sea levels.
-homo sapiens Neanderthalis- stone carving, stone tools. Brain capacity is close to that of modern man.
-humid tropics on the Arabian Sea coasts.
115,000-80,000 BC –cool, wet period in Europe.
The Last Ice Age
100,000
BC –Last Ice Age begins- The advance and retreat of ice ages is
attributed to the Milankovitch effect- slow changes in the orbit of the
earth which change the effect of solar radiation on the earth’s surface.
-‘Saint Germain 1’ heavy forest in NE France.
-‘Barbados II’ high sea levels.
-modern Homo Sapiens or ‘Crogmagnon’ man adapts relatively well to colder conditions.
-near the equator, reduction of tropical rain forests and expansion of savannas. Northern tundras are dry.
-abundant
horses and reindeer in western Europe. Mammoths provide great
quantities of meat which keeps well in cold temperatures.
-CO2 , CH4 and nitreous oxide, commonly known as green-house gases are at low levels.
-due to ice and low sea levels, early humans cross the Bering Strait from Asia to populate North and South America.
80,000
BC- cooling becomes more rapid. ‘Barbados I’ sea levels equal to
present. Most human settlement remains south of the Alps.
70,000 BC- low sea levels allow migrations from Asia to Australia and Asia across the Bering Straits to North America.
-heavy ‘St. Germain 2' mixed oak and woodland in NE France.
50,000 BC- homo sapiens sapiens.
End of Upper Pleistocene or Late Stone Age.
30-20,000 BC- cooling or climatic deterioration forces migrating peoples south from Alaska.
-Neolithic man thrives in the Tibesti Massif, now the center of the Sahara desert.
20,000
BC- maxumum cold of last ice age. Ice sheets 2 km thick extend as far
south as St. Louis Missouri. Sea levels, due to evaporated water stored
in ice sheets, are 105 meters below what they are today.
-human habitation driven south of the Alps. Mammoth hunting for food and shelter.
16,000 BC- due to low sea levels, ( 130 meters below present levels) humans cross a land bridge from Asia to Australia.
The present Holocene Period Begins with the Late Peleolithic Age.
15,000 BC–present Global Warming begins.
-plains begin to give way to forests,
Late Paleolithic.
-sea levels begin to rise, a trend that will continue until about 5,000 BC at a meter per century.
13,000 BC- due to the arrival of warm winds, wheat-fields begin to be sown in the northern Middle East.
-the land bridge of the Bering Strait is finally cut.
Mesolithic Age.
12,000-6000 BC- polar ice cap shrinks, ending the Last Ice Age.
12,200- 11,800 BC- the Bolling warm period in northern Europe- period of rapid settlement,
-intense cold period- the Older Dryas
11,600- 10,800 BC- the Allerod warm period in northern Europe- period of rapid settlement.
-human development becomes more rapid.
-water
level rises, cutting off Australian Aboriginies from East Asia. Britain
is cut off from Europe; Scandinavia from Germany; Russia from Alaska.
-European grasslands replaced with hardwood forest,
9,000 BC -first permanent settlements start to appear in the Fertile Crescent.
-humans start populating coastal settlements.
7,000 BC- farming begins in the Fertile Crescent.
The ‘Atlantic Optimum’- the Holocene Interglacial; the Neolithic Age.
6,000
BC world-wide warming increases- caused by a massive flood of fresh
water into the Atlantic ocean; a warming trend that will last to the
present day. Climate change on this scale usually lasts for 10,000
years.
-heavy humid tropical growth on the Arabian Sea.
-the
decline in precipitation of the African-Asian Monsoon causes a drying
out especially in North Africa and the Middle East which continues to
this day.
-heavy ‘St Germain 2’ mixed oak and woodlands in NE France.
Holocene Maximum; Chalcolithic (Copper) age.
-‘golden age’ and ‘garden of eden’ myths of abundance are born.
5,500-2,350 BC- trend toward humidity in the Sahara.
-agriculture begins in the valley of the Indus and Mesopotamia.
Proto Dynatic Period.
4,200-
4,000 BC- Danubian people in the Rhine region begin growing grains
brought from the Middle East due to temperate climate shift.
4,000-3,000
BC- the warm, ‘sunny’ millennium, world-wide, said to be similar to
today but this example cannot be used to project a similar pattern into
the future.
-CO2 , CH4 and nitreous oxide, commonly known as green-house gases increase to levels found in modern, pre-industrial times.
Bronze Age- dawn of human pollution,
3000 BC- the period of warming culminates. Warming ceases.
2000 BC- drought wipes out much of the population in Mesopotamia.
-first
cities and towns: air pollution from tanneries, dust, manure and smoke.
Water pollution is especially bad in ancient Rome; in India and Israel,
religious purity laws keep water cleaner.
-timbering strips land in Phoenicia, Italy, Greece, Babylon, Italy.
Iron Age.
1000 BC- temperatures decline. Rainfall increases.
The Pessimum of the Iron Age.
450 BC- a cold wave in Europe.
Greece
500-400 BC- decline of the ‘northern Bronze Age' in Europe.
250
BC- declining rainfall helps to put an end to the agrarian age of the
Roman Republic. Dependence on corn and wheat shifts to the cultivation
of olive orchards and vineyards. Gradually, grain has to be imported.
Rome
170 AD- climate dampens; but Rome’s best land is taken up by olive groves and vineyards, so grain still has to be imported.
400 AD- gradual drying out of the steppe and Gobi desert help to prompt the Barbarian invasions of Rome.
Serious soil erosion in Italy, due to over-grazing by goats has been held as a contributing cause for the fall of the Roman Empire.
Medieval Warm Periods.
1000- warming trend begins.
1100-1200- warming trend reaches its high point.- although it remains uncertain whether this was true around the globe.
1200- The Pessimum of the Modern Age.
-heavy rains ruin English crops and vineyards.
1250 AD- glaciers begin to grow.
1276-1299- Great Drought in SW America- Indians driven southward.
1300-1800- general growth of glaciers causes a cold wet period.
-fishing replaces agriculture in Scandinavia.
1310-1323- rainy period in Europe.
1315- Europe: year of floods.
The ‘Little Ice Age’
1300-1500- cooling of the global climate.
1300-1350- fishing replaces cereal-growing in Iceland.
The Bubonic and other plagues wipe out populations in Europe and Asia, gradually prompting a movement toward public health.
Large regions made vulenerable to erosion due to heavy wood cutting and timber clearing throughout the middle ages in England, France and Germany.
1450-1890-
the ‘Little Ice Age’ at its broadest definition. Rivers freeze in areas
where they are unfrozen today and glaciers reach their lowest altitude.
1460-1550- southwest Baltic and Thames River remain unfrozen.
-warm period peters out in 1550.
1550- cooling in Europe.
1588- an immense storm in the English Channel sinks the Spanish Armada, killing about 20,000 sailors.
1590-1850- the “long advance” of the glaciers.
1590-1650- cold winters in Europe. Crop failures in Scandinavia.
1600-1710- advance of glaciers accelerates
1630-1699- repeated periods of bad harvest in Europe.
1689-1698- severe cold in Europe: the ‘Little Ice Age.
1693-1694- very poor harvests in Europs.
1697- famine kills 1/3 of population of Finland.
1709- severe cold; crop failure and famine in Europe.
Warming returns very slowly after Little Ice Age.
1710- glaciers reach their maximum.
1710-1750- cold winters persist but summers are warmer in Europe.
1740- ‘arctic’ winter in Europe.
The environment becomes
a concern during the Englightment as free-thinking individuals begin to
denounce slums, poor drinking water and inhumane conditions in prisons.
1750-1800- cold springs, warm autumns in Europe.
1756- the Lisbon earthquake.
1765-1775- cold, wet summers in Europe.
1755- the 'flour war'- the poor in the Paris region revolt over shortages.
1780- massive hurricane sweeps the Caribbean, leaving 20,000 dead.
Water pollution recognized as a serious problem in the Unites States by Benjamin Franklin.
1788- July 13- hail storm destroys the French harvest.
1789- severe food shortages in France.
1798- The food supply
is bound to be outstipped by population increase leading to inevitable
starvation if not stemmed by vice, disease, or 'self restraint'
according to Thomas Malthus in his Essay on Population.
The Industrial Revolution Increases Greenhouse Gases
1800-1870 -
Level of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) in the atmosphere,
as later measured in ancient ice, is about 290 ppm (parts per million)
1816- worst summer on record in northern Europe: frost in July followed by famine,
1824- Fourier calculates that the Earth would be far colder if it lacked
an atmosphere
1849-1905- major drought in Arizona.
-water pollution caused by the dripping of tar from coal gas into river.
-air pollution from coal smoke and chemical factories.
-Mean global temperature (1850-1870) is about 13.6°C.
-First Industrial Revolution. Coal, railroads, and land clearing speed
up greenhouse gas emission, while better agriculture and sanitation speed
up population growth.
1851 -wilderness conservation
gets its first boost in the U.S. when a great tree "the Mother of the
Forest" is cut down to a storm of protest which leads in turn to the
inauguration of the a national parks system.
1855- water pollution is discovered as the cause for cholera when a London epidemic is traced to a contaminated pump by Dr. John Snow.
Little Ice Age is Over- 1856- warming: glaciers begin to retreat.
-urban epidemics of typhoid and cholera vindicate
the protests of reformers pointing to appalling poverty, filth and
water contaimation in the urban slums of Britain and America.
-incidents of heavy smog lead to deaths in London and orther large citgies in Britain.
1864- cyclone in Calcutta kills 70,000.
1870-1950- glaciers in retreat
1876- cyclone in Bangladesh kills about 215,000.
1876-1879- 9 million die from drought and famine in China.
1881- typhoon is China kills 300,000.
-water pollution as a source of disease gradually being understood by science.
1883-
ash from the explosion of Karakatoa volacano may have caused cooling,
by diffusing 18 cubic kilometers of dust through the air, blocking the
sun.
1887- about 1 million die in flooding when China's Yellow River overflows its banks.
1889- Johnstown Flood (Penn) killes 2,200 after heavy rainfall and dam failure.
The Warming North Atlantic.
1890-1940-
warming in north Atlantic areas like Europe and the United States. Less
pronounced warming in India, Indonesia and the Middle East.
Northeastern Canada, most of South America, southwest Africa, Central
Asia, Pakistan, the Indian Ocean, southeast Asia nd Australia are
unaffected.
1890-1940- in subtropical areas: decrease in rainfall, fewer cyclones, expansion of arid zones.
1890-1950- infrequency of volcanic eruptions and absence of volcanic cloud said to be a partial cause of warming.
1890- European glaciers begin to retreat.
1892- London smog results in 1,000 deaths.
1892- Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist is pioneer in the theory of global warming increased by C02 greenhouse gases.
The Progressive Era.
-food
and water safety, sanitation, workplace pollution, living and working
conditions for the poor and working classes receive attention in the
U.S. from reformers in the 'Progressive Era.'
1900- Galveston Texas hurricane kills 6,000.
-land conservation and a 'wise' use policy for commercial lumbering
put forward by US president Teddy Roosevelt. John Muir opposes 'wise
use' and instead advocates universal wilderness preservation.
-social activists make progress in a sllow, uphill battle.
-struggle for conservation and urban reform is waged by the Women's Club and the Sierra Club.
1907- famine in China kills about 20 million.
1909- F4 tornado in Brinkley, Arkansas kills 49.
1910- forest fire burns 3 million acres in Idaho and Montana, leaving 86 dead.
1914-1918- World War I produces Mass Industrialized Societies.
1916- The Netherlands. North Sea storms flood lowlands. 10,000 lives lost.
1920-1940- marginal warming in the Mediterranean.
1921- droughts in the Ukraine and elsewhere in the Soviet Union kill around 5 million.
1924- pollution of the US Atlantic seaboard
leads to the National Coast Anti-pollution League which in turn gets an
international oil dumping treaty passed in the US Congress.
1925- the Tri-state tornado in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana kills 700.
1928- drought ad famine in China kill 3 million.
1929-1938- warming summers in Poland, Lapland and Russia.
-leaded gasoline brought in for universal use by General Motors despite the determined activism of Alice Hamilton.
1930s- acceleration of warming in the Arctic.
1931- flooding in China kills 3.7 million.
1932- famine in Russia kills 5 million.
1936- 5 million die in China's 'New Famine'.
1935- the Great Labour Day Hurricane hits the Florida Keys- the strongest ever upon landfall.
1938- North China. Chinese forces blow up dikes on the Huang He to impede Japanese advance. Estimated 1 million lives lost.
1940-1970- no further warming in the Arctic.
1941-42- 3 million dead in famines in China.
Auto, chemical and oil companies of
the US working with the Nazi company Farben to develop leaded gasoline.
Meanwhile the development of synthetic rubber is put to a stop.
The Mid-20th Century Climatic Optimum
-chemicals from renwable resources and synthetic rubber are finally used by the allies to win the war.
1942-1953- balmy, optimum summers in Europe.
1948-
deadly smog- Dora, Pennsylvania.
1948-
individual responsibility toward humanity and the world first treated in Aldo Leopold's 'Sand County Almanac.'
1949-
Callendar, a British scientist connects the 10% increase in C02 gases
between 1850 and 1940 to the warming of Europe and North America since
the 1880s.
1950- hurricanes start to be named alphabetically.
The Optimum Gives way to 3 decades of Cooling s Urban air pollution increases.
1950-1980- a cooling trend.
1952- December smog in London held responsible for deaths of 4,000.
1952- flood in Devon kills dozens.
1953- deadly smog in New York.
1953- storms and flooding kill dozens in East Anglia.
1955- first international air pollution conference.
1956- Deadly smog in London.
1957- increasing CO2 build-up detected by Scripps Oceanographic institute.
1958- Typhoon Vera in Japan kills 5,000.
1958-
Keeling, a scientist with the Kripps Institute makes the first reliable
measurements of C02 at 312 parts per million and rising in the
atmosphere at the Mona Loa observatory in Hawaii.
1962- last major smog in London.
Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring'.
1962- perhaps the first widespread, public warning about the environment appears with Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring.'
1962- the Ethyl corporation is sold off, having developed leaded oil for General Motors and Standard Oil
1963- planetary cooling accompanied by subtropical rainfall.
1965- US Senate hearings reveal falsified research into leaded gasoline.
1966- famine in India kills 1.5 million.
1969- Hurricane Camille, hits Gulf Coast in US killing hundreds- strongest of 2oth century.
River of Fire, Love Canal and Three Mile Island.
1969- oil and chemicals saturating the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland, Ohio catch fire on June 22, leaving an entire river in flames.
1969- Conference on Man and His Evironment in San Franciso.
1969- famine in China kills about 200 million.
1970- Cyclone and tidal wave in Bangladesh kills about 300,000.
1970- Environmental Protection Agency inaugurated by US government.
1971- 100,000 killed in floods in Viet Nam.
1971- Orissa State, India. Cyclone and sea surge hit the coast. 10,000 lives lost.
1972- blizzards kill 4,000 in Iran.
1973- monsoons in India kill 1,200.
1974- April 3-4th -340 killed in 148 separate tornados in US.
1977- 20,000 killed by cyclone in India.
-air pollution singificantly reduced by use of catalytic converters in new cars using unleaded fuel.
-water pollution in North America is alleviated by sewage treatment technology as rivers and lakes are brought back to life.
1978- decades of dumping toxic waste
into the Niagara Falls NY Love Canal before it was covered over and
built with housing ends in a waste explosion and the poisoning of homes
and yards for hundreds lof residents.
1979- a partial core meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania draws attention to the dangers of nuclear technology.
1979- Hurricane David kills 2,000 in Caribbean and Eastern US.
-the pollution of the ground, water and air with toxic chemicals continues to be a serious problem.
Greenhouse Effect Believed Beyond Doubt.
1980: Greenhouse effect becomes apparent with warming trend. International committees get down to work.
1981- Nov 21- 104 tornadoes hit the UK.
1983- Ash Wednesday forest fires in Australia kill 1/2 million livestock and 76 people.
1984- Dec. 2- gas poisoning kills over 2,000 in an industrial accident at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal India.
1985-
a conference of the United Nations Environmental Program and the World
Meteorological Organization establishes scientific consensus on global
warming.
1985- environmental activism receives a blow but
with publicity as the Greenpeace vessel, the Rainbow Warrior is bombed
in New Zealand by French secret service agents.
Chernopbyl, the Ozone Layer and the Exxon Valdez.
1986- major meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Ukraine leaves long-term damage to people, plant and animal life
1987- the destruction of the ozone layer by fluorocarbons finally gets a response from margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan when they sign the Montreal Protocol.
1988-
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lays down
international consensus on scientific conclusions about climate change.
1989- March 24- a massive tract of Alaskan shoreline is fouled, destroying
sea life, plant life and livelihoods as the Exxon Valdez tanker runs
aground spilling ten million gallons of crude oil into the Pacific.
1989- tornado kills 1,300 in Bangladesh.
1990- globally, the hottest year on record.
1990- the first IPCC report leads to negotiations for a United nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (FCCC).
1991- last London smog.
1991- 130,000 killed in Bangladesh cyclone.
-war-related environmental disaster created when Persian Gulf conflict ends in thousands of burning oil wells.
1992- hurricane Andrew in Florida causes 26 billion dollars in damage.
The FCCC and the IPCC.
1992-
Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro- countries meet to sign the United
nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (FCCC) . The Convention's
goal is to "prevent dangerous (human) interference with the climate
system." Industrialized nations agree to implement policies and measures
with the aim of stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at 1990
levels by 2000.
1993- the Great Midwest Flood in Mississippi Valley causes 18 billion dollars in damage.
1994-
international protest concerning the probable ennvironmental impact of China's Three Gorges Dam fails to stop construction from beginning on schedule.
1994- March 24- the FCCC signed at Rio DeJaneiro in 1992 comes into effect.
1995-
environmental activist Ken Siro Wawa executed by the Nigerian government after criticizing oil drilling practices of Shell oil which worked closely with Nigeria.
1995-
the First Conference of the Parties (CoP1) of the FCCC held in
Berlin.The second IPCC report declares ". . . the balance of evidence
suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate."
This is a new benchmark of international scientific consensus.
1996-
-Second Annual Conference of the Parties (CoP2) held in Geneva.
Conference endorses the IPCC finding of a "discernible human influence
on global climate" and that "projected change in climate will result in
significant, often adverse, impacts on many ecological systems and
socio-economic sectors, including food supply and water resources and on
human health."
1997-2013- Floods in Manitoba, Canada in 1997, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013.
1998- Floods- Sudan. Torrential rains flood the Nile. 1.5 million homeless in Khartoum area; numbers of dead unknown.
1998- Floods- Central and northeastern China. Disastrous river flooding leaves more
than 3,000 dead, 5 million homes destroyed, and tens of millions of
farmland hectares submerged; 14 million people are evacuated.
1998- Hurricane Mitch causes huge damage in Honduras.
1998- 2,200 forest fires in Florida require evacuation of 80,000.
1999- 318 MPH tornado hits Oklahoma City.
Kyoto.
2001- Ex-President Bill Clinton's pro-environmental policy gives way to deregulation in favour of industry under President-elect George Bush.
2001- July 7- 178 countries sign onto the Kyoto protocol.
2001- extreme flooding in Viet Nam and Cambodia
2001- extreme flooding in Mozambique and southeast Africa.
2003- devastating cedar forest fire in California.
2003-
Dec 26- Bam earthquake, Iran- Bam (Iran) Earthquake 26,271 people
were killed when the city of Bam, Iran was flattened by a 2003
earthquake. The earthquake’s magnitude was 6.6 and 80 percent of the
area’s buildings were damaged or destroyed, likely because Iran lacks an
earthquake education program and most of the buildings were made of mud
brick.
2004- Hurricanes Charlie, Francis, Ivan and Jean hit Florida, causing 22 billion in damage.
Hurricane Katrina
2005- Hurricane Katrina leaves thousands dead and over a million homeless in new Orleans.
2005- scientists observe rapid melting of the polar ice caps and a slowing of the Gulf stream which warms northern Europe.
2005- Floods in Manitoba, Canada in 1997, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013.
2006- forest fires and drought in western Canada.
2007- South Asia. Heavy rains, flash floods, and landslides during the monsoon
season displace approximately 16 million people in South Asia: 11
million in India, 4.5 million in Bangladesh, and about 250,000 in Nepal.
In some places the water level reaches as high as 3.7 m (12 ft).
2007- Floods- England. Several days of torrential rain following the wettest summer
since 1766 causes the worst flooding in 60 years. More than 130,000
homes and businesses are swamped, and 340,000 people are either
evacuated or trapped in their homes. The Royal Air Force (RAF) carries
out its biggest peacetime rescue operation, airlifting people from
flood-hit areas.
2007-
severe droughts southeast US- Cyclone in Bangladesh kills over 1,000;
severe flooding in Mexico; Hurricane Felix causes severe damage in
Caribbean and Central America; flooding in South Asia displaces 30
million. Severe flooding in Mozambique. Severe forest forest in southern
California, wiping out residential areas in Malibu and San Diego.
2008- blizzards cause deaths and paralyse parts of Iran and China. Severe flooding in Peru and Bolivia.
2008-
May 2- Cyclone Nargis, Burma- Approximately 140,000 people were killed
in Burma (Myanmar) when the Cyclone Nargis touched land. The storm
included winds of up to 120 mph which passed directly over the most
populated areas of the region. 95 percent of buildings in the area were
destroyed.
2008- Floods- India. In the worst monsoon flooding in India in 80 years, the Kosi
River breaches its banks along the border with Nepal and forms a new
path through Bihar, India; more than 2 million are affected and 225,000
homes are destroyed.
2008- May 12- Earthquake in Sichuan, China kills over 80,000.
2008-
26 Dec. Bam (Iran) Earthquake 26,271 people were killed when the city
of Bam, Iran was flattened by a 2003 earthquake. The earthquake’s
magnitude was 6.6 and 80 percent of the area’s buildings were damaged or
destroyed, likely because Iran lacks an earthquake education program
and most of the buildings were made of mud brick.
Keystone Pipeline
2009- Jan-May- The State Department conducts 20 meetings to explore the issues raised by the EIS.
TransCanada consults with federal and state agencies and Native American Tribes.
2009- Jan-Feb-forest fires in southern Victoria kill more than 200.
2009-
The Copenhagen Summit of leading nations on climate change fails to
produce significant agreements let alone resolutions as developing
nations defend their right to full use of carbon technologies and refuse
to be lectured to by major polluters of the G-8.
2009- Floods- Northwest Queensland, Australia. Cyclones Domini and Ellie saturate the
area with 356 mm (14 in) of rain, causing the worst floods on record.
Rivers overflow their banks and submerge more than 1,000,000 km
2 (386,100 mi
2),
innundating thousands of homes and devastating the sugarcane and cattle
industries. Damages are estimated at more than $210 million.
2009- Floods- Samoan Islands. An offshore earthquake, magnitude 8.0, triggers tsunami
waves of up to 6 m (20 ft) high that flatten villages for up to 1 km
(0.6 mi) inland on the shores of Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga in the
Pacific Ocean; more than 189 lives are lost.
2009- Floods -Philippines. Mudslides and the worst flooding in over 60 years occur
after two tropical systems strike the island within a week. Tropical
storm Ketsana dropped 42.4 cm (16.7 in), of rain in just 12 hours. Days
later, slow-moving Typhoon Parma added another astounding 120.4 cm (47.4
in) of rain. President Gloria Arroyo declares a nationwide state of
calamity. At least 3 million people are affected, and more than 540 die;
damage exceeds $250 million.
Keystone Pipleline-
2010- March-April- Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) approves the Canadian leg of Keystone XL.
Natural
Resources Defense Council reports Keystone will thwart efforts to
increase reliance on clean energy sources. Draft EIS finds the pipeline
would have limited adverse
environmental impacts and subsequent environmental assessments by the
department result in similar findings. EIS criticized for lack adequate
information, including greenhouse gas emissions.
2010- April-August- The State Department solicits comments on the proposed pipeline.
Members of U.S. Congress call on Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
to study Keystone XL with respect to clean energy and climate change
priorities.
The Gulf Oil Spill.
2010- May-August-
the worst environmental disaster in US history unfolds
after the explosion of a British Petroleum oil rig in the Gulf of
Mexico, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen and
destroying a region still recovering from the impact of Hurricane
Katrina.
Aug. 3- massive monsoon flooding which kills
over 1,500 in Pakistan's Swat Valley is exacerbated by climate change
with the melting of the Himalayan glaciers which feed Pakistan's rivers.
2010- Oct-Labour unions representing 2.5 million workers urge the State Department to approve
Keystone Pipeline. Secretary of State says she is inclined to approve Keystone XL.
Earthquake, Port Au Prince, Haiti.
2010- Dec. 1-
-the Haitian city of Port Au Prince is destroyed, killing
over 200,000.
2010- Dec- Philippine Floods- Widespread flooding occurred in the east. The Visayas and the Bicol and Caraga regions
have been particularly affected by abnormally heavy rains. The floods
have displaced 452,999 persons in 19 provinces, and has caused the
deaths of 25 people.
2011- Jan. 5:US- Republican Majority Eliminates House Committee on Global Warming
2001- Jan- TransCanada agrees to 57 safety measures requested by the State
Department and the
Keystone Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration relating to the construction, operation and design of the
pipeline.
World Population reaches 1 Billion
2011-
The world population reaches 7 billion, and is increasingly interconnected
One
third of those have Internet access; 80 per cent have mobile phones.
Increasing the population by 1 billion tookonly 12 years.
2011- Feb 22- Earthquake in Auckland, new Zealand kills 182.
2011- March: US House Committee Votes Against Climate Change Amendment
2011- April 28- Hurricanes in Alabama kill 294
2011-Climate change negotiations in Durban.The negotiations’ outcome is a step forward in
establishing
an international agreement beyond Kyoto—one with mitigation commitments
from all major emitters,including developed countries and several major
developing countries.
2011- Apr. June-
The State Department seeks public comment on Keystone XL.
Climate Change and Tornadoes.
2011-
"Global warming does indeed increase the moisture content of the air
(because hotter air holds more moisture), which increases the likelihood
of vertical clouds forming. However, those vertical clouds won't turn
into tornadoes without the
wind shear, and "the expectation is that there will be less of that wind
shear with global warming," said David Easterling, chief of the Global
Climate Applications Division at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
"Part of it is because you have an expansion of the tropical climate
regime up into the higher latitudes," and in the tropics, there is less
wind shear. So with one tornado-conducive factor being increased and
the other
being decreased, it's really hard to say how global warming affects
tornado activity. But scientists are still looking into it.
"Inconclusive data does not lead you to conclude that there's no
evidence of a connection," said Martin Hoerling, a National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research meteorologist.
-http://www.livescience.com/14341-climate-change-causing-record-breaking-tornadoes-floods.html
2011- Aug-Sept- Protesters in Washington call on the Obama administration to reject Keystone XL.
Keystone Pipeline
EIS report finds no major environmental risks have been found and
the project would negatively affect certain cultural resources.
2011- Nov- On November 10, U.S. Department of State (DOS) suspends permitting
process for Keystone XL until re-route to avoid the Nebraska Sandhills
is complete.
A Presidential Permit for the pipeline will likely not occur until Q1 2013.
Agreement is reached to pursue an alternate pipeline route to avoid Nebraska Sandhills.
Nebraska enacts a law codifying a process for approving the route
and directing the state’s Department of Environmental Quality to
cooperate with the state in moving it forward.
2011- Dec.-The House and Senate unanimously approve and Obama signs the payroll
tax bill, which requires the president to approve or deny the Keystone
permit within 60 days.
China goes "green."
2011-China begins shift to a “green economy.” China’s 12th Five Year Plan for economic
development
is based on sustainable development goals, including substantial
reductions in pollution and carbon and energy intensities. The plan is
backed by nearly half a trillion USD in proposed expenditures for
environmental protection
The Japanese Sunami
2011- Nov 3- Earthquake and Sunami kills over 5,000, washing away populated areas of the Pacific shoreline
and seriously damaging the Fukushima nuclear power plant causing extreme damage from radiation.
2012- Jan- Brazil- Floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains killed more than 30 in
the states of Minas and Rio de Janeiro. Thousands more were dislocated.
The storms came during the traditionally rainy month of January; more
than 800 people died in flooding a year earlier.
2012- Jan 18- President Obama announces he will not approve the construction of the
Keystone XL pipeline in its current form but will allow TransCanada to
re-apply.
2012- Alaska-
Jan. 9:
Massive piles of snow collapsed roofs and trapped some people in homes
in the Alaskan fishing town of Cordova. By one count, more than three
metres of snow fell in the town of 2,000 people over the course of a few
weeks. Members of the Alaska National Guard were called on to help
2012- February- A deep freeze gripped much of Europe from late January well into
February. Temperatures dipped below -40C in some places. More than 650
people died, many of them homeless people in Russia, Poland and Ukraine.
Rome also saw its heaviest snowfall in 25 years
Keystone Pipeline.
2012- Feb 27- TransCanada announces it is dividing the
Keystone XL project into two
parts and will proceed with the Gulf Coast Project from Cushing,
Oklahoma, which doesn’t cross an international border and it has its own
utility; therefore, it does not require a Presidential Permit.
21012- March- President Obama publicly stated that the Gulf Coast Project from Cushing
Oklahoma has presidential support and he will expedite the permitting.
2012- March- A mild, dry winter prompted the Alberta government to start the
wildfire season a full month earlier than usual. The season would be
long and disastrous, as several fires flared up across the Canadian and
U.S. West. The U.S. endured a near-record amount of destruction, as nine
million acres (an area roughly the size of Massachusetts and
Connecticut) burned
2012- March- Australia- Days of torrential rain soaked eastern
Australia, causing more than $500 million in damage across three states.
Cresting flood waters near the town of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales
forced millions of spiders to flee their natural habitat, creating some
spectacular (and eerie) imagery.
2012- May 4- TransCanada submits a Presidential Permit application for the
Keystone
XL Pipeline from the U.S.–Canada border in Montana to Steele City,
Nebraska. TransCanada will supplement that application with an
alternative route in Nebraska as soon as that route is selected.
2012- July-TransCanada is working collaboratively with the State of Nebraska and
the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to reroute the
contentious segment of the
Keystone XL pipeline around the Sandhills. The U.S. Department of State reiterated statements that it expects
to make a decision on a Presidential Permit for Keystone XL by the first
quarter of 2013.
Weather Disasters and Climate Change.
2012-
Dr. Kevin Trenberth explains in a 2012 paper "Framing the way to relate
climate extremes to climate change": "Scientists are frequently asked
about an event "Is it caused by climate
change?" The answer is that no events are "caused by climate change" or
global warming, but all events have a contribution. Moreover, a small
shift in the mean can still lead to very large percentage changes in
extremes. In reality the wrong question is being asked: the question is
poorly posed and has no satisfactory answer. The answer is that all
weather events are affected by climate change because the environment in
which they occur is warmer and moister than it used to be."
China Leads on Sales of Energy Technology
2012- Trade disputes on solar and wind energy products. China’s expanded manufacturing
capacity
and low prices make it a leader in global trade on wind turbines. The
U.S. contests both solar and wind subsidies in China as unfair trade
practices. The outcomes of these disputes may influence the future of
clean techenergy sourcing and adoption.
2012- One of the first of the Millennium Development Goal targets is achieved
in advance of the 2015 deadline: the percentage of the world’s people without access to safe drinking water is cut in half.
Hurricane Sandy.
2012-
Oct 24-29- Hurricane Sandy, a high, category 3 storm, slams into the
Caribbean and the US coast at New Jersey and England, destroying much
shoreline development and almost 300.
2013- May-June- gigantic Tornados hit the US in Oklahoma , destroying hundreds of buildings and killing a dozen.
2013- June- massive flooding kills 600 in India and 3 in Alberta, Canada.
The Future
-”The
mid-range scenarios employed in IPCC projections for the end of the
next century would result in global mean surface temperatures that
exceed any well-documented warming in the last million years.” -Thomas
J. Crowley, REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: GREENHOUSE LESSONS FROM THE
GEOLOGIC RECORD.
2400-2700
AD- “the geologic record yields the rather startling conclusion that
the climate could be comparable to that experienced during the Age of
Dinosaurs, which was as warm as any time in the last billion years.”
-Thomas J. Crowley, REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: GREENHOUSE LESSONS FROM
THE GEOLOGIC RECORD.
