The greenhouse effect, global warming, climate change... it's a naturally occurring process that aids in heating the Earth's surface and atmosphere. It has many different names but in recent years they have all come to mean the same thing - the Earth is in trouble and we are the only ones who can do anything about it.
The world's media has been completely saturated with warnings of melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels, disappearing coast lines, increased severity of storm activity, food shortages and socio-economic collapse if we don't cut back on the burning of fossil fuels.
Aliens aren't going to come to visit and share their futuristic technologies with us, (although some think they already have!) Praying for rain one day a year is only going to help so much. Shouldn't we be praying for rain every day? And getting the fossil fuel dependant world to change to clean energy in the next fifty years is a big ask.
According to a worldwide poll taken by major countries between 2003 and 2006 by Globescan Incorporated, ninety percent of the population take climate change, due to the greenhouse effect, seriously. The USA was the country with the lowest percentage of concern. Nicaragua had the highest.
Interestingly, China and India, two of the largest and most densely populated countries, have both opposed making any commitments to take action to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Such gross inaction and unco-operation could severely slow down the effort to combat the greenhouse effect.
Recent findings from the Earth Policy Institute in Washington D.C show that the earth's temperature has already risen by .06 degrees Celsius mostly in the last three decades. It may not seem like much but any minute change to the earth's delicate balance could be disastrous.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the earth's temperature is set to rise by 5.8 degrees by the end of this century. Many countries are already noticing drastic changes. Large scale droughts, searing heat and severe drops in certain regions, civil unrest and mass migrations from fear of food and water shortages are just the beginning.
So, what is going to happen? Are the doomsday movies, such as "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Waterworld", more accurate than we thought? Although some theories interpreted through fictional media seem over the top, scientists from around the world seem to agree that it's just a matter of time before such outrageous postulations could become a reality.
Many thousands of computer models of greenhouse predictions are varying in their degree of catastrophe. Some say we're headed for another ice age. Others show only mild and lengthy changes. Could it be possible that the computer models are over or under-estimating future changes? What effects then will human intervention have? We may be doing more harm than good.
In the past several decades, with all the scientific research and political debate, no-one has yet been able to accurately predict what will or will not happen even if we can all by some miracle reduce the burning of fossil fuels. All they know for sure is that the earth is in for a climatic change to an unknown degree and there will be winners and there will be losers.
Some suggest that adaptation, such as the better management of water supply, rather than prevention, like reducing fossil fuels, is the best course of action. Recycling, using solar power and electric cars and planting more trees are some ways that the human race is already adapting to their changing environment. To what degree we adapt is up to us.
We aren't called upon to save the earth but we certainly have the opportunity to build a better one. Let's get together and get behind our world leaders who are coming together in peace to plan for a brighter and less disastrous future. Let's follow their example and break out the solar panels, put in a rain tank, buy a hybrid car and plant a tree. The world will love you for it!
