A couple of nights ago I watched the democratic debate.  A couple of the candidates, specifically Bernie Sanders, emphasized the importance of tackling global warming.  If I recall correctly, he claimed global warming was our biggest national security threat.  After seeing a few Facebook statuses mocking the drastic nature of such a claim, I did some investigating.  Within my investigation, I once again, was surprised by capabilities of science/technology.

The article I’m going to focus on analyzed the impact of global warming.  It focused specifically on “tipping points,” or sudden regional climate shifts (University of Southampton).  The evidence provided 41 cases of these drastic changes, including the following environments: sea ice, permafrost, terrestrial biosphere, and snow cover.  Immediately I wondered, how can one monitor climate changes?  Interestingly, these scientists used the 5th intergovernmental Plan on climate change.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change essentially processes specific climate information, including everything from the emissions of greenhouses gases in a specified area, to the affect of their emissions on a human population.  This organization has an enormous responsibility, as they must explain everything about a climate through statistical analysis.  Through using this data, experts have concluded that global warming has contributed to unpredictable tipping points.  Professor Sybren Drijfhout, from the Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton, claimed that anticipation of tipping points has become increasingly “uncertain”(University of Southampton).  Additionally, experts have realized that these unpredictable climate changes are incredibly likely to occur.  Given the uncertain and frequent nature of these tipping points, should we be concerned?  Unfortunately, the answer is yes;  these abrupt changes have residual effects.  For example, shifts in sea ice may influence ocean circulation patterns.  Just as a shift in vegetation may influence a neighboring location.  Max Planck, co author from Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, illustrates the residual effect of these occurrences as he writes “A collapse of permafrost in Arctic is followed by a rapid increase in forest there”(Planck, University of Southampton).

While the picture above may not directly affect your life, conceptually, it does.  If global warming can cause unpredictable severe weather changes, it will eventually find its way into our life.  Martin Claussen, co author of “Scientists identify climate ‘tipping points’ ” reiterates pursuant advice, writing “The majority of detected abrupt shifts are distant from major population centers of planet, but their occurrence could have implications, over large distances”(Claussen, University of Southampton).  I am concerned because our major industries are increasingly damaging the environment, thus, increasing our chances of becoming affected by a large geographical or environmental shift.  We must cut down pollution in order to avoid pictures similar to above, affecting large cities or populations of citizens.

sources: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151015084348.htm

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