Historic flooding in Louisiana on August 13, 2016 with rainfall amounts up to 25 inches. The National Weather Service said “the chance in any year of that much rain falling in the area within 48 hours at 0.1 percent, meaning that it is likely to occur only once every 1,000 years.”

“Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.” – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Greetings! In my last blog I talked about how NASA, NOAA and also the Japanese Meteorological Agency, documented that July 2016 was the hottest month ever recorded, and these records go back 137 years! Then on August 13, 2016 parts of southern Louisiana recorded up to 25 inches of rain! The National Weather Service said “the chance in any year of that much rain falling in the area within 48 hours at 0.1 percent, meaning that it is likely to occur only once every 1,000 years.”

Responding to this historic disaster, the National Guard mobilized “2,500 personnel and nearly 195 high-water vehicles and had rescued nearly 3,400 people and 400 pets.” Should we call these events occurring during the summer of 2016 evidence of climate change? Absolutely! And in this blog, I’ll show you how NASA revealed an abundance of evidence that climate change is happening right now!

NASA explained, “The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.” And it is from NASA’s satellites orbiting our earth, which have let scientists see the entire picture of climate change on a global scale.

“It is clear from extensive scientific evidence that the dominant cause of the rapid change in climate of the past half century is human-induced increases in the amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons, methane, and nitrous oxide.” – American Meteorological Society

CO2 – The Climate Change Culprit!

The main culprit is carbon dioxide [CO2] because of its uncanny heat-trapping nature. And it is this ability, which affects “the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere.” This is the scientific evidence that NASA’s numerous instruments are picking up causing increased levels of greenhouse gases, which are warming the Earth.

This graph clearly shows evidence of increasing atmospheric CO2 in the last several decades. It recorded the comparison of atmospheric samples taken from ice cores and direct measurements. Look at the explosive increase in CO2 levels from 1950 to now! (Coutesy Vostok ice core data)

The graph above is the result of ice cores taken from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers. Clearly, they show the Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. More sobering is that the graph shows large changes in climate happened very quickly, geologically-speaking: in tens of years, not in millions or even thousands.


“Human‐induced climate change requires urgent action. Humanity is the major influence on the global climate change observed over the past 50 years. Rapid societal responses can significantly lessen negative outcomes.” – American Geophysical Union

8 Extraordinary Factors NASA Uncovered Causing Climate Change

1. Sea Level Rise – NASA explained that the global sea level rose “about 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) in the last century. The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century.”

• “Our AMA … supports the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report and concurs with the scientific consensus that the Earth is undergoing adverse global climate change and that anthropogenic contributions are significant.” – American Medical Association

2. Rise in Earth’s Surface Temperature – NASA has shown that “Earth has warmed since 1880.” The science agency goes on and explains that most of this warming happened since the 1970s. And the “20 warmest years have been recorded since 1981.” Adding to the alarm, NASA said the “10 warmest years [occurred] in the past 12 years.”


“The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society.” – American Association for the Advancement of Science

3. Warming Oceans – NASA explains, “The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.”

• “The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs with assessments by the National Academies of Science (2005), the National Research Council (2006), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse‐gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s.” – The Geological Society of America

4. Melting Ice Sheets – Important data taken from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment revealed Greenland, “lost 150 to 250 cubic kilometers (36 to 60 cubic miles) of ice per year between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost about 152 cubic kilometers (36 cubic miles) of ice between 2002 and 2005.”

5. Melting Arctic Ice – NASA explained “…the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades.”

6. Glacial Retreat – Once again NASA details that “Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.”

7. Ocean Acidification – Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, “the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent. This increase is the result of humans emitting more carbon dioxide [CO2] into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the oceans. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about 2 billion tons per year.”

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“The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.” – American Physical Society

8. Extreme Events – I recently blogged about July 2016 being the hottest month on record. NASA confirms, “The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events.” At the beginning of this blog, I talked about the historic flooding in Louisiana on August 13, 2016 where certain towns had up to 25 inches of rain within 48 hours. Once more let me quote, the National Weather Service, “the chance in any year of that much rain falling in the area within 48 hours at 0.1 percent, meaning that it is likely to occur only once every 1,000 years.”

In conclusion, in looking at all the data given to us from NASA and other professional scientific associations and agencies, it is very evident that climate change is occurring right now and we need to take responsibility for it.

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“Comprehensive scientific assessments of our current and potential future climates clearly indicate that climate change is real, largely attributable to emissions from human activities, and potentially a very serious problem.” – American Chemical Society

If you see any sick or injured manatees, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-FWCC. They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.

Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about us manatees …

www.savethemanatee.org

Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …

www.wildtracks.org

~ Kobee Manatee

Related Posts

July 2016 – Hottest Month Ever on Record! (August 18, 2016)

UNESCO – Its Paramount Role in Ocean Acidification Awareness! (January 8, 2016)

Catastrophic Effects of Increasing Ocean Acidification (December 18, 2015)