Saturday 13 October 2012

Is the Earth warming past the point of no return?

An interesting article that ought to get us to think and be a little more conscious of our daily footprint on our resources.   A group of biologist and climatologist, led by Stanford scientist Anthony Barnosky, has published the results of two years of research in Nature, and their conclusion are grim.  The earth could be heading towards a tipping-point in a few decades to a century, past which the effects of global warming, overpopulation by the human race and over utilisation of land and oceanic resources would become irreversible, leading to global catastrophe and possible extinction of many species including possibly us....
Barnosky has argued in the past that the earth has now entered its 6th mass extinction period as the number of species disappearing from our eco-system is picking up pace.

A sub-story tells the tale of the archipelago of Kiribati in the pacific.  This island-nation is only a few inches above the sea level and would be the first to disappear in rising sea-level scenario over the next couple of decades.  So the people of Kiribati are actively looking for a solution, here is quote from the article:
Fearing that climate change could wipe out their entire Pacific archipelago, the leaders of Kiribati are considering an unusual backup plan: moving the populace to Fiji. Kiribati President Anote Tong told The Associated Press on Friday, March 9, 2012 that his Cabinet this week endorsed a plan to buy nearly 6,000 acres on Fiji's main island, Viti Levu. He said the fertile land, being sold by a church group for about $9.6 million, could provide an insurance policy for Kiribati's entire population of 103,000, though he hopes it will never be necessary for everyone to leave.


 An alternative solution for the people of Kiribati is to build a floating city nation, such as one conceived in this image.

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