What is the most interesting fact you know about climate change?
I find it very interesting that, today, more and more people understand the impact of climate change on our lives. When I was kid, many people thought global warming is something that scientists created to scare people. Even scientists were disputing the evidence. But now, with confidence, you can say that climate change is a real phenomenon and it is caused by human activity. You can point to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2021 report. The heart of this report is this statement: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land”.
You may be interested to know some facts about climate change:
- According to the IPCC report, the last 10-year period, from 2012 to 2022, is the hottest period in the 125 thousand years.
- The current atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration (around 419 parts per million) is at its highest in the last 2 million years.
- 50% of the increase in CO2 concentration happened in 272 years.
The oceans are working hard to rescue us from this crisis by absorbing this extra heat and CO2 into their interior. But they need our help!
If we stop emitting CO2 completely today, the warming would gradually return to a normal state; however, it would take decades, if not centuries. For example, ocean surface temperature would reach a normal level but the deep ocean would continue to warm.
