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How Bad Is Global Warming?

In September 2008 scientists were stunned to find massive methane deposits bubbling up from deep below the Arctic ice. As the polar ice continues to melt, huge methane deposits will be released into the atmosphere, greatly accelerating the rate of global warming; because methane has 20 times the impact of carbon dioxide, its release could not only greatly speed up climate change but trigger a positive feedback mechanism, creating a kind of "runaway greenhouse effect."

The effects of carbon dioxide release appear to be more serious than originally thought, as well. Professor David Archer of Chicago University, warned that "the climatic impacts of releasing fossil fuel carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will last . . . far longer than the age of human civilisation so far. Ultimate recovery takes place on timescales of hundreds of thousands of years, a geologic longevity typically associated in public perceptions with nuclear waste."

Global warming is now widely accepted as reality in the scientific community, but many still consider the dire predictions of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and other environmentalists as alarmist worst-case scenarios. Unfortunately, climate scientists are continually finding that the projected rates of glacial melting, rising sea levels, and rising temperatures are actually accelerating and exceeding all climate simulation model predictions. What 10 years ago would have been regarded as a worst-case scenario of the future is increasingly becoming the most likely outcome, whatever actions we may take.

Reasons for Gloom

There are three reasons, I believe, for feeling pessimistic about the future: (1) the impact of human overpopulation, (2) the reluctance of the world's leaders, and the multinational corporations and industries whose interests they represent, to take serious steps toward solving the problem, and (3) failure of the public at large, even progressives, to demand radical action.

1. As long as the planet is burdened with too many humans, it's unlikely anything serious can be done to stop the accelerating global warming trend. We have stripped the earth of much of its natural resources, and are using increasingly destructive techniques to extract dwindling supplies. We have overfished the oceans, clear-cut the rainforests, destroyed the natural habitats and ecosystems of many species, and polluted the land, air and seas.

2. Speaking before the UN delegates in September, President Obama stated

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