Apocalypse Now? Global Warming Hotspots
Recently, scientists issued a warning that ice is being discharged from Greenland and the West Antarctic Peninsula at a much greater rate than previously thought possible. Before that, an entirely separate study warned that irreversible ‘climate meltdown’ is just ten years away, after a deep ice core drilled out of the Antarctic permafrost revealed a shocking rate of change in carbon dioxide concentrations.
Concerned yet? Probably not. After all, scientific reports warning of the imminent demise of the planet hurtle from your chosen form of media at the rate of at least three a week.
This year, the film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, hit cinemas everywhere. It follows Al Gore on his path to raise awareness of the deadly progress of global warming. Gore suggests that we have just ten years to avert a series of catastrophic disasters that could ultimately destroy the planet. Also this year, research released by the Met Office provided evidence of Britain’s changing climate with the news that grapes for red wine are being grown in Surrey while olives are being produced in Devon.
Concerned? Of course you are. Climate change is an undeniable truth and its impact is beginning to be felt by all of us. We know this because of the changes in weather patterns we witness at first-hand. We know this because of the countless scientific reports and research published each year.
In fact, it’s often this bombardment of scientific doom that can lead us to bury our heads in the sand as we seek to avoid the inevitable truth - if we don’t do something soon, we’re going to royally wreck the planet.
To help you, and us, make sense of the impact of global warming, we’ve put together a Windows Live Local collection which attempts to offer a snapshot of global warming hotspots across the planet. On the map below, each pushpin represents an area referred to in a report on global warming and the likely impact on that area of the continued effects of climate change. Following the more info link on each pushpin will take you to the website from which we’ve sourced it. And if you think you’ve spotted an area of the globe which is looking happily untouched, I regret to inform you that this is an ongoing project and we’ll be adding more pushpins over time.
