Why Is Climate Change So Dangerous?

It has been one of the key topics for political debate since I was born. Climate change... and why it's such a potential threat to our planet. You hear it all the time, how all the worlds top scientist are warning us about just how catastrophic things will get once we pass the point of no return. However, even I myself have never really understood what they meant by that. So I decided to do some research and what I found is absolutely terrifying.

Think of the most catastrophic events that can happen on earth. Now think of these events on steroids and taking place over and over again for more than a hundred years. That's the worst case scenario of climate change in a nutshell. Out of all the things that would take place, there are two main situations that would be the most problematic for our entire species. That being said, we are going to split this walk through into two sections, one for each of these situations. Your probably wondering what these two situations are. To appease your curiosity right away, they're the complete shutdown of the oceans currents and the melting of the polar ice caps. What's even better is they're a bundle package, meaning you can't have one without the other; if one takes place they both do, no if and's or but's about it.

The Shut Down Of The Oceans Currents

So if your unfamiliar with the importance of the oceans currents, let me break it down for you. Warm water flows through the Atlantic ocean to the north warming up the water by delivering heat and energy into the northern hemisphere. This water than gets cold and passes under that flowing warm water back towards the southern hemisphere where it gets warm again. This cycle is known as the current conveyor belt and it's far more important to the stability of our planet than you might think.

So how can climate change cause this cycle to shut down? A fair question but one with an answer that is currently happening right before our very eyes. Every day, rising temperatures across the globe are causing glaciers of fresh water around the countries of Greenland and Iceland to melt. Eventually when enough of this freshwater melts and mixes in with the salt water in the northern Atlantic, the ocean water's saltiness will become diluted, causing the "conveyor belt" to shut down completely. Now all the warm water that was entering the north is no longer being allowed passage.

What happens next is something that starts off bad and gradually, over the coarse of 20 years, gets worse and worse, until our way of life is simply never the same again. Well, at the very least not for the next century.

The first to feel the ramifications would be Europe, the seasons as they were are altered and things would begin to get very cold. Blizzards would create winds that reach 75 miles an hour and feet of snow would fall within hours. The continents most vital ports would freeze and the ice would need to be cleared in order for ships to be able to import resources. Next, on the other side of the Atlantic, the city of Boston would begin experiencing storms that are only intensifying more and more. New York would also feel some of the ramifications, as storms stronger than Sandy impact the city with increasing regularity.

In case your getting hopeful that you'd be out of harms way, these disastrous events aren't limited to the north Atlantic. Slowly but surely, like a domino effect, they spread across the entire planet.

As the oceans temperatures plummet in the north, they steadily rise in the south. Causing both massive hurricanes that only grow in strength and consistency to batter places like Mexico and Florida and droughts so severe, that the Colorado river would dry up completely. Brazil would be hit with storms causing massive surges of water to slam into the land, which would then cause monstrous landslides to wipe out the slums built on the mountainside.

The most dangerous thing that will be taking place in the south however, is the fact that the warm water now trapped down there will gradually begin melting away the glaciers in the continent of Antarctica. Remember what I said? One will not happen without the other.

The ramifications of these glaciers melting are obvious, ocean levels will begin to rise. However, there are also consequences of this event that are less obvious but we'll be covering those shortly. The rising of the oceans will cause cities like Miami and New Orleans to go from flooded, to eventually completely under water. The same goes for every single city that's located along the coastlines of the world. None of them will escape, as gradually the oceans continuously rise further and further.

Back up north, those living in Europe would be dealing with temperatures so cold that vital ports can no longer be used and people are literally dying of frost bite. They would be the first population of humans that would have to begin massive migrations out of their part of the world. These massive migrations will become an ongoing theme, as entire countries, even entire continents will have to migrate to other parts of the world to survive. Such circumstances will undoubtedly cause civil wars over things like shortages of food and resources.

All in all, when the currents of the worlds oceans shut down civilization as we know it will not be able to go back to the way things were. At least not for several generations, generations of the small few humans who are lucky enough to survive. Unfortunately, said survivors may not even exist due to the fact that there is still an entire other problem that they would need to face.

The Melting Of The Polar Ice Caps

As I said earlier, when the polar ice caps melt, obvious consequences like rising sea levels will occur. However, there are ramifications that you probably have never even thought about. Locked away in our planets polar ice caps is a vast number of deadly secrets straight out of a science fiction movie just waiting to be released.

At this point your probably wondering what the hell I'm talking about and no I don't mean aliens. Well... maybe not entirely but even that is a possibility to a certain degree. For now, let me catch you up to speed on an event that has already taken place of which you might not have heard of.

Back in 2016, in a remote corner of Siberia, the country of Russia had the unfortunate task of dealing with an anthrax outbreak. Many were made sick and a child was even killed by the deadly disease. The most shocking part about the whole story is the cause of this outbreak. Due to rising global temperatures, a portion of soil in Siberia thawed out of the ice it was frozen in. Along with it came a reindeer that was infected with the deadly disease. No one suspected that the now unfrozen reindeer was infected with anthrax until it was too late and they had an outbreak on their hands.

Keeping that story into account, we'll move back to the polar ice caps. The polar ice caps can be considered like a literal time capsule for every bacteria and virus that has existed since back when the dinosaurs walked the earth. As the caps continue to melt, these unknown bacteria and viruses will be released into the world, just like the anthrax that was released from the unfrozen reindeer.

Take that into consideration for a moment... We thought Covid-19 was bad? Imagine a virus or bacteria that was around back when the dinosaurs were the ones who dominated the planet! God only knows what kind of threats we'd be forced to face. For all we know, there could even be some form of alien virus or bacteria that came here on a comet millions of years ago locked away in there. Even that couldn't be ruled out when your considering the possibilities of what hundreds of millions of years of frozen viruses and bacteria could contain.

In Conclusion

Can you honestly say with a straight face that in the event that humanity was forced to face both dinosaur era viruses and the shut down of the oceans currents, we'd have even the slightest chance to survive. I know I sure as hell couldn't, not with a straight face that is. The biggest issue is that climate change isn't some far flung, maybe it will happen, kind of scenario. This is exactly what the worlds top scientist, the ones your always hearing left wing politicians debate about, are desperately trying to warn us about. If we don't come together as a species (and I mean in the immediate future) so we can devise a plan to alter the course our planet is on... Well than soon it won't be a matter of if this occurs... but when. My money is on alien virus!