These years, The Santa Clause in charge of Christmas Island has a lot to worry about. There have been strange things happening with the climate on the island, he feels. The weather is normally rather dry, however, this year there seems to have been more rainy days than before.
He has also heard that on the other neighboring islands houses and roads were washed away by high waves. Are the kids on these islands all right? He wonders and worries about these problems.
It took the earth over 10,000 years to add 3 to 6 degrees Celsius to its average temperature. On a geological time frame, 100 years is equivalent to a second of our time. A rise in the average temperature of 5.5 degrees Celsius in just 100 years is an extremely abrupt change. The consequences of such a change could be catastrophic. Anticipated Damages Resulting from Global Warming (By The Environment Agency)
Greenhouse Effect - Global Warming
Doesn't every summer feel hotter than the summer before? And sometimes the rain comes down like a tropical downpour. It might be a mere fancy of mine. What do you think? Don't you think our climate over here in Japan is getting to be like the climate in Southeast Asia? There is also less snowfall in the winter, which I am sure about.
Our earth is warming now at an unprecedented high speed. This is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) that we emit without thought or consciousness in our daily lives.
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gives estimates for three different cases of climate change as indicated in the figure below. In the worst-case, temperatures may rise by 5.5 degrees Celsius within the next 100 years if nothing is done to cut down on greenhouse gases.
You may think that 5.5 degrees Celsius is not a big deal. But in fact, it definitely is. Consider the fact that the average temperature at the last stage of the ice age was just 3`6 degrees Celsius lower than it is now.
That is over 10,000 years ago, the Old Stone Age was over in Japan and the transition to the next civilization had begun.
One of the most alarming consequences of global warming is the rising of sea levels caused by glacial melt at the two poles and seawater expansion brought on by heat. IPCC reported that they anticipate that sea levels might rise by 20 cm by 2050 and by the end of the 21st century by about 15`95cm. Some other research organizations made even higher projections.
A rise in the sea level of 50 centimeters means the sea level will rise over one meter during high tide. Especially around the equatorial region the effects may be worse due to the influences of lunar gravity and centrifugal force produced by the earthีs rotation.
What will happen to Japan when the sea level rises by 1 meter? Professor Mimura at the University of Ibaragi noted that 90 % of the beaches in our country could disappear. Also the Environment Agency reported that the land area that would be under water at full tide could be 2.7 times larger (2,300 square kilo meters) than the present area that is flooded during high tide and that 4.1 million people could be affected.
The rise of the sea level has already begun. How does that affect Christmas and other southern islands right now?
| Merry Christmas from Christmas Island is produced and sold by Mibunri Design Institute; Site Communication from 1999 for the purpose of educating more and more people to the damaging conditions brought on by the rising sea level due to global warming. Therefore a part of the sales is donated to the governments of these islands. Copyright 1999` MIBUNRI Design Institute. all rights reserved. |