Cherry trees have been blossoming in several southern and northern European countries as well as in New York in early or mid January.
Temperatures have been much higher than the seasonal averages at least since last July, with almost every month beating all historical records of heat in many parts of Europe.
Bears and other animals have waken up from their hibernation. Fish have stopped to reproduce, and migratory birds have not migrated as they should.
Devastating European windstorms (the European equivalent of typhoons or hurricanes) have become more common than ever this winter, with already five major windstorms in the last 3.5 months, inclduing 10-11, 14 and 18 January 2007. This is as much as between 1999 and mid 2006, in just 3 months, and it might not be over...
The ice in the Canadian North have been regressing enough to open a new way for ships between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, for the first time in history. Global warming is twice faster in the North Pole region than elsewhere on Earth. It is estimated that many polar mamals, such as polar bears or seals, might have disappeared in a few decades.
In Siberia, the permafrost is not permanent anymore; it has been melting for the first time in 40,000 years ! The BBC warned that this might be the greatest threat humanity is facing in the fight against climate change. The problem is that the melting of this land (the size of Canada) is causing various gases trapped under the ice for millenia to evaporate in the atmosphere, accelerating global warming much more than any human activity. It starts a vicious cycle : the more gas is freed, the warmer the air gets, and the more permafrost melts, liberating more gas...
Note that this is new information since the release of Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth in 2006.
The warming up of our planet is advancing at a much faster pace than anyone predicted. Scientists thought that ocean levels would only reach dangerously high levels around the end of the century. However, all now let to believe that this will happen much sooner, maybe in just a few years.
Where are we heading to ?
Temperatures have been much higher than the seasonal averages at least since last July, with almost every month beating all historical records of heat in many parts of Europe.
Bears and other animals have waken up from their hibernation. Fish have stopped to reproduce, and migratory birds have not migrated as they should.
Devastating European windstorms (the European equivalent of typhoons or hurricanes) have become more common than ever this winter, with already five major windstorms in the last 3.5 months, inclduing 10-11, 14 and 18 January 2007. This is as much as between 1999 and mid 2006, in just 3 months, and it might not be over...
The ice in the Canadian North have been regressing enough to open a new way for ships between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, for the first time in history. Global warming is twice faster in the North Pole region than elsewhere on Earth. It is estimated that many polar mamals, such as polar bears or seals, might have disappeared in a few decades.
In Siberia, the permafrost is not permanent anymore; it has been melting for the first time in 40,000 years ! The BBC warned that this might be the greatest threat humanity is facing in the fight against climate change. The problem is that the melting of this land (the size of Canada) is causing various gases trapped under the ice for millenia to evaporate in the atmosphere, accelerating global warming much more than any human activity. It starts a vicious cycle : the more gas is freed, the warmer the air gets, and the more permafrost melts, liberating more gas...
Note that this is new information since the release of Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth in 2006.
The warming up of our planet is advancing at a much faster pace than anyone predicted. Scientists thought that ocean levels would only reach dangerously high levels around the end of the century. However, all now let to believe that this will happen much sooner, maybe in just a few years.
Where are we heading to ?