Should We be Concerned about Rising CO2 Levels?
July 20, 2012; 1:51 PM
A common argument that we hear is that the Earth's climate is always changing and that it has been warm before with higher carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. So why should be be concerned about it now?
Image courtesy of YouTube
Small changes in the Earth's orbit have produced ice ages and changed carbon-dioxide levels on time scales of tens of thousands of years, according to Dr. Richard Alley, American geologist and Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at the Pennsylvania State University. Climate has also changed in the past due to other natural causes and life on Earth has endured, according to Earth: The Operators' Manual.
However, the planet now hosts billions of people and the changes we are starting to see now and into the future will likely happen much more quickly than they did in the far past, according to Alley.
In the 'How to Talk to an Ostrich' series video below, Dr. Alley shows (through ice core data) that the current levels of atmospheric CO2 are higher than anything we have seen in human civilization.
We should be concerned....check out the short video......
Video courtesy of YouTube and Earth: The Operators' Manual
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com