Eaarth

Living on a Changing Planet

In 1968, when Apollo 8 broadcast the first images of Earth from space, people saw the planet in all its beauty. It was blue and white and wonderful. Its glory struck even trained astronauts. That world is gone. Its richly balanced blue oceans are darkening and turning brown as the planet changes due to global warming – and everyone will suffer from it. Emissions from burning fossil fuel have caused temperatures to rise by more than 1.5°F (1°C) – so far. This has increased storms over the oceans, creating larger systems carrying more rain and making more lightning. Rainfall now goes up 1.5% each decade. Since the rain doesn’t fall where it is needed, the extra lightning starts more forest fires.

Climate change also affects the tropics, which “have expanded more than two degrees of latitude north and south since 1980.” Such shifts disrupt weather patterns, bringing permanent drought conditions to large parts of Australia and the US. In Tibet and Bolivia, glaciers are melting, changing regional ecologies and economies. Oceans are absorbing more CO₂ from the atmosphere, leading to increased water acidity, which makes it harder, for...