GLOBAL MEAN ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE isrising due to increasing levels of CO2, CH4 and othergreenhouse gases (GHGs). Sea levels are rising due inlarge part to the melting of icecaps and glaciers andthermal expansion of sea water. The oceans are bothbecoming warmer and acidifying due in large part toincreased CO2 levels. Drought and desertification arenot only increasing globally, but they appear to bemoving into long term climatic conditions. Has this hasbeen a major, unpredicted surprise? Of course not! Is itsomething we could do nothing about, which we wereentirely at the mercy of natural forces? No, the evidenceand scientific consensus are that the driving factor inclimate change is human-made or anthropogenic andwhich we could have changed the outcome is we hadacted. We needed to greatly reduce the additional levelsof CO2 and other GHGs into the atmosphere by reducingthe burning of fossil fuels.
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