What’s Causing Global Warming and How to Stop It

Our planet is dying. The earth has warmed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880 and that trend will only continue. The human race has reached great heights on the shoulders of technological innovation; unfortunately, we’ve chosen to ignore the most damaging effects. If we continue to disregard the warning signs, will we bring an end to the planet and destroy ourselves in the process?

Greenland Is Melting Away [The New York Times]
Coral Davenport, Josh Haner, Larry Buchanan & Derek Watkins
Article (8 minutes)
“Scientists know that the melting of Greenland is accelerating. As the temperature rises, large lakes form on the surface of the ice, which in turn create a network of rivers…”

Why I Must Speak Out About Climate Change [TED]
James Hansen
Video (18 minutes)
“What do I know that would cause me, a reticent, Midwestern scientist, to get myself arrested in front of the White House protesting? And what would you do if you knew what I know? Let’s start with how I got to this point…”

Chinese Shipping Group Cosco Planning Regular Trans-Arctic Sailings [Wall Street Journal]
Costas Paris & Joanne Chiu
Article (6 minutes)
“The ports along the route need to be developed to handle more cargo, along with plans to tackle oil spills and search-and-rescue operations. As temperatures get warmer, navigation becomes easier..”

The Emergent Patterns of Climate Change [TED]
Gavin Schmidt
Video (12 minutes)
“How do air pollution and climate coexist? Can we change things that affect air pollution and climate at the same time? The answer is yes…”

Global Warming Could Be More Devastating for the Economy Than We Thought [The Guardian]
Dana Nuccitelli
Article (7 minutes)
“If we continue on a business-as-usual path of high fossil fuel consumption and carbon pollution, 77% of countries will be poorer in 2100 than they would be in a world in which we curb global warming…”

Antarctic Sea Ice Reaches New Record Maximum [NASA]
Holly Zell
Video (2 minutes) & Article (5 minutes)
“The planet as a whole is doing what was expected in terms of warming. Sea ice as a whole is decreasing as expected, but just like with global warming, not every location with sea ice will have a downward trend in ice extent…”

The Atmosphere We Create – The Typical American Carbon Footprint [BLUEdot Register]
Ted Redmond
Article (5 minutes)
“The Average American’s annual transportation emissions alone are 140% of the average world citizen’s entire Carbon Footprint…”