Greenland
The world will heat up to an irreversible tipping point in less than 10 years if greenhouse gases aren’t reduced, an international task force said this week. The group of scientists, politicians, and business leaders—led by Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine and British diplomat Stephen Byers—released a report that warns of disastrous climatic changes. If the average global temperature rises 2 degrees Celsius above what it was in 1750, before the Industrial Revolution, the ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica could begin to disappear, causing a rise in sea levels, changes in the Gulf Stream, and catastrophic droughts. The average temperature has already risen by 0.8 degrees, and there is so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that the rate of increase is likely to accelerate.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
