5 Reasons Our Changing Climate Is More Dangerous Than You Think

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/environment/5-reasons-our-changing-climate-more-dangerous-you-think



***SNIP

1. Flesh-Eating Fungi

This would rank near the top of my list of horrors if I could have even fathomed that such a thing exists. But it does. After a powerful tornado hit Joplin, Missouri last May, 13 people were infected with Apophysomyces — five of them died. Melissa Breyer reports for Treehugger that Apophysomyces is “a common fungus that resides in soil, wood or water and generally leaves people well enough alone. But when it finds it way into the body, say, through blunt trauma or a puncture wound, say, suffered in a tornado ... it can grow quickly if the proper medical response is not immediately administered.”

***SNIP

2. Endangered Rivers

We hear mythic (and not-so-mythic) accounts of great floods. These days we’ve come to expect them with catastrophic hurricanes and superstorms like Sandy. We’ve also been warned about sea level rise lapping at the heels of our coastal cities and vacation towns. But it’s not just excessive water that may be our undoing, but the lack of it. Two of our country’s most esteemed rivers have lost their might — and the ramifications of that are huge.

***SNIP

3. Party Time

A global party has been going on for years — it started in 1992 with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and most notable of the get-togethers was in 1997 in Kyoto when the “protocol” for reducing greenhouse gas emissions was launched. This month nations gathered in Doha for another Conference of Parties. At each meeting, countries agree to meet up again in another year and do more agreeing about the next meeting. As far as stopping climate change, well, that’s something they can’t all agree on.

***SNIP

4. Lowballing the Numbers

Here’s why world leaders failing to muster any meaningful action on climate change is downright treasonous:

Across two decades and thousands of pages of reports, the world's most authoritative voice on climate science has consistently understated the rate and intensity of climate change and the danger those impacts represent, say a growing number of studies on the topic.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. The culprit ? $$$$$$$$$$$

[newfie11]

2. The food supply is affected by drought

In my area we have had no snow, temps in 40's and 50's. Can't remember the last rain. Wind is blowing all the powder ( soil) away.

Hay is no where to be found in my area but in WY I am told it is $300. Per ton if you can find it. That won't last long for cattle.

Our corn fields with stubble are leased out to ranchers to run cattle on as they are trying to save their hay.

Wheat in the fields ( that did manage to come up) has no snow cover so if it gets cold finally with no snow protection, it's gone.

So we as consumers are looking at the price of beef, pork, chicken, anything made with wheat, etc all going up.

Not a great outlook for the future. But big oil, big corps are still making money and could care less about the environment.