From The Workbench - Alternative + Renewable Energy Blog Valuable information for do-it-yourselfers interested in the latest in alternative + renewable energy

File this one under the “Uh Oh” category, as this is not exactly good news to be getting this beautiful Tuesday morning.  When the WWF says something (no, not the Wrestling Federation!) concerning the state of our climate and environment, there are few better things you could do than to sit up and listen close.  So when they say that they are being constantly surprised at just how fast global warming is advancing itself upon our poor planet, it worries me.

According to a new report published by the WWF, using the first new scientific data on the topic since 2007, global warming is advancing at rates much, much higher than previously predicted in the first IPCC panel.  The new WWF report has some very scary statistics, and none of them bode well for our current activity levels to change the way we are interacting with this planet.  According to their report:

“…global sea levels are now expected to rise by more than twice the IPCC’s maximum estimate of 0.59m by the end of the century, putting vast coastal areas in danger, while higher temperatures have already reduced global yields of wheat, maize and barley. Furthermore, the Arctic Ocean is now losing ice up to 30 years ahead of previous projections.”

Yikes.  The bright side of this nasty and eye-opening report, however, is that they did offer suggestions to the EU on how they can help alleviate and hopefully further slow the advance of global warming.  They first suggest that the EU “adopt an emission reduction target of at least 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, and to commit to helping developing countries tackle climate change and mitigate its effects by providing substantial support and funding.” Fairly sure the U.S.A. needs to jump on board that bangwagon too my friends.  Just remember the more WE, as citizens, can do to adopt alternative energy lifestyles and products, the more we’re doing to help the world as a whole.  Every little bit truly counts.

The back and forth debate about whether or not climate change really exists is about to get a whole lot easier.  The “is it/isn’t it” should enter a new realm of cut and dry fact as a new satellite is about to be launched that has a very, very important task at hand…predict climate change and study the exact changes our planet is already undergoing.

Why is this so vital you might be asking?  I was too until I read exactly what it will be doing.  It turns out, the satellite will “provide precise measurements of the earth’s gravitational field, which will in turn provide exact measurements of ocean currents. So why is that important? Well, ocean currents transport heat around the planet— and that means that the currents have a huge impact on the earth’s climate.”  Huh, is that all?

The amazingly expensive little satellite will map the Earth’s gravitational field once every 70 days for a full 18 months.  This new idea, new technology could potentially act as an early warning system in the event of any changes that could be problematic to widely affected areas, and as a bonus, might be the final piece of evidence that there is in fact a change going on in our climate and that we do, in fact, need to do something about it!