Word: co2
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...caps and drastically alter weather patterns but cause more ferocious storms. Writing in Nature, M.I.T. Meteorologist Kerry Emanuel warned that a warmer climate could result in hurricanes packing up to 50% more destructive power. This could happen, he suggests, within 40 to 80 years, when some scientists think CO2 levels will have doubled and ocean temperatures will have increased by 2 degrees C to 3 degrees C. Because the energy of warm, rising air is the driving force behind hurricanes, a warmer ocean would translate into stronger storms...
...What is very speculative at this point," Emanuel says, "is how the earth's climate will respond." One variable that could offset the rise in CO2 levels, for example, would be a change in cloud cover, which would cut down on the sunlight reaching the surface of the earth. Although it is too early to sound alarms, says Emanuel, his purpose is to make it clear "the consequences of the changes that are occurring are quite severe...
Several days after these findings hit the front page, the academy's congressionally commissioned report strongly echoed the EPA's gloomy long-range forecast. While it was couched in less dramatic terms, the study provided more fresh science, based largely on computer models. It warned that CO2 concentrations could double by late in the 21st century, increasing global temperatures by as much as 7°. The rich, irrigated farming areas of California and the Texas Gulf would dry out, and agriculture would shift to the north. Like the EPA findings, the 496-page document called for more research...
Some areas might actually profit from the shifts. The Northeast, for example, could get a more benign climate, not unlike Florida's. Canada's growing season might lengthen, and some deserts would begin to bloom. In addition, the extra CO2 might increase the rate of photosynthesis, encouraging more vigorous plant growth. The reports also pointed out that effects could be mitigated by tactics like switching to crops more suitable for the new conditions...
...strong public reaction. After all, he pointed out, "we can't say any of these things for certain." Scientists noted that researchers have been cautioning for nearly a century that the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) is steadily increasing the atmosphere's CO2 content. The invisible gas itself is not dangerous. In fact, it is vital to green plants, which combine CO2 with water in the presence of sunlight to produce carbohydrates...