I see trees of green, red roses tooTimes Online - 25/06/07
Here are the hard facts about global warming that everyone should know, compiled for Times Online by internationally acclaimed writer, scientist and explorer Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: Our changing climate and what it means for life on earth.
Ten predictions made by climate scientists that have come true (or are becoming true)
1 - That the Earth would warm as more CO2 was put into the atmosphere (Svante Arrhenius in 1893).
2 - That we'd begin to see noticable changes to Earth's climate by around 2000 (some IPCC scientists ).
3 - That sea-level would start rising.
4 - That Earth's Ice would start melting rapidly (James Hanson).
5 - that hurricanes would increase in intensity (this one goes back to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1900).
6 - That species would start going extinct as a result of climate change.
7 - That Australia would start drying out (Hadley Centre scientists).
8 - That tropical diseases would increase.
9 - That food crops would be adversely affected.
10 - That the CO2 would begin to acidify the ocean.
The ten biggest changes to the weather wrought by climate change
1 - Shorter winters.
2 - Less runoff into dams and reservoirs in many regions of the world.
3 - More violent and longer hurricanes.
4 - Less chilly nights.
5 - Less predictable seasonal conditions.
6 - Less snow.
7 - More heat waves.
8 - Less rain in many regions at various seasons.
9 - More severe storms in the North Sea and parts of the southern Ocean.
10 - Generally warmer conditions.
The ten places in the world / animals in the world most endangered by global warming
1 - The glorious Cape Botanic province in South Africa, particularly the succulent Karoo flora.
2 - Amphibians everywhere (a third of all species are already gravely endangered or extinct).
3 - Coral reefs.
4 - Species on mountain tops (many populations are already extinct).
5 - The tundra.
6 - The Arctic Ocean.
7 - The Antarctic Peninsula.
8 - Australia - where the drying trend is already precipitating a new wave of declines and extinctions.
9 - The DODGY TAX AVOIDERS, where drying will affect forests and rivers.
10 - The boreal forests, here pest infestations are destroying vast areas of trees.
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you.
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.
