Visible warning signs
What is it going to take?
The Big Meltdown
January 1978 – 43 years ago! – the geologist John Mercer published a paper in NATURE predicting that if consumption of fossil fuels continues at the then going rates, the CO2 content in our atmosphere would double in 50 years. He stressed that we would see “visible warning signs” of global warming. He was pretty specific and wrote about
the breakup of ice shelves on both coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula, starting with the northernmost and extending gradually southward.
I was then a student at the University of Geneva and I had the “Club of Rome” in my bookshelf but – honestly – I do not recall “climate change” being on our academic agendas, nor a discussion topic in our student pubs.
Antarctica is the home of a multitude of organisms – bacteria, fungi - as well as animals such as my dear penguins and seals. Over 80% of the world’s water reserves are to be found in Antarctica. And -let’s face it - this continent – twice the size of Australia –
had the fortune not to be populated by the human species.
In the meantime, we humans are rapidly catching up with Antarctica. Temperatures are rising steadily. And indeed - as predicted by John Mercer - we are witnessing the break-up of gigantic icebergs. And - despite all warnings - the CO2 content in our atmosphere continues to steadily increase.
Is climate change “responsible” for A-68? I am not the expert to credibly answer this question. However, I claim that I can read data and statistics: the Antarctica data show us a dramatic picture. Antarctica is one of the fastest warming places on our planet earth. Data indicate us that
temperatures at the south pole are rising at a rate 3-times higher than on average elsewhere on our planet.
That is when I do ask myself the fatal question: we are driving at high speed on our highway,
we see the wall approaching rapidly
and we do not go on the break. What is it going to take to press our brakes? Is it then going to be too late?
