Global Warming Heating Up

It seems that even if we avert economic catastrophe in 2009, a lifetime of irreversible global warming peril awaits us, according to a report released by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

IPCC spokesperson Chris Field maintains that significant carbon emissions from developing nations such as India and China in recent years may have had the effect of heating the planet, “beyond anything that we’ve considered seriously.” So there.

What the linked article doesn’t report is that the IPCC also states that increased use of biofuels may actually do more harm than good in the short run. How so? As American farmers devote more acreage of farmland toward growing corn for biologically-based fuel at the expense of other crops like soybeans, this capacity will be taken up by other developing countries, such as Brazil. Brazil ratchets up production of soybeans by destroying more acreage of tropical forests, which scientists believe act to soak up carbon dioxide. Instead, the forest is burned, releasing gases into the air.

Nothing like the Law of Unintended Consequences to brighten your day.

So if the use of aerosols in the 1970’s led scientists to conclude that they contributed to global cooling, why not re-introduce them to counteract the effects of global warming? Team AquaNet to save the day!