For the last fifty years or more, the earth has been warming up. It is true that the average temperature rise is only about two degrees, but that has been enough to start the glaciers receding in many parts of the world.
A rise of one degree per generation is a large increase. Nature seldom moves as swiftly as this. We may have been helping her. To a very large extent, the temperature of the earth is determined by the amount of solar heat which the atmosphere can keep. The air above us acts like the glass in a greenhouse, trapping many of the heat waves which would otherwise bounce back into space.
The end of the short-lived age of our fuels is already in sight; soon in one or two centuries at the most, we will have wasted all the world’s resources of oil and coal. This no longer means disaster, for atomic energy has arrived in time to save our civilization from dying through the lack of power. We are moving into a brighter and cleaner age, as the smoke of millions of fires and furnaces and automobiles cease to darken the sky. But for that very reason, it may also be a colder age.
The climate of the earth is determined to no small extent by the immense quantities of ice locked up at the Poles, and that ice remains perpetually frozen. Although a summer’s day at the Poles is twenty-four hours long, the ice does not melt because the sun’s heat is reflected off the blinding white wastes of ice and has no chance of being absorbed. If that ice could once be removed, it would never form again. The darker exposed soil would collect and keep so much of the sun’s warmth now lost to us that the general earth temperature would be at a higher level.
If we achieve such a melting of the polar ice, we will gain a fifth continent, the Antarctic. It will have an unknown wealth of minerals. It might be the home of new nations and new civilizations.
In a few decades we may, by using atomic power, be able to melt out the ancient ice that covers the Poles. If the ice melts, the sea level in the whole earth will rise at least a hundred feet. This perhaps will be too high a price to pay for the continent.
Answer:
The Impact of Global Warming and Future Climate Change
The Earth has been warming for over fifty years, with a two-degree rise in temperature causing glaciers to recede. Human activities have accelerated this warming by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere, much like a greenhouse. The depletion of fossil fuels such as oil and coal is imminent, but atomic energy offers a cleaner alternative. However, reduced industrial emissions may lead to a colder climate.
Polar ice plays a crucial role in regulating global temperatures by reflecting sunlight. If the ice melts, it will not reform, leading to a permanent rise in Earth’s temperature. Some believe melting polar ice could reveal mineral-rich lands and create new civilizations. However, this could also result in catastrophic sea level rise, submerging vast regions. Thus, while technological advancements may shape the future, the consequences of climate change demand careful consideration.
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