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CLIMATE CHANGE |
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THE BIG PICTURE Dr. Betts paints a broader picture by focusing on human consumption of oil and gas. He explains that if people remain completely oblivious to and apathetic towards global climate change and continue to burn copious amounts of oil and gas our future wouldn’t be too bleak because there isn’t enough left to really make a huge impact. The bigger problem that needs to be addressed, claims Betts, is that the world has enough coal left to burn for 200-300 years. The effect of burning that coal would increase the level of CO2 in our atmosphere to levels not seen in 30-40 million years at a time when the world didn’t have any ice caps at all. So, if the world keeps on burning non-renewable sources of energy as fast as it can to support the increasing obsession with consumerism, then our ice caps will eventually completely melt1. If we did go down that path and our ice caps melted, the sea level would rise up so high that it would flood all major coastlines and the cities supported by them. “Then you can be sure that our path would come to a rather grinding halt rather fast because that’s where all our people and industries live,” says Betts. “So it’s a self-correcting process but it’s not a very pleasant one if we don’t face up to it in the next 5-10 years.” So, now that you’ve heard the end-stage screenplay what can you do to re-write that unfortunate turn of events? Check out our “Your Footprint" by clicking here. |
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