Editor’s note: Marshall Brain – futurist, inventor, NCSU professor, writer and creator of “How Stuff Works” is a contributor to WRAL TechWire.  Brain takes a serious as well as entertaining look at a world of possibilities for Earth and the human race.  He’s also author of “The Doomsday Book: The Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Threats.” 

Note to readers: WRAL TechWire would like to hear from you about views expressed by our contributors. Please send email to: info@wraltechwire.com.

+++

RALEIGH – June 21 marked the official start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. July and August are traditionally the hottest months of the summer. Therefore, as I am writing this, we have 8 more weeks for temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere to rise.

Summertime coincides with hurricanes in the United States. Hurricane season traditionally runs from June 1 to November 30 –  – “Peak activity in an Atlantic hurricane season happens from late August through September, with a midpoint on September 10.” So, besides the heat, we have a parade of hurricanes to look forward to.

Summertime also coincides with wildfires, and we are all aware of the unbelievable wildfire season that is underway in Canada. Wildfire season runs from April to September. This video points out that 20 million acres of forest have already burned in Canada and the smoke has made it all the way to Europe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mML9x7OEbZE

 

The thing that is most troubling is the heat, with significant hotspots arising around the globe. These headlines demonstrate the problem:

“Marine heat wave conditions covered about 40 percent of the world’s oceans in June, the greatest area on record, NOAA reported. That footprint is only expected to grow, forecast to reach 50 percent of ocean waters by September. It’s not just that records are being broken — but the massive margins with which conditions are surpassing previous extremes, scientists note. In parts of the North Atlantic, temperatures are running as high as 9 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, the warmest observed there in more than 170 years. The warm waters helped northwestern Europe, including the United Kingdom, clinch its warmest June on record.”

“The globe set a record for the warmest June since at least 1940, new and emerging climate data shows, obliterating the previous milestone from 2019. Separately, the globe set new single day records for the hottest day yet measured, on July 3 and 4.”

“The UN’s World Meteorological Organization declared El Nino was already under way and said there was a 90-percent chance that it would continue during the second half of 2023. “The onset of El Nino will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean,” warned WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas.”

“Millions of people have been issued with excessive heat warnings and the extreme temperatures have claimed the lives of several people already. Temperatures peaked at 119F (48C), smashing countless high-temperature records across the state. More are expected to be broken in the coming week as the heatwave expands to the north and east.”

“Parts of North America were some 10C (18F) above the seasonal average this month, and smoke from forest fires blanketed Canada and the US East Coast in a hazardous haze, with carbon emissions estimated at a record 160 million tonnes. In India, one of the most climate-vulnerable regions, deaths spiked as a result of sustained high temperatures, and extreme heat has been recorded in Spain, Iran and Vietnam, raising fears that last year’s deadly summer could become routine.”

“For three days in a row, the planet reached its hottest day ever recorded as regions all over the world endure dangerous heat. Earth warmed to the highest temperature ever recorded by human-made instruments when the average global temperature reached 17.18 degrees Celsius, or 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit, on Tuesday.”

With these heatwaves, Planet Earth is screaming at humanity, telling us to make a huge change of direction before the climate goes completely off the rails. But humanity seems to be completely deaf, unable to hear or comprehend the most obvious signs. As the last article points out, summer is just beginning, so “Even higher temperatures are expected in July and August as El Niño strengthens.” See this video for details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNrtArLJJw

What must humanity do?

What must humanity do? First, the leaders of the world must gather and decide to stop burning fossil fuels by, say, 2030. It would take a monumental surge of creativity and investment to accomplish this, but humanity could certainly accomplish it with the proper leadership and commitment.

Second, humanity must take steps to quickly moderate the high temperatures we are experiencing. It would be extremely helpful if nature would do this for us by having a right-size volcano erupt in an unpopulated area. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa is an example:

1883 eruption of Krakatoa – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa

“The eruption caused a volcanic winter. In the year following the eruption, average Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures fell by 0.4 °C (0.72 °F)… The eruption injected a tremendous amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas high into the stratosphere, which was subsequently transported by high-level winds all over the planet. This led to a global increase in sulfuric acid (H2SO4) concentration in high-level cirrus clouds. The resulting increase in cloud reflectivity (or albedo) reflected more incoming light from the sun than usual and cooled the entire planet until the sulfur fell to the ground as acid precipitation.”

Since it is statistically unlikely that nature will oblige, humanity should be injecting the sulfur dioxide gas ourselves in order to drop the planet’s temperature.

If humanity does not start taking direct actions like these, we are sleepwalking into a global catastrophe. It is impossible to believe that humanity can be this irresponsible, but here we are.