(Pict Courtesy - http://alternative-energy.everything-fine.com/)I watched the National Geographic documentary series Six Degrees Could Change the World. Like everything else in Nat Geo this was very graphic and reached out to me at a personal level like nothing else I have read or seen about Global Warming ever did.
On the first episode I watched the melting ice in Greenland.. slowly melting away and if the global temperature increases they could start melting at a faster pace! Later that week I watched another documentary on Antarctica. (I can't seem to remember on which channel that was) In the documentary a researcher on the base station in Antarctica spoke in a matter-of fact tone .. "When I came here a few years ago, there was Ice everywhere and I could not imagine a ship coming here " (Pointing to the ship that brought in the explorers - oh yes an antarctic expedition no less). "Choppers landed where the ship stands today he said". This was like a Deja Vu for me.. and fear gripped my heart!
I also watched the part about the Australian corals getting bleached.. no more Great Barrier Reef.. and this is true too.. In 2002 the Great Barrier Reef experienced the worst coral bleaching on record.. about 60% in Australia alone.. The cause a rise in the water temperature ..the result of global warming.
Today it was talk about a disappearing Ganges... the sacred Indian glacier.. The Glacier Gaumukh above the Gangotri where the Ganges starts has receded by about a kilometer in the past 20 years or so... So what happens if the glaciers disappear? What happens if Ganges disappears.. will this mean an end to the Spirituality of India as we know it? Ganges is believed to flow from Lord Shiva's head after all.. in an effort to stem the force of her flow from heaven to earth. So what will happen to the culture that stems from this belief?
Ever wonder what happened to the Dinosaurs? The end of the cretaceous era .. Either by a meteorite or huge volcanic eruptions..resulting in global warming, acid rains, reduced sunlight and finally ice age! How did the earth bounce back? All the carbon from the atmosphere was absorbed by the oceans and the plants and the soil. And the air was good to breathe again. The irony? We burn the very same fossil fuels today and start the cycle yet again!
Do watch the series Six Degrees Could Change the World on National Geographic. This is based on the book by Mark Lynas - Six Degrees. Its alarming to say the least and hopefully will awaken us to the effects of Global Warming.. What can we do to help? Recycle, burn less fuel.. car pool, walk, cycle... and lend your hand!
Like the trailer says "Global Warming isn't out of control but it soon could be. Warning signs are all around us. " It is up to us to take notice and be forewarned!
