Humanity does not yet know if there is intelligent life on other planets. With trillions of potential worlds in the visible universe and many of them in the Goldilocks Zone, life likely originated on other planets as well and may have evolved into intelligent life as well. However, given our limited knowledge of space, I safely assume that Earth is probably the most dangerous planet.
There are strong indications of this. While the hunter-gatherer lived a dangerous life by living in the wilderness and being hunted by dangerous predators, today’s intelligent man has devised deadly means of destruction such as nuclear weapons and environmental degradation such as the addictive use of fossil fuels that subsist. Caves look smarter and life in the wilderness feels safer.
A new analysis published in the journal Advances In Atmospheric Sciences says that 2022 was the warmest year for the oceans. The heat that is trapped in the atmosphere due to carbon emissions causes global warming. The oceans absorb more than 90% of the heat, degrading them. “If you want to measure global warming, you want to measure the trend of global warming, and more than 90% is going into the oceans,” said Professor John Abraham of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, who is also part of the team that conducted the analysis.
And when it comes to the oceans, they have one human quality: they’re vindictive. The heat that the oceans receive is returned to the earth in the form of more intense precipitation, hurricanes, and hurricanes, higher moisture in the air causing more rain and more intense flooding, and warmer waters expanding causing sea level to rise. They return heat to the Earth’s surface, causing massive destruction.
We have already seen the devastation caused by climate change. We witness this almost every day. However, what takes my night’s sleep is to think about when the oceans will die and stop absorbing the heat that we humans send their way which by the way equals all the humans on earth running 40 hair dryers all day, every day. That’s how much heat the oceans absorbed in 2022 alone.
Warming waters are expanding and sea levels are rising, threatening coastal cities. Unusual rainfall causes floods, causing weeds to grow where they otherwise would not have been. This weed becomes an ideal fuel for spreading wildfires when they come, which are also caused by extreme heat and drought. So, while the hunter-gatherer struggled to be chased by wild animals and ran to save his life, modern man had more running to do.
If politics fails and global signals are misinterpreted, the world will end with macho men unleashing nuclear weapons. If we don’t stop using fossil fuels, the intelligent man will escape being engulfed by wildfires, drowned by a rising sea, cooked by planet heating, and starved by dwindling resources, severe floods, and disease. bad air, etc.
About two years ago, there were wildfires in California and those fires were close to the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles. Many Hollywood celebrities have fled their homes. They owned homes in Louisiana where some of them landed. Louisiana experiences hurricanes and severe flooding, which is news that comes up almost every year. These floods sometimes submerge a large part of the entire state. Those big money stars will not be able to save themselves from the threats of climate change. They, too, with their homes and resources, will be haunted by wildfires in California and floods in Louisiana. And they will have nowhere to hide from the threats of climate change.
Between extreme heat, severe floods, wildfires, and hurricanes, life is more dangerous than it has ever been.
Published in The Express Tribune, Jan 16y2023.
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