The New Climate Change (I)
Written by Alfonso Elizondo
According to Planet Earth’s mass media, current climate change will cause high temperatures, droughts and hungry polar bears roaming around residences near the poles. But there is no mention of the increase in the frequency of hurricanes, the displacement of species from the tropics or the melting of the seabed. Nor is any mention made of the incidence of equatorial diseases in the tropics, how the Siberian permafrost is melting, or the increase in lung diseases.
There are 5 consequences of climate change that are unknown:
1.- The increase in the number and strength of hurricanes
2.- Species and biomes are moving towards the poles.
3.- The permafrost is melting
4.- Equatorial diseases are reaching Europe.
5.- Lung diseases are more common.
With respect to hurricanes, the first effect, 2017 will be known as the year of hurricanes, with Irma leading the disastrous events that swept the Caribbean. Although there were minor hurricanes like Nate and Harvey that had an impact on Mexican and Puerto Rican towns, for more than five consecutive days Irma remained at category 5, which is the maximum hurricane level on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
2017 was the year that had the most hurricanes in 30 years, according to the NOAA, in addition to the fact that each time they are stronger and last longer. The South Atlantic is a very complex system of energy distribution on a planetary scale, so that the currents from the poles help the cold reach the equator, thereby reducing the average temperature of the water surface. Hurricane Irma encountered an exceptionally hot Atlantic. Its accumulated energy became a nightmare for Central America and the Caribbean.
Regarding effect # 2 – that the species have moved towards the poles – the excessive color at the equator has caused the biomes and their species to move at an average of 6 km per decade towards the north and 6 meters at higher altitudes. That is why it is increasingly common to find solitary species from the south, such as swallows, in certain northern areas.
But what is affected is not only the fauna, but also the flora and the annual biological (phenological) cycles of many edible species, such as wheat and soybeans, that reach maturity 10 hours earlier each year, while the time of planting is also shifting. Although every year a few farming hours are lost, human beings have low-impact agricultural robots that are absorbing these changes.
Addendum: In the next article I will look at effects numbers 3, 4 and 5 of the new climate change.