evidence of planet earth’s fragility may 12, 2014 walter hays, global alliance for disaster...

EVIDENCE OF PLANET EARTH’S FRAGILITY

May 12, 2014

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

LATEST EVIDENCEMay 12, 2014

ANTARCTICA’S THWAITES GLACIER ICE SHELF BEGINS TO BREAK UPIan Joughin, a glaciologist at the

University of Washington in Seattle

WEST ANTARCTICA:THWAITES ICE SHELF IS BREAKING UP

THWAITES GLACIER

• Thwaites Glacier is losing several meters (tens of feet) of ice elevation every year.

WARNINGPlanet Earth may be at greater risk than ever before if global climate change proves to be a

long-term threat

Source: SCIENCE, May 2014

• Two teams of scientists say the long-feared collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun, kicking off what they say will be a centuries-long, "unstoppable" process that could raise sea levels by as much as 4 m (15 ft).

Source: SCIENCE, May 2014

• They estimate that Thwaites Glacier will probably disappear entirely in somewhere between 200 and 1,000 years.

• That loss alone would raise global sea level by nearly 2 feet (60 centimeters).

Source: SCIENCE, May 2014

• The glacier serves as a linchpin for the rest of the West Antarctic Ice sheet, which has enough frozen mass to cause another 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4 meters) of sea level rise.

IF PLANET EARTH CONTINUES WARMING UP,

- - -

MANY LOCATIONS WILL HAVE ENVIRONMENTS AT HIGHER RISK AS TEMPERATURE INCREASES AND SEA

LEVEL RISES, AS HYPOTHESIZED

CITIES (PEOPLE, PROPERTY, AND INFRA-STRUCTURE) MAY BE AT HIGHER RISK

IMPACT: NORTHEAST USA: 1 METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL

IMPACT:FLORIDA: 1 METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL

IMPACT: LOUISIANA: 1 METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL

MONITORING, MITIGATION, AND ADAPTATION

MEASURES: WAYS TO COPE WITH

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

CURRENT NEEDS

Planet Earth’s changes in exposure and risk over time have created a need for:

Technology to monitor global climate change, warn people, and protect property, and infrastructure.

EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL WARMING CITED IN THE

PAST

KANAI FJORD, ALASKA

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA

GREENLAND

WENGEN, SWITZERLAND

MT KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA

GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA

ANTARCTICA: WILKINS ICE SHELF DISINTEGRATION

SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND

DALIAN, CHINA

Natural Phenomena that Change our Environment

Planet Earth is warming up, as shown by:

Advance of deserts

1/6 OF WORLD’S POPULATIONS AFFECTED BY DESERTIFICATION

Natural Phenomena that Change our Environment

Planet Earth is warming up, causing:

Droughts

DROUGHT IN CHINA: 2007

Natural Phenomena that Change our Environment

Planet Earth is warming up, which causes:

Rivers to dry up.

COLORADO RIVER BASIN, WESTERN USA

LOS ANGELES RIVER: SUMMER 2007

.

ELBE RIVER, GERMANY: SUMMER, 2007