to mix into the atmosphere and amplify the
greenhouse effect further. Methane is a very
powerful greenhouse gas, and something that
especially concerns us here in the North. It’s
one of the central climate change issues that
should be studied more.
Can we trust climate change forecasts?
– My impression is that the climate models tend
to be too modest in their predictions for global
warming and its effects. For example, no one
predicted that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean would
disappear as fast as it has. Discussion and debate
between climate scientists is always important
– no truth lasts forever, and can always be ques-
tioned and improved. I think there are very few
who deny that global warming exists, and those
who do generally have specific agendas.
What can we do to prevent further
global warming?
– Humans are very adaptive creatures, so I
think that laws, plans and preventative meas-
ures that take into consideration different
scenarios that may result from climate change
should be put in place. These possible scenar-
ios include sea level rise, extreme weather, and
more landslides, to mention a few. To be able to
handle these things, we need to have plans and
legislation that take them into account. When
we build houses, we should design them to
withstand extreme weather. Building sites need
to be placed with an eye to the increased risk of
landslides. The rise in sea level may need to be
considered. Look at the Netherlands – they’ve
been fighting the rising sea level for centuries,
and have technology and contingency plans
that have gained them land and prevented
major flooding. Norway, as a rich and techno-
logically advanced country, will probably not
have any problems adapting to climate change,
but poor countries may struggle. I’mmore wor-
ried about lesser-developed countries handling
climate change than Norway.
The Earth is getting
warmer.
97 %
of scientists believe
that global warming is
occurring, and is being
accelerated by human
activity.
72 % of the media
are
sceptical about global
warming.
Polar bears are
10 %
thinner
than they were
30 years ago. Rising
temperatures and melting
sea ice means that hungry
bears have smaller hunting
grounds.
Migratory birds fly north
more than
13 days earlier
than they did in the twen
tieth century.
Sea levels have
risen by
about 3 mm
annually from
1993 to 2005. By 2100, sea
levels are expected to have
risen by one metre.
11 of the last 12 years
have been
the warmest
on
record since records began
in 1850.
15 %
of CO
2
emissions are
the result of deforestation.
20 %
of emissions come
from cars and trucks.
It would take
68 billion trees to offset
emissions from cars
and trucks.
Sources: NASA, Greenfleet, pbs.org, guardian.co.uk, carbonify.com.
43
labyrint
•
research magazine
from
u
i
t
the
arctic
university
of
norway
SOME FACTS ABOUT CLIMATE
