Global warming discussed

Global warming authority Tim Flannery spoke to a crowd at the Showalter Auditorium April 5, focusing on the matters of global warming and climate change.

"Life on Earth is going to change forever," said Flannery during his presentation. "It's amazing and humbling to think of the situation we're in." He spoke about how the upcoming generations of humans will be the first to take part in shaping the Earth's climate structure, in an effort to stave off any climate-change disaster. He described our human desire to stop the climate crisis as one of the "brightest aspects of our species." He said humans have a hard-wired sense that we have to deal with pollution.

He also discussed the "almost miraculous ability of the Earth to heal itself," saying that our planet has itself evolved over the years to self-cleanse.

"Earth has been a self-regulating and self-cleansing entity," said Flannery.

Speaking with a distinct Australian accent, Flannery spoke for about an hour and covered many points. He described how when he was in Sydney, mass sewage would be dumped into the ocean. While that is certainly pollution, Flannery said that the most disastrous effects of this pollution dumping have not yet been seen, "just by virtue of the volume of the oceans."

He made a point that the atmosphere and our ozone layer are very important to us. "The atmosphere has to be the most taken-for-granted organ of our planet," said Flannery. "It's a manifestation of life."

"The atmosphere is 500 times smaller than the oceans," said Flannery.

He described the ozone in simple terms as "scrubbing out radiation" from reaching Earth's surface. "It's Earth's sunscreen," said Flannery.

Flannery elaborated on how, during the 1980s, scientists discovered the ozone levels were depleting. He said that the 1987 meeting of nations about how to address the ozone issue marked the first real human discussion of climate change on a global scale, and that the day in which the meeting took place will be remembered by future generations as a turning point, the beginning of the climate-change effort by humans. He said that the day may be just as important as MLK day in the future.

He noted that the most telling sign of all that climate change that is occurring on Earth is the decay of the arctic ice cap. "Some people thought it would be gone as early as 2011 or 2012," said Flannery. He discussed what would happen if the snow melts, saying that the rays that produce bright ice reflections, if not able to reflect off the ice, would hit the dark ocean, and that the northern hemisphere would then turn into a "heat sink."

Flannery, in his conclusion, discussed what should be done about the climate situation. He said that the most important step in the future will be making sure that the global treaties that are going to be forged concerning global climate change are adequate to actually make a large difference in curbing negative climate change on Earth. "The United States will play a major role in the signing of that treaty," said Flannery.

He brought the current American presidential race into his presentation. "All three of your presidential candidates have really good credentials in this area," said Flannery. "Surprisingly, McCain has really good credentials."

Flannery stated that global warming and climate change will be a major part of future generations' lives.

"Every generation has its own preoccupation," said Flannery. "We're staring right down the barrel of a crisis."