(When I'm not worrying about pandemics and the failing economy, I love these *what if* scenarios 
[Snips]
Alligators basking off the English coast; a vast Brazilian desert; the mythical lost cities of Saigon, New Orleans, Venice and Mumbai; and 90 per cent of humanity vanished. Welcome to the world warmed by 4 deg. C [7.2 deg. Fahrenheit].
According to models, we could cook the planet by 4 deg. C [7.2 deg. F.] by 2100. Some scientists fear that we may get there as soon as 2050.
India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, for example, will feel the force of a shorter but fiercer Asian monsoon, which will probably cause even more devastating floods than the area suffers now. Yet because the land will be hotter, this water will evaporate faster, leaving drought across Asia. Bangladesh stands to lose a third of its land area -- including its main bread basket.
The African monsoon, although less well understood, is expected to become more intense, possibly leading to a greening of the semi-arid Sahel region, which stretches across the continent south of the Sahara desert. Other models, however, predict a worsening of drought all over Africa. A lack of fresh water will be felt elsewhere in the world, too, with warmer temperatures reducing soil moisture across China, the south-west US, Central America, most of South America and Australia. All of the world's major deserts are predicted to expand, with the Sahara reaching right into central Europe.
The only places we will be guaranteed enough water will be in the high latitudes. (My coment: But once we get all 9 billion people relocated... well, we can't breathe easy yet) ...so people would be need to be housed in compact, high-rise cities. Living this closely together will bring problems of its own. Disease could easily spread through the crowded population... It may also get very hot. Cities can produce 2 deg. C [3.6 deg. F.] of additional localised warming because of energy use and things like poor reflectivity of buildings and lower rates of evaporation from concrete surfaces, Since water will be scarce, food production will need to be far more efficient. Hot growing seasons will be more common, acidic seas will be largely devoid of fish Livestock may be restricted to hardy animals such as goats, which can survive on desert scrub. One consequence of the lack of cattle will be a need for alternative fertilisers -- processed human waste is a possibility. , "You can forget lions and tigers: if it moves we'll have eaten it," says Lovelock. "People will be desperate."
Even so, the most terrifying prospect of a world warmed by 4 deg. C is that it may be impossible to return to anything resembling today's varied and abundant Earth. Worse still, most models agree that once there is a 4 deg. C rise, the juggernaut of warming will be unstoppable, and humanity's fate more uncertain than ever.
"I would like to be optimistic that we'll survive, but I've got no good reason to be," says Crutzen. "In order to be safe, we would have to reduce our carbon emissions by 70 per cent by 2015. We are currently putting in 3 per cent more each year."
Full story (and be sure to check out the interactive map of the world warmed by 4 degrees): http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17064.cfm
[Snips]
Alligators basking off the English coast; a vast Brazilian desert; the mythical lost cities of Saigon, New Orleans, Venice and Mumbai; and 90 per cent of humanity vanished. Welcome to the world warmed by 4 deg. C [7.2 deg. Fahrenheit].
According to models, we could cook the planet by 4 deg. C [7.2 deg. F.] by 2100. Some scientists fear that we may get there as soon as 2050.
India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, for example, will feel the force of a shorter but fiercer Asian monsoon, which will probably cause even more devastating floods than the area suffers now. Yet because the land will be hotter, this water will evaporate faster, leaving drought across Asia. Bangladesh stands to lose a third of its land area -- including its main bread basket.
The African monsoon, although less well understood, is expected to become more intense, possibly leading to a greening of the semi-arid Sahel region, which stretches across the continent south of the Sahara desert. Other models, however, predict a worsening of drought all over Africa. A lack of fresh water will be felt elsewhere in the world, too, with warmer temperatures reducing soil moisture across China, the south-west US, Central America, most of South America and Australia. All of the world's major deserts are predicted to expand, with the Sahara reaching right into central Europe.
The only places we will be guaranteed enough water will be in the high latitudes. (My coment: But once we get all 9 billion people relocated... well, we can't breathe easy yet) ...so people would be need to be housed in compact, high-rise cities. Living this closely together will bring problems of its own. Disease could easily spread through the crowded population... It may also get very hot. Cities can produce 2 deg. C [3.6 deg. F.] of additional localised warming because of energy use and things like poor reflectivity of buildings and lower rates of evaporation from concrete surfaces, Since water will be scarce, food production will need to be far more efficient. Hot growing seasons will be more common, acidic seas will be largely devoid of fish Livestock may be restricted to hardy animals such as goats, which can survive on desert scrub. One consequence of the lack of cattle will be a need for alternative fertilisers -- processed human waste is a possibility. , "You can forget lions and tigers: if it moves we'll have eaten it," says Lovelock. "People will be desperate."
Even so, the most terrifying prospect of a world warmed by 4 deg. C is that it may be impossible to return to anything resembling today's varied and abundant Earth. Worse still, most models agree that once there is a 4 deg. C rise, the juggernaut of warming will be unstoppable, and humanity's fate more uncertain than ever.
"I would like to be optimistic that we'll survive, but I've got no good reason to be," says Crutzen. "In order to be safe, we would have to reduce our carbon emissions by 70 per cent by 2015. We are currently putting in 3 per cent more each year."
Full story (and be sure to check out the interactive map of the world warmed by 4 degrees): http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17064.cfm