Scientists ask-Will the seas rise up against us?
1991Peter Clark 1991-03Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 16 →
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For forums, classes and other activities, contact the Socialist Acti Water is the foundation upon which the house of life has been built. Even though our evolutionary ancestors left the ocean long ago, we maintain a close relationship with water. The human body is mostly water, and the bulk of humanity lives along the banks of rivers or the ocean shore.
Capitalism is undermining this foundation, however, through the disposal of wastes into fresh water supplies and through massive ocean pollution. And by the continued use of fossil fuels, which pump gases into the atmosphere, it has set into motion the conditions that can Baltimore P.O. Box 16005 Baltimore, MD 21218 Boston P.O. Box 1046 GMF Boston, MA 02205 (617) 497-0230 Chicago P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657 (312) 327-5752 Cincinnati P.O. Box 21015 Cincinnati, OH 45219 (513) 272-2596 Cleveland P.O. Box 6151 Cleveland, OH 44101 (216) 429-2167 Los Angeles P.O. Box 862014 Los Angeles, CA 90086 (213) 660-2891 • Forinformation about other areas, contact the national office of Socialist Action at (415) 821-0458. branch in your area!
Detroit P.O. Box 32546 Detroit, MI 48232 Kansas City P.O. Box 32543 Westport Station, Kansas City, MO 64111 cause the seas of our origins to rise up against us.
This process has been labeled, "The Greenhouse Effect." The two principle greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide and methane. The carbon dioxide comes mostly from the burning of fossil fuels, and the methane is produced by the breakdown of organic materials by cattle, termites, and anerobic bacteria in rice fields. Methane is also given off by decomposing grass, leaves, and food waste piled in garbage dumps.
At present rates of emission, by the year 2050 the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will have doubled since the beginning of the Minneapolis P.O. Box 14087 Dinkeytown Station Minneapolis, MN 55414 (612) 430-1476 New York P.O. Box 20209 Ca. Fin. 693 Columbus Ave.
New York, N.Y. 10025 San Francisco 3435 Army St., Suite 30 San Francisco, CA 9411 (415) 821-0458 Seattle P.O. Box 1182 Bothell, WA 98041 Industrial Revolution. Some scientists believe that this will result in an increase in average global temperatures of as much as nine degrees Fahrenheit.
A major effect of global warming would be a rise in ocean levels. There are still large uncertainties in scientific predictions of increased sea levels, but a study by the National Academy of Sciences, published last August, predicts a rise of between 1.5 feet and 3.5 feet in the coming century.
Evidence is mounting that a sea level rise has begun: In 1986, approximately 9000 square miles of Antarctic ice broke off into the sea. A glacier in Greenland, a major source of ice that led to sea-level increase in the geologic past, has been moving toward the sea at the rate of 75 feet per day. The thickness of Antarctic ice has also decreased.
Not all scientists agree that this has been caused by global warming, but many believe it. An article in The New York Times (Aug. 8, 1990) quotes Dr. Gary D. Clow from The Geological Survey, who says his team of scientists has collected data indicating that, "during the last century much of northern Alaska has warmed about four to eight degrees Fahrenheit." He says that drilling holes in Antarctic ice shows that the temperature there has risen two degrees in the last 15 years.
Another pair of research scientists quoted in the Times article, Phillip D. Jones and Tom M.L. Wigley, "Hop in, I brought you some clean water."
say, "Our work shows conclusively that the world's climate, though highly variable over periods of a decade or less, has become generally warmer during the past century."
As the seas rise, where will the billions of people affected by this change on our planet go? Consider Florida, the fourth most populated state in the United States, for example. Two-thirds of the Florida peninsula lies just one-half foot above sea-level. Today, 39 million tourists per year and 1000 new residents moving there each day have led to a losing struggle to meet demands for fresh water.
Florida's natural ecology has been disrupted more extensively than anywhere in the country. Some places, such as New York City, may succeed in building dikes to fend off the seas, but the porous rock of Florida means that saltwater will filter up behind such a wall, even if it could be built.
Confronting the crisis of rising ocean levels means that the cause of this increase must be halted. The use of fossil fuels must be replaced by a new worldwide energy plan based on solar power. A process of global reforestation must be underSociAlist ActioN