10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day

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10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day
By Joseph Stromberg

Source: Smithsonian.comTuesday, April 24, 2012

Sunday is the 42nd celebration of Earth Day, which was started in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to help educate people about environmental issues and demonstrate public support for a conservationist agenda. With that in mind, we decided it was the right time to recap the most surprising, awe-inspiring and alarming things that we have learned about the Earth and the environment since last year’s holiday:

2. Global warming is already driving up food prices: While many fear that climate change will someday reduce crop yields and cause food prices to rise, a study published last May in Science indicates that this troubling trend has already gotten started. The models used suggest that reduced global yields of wheat and corn are related to global warming. Although the effects are relatively small so far, they may cause severe problems in the future, as climate patterns continue to change and food demand increases.

3. Natural gas is not so great: Although advocates of natural gas argue that it contributes less to climate change than other fossil fuels such as coal, a study published last spring revealed that leakage of methane from newer types of shale gas wells and associated pipelines may be a bigger problem than first assumed. As much as 7.9 percent of the methane mined from these increasingly common wells may be escaping into the atmosphere through loose pipeline fittings and during hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a “fracking”). In the short term, the greenhouse effect of methane is 25 times that of carbon dioxide.

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10. Millions likely to be trapped by climate change: A report by the British government, released last October, warned that millions of people around the world will likely end up trapped in places vulnerable to the effects of environmental change over the next century. Although previous studies simply estimated which areas might be flooded by rising sea levels and assumed that all residents would move, the report drew upon more than 70 research papers and recognized that in many cases (such as New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina), the most disadvantaged groups are unable to leave. Experts advocate increased planning to financially support migration, both within and between countries.

http://www.zcommunications.org/10-things-we-ve-learned-about-the-earth-since-last-earth-day-by-joseph-stromberg

I just picked out a few that stood out for me most. The whole article is quite interesting.