What have these things got in common: the worst flooding in the last 80 years in Pakistan with 1,400 dead and 27,000 people cut off or dispersed and a million and a half homeless; and Russia going up in flames during the worst drought ever with a hundred thousand hectares burned, dozens of dead and whole villages evacuated? The response is in the document: "State of the climate in 2009" published in the last few days by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The document that should be forbidden to those with a weak heart, describes the state of the climate and its effects on planet earth. The authors of the publication made up of 218 pages of data, images and statistics (better than Stephen King’s latest book to take with you on holiday) are 300 specialists in 160 groups on every continent. I don’t want to reveal to you (even because you already know) the ending of the tome that I have on my desk, but just a few items to help make you shiver for free during the torrid heat. The year 2009 was hotter than 2008 by 0.1°C and the ten year period from 2000 to 2009 is the hottest decade ever recorded. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) has gone up by 1.5 ppm (parts per million) in relation to 2008 with an atmospheric average of 386.29 ppm, since 1750 about 335 billion tons of CO2 have been released into the atmosphere, of which half has been since the 1970s with a continual increase year by year. The year 2009 was the 19th consecutive year which has seen the recording of the retreat of glaciers, many of which have disappeared. India has had the hottest year in history, Australia the second hottest year, New Zealand the hottest summer in 155 years. China has had the worst drought in the last 50 years. The temperature of the oceans is continuing to go up, transforming them into the primeval broth that we came out of.
The climate has an immediate effect on agricultural products. A few weeks of hot weather up to 40° has destroyed most of the wheat production in Russia and the price of wheat has gone up by 50% on world markets. For the Russians, the only thing left is the rain dance. The Orthodox Patriarch Kiril has prayed for rain: “I’m sending out an appeal that you join together in prayer for the rain to come down on our land”.
While I was reading the report, my eye was attracted to the news that there’s a fall in the registration of cars in Italy in July: 152,752 auto, down by 25.97 % in relation to last year and of the great uproar that followed for the resulting unemployment. Italy already has a record 59 cars for every 100 inhabitants. Perhaps the time has come to reconvert automobile production rather than getting to the point of one car per inhabitant. Towards the catastrophe with optimism!