Arctic warming

Earth's temperature rise equals four Hiroshima atomic bombs: Climate scientist

Deccan Herald,

23 June, 2013

Melbourne: Earth has been building up temperatures at a rate equal to heat generated by four Hiroshima nuclear bombs every second, a climate scientist has warned.

According to John Cook, Climate Communication Fellow from the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, humans are emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other time in history of humankind.

"All these heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere mean our planet has been building up heat at the rate of about four Hiroshima bombs every second - consider that going continuously for several decades," said Cook.

Cook said about 90 per cent of global warming was going into the oceans, which act like a natural thermometer along with changes in land, ice, and animal species, AAP reported. He warned that distributions of trees are shifting towards cooler areas of Earth such as the poles or mountains, and animal species are responding to global warming by mating earlier in the year.

"This is not because animals are getting randier, it is because the seasons themselves are shifting," Cook said.

Cook said studies have tried to put a number on how much of global warming is caused by humans, 'and the rough answer is, all of it'. He said forlast 20 years, 97 per cent of scientists have been in agreement that human activity is is behind warmer temperatures.