Climate change isn't going anywhere. The research into the impact it is having on the planet and if or how the damage can be slowed will continue to be conducted, because to do otherwise would be foolish. Recent research shows that the acceleration of the effects is moving at a much faster pace than previously realized. A paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience states that the current rate of carbon being released into the atmosphere from man-made sources is "unprecedented" in the last 66 million years. The researchers suggest that the only known example of this kind of warming was The Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) which occurred about 55 million years ago and caused mass extinctions.
Another concern is the rate of Arctic ice melt. In an article published on the blog Arctic News.blogspot.com, researchers present information that instead of the melt happening and causing catastrophic consequences around the year 2100, the year 2026 is a more realistic guess. That article suggests that the entire Arctic ice cap could be melted within 4-5 years. While the science continues to roll in, with many different scenarios being discussed, the one thing that is sure is that none of these factors are going away and that real action must be taken to avoid a devastating cascade of environmental disasters.
