TODAY’S STUDY: CLIMATE CHANGE DOUBT DECIMATED BY PIX OF DECIMATION

Before-and-after pictures show how climate change is destroying the Earth

Dina Spector, October 26, 2015 (Business Insider)

Almost all scientists now agree that global climate change is caused by humans. In late September, the British government pledged £5.8 billion to tackle the problem in developing countries, and many other governments worldwide are also pouring money into solving the problem.

A steadily-warming planet affects the environment in many different ways. Rising global temperatures, largely due to man-madegreenhouse gases, are the source of widely-discussed observable changes to the Earth like melting glaciers, rising sea levels, warming oceans, and more extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, droughts, forest fires, and floods.

In the pictures that follow, we take a look at howclimate-change-related events have affected regions around the world, whether directly or indirectly.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK BEFORE: Healthy pine trees stretch for tens of millions of acres in the northwestern United States and western Canada.

click to enlarge

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK NOW: A hillside of dead pine trees killed by Mountain Pine Beetles shows the effects of warming temperatures in the mountain ranges. In the past, freezing temperatures reduced insect populations. The beetles are now able to survive the milder winters leading to devastating infestations.

click to enlarge

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF BEFORE: Considered one of the most biologically-diverse regions in the world, Australia's Great Barrier Reef covers around 135,000 square miles, or an area that's nearly the size of Texas. Ocean acidification and temperature increases from climate change are the reef's biggest long-term threat.

click to enlarge

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF NOW: Warmer water temperatures trigger widespread coral bleaching, when coral turns white and is much more susceptible to death. Coral is vital to supporting ocean life.

click to enlarge

THE DANUBE RIVER BEFORE: The Danube, Europe's second longest river, flows eastward from its source in Germany to the Black Sea in Romania. The Danube river basin is critical to supporting industry, transport, agriculture, and fishing.

click to enlarge

THE DANUBE RIVER NOW: Between 2011 and 2012, a persistent drought led to record-low water levels along the Danube, stranding boats and paralyzing parts of the busy waterway.

click to enlarge

THE ALPS BEFORE: Matterhorn, one of Europe's tallest peaks, located in the Alps on the border between Italy and Switzerland, is pictured with a blanket of snow and ice on Aug. 16, 1960.

click to enlarge

THE ALPS NOW: The Swiss peak, pictured on Aug. 18, 2005, is eroding as a result of melting glacier water at the summit. The water sinks into cracks and creates even bigger fissures after several cycles of freezing and thawing. The disintegration of Matterhorn is anecdotal of the effects of climate change in most of the Alps.

click to enlarge

MUIR GLACIER BEFORE: A late-19th century photograph of Alaska's Muir Glacier shows many icebergs — some nearly 7-feet wide — in the foreground.

click to enlarge

MUIR GLACIER NOW: By 2005, Muir Glacier had retreated more than 31 miles. Although this picture was taken from the same location as the early black-and-white photograph, the glacier is completely out of view. There's an abundance of vegetation looking to the west, and the beach in the foreground is now covered by pebbles, which came from sediment deposited by Muir Glacier and by melting icebergs on the ground.

click to enlarge

CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS 2003: An infrared image from July 2003 shows the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. The red areas indicate that carbon dioxide concentration is at or above 380 parts per million.

click to enlarge

CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS 2007: The same image of the globe, taken exactly three years later in July 2007, shows that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are rising. The color bar used for 2003 had to be adjusted to account for the increase in carbon dioxide around the globe. Otherwise, the "2007 map would be saturated with reddish colors, and the fine structure of the distribution of carbon dioxide obscured," explains NASA.

click to enlarge

Tweet