1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (121 page)

922

FACT :
Category 4 and 5 hurricanes have
doubled in number
in the last thirty years.
In case you haven’t watched the news. Ever.

K. Emanuel, “Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years,” Nature, August 4, 2005, 686–688, “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.

923

FACT :
Deaths caused by global warming will
double in the next twenty-five years
to 300,000 people annually.
Dying people often complain of being cold; I wonder if that happens when you die of global warming.

World Health Organization, “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.

924

FACT :
Libya recorded the Earth’s
highest temperature
in 1922: 136°F (58°C).
But it was a dry heat.

“Fun Science Facts You Didn’t Know,” High Tech Science,
www.hightechscience.org
.

925

FACT :
Over the past decade, ice flow off Greenland’s glaciers has
more than doubled
due to global warming, resulting in higher sea levels.
Hey, Greenland—what the hell? Knock it off already.

W. Krabill and others, “Greenland Ice Sheet: Increased coastal thinning,” Geophysical Research Letters, December 28, 2004, “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.

926

FACT :
Global warming could cause shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica to melt, resulting in a global rise in sea levels by
more than twenty feet
, with devastating effects for coastal areas worldwide.
The other night my daughter and I were looking at her globe. She pointed to Greenland and asked, “What’s that?”

“Greenland,” I said. “Greenland? Then why is it all white?” she asked. That’s a good question.

W. Krabill and others, “Greenland Ice Sheet: Increased coastal thinning,” Geophysical Research Letters, December 28, 2004, “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.

927

FACT :
Thanks to global warming, the Arctic Ocean could be
free of ice
in summer by 2050.
What if your name was “Global Warming”? That would suck. You’d get blamed for everything.

W. Krabill and others, “Greenland Ice Sheet: Increased coastal thinning,” Geophysical Research Letters, December 28, 2004, “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.

Impact of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.

928

FACT :
At least 279 plant and animal species are
moving closer to the Earth’s poles
, a response to global warming.
I’m guessing the animal species will probably get there before the plants.

W. Krabill and others, “Greenland Ice Sheet: Increased coastal thinning,” Geophysical Research Letters, December 28, 2004, “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.

David Bjerklie, “Feeling the Heat,” Time Magazine, March 26, 2006, “What is Global Warming?” An Inconvenient Truth,
www.climatecrisis.net
.