Anyone is cordially invited, welcomed, and challenged, to prove that anything 

identified as a "fact" herein, is not a true, accurate, and valid statement of fact.

If any reader clicks on a bold-red header sentence, it will take that reader to a page with more info.

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CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #1
The bright & reflective snow and ice cover that used to protect the (northern) arctic is being totally destroyed, rapidly. The area of loss over just 40 years (from 1980 to 2020) was 125 times the size of the state of New Jersey.

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #2
As the arctic snow cover disappears, the much darker land and ocean surfaces begin absorbing much more heat energy, much faster than when covered and protected by snow. So, any remaining arctic snow cover is being lost, even faster. 

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #3
Thawing of tundra and permafrost is releasing giga-tons of previously trapped methane gas, which is 25-28 times worse (per pound) than carbon dioxide, at trapping heat, and accelerating global warming.

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #4
Greenland already has lost more than 5.5 trillion tons of ice, since 1970, in the form of ice-melt rivers, flowing into the ocean. And, since the rocks beneath that disappearing ice are among the darkest and most energy-absorbing rocks anywhere on the surface of this planet, the more it loses ice cover, the faster it will lose even more, even faster still.

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #5
Worldwide sea levels rose 8 inches over the last 100 years. But now, they are rising even faster. The best computer models say they probably will rise another 10-12 inches, in just 30 years.

 

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #6
The non-salty "fresh water" being added to the surfaces of the oceans is less dense than the salt water in the deeper layers, and there is nothing that will cause them to mix together, to create a new equilibrium, in less than tens or hundreds of thousands of years. So, the new fresh-water surface layer is acting like a "thermal blanket" on top of the oceans; and, that is causing catastrophic changes in deep ocean currents that played huge and critical roles, in creating the world we know and live in today. One example, "the Gulf Stream" – which made Europe warm enough to be habitable, even though most of it is as far north as the middle of Canada – has lost about 15% of its power, just in the last few decades.
 

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #7
“King tides” – which happen predictably, at least once every year – have risen to a point where they now flood streets, up to the ankles, in numerous cities on the Atlantic coast of America.

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #8:
Building codes and zoning laws along coastlines have begun to be completely changed, with totally different goals than before. Under new zoning laws in coastal areas that have addressed the problem, the ground floor of any new building must be uninhabited (such as a parking garage), and must allow water to flow in, without damaging things. Then, after a storm has passed, the water must be able to flow back out again, without requiring pumping. 

CRUCIAL GLOBAL WARMING FACT #9
3 billion people live in “coastal communities". That is nearly 40% of the total world population. And, those will be the first areas that will have to be abandoned, as sea levels rise. Not yet a fact, but a safe prediction: most people who live inland from the flooding coastal areas will NOT willingly agree to allow "coastal refugees" to begin taking away and occupying their lands, and homes, and taking their food. Instead, there will be massive violence, killing, and dying, in nearly all coastal countries.

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OTHER CANDIDATES FOR "CRUCIAL FACTS"

This page explains why the list above is limited to the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains brief summaries of several other huge and important facts, which any serious environmental advocate (or serious citizen, or serious human) should be at least aware of.

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