A new study has yielded that with our current rate of pollution, we will have to waste some 60 trillion dollars due to climate change. That cost will not be up front, it is mostly found in money we will likely have to spend to counter all the effects of global warming. Mother Nature sure has expensive tastes. According to some figures posted in the International Weekly Journal of Science: Nature, we are causing some costly damage to our planet, but that should not come as a surprise to us as we are still completely dependent on fossil fuels and wars over oil still exist throughout the world.
Related Article: Ask an Astrobiologist: Global Warming and What to Expect
So what is it exactly? Why is this type of Global Warming a bad thing?
It seems to be that methane, which is stored under the melting ice of the Arctic, will be released as the melting icecaps continue to diminish. Researchers claim that:
A 50-gigatonne (Gt) reservoir of methane, stored in the form of hydrates, exists on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. It is likely to be emitted as the seabed warms, either steadily over 50 years or suddenly.
If all of that methane were to be released, we would most likely see a time where the climate shifts more than 2°C, causing intense weather patterns and wind pattern changes. Maybe you have noticed the recent intense weather patterns? The storms that rage and destroy? The flash floods that are intensifying in your area? The little degree or two extra that the global temperature has been altered by over the years is rapidly messing with our climate, and it is likely that we will only see more drastic results in our lifetimes if this sudden outpour of methane occurs.
Related Article: Climate Changes Too Fast, Evolution Can’t Keep Up
Still, 60 trillion dollars, isn’t that a bit much?
For a time there has been speculation that the coasts would plummet underwater and we would all live in a Waterworld! Oh Kevin Costner, you do tickle my fancy so. But all of that was of the extremist perspective of course. There are however smaller versions of this, for instance the idea that California’s coasts will be completely submerged may be a plausible theory if all of Greenland’s ice melts. NRDC or Natural Resources Defense Council states that:
Greenland holds 10 percent of the total global ice mass. If it melts, sea levels could increase by up to 21 feet.
That 21 feet would likely raise sea levels and ocean levels high enough to take away from our beaches, and leave us with a smaller and less attractive California. Not to mention all the destruction and devastation in such an occurrence. And this is just California. In reality, the big thing to watch is the storms and wind pattern changes. And by watch I mean experience. In 2006 TIME posted that:
Two studies last year found that in the past 35 years the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes worldwide has doubled while the wind speed and duration of all hurricanes has jumped 50%.
That was in 2006. At that rate, we can expect many many more damaging changes and the price to pay for all that is very, very steep. It might be even higher than the predicted 60 trillion. In fact, all of this is happening and the release of methane stored under the icecaps hasn’t begun yet. Tis a dangerous road we walk upon.
Related Article: Germany Sets Example for Global Climate Battle
Leave it to us to mess up mother nature’s plan for Earth. Well, if its bound to happen anyways, might as well buy that Camaro ZL1 that I have always wanted and burn the crap out of some oil! MMM 580 HP…
Research:
Climate Science: Vast Costs of Arctic Change
TIME: Earth at the Tipping Point
Consequences of Global Warming
Wondergressive: Climate Changes Too Fast
Wondergressive 
