For lack of keeping our numbers low, we way exceeded the prudent rate of burning fossil fuel. In 1978 John H. Mercer gave us the writing on the wall:
If present trends in fossil fuel consumption continue . . . a critical level of warmth will have been passed in high southern latitudes 50 years from now, and deglaciation of West Antarctica will be imminent or in progress. . . . One of the warning signs that a dangerous warming trend is under way in Antarctica will be the breakup of ice shelves on both coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula, starting with the northernmost and extending gradually southward.
(Quoted from page 205 of Fraser’s Penguins, by Fen Montaigne. Henry Holt and Company, 2010.)
For a brief biography of John H. Mercer, click here. For images of or relating to John H. Mercer, click here.
For a brief biography of Fen Montaigne, click here. For images of or relating to Fen Montaigne, click here.
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