Image credits to AndreasAux at Pixabay
Global warming and Climate Disorder Couldn't Affect the Day-Night Cycle Under the Sun's Control
Despite Global warming and Climate disorder caused by us, the Sun is beyond our reach. Human actions could not affect Earth's day and night pattern ever.
The Unusual February Heat and the Unaffected Day and Night
"I experienced this in late February, 2016 and published a short article: The sun is beyond us."
Late yesterday morning, just as I stepped out of the cozy comfort of my room for local shopping, the intense heat in the open stopped me dead in my tracks. Surprised, I looked up at the sky. Such extraordinary heat in February!
With age, I've grown accustomed to the heat of summer in our country. It does not trouble me as it once used to. But this unusual February heat had shaken me.
Stepping into the shop, I found the attendant, a young man, seemingly undisturbed by the weather. Curious, I asked him about the heat, “Have you ever witnessed such heat in February?” Calmly he replied, "Uncle, our memories often fail us when it comes to past climate events, let alone those from years ago."
Then he met my query with a thoughtful reminder, “Uncle, could we remember what the weather was during the last year, or even three years back!" Then he steered the topic to a totally new direction, "Do you remember the price or quality of the vegetables you used to get ten years ago?"
I knew the young man as a thoughtful person, but I didn't expect this quality in him to avoid discussing an unusual topic in his busy time. I had to agree with him. Wrapping up, he smiled, releasing his final shot, "Then how can you expect the weather to be the same as it was a decade ago? Everything is changing fast. Many reasons behind it. Just see how polluted Kolkata has become now." I had to agree again.
Though we shared common ground, his viewpoints are surface deep. He would have to face many more years on this fast changing Earth than I. And then he would experience the significance of today's extraordinary heat. Not now. The time has not yet come for him.
Coming back home I couldn't shake off the feeling of unease and excitement caused by the day's extraordinary heat. I was convinced, I had never felt such intense midday heat in February during my long stay in Kolkata.
Let me ask my son, I thought. He was busy in his work. I asked him the same question in a different way, “It is extremely hot outside! I had never felt such heat in February. Remember our forest trip last year during March? We wandered the tin-dry forest for a week and felt no discomfort at all.” He nodded in agreement, his face calm. Not even he shared my concern. He is still young and busy. No time for idle speculation.
I decided to forget this odd heat and fell into my routine. Took my bath followed by lunch. Post lunch, free at last, I resumed my unfinished writing, sitting cross-legged on my bed in my large room. I was deeply absorbed in my work, oblivious to how much time passed and when afternoon has waned. Suddenly I was startled—slowly the daylight dimmed so much that writing became difficult. What happened? How long am I working! I looked out of the wide open windows seeking the sliver of sky that could be seen. No sign of any cloud in the sky. It is simply dusk falling. A glance at my watch showed it was only 4:45 pm. But April days are much longer! Dusk comes much later, not so soon. Never.
That moment, clarity dawned. The principle of disproportion hit me hard. Despite the early hour, dusk was setting in, a stark reminder of the dissonance between February's short days and the April-like heat I had experienced earlier in the day. Throughout the afternoon, while working, my mind assumed it was April. Affected by the intense heat during late morning. From that moment on, I forgot totally it is only February.
I felt, more than I understood, this is a worldwide much larger phenomenon. It has deep implications. The world has warmed up, the weather off-balanced. Direct example of the damage wrought upon by man on the Earth's environment by his ever growing consumption of energy and wayward ways of living. The morning heat affected me so much that I assumed the February day as an April day and that impression continued to remain in my mind. Must be a sign of my aging. This is only February with its much shorter days. However much I feel discomfort in the February heat, dusk will come much sooner. The days and nights follow unerringly the laws imposed by the far away Sun. It is the Rule of Sun. I felt a tinge of fear. What will come next! After a few years more!
This is global warming and climate disorder, a major global crisis. Nothing less.
The Future World
My mind went past the gloomy future. At last I felt calm. With the realization of a new truth:
Despite Global warming and Climate disorder caused by us, Earth still has its unaffected day and night duration under the Sun's control. However hot a February day might be. Our crimes can never reach the Sun. The Sun is beyond us.
I realized with peace in my mind, with this present trend, it won't take much longer for large parts of our free gift of the paradise, The Green Earth, to turn to a barren fiery cauldron. Millions will die, billions will suffer. The civilization as we know it, doesn't have much of a chance for survival. And then, Nature, free from man's ravages, will take over. It will rejuvenate itself again to a thriving green earth largely covered by living soil, verdant greens and populated by wiser animals living in harmony with the nature. With the help of the benevolent rays of the Sun.
Thousands of people all over the world are striving hard to prevent this worst-case scenario, but the temperature is still rising ever faster.
Author's note: The maximum temperature in Kolkata on 20th February, 2016 was indeed 97 degree F, the highest in previous 10 years that I examined, with average maximum temperature being 87 degree F. The original article was written on the spur of the moment and posted as The Sun is beyond us on 21st February, 2016.
The heat I experienced in that February day wasn't just an isolated event. The rising temperature is a symptom of something far greater. It’s not just personal discomfort—it’s a global crisis. And while we may not be able to affect the Sun’s cycle, the warming of our planet is very much there, already. To give you a quick idea of the extent of global warming, I have included the following chart and the visualization both from NASA.
The Graph of Rising Global Temperature from NASA
This graph shows the change in global surface temperature compared to the long-term average from 1951 to 1980. Earth’s average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record since record keeping began in 1880.
Key takeaway: The 10 most recent years are the warmest years on record. Source: NASA.
Alarming is the accelerated rise of the curve in spite of many efforts to slow down the rise.
Visualization of Global Temperatures Over the Period from 1884 to 2022 by NASA
Dark blue shows areas cooler than average. Dark red shows areas warmer than average. Source: NASA.
The Dark Blues are turning Yellow and then Red. In time, the Yellow regions will turn Red. The Red regions are experiencing more frequent droughts, ravaging forest fires, drying up of the surface water such as rivers and lakes, lesser rainfall, lowering the underground water reservoir of the aquifers and consequent deep sufferings. You may spend some time to be really aware of the overall picture from publicly available scientific data.
Overall, the situation is nothing less than an emergency. Many of the adverse effects are already set in motion and are irreversible. It is not just the global temperature rise.
Postscript
Among many, global warming is just one symptom of many interlinked diseases affecting the Earth. It's not much unlike our body suffering from fever. Caused by bacterial or viral infection. We can safely say, "The Earth is in fever."
The problem is too complex, scope extremely large and the disease is at a very advanced stage with no quick fixes possible. We'll delve into the issues with more details later.
For now I will leave you with a glimpse of the situation now, full eight years after the year of the story I recounted and also the expected future.
Reading Resources
- Climate change widespread, rapid, and intensifying – IPCC: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. The panel is the largest body of scientists from countries across the world studying climate change scientifically. Please do go through this short but incredibly information rich article on IPCC 2021 report with links to a larger body of information. IPCC urges everyone to get involved. It is an emergency, though IPCC doesn't clearly say it.
- Global Climate Dashboard: This interesting WebPage shows various trends graphically: Greenhouse gases increasing linearly, arctic sea ice decreasing steadily, Carbon dioxide increasing in acceleration consistently faster, Mountain glaciers decreasing in acceleration, Ocean heat increasing in acceleration, Sea level rising in acceleration, and Surface temperature increasing in acceleration among others.
- Global Temperature trends from NASA: The accelerated deterioration is starkly presented in the sharply rising average surface temperature curve of the Earth. This is not just alarming. This is terrifying—only if you go deeper into the causes, actions and the severe adverse effects. Just click on the play button of the beautiful video and watch what has become of our dear Earth.