Sudden effects of climate change may be catastrophic

[VV note: We may think that climate change is a gradual process that occurs over long periods of time. Scientists are telling us now that human impact upon the planet is resulting in one of the most rapid climate change periods in history. Yet the effects of climate change can potentially be even more abrupt … and catastrophic. As in preparing for earthquakes, floods and killer storms, we need to "get ready for the big one."]

Ready — Or Not: Abrupt Climate Changes Worry Scientists Most

by RICHARD HARRIS

An expert panel at the National Academy of Sciences is calling for an early warning system to alert us to abrupt and potentially catastrophic events triggered by climate change.

The committee says science can anticipate some major changes to the Earth that could affect everything from agriculture to sea level. But we aren't doing enough to look for those changes and anticipate their impacts.

And this is not a matter for some distant future. The Earth is already experiencing both gradual and abrupt climate change. The air is warming up slowly, and we're also seeing rapid changes such as the melting Arctic ice cap.

Anthony Barnosky, a professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, says abrupt change is the bigger worry.

(Continued here. For more details, see "What surprises could climate change have in store for us?" in the Washington Post.]