The earth is really changing, not only the human habitat is changing, even far from the human north and south poles and high mountain plateau areas are changing. And many of these changes are to a significant degree related to us humans, who are responsible for some of the changes in the planet. Because it is our human activities that cause these changes to occur, or we exacerbate the rate of these changes.
The Alps are turning green
A study of satellite imagery spanning more than 30 years shows dramatic changes in the European Alps between 1984 and 2021. Over the years, the rate of snow and ice melt in the Alps has increased significantly, which is directly related to global warming. In addition, the Alps are also rapidly "turning green" and are growing a lot of vegetation.
There may be some friends who think it's a good thing that the Alps are turning green, and some who think it's not good news. The reason why some people may think this is good news is because we have also been really planting trees over the years to make the earth greener, hoping to mitigate the warming trend by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through green plants. The reason why there are some people who think this is bad news is because the mountains themselves are in a white-capped state and turning them into a lush green landscape will cause a host of problems.
Although we are planting trees, the presence of large amounts of greenery at the North and South Poles or on high mountain plateaus is not really good news and will exacerbate the rise in the Earth's temperature. Because the white snow can reflect a lot of sunlight back, so the surface temperature will not be very high, the ice and snow will not melt quickly. But when the white-capped snow turns into a green scene, or directly expose the land outside, it can not efficiently reflect the sunlight, but to absorb a lot of heat, then the melting speed of snow and ice will become faster, and gradually, the green area is getting bigger and bigger, while the area of snow is getting smaller and smaller. In other words, the Alps becoming greener may greatly increase the rate of snow and ice melting in the Alps, and eventually there will be less and less snow and ice in the Alps, and as there is less and less snow and ice, the green area will become larger and larger. This can be said to be a vicious circle of problems. So there are some scientists are worried already.
The Alps once turned red
This is not the first time that discoloration of the Alps has been detected. In addition to the problem of greening, the Alps have previously experienced problems with reddening. Researchers once found some pink glaciers in the Alps, that is, the original white-capped snow turned pink. Whether it is turning green or turning pink, it will absorb a lot of heat and further accelerate the speed of melting snow and ice, so this is not good news and needs our attention.
The reason why the snow in the Alps turns pink is due to an algae called Ancylonema nordenskioeldii. These algae are dormant when it is cold, but when the temperature rises and the glaciers melt, these dormant algae will wake up and grow rapidly, producing pink spores. With a large number of algae awakening, the white snow will turn pink. And as the snow changes color and absorbs more heat, the melting speed will accelerate, and eventually more and more algae will wake up, and the pink snow area will become larger and larger. This is also a vicious circle.
Everest turns green too
The Earth's highest peak, Mount Everest, has also been found to have turned green. The scientific report published in Global Change Biology states that scientists analyzing satellite photos of Mount Everest have found a lot of green plants, grasses and bushes growing on top of Mount Everest. According to the data, green vegetation has been found on Everest at an altitude of 6,159 meters. During the period from 1993 to 2018, the area of green vegetation on Everest has been increasing and the coverage has gradually increased. Scientists believe that the increasing amount of green vegetation on top of Everest is the most intuitive manifestation of the accelerated rate of snow and ice melt, as it indicates that more and more land is exposed on top of Everest.
What should humans do?
The problems brought about by climate warming are not only the accelerated melting rate of glaciers in high mountain plateaus and the North and South Poles, turning green and red, but also many other problems that we do not expect or anticipate, many of which will eventually "return" to us, and it is impossible for us humans to stay out of it. So, what should we do?
As the only home for us humans, protecting the Earth's home is something we can do now. If the environment of the Earth's home deteriorates, we humans may not be able to survive on Earth. Over the years, we are indeed trying to protect the earth and mitigate the warming trend, and one of the measures we often talk about is afforestation. The Nature sub-publication "Nature Sustainability" once published a study: between 2000 and 2017, the earth added an area of green vegetation almost as much as an Amazon rainforest, the earth became greener, of which we in China is a great credit, India is also more credit, China, India for the earth for the earth contributed a third of the green vegetation growth.
Our efforts over the years are evident to the whole world. From the beginning of New China to now, we have spent decades to increase the forest coverage from the initial 8.6% to 23.04% and expand the forest area from more than 80 million hectares to 220 million hectares. According to the plan, our forest coverage will increase to 24.1% by 2025.
In addition to protecting the Earth, we also need to make efforts to explore the universe and find some exoplanets suitable for our habitation in the vast depths of the universe. Because the Earth will not always be habitable, as the sun's temperature and brightness continue to rise, the Earth will become hotter and hotter in the future, and scientists predict that in a billion years, the Earth may no longer be habitable. So the ultimate way out for us humans is to go to the stars and immigrate to other planets.
Scientists have discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets and have selected 24 "super-habitable" planets from among the known exoplanets, which have relatively good environmental conditions, suitable temperature and oxygen content in the atmosphere. These "super-habitable" planets have relatively good environmental conditions, with relatively good temperatures and atmospheric oxygen content, and should theoretically be habitable for humans. Some scientists believe that living on these "super habitable" planets may be more comfortable than Earth. However, the distance between these "super habitable" planets and our Earth is too far, and we will not be able to reach these "super habitable" planets for a long time in the future, so the most urgent task now is to protect the Earth, and at the same time strive to protect the Earth Development of science and technology, and strive to master the ability to interplanetary flight, interplanetary migration as soon as possible.
