Greenhouse Gases and Scenarios Oh My!

     There is a relationship between greenhouse gases and global climate change; that relationship is that as we add more greenhouse gases to our atmosphere the more we change our global climate! Now don't get me wrong greenhouses gases are not all bad, we do need some to get the greenhouse effect going and keep the earth habitable because without it Earth would be a COLD place to live because no heat would be trapped here. Our problem is that we are adding far too much extra of these different gases into our atmosphere which is increasing the greenhouse effect which in turn is causing/helping global climate change to happen.

     Climate models are very neat in that they let us see what could happen in a lot of difference scenarios. These models give us insight into what the possible outcomes would be if we do not fix the problems we have now that are leading to GCC. The models also can let us see what would happen if we could decrease our impact on GCC. They help with uncertainties in that they help us see them and what is happening with them so they are not quite uncertain about them anymore.

     For me there are bits and pieces of each scenario that seem very likely to happen within the next 100 years. I think it was put best in the IPCC's Special Report on Emission Scenarios: "By 2100 the world will have changed in ways that are difficult to imagine – as difficult as it would have been at the end of the 19th century to imagine the changes of the 100 years since." I'm sure people that were living here 100 years ago never would have pictured the technology we have now or all of the environmental problems we have now; just as it is difficult for me to imagine what it will be like here on Earth 100 years from now. I think that as of right now I can see us really falling into A1FI (using fossil fuels) just because it seems so "easy" for the time being. I can also see the world population growing and growing as in scenario A2, although I do think in time (maybe not 2050) population growth will start to slow down due to more education for poorer nations where populations are booming. I hope in my lifetime I am able to witness us move into a scenario like A1B where we can start relying more on alternative sources of fuel and start moving away from fossil fuels.