Climate change. You won’t find too many people who disagree with the fact that the Earth is in the throws of full on climate change. What you will find debate on, is why. Politics and opinions aside about which human inducing causes are to blame, we’re going to look at some of the more obvious indications of climate change and how it will affect you in your home, possibly as soon as this summer.
CO2
Carbon Dioxide is a heat trapping greenhouse gas which is released through deforestation, burning fossil fuels and volcanic eruptions. Since 2005 the CO2 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere has risen from 378 parts per million to 398 parts per million.
Melting Ice Cap
Arctic Sea ice is now declining at a rate of 11.5% per decade. Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Antartic is losing more than 100 cubic kilometers or 24 cubic miles of ice per year: since 2002. Satellite data indicates that since 1993 Sea Level has increased 3.16 millimeters per year. As the water from meliting ice and the expansion of the sea water warms up, sea level will rise. Simply put, the global sea level rose about 6.7 inches in the last century. In the last 10 years the rate nearly doubled.
Global Surface Temperatures
From climate.nasa.gov
The average global surface temperature has increased .8 degrees since 1980. 2013 was the 7th warmest year since 1980. Most of the warming trends have taken place since the 1970’s. Since 1981 we’ve experienced 20 of the warmest years. 10 of the warmest years have occurred in the last 12 years.
The US has seen an increase of high record temperatures. Record low temperatures have been on a decrease since 1950.
You and Your home
As the summers get hotter the need to keep cool is more important. Since 1950, electricity use is 3 times greater but the electrical grid that we depend on to run our electrical needs (which includes air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers) is nearly 50 years old. It’s not yet June and all over the Midwest, power outages have occurred as temperatures have prematurely spiked. Power outages are more frequent and they are lasting longer. As populations are increasing, housing is increasing, the demand for electricity increases right along with it. In the last 8 days (5.9-5.16) over 1,550 households have been without power at one point or another. And it’s not even summer yet. What about tornadoes and severe storms? They can take out power too. (Westin, Olathe, Smithville you know what it’s like already this year!)
CM Mose & Son can ensure that you have the power you need when you need it. Don’t rely on an aging power grid and don’t fall victim to a severe storm, tornado or a traffic accident that can knock out your power for hours. How long can you go without power? Don’t wait to find out. Get an estimate for a whole home generator from CM Mose & Son and Generac Generators today. We trust Generac to provide you standy-by-back-up-keep-the-air-conditioner -refrigerator-lights-and-computer-on power every day, all day, no matter what happens.