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Earth nears warmest in 12,000 years
The last time Earth's climate exceeded that critical 1 degree Celsius was in the Pliocene, three million years ago, when sea level was 25 meters (80 feet) higher than today. Among the possible effects are more La Niņa events in the Pacific, followed by an almost permanent El Niņo condition, which causes droughts, floods and other dramatic weather changes worldwide.
The 20th century data show that Earth has been warming at the steep rate of approximately 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) per decade for the past 30 years. This pretty much matches the warming rate predicted in the 1980s in the first global climate simulations of the effects of rising greenhouse gases.
Realizing this realities should wake each one of us to have social apathy and concern in fixing and conserving the environment and atmosphere that we have.
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