ABSTRACT
Global warming, or perhaps better global heating, is something that we should all be worried about, and not just because of its possible effects on malaria transmission. The rise in global CO2 concentration since 2000 is about 20 ppm/decade, which is up to 10 times faster than any sustained rise in CO2 during the past 800,000 years. Since 1970, the global average temperature has been rising at a rate of 1.7°C per century, compared to a long-term decline over the past 7000 years at a baseline rate of 0.01°C per century. Cascades could be formed when a rise in global temperature reaches the level of the lower temperature cluster, activating tipping elements, such as loss of the Greenland ice sheet or Arctic sea ice. Sea surface temperatures in the Pacific greatly influence global atmospheric circulation, with a pronounced impact on global-scale tropical precipitation. Agricultural systems and water supplies are especially vulnerable to changes in the hydro-climate, leading to hot/dry or cool/wet extremes.
