Webcomic 'xkcd' illustrates why global warming is such a big deal

Comic has a knack for illustrating concepts others find difficult.

The webcomic "xkcd" has produced a timeline of global warming that will startle most people. The comic follows the timeline of Earth's temperature from 20,000 B.C. to the present day and it shows why global warming is such a major issue.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - You can view the comic here. It takes a minute to scroll through the entire thing. It becomes immediately obvious that Earth is a cool planet with some natural variability in temperature.

As the timeline follows the course of human advancement, the planet warms and ice sheets retreat. The temperature peaks about 5,000 B.C. and then begins to fall with the planet becoming cooler.

The cooling trend continues until the industrial revolution and the development of steam engines which normally run on coal. It should be understood that steam engines are not only locomotives, but were also engines that powered entire factories and ships. These engines alongside the clear cutting of forests and massive increase in fossil fuel consumption dumped unprecedented quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The environment has never been able to keep up with the pace of our development. We pump more CO2 into the atmosphere than nature takes up. This warms the planet. While other substances, like water vapor, can retain even more heat than CO2, the quantity of water vapor in the atmosphere remains roughly constant.

As the planet warms, it melts ice, adding water vapor and other gasses, such as methane, to the atmosphere, warming things further.

The problem isn't the warming itself, but rather the pace of the warming, which is captured in the comic. Historically, temperatures on Earth have been both warmer and colder. But the warming is taking place rapidly, faster than nature can adapt.

When nature has enough time, species can adapt and evolve and become new species that are capable of surviving in the new environment. But when the pace of change outstrips the slow pace of evolution, organisms go extinct.

Prehistoric, sudden shifts in climate brought about by massive volcanic eruptions or the impact of large asteroids have caused mass extinctions by making the planet suddenly hotter or cooler. Human activity is now having the same effect.

It's unlikely the human race will go extinct or the environment will entirely go down to doom, but the transitional period, which could last centuries, will still be difficult. Millions of people will die along with the loss of billions of species of animals. Animals, such as fish that people rely on for food could disappear entirely.

The impact on the human race and development will be no less tremendous than if the planet had entered a new ice age.

The comic may change few minds, but it should help people understand why there's so much urgency around curtailing CO2 emissions.

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