GAIA.Observer
GAIA Observer
The earth is what we all have in common.
Our planet is 4.6 billion years old, rich in biodiversity,
home to ~ 8.7 million species and ~ 8.2 billion humans;
treat it with love.
This is the warmest year in the 175-year observational record.
The State of the Global Climate 2024 report underlined the massive economic and social upheavals from extreme weather and the
long-term impacts of record ocean heat and sea-level rise.
- Unprecedented glacial loss -
Glacier mass loss from 2021-2024 was the
most negative
three-year glacier mass
balance on record.
- Quickened Sea Level Rise -
From 2015-2024, sea level rose at an
annual rate of 4.7mm,
compared to
2.1mm from 1993-2002.
Glaciers are estimated to store approximately
158,000 cubic kilometers of Earth’s freshwater.
There are more than 200,000 glaciers in the world, covering an area of around 700,000 km².
It is estimated that glaciers lost an average mass of approximately 273 billion tonnes per year between 2000 and 2023.
All life on Earth depends on the climate system which consists of five major components:
the atmosphere,the hydrosphere (oceans, lakes, and rivers),the cryosphere (ice and snow),the lithosphere (land surface), and the biosphere (living organisms).
The complex interactions and influences between these components, such as the exchange of energy, water, and carbon dioxide, determine our climate patterns and variability.
By observing and monitoring components of the climate system such as temperature, precipitation, air pressure, ice cover, and carbon cycles over a long period, we can better understand the climate and what drives changes to it and build climate models to predict our future climate.
We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children. —Native American proverb
Look deep into nature
and then you will understand everything better.
-Albert Einstein
Let us not run the world hastily...
Let us give prolonged attention to the future,
And let us give due regard to the consequence of things,
And that is an account of our last step.
- Yoruba liturgy
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community,
and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work,
the more I live. Life is no "brief candle" to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations.
- George Bernard Shaw
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth
find reserves of strength
that will endure as long as life lasts.
-Rachel Carson
for a better tomorrow
Watching Our World and the Earth's Climate
