Top Ten Reasons the Climate Should Keep You up at Night

Sometimes it's a little hard to sort out exactly why we should care about climate change. People always fall back on flooding cities but to my mind that's not really the biggest worry. In fact, it didn't even make my list of top worries. Here are some of the other things that will change the rest of our century.

10: Increased Disease - As a strong young man, I don't worry much about malaria or West Nile virus. There will be slight rises in disease during the century, but there will also be better vaccines in the developed world, where I live. Thank goodness. Sorry, Africa.

9: Disappearing Coral Reefs - I guess this isn't as worrying as some things. But the double whammy of more acid and warmer water (especially in shallow water) will obliterate our reefs. Humanity will soldier on but it will be a sadder, less colorful ocean. Sorry, unborn children.

8: Open Season on the Arctic - It seems clear that very soon we will be shipping across the Arctic Circle. Now I'm not against commerce - God knows I needs my Chinese-made trinkets. But a melting Arctic may open up new drilling opportunities. Feeding our oil addiction is not what we need. It's like telling a drug addict that you've hidden a bag of heroin under a pile of cocaine.

7: Strong weather - Again, no one knows if this has happened yet, but one of the hallmarks of climate change is the rising ocean temps. Unlike land temps, these are slow and do not turn on a dime. And as those who track hurricanes and El Nino know, warm water means strong weather.

6: Permafrost Melting - The great thing about PERMA-frost is that it never melts. That way, all the carbon in the peat underneath Siberia stays happily locked in. Unless of course it starts melting (which it is). Once that box is open, it doesn't really close.

5: Less Fruit - Even at three and a half degrees Fahrenheit higher (what most scientists agree is unavoidable at this point), we are going to see a big change in crop diversity. It's not the higher day temperatures that scuttle things like peaches, cherries, and grapes, it's the higher night temps. Without a certain number of chilly evenings, these fruits are in real trouble.

4: Melting of the Himalaya - Scientists are still not sure how and to what extent the top of the world is melting. But if it is as bad as the worst predictions say (God forbid) there will be trouble. Even moderate melting means that Asia will have to turn off the taps just as it develops. Free Tibet? Forget it if China is still thirsty.

3: Drought - Few people outside of California and Texas think much about drought. But they should because it affects wildfires, bark beetles and snow pack - all very expensive problems. Thankfully I have a solution. Turn off the taps for Caesar's in Las Vegas.

2: Extinction - Everyone loves polar bears, except those who are being eaten by them. But they are not the only (or even the most important) wildlife imperiled by climate change. Most of the real worries are little frogs or invertebrates that are very sensitive to changes and make up the basis for the food chain.

And the number one thing that keeps me up at night ...

1: Positive Feedback Loops - This is the big question mark in our atmosphere and the thing that scientists say privately (read: once they get a couple drinks in them) say really scares them. Positive feedbacks are anything where warming begets more carbon release and thus more warming. This could be anything from decreased reflectivity of the ice caps to wildfires in drought areas. Scientists now say it will be these feedbacks that determine how strong climate change will be. (Permafrost is an example of this so, yes, I kind of listed it twice.)