Situasjonen for hvalross er slående, men klimaendringer har også alle slags andre, mindre synlig effekter. Det er vist å produsere hetebølger verden, bidra til global dyreliv utryddelse og kanskje redusere tyngdekraften.

Nedenfor gir vi deg 21 tall for å forklare en av de mest presserende globale problemstillinger i vår tid.

Alaska 35000 hvalross

0,01%

Prosent av arbeider klimaforskere som avviser menneskeskapte globale oppvarmingen. Ifølge forskning utført av geologen James Lawrence Powell, blant 9,136 forskere som publiserte en kombinert 2,258 fagfellevurderte klima artikler mellom November 2012 og desember 2013, avviser bare én person tanken at mennesket endrer jordens klima. En annen vurdering så på 4000 fagfolks anmeldelser av avhandlinger om klimaendringer og fant at en full 97 prosent identifisert mennesker som årsak.

90%

Prosentandel av 108 climate change denial bøker utgitt mellom 1982 og 2010 som ikke var fagfellevurdert. Bøkene benektet forskjellig at klimaendringer som skjer, at mennesker er feil, at klimaendringer er å ha en negativ effekt på miljøet, eller en kombinasjon av tre. En sterk kobling ble også funnet mellom bøker og konservative tenketanker. Sytti-to prosent av bøker ble utgitt av en forfatter- eller redaktørtillatelser med en verifiserbar tilknytning til noen slike grupper.

800.000 til 15.000.000

Antall årene har det vært siden karbondioksid nivået var så høyt som de er nå. Ikke bare mennesker eksisterte ikke da, men havene var 100 fot høyere enn de er i dag og verdens overflatetemperatur 11 grader varmere enn den er nå.Fortsett å lese…

Mer her – The Koyal Group Info Mag

Twenty years ago, a space mission to land a probe on a comet was envisioned. And now, ten years and 6 billion kms after, the Rosetta mission have seen success.

It's undoubtedly a resounding accomplishment for European Space Agency (ESA) which launched the Rosetta mission in March 2004. After blasting off from Kourou spaceport of French Guiana, Rosetta and Philae have logged at least 6 billion kms just to reach the comet.

For a time, the spacecraft had gone on standby for almost 3 years. Apparently, it had gone 500 million miles away from the sun that the solar panels can't absorb enough energy to recharge and keep things going. Fortunately, the Rosetta came out of its hibernation just this January and approached its target: comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The comet, discovered in 1969, orbits the sun at the speed of 135,000 km/h. Measuring 4-km wide, the comet's shape is similar to that of a rubber duck which initially left people doubting if a landing would be possible at all. (This is because if the Philae lander touched down on uneven surface, it could turn over the wrong side -- and has no way to right itself up.)

After its separation from its carrier, Philae started its precarious  seven-hour descent onto the comet.

For the controller team, those were 7 hours of nerve-wracking anticipation, especially as a problem arose just at a critical moment. There seemed to be an issue with its thruster which could result in a rough landing at best. Their failure to amend the fault almost resulted in the cancellation of the mission. Eventually, they decided to proceed in spite of it.

Inside the control center of ESA  in Darmstadt, Germany, tensions were high.

Finally, around 4pm (GMT), Philae's communications reached Earth: touchdown.

“We are there. We are sitting on the surface. Philae is talking to us. We are on the comet,” said Stephan Ulamec, Philae's lander manager at the control room.

The space mission has already registered a number of firsts;  including the first spacecraft to come into close orbit around a comet and of course the first to land a probe. And if things go well, it could also be the first spacecraft to travel with a comet as it circles the sun.

ESA's director general, Jean-Jacques Dordain announced, "We are the first to do this, and that will stay forever."

During another  interview with Koyal Info Mag, Dordain noted, "This is a big step for human civilization."

After putting the Philae lander on ground, the Rosetta spacecraft is expected to orbit around the comet and take more images as well as collect various data as it travels toward the sun.

The Rosetta mission will be completed in December 2015, though if there's enough fuel in the spacecraft it might be given a 6-month extension to do even more daring projects. Philae itself has enough juice to continue working until March before its electronics get fried by the sun's heat. However, it might still continue to cling to the comet for around 6 years before losing its grip.

This daring space mission aims to further study the molecular and physical composition of a comet, believed to be made from materials that existed even before the solar system's creation. Koyal Info Mag hopes more will be known of how the solar system formed and how comets are instrumental to the life-sustaining qualities of a planet like Earth.