Watch out for rapid climate change

Scientists have come out with another warning, that the earth’s gradual warming could someday trigger climate changes so quickly that people and ecosystems may have trouble coping.

A report by the U.S. National Research Council compared the climatic effect of global warming to increasing pressure from a finger on a light switch.

In the past, regional climates have changed by as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit in just 10 years.

Expected future warming also might local coolings, floods or droughts, and unexpected changes, the scientists say.

Carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels is the most common of the so-called greenhouse gases which are thought to be warming up the earth.