11K?! Meh!
How about 31+K?
These are impressive numbers, but we are mixing apples with oranges. 31K scientists on one issue and 11K attending a conference in Paris. No wonder the individuals who couldn't get to Paris are protesting.
Even if we could use those numbers for a comparison, just imagine how much science we could get done if we put those two groups together. We might need another group of scientists and some new studies to synthesize and summarize the information from both these camps.
In all seriousness there are quite a few changes happening around us, some beneficial and some less so, some detectable with each new season, and others hardly visible, but potentially quite adverse in the long run.
An interesting study with indisputable evidence has been conducted recently in Belgium. Examining footage of annual bicycle race showed that the trees along the bicycle race route are now flowering earlier than 30 years earlier.
Alemu Gonsamo, a research associate at the University of Toronto's geography department who studies phenology and climate change, but who was not involved with the study, says there are other consequences that scientists are trying to better understand.
For example, with earlier leafing and flowering comes a longer growing season. Trees take in carbon from the atmosphere. While having more carbon uptake may seem like a positive in a rapidly warming world, Gonsamo notes it will cause the soil to dry out. And because there will also be more decomposition, more carbon will be released. It's unknown what the long-term, large-scale effects will be.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bike-race-footage-climate-change-1.4736912
