Let's Save Our Earth From Global Warming
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Increasing Frekuensi, Increasing Intensity of dangerous storms in recent times.
This chart appears to show randomized weather occurances and randomized storm intensity. On closer examination it shows undeniable patterns of increasing frequency and increasing intensities of storms in recent times. The following thirteen illustrations will segregate information to show that the trends are not random, not benign, and definately increasing towards worse.
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The remaining time we are only 7 years
Commentary by Carlos Pascual and Strobe Talbott.
The world may have only seven years to start reducing the annual buildup in green house gas emissions that otherwise threatens global catastrophe within several decades. That means that between Inauguration Day in January 2009 and 2015, either John McCain or Barack Obama will face the most momentous political challenge of all time.
Reflecting a consensus of hundreds of scientists around the world, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has affirmed that greenhouse gas emissions are raising the Earth's temperature. The Earth is on a trajectory to warm more than 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit by around mid century. Exceeding that threshold could trigger a series of phenomena: Arable land will turn into desert, higher sea levels will flood coastal areas, and changes in the convection of the oceans will alter currents, such as the Gulf Stream, that determine regional weather patterns.
Manhattan and Florida would be under water, while Nevada would have no water at all. Some Russians quip that they would welcome a more temperate climate, but they would probably be sorry to lose St. Petersburg. Countries such as Bangladesh and Mali do not have the resources to mitigate or even to adapt to the impact of climate change; millions would flee coastal flooding and the desertification of farmlands, creating instant "climate refugees."
Urgent and drastic action by the international community is required, and the United States must take the lead.
Americans produce more than four times as much carbon per capita as the Chinese; 12 time as much as Indians; and more than twice as much as citizens of Germany, France, Britain and Japan. Unless the United States acts first, it will have no credibility in persuading other countries to do their share.
To their credit, McCain and Obama support the creation of a cap-and-trade system that would limit national emissions. Trading among firms would put a price on carbon. That is an essential step toward changing industry behavior, encouraging energy conservation and providing an incentive for new technologies. As the most powerful national economy, the United States can set a example for the world in harnessing wind and solar power; "sequestering" (or capturing) carbon from coal plants; and developing cellulosic ethanol and safe civilian nuclear power as alternatives to fossil fuels.
But the domestic obstacles to these and other measures are daunting. While some industries will prosper, other sectors of the economy, especially those that produce or rely on coal, steel and cement, will contract. Electricity prices will increase in the near and middle terms. Many workers and households will need help with the costs of transition.
Coping with the resulting economic and political hardships would be onerous even if the next president inherited forward-looking climate-change policies. But George W. Bush has pursued and "anti-policy," based on a combination of denial, procrastination and backsliding. His successor will have to make up for lost time while also dealing with a half-trillion-dollar federal deficit, a recession and a national housing crunch, a looming health-care crisis, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and diplomatic showdowns with North Korea and Iran.
The winner in November will need all the help he can get - including from his opponent, who will go back to the Senate as a major voice on this and other issues. The next president will also need support from the private sector, nongovernmental organizations academia and - crucially - citizens who recognize the consequences if they do not consent to sacrifices and changes in lifestyle.
Many Americans will accept that logic, and make real changes, only if they believe greenhouse gas emissions will affect them personally. Today's adults, even if they will not be around at mid-century, must think about the fate of their children and grandchildren. Obama can look to his two daughters, and McCain to his four grandchildren. They are among nearly 75 million Americans - and 2.2 billion people worldwide - younger than 18. That generation will be in its 40s or 50s when on of tow things happens: Either the temperature of the planet warms more than 4.5 degrees and vast regions slide toward being uninhabitable, or the wisdom of the next president and his fellow leaders around the world pays off in the ultimate reward - survival.
The world may have only seven years to start reducing the annual buildup in green house gas emissions that otherwise threatens global catastrophe within several decades. That means that between Inauguration Day in January 2009 and 2015, either John McCain or Barack Obama will face the most momentous political challenge of all time.
Reflecting a consensus of hundreds of scientists around the world, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has affirmed that greenhouse gas emissions are raising the Earth's temperature. The Earth is on a trajectory to warm more than 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit by around mid century. Exceeding that threshold could trigger a series of phenomena: Arable land will turn into desert, higher sea levels will flood coastal areas, and changes in the convection of the oceans will alter currents, such as the Gulf Stream, that determine regional weather patterns.
Manhattan and Florida would be under water, while Nevada would have no water at all. Some Russians quip that they would welcome a more temperate climate, but they would probably be sorry to lose St. Petersburg. Countries such as Bangladesh and Mali do not have the resources to mitigate or even to adapt to the impact of climate change; millions would flee coastal flooding and the desertification of farmlands, creating instant "climate refugees."
Urgent and drastic action by the international community is required, and the United States must take the lead.
Americans produce more than four times as much carbon per capita as the Chinese; 12 time as much as Indians; and more than twice as much as citizens of Germany, France, Britain and Japan. Unless the United States acts first, it will have no credibility in persuading other countries to do their share.
To their credit, McCain and Obama support the creation of a cap-and-trade system that would limit national emissions. Trading among firms would put a price on carbon. That is an essential step toward changing industry behavior, encouraging energy conservation and providing an incentive for new technologies. As the most powerful national economy, the United States can set a example for the world in harnessing wind and solar power; "sequestering" (or capturing) carbon from coal plants; and developing cellulosic ethanol and safe civilian nuclear power as alternatives to fossil fuels.
But the domestic obstacles to these and other measures are daunting. While some industries will prosper, other sectors of the economy, especially those that produce or rely on coal, steel and cement, will contract. Electricity prices will increase in the near and middle terms. Many workers and households will need help with the costs of transition.
Coping with the resulting economic and political hardships would be onerous even if the next president inherited forward-looking climate-change policies. But George W. Bush has pursued and "anti-policy," based on a combination of denial, procrastination and backsliding. His successor will have to make up for lost time while also dealing with a half-trillion-dollar federal deficit, a recession and a national housing crunch, a looming health-care crisis, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and diplomatic showdowns with North Korea and Iran.
The winner in November will need all the help he can get - including from his opponent, who will go back to the Senate as a major voice on this and other issues. The next president will also need support from the private sector, nongovernmental organizations academia and - crucially - citizens who recognize the consequences if they do not consent to sacrifices and changes in lifestyle.
Many Americans will accept that logic, and make real changes, only if they believe greenhouse gas emissions will affect them personally. Today's adults, even if they will not be around at mid-century, must think about the fate of their children and grandchildren. Obama can look to his two daughters, and McCain to his four grandchildren. They are among nearly 75 million Americans - and 2.2 billion people worldwide - younger than 18. That generation will be in its 40s or 50s when on of tow things happens: Either the temperature of the planet warms more than 4.5 degrees and vast regions slide toward being uninhabitable, or the wisdom of the next president and his fellow leaders around the world pays off in the ultimate reward - survival.
13 Important Things to Do about Global Warming...from the individual to the national
1. Learn about it -- start with this Web site and see the References.
2. Sell the SUV and choose cleaner, more efficient vehicles. Reduce your driving: one gallon of gas burned creates 20 pounds of CO2. Slow down for much better mileage. (Avoid biofuels like corn ethanol that can steal food from a hungry world.)
3. Use efficient appliances, replace light bulbs with low-voltage compact fluorescents, check your home insulation. Buy renewable energy, like wind and solar, from your power company.
4. Companies -- the one you work for and the ones you buy from -- can save lots of money and reduce global warming by taking similar steps toward energy efficiency.
5. Shop smart: Look for products made from recycled materials, created with renewable energy, and which help you save money and reduce pollution. Let the corporations who make our cars, fuels, goods and power know you want their products to be as ecological as possible.
6. Use your vote and influence as a citizen to elect responsive leaders; help them organize the neighborhood and town for energy efficiency.
7. Invite neighbors and schools to cooperate in climate cooling actions: Make pathways for walking and biking; put solar panels on roofs; plant community gardens; combine trips or use electric buses for daily errands and kid transport.
8. Suburban sprawl makes for lots of global warming pollution; plan for walkable communities, lots of trees, open spaces, and public transportation in and between cities.
9. Build new homes and buildings for efficiency and solar power. Follow LEED and green building principles in new and rehab building codes.
10. Support sustainable farming and forestry, including non-food crops to make into ethanol and other biofuels.
11. At all government levels, develop an efficient energy policy, moving away from fossil fuels, and wasteful practices like air shipment of non-urgent parts and products.
12. Export new energy technology to the rest of the world that uses renewable energy sources and helps people live healthier, more efficient lives.
13. ....and start doing these things today.
2. Sell the SUV and choose cleaner, more efficient vehicles. Reduce your driving: one gallon of gas burned creates 20 pounds of CO2. Slow down for much better mileage. (Avoid biofuels like corn ethanol that can steal food from a hungry world.)
3. Use efficient appliances, replace light bulbs with low-voltage compact fluorescents, check your home insulation. Buy renewable energy, like wind and solar, from your power company.
4. Companies -- the one you work for and the ones you buy from -- can save lots of money and reduce global warming by taking similar steps toward energy efficiency.
5. Shop smart: Look for products made from recycled materials, created with renewable energy, and which help you save money and reduce pollution. Let the corporations who make our cars, fuels, goods and power know you want their products to be as ecological as possible.
6. Use your vote and influence as a citizen to elect responsive leaders; help them organize the neighborhood and town for energy efficiency.
7. Invite neighbors and schools to cooperate in climate cooling actions: Make pathways for walking and biking; put solar panels on roofs; plant community gardens; combine trips or use electric buses for daily errands and kid transport.
8. Suburban sprawl makes for lots of global warming pollution; plan for walkable communities, lots of trees, open spaces, and public transportation in and between cities.
9. Build new homes and buildings for efficiency and solar power. Follow LEED and green building principles in new and rehab building codes.
10. Support sustainable farming and forestry, including non-food crops to make into ethanol and other biofuels.
11. At all government levels, develop an efficient energy policy, moving away from fossil fuels, and wasteful practices like air shipment of non-urgent parts and products.
12. Export new energy technology to the rest of the world that uses renewable energy sources and helps people live healthier, more efficient lives.
13. ....and start doing these things today.
The Most Important Things
The Most Important Things You Can Do about Rapid Climate Change:
1. Understand the Problem
2. Do Something Today to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
This website will help you learn the connection between human-made Carbon Dioxide and rapid climate changes and negative effects around the world. The hard fact is that despite what many nations, companies, cities and people are starting to do to reduce their global warming emissions, the world is putting more CO2 into the air than ever before. The current amount is 385 parts per million (ppm) -- higher than ever in the past 800,000 years.
At the same time, renowned American climatologist Dr. James Hansen of NASA says we already have too much CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the air: "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted ... CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."
This is scary and controversial, but Dr. Hansen and others believe we must act fast-- as a world of concerned people and leaders taking every action we can to limit greenhouse emissions. 350.org is a new movement of citizens from around the world which I recommend for its clarity of purpose and worthy goal.
1. Understand the Problem
2. Do Something Today to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
This website will help you learn the connection between human-made Carbon Dioxide and rapid climate changes and negative effects around the world. The hard fact is that despite what many nations, companies, cities and people are starting to do to reduce their global warming emissions, the world is putting more CO2 into the air than ever before. The current amount is 385 parts per million (ppm) -- higher than ever in the past 800,000 years.
At the same time, renowned American climatologist Dr. James Hansen of NASA says we already have too much CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the air: "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted ... CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."
This is scary and controversial, but Dr. Hansen and others believe we must act fast-- as a world of concerned people and leaders taking every action we can to limit greenhouse emissions. 350.org is a new movement of citizens from around the world which I recommend for its clarity of purpose and worthy goal.
10 MYTHS about Global Warming
Don't believe these commonly heard statements:
* It isn't really happening (documented science overwhelmingly shows temperatures rising rapidly)
* It's natural (temperature increases, especially since the 1970's, are far above natural variations)
* Any effects well be very gradual (not only are severe storms getting stronger, but climate history shows sharp climate changes can occur abruptly, in only a few years)
* It does not affect the U.S. (the U.S. is experiencing rising sea levels, more severe storms and droughts, die-off of forests, altered animal migrations, and loss of glaciers such as those in Glacier National Park)
* It will be good for us (some areas may become more pleasantly warm, but the cost of negative effects will far outweigh any benefits; disease and heat deaths are increasing)
* Agriculture will benefit (CO2 may make some crops grow faster, but also will accelerate weeds, pests and droughts; crops may not grow well where they once did as climate zones shift.)
* It's being handled by our government (The current U.S. Administration advocates studying, not dealing with, global warming; its energy policy completely based on burning more coal & oil. Most state and local governments are unprepared for major changes)
* It's not a big deal compared to national security (Global warming is actually the most serious threat to the widest range of human concerns. Our national and world security is directly threatened by negative climate effects on weather, water supply, disease, agriculture, marine resources, and health)
* Technology will solve the problem for us (Massive "fixes" like burying greenhouse gases are very unlikely, but many smaller changes can make a difference AND are available now)
* There's nothing to be done anyway (Everyone can make a difference today)
* It isn't really happening (documented science overwhelmingly shows temperatures rising rapidly)
* It's natural (temperature increases, especially since the 1970's, are far above natural variations)
* Any effects well be very gradual (not only are severe storms getting stronger, but climate history shows sharp climate changes can occur abruptly, in only a few years)
* It does not affect the U.S. (the U.S. is experiencing rising sea levels, more severe storms and droughts, die-off of forests, altered animal migrations, and loss of glaciers such as those in Glacier National Park)
* It will be good for us (some areas may become more pleasantly warm, but the cost of negative effects will far outweigh any benefits; disease and heat deaths are increasing)
* Agriculture will benefit (CO2 may make some crops grow faster, but also will accelerate weeds, pests and droughts; crops may not grow well where they once did as climate zones shift.)
* It's being handled by our government (The current U.S. Administration advocates studying, not dealing with, global warming; its energy policy completely based on burning more coal & oil. Most state and local governments are unprepared for major changes)
* It's not a big deal compared to national security (Global warming is actually the most serious threat to the widest range of human concerns. Our national and world security is directly threatened by negative climate effects on weather, water supply, disease, agriculture, marine resources, and health)
* Technology will solve the problem for us (Massive "fixes" like burying greenhouse gases are very unlikely, but many smaller changes can make a difference AND are available now)
* There's nothing to be done anyway (Everyone can make a difference today)
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