The Climate Crisis is Upon Us.
By Thom Hartmann A...
The climate crisis is no longer a problem for the distant future. According to some of the world's leading scientists, we could face a perilous climate shift within just a few decades, rather than some far-off century.
Last week, new findings were published in a European Science Journal called “Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.” That research, led by NASA Climate Scientist James E. Hansen, has provoked an intense debate about how quickly we must act to prevent the worst-case climate scenario.
Since at least 2009, countries around the world have been working to keep global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, but Dr. Hansen says that figure keeps us on a dangerous path towards destruction.
According to Hansen and 18 other scientists, the last time the earth reached temperatures slightly higher than what we're seeing today, large chunks of polar ice disintegrated and see levels rose between 20 and 30 feet. And, those aren't the only consequences we should fear.
These scientists warn that if we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current pace, we could soon see fresh water pouring into the oceans, which would disrupt the ocean currents that regulate global temperatures, and set the stage for powerful super storms unlike anything that the modern world has ever seen. And, all those effects would strengthen so-called positive feedback loops, which would only speed up the destruction of our planet.
Dr. Hansen and his colleagues say that we must do more to prevent further warming, however, some of his fellow scientists have expressed doubt over these recent findings. Some question whether he has skewed his research for political purposes, but they also aren't exactly saying that he's wrong.
Whether it's decades or centuries, the data shows that we must act now to leave our planet habitable for future generations. Tomorrow's climate crisis has become today's emergency, and we better respond while we still can.
Comments
#2
History is littered with scientific findings that were believed by contemporaries to be lies, attempts at self-aggrandizement, politically motivated or just plain quackery. Then the truth of those findings came out with, up to this point, amazement, amusement, delight and sometimes negative responses. This one will bring horror with it.
#3
Once again, all this talk about climate change. When will mankind allow mother nature to regain control? Geoengineering is the real threat here. It includes weather manipulation, cloud seeding and aerosol spraying. Chemicals and toxins are being sprayed onto the masses like bugs, and NOBODY in the media is looking into it. There has been a gag order placed on all local and national weathermen, and again, NOBODY thinks that's a red flag? Aluminum, barium, strontium, lithium, and nano particles, among many other chemicals are adversely affecting all life, and apparently NOBODY cares. Aluminum has been linked to autism, Alzheimer's, dimentia, and the bee die off. What will it take to wake people up to this insidious program?
Do your homework at www.geoengineeringwatch.org or at any of dozens of other sites to research the truth. The longer humanity stays asleep, the less time this planet will sustain any form of life! It is time to wake up people!
#4
This may be out there, but have any studies been done concering the Global Warming and the Fact we have Modern Technology and such this time around that Pyraminds lat time GW occured,...?
#5
Thom:
Thanks for all the great work you are doing regarding climate change. While you address CO2 pollution from transportation a lot, I have seen no references yet from you regarding a source of ozone damaging gases (methane and nitrous oxides) much more significant than all global transportation: Animal Agriculture.
For a reference point, please see the new film "Cowspiracy" - a devastating indictment of the economic blind eye that humans and organizations (like the 350.org and the Sierra Club) are turning to one of the most important planetary health solutions.
Humans need to move to a whole foods plant-based lifestyle in large numbers if we ever hope to stay within the 2 degree centigrade limitation set by climate scientists. We can't do it by reducing fossil fuel consumption alone.
This plant-based move will also have the concurrent benefit of preventing about 80% of current chronic diseases afflicting humans and also promote animal welfare.
Thanks for listening.
#6
Part of the massive and out of control military industrial spy complex spending needs to be rerouted to green energy projects.....and once we have elected officials willing to represent the will of the vast majotity, the green energy sector needs to be nationalized. Green energy should all be not for profit....that's a sure way to make the transtion from carbon based energy happen quickly. We need to put the Kochs out of business asap!
I'm sure at least 90 percent of the population would support green energy nationalization if it means affordable energy! ......much like not for profit health insurance.
#7
There is not much chance anything will be done about this climate crisis, except for possibly China & India. At least not until something really frightening happens, like the Gulf Stream shuts down or the Western Antarctic Ice Shelf breaks free and slips into the sea.
The problem is fossil is all added up a ~$200T industry. There is so much inertia and wealth there. It goes far beyond just Big Oil companies, you have rail, half their loads are coal, Auto almost all based on Oil fuel, big OPEC nations like Saudi, which buys our politicians like they were hogs put up for auction, other non-OPEC nations like Canada, Norway & Russia that are defacto petro-states. Big utilities are almost entirely based on fossil, the big money is in gas, high profits on Enron style grid shenanigans. Once illegal, now standard operations.
And one of the biggest influences is the financial industry, the big banks which thrive on speculation in the highly fluctuating commodities oil, gas, coal and market electricity prices again tied to largely unreliable gas availability. And then they invented another scam which is carbon trading to make even more giant profits on speculation.
And huge profits & power reside in the inevitable currency exchanges that must go with Oil - the #1 portion of international trade. Petrodollars that are created out of thin air by private banks. Petroleum importing nations must borrow those petrodollars with interest from private, mostly big Wall St Banks, in order to import their life-giving, economy-sustaining crude oil. If they can't make the interest payments for those petrodollars that these banks created out of nothing, then they will become like Greece and have to give away their national resources, infrastructure and national sovereignty to the Big Banks, becoming little more than indentured serfs. As the Bankster favorite stooge Henry Kissinger stated:
" If you control the energy you control the country; if you control food, you control the population..".
There is so much wealth tied up in fossil, vested interests launch mega-disaster wars, like the Iraq Oil war in efforts to make vast profits. And the Afghan pipeline war. There are incredible gas reserves north of Afghanistan that the big banks & oil companies want to export to the largest new market which is India. Pump conventional NG out of the ground in Turkmenistan for $0.50/mmbtu and sell it in India for $15/mmbtu. Massive profits in that. The Taliban were offered a deal before 9/11 by Bush & Cheney, sign on to the American pipeline deal and get "a carpet of gold" refuse and get "a carpet of bombs". They refused, the rest is history. Human life is incidental in this greed-crazed rampage. Notice Oh-Bomb-Ya has fully embraced this imperialism, signing on to an endless war in Afghanistan until the US gets its secure pipeline corridor, the war will never end.
Problem for India & China is all they really have for fossil, which is the fundamental backbone for their surging economies, is dirty, filthy coal. Which is poisoning their atmosphere, causing millions of deaths, ten's of thousands of coal mining deaths, polluted cities, lakes and rivers which is disrupting agricultural production. They have no choice but to go Nuclear. India embarking on their own indigenous Thorium Nuclear Reactor program, using Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (CANDU clones) & Fast Breeder Reactors. China is cloning western reactors and developing their own Pebble Bed reactors as well as LFTR - thorium molten salt reactors. Renewables, almost entirely wind & solar, remain a pipe dream, to delude the gullible, pretending they will substitute for fossil. They won't, not even close, don't be dupes.
The hope is that China & India will move far enough and fast enough with their indigenous nuclear programs, and start exporting to developing nations, as China has begun. Then western nations which have become so totally corrupted by fossil vested interests will look like such pathetic, useless, snivelling little arseholes, that they will be embarrassed into restarting their nuclear power programs.
That's the only way the spectre of runaway climate change will be averted. I'm not hopeful.
#8
The Mona Loa Observatory weather station run by the Scripps Institute recorded a CO2 concentration in the north Pacific atmosphere of 398.1ppm in Feb of 2014. In 2015 the CO2 concentration jumped to 400.3ppm and then in Feb of this year it went up to 404.2 ppm. As the ocean waters warm up and they are, even at depths down to 300 meters, less efficient at holding gases including CO2. Thus the ocean cannot serve as the efficient carbon sink it once was. Most oceanographic scientists feel that if the concentration of CO2 get close to 500 ppm, 80 to 90% of sea life will die off.
Human activity is essentially turning the ocean into what it was 500 million years ago-an ocean full of jellyfish. Jellyfish can stand warm water, more pollutants and low oxygen conditions. Jellyfish are blooming now in the major oceans of the world and fisherman, like the shrimp fisherman along the Georgia coast are turning to catching jellyfish and selling tons of them on the Asia market at 7 cents a pound.
The increased rate of in CO2 concentration rise is a bad sign. And it is not only warming but also increased acidity and garbage (the Pacific garbage patch is now the size of Texas) that are diminishing the oceans chance of survival and ours along with it.
#9
Global warming and air pollution are real problems caaused by the burning of coal, wood, dung, diesel fuel, oil, gas, and other fossil fuels.
There are many solutions. The best one is a revenue-neutral carbon tax with the revenue used to reduce the payroll tax and to help workers who lose their jobs due to the tax.
Solutions that don't require enlightened government are LED lights, nuclear power, solar power, wind power, and conservation. The switch from coal to natural gas (due to the low cost of gas brought about by fracking and horizontal drilling) may have done the most to slow down global warming and reduce air pollution.
Nuclear power plants are not bombs waiting to go off. Nor was the Keystone XL pipeline the biggest threat to our environment. Coal is the biggest problem in the US and in most of the world.
#10
I applaud Instant-Runoff's comments. Nuclear power is the best source of baseload power. A combination of solar, wind, and nuclear is the ideal way to generate electricity. And nuclear power eventually uses up uranium, raises its price, and makes buring nuclear weapons very desirable economically.
#11
I am an activist for putting an end to global warming/balancing our atmosphere. I am doing this so that my 40 yr old daughter, 8 yr old grand-daughter and all future generations of all people will be able to enjoy a planet that is healthier. We must stop the use of fossil fuels and stop drilling for oil and digging for coal and fracking for natural gas. If we don't set a precedent for others to follow our planet won't make it. The beauty that we have been taking for granted won't be there for future generations. The scientists are working hard to give us concrete answers and I for one have believed in this for at least 20 yrs. I am in my mid 60's and have lived my entire life in rural northern California. I have always loved nature and have spent much time in the outdoors and when married bought 2 1/2 acers of land on the ocean which my daughter and grand-daughter now live on. I have seen lots of different wild animals looking out my windows, while camping and hiking and just going to the beach or river for the day with family and friends. I started being an activist after learning how to use a computer around 12 yrs ago. I love your commentary and your energy and have learned much because of this.
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