MUST reading on Greenhouse Effect -- Hansen's call to REDUCE atmospheric CO2 levels ...

[cloudythescribbler]

This issue, and the implicit demand in it for NET NEGATIVE GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS needs to have united support of authentic progressives, and be brought like Magritte's apple to the attention to ALL the progressive groups, including mild environmental ones, and institutions, and PUSH PUSH PUSH the likes of Gore and Pelosi to finally advocate at LEAST the MINIMUM urgently needed, rather than 80% reduction in GHGs by 2050 (dangerously insufficient fudge).

http://climateprogress.org/2008/03/17/hansen-et-al-must-read-back-to-350-ppm-or-risk-an-ice-free-planet/

from Red Earth on Energy/Environment forum:

Edited on Wed Mar-19-08 03:55 PM by RedEarth
Hansen (et al) must read: Get back to 350 ppm or risk an ice-free planet
Here is the draft of the long-awaited defense of why we need an ultimate target of 350 ppm for atmospheric carbon dioxide, by NASA’s James Hansen et al., “Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?”

.........

The key paleoclimate finding of the article:

We infer from the Cenozoic data that CO2 was the dominant Cenozoic forcing, that CO2 was only ~450 ppm when Antarctica glaciated, and that glaciation is reversible.

That is, if we stabilize at 450 ppm (or higher) we risk returning the planet to conditions when it was largely ice free, when sea levels were higher by 70 meters — more than 200 feet!

..........

The final point of the paper deserves reprinting:


Present policies, with continued construction of coal-fired power plants without CO2 capture, suggest that decision-makers do not appreciate the gravity of the situation. We must begin to move now toward the era beyond fossil fuels. Continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions, for just another decade, practically eliminates the possibility of near-term return of atmospheric composition beneath the tipping level for catastrophic effects.

The most difficult task, phase-out over the next 20-25 years of coal use that does not capture CO2, is herculean, yet feasible when compared with the efforts that went into World War II. The stakes, for all life on the planet, surpass those of any previous crisis. The greatest danger is continued ignorance and denial, which could make tragic consequences unavoidable.

GET TO THIS PEEPS -- some estimate global warming could kill SIX BILLION PEOPLE THIS CENTURY!

[screembloodymurder]

1. Don't under estimate these goons.

They are arrogant and ruthless.