Leading climate scientist warns of disaster with 2 degree Celsius temperature rise. As the 2011 climate summit concluded on Sunday, December 11 in Durban, South Africa, participants agreed to work toward a legally binding agreement, which would be written by 2015 and come into effect after 2020.
Meanwhile, however, some scientists and environmental organizations have cautioned that current government pledges to reduce emissions would not be enough to prevent even a 2-degree global temperature rise, and that more urgent actions would be needed.
Moreover, a new study by Dr. James Hansen and colleagues states that the 2-degree goal, which is equivalent to around 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide concentration, is a "prescription for long term disaster" as it points out that a current concentration of nearly 389 parts per million is already causing climate feedbacks
to occur.
In a recent presentation to the American Society of Geophysicists in California, Dr. Hansen, who is the director of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies, stated, "We should be aiming to keep CO2 no higher than about 350 parts per million and possibly somewhat less.
That is probably necessary if we want to maintain stable ice sheets and shorelines and avoid many other issues." He went on to warn against allowing emissions to continue to increase, citing paleoclimate records showing that 50 million years ago, when CO2 reached 560 parts per million, the ice at both poles
disappeared and the Earth's sea levels were 70 meters higher than they are today.
Dr. Hansen stated, “If we want to maintain a planet that looks like the one humanity has known, then we're basically out of time. We have got to start reducing emissions.”
Thank you, Dr. James Hansen, for your insightful research indicating a more realistic threshold of climate safety. May such calls inspire leaders and individuals alike toward rapid changes to preserve our planet.
In a December 2010 interview in Cancún, Mexico with Encadena TV, Supreme Master Ching Hai expressed her concern about scientific projections on rising temperatures, while indicating humanity's most urgently needed countermeasures.
Supreme Master Ching Hai : The root is we have to stop the global warming, first of all, before we even think of anything else. Because if we don’t have the planet, because if global warming reaches more than two degrees, then we’re in trouble.
They say they are going to increase to five degrees now. They predict like that. Can you imagine?
You’ll be burning! We can never get out of the house, you understand me? (Yes.)
And then all the crops will die. Too hot.
Journalist(f): And people will die too.
Supreme Master Ching Hai : People die, animals die – not to talk about anything else. Yes?
And then disease will spread because of the heat. Yes. When everything is so depleted like that, I don’t think it’s a very good idea. First, have to stop the animal industry to cool the planet and then everything else we can have time to take care.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/father-of-climate-change-2c-limit-is-not-enough-6273721.htmlhttp://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/12/06/two-degree-global-warming-limit-is-called-a-prescription-for-disaster/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/11/durban-climate-change-deal http://rt.com/news/line/2011-12-11/#id23335 http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Climate-conference-approves-landmark-deal-2393795.php Extra NewsResults of a study by researchers at the University of Savoie in France, presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting on December 9, 2011 in California, USA, show that the glaciers in the French Alps have receded by a full 25% due to global warming over the past 40 years.
http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/french-glaciers-melted-25-percent-since-1970s.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/8940418/French-glaciers-have-retreated-by-a-quarter-since-the-Seventies.htmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16025568
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