Entries tagged with “climate change” from Reality Window

Listen up. Paul Krugman expresses just what I've been feeling after hearing about the new climate change report.

Every once in a while I feel despair over the fate of the planet. If you've been following climate science, you know what I mean: the sense that we're hurtling toward catastrophe but nobody wants to hear about it or do anything to avert it.

And here's the thing: I'm not engaging in hyperbole. These days, dire warnings aren't the delusional raving of cranks. They're what come out of the most widely respected climate models, devised by the leading researchers. The prognosis for the planet has gotten much, much worse in just the last few years.

What's driving this new pessimism? Partly it's the fact that some predicted changes, like a decline in Arctic Sea ice, are happening much faster than expected. Partly it's growing evidence that feedback loops amplifying the effects of man-made greenhouse gas emissions are stronger than previously realized. For example, it has long been understood that global warming will cause the tundra to thaw, releasing carbon dioxide, which will cause even more warming, but new research shows far more carbon dioxide locked in the permafrost than previously thought, which means a much bigger feedback effect.

The result of all this is that climate scientists have, en masse, become Cassandras -- gifted with the ability to prophesy future disasters, but cursed with the inability to get anyone to believe them.

And we're not just talking about disasters in the distant future, either. The really big rise in global temperature probably won't take place until the second half of this century, but there will be plenty of damage long before then.

[...]

But the larger reason we're ignoring climate change is that Al Gore was right: This truth is just too inconvenient. Responding to climate change with the vigor that the threat deserves would not, contrary to legend, be devastating for the economy as a whole. But it would shuffle the economic deck, hurting some powerful vested interests even as it created new economic opportunities. And the industries of the past have armies of lobbyists in place right now; the industries of the future don't.

Nor is it just a matter of vested interests. It's also a matter of vested ideas. For three decades the dominant political ideology in America has extolled private enterprise and denigrated government, but climate change is a problem that can only be addressed through government action. And rather than concede the limits of their philosophy, many on the right have chosen to deny that the problem exists.

So here we are, with the greatest challenge facing mankind on the back burner, at best, as a policy issue. I'm not, by the way, saying that the Obama administration was wrong to push health care first. It was necessary to show voters a tangible achievement before next November. But climate change legislation had better be next.

And as I pointed out in my last column, we can afford to do this. Even as climate modelers have been reaching consensus on the view that the threat is worse than we realized, economic modelers have been reaching consensus on the view that the costs of emission control are lower than many feared.

So the time for action is now. O.K., strictly speaking it's long past. But better late than never.

It is long past time so get ready. Next up, climate change action. And you thought the health care reform was tough? I suspect that it will seem like a cakewalk next to the climate change initiatives that need to be implemented.

One of the things I value about dkos aka Daily Kos, is being part of a community that is home to people whose understanding of the internals of climate change and the changes in human behavior and technology which need to occur in order to save this planet that we all live on. One of those people is a diarist named greenmama whose post about CO2 and its impact on our planet and what we need to do to address it, was another learning experience for me.

The discussion in the comments on the diary provides so much more food for thought and links to other reading material and learning opportunities that I suspect a thorough search and read session could take the better part of 4-5 hours, especially if one followed the links that were found in the secondary and tertiary sources. Seriously, if you're interested in catching up on the current discussion and science and practical "do at home and work now" tips, this isn't a bad place to start. Just follow all the embedded links in the diary and in the comments.

But that's not even the most interesting aspect of this particular post. I found this post because greenmama commented on another diary by a brand-new kossack (interesting all on its own for a different reason) and described her dkos experience.

I'm very new to dKos. I'll start with the negative - it's addicting. I've been meaning to clean out the home office all week, but in my spare time I end up here instead. Tomorrow we have 50 people coming over for a party. I'm supposed to be cooking and cleaning, but stopped at my computer for a look, and here I am, sucked in again. Dishes stacked in the sink, bills and magazines piling up in the office - it's a little bit of a problem.

The positive and how it's helped me - it's an amazing, vibrant community. I love the diversity of informed dialogue, debate and commentary. I feel like I get my news a little early and am extra informed. I always learn something new when I come here and always find that I'm questioning my own beliefs - some become stronger, some I have to rethink. I like that.

Then, I wrote a diary the other day about an article from my absolute hero, Bill McKibben. Well, he actually visited the diary and wrote a very nice comment. I wrote back, he replied, etc. I had a mini conversation with this person whose every book I've read and who has had a profound impact on my life. That's amazingly cool and never would have happened without this site.

I know what she means about addiction. Her description of her office sounds eerily familiar. But the real point is her encounter with an author that she's been familiar with for a long time. Here's his comment and her response in the CO2 diary:

Bill McKibben: Many thanks for this diary

And for sending people to 350.org.

We've had great successes in Poznan, Poland at the climate meetings the last two days. Both the Least Developed Countries, and the Intl Youth Climate Network, have endorsed 350 as a target in the last 48 hours. This will help sharpen the debate in the year ahead as we head to Copenhagen.

And though we won't officially announce it till next week, Kossacks deserve an early heads-up: circle Oct. 24 on your calendars for next fall. It's going to be a huge global day of action, designed to make the number 350 absolutely ubiquitous in people's minds. We'll have climbers on high mountains, divers on the Great Barrier Reef, and a thousand other things--if you guys put your minds to it. If you sign up now at 350.org we'll get you details as they develop.

As to the argument that it's too late--maybe. Though Hansen makes clear that if we get to work now we can actually make the target, though only by the incredibly difficult job of kicking coal globally in short order. Humans have undertaken no bigger task--but then, they've faced no greater challenge.

Thanks again to all at dkos for the informed debate on this question over the years. Time for action!

greenmama: wow - thank you

you are truly my hero - and I don't throw that term around lightly. I read The End of Nature years ago and it became a personal bible for me - it really got me started on my own sustainability journey. The Deep Economy, Maybe One (we have just one child too and you really helped make me feel at peace with that), all your articles, etc. - if you write it, I read it and try to live it.

What I love most about your work is that you take the incredibly complex and break it into readable, digestible and understandable words. Thank you for all you do.

So you've work ahead of you. There's greenmama's diary to digest, Bill McKibben's original article on CO2, "The Most Important Number on Earth", and his website 350.org. Plus you've now received advance notice of something that will be happening world-wide next year. Plenty of time to think about how you're going to participate and contribute.

Oh, and one more bit of trivia about the interesting people you'll meet at Daily Kos. You know the economist who was just named to Vice President-Elect Biden's staff, Jared Bernstein? Yep, he's a kossak.

Andrew C. Revkin of the NY Times dotearth blog recently received the 2008 John Chancellor Award for sustained achievement in journalism and spoke at a gathering of "graduate students in journalism at Columbia University". He blogged about it on dot earth and highlighted this Q&A out of the video clip that he posted.

Q. Obviously climate change is the biggest story on your plate right now, but looking ahead what do you see?

A. My coverage has evolved. Climate change is not the story of our time. Climate change is a subset of the story of our time, which is that we are coming of age on a finite planet and only just now recognizing that it is finite. So how we mesh infinite aspirations of a species that's been on this explosive trajectory -- not just of population growth but of consumptive appetite -- how can we make a transition to a sort of stabilized and still prosperous relationship with the Earth and each other is the story of our time.

And it's a story about conflict. It's a story about the fact that there are a billion teenagers on planet earth right now. A hundred thirty years ago there were only a billion people altogether -- grandparents, kids. Now there are a billion teenagers and they could just as easily become child soldiers and drug dealers as innovators and the owners of small companies in favelas in Brazil. And little tweaks in their prospects, a little bit of education, a little bit of opportunity, a micro loan or something, something that gets girls into schools, those things -- that's the story of our time. And climate change is like a symptom of the story of our time, meaning our energy choices right now come with a lot of emissions of greenhouse gases and if we don't have a lot of new [choices] we're going to have a lot of warming.

This pulls together many of the elements that Obama talked about in his campaign - that green technology and working with our finite and infinite resources is critical to our future in economic terms, in national security terms, in environmental and quality of life terms. Obviously Mr. Revkin has spent more than a little time thinking about this.

In the 2000 election, one line often heard was that there was no real difference between voting for the Democrat versus voting for the Republican and many voted for Nader to vote their protest. It was fallacious reasoning and I can but hope most of those who voted for Nader have come to appreciate how much damage they did to our country and the world.

But that was then, this is now. And Thomas Friedman reminds of the huge difference between the two candidates despite McCain's attempt to wrap himself in "green".

With his choice of Sarah Palin -- the Alaska governor who has advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and does not believe mankind is playing any role in climate change -- for vice president, John McCain has completed his makeover from the greenest Republican to run for president to just another representative of big oil.

He did try to wrap himself in "green language" while ducking all the votes in the Senate supporting renewable energy source development but his actions in the last few days have shown his true colors. Carl Pope of the Sierra Club has a unique way of putting it.

"Back in June, the Republican Party had a round-up. ... One of the unbranded cattle -- a wizened old maverick name John McCain -- finally got roped. Then they branded him with a big 'Lazy O' -- George Bush's brand, where the O stands for oil. No more maverick.

"One of McCain's last independent policies putting him at odds with Bush was his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," added Pope, "yet he has now picked a running mate who has opposed holding big oil accountable and been dismissive of alternative energy while focusing her work on more oil drilling in a wildlife refuge and off of our coasts. While the northern edge of her state literally falls into the rising Arctic Ocean, Sarah Palin says, 'The jury is still out on global warming.' She's the one hanging the jury -- and John McCain is going to let her."

So in a way, we should be thankful that McCain picked Palin because in doing so, he's declared his true colors. He is most definitely not serious about climate change, energy independence and renewable energy resources and technology. Thomas points out the important part:

By constantly pounding into voters that his energy focus is to "drill, drill, drill," McCain is diverting attention from what should be one of the central issues in this election: who has the better plan to promote massive innovation around clean power technologies and energy efficiency.

Why? Because renewable energy technologies -- what I call "E.T." -- are going to constitute the next great global industry. They will rival and probably surpass "I.T." -- information technology. The country that spawns the most E.T. companies will enjoy more economic power, strategic advantage and rising standards of living. We need to make sure that is America. Big oil and OPEC want to make sure it is not.

That's part of reason #1 to vote for Obama. Our country's security and prosperity depend on leadership that will take us into the E.T. future. The other, of course, is the survival of life as we know it on this planet. Both are motivations for Americans to pay attention. Others certainly are.

This anecdote that Friedman quotes brings the point home in a different way. The rest of the globe is waiting to see if we screw ourselves or not.

Palin's nomination for vice president and her desire to allow drilling in the Alaskan wilderness "reminded me of a lunch I had three and half years ago with one of the Russian trade attachés," global trade consultant Edward Goldberg said to me. "After much wine, this gentleman told me that his country was very pleased that the Bush administration wanted to drill in the Alaskan wilderness. In his opinion, the amount of product one could actually derive from there was negligible in terms of needs. However, it signified that the Bush administration was not planning to do anything to create alternative energy, which of course would threaten the economic growth of Russia."

So, ... don't let anyone tell you that on the issue of green, this election is not important. It is vitally important, and the alternatives could not be more black and white.

This is reason #1. Our future, our children's future, our country's future, our world's future depends on getting this one right. And Thomas is right this time. The alternatives could not be more different.

Please ... choose green. Vote Obama. For reason #1.

Thomas Friedman earns his money today. This is another credit where credit is due post about Friedman's column summing up his trip to Greenland.

Sometimes you just wish you were a photographer. I simply do not have the words to describe the awesome majesty of Greenland's Kangia Glacier, shedding massive icebergs the size of skyscrapers and slowly pushing them down the Ilulissat Fjord until they crash into the ocean off the west coast of Greenland. There, these natural ice sculptures float and bob around the glassy waters near here. You can sail between them in a fishing boat, listening to these white ice monsters crackle and break, heave and sigh, as if they were noisily protesting their fate. [...]

Alas, though, I do not work for National Geographic. This is the opinion page. And my trip with Denmark's minister of climate and energy, Connie Hedegaard, to see the effects of climate change on Greenland's ice sheet leaves me with a very strong opinion: Our kids are going to be so angry with us one day.

We've charged their future on our Visa cards. We've added so many greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, for our generation's growth, that our kids are likely going to spend a good part of their adulthood, maybe all of it, just dealing with the climate implications of our profligacy. And now our leaders are telling them the way out is "offshore drilling" for more climate-changing fossil fuels.

Madness. Sheer madness. [...]

Greenland is one of the best places to observe the effects of climate change. Because the world's biggest island has just 55,000 people and no industry, the condition of its huge ice sheet -- as well as its temperature, precipitation and winds -- is influenced by the global atmospheric and ocean currents that converge here. Whatever happens in China or Brazil gets felt here. And because Greenlanders live close to nature, they are walking barometers of climate change.

That's how I learned a new language here: "Climate-Speak."

There's more about how speak "climate speak". It's very easy to learn according to Thomas.