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Fix the Climate, or the Kid Gets It
Let's see. In climate news today, we have Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announcing that you can get a climate bill through the Senate—so long as you include billions in loan guarantees for nuclear plants (because, well, the market thinks they're lousy investments and won't finance them. Safety issues aside.). Meanwhile Big Ag becomes the latest industry to launch a campaign to kill what measly climate legislation is on the table (never mind that farmers in general, and the heartland in particular, are likely to see some of global warming's worst effects). The Freakonomics guys muddle the issue with junk science. We're headed for a potential debacle during the global climate talks in Copenhagen, and virtually no one in Washington can really be bothered to pay attention to the issue anyway because health care reform is sucking up all the oxygen. Great!
So what is it going to take to get action on this issue? You know the answer—we all do: It's going to take popular pressure, aka politicians feeling that they have to produce something on this issue to get reelected. And that, in turn, takes convincing Americans that something we care about is actually at risk here.
And of course something is. Climate change poses the greatest danger not to polar bears, not to glaciers or beaches, but to our kids. Their world, if you read the scientific predictions, is one where the Southwest is a dust bowl; 30 percent of the planet's species go extinct; 200 million people become climate refugees. And those are the relatively moderate scenarios--there are also the scientists who, looking back over millions of years' worth of geologic evidence, suggest that the last time we had carbon levels like those we're headed for now, sea levels were 80 to 130 feet higher than they are today.
That's grim stuff, which is why, most of the time, our reaction is "quick, give me something else to think about!" But the love of our children is a powerful force, and it has motivated enormous change in the past. It hasn't become a real factor on this issue—but what if it did? As Clara and I write in our editors' note for the upcoming issue of Mother Jones, which is almost entirely devoted to this topic:
"We still have the power to shape their future. Just for perspective: The entire sum required to buy off Third World opposition to carbon caps is around what we spent to bail out Fannie, Freddie, and AIG. And hey, Europe's on the hook for at least half. Our kids will measure us by how long we tarried. What will we tell them?"
To dramatize this point, we did something unusual for this special issue: We printed four different covers, featuring four different children and four different headlines. Now it's your turn. Next week, on the eve of International Day of Climate Action, we'll debut an app that lets you put your own picture (of your kid, yourself, your cat, your pet lizard) on our cover, and share the image with your friends and your members of Congress. There's also a contest to create new headlines for the climate cover—we'll feature the best on our home page.
Meanwhile, today is Blog Action Day, which means that nearly 8,000 blogs from all around the world are posting climate-change content today. One of the first entries comes from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. What's he got to say?
Like every parent, I want to leave a safe and secure world for my children. And I want to be able to look them in the eye because our generation stood up for their future.
Hint, hint, White House Blog: President Obama, no doubt, would agree.
You can follow me on Twitter here. Clara tweets here. Our DC bureau chief, David Corn, tweets, as do our colleagues Daniel Schulman, Nick Baumann, Kate Sheppard, and Rachel Morris. And of course you can follow Mother Jones itself.
We're Going To Get It, Too
Climate change is coming on so fast that it won't be just the kid who gets it. The rest of us are likely to feel the effects sooner than we think. It may not get blistering hot where you live, but the weather is likely to be different than it is now. If you live on the ocean, better keep an eye on that water level. With the sea ice melting as fast as it is, your shoes may be getting wet sooner than you think.
Thanks for a great Blog Action Day posting. My own is “Banish Vampires To Reduce Global Warming” at http://t1rex.blogspot.com/2009/10/banish-vampires-to-reduce-global.html
A Little Stir of the pot
Hey
Please, this may offend some but take it from whence it comes.
Disclaimer
At no point am i ever condoning the ongoing pollution and production of greenhouse gasses, this is symptomatic of our consumer economy. An if every being on this planet took just a 10th of their day to recycle or conserve a little the wonderful host planet we know as Earth will be a better place.
Now climate change!
This planet, like every one out their moves through cycles, these cycles are constant, day & night, 28 day moon cycle, 28 day woman cycle summer winter, 'birth grow and death and thousands more.
This planet has over it millions of years been through cycles of ice and drought, just look at our fossil record. It has also experienced many cycles of polar reversal (magnetic). Are not just seeing the change now?
Our earth's magnetic field changes all the time, try do compass navigation on a very old map - the marked declination changes all the time. World wide magnetic monitoring stations are recording exponentially faster changes to this field. The revolution of the planet is slowing faster and faster. These are symptomatic of a major shift in the planet. It is this type of shift that is causing the climate to change! Yes, pollution etc is adding to the change and has brought this to the attention of the masses, but we cannot stop the planetary cycle.
So why are challenging the planet change?
Natural
Natural planetary climate change is due mostly to variations in carbon in the atmosphere which occur as part of a complex web of forces involving plant life, animal life, albedo, temperature, and carbon. Over millions of years the planet cooled through the process of carbon sequestration by aquatic plant life. Humans have released much of this carbon into the atmosphere and are quickly releasing the rest. The result will reach far beyond anything experienced by life on Earth during the time that humans were evolving. It will, without a doubt, render this planet unfit for human habitation except in high latitudes.
Enough with the health bill, and focus on this one.
I've read from another blog that climate change is now a threat to national security. That should get their head's off the health care reform.
climate change
I believe that climate change is real and will fundamentally alter this world soon. I also do not believe that it can be stopped for several reasons. 1.) Overpopulation. We, as a species, are too many with too few natural resources and for all intents and purposes, without any natural predators. 2.) Trying to stop climate change caused by mankind is, I suspect, impossible. There is an enormous inertia in the direction of climate change that that cannot be stopped on a dime. 3.) Humanity, as a whole, has a long history of ignoring the obvious until too late. Read Jared Diamond's book, 'Collapse'. 3.) The phrase 'going green' has already been trivialized and masks the profound issues. The marketing for 'going green' implies that if I buy a Prius, or use a certain laundry detergent, that, well, all will be saved. I find the 'going green' nonsense to be just that. It is only a salve, to make us feel better, and to ignore the reality of the situation.
There is a very real threat that Humanity could be extinct in the next several hundred years due to overpopulation and and the symptoms of overpopulation, such as loss of natural resources, including water.
Timid and corrupt
tagged as:- solution
"... include billions in loan guarantees for nuclear plants (because, well, the market thinks they're lousy investments and won't finance them. Safety issues aside ..."
It may well be actuarially acceptable to say that nuclear plants, although they save anonymous lives, do so at such a price premium that it is better to sacrifice those people. Poison them with coal plant effluvia, blow them up with gas, let them die in collapsing wind turbines, or, indeed, kill them with the effects of sudden man-caused climate change.
But even from a cold-bloodedly actuarial viewpoint, that's only true if there is in fact a price premium. And there is only one point of view from which that is certain: that of a natgas-revenue-supported government. A nuclear plant that costs a few billion dollars to build will, if government doesn't derail it, in its lifetime cost government a few billion dollars in lost natgas revenue.
If government is forced to guarantee the loans, the hope of saving that revenue won't tempt it, as in the 70s and 80s, to strangle the projects in their cradles. Paying off the screwed investors will take the money; it won't profit from citizen death. That is why loan guarantees encourage investment: nuclear plants are very good investments IF government's red-handed conflict of interest can be overcome.
But you knew that. Unless you're not just timid and corrupt, but stupid, you knew that.
You're forgetting one little detail
"nuclear plants are very good investments IF government's red-handed conflict of interest can be overcome."
And as long as they continue to ignore the cost of disposal of the (very) dangerous byproducts. Oh wait, that's right, there *is* no safe way to dispose of the byproducts. Other than perhaps to start more wars where depleted uranium munitions can be used to wreak even more havoc.
Thank you for demonstrating why disposal of nuclear waste is...
...not an issue: we already have it and it can't be disposed of. Consequently, it must be stored at considerable expense. The difference in expense and risk between storing what we have now and storing that plus the waste from a new series of global-warming-inspired plants is insignificant. The existence of nuclear waste that needs to be stored makes the creation of new waste a non-problem.
No safe way? I believe you are misinformed.
Actually, nuclear waste is not as environmentally dangerous as it's painted up to be. The nuclear waste from ALL of the US nuclear power stations, for the last 30 years can be contained in a single football field. Thousands of acres of Rainforest being lost every month should be of greater concern.
Also, nuclear waste within thick-walled concrete containers will not effect the plants around it, it has been buried in such containers, even scientists such as Dr. James Lovelock have a container of it buried on their land. I think a scientist having it stored in his back yard and observing it along with his acres of woodland is a more credible source than the media.
I'd like to know how you think nuclear waste is disposed of?
Involving Brands and Advertisers is also necessary
As you say, leaders will only act if we citizens put pressure on them.
Blog Action Day is a great tool for this - but imagine if brands would get involved and open their advertisement space for climate preservation messages... the impact would be huge.
People would be able to see in billboards, ecological and educational messages that would help us learn these little gestures that preserve our habitat.
But we are faced with the exact same difficulty as you are : brands need to feel the pressure from citizens in order to take action.
How can people help us? By writing on their hands, arms climate preservation messages and send to us the pics – either via http://www.facebook.com/addsmore and/or http://www.twitter.com/addsmore
Once we get as many pictures as possible we shall send them to all big brands and try to get to use their advertisement space… just for the planet!
Fix the Climate, or the Kid Gets It
As T1 Rex above said, this generation will reap what we have sown too. The Catlin group of top Arctic scientists just finished up an Arctic Survey on site, and it is astounding.
The earth is at 41-50% drought NOW, slated to be at 70% in fifteen years. In seven years probably 60% of the earth will suffer drought.
Hang on, this generation will see fireworks too. Fifty five thousand children under 5 years old die each day from starvation NOW.
Don't think there are no consequences to us.
Baby showers, toddler birthdays
tagged as:- solution
Don't bring a present, bring an action. (And not a "my carbon footprint" action, a "fix the problem" action.) The (grown) kid will thank you for it.
climate change or no - what about pollution?
Answer to the people who doubt if climate change is caused by our actions: ok so its not?! but what about pollution? Breathing co2 is healthy? eating contaminated food is healthy? Either its causing climate change or not, we got to stop the pollution, or it will stop us..
And wont be our kids -its already getting us. How many of us have health problems - asthma, diabetes, allergies.. They tell you it's the genes - BS! Its the world we have created around us - its all polluted and its getting to our health..
Lemmings
tagged as:- solution
You Americans have a lot to answer for. You promote scare campaigns, stick to them when shown false and try to organise the rest of the world to do it your way.
There is not a cause for concern from either man-made climate change (the effect is tiny and the direction unknown) or nuclear power generation/waste disposal. Youvane merely shown the power of propaganda.
Take an aspirin, have a hot cup of tea, lie down and relax.
Nobody is forcing you run in hordes to suicide at a cliff, as the lemming story goes. So don't encourage others to join the rush as it's pointless, you gullible you. Get a life.
I Agree Lemming
I also believe that we have been inundated with political propaganda. This could mean big bucks to government. Think how many millions they could lose saving planet earth.
Sea level rise
How many centuries will it take for sea levels to rise? Why can't people cope like they have done for other problems, a combination of private initiative, government standards, and shared risks? The facts are not in alarming at all right now, global sea ice is in the normal range for the satellite era. Antarctic sea ice is at an all time high. Antarctica is not in any danger of melting. The only question is Greenland. But around 2005 the rapid speedup of Greenland's outlet glaciers reversed and they are now back to normal low levels from the 80's and before. Even taking all of Greenland's ice and moving it to the Sahara, it would take several centuries to melt. The assumption that Greenland has turned or is turning into slush that will flow into the ocean more rapidly is not based in reality, it is a hypothesis created for alarmist purposes, not for better understanding of the science.
Poison Profits Speak
It's been an amazing process to watch, as the same people and corporations that have spent the last 50 years poisoning us in the name of profit are spending millions to do one thing - protect their "right" to continue poisoning us in the name of profits!
Your battle-cry to the
Your battle-cry to the People to rise up in a sort of crusade against global warming is a bit hysterical. People did exactly the same thing in medieval times about the appearance of comets, believing them to harbinger the end of the world. Your statements sound very similar. They are unscientific and emotional. The majority of scientists do NOT accept the theory of AGW because the majority of scientists understand the chemical equation:
C(fossil fuel) + O2(air) = CO2 + H2O + Heat (Hopefully you accept this equation)
You therefore must accept this chemical reaction occurring simultaneously:
CO2 + H2O + sunlight = C6-H12-O6(biomass) + O2. ( photoautotrophic growth)
Therefore, the only relevant question regarding AGW, is to ask which chemical reaction taking place is returning the greater volume of gas to the atmosphere. Is it combustion, respiration, decomposition (plus other inorganic redox reactions), or photoautropic growth of all types which consumes CO2 and produces Oxygen?
Air-breathing plants plus aquatic carbon-fixing phytoplankton produce about 150,000,000,000 tonnes of biomass every year. This is a huge mass but this includes everything that grows across the whole planet including the oceans. To complete this photoautropic activity, living matter has to sequester about 470 billion tons of CO2 annually from the atmosphere to produce this amount of biomass. Of this, about 10% of the CO2 (47 billion tonnes), is permanently lost to the atmosphere due to the creation of irreducible biomass and carboniferous deposition. Add to this the 4 billion tons of organic-based waste which is buried in landfill sites around the world, (representing approx 12 billion tons of CO2), gives a total loss to the atmosphere of 59 billion tons of CO2. Since the declared total amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere worldwide is 29 billion tons (US Energy Information Administration) leaves a 30 billion ton shortfall of CO2 in the atmosphere. Your AGW prognostications has to be wrong. Even at a very basic level, the imagined rise in CO2 for any industrialised country would be offset by the mere waste (80% carbon) that’s permanently captured when buried in landfill sites.
Support a strong climate bill
tagged as:- solution
The climate targets currently proposed by Washington are unbearably weak - far behind what the IPCC says would give us a 50:50 chance of avoiding disaster.
Tell President Obama and your senators to support a 40% emissions reduction by 2020 to avert crisis:
http://bit.ly/40by20
how to stop 51% of ghg emissions
In the run up to the Copenhagen climate change conference, it is vital the following information be disseminated to the public as well as to our political leaders.
A widely cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock's Long Shadow, estimates that 18 percent of annual worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to livestock….however recent analysis by Goodland and Anhang co-authors of "Livestock and Climate Change" in the latest issue of World Watch magazine found that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions!
www.51percent.org
The main sources of GHGs from animal agriculture are: (1) Deforestation of the rainforests to grow feed for livestock. (2) Methane from manure waste. – Methane is 72 times more potent as a global warming gas than CO2 (3) Refrigeration and transport of meat around the world. (4) Raising, processing and slaughtering of the animal.
Meat production also uses a massive amount of water and other resources which would be better used to feed the world’s hungry and provide water to those in need.
Based on their research, Goodland and Anhang conclude that replacing livestock products with soy-based and other alternatives would be the best strategy for reversing climate change. They say "This approach would have far more rapid effects on GHG emissions and their atmospheric concentrations-and thus on the rate the climate is warming-than actions to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy."
The fact is that we are being informed of the dangerous path we are on by depending greatly on animal flesh for human consumption. We still have the opportunity to make the most effective steps in saving ourselves and this planet. By simply choosing a plant based diet we can reduce our carbon foot print by a huge amount.
We are gambling with our lives and with those of our future generations to come. It's madness to know we are fully aware of the possible consequences but yet are failing to act.
Promoting a plant based diet to the public is would be the most effective way to curb deforestation, we hope this will be adopted as a significant measure to save the rainforests and protect the delicate ecology.
Thank you for your consideration.
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