Latest concerns about climate change

The following comes from FOOTPRINTS, Newsletter #28 - December 2008 for the
Crisis Coalition at www.planetextinction.com

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"Comparison of US and Australian ecological footprints with African. Every Australian puts 26.5 tons of CO2-e into the atmosphere every year, every American puts 23.6 tons and most Africans a lot less than 1 ton each."

Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim? - Jim Hansen and 7 colleagues
The only hope for keeping a planet that resembles what we have know for the past 10,000 years, is to halt any new CO2 emissions from coal and to phase-out existing coal emissions promptly. They argue that during the cooling trend that began 50 million years ago, the planet remained nearly ice-free until CO2 fell to 450±100ppm. Barring prompt policy changes, that critical level will be passed, in the opposite direction, within decades. To preserve our planet CO2 must be reduced from its current 385ppm to less than 350ppm.
If the present overshoot of this target is not brief, we will be seeding irreversible catastrophic effects.
This is a serious scientific report and well worth the study.
http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2008/2008_Hansen_etal.pdf
and
21st century climate tipping points - Andrew Glikson
http://www.opednews.com/articles/21st-century-climate-tippi-by-Andrew-Glikson-081121-208.html
and
UN: greenhouse gases at new record highs
http://www.heraldonline.com/426/story/979596.html
and
On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction – Oliver Tickell
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/11/climatechange

Why politicians dare not limit economic growth – New Scientist
The Ehrlich equation, I = PAT, says that the impact (I) of human activity on the planet is the product of population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T).
World population is just under 7 billion and the average income is around $8,000 per person. The T factor is that every $1,000 of goods and services releases 0.5 tonnes of CO2. Total emissions are 7 × 8 × 0.5 = 28 billion tonnes per year.
The IPCC states that 450 ppm is the only safe level of C02. To achieve that we must reduce emissions to less than 5 billion tonnes by 2050.
Since a global population of 9 billion is inevitable by then, that means carbon footprint of less than 0.6 tonnes per person - considerably lower than in India today.
Many think we will achieve this through energy efficiency and green technology without economic growth taking a serious hit. Can we?
It means getting the T factor down to 0.1 tonnes of CO2 per $1,000 - a fivefold improvement in global technology. While that is no walk in the park, it is possible with a robust policy commitment.
However, when we factor in economic growth the idea that technological ingenuity can save us from climate disaster looks a lot more challenging.
First, let us suppose that GDP will grow at 2.5% p/a in developed countries, while the rest of the world tries to catch up. To keep below 450ppm we would have to reduce the carbon content of consumption down to less than 0.03 tonnes/$1,000 - a daunting 11-fold reduction on the current EU average.
Second, let's suppose we are serious about eradicating global poverty, and imagine 9 billion people having a 2.5% growth in income. To achieve this the carbon content must be reduced to 2% of the best now achieved anywhere in the EU.
Continuing growth at 2.5% a year for the following 50 years would more than triple the size of the global economy, and this would mean we would have to completely decarbonise every atom we consume.
No one has any idea if such a radical transformation is possible.
Therefore consuming less is the single biggest thing we can do to save carbon emissions. Yet no one dares mention it because it would threaten economic growth, the very thing that is causing the problem in the first place.
New Scientist

Categories: environment, climate-change, global-warming, science, sustainability, permaculture

Robert Fisk: The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes

"The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes. Kandahar is in Taliban hands – all but a square mile at the centre of the city – and the first Taliban checkpoints are scarcely 15 miles from Kabul. Hamid Karzai's deeply corrupted government is almost as powerless as the Iraqi cabinet in Baghdad's "Green Zone"; lorry drivers in the country now carry business permits issued by the Taliban which operate their own courts in remote areas of the country ..."
The Independent

Categories: afghanistan, war-on-terror, war