We avoid the lesson learned as in the Dust Bowl of the 1930's- a Rick Burns PBS docu-dreary.
On Nov 21, 12:27 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > From New Scientist this week: > > "EMISSIONS are still way too high to stop dangerous climate change, > warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme > (UNEP). > > To stop the Earth warming more than 2 °C above preindustrial levels, > global emissions must peak at 44 gigatonnes in 2020 and then fall. > However, the report says that 2020 emissions are likely to be between > 8 to 13 gigatonnes higher. This range is calculated on how well or not > countries deliver on their pledges to cut emissions. So in the best- > case scenario, where everyone meets their targets, emissions are still > 8 Gt too high. > > This "emissions gap" has grown: first estimates by UNEP in 2010 put it > at between 5 and 9 Gt. > > Unless drastic action is taken soon, we are likely to see a 4 °C rise > this century, warns Simon Anderson at the International Institute for > Environment and Development in Edinburgh, UK. > > A report from the World Bank, also published this week, paints a stark > picture of a 4 °C warmer world riven by severe heatwaves, floods and > droughts. "It will be absolutely catastrophic for certain parts of the > world," Anderson says. > > By delaying emissions cuts, the world is simply deciding to pay more > for them later, he says." > > I remain to be convinced of the carbon dioxide argument. Of more > concern are reports such as those on the speed with which the former > lush territory now the Sahara Desert changed - possibly only decades > and certainly only a few hundred years. Climate change is obviously > part of earth history The question is why we are so unprepared. --
