The title of the December 8 press release from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is "2000-2009, The Warmest Decade." Quoting from the text, "The decade of the 2000s (2000-2009) was warmer than the decade spanning the 1990s (1990-1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s (1980-1989)." The WMO uses global combined sea surface and land surface air temperatures, a conclusively sound methodology.
The WMO announcement also pointed out that "This year above-normal temperatures were recorded in most parts of the continents. Only North America (United States and Canada) experienced conditions that were cooler than average." The anecdote regarding North America is important, as some U.S. climate change deniers use it out of context to try to confuse the public into believing that global warming isn't happening.
Earth's climbing surface temperatures are only part of the story. The world's scientists, including but not limited to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are continuing to find one disturbing climate change-related development after another. These include melting glaciers, drying rivers, sea level rise, oceanic acidification and an Arctic region in climate turmoil.
And yet more from the press release: "Climate extremes, including devastating floods, severe droughts, snowstorms, heat waves and cold waves, were recorded in many parts of the world," and "The Arctic sea ice extent during the melt season ranked the third lowest, after the lowest and second-lowest records set in 2007 and 2008, respectively."
The evidence is overwhelming -- humans are heating the planet to an alarming degree and so far there is no end in sight.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Copenhagen Climate Change Summit: Good, Bad, Ugly
With the Copenhagen Summit on climate change ("COP15") well underway and the December 18 finale only days away, a person in my position is supposed to be feeling gung ho. I'm not. At best, I'm ambivalent. My hope is for a binding international agreement to at least begin curbing greenhouse gas emissions. After all, for the first time we have China, India, Brazil and the U.S. making commitments of some sort (or merely "pledges"?) -- a necessary and positive step.
But when many miles need to be traveled, and yesterday, it's hard to get excited by excruciating baby steps. At the moment at least, China and India merely are pledging to reduce the "carbon intensity" of their respective economies. It's a fancy and not entirely honest way of saying they will continue to pursue low-hanging energy efficiency measures already on the drawing board while watching their cumulative greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar. As for the U.S., President Obama is crossing his fingers that his noticeably modest commitment, of 17 percent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020, will make it past the woeful U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, opposing blocs of underdeveloped and developed nations continue to point fingers at one another.
In the face of an unprecedented global crisis, baby steps are a form of soft denial. Sort of like mumbling.
Miles above this lackluster performance, carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth's atmosphere have risen to approximately 390 ppm and are plausibly climbing toward 450 ppm, exacerbating the greenhouse effect already underway. And according to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), even if the world brought its carbon dioxide levels back to pre-industrial times, which it won't, it would take "1,000" years or longer for the climate changes already underway to be reversed. This is largely thanks to the long life of carbon dioxide in the world's oceans.
Here are several excellent sources for tracking ongoing developments at COP15. Some of these sites also give you the opportunity to participate in chat groups, Twitter, etc.:
But when many miles need to be traveled, and yesterday, it's hard to get excited by excruciating baby steps. At the moment at least, China and India merely are pledging to reduce the "carbon intensity" of their respective economies. It's a fancy and not entirely honest way of saying they will continue to pursue low-hanging energy efficiency measures already on the drawing board while watching their cumulative greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar. As for the U.S., President Obama is crossing his fingers that his noticeably modest commitment, of 17 percent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020, will make it past the woeful U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, opposing blocs of underdeveloped and developed nations continue to point fingers at one another.
In the face of an unprecedented global crisis, baby steps are a form of soft denial. Sort of like mumbling.
Miles above this lackluster performance, carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth's atmosphere have risen to approximately 390 ppm and are plausibly climbing toward 450 ppm, exacerbating the greenhouse effect already underway. And according to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), even if the world brought its carbon dioxide levels back to pre-industrial times, which it won't, it would take "1,000" years or longer for the climate changes already underway to be reversed. This is largely thanks to the long life of carbon dioxide in the world's oceans.
Here are several excellent sources for tracking ongoing developments at COP15. Some of these sites also give you the opportunity to participate in chat groups, Twitter, etc.:
- Oneclimate.net
- Realclimate.org -- emphasis on climate change science
- Climate Progress -- possibly the best climate change site, period. Highly esteemed Dr. Joseph Romm serves as editor in collaboration with the Center for American Progress.
- Climate central
- Project Groundswell
- New York Times
- Various national environmental organizations, such as Environmental Defense Fund
Al Gore Advocates for Electric Vehicles and Against Ethanol
Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore is on tour to promote his new book, Our Choice, which more or less begins where An Inconvenient Truth ended. While touching on the latest science of global climate change, the book nonetheless focuses on U.S. energy policies, sources and uses and on policy solutions to the climate crisis (a term used not only by this author but also in a consistent manner by Gore).
Opening his November 9 remarks at San Rafael's Dominican University with his trademark self-deprecating humor -- "I'm Al Gore, I used to be the next president of the United States" -- the relaxed and good-humored Tennessean immediately had his audience laughing and applauding. To be sure, for Gore, speaking to an ideologically compatible and politically sophisticated San Francisco Bay Area audience about global climate change, the only thing missing from the love would be flowers and kisses.
Opening his November 9 remarks at San Rafael's Dominican University with his trademark self-deprecating humor -- "I'm Al Gore, I used to be the next president of the United States" -- the relaxed and good-humored Tennessean immediately had his audience laughing and applauding. To be sure, for Gore, speaking to an ideologically compatible and politically sophisticated San Francisco Bay Area audience about global climate change, the only thing missing from the love would be flowers and kisses.
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