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POPSCivilization's last chance
There's a number -- a new number -- that makes this point most powerfully. It may now be the most important number on Earth: 350. As in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A few weeks ago, NASA's chief climatologist, James Hansen, submitted a paper to Science magazine with several coauthors. The abstract attached to it argued -- and I have never read stronger language in a scientific paper -- that "if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm." Hansen cites six irreversible tipping points -- massive sea level rise and huge changes in rainfall patterns, among them -- that we'll pass if we don't get back down to 350 soon; and the first of them, judging by last summer's insane melt of Arctic ice, may already be behind us. So it's a tough diagnosis.
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POPSWorld CO2 Levels At Record High, Scientists Warn Scientists say the shift could indicate that the Earth is losing its natural ability to soak up billions of tons of carbon each year. Climate models assume that about half our future emissions will be re-absorbed by forests and oceans, but the new figures confirm this may be too optimistic. If more of our carbon pollution stays in the atmosphere, it means emissions will have to be cut by more than currently projected to prevent dangerous levels of global warming. Martin Parry, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s working group on impacts, said: “Despite all the talk, the situation is getting worse. Levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise in the atmosphere and the rate of that rise is accelerating. We are already seeing the impacts of climate change and the scale of those impacts will also accelerate, until we decide to do something about it.”
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POPSPANGEA DAY--A WORLDWIDE FESTIVAL OF FILM FOR HUMANITY SEE THE SITE AT PROPEACE FOR MORE: Pangea Day will be available on Current TV, the pioneer of citizen-empowered media, or you can watch the live video stream on the Pangea Day website. Please go there right now, have a look at the trailer, search by zip code for a public screening near you, and browse the promotional videos of choirs from different countries singing each other's national anthems. A French choir sings ours, and it's a hoot! Another trailer I really like is on YouTube.
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POPSNext decade may be cooler, not warmer Obviously this is not an exact science, climate and weather being so complex. Hoax theorists and denialists will no doubt jump all over this news and continue to drag their feet on action.
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POPSHow to Be a Climate Hero Scientists tell us we have ten years, if that, to make significant changes. Every indication, from ice caps to defrosting tundra, seems to show this is the tipping point. This is our moment. Perhaps you never thought you’d get a chance to play hero. Here it is. The kid on the train is screaming out for help. The weather is convulsing. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t sure what to do. Make your best guess. Call 9-1-1. For god’s sake, get the conductor. Whatever the hell that means...but do somethiung --locally, on the intawebs, whatever. Just don't stand there mouth agape going , "we all gonna die!"
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POPSHow Many Earth Days Do We Have Left? "We are crossing natural thresholds that we cannot see and violating deadlines that we do not recognize," says Brown. "These deadlines are set by nature. Nature is the timekeeper, but we cannot see the clock."
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POPSA Drought in Australia, a Global Shortage of Rice The drought’s effect on rice has produced the greatest impact on the rest of the world, so far. It is one factor contributing to skyrocketing prices, and many scientists believe it is among the earliest signs that a warming planet is starting to affect food production. It is difficult to definitely link short-term changes in weather to long-term climate change, but the unusually severe drought is consistent with what climatologists predict will be a problem of increasing frequency.
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POPSOutlook for Oceans Bleak as Sea 'Deserts' Grow Link to Global Warming And it seems to be tied to global warming. Polovina's study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, finds that the areas of low productivity are expanding in lockstep with increasing water temperatures. As surface temperatures warm, that prevents colder water from rising up from the depths. And that colder water carries the nutrients that would feed the algae. Scientists studying climate change have predicted this kind of change. But the sea desert has been spreading 10 times faster than climate scientists predicted.So Polovina is a bit cautious — this could be a shorter-term fluctuation, not a permanent change. "In the next 10 years, maybe it could switch back," he says. "Until we get a much longer time series, we don't know."
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POPSDisaster relief: Does anyone in Washington, D.C. really get what's going on? , such a strategy is inexcusable in the world in which we now live. Here in Reality, the values of homes and retirement savings are plummeting, the climate is changing, people are uninsured and going insane (if this rash of mass shootings is any indication), costs are rising (am I the only person who noticed the spike in milk prices in the last week?), and an illegal war in Iraq is still sending Americans home in body bags
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POPSGM Exec Stands by Calling Global Warming a “Total Crock of Shit” Ted Stevens the Alaskan Psycho-Dinosaur says the ecological threats to polar bears are a “crock” too I’m sure. And it’s a “crock” that Exxon is gouging for oil/gas profits, even though they made more money last year than ANY other company in U.S. history in these “tough uncertain times….” These PUTZES are going to have to discover their own consequences face to face, and I hope it’s sooner than later….
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POPSUN Says World Fisheries Face Collapse “We are getting more and more alarming signals of dramatic changes in the oceans. The recovery from the changes we’re making will probably take a million years.” The report found the most affected areas included those responsible for half the world’s fish catch. A slowing of ocean currents as a result of climate change may over the next 100 years interrupt the transport of nutrients to the most valuable coastal fishing zones, and the flushing away of pollution. In other impacts, Nellemann said he expected more than 50 percent of coral reefs to die by 2050 as a result of rising temperatures, with resulting impacts on tourism. Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels create an acid when dissolved in water, and could over the coming decades make the sea more acidic than at any time in the past 65 million years, and by 2100 could prevent mollusks in some seas from forming shells.
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POPSNine Billion Little Feet on the Highway of the Damned THE SCREAMING MAN INSIDE MY HEAD: LOOKY HERE BAGEANT, YOU PICKLED OLD GAS BAG. HALF OF AMERICANS LIVE UNDER THE GOOFBALL HALLUCINATION THEY CAN SEAL THE BORDERS WITH SILLY PUTTY, DRONE AIRCRAFT AND MACHINE GUNS. THE OTHER HALF, LIBERALS OVERDOSED ON PROZAC AND WHITE WINE, IS LINED UP LIKE DOCKSIDE WHORES WAVING AT THE INCOMING FLEET. “LET’S WELCOME THEM ALL! AMERICA IS THE LAND OF IMMIGRANTS SO HELL FUCKING YES, LET’EM ALL IN!” YEA, RIGHT. LET EVERYBODY LIVE LIKE A FUCKING HATIAN WHARF RAT IN THE NEW THIRD WORLD AMERICA. HELL, IT’S ALREADY STARTED. THEY’RE CROAKING 49 MILION AMERICANS BECAUSE THEY CAN’T COME UP WITH THE BLACKMAIL DOUGH FOR HEALTHCARE. THEY’RE KICKIN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OUT OF THEIR PLYWOOD NESTING BOXES BECAUSE THEY CAN’T MAKE THE MONTHLY NUT. AMERICA IS ALREADY A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY WITH DRIVE THROUGH FEEDING BOXES.
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POPSScientists Identify ‘Tipping Points’ of Climate Change The study came out of a 2005 meeting of 36 leading climate scientists who drew on the expertise of a further 52 specialists. It is believed to be the first time that scientists have attempted to assess the risks of what they have termed “tipping elements” in the Earth’s climate system. The nine elements range from the melting of polar ice sheets to the collapse of the Indian and West African monsoons. The effects of the changes could be equally varied, from a dramatic rise in sea levels that flood coastal regions to widespread crop failures and famine. Some of the tipping points may be close at hand, such as the point at which the disappearance of the summer sea ice in the Arctic becomes inevitable, whereas others, such as the tipping point for the destruction of northern boreal forests, may take several more decades to be reached.
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