What is needed is a cut in atmospheric greenhouse gases, 80% below 1990 levels as soon as possible, but no later than 2025. We need immediate leadership, far bolder than the Maryland legislation ? or anything currently proposed. We don't need capitulation to the industries or interest groups that got us into this mess.
Without decisive action to reverse catastrophic climate change, we face devastation from the resulting severe storms, rising sea levels, insect infestation, disease, flooding, drought and fire. Without adequate mitigation, we will likely be unable to cope with the resulting temperature and weather extremes of all sorts.
Ross Gelbspan, author of The Heat is On, says that our response to the crisis of global warming must be "the social counterpart to a climate snap -- a rapid, immense, worldwide gathering of political will " if humanity is to survive.
Susan Solomon, a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, recently concluded that climate change is irreversible. Solomon does not see this prognosis as a reason to give up, but rather as a mandate to get our solution right. She said, "I guess if it's irreversible, to me it seems all the more reason you might want to do something about it," as reported by NPR.
James Hansen, top climate scientist at NASA said, "We have passed tipping points, but we have not passed a point of no return. We can still roll things back, but it is going to require a quick turn in direction."
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of several types of greenhouse gases. CO2 levels have risen higher in the past 100 years, than at any other time in the past 400,000 years. CO2 has a half life of 30 to 100 years. That means that even if we dramatically cut CO2 emissions tomorrow, what's up there in the atmosphere, will take a LONG time to come down.
In his paper, "Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Society Aim," NASA climate scientist Jim Hansen said recently, "The evidence indicates...that the safe upper limit for atmospheric CO2 is no more than 350ppm."
The Maryland legislation would cut CO2 emissions, but not cut the CO2 that is already in the atmosphere. If atmospheric levels of C02 stand at 382ppm today and rise 2ppm annually, we'll have 408ppm CO2 in the atmosphere by 2020. Even with the minimal cuts in emissions proposed in the Maryland legislation, we will still be well past the upper limits of the danger zone.
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