* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download We were wrong - Climate Place
Climate resilience wikipedia , lookup
Soon and Baliunas controversy wikipedia , lookup
2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference wikipedia , lookup
Climatic Research Unit documents wikipedia , lookup
Economics of climate change mitigation wikipedia , lookup
Climate sensitivity wikipedia , lookup
Climate change mitigation wikipedia , lookup
ExxonMobil climate change controversy wikipedia , lookup
Global warming controversy wikipedia , lookup
German Climate Action Plan 2050 wikipedia , lookup
Climate change adaptation wikipedia , lookup
General circulation model wikipedia , lookup
Global warming hiatus wikipedia , lookup
Climate change denial wikipedia , lookup
Climate engineering wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in Tuvalu wikipedia , lookup
Fred Singer wikipedia , lookup
Climate change and agriculture wikipedia , lookup
Economics of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming on human health wikipedia , lookup
Climate governance wikipedia , lookup
Instrumental temperature record wikipedia , lookup
Attribution of recent climate change wikipedia , lookup
Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Global warming wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in Canada wikipedia , lookup
Solar radiation management wikipedia , lookup
Media coverage of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Scientific opinion on climate change wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming on humans wikipedia , lookup
Low-carbon economy wikipedia , lookup
Citizens' Climate Lobby wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in the United States wikipedia , lookup
Surveys of scientists' views on climate change wikipedia , lookup
Climate change feedback wikipedia , lookup
Climate change, industry and society wikipedia , lookup
Climate change and poverty wikipedia , lookup
Mitigation of global warming in Australia wikipedia , lookup
Public opinion on global warming wikipedia , lookup
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme wikipedia , lookup
Politics of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Climate Revelations 12 Simple & Important Things to Know About Climate Change Dan Miller Managing Director The Roda Group ClimatePlace.org Revelation #1 You may not be interested in climate change, but climate change is interested in you. Tom Friedman Climate change is your issue Revelation #2 Climate change is not a new idea “On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground” By Prof. Svante Arrhenius April 1896 1958 (55 Years Ago)... Revelation #3 Climate change is not a scientific controversy 97% of climate scientists and every major scientific academy agree that global warming is real, is mostly cause by humans, and requires urgent action Extremely Hot Summers Now Occur 50 Times More Often Extremely Hot Summers Revelation #4 Carbon pollution is not like other kinds of pollution Everything You Need to Know About CO2 Emissions • The peak warming is proportional to the cumulative carbon emitted • It doesn’t matter much how rapidly the carbon is emitted • The warming you get when you stop emitting carbon is what you are stuck with for the next thousand years • The climate recovers only slightly over the next ten thousand years • A trillion tons cumulative carbon gives you about +2ºC global mean warming above the pre-industrial temperature. A Trillion Tons • We have emitted about 500 GtC so far • About 500 GtC to go to have a chance to stay below +2°C... • BUT permafrost melt may itself add ~250 GtC by end of the century Revelation #5 Continuing “business as usual” emissions is not OK Extreme Drought Drought Index: -3 to -6 = Dust Bowl Source: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Sea Level Rise MIT Temperature Study 2009 MIT Study: 95% chance that “Business-as-usual” temperature increase will exceed 3.5ºC (6.3ºF) in 2095 MIT Temperature Study and a 50% chance that temperature will exceed 5ºC (9ºF)! What Does +4°C (+7°F) Mean? • “Incompatible with an organized global community • Likely to be beyond ‘adaption’ • Devastating to the majority of ecosystems • High probability of not being stable – i.e., temperatures will keep going higher on their own • Must be avoided at all costs.” From Prof. Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Energy Centre, UK But We Can Do Something! Permafrost Methane Release from Lake Other Dangers: All Already Happening • Reduction of ocean’s ability to absorb CO2 & acidification • Collapse of forests / increased wild fires • Spread of deserts • Mega-droughts and floods • Mass extinctions • More extreme weather • Reduction in global food production Future Impacts • Wars over resources • Abandonment of many major cities • Massive shortages of food and water • Collapse of economies Revelation #6 We are all in denial. Failure of the “Risk Thermostat” We respond strongest to threats that are: Visible With historical precedent Immediate With simple causality Have direct personal impacts Caused by another “tribe” (enemy) George Marshall, Climate Outreach Information Network Climate Change is: Invisible Unprecedented Drawn out With complex causality Unpredictable & indirect impacts Caused by all of us Denial Strategies Displaced commitment “I protect the environment in other ways” Condemn the accuser “You have no right to challenge me” Denial of responsibility “I am not the main cause of this problem” Rejection of blame “I have done nothing wrong” Ignorance “I didn’t know” Powerlessness “I can’t make any difference” Fabricated constraints “There are too many impediments” After the flood “Society is corrupt” Comfort “It’s too hard for me to change my behavior” S. Stoll-Kleemann, et al, Global Environmental Change 11 (2001) 107}117 Other Denial Strategies • We think of it as an environmental issue • We deliberately maintain a level of ignorance • We wait for someone else to act first the “passive bystander effect” • Societies develop strategies to avoid action – We place it outside our “norms of attention” – Define it as “far away” - global - not local; future - not now What to Do? Revelation #7 First Law of Holes If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Denis Healey What about fracking, tar sands, Arctic drilling, and “All of the Above” energy policies? Revelation #8 To the surprise of almost everyone, it turns out that you cannot decrease fossil fuel emissions by increasing them! Revelation #9 2 Years Left to Reverse the Trend Revelation #10 We can make it happen What Can YOU Do? 1. Believe, learn, engage 2. Reduce your carbon footprint 3. Talk to your family, friends & colleagues and get them engaged. 4. Talk to your elected leaders and demand policy changes 5. Commit to taking specific actions and make a list Good Ways to Get Engaged • Join 350.org • Join CitizensClimateLobby.org What Can Governments Do? 1. Move to 100% carbon-free electricity generation in 10~20 years (i.e., ban coal) 2. Keep tar-sands and oil shale in the ground 3. Expand research into “geo-engineering” 4. Put a price on carbon... Clean Energy Credit • Put an increasing fee on CO2 – Enough to eventually increase gasoline by $1/gal • Distribute 100% of the money collected to every legal resident on an equal basis • Most people will earn more each year than they pay in higher energy costs! • Put a Border Duty on products coming from other countries that don’t have a carbon fee What Else Can Governments Do? • Stop subsidizing fossil fuels • Provide low-cost financing for clean energy • Increase R&D spending on cleantech • Plan for climate impacts We must manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable Revelation #11 Cost of acting is cheap compared to the cost of not acting An Economic Boom • Putting a price on CO2 will drive innovation and investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency • Will trigger an economic boom that will put the Internet revolution to shame • Will also improve energy security and eliminate the need to fight wars over oil Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. • We’ll keep the $500B+ we send to the Middle East in this country, creating millions of jobs. • From 1998 to 2007, clean energy economy jobs grew 9.1% vs. 3.7% for traditional jobs (Pew Charitable Trusts research) • Cleantech is currently one of the few growing areas in the California economy Revelation #12 When it comes to action on climate change, we are going to go from impossible to inevitable without stopping at probable But you need to make it happen soon! For More Information Please visit: ClimatePlace.org