CLIMATE CHANGE & Inter-generational Morality

CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNITY POST

Is this an inter-generational ethics issue?

We don't have an extra world laying around! 

Let's really THINK about this!

Published on Jul 16, 2013
BBC Documentary on Climate Change Part 1

BBC Documentary on Climate Change Part 2

George Monbiot, The Guardian
Already, a thousand blogs and columns insist the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's new report is a rabid concoction of scare stories whose purpose is to destroy the global economy. But it is, in reality, highly conservative.

Reaching agreement among hundreds of authors and reviewers ensures that only the statements which are hardest to dispute are allowed to pass. Even when the scientists have agreed, the report must be tempered in another forge, as politicians question anything they find disagreeable: the new report received 1,855 comments from 32 governments, and the arguments raged through the night before launch.

In other words, it's perhaps the biggest and most rigorous process of peer review conducted in any scientific field, at any point in human history.

There are no radical departures in this report from the previous assessment, published in 2007; just more evidence demonstrating the extent of global temperature rises, the melting of ice sheets and sea ice, the retreat of the glaciers, the rising and acidification of the oceans and the changes in weather patterns. The message is familiar and shattering: "It's as bad as we thought it was." MORE

 

ABC News on Winter Melting

Please share your opinion, knowledge and 'fact resources' below

Dr. James E. Hansen is a leading expert on this topic. I would suggest suspending your previous opinion, watch this lecture, look over this blog and determine what you think the human species should do about the climate problems. POST YOUR OPINION IN A RESPECTABLE MANNER with references where necessary and let's open a dialouge here to see if we, in this generation, can do anything to starve off the coming climate change problem. I really appreciate your effort and opinion. Thanks so much!

This is a great FULL 1.5 hour lecture aimed towards the general public by Dr. James ("Jim") Hansen. He gives a clear and engaged description of the science and the challenges that lies ahead. One of the best talks I've seen.

The talk was recorded at James Hansen's New Zealand tour in spring 2011 at the University of Otago, NZ. http://www.otago.ac.nz

The lecture draws much from the paper. 

The paper can be downloaded from James Hansen's homepage:
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/ (under 2011)
Dr James E. Hansen is the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies 
New study paper from Nov. 2012 
Climate Sensitivity, Sea Level, and Atmospheric CO2
http://climatestate.com/pure-climate-...

Additional lectures on climate change from Dr. Hansen

• Sep. 26, 2013: Climate Sensitivity, Sea Level and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: Discussion of paper in Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.
• Sep. 13, 2013: Tar Sands and Dirty Tricks: Discussion of New Yorker article on Tom Steyer and KXL pipeline.
• Sep. 13, 2013: Europe Standing Tall Against a Rogue State: Discussion of European trip re tar sands.
• MORE

We believe these seven elements are critical to effective U.S. climate legislation:

Science Based Targets:

1. Select annual targets for U.S. emission reductions consistent with peer-reviewed science, which shows that rapid reductions in fossil fuel emissions are needed to return to safe levels of atmospheric CO2, below 350 parts per million.

Carbon Fees and Rebates (Green Checks):

1. Impose gradually rising carbon fees on fossil fuels as they enter the economy, sufficient to ensure that clean energy (such as wind, solar and geothermal) becomes cost-competitive with fossil fuels within a decade. Return all revenues from carbon fees in monthly per-person rebate checks to all American households, so that everyone can afford the energy they need during the transition to efficient use of clean energy.
   
   SEE THE OTHER SEVEN ELEMENTS AND WRITE TO YOUR LEADERS!
   

The solution
 begins
with you!

FOSSIL FREE CAMPAIGN
If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. We believe that educational and religious institutions, city and state governments, and other institutions that serve the public good should divest from fossil fuels.

We want institutions to immediately freeze any new investment in fossil fuel companies, and divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds within 5 years.

200 publicly-traded companies hold the vast majority of the world’s proven coal, oil and gas reserves. Those are the companies we’re asking our institutions to divest from. Our demands to these companies are simple, because they reflect the stark truth of climate science:

• They need immediately to stop exploring for new hydrocarbons.
• They need to stop lobbying in Washington and state capitols across the country to preserve their special breaks.
• Most importantly, they need to pledge to keep 80% of their current reserves underground forever. MORE & JOIN

Fossil Free is an international campaign calling on institutions to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in solutions to climate change. Learn more at gofossilfree.org. START YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN!

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Antarctica's great Southern Ocean is the last pristine ocean wilderness left on Earth. This year leaders from 25 countries have an opportunity to create the world's largest marine sanctuaries around Antarctica. The proposals are in front of them, the science has been done, all they need to do is say YES. Tell our leaders to make the right decision when they meet this year and protect these waters for future generations.

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