Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumGreenhouse gas levels pass symbolic 400ppm CO2 milestone
Monitoring stations in the Arctic detect record levels of carbon dioxide, higher than ever above 'safe' 350ppm markThe world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.
Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. The number isn't quite a surprise, because it's been rising at an accelerating pace.
Years ago, it passed the 350ppm mark that many scientists say is the highest safe level for carbon dioxide. It now stands globally at 395.
So far, only the Arctic has reached that 400 level, but the rest of the world will follow soon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/01/record-greenhouse-gas-trouble-scientists?newsfeed=true
The Arctic Ocean with leads and cracks in the ice cover of north of Alaska. Photograph: Courtesy Eric Kort/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)I think by 2030, it's gonna be a bumpy ride...
Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)This is scary stuff, so why isn't it all over the news?!
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)The media is in the pockets of big fossil, so, there's nothing you can really do about it these days.
Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)She busted the myth of "clean coal..."
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)... if it was publicized. So, it isn't. Because nothing else in this world is more important than corprat profits - including the world itself.
Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)Somebody ought to point that out...
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)GeorgeGist
(25,294 posts)NickB79
(19,113 posts)All the "job creators" out there can't look beyond showing a profit on the next quarter's sheets to keep their investors happy. At best, they only look out a few years to when they can retire or move to another corporation for a bigger paycheck.
Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)Believed that there was no reason to preserve the planet for future generations, since there won't be anyone left here after The Rapture hoovers everybody up...
kristopher
(29,798 posts)Don't let the naysayers get you down. There is a huge amount of work going on to move the world away from carbon, but it is a process that is going to require decades. If you go back to the 1990s and early 2000s and look at projections on deployment of renewables by agencies like the Dept of Energy you' d see that we are far ahead of the targets they were hoping to achieve in a planned response to AGW.
That doesn't mean we have this problem under control, by any means; but what it does tell us is that keeping the pressure on to deploy renewables is moving us faster towards a solution than playing Chicken Little.
Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)It sends me over the edge when I hear the idiotic ramblings of climate change deniers and Al Gore's hard work being made the butt of jokes. What possible good does it serve?! I will never forget what Bobby Kennedy Jr. said about Bush* and his climate denier comrades (including Sec. of the Interior, Gale Norton). He said that they believe there's no reason to preserve the earth for future generations because they don't think there'll be any, that the Rapture is imminent...
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Could've sworn I rec'd this before.
Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)It certainly belonged in LBN.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)I just kicked it so its easy to find again.
Rhiannon12866
(202,970 posts)I would have posted it in LBN, but I read the first article on Thursday, so it would have been embarrassing if I had to lock my own thread...