If Global Warming is to Last 1,000 Years, Why Cut Emissions?

We’re facing severe climate change for the next 1,000 years – complete with droughts, water wars, food shortages, floods and other extreme circumstances. After scientists made that less-than-rosy prediction this week, many people are already throwing in the towel, saying “It’s too late – there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

Well, hold it right there, scientists are saying – if we don’t drastically reduce emissions, things will be even worse. It’s true that we’ve already done enough damage to affect the climate, but doing nothing means climate changes will be even larger and “intolerable”, according to Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

From MSNBC:

What the study, published Tuesday, and some earlier ones have done is raise the bar for policy changes. Many scientists now say that while it’s crucial for individuals to reduce their carbon footprints, bigger strategies that can only come from government are necessary.

“This is a global problem and while individuals can do some, it needs concerted national leadership and international agreements,” said Trenberth, who was not involved in the study.

Former Vice President Al Gore reinforced that notion Wednesday, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about how the United States might rejoin international climate talks after the former Bush administration rejected mandatory carbon curbs in favor of voluntary action and technological fixes.

Susan Solomon, the lead author of the study and a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., said that while climate change is slow, it’s unstoppable.

Unsurprisingly, noted climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, who was the first to warn the United States government of global warming consequences back in the 1980s, has written to President Obama with a number of suggestions. He believes that Obama’s ideas are not strong enough and that we need to phase out coal plants that don’t capture or store carbon, tax carbon rather than cap it, and make nuclear power research and development a priority. These are controversial suggestions, but Hansen is insistent that they are absolutely necessary to avoid disaster.

Even if the U.S. government were to follow Dr. Hansen’s suggested plan, we can’t stop impending global warming. We can only slow it down. Trenberth says we need to begin preparing to live in a warmer world – and of course, that doesn’t mean breaking out the swimsuit and daiquiri maker. We’re not looking at much of the world becoming an island paradise, here – we’re looking at severe consequences that will kill many people, make large areas of land uninhabitable and completely change our way of life.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: IRRI images

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