Thursday, July 02, 2009

Game Changer, Chapter II

We all know what this is. We are now finding out this is shrinking faster than thought possible thanks to the unique properties of ice and the fact the carbon footprint of fossil fuels has pushed the levels of CO2 past the 350 parts per million benchmark long believed to be the point of no return regarding global warming and the impact it will have on our civilization.

Time to either learn to swim or change how we do business on Planet Earth to lessen the enormous change that's coming. The choice is ours to make. The question is, do we have the smarts and guts to do so before it's too late.

"Even if all emissions stopped today, sea level would continue to rise. "The current rate of rise would continue for centuries if temperatures are constant, and that would add about 30 centimetres per century to global sea level," says Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. "If we burn all fossil fuels, we are likely to end up with many metres of sea level rise in the long run, very likely more than 10 metres in my view."

This might sound dramatic, but we know sea level has swung from 120 metres lower than today during ice ages to more than 70 metres higher during hot periods. There is no doubt at all that if the planet warms, the sea will rise. The key questions are, by how much and how soon?"

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