Today, we will dump over 134 million tons (CO2-eq)(1) of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It will take decades for some of these gases to travel the approximately 31,000ft. (10km) distance to the stratosphere where 75% will remain for over 300 years(2). Today, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be approximately 420ppm(3) (parts per million), an increase from 290ppm since 1900. New evidence indicates that a concentration of 350ppm may be necessary to stabilize global warming. Today, over 350,000(4) children will be born. No matter what our actions, none of these children will witness a reversal, or slowing, of global warming during their lifetimes. |
Will we take the actions necessary to protect future generations from even greater consequences of Climate change?
These are the questions that must be resolved for the survival of our civilization. There are no easy answers, or simple solutions. Time is short. We must begin preparations for a different future, and take immediate steps to reverse the damage that we are daily inflecting upon our planet. Failure to do so will indeed mean that Mankind is Toast.
Join us in exploring these issues.
1.) IPCC, 2007. Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Summary for Policymakers. Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Valencia, Spain. 24 pp.
2.) Archer, D., 2005, Fate of fossil fuel CO2 in geologic time, J. Geophys. Res., 110, C09S05,
doi:10.1029/2004JC002625.
3.) U.S. Department of Commerce. 2008. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Earth System Research Laboratory. Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide - Mauna Loa. (ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/co2_annmean_mlo.txt)
4.) U.S Census Bureau. 2008. World Vital Events Per Time Unit: 2008. (http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/pcwe)