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In the Teeth of Climate Change

Climate Change is no longer an if, or when;  It is now!

The climate we all thrived in for 1000’s of years is changing at an accelerating rate.  Ten years ago, I talked about this topic at a sustainability conference, and I said we no longer were able to model this change.  Instability begets more instability, and current models are terrible predictors of this type of change.  We now see that rising water levels are accelerating, Arctic ice melts are going faster, and weather extremes are occurring monthly.

A quick read in “Environmental Leader”, shows just some of the data that is enough to scare any of us.  We were warned that if CO2 and methane levels continued to rise, then more heat will get trapped and more ice sheets will melt, which creates more open oceans which will heat the water and thus the atmosphere. This then accelerates the thawing of permafrost of the tundra and releases more trapped methane (25x worse than CO2) into the atmosphere, thus intensifying the cycle. Not to mention deforestation and the burning of forests throughout the world.  It all adds up quickly.

The past predictions of global temperature rising 2 degrees Celsius are probably optimistic, and we could be looking at around a 3-5 degree increase;  which will strengthen the intensity and frequency of dramatic weather events not to mention desertification and drought.

So, what do we do about this?

Get serious in all current efforts and continue to the push to end fossil fuel burning.  Read and act on Paul Hawken’s Book “DRAWDOWN,” a comprehensive overview of over 80 ways to reverse global warming.  Governments and Corporations have a responsibility and a duty to act.  The solutions are all available, executable and economical given the cost of not acting.  It all boils down to political will and economics, but it’s no longer a mythical payback, but one that is calculable.

I ask that all of us participate and make personal and professional changes and vote for those that will make the changes as well.

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