MIT Technology Review

The effects of global warming will persist for hundreds of years. What are our responsibilities and duties today to help safeguard the distant future? That is the question ethicists are now asking.

By David Rotman on April 11, 2013

The Real Casualties of Global Warming Probably Haven’t Been Born Yet | MIT Technology Review.

One of the defining characteristics of climate change is poorly appreciated by most people: the higher temperatures and other effects induced by increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will persist for a very long time. Scientists have long realized that carbon dioxide emitted during the burning of fossil fuels tends to linger in the atmosphere for extended periods, even for centuries. Over the last few years, researchers have calculated that some of the resulting changes to the earth’s climate, including increased temperature, are more persistent still: even if emissions are abruptly ended and carbon dioxide levels gradually drop, the temperature will stubbornly remain elevated for a thousand years or more. The earth’s thermostat is essentially being turned up and there are no readily foreseeable ways to turn it back down; even risky geoengineering schemes would at best offset the higher temperatures only temporarily.

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Name it, claim it, choose it and change it.

Coming out of the coma of mindlessness is the first step. Please share.

Narrated by Reggie Watts. We are all paying the price of carbon pollution. It’s time to put a price on carbon and make the polluters stop the carbon destruction.

with thanks to The Climate Reality Project

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This is one ball we should really keep our eyes on!  Choose wisely where you spend your time… your real-estate dollars…. your holidays…

The oceans are rising. It’s scary. It’s important. But it’s not complicated.

A few weeks ago, five experts testified before Congress on sea level rise and its impacts on the United States.  To capture a few points:

1. Sea levels are rising today. It’s not a problem for the future. It’s happening now.
2. Here’s why global warming leads to sea level rise: First, glaciers melt and add extra water to the oceans.
3. Second, water expands when it gets warmer, so that means the oceans get bigger.
4. On average, sea levels have increased 8 inches in the past 130 years.

Sea level rise isn’t a problem for tomorrow. It is here today. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be complicated. Even the most basic understanding of sea level rise will help you and your community prepare for its impacts.  Watch this PBS Video  (via The Climate Reality Project)

Watch Rising tide on PBS. See more from Need To Know.

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It’s not good or bad; right or wrong – it’s just the way it is.  Are we paying attention?  Do we ask ourselves:  What does this mean… for me?

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This one is new to me! As I watched this and wondered about 2011, I was mindful of the complexity of all living, organic systems; and the degree to which we need to stop… take a breath… and ask ourselves: Who do we choose to become? – and act accordingly! Evolution by Intention is possible for us, if we choose to claim it for ourselves.

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