I became aware of global warming (that is what I call it, not climate change a term coined by a Republican) back in 2006 when I wrote a diary about it;
Cheney's 1% Doctrine and Global Warming
Over the years I posted an image of what I believed the consequences would be if we reached the point of no return. A Mad Max world at best.
The Pentagon knows this too;
Pentagon Signals Security Risks of Climate Change
Thankfully Obama is doing something about it in his current trip to India;
U.S. And India Make Climate Change Announcement On First Day Of Obama's Trip
But is it too late? Have we reached the tipping point when no matter what we do global warming is unstoppable? Will the defrosting of the permafrost become irreversible?
A vast expanse of permafrost in Siberia and Alaska has started to thaw for the first time since it formed 11,000 years ago, marked in dark blue on the map. It is caused by the recent 3+°C rise in local temperature over the past 40 years - more than four times the global average. Peat bogs cover an area of a million square miles (or almost a quarter of the earth's land surface) to a depth of 25 meters. Those in Siberia are the world's largest.What was until recently a barren expanse of frozen peat is turning into a broken landscape of mud and lakes, some more than a kilometre across. All only in the past 3 or 4 years.
Tipping PointsThis has the potential to release vast quantities of methane trapped by ice below the surface - billions of tonnes of methane. World-wide, peat bogs store at least two trillion tons of CO2. This is equivalent to a century of emissions from fossil fuels.
And today I stumbled on this bit of news;Doomsday Clock Set at 3 Minutes to Midnight
That's the grim outlook from board members of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Frustrated with a lack of international action to address climate change and shrink nuclear arsenals, they decided today (Jan. 22) to push the minute hand of their iconic "Doomsday Clock" to 11:57 p.m. Experts on the board said they felt a sense of urgency this year because of the world's ongoing addiction to fossil fuels, procrastination with enacting laws to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow efforts to get rid of nuclear weapons."We are not saying it is too late to take action but the window for action is closing rapidly," Kennette Benedict, executive director of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said in a news conference this morning in Washington, D.C. "We move the clock hand today to inspire action."
So perhaps we have not reached the tipping point, but we do not know.If I had progeny I would be much more concerned.
Does what may happen in Washington DC give me hope?
Sen. Inhofe takes charge of Environment Committee
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Senate’s most vocal climate change skeptic, took the gavel of the Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday, eight years after he gave it up.The assignment makes him the top senator in charge of two of his passions: fighting attempts to curb climate change and building transportation infrastructure.
This is the guy that wrote a book about this "hoax";The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future
A perfect example is the entire global warming, climate-change issue, which is an effort to dramatically and hugely increase regulation of each of our lives and business, and to raise our cost of living and taxes. In The Greatest Hoax, Senator James Inhofe will reveal the reasons behind those perpetuating the Hoax of global warming, who is benefitting from the general acceptance of the Hoax and why the premise statements are blatantly and categorically false. The Republican party, except recently because of Romney the flip flopper, are mostly on the same page as Inhofe.And on our side?
Hillary Clinton does not inspire much confidence based on her Keystone pipeline silence;
Hillary Clinton: "You won't get me to talk about Keystone Pipeline"
So, Hillary Clinton was in Winnipeg and continued her commitment to non-commitment regarding Keystone Pipeline. She is definitely not a climate hawk; witness her thorough support and influence in implementing fracking globally. So it may or may not be late but until scientists agree that it is, we must do everything we can to address this existential threat.Everything, money out of politics to defuse the influence of the fossil fule monsters in politics, invest in renewable energy, increase fuel efficiency in cars.
So let's take a look at the forest before we go after the trees;
Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
. Electricity production (32% of 2012 greenhouse gas emissions) - Electricity production generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. Over 70% of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly coal and natural gas.[2] Transportation (28% of 2012 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation primarily come from burning fossil fuel for our cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes. Over 90% of the fuel used for transportation is petroleum based, which includes gasoline and diesel.[3] . Industry (20% of 2012 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from industry primarily come from burning fossil fuels for energy as well as greenhouse gas emissions from certain chemical reactions necessary to produce goods from raw materials. . Commercial and Residential (10% of 2012 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from businesses and homes arise primarily from fossil fuels burned for heat, the use of certain products that contain greenhouse gases, and the handling of waste. . Agriculture (10% of 2012 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture come from livestock such as cows, agricultural soils, and rice production. . Land Use and Forestry (offset of 15% of 2012 greenhouse gas emissions) - Land areas can act as a sink (absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere) or a source of greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, since 1990, managed forests and other lands have absorbed more CO2 from the atmosphere than they emit. My latest project, Earth Accounting, will hopefully help. Consumers making purchasing decisions based on green house gases associated with the supply chain of a product can be part of the solution.