SUBHEAD: Bill McKibben on Why 350 is the World's Most Important Number?
By Bill McKibben on 26 August 2009 in The Post Carbon Institute -
http://postcarbon.org/commentary/350_breakthrough
Image above: Demonstrating for www.350.org
Dear friends,
For once, this email isn't asking you to do anything at all. It's merely sharing the news--the amazing news--that arrived about 45 minutes ago at 350 headquarters.
Rajendra Pachauri is the U.N.'s top climate scientist. He leads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which every five years produces the authoritative assessment of climate science.
Their last report, in 2007, helped set the target of 450 ppm (parts per million of CO2) that many environmental groups and national governments have adopted as their goal for Copenhagen.
As you all know, that number is out of date.
When Jim Hansen and other scientists looked at phenomenon like the Arctic ice melt of the last two summers, they produced new data demonstrating that 350 ppm is the bottom line for the planet.
But it's been hard to get that news out to the powers that be.
So today it comes as enormous and welcome news that Dr. Pachauri, from his New Delhi office, said that 350 was the number.
It's clear now that science is powerfully on the side of the 350 target. Now we need the political world to follow suit. You will make that happen in the next two months. Oct. 24 is officially 60 days away, and we're building just the momentum we need to make it count.
Thanks for all you do,
Image above: Demonstrating for www.350.org
By Bill McKibben on 09 September 2009 in Tree Hugger
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TreehuggerRadio
Bill McKibben (author of Deep Economy and The End of Nature) is the man behind 350.org, the campaign to convince the world that we aren't safe until global carbon dioxide levels are down to 350 parts per million.
In the run-up to major climate talks in Copenhagen, the author-turned-organizer has orchestrated what he hopes will be the largest day of climate action in history, complete with scuba divers in the Maldives and monks in Tibet.
McKibben talks with TreeHugger about the recent good news from the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and about one of his greatest challenges to date: being a guest on The Colbert Report.
Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download.
Music credit: Dengue Fever
By Bill McKibben on 26 August 2009 in The Post Carbon Institute -
http://postcarbon.org/commentary/350_breakthrough
Image above: Demonstrating for www.350.org
Dear friends,
For once, this email isn't asking you to do anything at all. It's merely sharing the news--the amazing news--that arrived about 45 minutes ago at 350 headquarters.
Rajendra Pachauri is the U.N.'s top climate scientist. He leads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which every five years produces the authoritative assessment of climate science.
Their last report, in 2007, helped set the target of 450 ppm (parts per million of CO2) that many environmental groups and national governments have adopted as their goal for Copenhagen.
As you all know, that number is out of date.
When Jim Hansen and other scientists looked at phenomenon like the Arctic ice melt of the last two summers, they produced new data demonstrating that 350 ppm is the bottom line for the planet.
But it's been hard to get that news out to the powers that be.
So today it comes as enormous and welcome news that Dr. Pachauri, from his New Delhi office, said that 350 was the number.
"As chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) I cannot take a position because we do not make recommendations," said Rajendra Pachauri when asked if he supported calls to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations below 350 parts per million (ppm).It's your work that has made this breakthrough possible. In fact, Pachauri specifically cited the last big piece of news for 350: the decision of 80+ small island nations and less developed countries to endorse the 350 target.
"But as a human being I am fully supportive of that goal. What is happening, and what is likely to happen, convinces me that the world must be really ambitious and very determined at moving toward a 350 target," he told Agence France Presse in an interview."
"I think this is a good development," said Pachauri. "Now people -- including some scientists -- see the seriousness of the impacts of climate change, and the fact that things are going to get substantially worse than what we had anticipated."This news makes it much easier for all of us to push hard leading up to the International Day of Climate Action on the 24th of October (signup to start or attend an event at www.350.org), and the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen this December.
It's clear now that science is powerfully on the side of the 350 target. Now we need the political world to follow suit. You will make that happen in the next two months. Oct. 24 is officially 60 days away, and we're building just the momentum we need to make it count.
Thanks for all you do,
Image above: Demonstrating for www.350.org
By Bill McKibben on 09 September 2009 in Tree Hugger
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TreehuggerRadio
Bill McKibben (author of Deep Economy and The End of Nature) is the man behind 350.org, the campaign to convince the world that we aren't safe until global carbon dioxide levels are down to 350 parts per million.
In the run-up to major climate talks in Copenhagen, the author-turned-organizer has orchestrated what he hopes will be the largest day of climate action in history, complete with scuba divers in the Maldives and monks in Tibet.
McKibben talks with TreeHugger about the recent good news from the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and about one of his greatest challenges to date: being a guest on The Colbert Report.
Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download.
Music credit: Dengue Fever
No comments :
Post a Comment