We Must Take Action
ByMIT releases data showing a much more rapid climate change than previously imagined:
The new projections, published this month in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate, indicate a median probability of surface warming of 5.2 degrees Celsius by 2100, with a 90% probability range of 3.5 to 7.4 degrees. This can be compared to a median projected increase in the 2003 study of just 2.4 degrees. The difference is caused by several factors rather than any single big change. Among these are improved economic modeling and newer economic data showing less chance of low emissions than had been projected in the earlier scenarios.
We’re already behind on reducing our carbon emissions. As a city, this means we must move more quickly to adopt multi-modal transportation options, more environmentally friendly building standards, and personal conservation habits. This is our responsibility, and we must face it head-on.
3 Comments
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:45 am
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/opinion/02kristof.html
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July 2nd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
More attention needs to be directed towards educating developers and the general public about the cost incentives of sustainable building and transportation practices and designs. The long term payoff on these proven systems should be attractive to every citizen but like Cecil’s link suggests, people don’t think in the long term. It’s sad because we could start drastically reducing emmissions immediately if we designed for the long term starting right now.
Great Link Cecil!
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July 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 pm
And another big problem is that most of us have little to no choice about how our homes were constructed: homeowners can act to retrofit their own homes, but renters don’t even have that option.
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