… If Germany halted construction of coal-fired power plants that do not capture and sequester the CO2, it could be a tipping point for the world.
Leaders in Great Britain are advocating a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants; U.S. citizens are blocking one coal plant after another and a potentially course-changing election is nearing.
But time to find the tipping point is running out. I hope that you will give these considerations the urgent attention they deserve in setting your national policies. You have the potential to influence the future of the planet. …
Jim Hanson, Perspective of a Younger Generation
Archive for January, 2008
When thinking changes your mind, that’s philosophy.
When God changes your mind, that’s faith.
When facts change your mind, that’s science.
The Edge Annual Question — 2008
How to convince people of the importance to tackle Climate Change? Is it OK to spread subliminal messages when facts does not help? The topic is complex and not everybody has learned to deal with that many facts and prefers other strategies of decision making. Are we equipped to solve problems of this scope?
via Quantinger
Picture Credit goes to Karen Montgomer
Just for reference: not only carbon dioxyde has the capabilitiy to heat up our planet. E.g. a massive amount of Methane reside frozen in the oceans and the siberian permafrost soil.
| Greenhouse gas | Formula | GW Potential |
| Carbon Dioxide | CO2 | 1 |
| Methane | CH4 | 21 |
| Nitrous Oxide | N2O | 310 |
| Haloflurocarbons | ||
| HFC23 | CHF3 | 11,700 |
| HFC32 | CH2F2 | 650 |
| HFC43-10mee | C4H2F10 | 1,300 |
| HFC125 | CH2F5 | 2,800 |
| HFC134 | CHF2CHF2 | 1,000 |
| HFC134a | CH2FCF3 | 1,300 |
| HFC152a | C2H4F2 | 140 |
| HFC143 | CHF2CH2F | 300 |
| HFC143a | CF3CH3 | 3,800 |
| HFC227ea | C3HF7 | 2,900 |
| HFC236fa | C3H2F6 | 6,300 |
| HFC245ca | C3H3F5 | 560 |
| Chloroform | CHCl3 | 4 |
| Methylene Chloride | CHCl2 | 9 |
| Perfluromethane | CF4 | 6,500 |
| Perfluroethane | C2F6 | 9,200 |
| Perflurocyclo-Butane | C-C4F8 | 8,700 |
| Perflurohexane | C6F14 | 7,400 |
| Sulphur Hexafluoride | SF6 | 23,900 |
Finally in a dramatic session the participating countries agreed on the ‘Bali Action Plan’. What do you expect when representatives from over 180 countries come to a conclusion? Would searching the least common denominator lead to a powerless settlement? Will single states block all reasonable steps pretending imbalanced economic consequences?
| Bali climate summit final plenary |
However, finally the US left their isolated position and US Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky took the floor again, said the US wanted a roadmap and wanted to be part of the roadmap.
“We are very committed to long-term greenhouse gas emission reductions,” and she said the US would work with other large emitters to halve global emissions by 2050. And then she said the US “will go forward and join the consensus,” which was followed by a thunderous ovation.
Two results are remarkable: the implemenation of a ‘Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention’ with the mission to collect the input from all parties and present the result at the fourteenth session of the conference of the Parties (Dec. 2008) and last but not least the conference accepted the stabilization scenarios developed by the Working Group III.
You may bring up that’s only a footnote, well it is, but it is written down, it is agreed and is states that an emission reduction of 50 up to 85% is indispensable to stabilize global mean temperature at 2 - 2.4°C above pre-industrial levels.
More:
AR4: Technical Summary of Working Group III / Mitigation of Climate Change
AR4: Chapter 13: Policies, instruments, and co-operative arrangements
Videos: germanwatch@youtube
