Please suggest some posts — from CP and especially from other climate/energy blogs — for reposting while I’m on vacation next week.
The Ghost of Climate Yet to Come
Irreversible does not mean unstoppable: “Why show me this, if I am past all hope?”
Unlike Scrooge, we don’t get a spirit to show us what the future holds if we don’t change our ways. We did get the tiniest glimpse this year of climate gone wild (see “Masters: “The stunning extremes we witnessed gives me concern that our climate is showing the early signs of instability”). And we did get dozens of scientific papers warning us of what is to come (see A stunning year in climate science reveals that human civilization is on the precipice).
Yes, it is increasingly unlikely that we will stabilize at 450 ppm atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, and then quickly come back to 350. But when reporters ask me if it’s “too late,” — or, as one did last week, “have we crossed a tipping point?” — I have to explain that the question doesn’t have a purely scientific answer.
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
