350. The new magic number we all need to know.

 

In December 2009, the world's leaders will sit down in Copenhagen to sign a successor to the Kyoto Treaty. Over the next two and a half years, we, the nations of the world, are supposed to negotiate the level of greenhouse gas emissions that we as a unified globe will commit to accepting. That is the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere that we believe to be acceptable to allow us to continue to live sustainably on the planet.

Yes, I know it's a big call. If the precursor in Bali late last year was any indication, it's going to be an interesting couple of years.

Tim Flannery, noted climate change scientist, author of "The Weather Makers", 2007 Australian of the Year, and chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council, has noted that the 2009 meeting in Copenhagen "will be of critical importance in deciding the climatic future of humanity." (Tim Flannery An Explorer's Notebook p279.)

 

So what is the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere that we believe to be acceptable to allow us to continue to live sustainably on the planet?

350. The new magic number we all need to know.

Three. Five. Zero.

Get used to seeing it and saying it.

Our collective lives may well depend upon it, and all other living things on the planet too.

350.

So how has the figure of 350 ppm (parts per million) of CO 2 been arrived at, I hear you say.

The United States' most senior climate scientist James Hansen and eight other senior climate scientists have recently deduced, by studying evidence from previous climate swings in our planet's history, that we must reduce carbon dioxide to 350 ppm or below to avoid rises in sea level, severe changes in weather, droughts, lost of coastal habitat, plagues of tropical diseases, food shortages and on and on. 

"If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted," Hansen and his colleagues write, "paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO 2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."

According to Hansen and his colleagues: 

A practical global strategy almost surely requires a rising global price on CO 2 emissions and phase-out of coal use except for cases where the CO 2 is captured and sequestered. The carbon price should eliminate use of unconventional fossil fuels, unless, as is unlikely, the CO 2 can be captured. 

A reward system for improved agricultural and forestry practices that sequester carbon could remove the current CO 2 overshoot. With simultaneous policies to reduce non-CO 2 greenhouse gases, it appears still feasible to avert catastrophic climate change. Present policies, with continued construction of coal-fired power plants without CO 2 capture, suggest that decision-makers do not appreciate the gravity of the situation. We must begin to move now toward the era beyond fossil fuels. Continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions, for just another decade, practically eliminates the possibility of near-term return of atmospheric composition beneath the tipping level for catastrophic effects. 

The most difficult task, phase-out over the next 20-25 years of coal use that does not capture CO 2, is Herculean, yet feasible when compared with the efforts that went into World War II. The stakes, for all life on the planet, surpass those of any previous crisis. The greatest danger is continued ignorance and denial, which could make tragic consequences unavoidable.

The real task is not so much scientific, it's more to do with the politics and all of the inbuilt subsidies and levies that currently exist for the way that particularly power is generated at this present time. Just imagine, no electricity powered by coal; and now imagine the massive international political will it is going to take to get the heads of state to put their names to 350 in Copenhagen in December, 2009.

And yes, the potential lifestyle change that will be needed BY EVERYONE to reach 350 may not be that appealing, but then neither are the other options.

In all this doom and gloom, what can you do, how can you spread the word about 350?

Well luckily for us, Bill McKibben, writer and climate activist, has done all the hard work.

 

350.org

 

"A few of us have just launched a new [international] campaign, 350.org. Its only goal is to spread this number around the world in the next 18 months, via art and music and ruckuses of all kinds, in the hope that it will push those post-Kyoto negotiations in the direction of reality. 

After all, those talks are our last chance; you just can't do this one light bulb at a time."

So visit 350.org.

Tell your friends, family and workmates about the problem: 350. That's three-fifty.

 

And then tell them about 350.org too.

(The inspiration and most of the copy for this post came from a true sustainable guru, No Impact Man. He is really walking the talk. You can visit him at No Impact Man )

Comments

[Andrew Hearne]

I'm not certain about the status of carbon trading credits in the US - I know that here in Australia our Government is crunching the numbers on a carbon tax, and that will really balance up the equation for the big consumers of energy and the polluters. Then the whole community will get the size of the impact of carbon footprint.

Checked out your site, Equity Green. Very cool.

Cheers.

[Garrett]

If I am not mistaken, Congress has tabled a measure that would allowing trading carbon credits in the US...probably due to the election this year. Do I understand this correctly or am I up in the night?

[Andrew Hearne]

Exactly Dagny, we surely need to have the Earth as being our highest priority - we will be unable to do anything else without it!.

[Dagny McKinley]

Thanks for helping get this information out. No Impact Man is an amazing individual! Hopefully we'll all get our priorties in line with the Earth being highest on our list.

Dagny McKinley
www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel

[Dagny McKinley]

Thanks for helping get this information out. No Impact Man is an amazing individual! Hopefully we'll all get our priorties in line with the Earth being highest on our list.

Dagny McKinley
www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel

[Dagny McKinley]

Thanks for helping get this information out. No Impact Man is an amazing individual! Hopefully we'll all get our priorties in line with the Earth being highest on our list.

Dagny McKinley
www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel

[Dagny McKinley]

Thanks for helping get this information out. No Impact Man is an amazing individual! Hopefully we'll all get our priorties in line with the Earth being highest on our list.

Dagny McKinley
www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel

[Andrew Hearne]

Thanks Alex glad to spread the word. Liked your interview with Bill McKibben. Looking forward to following the story.

[Alex Steed]

This is a great awareness post. Thanks for it.

I was fortunate to interview Mr. McKibben about his activism tactics and the work that they're doing on the Internet. We featured it on the site this morning.