Duncan – Re: “Global warming hysteria or reverse climate denialist”, Cowichan Valley Citizen, June 19, 2015.
It is small consolation that Dr. Geoff Strong, an atmospheric scientist, rejects Guy McPherson’s suggestion of just two decades, but agrees that global warming may result in the collapse of civilization by the turn of the century, well within the lifetime of our children.
The precise time frame is unknown but America’s leading climatologist, James Hansen, likewise warns that “a devastated, sweltering Earth purged of life” becomes a “tragic certainty” if we allow the unfettered burning of fossil fuels to carry us past now imminent tipping points.
The science is clear; the loss of Arctic sea ice will cause the ocean to warm, eventually releasing frozen methane stored on the sea bed and in the permafrost, thereby initiating runaway global warming that has, in the past, boosted temperatures several degrees over a relatively short period of time.
Rapid change of that magnitude threatens not only civilization but most of humanity, and that is why we need farsighted leaders willing to champion an escalating carbon tax, rapid decarbonization and a binding international agreement to establish equitable CO2 limits for every nation.
Time is short and the chance of success is small, but this is the only hope we truly have of preserving a habitable planet.
Mike Ward
Duncan
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