Pioneers of Climate Science

Global War and Global Warming

Carbon dioxide and methane are greenhouse gases. They trap heat the earth receives from the sun instead of letting it radiate back into space. Human activities - driving cars, growing cows, heating and lighting our homes, have increased the quantities of these gases to levels the earth has not experienced in millions of years.

Snows of Kilimanjaro - February 1993 and February 2000

To say that the earth's average temperature has increased by one degree Centigrade doesn't begin to tell the story. In the arctic, the temperature increase is several degrees - enough to make the difference between stable ice and rapid net loss of ice. In north Africa, the desert is expanding, leading to famine and conflict. The sea level is rising, with consequences for low lying, densely populated areas like New Orleans, the Netherlands, and Bangladesh.

There is no easy solution. Even if we made the switch today to renewable energy, we have already set in motion processes that will continue for centuries. When you hear a projection like, "three feet of sea level rise by 2100," remember that 2100 is an arbitrarily chosen point in time - it won't stop there. If we agreed on the urgency, could we make that switch in a few years? If we invested in the science, could we find a way to undo the damage? What is the time frame of our moral obligation to future generations? 5 years (ourselves)? 50 years (our grandchildren)? 500 years (generations yet unborn and the very existence of the human race)?