The IPCC predicted a sea level rise of 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century, which could flood low-lying areas and force millions to flee. But more recent research presented at the conference suggested that melting glaciers and ice sheets could help push the sea level up at least 20 inches, and possibly as much as 39 inches. "Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change with poor nations and communities particularly at risk," the statement said.
--"Climate experts warn of 'irreversable' shifts," msnbc.com
How many times must we be told? Over how long a period of time? Yet, like children, we cannot be depended upon to exercise common sense and responsibility. Rather, we must always wait until our toys are damaged, our fingers burned, or more to the point, the rising tides of global warming lap up on our doorsteps. And then amid an enraged, flailing fit of resentful blame-mongering, we will point our stretched-out index fingers in every direction but our own. We could pray to be saved from the childish irresponsibility that seems so often the predictable response of our human nature. But all we do is find holes to stick our heads in.
Yet the evidence keeps washing into the holes of our refuge. From the msnbc.com article:
Hundreds of leading climate scientists wrapped up a three-day conference with a warning Thursday that global warming is accelerating beyond the worst predictions and threatening to trigger "irreversible" shifts on the planet."The worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories (or even worse) are being realized," a team of scientists wrote in a concluding statement.
It noted that policy-makers already have a range of tools to mitigate global warming. "But they must be vigorously and widely implemented to achieve the societal transformation required to de-carbonize economies," it said.
And in these difficult economic times, President Obama's ability to see a unique opportunity to deal with the pressing need for healthcare reform and energy diversification finds support among some conference particpants:
Earlier Thursday, British economist Nicholas Stern, the author of a major British government report detailing the cost of climate change, told the conference that the global recession presents an opportunity to build a more energy-efficient economy. "Coming out of this we have got to lay the foundations for a low-carbon growth, which is going to be like the railways, like the electricity, like the motorcars, this is going to be over the next two, three decades the big driver in investment," Stern said.
The conference leaders called out desperately for political leadership and action among the world's largest nations, and stressed the importance of a sense of immediacy in doing so. But why do I have the sense that the tone of desperation they felt necessary is the strongest, most dispiriting indicator that their message continues to fall largely on deaf ears? In my 2006 essay, "Cassandra's Tears," I addressed at length the larger politcal and human issues of global warming. It was on this note that I ended:
But if views are now changing, will they change fast enough? Leading voices and most people are starting to call for remedial action. It is surely time to agree on a plan, the course and scope of our action, and the need to effect it now. But if we continue to delay, or further allow delay, and those in authority fail to act or prescribe too little, who can we then blame? By then, all we can do, the only act of honesty left to us, is to look in the mirror with despair and resignation, and recognize in ourselves both the face of Apollo’s resentful self-interest and that of Cassandra’s tears.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29658424/
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