Moving Beyond Kyoto
Al Gore has an op-ed in today's edition of the New York Times...
WE — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision. It is unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is before us.
Our home — Earth — is in danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.
Without realizing the consequences of our actions, we have begun to put so much carbon dioxide into the thin shell of air surrounding our world that we have literally changed the heat balance between Earth and the Sun. If we don’t stop doing this pretty quickly, the average temperature will increase to levels humans have never known and put an end to the favorable climate balance on which our civilization depends.
Click here for the rest.
Haloscan comment thread
I blogged about this op-ed piece on my website Is It Getting Warmer? as well.
ReplyDeleteI wish Mr. Gore well in his efforts to have a successful concert and I hope that the careers of the entertainers prosper.
I do have some problems with some of Mr. Gore's statements regarding comparisons to other planetary bodies. He is walking a thin line doing comparisons with Venus and Mercury and opens himself up to a host of arguments. Can you just hear Jay Leno: "News flash from Venus - SUVs are no longer allowed on the streets of the cities in Venus." He also gives credibility to others to discuss the warming on other planetary bodies (which I have also blogged about).
Also, what happened to Mr. Gore's claims of calamity if we don't do dramatic changes? There was a little bit here but I would have expected more.