CLIMATE SCIENCE AND

IMPACTS
What do we know
about climate
change?
 1. CO2 and other greenhouse gases
trap heat from the sun in our
atmosphere.

THE GREENHOUSE
EFFECT
 Before the Industrial
Revolution, for thousands of
years, the amount of
carbon in the atmosphere
was at 287ppm
Now, after three centuries of burning
coal, oil, and gas, we're at 390ppm –
that’s above any levels we’ve seen in
recorded history.
 2. We also know that CO2 influences
global temperature
Where we’ll be mid-century if we keep this up 550ppm? More?
Parts per Million

TODAY: 390ppm
CO2

EARLY 1900S

CO2 in PPM
LAST ICE AGE

GLOBAL
TEMPERATURE

Years ago
look how the temperature line follows CO2
concentrations throughout history
The most startling evidence yet…
 is the MELTING OF THE ARCTIC.

New predictions
Satellite
observations
Mean IPCC prediction
% change in ice

Most likely change

(melt)
IPCC range
Actual observed
cover

melting

it has melted
nearly
80 YEARS
ahead of when
scientists
predicted
YEAR
“If humanity wishes to preserve a
planet similar to that on which
civilization developed and to which
life on Earth is adapted,
paleoclimate evidence and ongoing
climate change suggest that CO2 will
need to be reduced from its current
387ppm to at most 350ppm.”

- NASA climatologist
Dr. James E. Hansen,
2008
 CO2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE
PARTS PER MILLION CO2

WE’RE HERE: 390

WE NEED TO BE HERE: 350

YEAR
 The largest research project in
history: In 1988, the IPCC was
created to “provide the decision-makers
and others interested in climate change
with an objective source of information
about climate change”
 SCIENTISTS

NEW REPORTS EVERY 4 YEARS

WON THE NOBEL PRIZE
IN 2007 WITH AL GORE
 We have warmed our planet more
than 1°C and are already observing
major impacts and changes in our
climate.
 Do we really want to see what
happens if we keep going? We will
face increasingly severe impacts
GLACIER
S ARE
MELTING
MUIR & RIGGS GLACIER 1941
MUIR & RIGGS GLACIER 2004
PEDERSEN GLACIER, AK 1920
PEDERSEN GLACIER, AK 2005
SEA LEVELS ARE RISING

Sea Level Change (cm)

Three Year Average
Satellite Altimetry

Year
OCEANS
ARE
ACIDIFYIN
Coral reefs are
bleaching
WEATHER IS
BECOMING
MORE
EXTREME
“1,000 years
Australia suffers worst drought in

”
- Guardian UK, Nov 7, 2008
 “ U.S.
dealing
with
Katrina’s
wrath as

”
death toll
soars.
- International Herald Tribune
August 31, 2005
 number of major floods per decade
MAJOR FLOODS PER DECADE
And now we’re seeing the results - we
can see that measurable, recorded
impacts are happening now all around
us.
Chapare, Bolivia
Lahore, Pakistan
Small
islands
are
sinking or
eroding
“ ”
“Rapid Warming’
Spreads Havoc in
Canada’s Forests.
- Washington Post, March 1,
“
Australia fires spark
calls for CLIMATE
ACTION
- Washington Post, March 1,
Moscow, Russia
the disappearance of

SMALL
ISLANDS
severely impacted
LOCAL
STERN REVIEW, 2006

“
The most comprehensive
review ever carried out on the
economics of climate change
warns that global warming
could inflict worldwide
disruption as great as that
caused by the two World
Wars and the Great
Depression.
- Environmental News
Service
THE DISRUPTION OF FOOD
PRODUCTION

“The world has never faced such

a predictably massive threat to
food production as that posed by

”
the melting mountain glaciers of
Asia

- Lester Brown, Earth Policy

Institute, Author of Plan B
A HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS AND
INSTABILITY

“ Climate change could force

1 BILLION

”
from their homes by 2050.

- April 30, 2008, The

Independent.
WHAT ARE SOME
CLIMATE IMPACTS IN
YOUR COUNTRIES?
CLIMATE POLITICS
 UNFCCC, United Nations
Framework Convention on
Climate Change was created at
the Rio Earth Summit

COPENHAGEN

RIO
 Ratified Treaty
KYOTO PROTOCOL 1997 Didn’t Ratify
Signed, Ratification Pending
No Position
 COP 12 Montreal, Canada 2005

Each year there is a two-week

Conference of the Parties
(COP) to discuss the terms of the
Kyoto Treaty
 2009’s COP in Copenhagen was
important. The Kyoto Protocol’s first
term ends in 2012, and governments
were supposed to agree to new
terms for a treaty in Copenhagen.
DECEMBER 2009
we learned a few
things in
Copenhagen…
…there is an
enormous citizen’s
movement around
…that included tens of thousands
inside the conference center,
hundreds of thousands outside,…
 …and hundreds of thousands more
taking action in solidarity around the
world.
There are real government champions
too, like President Nasheed of the
Maldives.
In fact, 117 of the most vulnerable
island and African nations were
supporting 350ppm, saying it is
'necessary for their survival’,
…yet they were not the 117 that have the
power. The biggest, most powerful
emitters were not ready to really take
action.
 At the end of the conference, despite
a lot of pressure, the rich countries
refused to commit to what scientific
findings indicate is necessary… so
what next?
WHERE DOES YOUR
COUNTRY STAND?
SOLUTIONS
so how do we get back
to 350ppm and avoid
climate catastrophe?
IT’S DIFFICULT
BUT NOT
IMPOSSIBLE
IF WE START
IT MEANS PUTTING UP WIND
TURBINES
INSTEAD OF COAL PLANTS
IT MEANS PLANTING TREES
INSTEAD OF CLEAR-CUTTING
RAINFORESTS
AND IMPLEMENTING

A
THOUSAND
DIFFERENT
SOLUTIONS
 that can
create new
jobs
And make our
communities
HEALTHIER
 GETTING TO 350

Pha
seo
PARTS PER MILLION CO2

u to
f co
Im al b
pr y2
ov 030
ed
fo
re
st
ry
Re an
du ds
ce oil
d
oi
l/g
as
us
e

YEAR *Graph from Dr. James Hansen’s

paper on 350ppm. See sources.
According to Jim Hansen and other
scientists the main things we need to do
right away are:

 Stop coal use by 2030

 Improve agricultural and forestry

practices

 Dramatically reduce the use of all

other fossil fuels

If we manage to accomplish these

things, we could get back to 350ppm by
BY TAKING ACTION, WE CAN CALL ON
OUR LEADERS TO MAKE THESE
CHANGES

64 64
AND PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW OUR
COMMUNITIES COULD BE IN A WORLD AT
350PPM
WHAT ARE SOME
CLIMATE SOLUTIONS IN
YOUR COMMUNITY?