Transcript The Global Climate Crisis

The Global Climate Crisis
What Can We Do to Help Mitigate its Impact?
Climate Warming:
New Records
 The global crisis of warming and disruption is accelerating at
an alarming rate
 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded
 July of 2015 was the hottest month ever recorded since data
collection started in 1880
 New heat levels are recorded on 3 continents this year:
Europe, Asia and South America
Extreme Weather In U.S.
2015
 August: in California and 9 other western states, 100
wildfires burned simultaneously
 35,000 firefighters, plus hundreds of National Guard and
U.S. Military troops have been required to contain these
fires
 California drought continues into the 4th year
Canada and Alaska
Summer 2015
 Over 12 million acres of forest and tundra have been
burning in wildfires
 Jet stream has blown the smoke over the Arctic Sea ice pack
 Arctic is already warming twice as fast as the rest of the
world
 Warm smoke will further accelerate the melting of this large
body of sea ice
The Consequences
 This could result in unstoppable melting of Arctic and
Greenland ice sheets
 This will raise sea levels from 4 to 10 feet by 2050
 Flooding of coastal towns around all continents
 Obliterating inhabited islands
 Populations will be forced to move to very different
environments
The Timetable?
 Our climate is now changing ten times faster than at any
time in history
 Science Magazine recently warned that the oceans and all
marine life will be “irreversibly changed”unless there are
immediate and dramatic cuts in carbon dioxide and
methane emissions
Warming Projections
 These worsening climate impacts caused by anthropogenic
behaviors are not sustainable
 A study by Global Sustainability Institute in the UK’s Anglia
Ruskin University shows that based on plausible climate
trends and a failure to change course, the global food supply
system will face catastrophic losses within the next 30 to 40
years
History and predictions: CO2
Emissions
Time history of atmospheric Carbon
Dioxide by CIRES and NOAA along with
interviews with known Scientists, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UatUD
nFmNTY
A Sense of Urgency
 There is time to mitigate some of the worst predictions if we
act now
 We must get off fossil fuels ASAP
 Our greatest obstacles to mitigation of climate warming are
NOT technological or economic, they are political
 More than 130 members of the U.S. Congress still refuse
to accept the scientific data on climate warming
Some Good News!
 Public attitudes are changing (NYT, 1/30/15)
 66% of Americans say they are more likely to vote for
political candidates who campaign on fighting climate
change
 67% of Americans– including 48% of Republicans– said they
were less likely to vote for a candidate who said that humancaused climate change was a hoax
 In September 2014: 400,000 concerned citizens
demonstrated in New York to encourage global leaders to
commit to bold actions to mitigate climate warming
Recent Positive Actions
 Major planning to address mitigation of climate warming
includes:
 Global Climate Meeting in Paris, December 2015, has been
called by Secretary General of the UN. Each of the world
leaders will be asked to commit to binding limits on warming
emissions to meet the global objective of preventing global
warming from exceeding 2°C or 3.6°F
Actions Enough?
 The 2°C is the political warming limit established by world
leaders in 2010 (not a limit set by scientists)
 The global temperature has now reached 1°C, and we see
the climate disruptions at this level
 It is understood that exceeding 2°C would bring
catastrophic climate disruptions
More and Bolder Actions are Needed:
The Pope’s Encyclical
 Pope Francis recently published his Climate Encyclical
(letter) “Laudato Si”
 It is the most significant social teaching document by the
Catholic Church since 1891
 His intention: “to cause enormous conversation” and
“provoke BOLD actions”
 The encyclical is a review of the ecology of life that sustains
us all and it asks that all religious organizations put “care for
creation at the center of their teachings and actions”
Now an Interfaith Appeal
 Along with the Pope’s letter to 1.2 billion Catholics..
The Islamic leaders have issued an Islamic Declaration
on Climate, 2015; a call to 1.6 billion Muslims to
“phase out greenhouse gas emissions ASAP and to
commit to 100% RE as early as possible”.
A Rabbinic Letter on Climate Crisis, 2015 was
published at about the same time as the Encyclical.
The EPA Clean Power Plan
 On August 3, 2015, President Obama announced final rules
to limit carbon pollution from existing power plants
 These are achievable targets to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030
 U.S. power plants are the largest source of carbon emissions
and account for 40% of CO2 annually
EPA New Rules Cont.
 It was necessary for President Obama to use “executive
orders” to implement the Clean Power Plan (CPP)
 Congress stays divided and has not passed any
environmental legislation in 20 years
 Resistance is intense
Political and Corporate
Resistance
 Major oil, coal companies and climate deniers are spending billions in
advertising and lobbying efforts to block implementation of the Clean
Power Plan (CPP)
 Twelve states– all led by Republican governors– have filed a lawsuit
against the EPA to block the implementation of the CPP
 Republican congressional representatives are trying to pass legislation
that would cut the budget of the EPA and block funding to implement
the CPP
 Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, sent a letter to all 50
governors telling them to ignore President Obama’s directive to
implement the CPP
President Obama:
The Positive And Negative
 We strongly support President Obama for his actions to
reduce carbon emissions
 His directive to the EPA to implement the CPP in all 50 states
 His discussions and agreement with China to limit their carbon
emissions
 His agreement with the automotive industry to increase MPG
vehicle efficiency over the coming year
President Obama:
The Positive And Negative Cont.
 However, we were disappointed by his recent concessions to the fossil
fuel industry. We ask him to facilitate an agreement that the Arctic be
designated a permanent Nature Preserve by collective agreement of the
Nordic Council.
 After data reported on the highly toxic methane gas escaping 8 times
faster into the atmosphere during the fracking process:
 He did not call for an immediate halt to fracking or even a temporary
halt to assess for a possible correction.
 His inconsistent behaviors will deter his credibility with other nations
at a time when his leadership is desperately needed, as we approach
the UN Global Climate Conference in Paris, December 2015.
Carbon Tax & Dividend or
Cap and Trade
 Cap and Trade
 Tax and Invest
 Tax and Dividend
 Know the difference between these strategies: some
effectively reduce carbon emissions and others do not!
They are vastly different political and economic
strategies that purport to reduce CO2 emissions.
Proposed Solutions
 Keep It In the Ground Project of The Guardian, go to:
[email protected] and see link to video; “Can
the Sun Cool Down the Earth?” a 1 minute story.
 The Solutions Project of Stanford University: See the
50 States/50 Plans by Mark Jacobson and university
engineers.
The Clean Jobs Bill
(Pending Legislation in Springfield)
 To expand wind and solar power in Illinois
 It ramps up energy efficiency programs and reduces power
consumption by 20%
 It adds 32,000 new jobs in Illinois
 85 members of the Illinois General Assembly are cosponsors or have signed on to this legislation (58 in the
House and 27 in the Senate)
Additional Information
 CAPA has placed a high priority on Climate Change. See past,
present and planned Climate Warming Activities, go to: (add
link
).
 For more information on climate warming by known climate
scientists and journalists and for actions to take: Go to
“Chipeaceaction.org. Then go to the “Climate Tool Kit”. Share
any of these tools with your friends/organizations.
 And, share your thoughts with us at [email protected]
or contact Jack Kelly at: [email protected] or M. Catherine
Buntin at: [email protected]