Obama, Our Climate-Change Leader

We have been dawdling along about fighting global warming. It took a long time for scientists to convince us that there is catastrophe ahead if we do nothing. Even now that the vast majority of us is convinced of the need for action, we have been doing nothing. Worse than nothing: we’ve been guzzling gas and building coal-fired plants left and right. Now President-elect Obama promises fast change.

For years we have been uncertain as to when the tipping point would come. By tipping point I mean the year where carbon emission particles are so many that it would be almost impossible to prevent calamity regardless of what we do. We have been assuming the tipping point to be about 550 ppm (parts per million), though many scientist have pegged the tipping point at 450 ppm. We figured we had time. Very little time, but time.

But now we find out that we do not have any time at all since today carbon emission particles are at 385 ppm and according to James Hansen, the most knowledgeable scientist on this subject:

James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Hansen says the EU target of 550 parts per million of C02 - the most stringent in the world - should be slashed to 350ppm. He argues the cut is needed if “humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilisation developed”.

And Bush pays no attention. Congress pays no attention. Americans pay no attention. Something will happen we think. But nothing will happen without action. Finally we have a real leader that will take charge of the climate change problem: Barack Obama:

Obama on Tuesday issued a video message to a climate change conference held in California by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying he would establish annual targets to reduce U.S. carbon emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020, and aim to lower them another 80 percent by 2050.

Let’s hope it is not too late. Nobody knows the future but we are sure that the temperature will keep on rising, the icebergs will keep on melting and the sea level will keep on rising. I can’t wait for Obama to lead us out of our apathy.