As noted previously, increasingly discussion is moving from whether global heating is occurring to solutions. To date most proposals lack the scale and magnitude of impact adequate to address something as massive as the heating of the entire Earth's atmosphere and biosphere. But as the challenge and urgency becomes more apparent, specific global heating proposals are emerging. A new report suggests the world would have to invest one year's economic growth [more] over four decades to reduce carbon emissions sufficiently to avoid catastrophe. To save the climate we must stop burning coal as soon as possible, and certainly build no more coal burning power plants. Promises of coal carbon sequestration [search] are unproven, unlikely to be implemented soon enough, and the amount of carbon found in coal will destroy the atmosphere if released. Humanity must pay to keep natural rainforest habitats intact and their carbon in place as has been done in Bolivia - no more ancient forests can be lost and old-growth forests must be restored. Reasonable solutions exist, but will is lacking.

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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California signed legislation yesterday [more] that imposes the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions and will require major reductions in energy consumption. The legislation requires a gradual rollback of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the state's emissions 25 percent by 2020, to be achieved through many measures including launch of an emissions trading market [search] for businesses to buy and sell pollution credits. Schwarzenegger said during the signing "we will create a whole new industry that will pump up our economy -- a clean-tech industry [search] that creates jobs, sparks new cutting-edge technology and is a model for the rest of the nation." Given that most climate experts believe we have less than a decade to embark upon major emission reductions or else suffer catastrophic ecological collapse, California has shown great courage in leading an intransigent energy addicted nation. There is every indication that as with previous environmental initiatives, California will lead the nation and the world to address climate change.

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Yet again the Bush administration has seen fit to politically censor climate change science [more] according to the journal Nature. There is no appreciable scientific evidence that suggests that humanity's use of fossil fuel is not the primary cause of global heating. Essentially all climate scientists are in agreement and remaining skeptics that climate change is human caused are comprised of President Bush and others on the oil industry payroll. This does not mean that there are not many areas of uncertainty - for example whether hurricanes are more frequent and strengthened by oceans warmed through climate change. There is good scientific debate that is peer reviewed and meticulous, the way science works. Who does Bush think he is to censor the latest round of scientific inquiry from the U.S.'s own National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which suggests global warming is indeed contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes. Some leaders would rather lie, kill and obstruct than lead, provide vision and save the Planet.

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Exxon and others are again being called to task for funding climate skeptics. Fossil fuel front groups have long sought to cloud climate science for the purpose of prolonging windfall profits at the expense of an operarable global climate system. George Monbiot fires the most recent volley in a new book called "Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning" which I intend to review at a later date and in several commentary articles, which make the point Exxon has collaborated with the tobacco company Phillip Morris in the UK to continue a "devastatingly effective... campaign of dissuasion". Where better for big oil to turn for assistance than big tobacco, which has decades of experience lying about the science regarding the dangerousness of its product. It has been suggested that this new book which also took to task Virgin Airlines' fuel inefficiency and the scale of its operation upon the climate was partially responsible for Richard Branson's recent announcement [news search] to fund renewable energy - which for the aviation sector seems far away and perhaps unattainable. All climate criminals will face justice.

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All of us must take personal responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions - particularly carbon dioxide and methane but others as well. Each of us will be able to do various things including getting our lifestyle to be carbon neutral [search] - where you emit no carbon in net total - or even negative through tree planting and care and other sequestring activities, removing more carbon than you emit from the atmosphere. Virgin airline chairman Richard Branson has more opportunities and cash than most. Thus it is appropriate and indeed inspiring that he has committed all profits from his various commercial enterprises, estimated to be some $3 billlion over 10 years, to solving the climate change issue. It is important that we realize that each of us is responsible for doing what we can to reduce emissions. We need 60-75% reductions societally asap and this is best built upon individual initiative. Cut car use and start planting trees!

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Thankfully in our constant climate news tracking we are noting less debate about climate change's existence and proposing of dangerous half-measures, and more scientists, citizens and policy-makers proposing dramatic efforts to cut emissions as fast and as much as possible. For example in a recent speech Al Gore made brave and substantive proposals [more] for an immediate freeze on carbon dioxide emissions and elimination of payroll taxes in favor of pollution taxes - both are not politically easy, but are imaginative and at the scale required to solve the problem. And a Stanford University conference notes that humanity has 500 to 1000 years of fossil fuel, mostly coal, that could be burned. "China alone is building the equivalent of a Manhattan every year and a large coal-fired power plant every week." They propose moving to a "massively carbonless" future by 2050 through increased energy efficiency and massive renewable energy developments. It is vital that these and other measures that are sufficient to actually address and solve the climate crisis are carefully debated, developed and implemented now.

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The London newspaper Independent is reporting that President Bush is "drawing up plans to control emissions of carbon dioxide and rapidly boost the use of renewable energy sources." Given his years of climate change policy obstructionism this is compared to staunch anti-communist Richard Nixon going to China. "The rethink follows increasing pressure on the White House from Republican governors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, the mayors of more than 300 cities, business leaders and Congress." There are rumors an announcement may come this week. Of course this unlikely scenario of President Bush leading on climate change would be welcome - as long as policies are substantial and include mandatory emissions caps and trading. Ecological Internet's Earth Action Network has sent tens of thousands of emails [alert] asking him to do so. What is sad is that it has taken so long and the rumored conversion is politically rather than ethically or ecologically based.

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No time for dilly-dallying - we need to cut carbon emissions dramatically starting yesterday. Drive less, live close to work or work out of your home, hybrids and compact fluorescent light bulbs rock, but ultimately we need to do many more dramatic changes if the atmosphere is to be sustained. New study below reports need to cut carbon emissions 70% by 2030 [more] to avoid the worst aspects of dangerous climate change.

"Greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced far more quickly than was previously thought, says a climate change research institute. A report by the Tyndall Centre said a UK government target of a 60% cut in emissions by 2050 is insufficient and needs to be 70% by 2030. But it requires a major programme of action within the next four years..."

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It is not a good time to be a polar bear. "A new study finds that Arctic sea ice [search] in prime polar bear habitat is breaking up earlier in some cases leading to polar bear drownings, with direct impacts on the species' ability to survive and reproduce." Their usually frozen Arctic Sea ice is melting [more | more2 ]. Sometime soon passage to the North Pole will be by boat only.

"Arctic sea ice is melting in winter far faster than before, two new NASA studies reported Wednesday... Scientists point to the sudden and rapid melting as a sign of man-made global warming... For more than 25 years, Arctic sea ice has slowly diminished in winter by about 1.5 percent per decade. But in the past two years the melting has occurred 10 to 15 times faster."

This sudden and rapid Arctic ice melting as a sure sign of man-made global warming. How many polar bears need to drown before humanity sees that climate change threatens all life forms - and is barreling down on humanity?

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The Toronto Star reports on the increased electricity load caused by the plethera of consumer gadgets including plasma screen TVs, DVD players, computers and iPods. Their observations would hold consistent for most if not all of the developed world. They note:

"The growth of electronics and small appliances in Ontario households over the next 20 years will require the equivalent of two nuclear reactors to keep them powered... 'In the old days, there was one TV (in a home); now there are at least two TVs. It's the same for computers, and that is all reflected here...' According to the paper, the energy consumed by minor appliances will grow to 20.32 terawatt-hours in 2025 from 12.71 terawatt-hours in 2005, representing energy growth of 7.61 terawatt-hours."

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Scientists at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge carrying out a study on the oldest Antarctic ice core [search] have found that the rapid rise in greenhouse gases over the past century is unprecedented in at least 800,000 years [more | more2]. During the period 8 cycles of high carbon dioxide and methane coincided closely with relatively high temperatures associated with warm, inter-glacial periods. It is noted the "rate of change is probably the most scary thing".

"The core shows that carbon dioxide was always between 180 parts per million (ppm) and 300 ppm during the 800,000 years. However, now it is 380 ppm. Methane was never higher than 750 parts per billion (ppb) in this timescale, but now it stands at 1,780 ppb... increases in carbon dioxide never exceeding 30 ppm in 1,000 years -- and yet now carbon dioxide has risen by 30 ppm in the last 17 years."

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The Australian newspaper reports on a leaked draft copy of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) upcoming report, scheduled to be released by 2007 [more]. The IPCC represents the scientific consensus of thousands of climate experts. Compared to IPCC's most recent 2001 report, predicted temperature and sea level rises have a smaller band of uncertainty if CO2 doubles. These "climate sensitivity" predictions are that average global temperatures will increase by about 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 F), with a range of possibilities from 2 C to 4.5 C (in 2001 the range given was 1.4 C to 5.8 C). Sea levels are now predicted to rise between 14 cm and 43 cm (5.5 to 17 inches, (previously range set at none to a meter). Note the newspaper article confuses climate sensitivity and predictions for warming in 2100, and spins the story in a decidely skeptical manner. There is no good news to be found in these findings, if indeed this is the true draft report, as efforts to reduce carbon emissions lag and if trends continue we are almost certainly going to double carbon emission levels before the end of the century, leading to global heating well above the 2 C warming generally acknowledged as "dangerous".

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John Holdren, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, states in a BBC interview that "climate was changing much faster than predicted" and that "the world has already entered a state of dangerous climate change" [more]. There has always been a range of possibilities in the speed and extent of the impacts of climate change. Fossil fuel industries fought ferociously to keep mention of abrupt non-linear climate changes [search], and predictions of the possibilities of the most extreme ocean rise and global heating out of international negotiations. I have just finished reading "Revenge of Gaia" by Lovelock which also argues climate changes are already catastrophic and virtually non-stoppable. I concur with the assessment that the Earth has surpassed its capacity to absorb atmospheric waste and has entered a chaotic period as it seeks a new equilibrium. Climate change is already deadly and out of control and it will get much worse - how bad depending almost entirely upon the speed with which greenhouse gas emissions are cut [search].

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