The European Climate Foundation's principles for systemic change

The necessary principles for systemic change and action on climate change according to Johannes Meier, CEO of the European Climate Foundation, who was speaking at the Carbon Disclosure Project's 2011 Global Forum. To view event highlights, or the CDP Global Forum in its entirety, please visit www.cdproject.net

Reducing carbon emissions 75% by 2050 is like...

Reducing carbon emissions 75% by 2050 is like agreeing to stop smoking by the time your lung cancer becomes inoperable...

External Media

Online Climate Atlas

Here is the only online climate atlas. It has been designed by the chief mapmaker for Environmental Defense Fund. Amazing information!
www.climateatlas.wordpress.com/

Links: 

http://www.climateatlas.wordpress.com/

External Media

Acidic oceans

The acidity of the ocean has increased by 30% since pre-industrial times and is predicted to double by 2100 because of increased uptake of CO2 according to expatriate Australian Australia’s leading oceanographer, Dr Tony Haymet, former Chief of Marine and Atmospheric Science at CSIRO, now director of the prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Vice Chancellor of Marine Sciences at the University of California.

Increasing the amount of CO2 in the oceans causes an increase in hydrogen carbonate ions, HCO3-, but a decrease in carbonate CO22- which organisms need to make calcium carbonate shells and other structures.

The predicted acidity increase will have unknown consequences for marine life and ecosystems such as coral reefs, tiny marine organisms called pteropods, and fish larvae to name but three.

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Acidic oceans

Carbon dioxide levels threaten oceans regardless of global warming

Regardless to the truth of the idea of human-caused climate change, carbon dioxide growth in the oceans is still a problem. This is from a study published in the March 9, 2007, issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters authored by Ken Caldeira from the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University and Long Cao and Atul Jain of the University of Illinois. Increasing absorption of carbon dioxide is acidifying global oceans, because carbon dioxide absorbed into water becomes carbonic acid. This is putting sea life at risk because carbonic acid is a corrosive agent, which can eat away shells of important species in the global food chain. This would disrupt the food chain of the creatures we hunt in the oceans for our seafood supplies.

Scientists estimate that the oceans have soaked up about half of all carbon dioxide produced from fossil fuel emissions over the past 200 years. Had oceans not absorbed this carbon, current atmospheric carbon dioxide would be much higher than the current 381 parts-per-million (ppm)--probably closer to 500-600 ppm say climatologists.

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Carbon dioxide levels threaten oceans regardless of global warming