Global Warming

Unchecked global warming will be devastating for the world economy and will create misery, diseases, hunger for millions. This disaster will not occur in the remote future but will begin to unfold in our lifetime and worsen during our children’s. Should we silently pass this dilemma to our children or do we reassert our responsibility? Is it time to implicate the financial cost of the fossil based power generation in meeting our future needs? According to Dr. Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute “We are on a slippery slope, we could cross a threshold that leads to a drastically different planet, half a century before knowing we have done so”. Scientific data shows that we are horrifyingly close to such a threshold.

The recently released British Government’s “Stern Report” including all other credible sources portrays a bleak scenario for the world economy and the life sustaining ecosystems. If we do not act now our children have to pay between 5 to 20 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) each year for our unchecked fossil fuel based life style. Taking action now will cost only 1% of the world GDP to control climate change.

It is our social and moral responsibility to act at an individual, family, community, business and corporate level now to save the future of our children. Our actions will accelerate the efforts at the political and federal levels and international fronts. We have a small window of opportunity to stabilize the planet’s carbon dioxide (CO2) level between 450 – 550 parts per million (ppm) by 2050 if we begin now. With business as usual, CO2 levels will exceed from current 380 ppm to more than 550 ppm as early as 2040 causing earth temperature to increase 2-6 Fahrenheit. The temperature increase of 1 degree Fahrenheit in the last century has already unleashed extreme weather patterns and the consequences of further increase would be disastrous and irreversible.