by Ed Schott
Not sure about global warming?
Seems like much ado about nothing?
Does the fact that our oceans have not yet
swallowed up our shoreline have you siding with the doubters? Still waiting for
95 degrees in Denver on Christmas Day before you wave the environmentalist
banner?
For
the latest information on why it just might behoove you to raise the “green”
flag now, join citizens from around the planet on Sat., Oct. 24, for 350: A
Global Day of Climate Action.
Dozens of different events have been planned by neighborhood groups,
environmental organizations, religious communities and individuals. The number
of 350 events planned in this area rank Denver among the 15 most
environmentally active cities in the world. On Oct. 24, a major rally and
public call to witness for climate change action will be held on the west steps
of the Colorado State Capitol, 200 E. Colfax Ave. Music begins at 3:30p.m.;
photos for the 350.org international website will
be taken at 3:50p.m.
The
number 350 refers to the maximum level of carbon dioxide (350 parts per
million) that scientists have identified our atmosphere can accommodate without
contributing to global warming. Tests have shown the current CO2 level to be in
the neighborhood of 390ppm.
So,
if we’re so close to a safe level, what’s the big deal? Consider this: after
even the heaviest winter storm, it does not take a summer-like heat wave to
begin melting the snow. As soon as either the ambient air temperature or the
heat from direct sunlight causes the temperature of the fallen snow to rise
above 32 degrees, the landscape begins to change.
It
starts as a simple drip from the rooftop snowmelt running down into the gutters
and onto terra firma, and as the temperature continues to rise, the simple drip
turns into a steady flow, until the flow changes to a torrent of water following
the direction of the gutter to the nearest storm drain.
Yes,
the process goes faster and more furious should we have a freak 70-degree day
shortly after the storm, but with the smallest rise above freezing, the
landscape will begin to transform.
Interpolated to a more global level, the science
is very convincing that things are changing (www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange
– the Hadley Centre website – is a good source for some of the most recent
scientific findings).
Due
largely to increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the
last 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth’s surface has
risen a little less than 1 degree Celsius. While that may not seem like much,
many scientists believe it is a major contributor to the rash of storms, floods
and forest fires that have increasingly filled the nightly news in the last 10
years.
Climatologists
are concerned not only about how much the Earth is warming, but also about how
fast it is warming. Out of the 20 warmest years on record, 19 have occurred
since 1980. As global warming skeptics will remind us, there have always been
natural climate changes – ice ages and the warm times between them – but such major
shifts evolved over periods of 50,000 to 100,000 years, not mere decades.
Measurements
of carbon dioxide taken at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii show the amount of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from about 313 ppm in 1960 to
about 390 ppm in 2008. It is estimated that, left unchallenged, atmospheric CO2
levels will continue to rise about 2 ppm per year.
Eco-Justice
advocate Peter Sawtell notes, “The call to 350 does not come with any explicit
policy details. It is not an endorsement of cap-and-trade instead of a carbon
tax, a stand for or against nuclear power, or an answer to the conflicting
justice claims of poor and rich nations. 350 just says that those sort of
questions have to be addressed – right now. 350 sets the standard that must be used in answering the hard
questions. What strategies and policies will get our beloved planet back to a
safe level of greenhouse gases? How quickly can those changes be made?”
350Denver
partner organizations, committed to participation in the Capitol rally, and
affirming the principles of the 350 cause, include: Eco-Justice Ministries
(lead organizer and fiscal sponsor); Colorado Council of Churches; Colorado
Interfaith Power and Light; Denver Inner City Parish; Energy Committee of the
Rocky Mountain Chapter, Sierra Club; Environment Colorado; Green Jobs
Interfaith Network; Green Team Project, Denver; the Grow Local Colorado
Campaign; and Transition Denver. For information about Denver’s 350 day events,
visit www.350Denver.org
or www.350.org,
or call 303-715-3873. |
