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SAVE OUR PLANET... Leading climate scientist warns of disaster with 2 degree Celsius temperature
rise. As the 2011 climate summit concluded on Sunday, December 11 in Durban, South Africa,
participants agreed to work toward a legally binding agreement, which would be written
by 2015 and come into effect after 2020. Meanwhile, however, some scientists and environmental
organizations have cautioned that current government pledges to reduce emissions would
not be enough to prevent even a 2-degree global temperature rise, and that more urgent actions
would be needed. Moreover, a new study by Dr. James Hansen and colleagues states that
the 2-degree goal, which is equivalent to around 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide
concentration, is a "prescription for long term disaster" as it points out that a current
concentration of nearly 389 parts per million is already causing climate feedbacks to occur.
In a recent presentation to the American Society of Geophysicists in California, Dr. Hansen,
who is the director of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard
Institute for Space Studies, stated, "We should be aiming to keep CO2 no higher than about
350 parts per million and possibly somewhat less. That is probably necessary if we want
to maintain stable ice sheets and shorelines and avoid many other issues." He went on to
warn against allowing emissions to continue to increase, citing paleoclimate records showing
that 50 million years ago, when CO2 reached 560 parts per million, the ice at both poles
disappeared and the Earth's sea levels were 70 meters higher than they are today. Dr.
Hansen stated, “If we want to maintain a planet that looks like the one humanity has
known, then we're basically out of time. We have got to start reducing emissions.”
Thank you, Dr. James Hansen, for your insightful research indicating a more realistic threshold
of climate safety. May such calls inspire leaders and individuals alike toward rapid
changes to preserve our planet.
In a December 2010 interview in Cancún, Mexico with Encadena TV, Supreme Master Ching Hai
expressed her concern about scientific projections on rising temperatures, while indicating humanity's
most urgently needed countermeasures.
Interview with Supreme Master Ching Hai by Encadena TV
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico – December 9, 2010
Supreme Master Ching Hai: The root is we have to stop the global warming, first of all,
before we even think of anything else. Because if we don’t have the planet, because if
global warming reaches more than two degrees, then we’re in trouble. They say they are
going to increase to five degrees now. They predict like that. Can you imagine? You’ll
be burning! We can never get out of the house, you understand me? (Journalist(f): Yes.) And
then all the crops will die. Too hot.
Journalist(f): And people will die too.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: People die, animals die – not to talk about anything else. And
then disease will spread because of the heat. When everything is so depleted like that,
I don’t think it’s a very good idea. First, have to stop the animal industry to cool the
planet and then everything else we can have time to take care.�