Last month a new awareness-raising initiative was launched in a bid to sound a final alarm about climate change. The campaign is called One Hundred Months, the name referring to there only being 100 months left (99 now) to make a difference and thereafter the tipping point has been reached.
100 months from 1 August 2008, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will begin to exceed a point whereby it is no longer likely we will be able to avert potentially irreversible climate change. 'Likely' in this context refers to the definition of risk used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to mean that, at that particular level of greenhouse gas concentration, there is only a 66 - 90 per cent chance of global average surface
temperatures stabilising at 2º Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Once this concentration is exceeded, it becomes more and more likely that we will overshoot a 2º C level of warming. This is the maximum acceptable level of temperature rise agreed by the European Union and others as necessary to retain reasonable confidence of preventing uncontrollable and ultimately catastrophic warming. This calculation is believed to be conservative.
Once a critical greenhouse concentration threshold is passed, even if human beings stop releasing additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, global warming is likely to continue. The Earth’s climate may shift into a different state (i.e. different ocean circulation, wind and rainfall patterns) with potentially catastrophic implications for life on Earth. Such a change in the state of the climate system is often referred to as irreversible climate change.
temperatures stabilising at 2º Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Once this concentration is exceeded, it becomes more and more likely that we will overshoot a 2º C level of warming. This is the maximum acceptable level of temperature rise agreed by the European Union and others as necessary to retain reasonable confidence of preventing uncontrollable and ultimately catastrophic warming. This calculation is believed to be conservative.
Once a critical greenhouse concentration threshold is passed, even if human beings stop releasing additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, global warming is likely to continue. The Earth’s climate may shift into a different state (i.e. different ocean circulation, wind and rainfall patterns) with potentially catastrophic implications for life on Earth. Such a change in the state of the climate system is often referred to as irreversible climate change.
To stay informed of what you can do to help make a difference in the last 99 months before things change forever, sign up at onehundredmonths.org.
16 comments:
this is really scary. i just read the report and although it's a bit thin, it drives the point home.
everyone, sign up for this and do what you can.
That's 2898 days left. Scary indeed. Out of that it'll probably take 300 or so to spread the word then only 2500 to make a difference. Let's spread this around asap.
1st September is round the corner, then we're already one month down. come on guys..
this frightens me. pls everyone do it. i signed up and they only send monthly emails. we have to save the future. hurricanes, cyclones and glaciers melting are already happening imagine how bad it'll be when things get worse.
thanks for alterting us to this, i'm gonna sign up today. this blog rocks. let's save the world.
99 months! I'm doing everything I can between now and xmas. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE everyone do this. Let's not wait for something apolcalyptic to happen before we change. We can make the difference now. Use sustaniable transport, support the right causes and change the world.
hello UKers!
Great to see you making this effort. I hope we can change and help the future. I know we pollute loads here in the US but we are doing our bit too. This report is scary I hope we can make this change and difference.
I'll always support the green cause. You guys re awesome.
Allison Braddock, Austin, TX
I didn't know this. Thanks for the info. Keep up the good work. I'll see what I can do to raise awareness about it too from here. See you on film..
how depressing. Why isn't this public knowledge?? Why can't the govt do something about this and force change? polls be damned, take action and responsibility and make people change so we can stop this.
can you guys get nicky to be involved in this? she's an icon!
can you guys get nicky to be involved in this? she's an icon!
I've signed up and got my first email. It's brilliant. Everyone please sign up. Thanks for alerting us to this.
Yesterday, European leaders began making decisions on how they might lead the world in action on climate change. Initial feedback has been positive, but we're still holding our breath. We'll share more information on exactly what's been agreed next month. One thing's for sure, we'll need to keep the pressure on.
There have been some big changes in UK politics. In the face of economic and climate meltdown, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been reshuffling his political playmates. We have a new Minister, specifically in charge of Energy and Climate Change - Ed Milliband. OneHundredMonths partner, The World Development Movement, have put together a 'One Hundred Days' challenge for Ed.
Go to onehundredmonths.org everyone and sign up! Your support can save us all!
Already have!
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