« Time for Plan B: Cutting carbon emissions 80 percent by 2020
By Lester R. Brown, Janet Larsen, Jonathan G. Dorn, and Frances C. Moore;
Courtesy of Earth Policy Institute
Originally published Jul. 2008
By Lester R. Brown, Janet Larsen, Jonathan G. Dorn, and Frances C. Moore;
Courtesy of Earth Policy Institute
Originally published Jul. 2008
When political leaders look at the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions to curb global warming, they ask the question: How much of a cut is politically feasible? At the Earth Policy Institute we ask a different question: How much of a cut is necessary to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change?(...)
We cannot afford to let the planet get much hotter. At today’s already elevated temperatures, the massive Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets—which together contain enough water to raise sea level by 12 meters (39 feet)—are melting at accelerating rates. Glaciers around the world are shrinking and at risk of disappearing, including those in the mountains of Asia whose ice melt feeds the continent’s major rivers during the dry season.
Delaying action will only lead to greater damage. It’s time for Plan B. (...)
None of these initiatives depends on new technologies. We know what needs to be done to reduce CO2 emissions 80 percent by 2020. All that is needed now is leadership. »
We cannot afford to let the planet get much hotter. At today’s already elevated temperatures, the massive Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets—which together contain enough water to raise sea level by 12 meters (39 feet)—are melting at accelerating rates. Glaciers around the world are shrinking and at risk of disappearing, including those in the mountains of Asia whose ice melt feeds the continent’s major rivers during the dry season.
Delaying action will only lead to greater damage. It’s time for Plan B. (...)
None of these initiatives depends on new technologies. We know what needs to be done to reduce CO2 emissions 80 percent by 2020. All that is needed now is leadership. »