Al Gore

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The Climate Crisis Is the Battle of Our Time, and We Can Win

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, but then they happen much faster than you thought they could.

The destructive impacts of the climate crisis are now following the trajectory of that economics maxim as horrors long predicted by scientists are becoming realities.

More destructive Category 5 hurricanes are developing, monster fires ignite and burn on every continent but Antarctica, ice is melting in large amounts there and in Greenland, and accelerating sea-level rise now threatens low-lying cities and island nations.

Tropical diseases are spreading to higher latitudes. Cities face drinking-water shortages. The ocean is becoming warmer and more acidic, destroying coral reefs and endangering fish populations that provide vital protein consumed by about a billion people.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza, ,

It is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid the reality that the days of coal as a source of energy are numbered. In a world where carbon emissions will increasingly have to be constrained, coal, as the dirtiest of the fossil fuels, is the energy asset most vulnerable to becoming “stranded” – the most vulnerable, in other words, to seeing its market value collapse well ahead of its previously anticipated useful life.

This new economic and political reality is already being shaped by the fast-growing global support for the enforcement of a global “carbon budget”. This idea, first proposed six years ago and formally endorsed by the International Energy Agency in 2011, has been gaining traction because of the ever-stronger scientific consensus that carbon emissions from human activity is the principal driver of destructive climate change.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.

Of course, we would still need to deal with the national security risks of our growing dependence on a global oil market dominated by dwindling reserves in the most unstable region of the world, and the economic risks of sending hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas in return for that oil. And we would still trail China in the race to develop smart grids, fast trains, solar power, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources of energy — the most important sources of new jobs in the 21st century.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, ,

La estimulante y novedosa opción que ha tomado el pueblo estadounidense al elegir a Barack Obama como nuestro 44º presidente sienta las bases de otra decisión trascendental que él, y todos nosotros, hemos de tomar el próximo mes de enero: la de iniciar un rescate de emergencia de la Humanidad ante la amenaza inminente y galopante que plantea la crisis climática. La revolucionaria idea de la Declaración de Independencia americana de que todos los seres humanos nacen iguales, es hoy el marco en el que se produce la renovación del liderazgo estadounidense en un mundo que necesita, desesperadamente, proteger su legado esencial: la integridad y habitabilidad del planeta.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, , ,

The inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he — and we — must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis.

The electrifying redemption of America’s revolutionary declaration that all human beings are born equal sets the stage for the renewal of United States leadership in a world that desperately needs to protect its primary endowment: the integrity and livability of the planet.

The world authority on the climate crisis, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, after 20 years of detailed study and four unanimous reports, now says that the evidence is “unequivocal.”…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza

Nosotros, la especie humana, hemos llegado a un momento en el que hay que tomar una decisión. Imaginar que podamos realizar una elección consciente como tal especie es algo que no tiene precedentes, que incluso nos resulta risible, pero ése es, sin embargo, el problema que se nos plantea. Nuestro hogar, la Tierra, está en peligro. Lo que corre el riesgo de ser destruido no es el planeta como tal, sino las condiciones que lo han hecho habitable para los seres humanos. Sin darnos cuenta de las consecuencias de lo que hacemos, hemos empezado a arrojar tal cantidad de dióxido de carbono en la delgada capa de aire que rodea nuestro mundo que literalmente hemos modificado el equilibrio calórico entre la Tierra y el Sol.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

We — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision. It is unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is before us.

Our home — Earth — is in danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.

Without realizing the consequences of our actions, we have begun to put so much carbon dioxide into the thin shell of air surrounding our world that we have literally changed the heat balance between Earth and the Sun.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

The pursuit of "dominance" in foreign policy led the Bush administration to ignore the UN, to do serious damage to our most important alliances, to violate international law, and to cultivate the hatred and contempt of many in the rest of the world. The seductive appeal of exercising unconstrained unilateral power led this president to interpret his powers under the constitution in a way that brought to life the worst nightmare of the founders. Any policy based on domination of the rest of the world not only creates enemies for the US and recruits for al-Qaida, but also undermines the international cooperation that is essential to defeating terrorists who wish to harm and intimidate America.…  Seguir leyendo »