Rated
May 01 2009
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1 review
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environment, global warming
• csmonitor.com
Preventing a 2-degree C temperature rise = almost no fossil fuel
By Judy Lowe
04.30.09
From the page: "Also published in Nature was another study by scientists at England's Oxford University. Most of the climate goals currently being considered by various countries include slowing carbon dioxide emissions by a certain amount during the next five or six years and a larger amount by 2050. But that isn't good enough, warns Oxford scientists, who say: "Emitting carbon dioxide slower will not prevent dangerous climate change unless it involves phasing out carbon dioxide emissions altogether."
"To avoid dangerous climate change, we will have to limit the total amount of carbon we inject into the atmosphere, not just the emission rate in any given year," explains Dr. Myles Allen of the Oxford physics department. "Climate policy needs an exit strategy: as well as reducing carbon emissions now, we need a plan for phasing out net emissions entirely."
What that translates to in real terms is that instead of the 80 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions envisioned by the Obama administration, the US would really need a 90 to 95 percent reduction, according to Bill Hare, study coauthor at the Potsdam Institute."
