Lord Noel Says "We're ALL Going To DIE!"

Whatto! Environmentalists.....

On Thursday, 22 October 2009, a single tonne of anthracite coal was unveiled in the Science Museum in London as part of a new exhibition on climate change.

The Science Museum, London, and University of Oxford are committed to looking after it for as long as it takes, and solemnly escorting it down to a power station or wherever it can be used most efficiently when total carbon emissions from human activity reach one trillion (that's 1,000,000,000,000!) tonnes.

The trillionth tonne matters because carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere. Once released, it continues to influence the climate more or less indefinitely unless active measures are taken to scrub it out again, which is not something anyone knows how to do on any scale.

  

Over the past couple of decades, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels have risen by an average of 1.6% per year

This is estimated to have caused just under 1C (1.8F) of global warming.

So if we release another 500 billion tonnes, we commit the Earth to a warming of between 2C and 4C, which is the threshold for dangerous climate change, and a rubicon that governments of G8 countries and other major economies pledged this year not to cross.

If these trends continue, which is a relatively conservative "business-as-usual" scenario, we will release the trillionth tonne sometime in the 2040s......

........but that date is steadily advancing, as the underlying trend shows that we are speeding up in recent years.

So, will the Science Museum only have to look after this tonne of coal for less than 40 years?

That rather depends.........

......the climate negotiations in Copenhagen appear to have already stalled without anyone reaching any agreement on what should be done......

.....and the levels agreed at the 'Kyoto Agreement' (never agreed to by the USA) were never achieved.....

.....so it's not looking good for Planet Earth right now.

If governments are seriously committed to limiting global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures, then must preserve the "trillionth tonne", not just until 2020 or 2050, but until the whole issue of climate change is ancient history.

The longer we put off reducing emissions, the faster they will have to fall to stay within the same total - just as dithering before you leave the house pushes up the speed you need to pedal to make your appointment.

And eventually, if you dither long enough, you simply won't make it.

Tallyho!

Have you ever had to save a planet from environmental disaster?

Best Wishes - Lord Noel & Lady Jacqueline