[Fwd: CEO #8: Honesty About Dangerous Climate Change]

[Eugene Coyle <eugenecoyle@xxxxxxx>]

I was asked to forward this by the writers.

Gene Coyle

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	CEO #8: Honesty About Dangerous Climate Change
Date:	Thu, 16 Sep 2004 22:08:17 -0700
From:	Climate Equity Observer <ceo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To:	(Recipient list suppressed)

Friends;

Just in case you're in a good mood, we thought we'd send you this new issue of Climate Equity Observer. It doesn't directly address "the equity issue," but it helps, we think, to lay the foundation upon which real climate equity will have to be built. It does so by calling for Honesty About Dangerous Climate Change.

This isn't a critique of the denialists. Rather, it's our attempt to clear a bit of air about the 2ºC line and its implications.

2ºC is now commonly recommended as the maximum degree of warming that can plausibly be seen as consistent with the avoidance of "dangerous climate change." It's a good start, especially given the pressures we all face to be "realistic." Unfortunately a careful analysis shows that the emissions paths and carbon dioxide concentration targets that generally accompany professions of support for the 2ºC goal - typically, 450 parts per million (ppm) CO2 or higher - are actually likely to produce temperature increases much higher than 2ºC.

If you're not familiar with the arguments for a 2ºC target, we suggest the Climate Action Network's adequacy position paper, adopted at COP-8 in late 2002 and recently presented, in a condensed and user-friendly way, as part of an excellent CAN briefing called Building on Kyoto.

If you are already familiar with the case for drawing the line at 2ºC, but wondering just exactly what the 2ºC goal means, this might be a better place to start. Or at least a good place to return to.

PS: If the links in this mail don't work for you, go to www.ecoequity.org. All should be clear from there...

Paul Baer: pbaer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tom Athanasiou: toma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

EcoEquity: www.ecoequity.org
Climate Equity Observer: ceo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dead Heat: Global Justice and Global Warming
http://www.ecoequity.org/docs/deadheat.htm