With a New Year on the horizon, let's all make a resolution to do all we can to protect our planet. Think globally, act locally by engaging local and state politicians and business entities to make sustainablilty a top priority.

The following appeared in the premier global science weekly online journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
30 November 2018, Vol 362 Issue 6418, Page 976
“In Brief” edited by Jeffrey Brainard

In a stark display of the U.S. political tensions surrounding global warming, President Donald Trump’s administration is dismissing a major report, written by the government’s own experts, which warns that climate change poses a serious and growing threat to the nation’s economic and environmental health. More than 300 specialists contributed to the 1600-page report, formally known as Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released 23 November by federal agencies. It warns that worsening heat waves, coastal flooding, wildfires, and other climate-related impacts are already afflicting the United States and could reduce its economic output by 10% in coming decades. But White House officials downplayed such findings, claiming they are based on outdated climate models and “the most extreme” warming scenario. Despite the report, the administration says it has no plans to alter its efforts to weaken policies aimed at curbing climate change. Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization reported on 20 November that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, a primary warming gas, reached a global average of 405.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2017, up from 403.3 ppm in 2016. Many scientists believe concentrations will need to remain below 450 ppm to avoid catastrophic warming.

350.org was founded in 2008 with a goal of building a global climate movement. It was named after the 350 ppm level judged by scientists to be safe.
350.org/science

Before the 18th century, when humans in the industrial west began to burn coal, oil and gas, our atmosphere typically contained about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Those are the conditions “on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”

Eminent environmental defender decries the root causes of climate change

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