Advanced Search
February 25, 2009
Greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation, land cover change and other forces are increasing rapidly. The concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere is now over 385 parts per million (ppm), compared to a constant level of around 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution. The result has been a warming of approximately 0.8ºC above pre-industrial levels, and another 0.5-1.0ºC increase is in the pipeline even if all emissions are stopped today. Impacts such as accelerated melting of snow and sea ice, widespread retreat of glaciers, rising sea levels, increasing ocean acidity and extensive changes in weather patterns, including changes in precipitation and storm intensity are already occurring and are projected to increase as temperatures continue to rise.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends reducing global GHG emissions to 50-80 percent below 2000 levels by 2050 to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change. To meet this ambitious target, leaders worldwide would need to adopt aggressive and comprehensive climate policy that includes all major GHG emitters.
On February 25, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing to discuss the current state of global climate change and prospects for federal and international climate policy. This briefing provided an overview picture of current climate science and projected impacts based on present greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions levels. The discussion also focused on prospects for federal climate legislation as it begins to take shape in the 111th Congress and how this will interact with international climate treaty negotiations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is set to meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012. Speakers on this panel offered perspectives on these negotiations and how US and international policies can be shaped in the face of this urgent global issue.