The only alternative to global warming is making societies that are carbon-neutral on a global scale. This should be done as soon as possible. Even if sufficient measures are taken now, the damaging effects of climate change will carry on for some time. The planet will continue to be warm for decades to come… Climate change confronts us with some very basic moral problems: how we ought to live, what kind of society we want, and what kind of person we should be.
The atmospheric burden of CO2 is now comparable to where it was during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period around 3.6 million years ago, when concentrations of carbon dioxide ranged from about 380 to 450 parts per million. During that time sea level was about 78 feet higher than today, the average temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, and studies indicate large forests occupied areas of the Arctic that are now tundra.
“Human activity is driving climate change,” said Colm Sweeney, assistant deputy director of the Global Monitoring Lab. “If we want to mitigate the worst impacts, it’s going to take a deliberate focus on reducing fossil fuels emissions to near zero - and even then we’ll need to look for ways to further remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.”