Climate change

Climate change is occurring which, if allowed to continue, will result in rapid increase of global temperatures. Rapid in terms of normal geologic time, over centuries rather than over millions of year. The change is being driven by human activities, emission of massive amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, and black carbon. Global civilization, both physically and economically, is structured in ways which require emissions of pollutants at levels which greatly exceed the levels rationally necessary for maximization of global human welfare.

The struggle against anthropogenic climate change is central to the progressive agenda with leaders such as Melanie Klein and Bill McKibben playing a central role in the struggle.

Unchecked, global climate change will result in a large increase in the global temperature over the next few centuries, 10 degrees or more centigrade. Patterns of weather, temperature and precipitation, will change radically producing great stress on ecological and economic systems, particularly infrastructure near sea level. Billions of people live with the coastal zones that would be flooded by anticipated rises in sea level.

Due to slowness of heating of the world's oceans, there is a considerable time lag, decades or more, between increased emissions and the environmental consequences. Thus public awareness, as formed by direct experience, lags scientific foresight, making political mobilization around this issue difficult. The situation is complicated by capitalist forces, working against their own long-term interests view as a whole, which for short term profits though production and use of hydrocarbons attempt to influence the debate by confusing the issue.

Sounding the alarm
Bill McKibben, a writer for The New Yorker which was read by opinion leaders in New York City, New England, and the United States introduced the public to the crisis in The End of Nature. There were earlier books on the problem, but McKibben's work moved the issue onto the public agenda.

The Arctic
Climate change occurs faster in the where rapid warming has resulted in retreat of  in the  and noticeable warming in Arctic regions.

Solving the problem
Climate change is a wicked problem which is not subject to simplistic answers based on framing it ideologically. "'Gobal warming is not about overconsumption, morality, ideology or capitalism. It is largely the result of human beings generating energy by burning hydrocarbons and coal.'"

External links and further reading

 * "Carbon targets, carbon taxes, and the search for Archimedes’ lever"