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  A Climate for Change
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ContributorArmyDem 
Last EditedArmyDem  Mar 12, 2007 02:03am
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CategoryGeneral
MediaWeekly News Magazine - TIME Magazine
News DateMonday, March 12, 2007 08:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionBy JEFFERY D. SACHS
Thursday, Mar. 08, 2007

When climate-change skeptics mock the fear about a rise of a "few degrees" in temperature, we should remind them of how it feels to have a 103° fever. A few degrees above normal can mean the difference between life and death, species survival and extinction. And a few actions on our part could make the difference between a healthy planet and one that falls into an environmental tailspin. The time has come for action. The earth's future is in our hands.

Many climate shocks have already become more common: powerful hurricanes, droughts, heat waves and blizzards. Much worse will come unless we stabilize the level of carbon dioxide, or CO2, in the atmosphere at safe levels. Before the industrial era, CO2 concentration was 280 parts per million (p.p.m.) in the atmosphere. If current trends continue, that could reach 560 p.p.m. by mid-century. Yet because our energy system is so deeply embedded in the world economy--in vehicles, power plants, factories, residences and office buildings--it will take decades to reamp it. So people who care about the future of the planet will need to push for businesses to produce electricity, concrete, steel and plastics in new ways.

Concerned citizens will also have to think globally.
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