Climate change nearing "tipping point": report

I normally like to keep things light, but the week’s climate –change news is beyond levity. The New York Times detailed a litany of effects, including melting glaciers, rising sea levels and increased weather events. 

The piece, based on a report from the World Meteorological Organization,  includes a great collection of links, which, unless you are a climate-change-denier, and therefore, beyond hope, are well work clicking. One of them is a call to action, from my former employer, Nature, which calls the current situation a “tipping point." In other words, the world needs to get off fossil fuel soon, or risk catastrophic consequences, which we are already seeing hints of in increased flooding, droughts, and more frequent and intense hurricanes.

I’ve not done much climate change reporting in my career, but still remember talking to NASA climate scientists James Hansen in either 1999 or 2000. Hansen deserves credit for pushing the climate change issue from the margins of science into the public eye. During my conversation, he said that immediately pausing emission levels to ‘90s levels would still take the Earth about 100 years to reach equilibrium.  

CNN seems to agree that this issue is worthy of attention. Its website put up a special section that is, alas, as depressing as the NY Times report, but equally worth reading.

All this bad news begs the question—what can one do on an individual level to mitigate climate change? There are probably lots of little things one can do—drive less, go solar, eat less meat, etc etc. But the biggest change must come from a multinational policy level. And for that to happen, people must vote with the Earth in mind.