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This excellent article from NewScientist.com (via Cardboard Spaceship)reports the findings of two new studies. One is incredibly depressing; the changes that have arisen from the last 30 years of warming are starting to cause ecological changes that create further warming. For example, warm Springs create moth plagues that eat the leaves of whole forests, and shorten beetle lifecycles causing infestations, both of which cause the trees to become more susceptible to forest fires, which destroys the permafrost areas, warming the whole region, which causes the problems to spread. One more degree Celsius (achievable within ten more years of “business-as-usual carbon emissions") and those parts of the planet that currently prevent temperature increases will start generating them. The other study is encouraging. Generally, our attitude to the planet is to take what is available without considering its value, a free gift from God (in much the same way that the early Europeans arrived in Australia and saw that it was empty). This study has found a way to put a value on ecosystems and identify the services they provide. So rather than valuing that tree only in terms of the market value of the log, it can be seen as part of an ecosystem, an oxygen/CO2 processing unit, a team player in flood prevention and water purification, a home to numerous plants, insects and animals (also important parts of the ecosystem), all of these things contributing to dollar value per hectare double that of its industrial value. On Triple J (radio station) a few weeks ago, after a bit of an ecologically focused discussion, a caller asked Dr. Karl how much it would cost to implement the Kyoto protocols and Dr. Karl replied that the question was based on false premises, and that to ask it properly involved going back a few steps and valuing the environment instead of taking it as a gift. The question then becomes something more like this: What is the value of the damage already caused by CO2 emissions, and how much money will we save compared to the outlay of implementing Kyoto protocols. Or maybe the question is more like: What will happen to the coastline, population distribution and arable land of Australia if the seas rise over the next couple of decades? What will happen to world immigration flows as some areas become uninhabitable due to constant flooding, erosion, landslides and ridiculously high temperatures. How will our crops and farming practices be affected as temperatures rise? How much will all that cost, do you think? How much of the future can we save by making changes NOW? How are we going to make the perspective shift Dr. Karl was talking about a basic accounting assumption? How much more time do you think we have on this? BTW: when are we going to assassinate Kim Jong Il? You can starve and freeze thousands and millions of North Koreans to death with sanctions and embargoes for as long as you like, and nothing will change. Give me some training and support and I’ll do it!!!! http://threadsofgold.info/index.php/45