An atmospheric concentration of CO2 > 350 parts per million is seen as unsafe
29 July 2009
- Deutsche Bank erected a seven-story sign outside Madison Square Garden in New York
- the counter shows that CO2 is being added to the atmosphere at the rate of 800 tons per second
- Unveiling the sign, Deutsche Bank officials said it was designed to highlight the crisis of global warming and the urgency of reducing CO2 emissions
9 May 2013 – the concentration of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere reached 400 ppm
Why are some people skeptical of climate change?
1. The climate change message is seen as too complex and bewildering
2. Some people believe that climate change is not caused by human factors but part of a natural cycle
Expert credibility on climate change
- An extensive dataset of 1,372 climate researchers and their publication and citation data shows that
- 97–98%of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field surveyed here support Anthropogenic Climate Change (ACC) outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and
- the relative climate expertise and scientific prominence of the researchers unconvinced of ACC are substantially below that of the convinced researchers
This link provides more references for scientific research supporting Anthropogenic Climate Change
3. There are other more pressing problems
4. Solutions are too complex
5. People prefer good news stories
Watch the slide show below for climatevoter’s Question of the week sent to each political party
Loading ...Who does believe in climate change?
Insurance companies use climate change evidence to mitigate their business risk
Reuters 16 may 2014
- A major insurance company is accusing dozens of localities in Illinois of failing to prepare for severe rains and flooding in lawsuits that are the first in what could be a wave of litigation over who should be liable for the possible costs of climate change.
Severe weather events will become more frequent
Lloyds of London Thu 08 May 2014
- Against a background of more frequent severe weather events, such as floods and windstorms, a new report from Lloyd’s highlights the importance of insurers ensuring that their catastrophe modelling tools keep pace with the effects of climate change.
- They quote the fifth assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), stresses that increasing magnitudes of warming is increasing the likelihood of severe and pervasive impacts that may be surprising or irreversible.
Storm surge is from rising sea levels is now the main damaging effect of hurricanes and storms
Dr Muir-Wood Chief Research Officer at Risk Management Solutions,
- …”Water is the new wind” in hurricane risk….in Hurricane Katrina more than 50% of losses were caused by flooding and storm surge. With hurricane Sandy, the majority of loss was also caused by storm surge, not wind…Looking to the 21st Century, he expects sea levels to rise which will further affect forecasting.
Many businesses are applying their understanding of climate change to make a living
- USA Today Posted 6/9/2008 10:20 – Weather derivatives becoming hot commodities
- Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming—
- Israeli company that sells snowmaking machines to Alpine ski resorts
- Wall Street investor who buys up Sudanese farm land
- Dutch companies selling their flood-fighting technology
- Seattle company that collects patents on geoengineering technologies
Who is likely to pay the price if our leaders don’t acknowledge and plan accordingly for the effects of climate change
An indication of things to come is from recent hurricanes in the US:
- In the US the taxpayer-subsidized National Flood Insurance Program, provides insurance which sets artificially low insurance rates that do not reflect the true risks to coastal properties. When major disasters strike, taxpayers nationwide are left liable for billions of dollars in insurance claims and disaster relief.