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November 2008
Highest 'October CO2' in past 800,000 years
 Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (USA)
Atmospheric CO2 reached 384.75 parts per million (ppm) in the month of October 2008, according to scientific data released on November 3, 2008 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas that fuels global warming and climate change. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased every October since the CO2 instrument record began at the Mauna Loa Observatory in 1958.
Post-publication note: On November 19, 2008, NOAA published corrected data for atmospheric CO2 measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO). As of November 19, 2008, NOAA reported MLO atmospheric CO2 as 382.98 ppm. The above article reports MLO CO2 at a higher level according to the original October 2008 data published by NOAA on November 3, 2008. NOAA explains the November 19, 2008 update on its public notes and change log for MLO CO2. NOAA started this public log in August 2008.
What folks are saying about 'Hot, Flat and Crowded'
 In his latest book, Hot, Flat and Crowded, author Thomas L. Friedman makes a direct appeal to the conscience and security of his fellow Americans. He urges them to lead a green revolution that will lead us to solutions that face the looming realities of a warming planet, growing demand for cheap energy, and a continuing explosion in global population. Still, Friedman’s message holds insights and lessons that go far beyond the borders of the United States. For a glimpse into the way others are receiving the book, here are the thoughts of an engineer and economist from India and an artist, photographer and writer from Canada.
From the Chairman of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
 From Rajendra Pachauri's Blog:
Thomas Friedman’s brilliant book Hot, Flat and Crowded, which I am currently reading to review for a publication, correctly highlights the major transfer of wealth that has occurred in recent months from oil importing to oil exporting countries, a phenomenon which has major geo-strategic implications.
Overall it appears to me that we are on the verge of some fundamental changes that perhaps are now difficult to stall even with some of the powerful vested interests that wish to continue with business as usual attempt to do so. It is perhaps no exaggeration to speculate that we are on the verge of an era that will see a fundamental shift towards greater respect and concern for nature and a substantial effort towards reaching an energy mix that would be much lower in fossil fuel content.
blog.pachauri.org | blog about environmental priorities and economic downturn
pachauri.org | about Rajendra Pachauri
From Toronto artist and writer, Franke James
 Franke James:
Some would like to believe that lower gas and oil prices mean that we can forgo the green revolution, concentrate on our stock portfolios and skip reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded. But I believe it’s more urgent than ever. Friedman capsulizes the United States' oil dependency dilemma in a nutshell when he writes, “Our addiction to oil makes global warming warmer, petrodictators stronger, clean air dirtier, poor people poorer, democratic countries weaker, and radical terrorists richer. Have I left anything out?”
Friedman also proves that he knows a thing or two about mass marketing. He astutely positions ‘going green’ as the most patriotic thing Americans can do. And says that “green is the new red, white, and blue." He offers a plan that could revitalize America. I found it so fascinating my copy is already dog-eared and decorated with margin notes.
Read more...
frankejames.com | blog about Hot, Flat and Crowded
frankejames.com | about Franke James
The Question of the Hour
On October 13, 2008, Thomas Friedman added chapter 18 to Hot, Flat and Crowded which attempts to answer what he calls the question of the hour: “Is this financial crisis going to be the end of green, or is green going to be how we end this financial crisis?”
Thanks to Franke James for telling us about Friedman's continuing work on these issues, and for stoking the conversation in her late-October blog: Do lower gas prices put Friedmans’ ‘green revolution’ in jeopardy?
Science journal 'Nature' endorses Obama
 In the previous edition of Atmosphere Monthly, it was reported that Canadian climate scientists and leading Canadian economists had taken the unusual step of publishing climate letters to lay out the facts for votes in the Candadian election.
On November 3, 2008, one day before the United States presidential election, Stacey Feldman of SolveClimate.com reported that the pretigious science journal, Nature, had ventured into new territory by endorsing a presidential candidate. The election has been decided, but these articles are still worth reading.
Nature is a worldwide science journal with principal publishing offices in London and New York.
Read more...
SolveClimate | Stacey Feldman’s article about the Nature endorsement
Nature | Nature’s endorsement of Obama
Widening gap between 'what is' and 'what ought to be'
 Michael McGee:
Atmospheric CO2 levels are higher than their natural range (180 to 300 ppm) that is known to have existed for at least 800,000 years (see figure 1 below). In the 250 years since the start of the industrial revolution, atmospheric CO2 rose by 100 ppm above the 280 ppm level that had been stable for 10,000 years. Today, atmospheric CO2 is in the mid 380s and accelerating up and away from 350 ppm, the level that scientists say is the upper ceiling for safe concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Figure 1. Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature vol. 453, p.379-382, 15 May 2008 (D.Luethi et al., High-resolution carbon dioxide concentration record 650,000-800,000 years before present), copyright 2008.
What should humanity aim for?
 Three potential benchmarks have just been introduced. One is the natural range for close to a million years. Another is the stable CO2 level that supported the introduction and advancement of agriculture and human civilization. The other is based on paleoclimate data and scientific findings on what CO2 levels are safe.
Regardless of which benchmark is used, it is evident that humanity should aim for a target below current levels. A target of 350 ppm will serve humanity and the planet well.
Are we heading toward 350?
No. For the past 409 months, atmospheric CO2 was higher than it was for the same month in the the year before. From one decade to the next, atmospheric CO2 is accelerating in the wrong, upward direction. The International Panel on Climate Change has noted that this accelerating trend has continued into the Kyoto years, and the trend is visible in the CO2 data.
As of October 2008, the five-year average increase for CO2 at Mauna Loa (from October 2004 through until October 2008) was 2.33 ppm per year. This is the highest five-year average since the start of the Mauna Loa instrument record in 1958. Other greenhouse gases are rising, although CO2 is clearly the most important of the greenhouse gases.
Is there a target and a plan to get moving in a safe direction?
This question was on my mind in April 2008 when I emailed the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Germany. The UNFCCC is a creation of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It has an ultimate objective to achieve the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system..."
Unlike other institutions, the UNFCCC represents the collective policy and program responses of most national governments. Given the size and reach of this organization, it is the centre-piece of humanity's response to the problems of global warming and climate change. Shortly after I emailed my question to the Secretariat, I received an email that the signatory parties to the Convention have "no greenhouse gas stabilization target specifically outlined."
My email also asked whether the UNFCCC had linked "dangerous interference with the climate system" to a particular level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Here is the answer I received: "There is no conclusion on what levels of greenhouse gases constitute dangerous anthropogenic interference."
Maybe the UNFCCC will set a target in the near future?
 The next major meeting will happen in Poland in December 2008. It would certainly fit the UNFCCC mandate for greenhouse gas stabilization to set an aspirational and directional goal of stabilizing atmospheric CO2 at 350 ppm. As of April 2008, there was no intention or plan to discuss such a target. When I emailed the Secretariat, I had anticipated that the UNFCCC would confirm that it had no stabilization target for CO2 or the other greenhouse gases. So, I had also asked whether specific targets were being discussed by UNFCCC members. The response: "stabilization targets are not under discussion under the UNFCCC."
What does this mean?
The rising concentration of atmospheric CO2 is at the heart of the global warming problem. Getting atmospheric levels to decline is therefore the key to the solution.
Instead of having a worldwide, atmospheric target that can guide the thoughts and actions of billions of people toward what needs to be done, we have worldwide, atmospheric results that are making global warming worse, year after year.
In 1992, the world nations began to sign on as parties to the UNFCCC, together assuming the responsibility of stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Yet in 2008, the most important greenhouse gas, that being CO2, is less stable than it was in 1992. Something is very wrong with this picture.
 What seems right in the world? People are starting to organize under the "350" banner. This past spring, a worldwide, grassroots organization was formed to get the world on track with a target and effort of reducing atmospheric CO2 to safe levels of 350 ppm or less. To learn more about this group, visit 350.org, a website that is produced in nine languages.
Who has signed on to this important,new effort? Many thousands of people. You may recognize some of these names: Desmond Tutu, Bill McKibben, Van Jones, James Hansen and David Suzuki. They are all on board with 350. In the words of Hermann Scheer, another 350 supporter and Member of Parliament in Germany since 1980, "350 ppm is the only acceptable aim, and we can attain it with a switch to renewable energies."
The 350 movement is well supported by science and the wisdom of setting targets that can produce results that are needed to deal directly and quickly with the trends responsible for human-made global warming and climate change.
Should people follow the UNFCCC, or should the UNFCCC follow the people? As I see it, everyone and every institution can help lead the way to 350. We're all in this together. It is by working cooperatively toward a clear, unambigious goal that global warming can get turned around. If there is another way that can actually work, I have yet to see it.
Go 350 go!
CO2Now.org | about Michael McGee
WWF | Warming Worries Worsen
 In October 2008, the WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund) published Climate change: faster, stronger, sooner...A European update of climate science. The report says that climate change is accelerating faster than some predictions made by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The following are excerpts:
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It is currently forecast that summer sea ice could completely disappear somewhere between 2013 and 2040 – a state not seen on planet Earth for more than a million years. An ice-free Arctic Ocean during summer is expected to amplify global warming through the absorption of more heat by a dark ocean surface (instead of the white surface of sea ice) and changes in ocean circulation. This is likely to open the gates to climate change that is even more rapid and abrupt than has been forecast up to now (WWF 2008, SEARCH 2008).
Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions released as a consequence of human activity have been accelerating, with their growth rate increasing from 1.1% per year between 1990 and 1999, to more than 3% per year between 2000 and 2004.
Tubiello and Fischer (2007) showed that reduction of greenhouse gas emissions could reduce the global costs of agricultural losses from climate change by 75-100%, and that the number of additional people at risk of malnutrition would be reduced by 80-90%.
WWF advocates zero net emissions in the EU by 2050.
WWF | Climate change: faster, stronger, sooner
Telegraph | Climate change is 'faster and more extreme' then feared
CO2 visibility gets business boost in New Zealand
 Earlier this year, carboNZero, a recipient of New Zealand’s most prestigious business award (2008 Champion Canterbury award) recently added a CO2 widget to their website. We are pleased to wish carboNZero well in their emissions-reducing mission, and we are happy that they used a CO2Now.org widget to advance carbon literacy among their clients and site visitors.
carboNZero | Climate Change and the Costs of Climate Change
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