When does climate change become dangerous?

H

ow much does the climate have to change for it to be “dangerous”?

This question has vexed scientists ever since the first climate models were developed, back in the nineteen-seventies.

It was provisionally answered in 2009, though by politicians rather than scientists.

According to an agreement known as the Copenhagen Accord, which was brokered by President Barack Obama, to avoid danger, the world needs “to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius” (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Read The New Yorker story - “A New Climate-Change Danger Zone?”

Deteriorating lawns trump rising seas, catastrophic weather and never seen before droughts

O

dd things can alter an individual’s thinking and in relation to climate change it’s the state of their lawns.

The New Yorker tells us that Americans who were unconcerned about climate change as it wreaked havoc around the world are beginning to worry, now that global warming is affecting the appearance of their lawns.

According to the poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, rising sea levels, the destruction of habitats, and catastrophic weather conditions, such as hurricanes and tsunamis, have not served as the wake-up call to Americans that their lawns’ unsightly barrenness has.

The story - “Poll: Americans Starting to Worry About Climate Change Now That It Affects Their Lawns” – reports: “In interviews across the state of California, residents expressed anger and outrage that climate change had been allowed to worsen to the point that it has now severely limited their choice of ground cover, shrubs, and other decorative plantings.”