Actually, we have a much higher debt than IP suggests.
England and the US still dominate the total per capita contribution since almost half of ALL the CO2 released since 1750 is still in the atmosphere. England had a head start on everybody, but we caught up very quickly.
In fact, I have the data:
Cumulative emissions from 1751 - 2008:
US 27.2%
China 9.1%
Russia 7.3%
UK 5.8%
And I think if you do the math, the US / UK contribution per capita are the highest by far. So, the truth is we are shouldering absolutely none of our debt burden.
In essense, you know how much each country emitted, and you know how long CO2 stays in the atmosphere (~ 100 years).
With that data, you do the sums.
The data comes from James Hansen et al "Dangerous Human-made Interference with Climate."
A climate change study that projected a 2.4 degree Celsius increase in temperature and massive worldwide food shortages in the next decade was seriously flawed, scientists said Wednesday.
The study was posted on the website of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was written about by numerous international news agencies, including AFP.
But AAAS later retracted the study as experts cited numerous errors in its approach.
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But climate scientist Rey Weymann told AFP that the "study contains a significant error in that it confuses 'equilibrium' temperature rise with 'transient temperature rise.'"
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has begun an investigation into whether Michael Mann manipulated data to show a rapid acceleration in global warming and Virginia Democrats are out to stop him.
Democratic Sens. Donald McEachin of Henrico and Chap Petersen of Fairfax County say their bills won't give blanket immunity to colleges to defraud the state, but they would curb politically motivated probes.
In essense, you know how much each country emitted, and you know how long CO2 stays in the atmosphere (~ 100 years).
With that data, you do the sums.
The data comes from James Hansen et al "Dangerous Human-made Interference with Climate."
What were the findings in the Mann case, gs?
And could you elaborate on your 5 year carbon cycle model?
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Do you suggest that he cut emissions to pre-1750 levels?
800 lb. gorillas have a nose for CO2 emissions
Do you suggest that he cut emissions to pre-1750 levels?
I would belong to the 350 ppm crowd. We need to stabilize emissions here to avoid possibly planet tipping problems.
Of course, we are well above that now.
I believe it will be two-to-three generations of work, but it is the only work worth doing in our world today. It touches on every sphere of human endeavor: energy, transport, living arrangements, social harmony, international relations, health, wealth, prosperity, bequeathing a biologically rich world to posterity.
This is the good work of our times. This is, in the final analysis, all that really matters. Much of our dissatisfaction, anger, ennui, and frustration stems from being locked into cultural, economic, and political arrangements addressing this great task impossible. It is a world project, absolutely worthy, absolutely in-line with the highest human ideals. The longer we delay, the harder the work becomes, the longer our frustration pounds away at us.
It requires a new culture. It requires a new economy. It requires new work. Ours is the generation which must wrestle with the cultural transitions which make the work which must be done possible. It might be the heaviest burden of all. But, in the final analysis, history will condemn us if we don't, and, in truth, if you look around, we are already condemning ourselves for our delay.
Cumulative emissions from 1751 - 2008:
US 27.2%
China 9.1%
Russia 7.3%
UK 5.8%
What is the significance of those numbers though? Of course the U.S. is going to be at the top since we were among the first to industrialize and have more people. It's kind of like saying my Grandparents have consumed more oxygen than I have.
This is some incredibly dangerous and unsettling prose you've just scratched out right here.
You want to basically dismiss the previous 100 years of advancement... probably the greatest century of human development and replace it with some new system that would require another century's worth of work that would have to exceed that. What you are asking for is a Utopia... a perfect world. There is no way we can maintain our standard of living without some trade offs and consequences. You over simplify the ability to reach the dream scenario that you are describing. To get where you want us to be, ALL industrialized nations would have to shut down their doors.
What is the significance of those numbers though? Of course the U.S. is going to be at the top since we were among the first to industrialize and have more people. It's kind of like saying my Grandparents have consumed more oxygen than I have.
I don't think of it as meaning to admonish anyone or say look how bad you were. I think if it more as a measure of who caused the current rise in CO2. However, I am also quick to point out that the countries that can develop today more efficiently rhan we did in the past are able to do so because of the technological advances we made as part of the process of making those historical emissions. So, I font think this is a situation where all of the burden must be bore by the historically industrialized.
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Not at all. It does require changes. I believe these changes will demand we have a lot less cheap tat. BUT I FIRMLY BELIEVE, the end vision will mean a healthier, happier, and more enriched culture. I don't think this is utopia. The world of the last 40 years has been described as "the End of History" - utopia achieved. Clearly it is not. In fact, I believe it will take a lot more work - physical, political, social - from each of us. But I think each of us is craving this extra responsibility - this extra effectiveness in our everyday lives.
We will have to use a lot less fossil energy - which is to say, we will have to use a lot less energy. But Lewis Mumford, in the 1930s, in his monumental "Technics and Civilization" describes a study where people tried to shift a 500 lbs stone. With the application of 1500 lbs of force, one group did it with brute strength. Another group, with a little thought, moved the weight with 25 lbs of force.
This is, in essence, the challenge of our time.
Mann was and is an outright liar.
No need to elaborate, those are the facts.
If not for the advancements made by those who developed first, don't you think the cost would have been much greater for those that developed later with the benefit of the advances in technology?
