It has been over a year since an ominous report warned of "climatic tipping points'', such as the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melting and the Gulf Stream shutting down, if action on stopping global warming was not taken soon. Meeting the Climate Challenge called on the G-8 leading industrial nations to cut carbon emissions, double their research spending on green technology and work with India and China to build on the Kyoto Protocol.
LiveScience mentions:
According to the report, urgent action is needed to stop the global average temperature rising by 2 degrees Celsius above the level in 1750 -- the approximate start of the Industrial Revolution when mankind first started significantly polluting the atmosphere with carbon dioxide.
No accurate temperature readings were available for 1750, the report said, but since 1860, global average temperature had risen by 0.8 percent to 15 degrees Celsius.
The two degrees rise could be avoided by keeping the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere below 400 parts per million (ppm). Current concentrations of 379 ppm "are likely to rise above 400 ppm in coming decades and could rise far higher under a business-as-usual scenario,'' the report warned.
| 1750 |  275 |
| 2005 | 380 |
| Tipping point | 400 |
The tipping point value mentioned is only an guess estimate. Perhaps it'll turn out to be 381ppm, or 450ppm. Whatever it is, if we don't stop pumping out greenhouse gases at the current rate, we'll definitely reach it. It's just a matter of time.