Learning from Catastrophes: Strategies for Reaction and Response

10. Climate Change: Nature and Action

Thomas E. Lovejoy

The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment

Overview

All over the world, ecosystems that adjusted to the stable climate of the past 10,000 years are already showing responses to the current 0.75 increase in global temperature and the acidification of the oceans (0.1 pH). Although the changes observed so far are mostly minor ripples in the fabric of nature, threshold changes have already appeared, including coral bleaching and massive coniferous tree dieback in North America and Europe. Consequently, 350 parts per million (ppm) is most probably a level beyond which dangerous change will occur. Policy implications, beyond the usual implications for a revised ...