And Now a Word From Our German Friends

They're called the WGBU which, translates into English as the German Advisory Council on Climate Change. They work for that stalwart conservative Angela Merkel and they're pooping panzers in amazement that the rightwing on this side of the Atlantic is so profoundly retarded when it comes to global warming.

The WBGU, or WISSENSCHAFTLICHER BEIRAT GLOBALE UMWELTVERÄNDERUNGEN WBGU as I like to call them, has just issued a global warming fact sheet in which it explains the magic of 2 degrees Celsius and the four essential bases of the problem:

　
• It is scientifically proven that rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cause global warming.

• The consequences include rising sea levels, an increase in extreme weather events, accelerated loss of species and ecosystems, and acidification of the oceans. Tipping events in the climate system, such as the abrupt cessation of ocean currents, may have catastrophic and irreversible ecological results.

• Climate change can jeopardize the water supply and food production; it poses health risks, may accelerate migration and can lead to security problems. It thus has the potential to trigger major social and economic crises.

• Global warming of more than 2°C would pose unprecedented challenges for our civilization and therefore represents ‘dangerous interference with the climate system’. To prevent this, cumulative CO2 emissions to 2050 need to be capped at 750 Gt.

Chancellor Merkel and her WBGU aren't pulling any punches on global warming. These people have the courage totally absent from the North American political scene to sound the alarms now, while there's still time. They know that time is not on our side in this, possibly the greatest threat our species and our world have faced in the entirety of mankind's existence.

You can download the latest WBGU fact sheets here and here or you can order free copies of any of its publications directly from their website: www.wbgu.de/wbgu_home_engl.html

Stephen Harper is doing a magnificent job of keeping a lid on this sort of information and he has the NDP and Liberal leadership to thank for their complicity in letting him get away with that.