While some critics have accused Al Gore of exaggerating the problem of climate change (and its implications), there are some who believe he is actually sugar-coating the truth:
Most prominently, the renowned British scientist James Lovelock thinks that the world is already approaching a tipping point, beyond which temperature rise will run out of control and major ecosystems will collapse. The dying Amazon rainforest would begin releasing carbon, making things even hotter. The permafrost would melt, releasing carbon and causing sea levels to rise.
George Monbiot, a writer we have posted on before, has come up with a plan in “Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning.” The proposed solutions won’t be easy to execute:
To avoid hitting the “critical threshold,” he says, the world’s total carbon emissions must be reduced to 60 percent below current levels by 2030—a target that would require the developed world to reduce emissions by 90 percent (to compensate for growth in China, India and other developing countries). Monbiot’s plan: each nation would be allocated a carbon limit based on urban population and each individual an annual carbon allowance. Governments, meanwhile, would redesign transport systems, generate renewable electricity, build energy-saving homes and offices, and update the old ones. Appliances would be “smart” enough to know when to turn themselves off. And his most radical idea: airline travel would have to be scrapped.
Newsweek has sat down with Monibot for interview, and it’s quite interesting. Check it out:
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