Climate Action News: New study causes climate controversy | Time for a tarsands reality check

Christian Holz Posted On May 23, 2013

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If it Looks Like We Have a Chance, We Should Take it

A recent article published in Nature Geoscience journalsuggests the earth will warm more slowly in the coming decades than previously projected. Many scientists and environmental organizations have been responding to these findings by urging the public to take them with a “large grain of salt”. The research suggests that warming on the short-term could still be 20% lower than previously estimated, but over the long-term temperatures are still likely to reach 4°C above pre-industrial levels (a level twice that of the limit the international community has committed to). Alexander Otto of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute says this means,‘there is no room for relaxing or rejoicing’.

After recently surpassing an atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gas emissions unseen for millions of years, global media reported this milestone as a “wake-up call” and a“sobering reminder that decades of efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control are faltering”. Coming less than 2 weeks later, the findings laid out in Nature Geoscience journal should not be taken as a sign to put our feet up and celebrate. We should be working harder than ever in our fight against climate change. Our friends at the Global Call for Climate Action, responded by saying, “rather than being dragged into a dangerous argument over whether there has been a ‘pause’ in global warming, scientists believe that ‘if it looks like we have a change we should take it'”. Read more…

Study: Energy budget constraints on climate response (Nature Geoscience)

Time for a Tarsands Reality Check

Last week, Environmental Defence and partner organizations launched a new website as an international effort to showcase the 25 most important facts about the tar sands. This site is a much needed counterweight to the misdirections, crucial omissions, half-truths and outright lies that the federal and Albertan governments as well as the oil industry are using in their busy bid to gain wide support for reckless tar sands expansion plans.

Check out oilsandsrealitycheck.org and share widely!

For Sharing:
Youtube: Reality Check Video
Twitter: Some sample Tweets

The Canadian government doesn’t want you to know the true impacts of the tar sands. They need a #realitycheck: http://bit.ly/13wIrtn
Canadians deserve the truth about the oil sands. It’s time for a #realitycheck:OilSandsRealityCheck.com is where you’ll find it.
The tar sands are changing our climate, land, air, water, & communities, yet few Canadians know the truth. It’s time for a #realitycheck. http://bit.ly/13wIrtn