Climate scientists have pointed to various potential "tipping points," elements of our complex climate system that could trip it into a cascade of self-reinforcing and irreversable damage. Julia Whitty , in "The Thirteenth Tipping Point" Whitty, "The Thirteenth Tipping Point," MotherJones.com | News (Nov-Dec 06), poses the question why humans fail to take corrective action. She points to Anthony Leiserowitz's 2005 study for Risk Analysis, in which he found that most Americans think the negative consequences from climate change will fall on someone else, someone far away.
What Whitty explores in her article is what she calls the "thirteenth tipping point, the shift in human perception from personal denial to personal responsibility? Without a 13th tipping point, we can't hope to avoid global mayhem. With it, we can attempt to put into action what we profess: that we actually care about our children's and grandchildren's futures."
A fascinating, brief and refreshing paper addressing psychology, politics, game theory, and the societization of altruism, all in the context of human response to climate change. She closes with a hopeful suggestion for turning a negative into a positive, suggesting that the fossil-fueled obstructionism of the current administration can be a stimulant to progress:
"Whether or not Marie Antoinette actually said, 'Let them eat cake,' she inspired change that reverberated far beyond Europe. Likewise, when George W. Bush says we can't act on global warming until we 'fully understand the nature of the problem,' we can use his callous disregard as a rallying cry."
In London, 20,000 protestors demanded action from the U.K. government on climate change, in demonstrations organized by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition. Climate change protesters demand British government act fast - iht,europe,Britain Climate Change - Europe - International Herald Tribune (Nov. 4, 2006).
Meanwhile, the U.S. negotiator sent to the international climate change conference in Nairobi defended Washington's stand against compulsory caps on global-warming emissions, and said the Bush administration was unlikely to change its policy "in this presidency." U.S. defends stance on global warming - Yahoo! News (Nov. 6, 2006).
Read it, please: Julia Whitty, "The Thirteenth Tipping Point," MotherJones.com | News (Nov-Dec 06)
Posted by dougsimpson at November 6, 2006 07:31 PM