Monday, May 19, 2008

"Civilization's last chance"

From Bill McKibben in the LA Times: Civilization's last chance

Here is the money snippet:
There's a number -- a new number -- that makes this point most powerfully. It may now be the most important number on Earth: 350. As in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

A few weeks ago, NASA's chief climatologist, James Hansen, submitted a paper to Science magazine with several coauthors. The abstract attached to it argued -- and I have never read stronger language in a scientific paper -- that "if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."

Also, here is McKibben's 350.org

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Great Meadow Wildlife

Snapped earlier this morning:






Wachusett last weekend

Brief hike. We'll add Wachusett Mountain State Reservation to the rotation.

The top:



Boston, in the distance, if you can see it:



Monandnock, in the distance, if you can see it: