Removal and Reduction - the only way forward

Some 10 or 15 years ago, scientists began to agree amongst themselves that climate change was a problem. They stopped arguing, in peer-reviewed publications at least, about whether climate change was occurring and started discussing just how bad it was.

I believe that a similar transition point is being reached now, amongst climate change researchers.

It is becoming clear, in some recent research, referred to, for example, in this article, and this one, on the Arctic meltdown, that we may have already passed one or more tipping points in the process of warming the the planet, and that we might have already caused runaway positive feedbacks in the ecology.

So - what can we do about it?

If we've already triggered the problem - the solution can't be found reducing emissions alone - we need to start reducing the damage we've already caused, and the sooner the better.

How can we do it?

By cleaning the air... that's right - cleaning it. While the general public is now just starting to catch on to the idea of reducing emissions, what we probably need to concentrate on is removing emissions. And the sooner we realise it, the easier it will be...

Unfortunately, if the experience of emissions reduction is anything to go by, we'll be arguing about emissions removal well past 2020 before actually doing anything about it.