INTRO: Why Study Climate Change?

INTRODUCTION: Why Study Climate Change? Are we approaching unacceptable (or catastrophic, or runaway) climate change? 

It is already clear that climate change is underway.  But I have wondered:  Where is the tipping point for unacceptable (or catastrophic, or runaway) climate change? 

A recent article on an alternative news site, Truthdig, got me thinking even more than I already usually do about climate change.  The title was:  "Are We Falling Off the Climate Precipice?" (A link is below).  It was so unsettling that I signed up for an online course from the University of  Exeter, U.K., to build a stronger foundation of scientific knowledge of climate-change processes as I pursue this question.  My class notes are now accumulating on what is now my second blog, "Climate Change Studies:  What Science Teaches," at this link:  http://canwecrashtheclimate.blogspot.com/

 I certainly have previously read alarming arguments in any number of places.  This article and its associated links have brought some of those thoughts into sharp and uncomfortable focus.  Three of them are:  1) The most recent data coming in, including from a purpose-built satellite, shows trends that exceed projections.  2) Even considering the widespread agreement among climate scientists (97% is quoted often these days), scientists tend to want to be conservative and avoid sounding alarmist.  3) If you factor in the lack of political progress on setting and meeting climate-protecting goals, well... 

So there you have it.  Is it time to panic? Despair? Hope?  With this blog I intend to explore further the questions about the urgency and scale of the global climate disruptions that we face.  At the same time I am thinking very hard about what kind of response is needed from me and from all who understand and care.

 Hopefully with more and more of us gaining a deeper knowledge of the subject, it will lend us more effectiveness toward whatever measures each of us undertakes toward dealing with the challenge. 

This is the link to the 12-13-2013 Truthdig article, "Are We Falling Off the Climate Precipice?"

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/are_we_falling_off_the_climate_precipice_20131219/