400 ppm: Yet another spin on Bike Month, 2013

Carbon Dioxide Level Passes Long-Feared Milestone

Source: New York Times

From the New York Times: "...The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported on Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years..."

As Ian Cooper and Andy Cline have either said or implied, we will need a National Bike Decade and similar kinds of thinking to bring our geochemical experiment with climate change under better control.

Or don't bother. Humans, like other catastrophes, will cause major extinctions on earth, including our own demise. The earth and biosphere will recover as it always has after previous major events such as bolide impacts. But if we want to prolong our own stay here and slow down the pace of change we need to adapt to, some thoughts: 1. ZPG. Yep, use a condom after one or at most two kids, especially you high maintenance first worlders. Seven billion people driving SUVs won't work. 2. Drastically reduce our energy footprint with steps like eating lower on the food chain (vegetarianism) and on local production, living in smaller, more efficient homes, and ditching the high output gas guzzler for something with a much higher effective mpg, such as a smaller, electric car, a bike, an e-bike, or communal transit, whatever that looks like in the future. 3. We need to invest in renewable energy R and D so we can replace fossil fuels with elegant, sustainable solutions. Add a carbon tax for good measure, since we are presently dumping the costs of fossil fuels onto the future while harvesting the benefits now. 4. Re-think our settlement patterns so they are more sustainable. Exurbs make no sense if you have to commute to the Inburbs.

The cynic in me says "here's to 500 ppm". I suspect its right around the corner. But cynicism should not get in the way of just riding your bike.