by Crazy Horse
Wed Dec 18th, 2013 at 03:12:48 PM EST
Remember that dire diary i posted some while back, regarding how close we are to catastrophe in our lifetimes? Dying in the Anthropocene
The Nation: Coming Instant Planetary Emergency

I haven't returned to Mount Rainier to see just how much further that glacier has receded in the last few years, but recently I went on a search to find out just how bad it might turn out to be. I discovered a set of perfectly serious scientists--not the majority of all climate scientists by any means, but thoughtful outliers--who suggest that it isn't just really, really bad; it's catastrophic. Some of them even think that, if the record ongoing releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, thanks to the burning of fossil fuels, are aided and abetted by massive releases of methane, an even more powerful greenhouse gas, life as we humans have known it might be at an end on this planet. They fear that we may be at--and over--a climate change precipice hair-raisingly quickly.
Good journalism, from serious scientists out on the edge.
Will try to add to this LQD over time. Right now I'd only wish to remind everyone that the former renewable energy center of the world, Germany, is now importing Mountain Top Removal coal.
Digest that, please.