By boatsie for UN Climate Summit@Daily Kos 

So what were you doing back in 1975, when the concept of “global warming” was first introduced in a study published in the journal Science?

On August 5th that year, the day Wally Broecker  asked “Are we on the brink of a pronounced global warming?”  (See RealClimate Story http://www.realclimate.org/…), the Phillies beat the Cubs 13-5 and set a record with 8 consecutive hits by the first players to come to bat. That same day,  Stevie Wonder signed a $13 million contract with Motown.

In fact, here’s a snapshot of the most significant events of that year.

Admittedly, Broecker was not the first to predict that the world’s temperature was pushing upwards.  In 1965, during the Johnson administration, a Stanford report warned:   “By the year 2000, the increase in carbon dioxide will be close to 25%. This may be sufficient to produce measurable and perhaps marked changes in climate.”

Broecker’s 1975 paper was spot on, given the information he had to work from at that time, which did not include an awareness of other forcers . ..  ” the present cooling trend will, within a decade or so, give way to a pronounced warming induced by carbon dioxide”, and that “by early in the next century [carbon dioxide] will have driven the mean planetary temperature beyond the limits experienced during the last 1000 years”.

His calculations predicted increased CO2 levels would result in an 0.8ºC global rise in temperatures and warned of this impact on both sea level and agriculture.

Climate Change and Population Growth

In the 38-year span between 1960 and 1999, the world population doubled from 3 to 6 billion. Prior to this, it took 70 years for the population to double from 1.5 to 3 billion.  Previous population doublings were 150, 500 and 1200 years periods. Not news. But Broecker’s chart (see above) leaves little doubt about the impact the burgeoning world population had on the changing climate.

And while big business, world leaders and those who scaffold our worldview have successfully employed the theory that technological innovation will save us, a theory based upon analysis of links between technological and population growth,  that was before the walls of Jericho collapsed with the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment report

(See Meteor Blades report of yesterday Stark language of new climate report doesn’t include ‘we’re screwed,’ but without action now, we are)

The IPCC three days ago submitted a draft of its final “AR5” report for comments from government leaders through October 10th and announced that they will present the final report at a November 2 press conference on 2 November. The draft integrates key messages from the three recent working group reports: the September 2013 report on physical science, the March 2014 release on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability  and April 2014’s mitigation of climate change.

There was not a single representative from the United States media on hand last in Stockholm last September for the long awaited IPCC AR5 release.

“The Stone Age didn’t end because of a lack of stones”
Let’s put an end to the coal age with actions, not words. The Human Chain

Actions Not Words

I can remember when they delivered coal to my grandmother’s house back in the 1950s. The truck pulling into the driveway. The men opening the grate. The loud racketing sound as coal crashing down the chute.  The smell lingered in the air for hours, as we blew bubbles, teased from Nanna’s secret recipe  (laundry detergent and unblemished kitchen sink water) from pipe cleaner bubble wands.  The sun would set. The adults would call us in. The smell would linger still, the dust scenting our play clothes, sifted in our ponytails. This memory is so intimately interlaced with the lush fabric of life back then.  Inseparable from the memory of the milk man, no matter what the weather, showing up at the door before sunrise.

Those of us who recall those days were innocent.

Yet that does not mean we are not implicated. That we owe no reparations.

The climate crisis offers no one parole. There is no early release for good behavior. We are all in this together. No one has the luxury of napping.

So let’s March! Let’s embrace the unparalleled task before us and show up in New York City.

And then let’s get to work.

Sign up For the People’s Climate March Now!

Editor’s Note: This article appeared in Daily Kos to promote the People’s Climate March in New York.

There is also a People’s Climate March here in San Diego. Here’s some info from their Facebook Page:

A growing coalition of San Diego organizations and individuals are working together to ensure that our local leaders know that San Diegans are also watching, and we too demand climate action now. We are working to bring hundreds of San Diegans together for the People’s Climate March San Diego to support the marchers in New York and to call for immediate action on climate change here at home.

We will call for solutions that work for people and the planet – a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewables and energy efficiency, and a just and sustainable economy. We will press our elected leaders to implement a strong Climate Action Plan for San Diego; develop sustainable water policies; build affordable mass transit and facilitate healthy communities; and support green jobs and clean energy.

The People’s Climate March San Diego will be on Sunday, September 21, 2014. We’ll gather at City Hall at 12:30 to call for a strong Climate Action Plan, stop at the American Plaza / Santa Fe Station to highlight transportation alternatives, and end at the County Administration Building Park, where we will hear from local leaders.  View the route, speakers, and other event details. We’ll also have bike rides and a special coaster coming in to the march.