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In late January, Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, declared
that the world has "already reached the level of
dangerous concentrations of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere" and called for immediate and "very deep"
cuts in emissions if humanity is to survive.


Pachauri's declaration came alongside new findings
unveiled on Jan. 24 by a commission of scientists from
the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, which declared that
the world is about 10 years -- or about 2 degrees
Fahrenheit -- away from irreversible climate change.
The scientists calculated that the "point of no
return" will arrive when concentrations of atmospheric
carbon dioxide reach 400 parts per million (ppm). For
most of the 20th century, these carbon concentrations
increased by about 1 ppm per year. In recent decades,
that rate rose to 1.5. Today it's more than 2 ppm per
year. Grand total: 379 ppm, and counting. It's a level
of atmospheric carbon this planet has not experienced
for 420,000 years.


As if on cue, about a week later, researchers with the
British Antarctic Survey reported that the massive
West Antarctic ice sheet may already have begun to
collapse. Citing recently discovered increased glacial
flows into the Antarctic Ocean, Chris Rapley, head of
the survey, noted: "The last IPCC report characterized
Antarctica as a slumbering giant in terms of climate
change. I would say it is now an awakened giant."