Taking climate off the shelf

So it's been a while since my last post, due to an incredibly busy month at Avaaz: campaigning on biofuels, winning awards, and breaking online petition records. However, today's news that the Wilkins Ice sheet is dangerously close collapse compelled me to take a minute to reflect on what this discovery means.

Ever since the IPCC published its Fourth Assessment Report, we’ve known that evidence for anthropogenic climate change is unequivocal and the need for combative action is immediate. Yet, over a year after the scientific section of this paper was published, there is still a gap between what the scientists say needs to be done and the political response. Not even the European Union, who have played a very active role in international climate politics, has got it right.

Today’s bombshell then, should have everyone worried. Essentially, the rate at which this ice shelf is breaking up is 50% faster than what scientists had predicted and, given that the IPCC is towards the more conservative end of scientific projections, this news suggests that we should be extremely worried about the impact timetables upon which we have based most of our calls to action. But, I wonder--can some good come out of this? Perhaps it will take an event like the collapse of the Wilkins Ice sheet for politicians to finally realise the urgency with which we must tackle this problem. I’m not convinced that this event will kick start the world’s politicians into action. However, what it may well do is announce to the world’s people that global warming has arrived. We already know that public concern over climate change is high, but this melting of a giant ice sheet could spur a critical mass of public concern which will no longer provide politicians with excuses for inaction.