It is imperative to act immediately on global warming, rather than wait for more information, believes Ivar Ekeland:
Even if we stopped producing any more carbon dioxide today, hundreds of years would elapse before its atmospheric concentration returned to its preindustrial level of 280 ppm. It is right now at 370 ppm, and it is expected to reach 745 ppm in 2100. By this time average temperatures will be higher than they are today, the estimated range being 37 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to some melting of the polar ice caps, so that the sea level will increase by an estimated half a foot to three feet, which is enough to wipe out some islands and countries like Bangladesh. There is always the hope that such dire predictions might turn out to be wrong, and this is an argument often put forward not to face the problem, but it should be kept in mind that there are two ways to be wrong: one can error on the good side as easily as on the bad side. In other words, the actual scenarios may turn out to be worse than expected (in fact, this seems to be happening), so that uncertainty actually strengthens the argument for doing something right now. (Quoted from The Best of All Possible Worlds, by Ivar Ekeland, The University of Chicago Press, 2006, p. 146.)
For Ivar Ekeland’s home page, click here.
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