Global Issues
Climate change is the greatest environmental threat humanity has ever faced and the biggest challenge. It is caused by the build up of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels and the destruction of areas that store massive amounts of carbon like the world’s rainforests.No one knows how much warming is “safe” but we know that climate change is already harming people and ecosystems around the globe.We’re campaigning for climate solutions that still allow people to prosper without damaging the planet including increasing energy efficiency, clean energy and protecting the world’s rainforests.
The average global temperature today is about 1°C higher than it was before the Industrial Revolution began in the late 1700s. That may not sound like much, but scientists agree that just one more 1°C, and our planet will pass a tipping point beyond which there could be irreversible changes to the global climate that wreck worldwide havoc.
But we have a very poor understanding of the local effects of dialing down solar radiation. Even the strongest advocates for the sulfur particle-based technology say a lot more research is needed. The Earth’s many natural cycles—water, carbon, and nitrogen, for example—would suddenly be disrupted. Rain patterns could change drastically. Agricultural productivity could dip. The chemical reactions between ozone and sulfur might cause the ozone layer to start rapidly depleting, which could be a serious threat to life on the planet.