Phil Davis Blog | Why We Need To Act On Climate Change Now | TalkMarkets

Why We Need To Act On Climate Change Now

Date: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 7:23 AM EDT

Jan Dash PhD is a physicist, an expert at quantitative finance and risk management, and a consultant at Bloomberg LP. In his thought-provoking book, Quantitative Finance and Risk Management, A Physicist’s Approach, he devotes a chapter to climate change and its long-term systemic risk. Jan’s Climate Portal provides background. In this interview with Phil Stock World's Ilene Carrie, Jan discusses climate change and the way inaction is threatening our future.

Ilene: Hi Jan. Thank you for taking the time to share your ideas on global warming. . . I’m looking at a graph, along with the current atmospheric CO2 level that you and Yan Zhang modeled for the Bloomberg Carbon Clock, which shows just how sharply CO2 levels have increased mostly in only the last 50 years relative to the last 12 thousand years. And I can see that CO2 levels are currently about 400 ppm – and that at 450 ppm, the text says we will reach a “ danger zone.” What happens when CO2 levels reach 450 ppm? Why is that level considered the “danger zone?”

 

Screenshot of Bloomberg’s Carbon Clock

Jan: If we can limit CO2 to 450 ppm, it is likely that we can limit the average global temperature increase to around 2 degrees Centigrade or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels. This is the goal of the Paris Agreement, designed to leave a livable planet to our descendants.

Continue reading this article here.

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Comments

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Carol Klein 6 years ago Member's comment

Never understood how #Trump can ignore #ClimateChange. It makes me worried for not only this country, but this world.

Ilene Carrie 6 years ago Contributor's comment

We are starting to see what is in store (e.g. Houston) as we continue to ignore the problem. This is just an intro.

Ilene Carrie 6 years ago Contributor's comment

Hope you enjoy this interview.

Bindi Dhaduk 6 years ago Member's comment

Thanks for sharing, Ilene.

Doug Morris 6 years ago Member's comment

Thanks, Ilene.

Ilene Carrie 6 years ago Contributor's comment

Did you like the article? What do you think?

Bindi Dhaduk 6 years ago Member's comment

Yes, I liked it very much. Climate change is too important to be ignored, or ridiculed as a conspiracy theory (as #Trump and his administration might lead us to believe). I'm glad to see it's not only my generation that care about this critical issue.

Doug Morris 6 years ago Member's comment

I admit your odd comment caught my eye on the homepage which did bring me in to read the article. But Jan is preaching to the choir here. Global warming is a serious issue. I did enjoy reading Jan's views on the subject.

Ilene Carrie 6 years ago Contributor's comment

Doug, Thank you for the input. If I caught your eye then my "test" worked. I did not know where these articles end up post-submission and was trying to figure that out. I agree with you: unfortunately, too many people do not believe climate change is a real, and reaching those people is unlikely, even if they read the article.