The forests for sure going to die (A 0.3 degree C. increase is predicted for the period 2004-2014 alone by Smith, Cusack et al, 2007), not for what we will do, but WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY DONE:

'Leemans and Eickhout (2004) found that adaptive capacity decreases rapidly with an increasing rate of climate change. Their study finds that five percent of all ecosystems cannot adapt more quickly than 0.1 C per decade over time. Forests will be among the ecosystems to experience problems first because their ability to migrate to stay within the climate zone they are adapted to is limited. If the rate is 0.3 C per decade, 15 percent of ecosystems will not be able to adapt. If the rate should exceed 0.4 C per decade, all ecosystems will be quickly destroyed, opportunistic species will dominate, and the breakdown of biological material will lead to even greater emissions of CO2. This will in turn increase the rate of warming' --Leemans and Eickhout (2004), 'Another reason for concern: regional and global impacts on ecosystems for different levels of climate change,' Global Environmental Change 14, 219-228

Here is what Climate Code Red says:

--Human emissions have so far produced a global average temperature increase of 0.8 degree C.

--There is another 0.6 degree C. to come due to "thermal inertia", or lags in the system, taking the total long-term global warming induced by human emissions so far to 1.4 degree C.

--If human total emissions continue as they are to 2030 (and don't increase 60% as projected) this would likely add more than 0.4 degrees C. to the system in the next two decades, taking the long-term effect by 2030 to at least 1.7 degrees C. (A 0.3 degree C. increase is predicted for the period 2004-2014 alone by Smith, Cusack et al, 2007).

--Then add the 0.3 degree C. albedo flip effect from the now imminent loss of the Arctic sea ice, and the rise in the system by 2030 is at least 2 degree. C, assuming very optimistically that emissions don't increase at all above their present annual rate! When we consider the potential permafrost releases and the effect of carbon sinks losing capacity, we are on the road to a hellish future, not for what we will do, but WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY DONE.

To summarize, all ecosystems will be quickly destroyed (A 0.3 degree C. increase is predicted for the period 2004-2014 alone by Smith, Cusack et al, 2007), not for what we will do, but WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY DONE, unless geoengineering is attempted:

"The alternative (to geoengineering) is the acceptance of a massive natural cull of humanity and a return to an Earth that freely regulates itself but in the hot state." --Dr James Lovelock, August 2008

Let me suggest a cheap and simple geoengineering technology: just add a little sun dimming aerosol to the upper atmosphere.

Hypocrites,  How can these people be seen as credible? The forest of Southern Appalachia are clear cut and burned before the Mountain Top Removal process. Why doesn't this hypocritical bunch stop the deforestation in the U.S. before they try to tell South America or anywhere else what to do.  The southern Appalachia forest just through the regular coal strip mining process are being devastated.

The MTR process destroys the mountains and valleys beyond any kind of real reclamation. They use tires and diesel to burn the clear cut forest. They use mullions of pounds of nitrate explosives to blast away the overburden. The blasted crushed up rock in the fills leach heavy metals into streams and creeks.

Clean up your own back yard first before you try to tell the world about saving a forest. This bunch has lost all credibility when talking about deforestation. The kind of deforestation done in Southern Appalachia is not repairable. One might be able to restore  tropical jungle forest over time. The MTR Mountain and Valley is destroyed completely. No one will ever go to the effort to remove thousands of tons of overburden from the valleys and place it back on the mountain, plus the top soil that takes hundreds of years to develop.

The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.

The changes to the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act and to EPA rules that allow MTR were for the most part administrative changes made by George Bush. Under this present administration it would not be very difficult to have these changes reversed. Why not a consorted effort now to stop MTR and if it can't be done with just the administrative changes make the Appalachian Forest part of Lugar and Kerry's debt for nature swaps.

Hell the place has been on some sort of welfare since the 60's and the ARC, Appalachian Regional Commission has cost billions. We should have incurred some debt by now. Make Kentucky and West Virginia trade some Deciduous Forest land to pay for it.

Ethnocentic elitist should not be trading with just the Latino's until we swap out some U.S. Forest also.

We will call the place Kentuctinia to make it sound like a country instead of the states of Kentucky and West Virginia. Feds won't know the difference because they forgot about this place years ago.

The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.

What would seem worse than this is cutting down healthy green forest , piling it up and burning it with diesel fuel. MTR notwithstanding regular coal stripping or the conventional method of coal strip mining is consuming thousands of acres of healthy forest. We have no fire problem in the Eastern Appalachian forest except for the coal strip jobs cutting the forest and burning it before they move the blasters and the bulldozers in. But of course I forget you are talking about the west  that seems to have a higher status than a healthy deciduous Eastern Forest. Let me get the priority straight, the Amazon, the Western States forest including the North West the Australian Bush, the Siberian forest then we get down to the Pine Forest in the South. Wait a minute the Southern Appalachian forest does not seem to be on the list.

Sorry my mistake, wrong blog

The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.

"You cannot save the planet. What you need to do is see if you can try to save yourself," said Maathai. "The planet is not going to die. The planet will survive. It will adjust itself, as it has always done." Thank you, thank you, thank you Ms. Maathai. I wish more people would state publicly, rather than mumble amongst their "colleagues", the importance to human and other animal life of arresting the diffusion of co2 and methane into the atmosphere. As she said, the planet will be fine. We, and millions of other species on our Big Blue Marble, will not. Shout out to Pompey Road: I'm with you 100% on those statements. Every word. Well said...and unfortunately, ignored. C'm-F***ing-on Grist, howsaboot you rip Mr. Obama a new one for not immediately rescinding the MTR rules, etc., initiated during the Boosh Lost Years.

The mellotron is your friend.

Only thousands of acres. ONLY THOUSANDS OF ACRES!

Well hell thats different, only a few piddly thousands of acres that can be saved with a few rule and regulation changes. I know that a few thousand acres will be added in the next year or two and this is acreage that includes valley's that are being buried. Mountain tops Blown off and shoved into pristine valleys.

Yep, its only thousands of Appalachian Mountains down in dogpatch that nobody gives a s#^t about.

It's not like you have to stop co2 and suck millions of tons of the stuff out of the atmosphere. You just get old change is coming, change is here to overturn the Bush rule and reg changes he made to The Surface Mine and Reclamation Act, plus the rule changes he made to EPA, specifically the streams and Clean Water Act.

Here's a tip, stop MTR and you are going to raise the price of coal per ton in the Eastern Coal Fields. Stop all types of coal stripping in Appalachia and you will raise the price of coal even higher. You may get the price of coal high enough to let the alternative energy sector catch up. Could get you some co2 reduction to save the Canadian forest.

I can see why you can write off the southern Appalachia Mountains, not worth the effort. The place is just a hillbilly s*#t hole. Not to worry we will pour the good black stuff out of these thousands of acres with a lower MTR mining cost, help you with your co2 problem.

It is as much about stopping a cheap form of coal production with just the added benifit of saving thousands of acres of deciduous forest.  

Friggen Brilliant!

The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.