Climate Change and The Five Pillars Of The Third Industrial Revolution(Rifkin)

The fourth UN Climate Report was an urgent reminder that the chemistry of the planet is changing.The news is not good and our scientists tell us to expect at least a three degree Celsius rise in the Earth by the end of the century.A mere 1.5 to 3.5 degrees,according to scientists,could lead to a mass extinction of plant and animal life in less than 100 years.The models indicate an extinction rate of 20% on the low end and more than 70% on the high end.The loss of trees in stressed ecosystems worries scientists.Twenty-five percent of the planet's land surface is forested and serves as the habitat for many of the remaining species of life.A sudden loss of trees would bring havoc on animal life.Every increase in temperature of one degree Celsius leads to a seven percent increase in the moisture-holding capacity of the atmosphere.A 2005 study published in the journal Science states that the number of 4 and 5 category storms has doubled since 1970's.Scientists are particularly worried about the Arctic.For the first time in 125,000 years,open waters stretched around the Arctic.If the permafrost coat melts,it could trigger a potentially catastrophic release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and lead to a dramatic rise in the Earth's temperature.The rising temperatures on Earth is already beginning to melt the permafrost at an alarming rate.A significant loss of ice cover,according to the U. of Alaska in Fairbanks,could release vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane.If this happens,there is nothing our species could do to prevent a wholesale destruction of our ecosystems and catastrophic extinction of life on our planet.

The US government's own chief climatologist James Hansen,head of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies,suggested our carbon emissions are at 385 parts per million and quickly rising.His group has determined that for the past 650,000 years(ice core samples)the Earth hasn't exceeded 300 parts per million.He states that humanity needs to reduce it's current level to 350 ppm and lower if we are going to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed.The Third Revolution,with renewable energy as its centerpiece,is the only pathway to rectify this current,dangerous problem for humanity.

The Third Industrial Revolution has five pillars that function in relationship to one another:(1) Shifting to renewable energy (2) transforming the building stock of every continent into micro-power plants to collect renewable energy on site (3) deploying hydrogen and other storage technologies in every building and throughout the infrastructure to store intermittent energies(4)using Internet technology to transform the power grid of every continent into energy-sharing intergrid that acts just like the Internet(sell to grid and share electricity with their continental neighbors;and (5) transitioning the transport fleet to electric plug-in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity on a smart ,continental,interactive power grid.

More from The Third Industrial Revolution soon.