COP Curve

 

The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to stop the rise of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they get to levels that are dangerous for the global climate.  How is that going?  Three decades of results are summed up in the "COP Curve" shown below.  

 

 Credits: CO2.Earth adapted the "COP Curve" chart from a carboncredits.com graphic. 

 

COP refers to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  These are the national goverments that ratified the UNFCCC, including the atmosphere stabilization objective in UNFCCC Article 2. 

The Keeling Curve is the plot of high precision CO2 measurements in the air since March 1958 at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, 3400 metres above sea level.  The Keeling Curve shows "what is" happening with atmospheric CO2 levels.  Here, the COP Curve shows "what is not happening" to stop the rise of CO2 levels.  

 

 

The Earth Needs Social Media Curators & Mods of its Own

INVITATION FOR VOLUNTEERS:  CO2.Earth Facebook page admin, content curator, moderator and manager.

It isn’t easy for the Earth to share its information. Our beautiful planet needs volunteers to help make its most important info simple to share and actionable on a large scale.

Help is needed to connect and engage people with vital signs information and signals from the Earth that people need so our world can flourish and thrive. 

The CO2 Earth project began with the Earth’s CO2 home page that I launched in late 2007--now the main page for the CO2.Earth website. The next time you go there, be sure to notice that current global average temperature is presented together with atmospheric CO2 levels, and that the main spotlight is put on the CO2 numbers. 

Why? 

Because today, stopping the relentless rise of global temperature is achieved by stabilizing CO2 and similar gases in the atmosphere, not the other way around.  And it's no coincidence that Earth system scientists use atmospheric CO2, not temperature, to define a core boundary for civilization's safe operation, a marker that is measured and reported in real time with high precision. (See articles by W. Steffen and colleagues, 2015 as well as J. Rockstrom and colleagues, 2009, and J. Hansen and colleagues, 2008). 

CO2 Earth brings the Earth's the most vital and useful information into view, and into the centre of the picture.  The way the framers of the UNFCCC placed the stabilization of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at the heart of the UN agreement to, at the time, prevent dangerous disruption of the Earth's climate system (see UNFCCC Article 2, 1992).  

Our work is to make pathways visible and traversible for people to come together to secure the kind of future that is wanted by the people who are living on Earth.  That is, a future with an atmosphere and global temperatures that are stable and safe.  So the way to get their is as direct and speedy as can be.  

Sharing the Earth’s information is a different yet needed part of this work.  It is something individuals and groups can do that can have a high, lasting impact for the good of people and the wider community of life.

The CO2 Earth project has barely gotten started, especially in terms of impact.  At present, it includes four social media accounts that relate to the Earth's CO2 homepage and website: Facebook, X, Instagram, and Threads. 

This call for social media volunteers is because Bill, the lead curator and moderator of the CO2 Earth Facebook page, will soon retire after 13 years of service to its visitors and the planet as a whole.  Bill initiated our Facebook page in September 2010.  He launched it right after we had gotten together to watch Al Gore’s first Climate Reality broadcast roll through the Pacific time zone. 

Our small team is going to miss having Bill on this project.  And we are also excited to invite other planet-caring individuals to come forward, grab the steering wheel and help us get to the place where Bill and the rest of us have been trying to get to. 

Can you imagine adding a modest bit of time to provide a social media role to your regular schedule?  Would you like to discuss and explore some questions, thoughts or details? Or simply meet and get going?If you answer MAYBE or DEFINITELY to these questions, please send me a brief note to introduce yourself and your interest.   From there, we can meet by video or phone. 

Michael McGee

Creator of CO2.Earth and Show.Earth

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone: +1-778-535-6760 (Pacific Time / GMT -7)

 

PS:  More info about this volunteer role is provided below. 

 

REQUIREMENTS

 

• Sufficient understanding of anthropogenic climate change to distinguish accurate and inaccurate information about the Earth’s climate system
• Ability to converse with members of the global public in writing that is clear, civil and useful with language that is plain and polite.
• Ability to communicate, cooperate or collaborate with other team members
• Personal experience as a user of the Facebook or other social media platforms
• Availability to complete page curation activities on a regular schedule you define. 
• Basic skills to perform in the role or roles you choose to take on (e.g. social media manager, FB lead, content curator, FB moderator, FB admin)

 

POTENTIAL COLLABORATIONS

 

• When Bill retires, the CO2 Earth FB team will be reduced to two volunteer contributors.  We are seeking one or more individuals to join the team, including a team lead.
• This ad seeks Facebook volunteers; however, expressions of interest are welcome on other CO2.Earth social media accounts including accounts not currently set up.
• Members of the CO2 Earth FB and social media teams will have an opportuntity to help shape the larger CO2 Earth project which we aim to improve and expand greatly in the near future. 

 

PREFERENCES

 

These preferences are listed as the kinds of knowledge and skills that would be useful and which will probably develop and accrue over time. 

• Specialized training in one or more of these areas:
  
  • Environmental communication
  • Environmental education
  • Physical Earth system science 
  • Social science
  • Social media
  • Conflict resolution or non-violent communication
• Literacy in climate science or Earth system science
• Skills such as planning, strategic thinking & continual improvement (to help achieve CO2 Earth mission success generally & Facebook account goals specifically)
• Basic understanding and familiarity with Earth system data 
• Interest and ability to learn and support the learning of others
• Experience with the administration of accounts in the Meta Business Suite, or with social media management services such as Hootsuite

 

 

CO2 Updates for Canadian Weekly Newspapers

• Newspapers
• Canada
• Print
• Media
• Print Media

Dear newspaper publishers and managers,

We are a small team of volunteer, climate-concerned Canadians affiliated with the CO2.earth website.  And we have an offer and a request for you to consider. 

First, here's the offer.

For free, we want to give you the best graphics, information and assistance available for printing CO2 updates.  Why?  We want to make it easy for you to keep your subscribers and other readers up to date on the world’s leading indicator of local and global environmental health.  

Every Sunday or Monday, we publish a visual graphic with the latest CO2 levels, a graphic like this:

This graphic is an auto-updated web widget you can add to your website.
Click here for code and simple instructions to add it.

This graphic is an RGB thumbnail which we update every week.  Also, we have a larger, CMYK file linked at the bottom of this page which is now ready and continually updated for weekly publication in newspapers and other print media. Plus, we have larger RGB version available for digital publication online.  The CO2 graphic files linked below are large so they can be scaled down to the size and quality which works for your publication. 

We are sharing the modest selection of resources we have produced so far with English-speaking papers in Canada before we actively reach out to papers in other languages and countries. In the background, we are working to add more CO2 size and design options, resources and supports that are of actual use to newspapers, firstly here in Canada

Second: Our request.

We want to learn what kinds of content, information and support would make it easy for your paper to publish CO2 updates that existing and new readers will come to expect.  To find out, we created this 5 minute survey which we hope you and other weekly paper publishers will fill out.  

[insert survey link]

Alternatively, bypass the survey and email your thoughts to Guy Hanchet at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (or request a 10-minute phone interview). 

We are.... 

Sincerely,

Guy Hanchet, ForOurGrandchildren.ca (Ontario)

Professor Rick Kool, Royal Roads University (BC)

Michael McGee, M.A., CO2.Earth & Show.Earth (BC)

 

 

PS: You may be interested in these resources:

Show.Earth | Install a Weekly CO2 Website Widget

CO2.Earth | CO2 for Print

CO2.Earth | media..