Can China and the United States Cooperate to Prevent More Dangerous Climate Change?
In the 21st century, the existential imperative for every national government is to stop the acceleration of global warming. The Earths climate is changing rapidly. Human activity is the primary contributor. Experts agree that we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically if we are to avoid much more dangerous effects of extreme climate change. Some say we must limit average CO2 levels in the atmosphere to no more than 450 parts per million (the average is at about 388 ppm today). Some say we must reduce those levels to no more than 350 parts per million over time. (This would entail reducing total net global emissions to zero and then permanently capturing and storing additional CO2 from the atmosphere underground or in forests, soils, and oceans.) If we fail to achieve dramatic reductions in emissions worldwide, humanity faces the prospect of mass starvation, mass migrations, deadly epidemics, rising pestilence, political turmoil, collapsing nation-states, and resource wars. S
