Below is an article written by Dr. Lowman in newsobserver.com:

A biological inventory project, called the Encyclopedia of Life (EoL), was recently launched to catalog information about Earth’s 1.8million scientific species classified during the past several centuries. Currently, information on some species is only available piecemeal in different museums, collections, websites or roughly scribbled in the field notebooks of individual biologists. This first-ever global inventory will compile all facts about every species and make it available via computer. Thousands of taxonomists (scientists who classify and name organisms) are contributing information to create the first large-scale assessment of life on our planet (www.eol.org).

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Below is an article written by Dr. Lowman in newsobserver.com:

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” John Muir

Like a baby’s soft skin, the new foliage of spring is delicate and breathtaking as it unfolds to signify a rebirth of the natural world.

A leaf lover for many decades, I can vouch for the existence of thousands of green hues in the botanical world, each unique.

The sun-drenched lime greens of live oak catkins indicate subtle signs of a Florida spring. The cinnamon greens of unfurling magnolia leaves announce spring in Georgia. The dazzling array of dogwood, hornbeam, beech and oak greenery – interspersed with the electric pinks and reds of budding maples and redbud – signify spring in North Carolina.

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There is one important difference between ecology and many other fascinating sciences and games: unsolved problems of chess, astronomy, or mathematics will not change if we ignore them. Our activity or lack of activity can alter the state of ecology. [Lawrence Slobodkin, 2003 in A Citizen’s Guide to Ecology]

From November 29 to December 10, delegates from approximately 194 countries are meeting in Cancun, Mexico, attempting to produce a climate agreement. It is ironic that this location was underwater during Earth’s last warming period just over 100,000 years ago. And even more amazing is the fact that the entire Cancun coastline at that time was swamped by an 8 foot sea-level rise which occurred in only a few decades of relatively rapid warming. Will history repeat itself? Or will our governments agree on an international plan to reduce carbon emissions as a means of addressing global warming?

Last year, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was held in Copenhagen, with a mission to cut greenhouse gases by 50 percent by the year 2050. That conference failed to achieve any consensus on a legally binding treaty. This year’s meeting, (chronologically referred to as COP 16), is expected to attract about half the attendees, in part due to the disappointment of not achieving any outcomes at COP 15 in Copenhagen. Many are wondering if the methodology of bringing together 194 countries is sound; can such a large and diverse group achieve consensus? This year, the sights have been lowered, and most countries hope to focus on pieces of the bigger framework, including REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation), “climate finance” which involves money administered to poor countries to combat early signs of climate change, and how to structure the economics of funding forest conservation as important carbon storage systems. Most delegates feel that Cancun could serve to restore confidence in the UNFCCC process, and hopefully an overall action plan will be more likely in South Africa in 2011, or at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 2012.

According to almost all scientific models, the time is running out to reverse our planet’s warming trends. Some of the most serious changes recorded in the past few decades of climate change monitoring include increased acidification of our oceans, significant melting of Arctic and Greenland ice, and accelerating sea level rise along coastlines. These phenomena are not easily reversed. Although the earth has been warm before in its geological past, millions of human beings were not living in valuable real estate along coastlines or concentrated in large urban areas that tend to act as heat islands.

The international panel of scientists who evaluate climate change, otherwise known as the IPCC, is also scrambling to revise and refine their communication about their results. One serious issue for this panel is how to translate the term “uncertainty” to policy-makers, to the public, and also to the scientific community. Similar to warfare, when governments need to predict the likelihood of military invasions, the IPCC uses a vocabulary of terms that estimate probability. But these terms are not necessarily translated with any mathematical certainty by the media. For example, their term “very likely” means a greater than 90% chance of happening; but to the average layperson, “very likely” sounds pretty vague. And when “very likely” is written up by a sensational tabloid article, its meaning may change altogether. The inclusion of more precise language is on the drawing board, as the IPCC reviews its own process, and attempts to improve its science communication skills. Otherwise, the continued uncertainty of the jargon may continue to cloud the certainty of our changing climate. And our great grand-children will someday wonder why we never understood the significance of the science.

Meg Lowman, longtime Florida scientist/educator, is now establishing the nationally acclaimed Nature Research Center at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, with its mission “to engage the public.” Her column appears monthly in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (RSS).

The Weather Breakers?
A scientist from Down Under visits Florida

We walk on earth,

We look after,

Like rainbow sitting on top.

But something underneath,

Under the ground.

We don’t know.

You don’t know.

What do you want to do?

If you touch,

You might get cyclone, heavy rain or flood.

Not just here,

You might kill someone in another place.

You might kill him in another country.

You cannot touch him.

– Big Bill Neidjie,

“Gagadju Man”

This Aboriginal poem interprets how mining in the Australian outback poisoned their environment for subsequent generations. In saying “what do you want to do?” it implies that people today have the power to influences the lives of the next generation or even someone living halfway around the world. The trickle-down effects of altering ecosystems are global, as we are now learning with respect to climate change.

Professor Tim Flannery, Australian scientist, expands on the wisdom of this Aboriginal poem in his new book, “The Weather Makers.” Flannery, one of a new breed of planetary heroes, distilled the complex issue of global warming into a clear message when visiting Florida last month as part of his book tour. His Sarasota public lecture was sponsored by Sarasota News and Books, Selby Gardens and Sarasota Catering Co. He also spoke on radio station WSLR. Tony Blair, prime minister of Great Britain, said, “All who read ‘The Weather Makers’ will be left wiser and able to appreciate how fragile our climate is and how it is this generation who must act to protect it.”

Flannery hails from “Down Under.” When Flannery was only 8, a curator at the South Australian Museum put a dinosaur bone in his young hand. Bitten with the bug of scientific curiosity, he pursued a career as a paleontologist (a scientist who studies the past using fossils). Climate is one of the most important clues to life in the past, which probably explains why Flannery has dedicated his life to the history of climate. In his book, he claims that uncertainty in global climate can be summed up in two words: “air pollution.” Human beings have used our atmosphere as a “dumping grounds,” and now that has become what Flannery called “a polluted cesspool.”

Not only does air pollution cause health risks such as asthma and allergies, but it is also warming our planet. What once comprised the perfect composition of 280 ppm (parts per million) atmospheric carbon for creatures to thrive (before smokestacks and cars) has now reached 375 ppm and rising. So what?

It is easy to assume that the impacts of this warming trend are only occurring far away at the poles with isolated instances such as reported ice melts, starving polar bears and the inability of a few million penguins to reach their nesting grounds. In his book, Flannery writes that this is not the case. Climate change does not discriminate by race, creed, country, or economic status.

Flannery explains that the atmosphere inhales and exhales, almost like a living organism. Every spring with the onset of photosynthesis, which utilizes carbon dioxide, the global levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere decrease. In autumn when the leaves fall, the opposite occurs. These seasonal levels are part of the natural dynamics of our atmosphere. But with the advent of modern agricultural practices, clearing and burning of forests, and most recently industrialization, carbon dioxide has accumulated abnormally in the air.

A key data set in the history of climate change, illustrated in “The Weather Makers,” is a curve created by climatologist Charles Keeling, who mapped the annual levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere for more than 40 years. Flannery calls the Keeling curve “the ‘Silent Spring’ of climate change” because of its importance in illustrating the alarming, recent increases in greenhouse gases.

The book also explains the importance of Earth’s carrying capacity, a principle that defines how many people can be supported by our planet’s finite resources. In 1961, our population of 3 billion people used half the resources of Earth. By 1986, 5 billion people required 100 percent of our planet’s resources to survive, meaning that our carrying capacity had been reached. And by 2050, it is predicted that 9 billion people will require double the Earth’s resources to sustain current lifestyles.

Over-use of natural resources will eventually lead to serious problems, but increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will likely cause extinction first, Flannery contends. Many coral reefs are dying, because the water is warming. Flannery explains that at the poles, however, “climate change is occurring now at twice the rate seen anywhere else.” The drowning of polar bears on thinning ice caps is one example of death from rapid climate change.

Despite his dire predictions, Flannery brings a glimmer of hope with examples of how climate change can be reversed with existing technologies. He cited the fact that downsizing American cars could reverse the blanket of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For example, drivers of the Toyota Land Cruiser who traded for a Toyota Prius would lower his or her carbon dioxide emissions by 70 percent, more than the level required to reverse climate change. If more institutions in Florida (and he called on churches to set an example) used solar panels, the extinction of many species would be averted. Wind is another exciting, non-carbon-based, source of energy for the future. If governments adopted carbon taxes, whereby industries paid a tax whenever they use our atmosphere to dump their industrial waste, then economic incentives would predictably drive the repair of our planet. In this case, many people will become rich from alternative energies!

During my radio interview with Flannery, he talked wistfully about his childhood when kids worshipped war heroes, admiring their stories of courage and valor in battle. He says that our children and grandchildren will likely base their definition of heroes by asking, “Grandpa, what did you do to reduce your carbon emissions?”

The heroes of this generation will be those people who acted quickly and with vision.The latest news from the British Antarctic Survey indicates that the world’s largest iceberg, the West Antarctic ice sheet, is showing initial signs of destabilization. If this iceberg melts, sea level would rise by at least 15 feet. Do the math. If Floridians hope to enjoy a coastal lifestyle in the future, carbon dioxide emissions need immediate reduction. If we can make that happen, our grandchildren may refer to us as “the real heroes of the planet.”