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Cate -- one of the few to care Steve Dunn outlines the latest thinking on climate change, then proposes some solutions: Climatologist James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, predicts that if the temperature increase this century can be limited to 2�F or less, then the natural world will still be recognizable in 2100 . There will be higher species extinction rates and damamged ecosystems, but the basic fabric of life as we now know it will remain. Much beyond two degrees Hansen says and the natural world will fundamentally change. The same "two degrees is manageable" assumption underlies the carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction goals established in the Kyoto Protocol. Emissions targets Unfortunately, greenhouse gas emissions are already blowing right past Kyoto's first benchmark that requires countries to reduce their 1990 CO2 emission levels 7 percent by 2012. Instead, U.S. emissions have increased 1.5-2 percent a year every year since 1990. Chinese and Indian emissions are growing far faster than was anticipated by Kyoto in 1998 and, even among the countries who signed the treaty, only the UK is close to being on target.

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