Blog & news round-up 11/25: 5 People and things that 1Sky is thankful for

Because my journalist friends would yell at me if I buried the lead... Obama is going to Copenhagen! But wait, there's more! While we're certainly not thankful that there is a climate crisis to fight against, there is plenty to be thankful for within the climate community. Read on for a few of the people, groups, and things that we at 1Sky are thankful for this Thanksgiving eve.

President Barack Obama

If there was ever something to send all of us working to change how the world treats… the world off to vacation, it's this. After years of working for strong action and leadership from the United States at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, it may just be paying off. According to Reuters, President Obama will go to a climate change meeting as part of the conference on December 9th.

We also read today that the president will be committing to global warming gas emission reductions "in the range of" 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. This is simply not enough, but there is still time to push for real proposals in Copenhagen and from the U.S. Senate that will achieve the kind of cuts in emissions in the near-term future. So while we're thankful that the president is going to represent our nation in person, there' still plenty of work to do and calls to make to our senators.

Scientists working hard to understand what the situation is

As Grist reported yesterday, 26 climatologists -- including 14 members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- released an update to the much-cited IPCC report from 2007. Unfortunately it did not herald good news. This summary of hundreds of peer-reviewed studies found that arctic sea ice is melting 40 percent faster than the IPCC originally predicted. The long and short of this is that if we don't act before 2012 it will be too late. Read the Grist article for more.

Activist leaders like Bill McKibben

This past Sunday, the Washington Post devoted their Outlook section to addressing climate change. The lead article was an op-ed by environmental scholar and co-founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben. Speaking of pushing the president, McKibben's piece directly compared Obama with President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, an small island nation at severe risk from ocean levels rising. McKibben recognized the work that the Obama administration has done for environmental protections, but noted that the American president's leadership on climate has been nowhere near as vigorous as it could or should be.

McKibben followed the article by participating in a live chat with readers on the Washington Post site. We live-tweeted the chat, but you can read the full text of his Q&A here.

People smart enough to break the science down for the rest of us

Infographic of the week: National Geographic came out with a great infographic showing how the CO₂ balance in our atmosphere works. Using the image of a bathtub, they show how much carbon dioxide we produce each year, how much is (and is not) absorbed by nature, and where we are compared to the acceptable level of concentration in our atmosphere.

Cativists, or videos that make us laugh

With all the hard work and sometimes frustrating news it is important to remember to laugh every day. This week we're sharing a video showing that while they may seem aloof, cats are as concerned as us about climate change.

Let us know what you're thankful for in the comments!