We did it, and it's nothing to cheer about.
The world hit the "sobering milestone" of 400 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 on Thursday -- a first in human history -- marking "a moment of symbolic significance on road of idiocy" the world has chosen, as well as a call for urgent climate action.
Reaching this threshold level represents a global failure to address the runaway greenhouse gas emissions; as Al Gore wrote today, it shows "we are reaping the consequences of our recklessness."
The United Nations, blamed for causing the outbreak of cholera in Haiti which killed over 7000 and sickened over half a million, has rejected a November 2011 claim for compensation on behalf of victims of the disease, stating, "claims are not receivable."
"Today, the United Nations advised the claimants' representatives that the claims are not receivable pursuant to Section 29 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations," a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated on Thursday. "The Secretary-General telephoned Haitian President Michel Martelly to inform him of the decision, and to reiterate the commitment of the United Nations to the elimination of cholera in Haiti."
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Some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Tuesday are urging President Obama to show his "climate convictions" and reject the tar sands-carrying Keystone XL pipeline.
In an open letter, the 18 scientists, including noted climate scientist James Hansen, Ralph Keeling of Scripps CO2 Program Scripps Institution of Oceanography and James Box of the Byrd Polar Research Center, write that rejecting the pipeline would be a "relatively easy" step to take to address the planet's rising temperature.
