The problem is not “simply” the increase in carbon dioxide. We have a whole systems problem.

The previous picture of the  “sweet spot” reflects the famous “hockey stick” graph that shows the dramatic increase of global  mean temperature in the last 50 years. (top picture right)

But the real problem looks more like the charts below the famous "hockey stick:"

Lots of “Hockey Sticks.” ( International Geosphere Biosphere Program) From population to consumption, global GDP to loss of biodiversity, energy to water, land use, ocean ecosystems, to the number of MacDonalds restaurants – a whole slew of indicators along the same trend: up, up and away.

Cutting forests, unsound agricultural practices, ocean acidification – all of these hamper Earth’s capacity to absorb CO2. Just when the Earth needs “carbon sinks” (absorption of CO2) to be most effective, they are waning, filling up, shutting down or destroyed.

We know the CO2 “hockey stick” leads to unstable warming of the planet. We know we are draining fresh water supplies. We know we consume too many hamburgers. We know we cut too many trees. What we do not know, according to Dr. Johan Rockström, director of the Stockholm Environment Institute, is what happens “when all these hockey sticks start playing as a team.”

Civilization on one side: Nature’s power play on the other. Who wants to be the goalie for humanity?

Earth Systems interactions and the crucial nature of the slow amplifying feedbacks are intensively complex. Simply stabilizing CO2 will not arrest the trends across the economy or ecosystems. The scales are gargantuan. The new science cannot rule out – over any given length of time – the possibility of catastrophic changes.

Beyond 350 ppm forces and forcings are at work throughout the ecosystem that sustain the overall energy imbalance of the Earth. The risks therefore remain, perhaps increase. The consequences uncertain.

We have much to learn. But the precautionary principle tells us we know enough now to act in the best interest of the whole – call her Gaia or call it the Whole Earth – and we had better act fast.