The Concept of Commitment - The Changing Arctic Environment: The Arctic Messenger - page 385

that 25% will still be there after 5,000 years. In terms of everyone alive today and as far as
we can possibly look into the future of our own personal kin, this means “forever”.
The AR4 states that a 50% emission reduction (a scenario not contemplated by most
of our world politicians) would only manage to stabilise atmospheric carbon dioxide con-
centrations for about a decade. After this, atmospheric CO 2 would rise again as the absorp-
tion capacity of land and ocean sinks declines. Complete elimination of CO 2 emissions was
estimated in AR4 to lead to a slow decrease in atmospheric CO 2 of only about 40 ppm over
the course of the twenty-first century. It is indeed something to ponder.