Climate Change: A Gilded Trap.

It is commonly understood that the human/landscape systems are inherently linked, with many emergent properties that are forcing the way towards new, adaptive management schemes. This is in light of the historic trend of rebound cycles and gilded traps that occur as humans exploit resources to the brink of no return. Consider the systematic depletion of North Atlantic Cod throughout northern waters and the Mediterranean Basin.

On a more global level however, it has recently been released by The Guardian that the world's carbon dioxide concentration is "teetering on the point of no return." Recordings from Cape Grim, Australia, among other stations have confirmed that there will be no return from the 400ppm cap that has been breached globally - a phenomenon that was first achieved in 2013 on seasonal scales as picked up by the Mauna Loa observatory. The below image shows the lag time between CO2 emissions and CO2 levels.

Turn the thermostat up by 10oC, and it won't heat up immediately - but in an hour or so's time, it will be far too hot. It is speculated that this is what is happening now. It might be interpreted that this continuing upward spiral in carbon dioxide content is the latest gilded trap created by humans. The UK is legally committed to an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 20150, but this prospect seems bleak for two reasons:

1.  The damage has already been done: Gilded Trap, in effect.
2. Zero-carbon home rules have recently been scrapped by the government. 

Is it possible that we have all plummeted in to a gilded trap, unwittingly, as a species?

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