Hole in Ozone Layer Has Protected Ice Thus Far

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/01/ozone-antarctica

The hole in the Earth's ozone layer has shielded Antarctica from the worst effects of global warming until now, according to the most comprehensive review to date of the state of the Antarctic climate.   But scientists warned that as the hole closes up in the next few decades, temperatures on the continent could rise by around 3C on average, with melting ice contributing to a global sea-level increases of up to 1.4m.

The original report is at http://www.scar.org/  .

Various governments have been studying the issue of sea level rise  - including the province of British Columbia.  http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/climate/pdfs/sea-level-changes-08.pdf
The low to high estimates of sea level rise for Vancouver (on page 8) are .04 metres to 1.03 metres   Of course, these estimates by the provincial government are based upon IPCC predictions - so they may be far too low as they were set before the above SCAR reprot was released. 

  How many major cities in the world are located in a low lying coastal area?  How much money is sea level rise going to cost?  Before you answer, consider the destruction wrought by storm surges in Cockermouth and the Cowichwan valley..... Perhaps we should do something about greenhouse gas emissions while we still can....

A Change of Mind

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/26/harper-copenhagen-summit026.html

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attend the Copenhagen climate change meeting next month after all, his office said Thursday — a day after saying he would not go.

Harper decided Thursday to attend the meeting to work on a new climate change agreement after the U.S. president and Chinese premier announced that they will show up, his spokesman said.

Perhaps applying "green heat" to Mr. Harper is has been  effective.  However, going to Copenhagen is not indicative of a change of heart on his part.  Please help generate Mr. Harper's change of heart by emailing him.  Ask the Right Honorable Stephen Harper to sign on to  meaningful, legally binding, and science based greenhouse gas emission reductions on our behalf.   (Or one could try lobbying the US President as our Prime Minister appears to be following an American  lead.)
UPDATE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-to-attend-copenhagen-after-all/article1379351/

However, there has been a surprising amount of progress in the intervening days, as nations around the world declared their specific commitments to reduce emissions.
In one respect, Mr. Harper's reversal is both embarrassing and politically compromising, forcing him to devote time and political capital on an issue the Conservatives prefer to avoid confronting, since any meaningful effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions threatens to constrain development of Alberta's oil sands.

Please send Mr. Harper an email suggesting that he should constrain development of the Alberta tar sands.

Floods in Cockermouth, Britain and Climate Change

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/6622961/Cumbria-floods-Gordon-Brown-pledges-extra-1m-for-stricken-area.html

David Balmforth, a flooding expert at the Institution of Civil Engineers, said deluges on a similar scale will become more frequent as a result of climate change. He said: "Climate change means that is only going to get worse. We cannot hope to defend ourselves from flooding on this scale. "Instead we need to make our communities much more resilient to flooding and this must be placed at the heart of the way we plan, design and build our towns and villages."

Climate change is real - and its effects will get much worse if we don't act now.  Email the Prime Minister - or, perhaps, Barack Obama since the Right Honorable Stephen Harper seems to be awaiting his lead.