In an April 2008 paper, a team of climate scientists led by NASA’s James Hansen said: "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilisation developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm." They concluded: “If the present overshoot of this target CO2 is not brief, there is a possibility of seeding irreversible catastrophic effects.” The 350 target has been endorsed as a safe upper limit by the Alliance of Small Island States — a bloc of countries representing 20% of the United Nations. Full Article at EcoEarth News