Two Significant Reports on Climate and Pollution

You might be interested in these 2 significant reports regarding pollution and climate change.

The first one is by the National Environment Trust titled "Toxic Beginnings: Cancer Risks to Children from California's Air Pollution" (published in 2002)

As per the report, in San Francisco, for example, the average infant will exceed the EPA’s lifetime exposure to toxic air pollutants in just 19 days (and a shocking 229 times the acceptable lifetime limit by age 18). The problem is severely compounded by the fact that children face significantly higher risks due to their physiology. Because children breathe more air relative to their body weight, their exposure to air contaminants is higher relative to adults.
Who are the culprits ? According to the report the problem lies in what

California law calls toxic air contaminants, or "TACS." TACS are chemicals that are emitted into the air from many of the same sources that contribute to smog and soot: vehicles, equipment, and factories. Though many of these chemicals contribute to smog, they also independently contribute to cancer, birth defects, and other health problems.

For a quick summary, you can read Jeffrey St. Clair's article @ Counterpunch. Born Under a Bad Sky - Cancerous Air

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The second report is called Climate Code Red:The Case for Emergency Action (published in 2008). An excerpt from Wikipedia is included below:

Climate Code Red: The Case for Emergency Action is a 2008 book, published by Scribe Publications, which presents scientific evidence that the global warming crisis is worse than official reports and national governments have so far indicated. The book argues that we are facing a "sustainability emergency" that requires a clear break from business-as-usual politics. The authors explain that emergency action to address climate change is not so much a radical idea as an indispensable course we must embark upon. Climate Code Red draws heavily on the work of a large number of climate scientists, including James Hansen.The key themes described at the Climate Code Red website are included below:

• Our goal is a safe-climate future – we have no right to bargain away species or human lives
• We are facing rapid warming impacts: the danger is immediate, not just in the future
• For a safe climate future, we must take action now to stop emissions and to cool the earth
• Plan a large-scale transition to a post-carbon economy and society
• Recognise a climate and sustainability emergency, because we need to move at a pace far beyond business and politics as usual

Thanks to Bill Anderson at CounterCurrents for this link to the Climate Code Red publication