Are you a fan of the Great Ocean Conveyor?

Let me reassure you right here – I’m not going to offload a bunch of arcane science on the unsuspecting public. The truth is, I’d never heard of it either until last spring, when I absolutely fell in love with it.

Despite the name, it’s not a piece of factory equipment. And it’s not a place. It’s a dance of the ocean around the Earth – down and up and around, and around again - each cycle taking a thousand years.

When I first heard about the Great Ocean Conveyor, at a conference on oceans and the  climate this spring, I was entranced. I loved hearing how all seas and oceans on Earth are in fact one ocean – one single body of water. What makes it a single body is this movement, this constant looping around the Earth. This the ocean’s breathing cycle, getting the oxygen to every corner. Without it life would only flourish on the surface – the deeps and the seafloor would be dead zones except for maybe a few microscopic bugs.

Talk about “aha” moments!

But darned if climate change didn’t manage to poke its oily, sooty finger in this one too. Turns out the Great Ocean Conveyor is driven by the difference in temperature between the poles and the equator. And the poles are warming very fast … as we can see by the melting ice and permafrost. Enough said – we all know the score.

Now I did say no science, but I didn’t say no politics, right?

Many people are saying it right now, and I’ll say it again: we must win the talks in Copenhagen next month. If we want to begin reducing global emissions by 2016, as science tells us we must if we want to stay within the 2 degrees guardrail – we must have a binding climate treaty with hard targets. Here’s why.

Write or phone the Prime Minister today and ask him to commit to a binding treaty with hard targets. Canada is now the world’s foremost dinosaur and laughing stock. But climate change is no laughing matter.