[Nightranger]

Prince Charles was just being a high profile voice for a problem that is not new and the only thing that is different is the timeline. Unfortunately, the preponderance of buzz phrases means people are sometimes focused on single issues rather than on the bigger picture. This means that some people may not be aware that there are concerns about certain processes that could pass beyond a critical point. One example is a critical warming of coastal waters leading to release of methane from marine oozes. This would boost the level of greenhouse gases (methane is much worse than CO2), causing warming to spiral beyond anything predicted by current gradual models. There is some reason for believing that this was a contributing factor in the great Permian extinction, which wiped out around 95% of all species on Earth (much higher than the K-T extinction). The continents were joined together and occupied a largely equatorial position, allowing warm water to circulate all around the globe. This in turn released the methane normally locked up in continental shelf oozes and pushed global temperatures higher. Once the process started it would be impossible to reverse, as indeed, would several other processes connected to our climate. There are some people who feel that we may already have passed criticality and reducing emissions etc will only slow things down. At least Prince Charles was voicing a more optimistic view for the necessity of action.