At http://ameg.me/ they use this phrase 'planetary emergency' on their front page.
Arctic Methane Emergency Group
Regarding global climate change - as goes the Arctic so goes the Earth.
Our mission is PROTECTION
To warn the world that the Arctic and the Earth are in a state of dire emergency and that only immediate drastic action can save us from catastrophe. We have no time left. This planet is a sacred trust we hold for all future generations of humanity and all species. We must respond.
A few years ago I posted a number of diaries about the mechanism that 'cleans' methane from the atmosphere, how it requires both impinging solar energy and what are called 'hydroxyl radicals' to be present, to allow CH4 to be broken down into the relatively innocuous CO2.
Yes - CO2 is much LESS effective as a greenhouse gas per molecule than methane. The short term effect of methane as a GHG is roughly 75 times that of CO2, the saving grace is that it's broken down within a decade or so.
Unfortunately, the impinging solar energy and availability of hydroxyl radicals is 'fixed', and as methane levels increase the effective half life as well as the concentration increases. This is an additional 'runaway effect', on an already dangerous positive feedback loop. It's an effect that has not been studied to any great extent.
So, is it a 'planetary emergency'? I believe we're out of time, or nearly out of time to do something serious about stopping this global catastrophe. I don't see efforts that are anywhere the scope or level required to even quench the growth or stabilize the combined levels of GHGs.
I have to agree and answer that yes, this is truly a planetary emergency: we barely have an understanding about all of the knock on effects of AGW, the damage we've done to the natural world is already incalculable. At some point, it will become unstoppable.