Katie: Getting Chills Over Climate Change
(CBS)
Which, of course, makes this the perfect time to ponder global warming.
When it’s this cold, in the dead of winter, it’s hard for a lot of us to appreciate the dire warnings of scientists about climate change. Are they serious? Turns out: yes. They are.
A major report is coming out this week from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in Paris. The draft that’s been reported on the wires is unbelievably grim, and frightening: droughts have gotten longer, seas have warmed and expanded and carbon dioxide levels have risen sharply. And the forecast for the rest of this century? You better sit down. It’s worse. Don’t leave home without an umbrella, or lots of sunscreen: it’s anticipated that it’s going to get hotter, and lot rainier, with sea ice melting and ocean levels rising. There’s more and more evidence that much of this is not just a freak of nature. It’s man-made.
If that weren’t enough to keep you up at night, there’s the news yesterday from Washington.
To quote the AP:
“Climate scientists at seven government agencies say they have been subjected to political pressure aimed at downplaying the threat of global warming.Democrat Henry Waxman and Republican Tom Davis both say the White House is refusing to hand over documents on climate change.
The groups presented a survey that shows two in five of the 279 climate scientists who responded to a questionnaire complained that some of their scientific papers had been edited in a way that changed their meaning. Nearly half of the 279 said in response to another question that at some point they had been told to delete reference to "global warming" or "climate change" from a report.”
Said Waxman: "We know that the White House possesses documents that contain evidence of an attempt by senior administration officials to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming and minimize the potential danger."
Given the news that is coming out of Europe this week, it seems more urgent that we all know what is happening and why. No one from either party should be playing politics with the planet.
After all, it’s the only one we’ve got.
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See all 26 CommentsThe earth is warmer. It's cyclic. It has happened before and it will happen again. The people who believe it is a man made calamity are non scientific, misguided liberal leftists.
They created cities where the smog is so bad people are alerted to not go outside or if you do wear a gas mask.
This country deserves everything that happens to it.
Those ice caps are going to melt by 2012 anyways, it's the sign of the end of the age, it's the end of the age of pisces, and the beginning of the age of Aquarius. The book of revelations tells you this where it says...
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and I giveth thee the water of life...
Well if you go look up a photo of aquarius he's the man with the jug of water, the water of life. Those polar caps are gonna be gone whether you like it or not and there's not a *** thing you can do about it. You see the bible is based upon astronomy, astrology, and the zodiac. The Son of God is the SUN of god that rises every morning. Dec. 25th marks the day the sun begins its return to the northern hemisphere after winter solstice, in ancient times they celebrated it as The Rebirth Of The SUN. Which of course is why our holiest day is on SUNday. Also if you look at Isaiah 14:12 I believe it is you'll see that lucifer is the "Son Of The Morning" the morning star that rises in the east also known as the eastern star.
Get ready fools the whole world's about to change, and it isn't because of greenhouse gases.
It%u2019s a fair point to question whether climate change (which is more than just warming) is good or bad for society. Unfortunately, many of your suggestions are wildly inaccurate. Growing seasons will improve for some crops in places, but get worse for others due to changing rainfall. Severe droughts will negatively impact some of the most impoverished areas in the world, such as Central America and Southeast Asia, where people are dying of starvation. Most species are shifting their ranges causing increasing numbers of endangered species (Parmesan and Yohe 2003 [journal Science]). You%u2019re right that warmer winters decrease heating costs, but last year the Department of Energy (www.doe.gov) found that increased air conditioning usage outweighed this significantly, and overall utility costs went up. Finally, you%u2019re also right that a process%u2014actually called %u201Cglobal dimming%u201D is occurring. It is also caused by human pollution (of aerosols and other particulates that make up smog). However, you%u2019re completely wrong about its effect on the overall warming trend. Dimming is a minor component, and temperatures are still increasing since 1998. 2006 was the warmest year in US history, and the Earth has not gone through a multi-decade cooling trend since before the industrial revolution. I repeat my dare for you and other doubters to read the IPCC report. You absolutely do not understand what you are talking about.
Joe
Our narcissism (global warming or no) will ensure our children and children's childrens' fate: lower quality of life. All because I want what I deserve, and I want it now. And I'm not a granddad. I'm 25.
Nate Myers
I%u2019m an ecologist that studies climate change. I applaud your statement about the significance of this challenge. In a throwback worthy of the network of Edward R. Morrow, you%u2019ve exposed the fundamental political and media blunder in this whole discussion: climate change should not be a political issue at all. I dare anyone who doubts the evidence to read the IPCC report to be released on Friday (www.ipcc.ch). To those who would scoff at such a prospect, know this: the surest why to win an argument is to have the truth on your side, and the surest way to lose is to not understand. I%u2019ll be watching Friday, Katie, and I dare you to tell the truth. I dare you to present a report that contains this unequivocal message: humans are altering the climate of Earth. Don%u2019t say the IPCC says so, or that democrats say so. Just tell it how it is.
Joe Mascaro
Hilo, HI
Prime Minister Stephen Harper once called the Kyoto accord a "socialist scheme" designed to suck money out of rich countries, according to a letter leaked Tuesday by the Liberals.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/01/30/harper-kyoto.html
Unstoppable Global Warming documents the reality of a moderate, natural, 1500-year climate cycle on the earth. The Chilling Stars explains the why and how.
The Chilling Stars: A New Theory of Climate Change (Paperback)
by Henrik Svensmark (Author), Nigel Calder (Author)
The Chilling Stars relates how Svensmark%u2019s team mimicked the chemistry of earth%u2019s atmosphere, by putting realistic mixtures of atmospheric gases into a large reaction chamber, with ultraviolet light as a stand-in for the sun. When they turned on the UV, microscopic droplets%u2014cloud seeds%u2014started floating through the chamber.
%u201CWe were amazed by the speed and efficiency with which the electrons [generated by cosmic rays] do their work of creating the building blocks for the cloud condensation nuclei,%u201D says Svensmark.
The Chilling Stars documents how cosmic rays amplify small changes in the sun%u2019s irradiance fourfold, creating 1-2 degree C cycles in earth%u2019s temperatures: Cosmic rays continually slam into the earth%u2019s atmosphere from outer space, creating ion clusters that become seeds for small droplets of water and sulfuric acid. The droplets then form the low, wet clouds that reflect solar energy back into space. When the sun is more active, it shields the earth from some of the rays, clouds wane, and the planet warms.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chilling-Stars-Theory-Climate-Change/dp/1840468157
http://www.realclimate.org/
Unstoppable Global Warming documents the reality of a moderate, natural, 1500-year climate cycle on the earth. The Chilling Stars explains the why and how.
Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years by Dennis T. Avery, S. Fred Singer
Singer and Avery note that most of the earth%u2019s recent warming occurred before 1940, and thus before much human-emitted CO2. Moreover, physical evidence shows 600 moderate warmings in the earth%u2019s last million years. The evidence ranges from ancient Nile flood records, Chinese court documents and Roman wine grapes to modern spectral analysis of polar ice cores, deep seabed sediments, and layered cave stalagmites.
Unstoppable Global Warming shows the earth%u2019s temperatures following variations in solar intensity through centuries of sunspot records, and finds cycles of sun-linked isotopes in ice and tree rings. The book cites the work of Svensmark, who says cosmic rays vary the earth%u2019s temperatures by creating more or fewer of the low, wet clouds that cool the earth. It notes that global climate models can%u2019t accurately register cloud effects.
http://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Global-Warming-Every-Years/dp/0742551172
http://www.realclimate.org/
or a 5 year old
If Henry Waxman were objective about this in the least, he would look into the political pressure placed on our government aimed at PLAYING UP the threat of global warming.
But the fact is Henry Waxman is NOT objective, instead he's merely a Democrat Partisan attacking the Bush Administration.
By the way, did anyone know that Henry Waxman was the inspriration for the Seinfeld character "Pig-Man"?
Anyone who calls the media liberal, tries to discredit the scientific data or start talking about left wing conspiracies is either a much brain, an executive with an major oil company or worst of all, an editorialist with the Wall Street Journal.
interesting article,although i was more interested in some of the reactions to it. I'd think that this issue would rise above wether you're a liberal or conservative. We all live here and it's all our necks in the noose.
Humankind is killing our planet through brutal disregard for the secondary results of our selfish actions.
I don't have to be convinced by the arguments about global warming to care about the way I live my life and hold others (including companies) accountable for how they live theirs. In that vein, the ignorance of the present administration regarding this issue, as well as the blatant disregard of environment-related issues in Bush's presidency as a whole, is disgusting and they should be held accountable. Money talks for both parties at this point, but it's speaking loud and clear for Mr. Bush. He has little integrity in my eyes, and I lament the fact that so many around me give him a blank check for his actions.
And I say this as a Christian.
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