Report Cites Global Warming Cause, Effects

Draft Obtained By CBS News Blames Humans, Predicts Global Changes

(CBS/AP)  "We are living in a schizophrenic world," said Klaus Schwab, executive director and founder of the World Economic Forum. "On the one hand, we have an economy which is doing very well and even the prospects for this year are very promising.

"On the other hand we have so many underlying imbalances, inconsistencies, weaknesses and fragilities," he told reporters. "So what we want to do with this meeting is to highlight the need to address those global challenges."

The annual meeting is also to focus on securing global energy supplies, including the development of more alternative fuels, particularly in light of oil prices that surged in 2006 before settling in recent weeks, supply disruptions from Russia and attacks on oil pipelines in Iraq and Nigeria.

During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Mr. Bush called for American imports to be cut by the equivalent of 75 percent of the oil coming from the Middle East.

His prescription, as always, relied primarily on market incentives and technological advances, not government mandates.

There will be 17 sessions focusing on climate change, featuring topics to help companies and governments navigate the legalities of implementing policy changes aimed at curbing emissions and pollution and how to make going green profitable.

Among the people scheduled to talk about the issues are McCain, Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission; and Montek Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India's planning commission.

A survey of participants by pollster Gallup International found that this year twice as many attendees as last year thought that environmental protection should be a priority for world leaders.

"The companies represented at the annual meeting have a combined turnover of about $10 trillion — nearly a quarter of global GDP — so catalyzing their deeper engagement in this issue can only be a good thing for all of us," said Dominic Waughray, head of environmental initiatives for the WEF.

Merkel, whose country is president of the European Union and the Group of Eight, focused on climate change in her address.

Another key issue is the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and securing the future of Iraq. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are among those attending the event, while Jordanian King Abdullah II will speak about the future of the Middle East.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told the AP that it was unlikely any of those problems would be solved.

"Don't ask (for) too much ...that we are going to solve the problem or sign documents here in Davos," he said.

Security was tight around the city, with Swiss police, the military and private contractors cordoning off access to the Congress Center, the meeting's main venue.

Protests by people critical of globalization and who claim that corporate and big business favors profits over people are expected to be minimal. Critics have planned an action day for Jan. 27 in Davos and a national demonstration in the city of Basel the same day.

[brainworms1]

$1.6B over the next 10 years for alternative fuels or $2B/week for the war in Iraq. Like our president, it sounds like a no-brainer. Maybe the real plan is to prevent all that oil in Iraq from being burned. Yeah, that's it.

[larry0091]

The catastrophe caused by global warming IS the solution. It's the only one that works in my opinion.

[antoniof123]

I have to admit that the best one was the one that said warmer days and and put a positive spin on it. Hey all it is too late to stop it in fact it has been that way for a long time now. Besides when the Earth gets full of *** guess what it does the same things humans do. So have a nice day and enjoy your life because sonner or later you have to pay the price.

[jake_the_cat]

Destroying the rain forests is a key problem, we should also take in to account the fact that humanity is pumping 70 million tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere everyday.

Ignorance is not pretty da_bulldawg.

[cantshutup]

also...please see the documentary WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? the oil and automotive industries, the federal government and us slackers are the reason we aren't driving electric cars...see the movie!

[cantshutup]

I spent about $50 to replace all my light bulbs with flourescent...it is worth it believe me and in 5 yrs I haven't had to replace one yet!

[susanhelit]

"switch your 75 watt bulb with a 42 watt florescent to "save" 33 lousy watts " is a real solution. Because there's billions of us, so that's billions and billions of watts. Each of us cuts back a little, and it's big. WalMart cuts back a lot - and it's something, but still doesn't match what even a small cut multiplied by billions of people can do.

Everything matters! Letting yourself pollute and waste, multiplied by a billion more of you is an immense impact.

[susanhelit]

Yay! More warm days - right?

Yeah, and it's nice to eat candy all the time too. Too bad it'll kill you.

(aside from any ethical issues about not caring about everyone getting hit with hurricanes, and crops destroyed by a lack of rain, and just an innumerable number of silly things wrong with this concept).

[nothappyatall]

# More warmer days and fewer cold ones;
# More heat waves;
# Increasingly intense tropical storms and hurricanes;
# Higher sea levels.

Let's look at those issues, more warmer days, fewer cold ones- sounds GREAT to me! less use of the furnace- that saves burning gas and it's pullution.

More heat waves, so what? take a dip, dress light, stay indoors, use a fan.

Tropical storms and hurricanes,so what, I'm in the midwest- doesn't affect me.

Higher sea levels, so what? doesn't affect me, the sea levels rise you build up the beach or move inland to higher ground.

More Carbon dioxide in the air, good, did you know that all plants, grasses, flowers, weeds and trees USE Carbon dioxide the way we use oxygen? the more CD in the air the better they do and the more oxygen THEY put out as their "waste" product- it's self regulating, warmer climate means they will grow more, faster and longer.

[nothappyatall]

No one is hoodwinked, global warming is 100% absolute FACT- photos from satellites and high altitudes, as well as comparing modern photos of high mountains and glaciers with old photos PROVES it- the ice is melting away rapidly.

Formerly snow capped mountains are now bare or almost bare, long standing ancient glaciers photographed a few decades ago compared to today show obvious proof they are melting away- rapidly.
The ONLY question that needs answers and proof which remains is; the CAUSE

The CAUSE is far less important than the knowlege that it *IS* here, because nothing we DO or don't do is going to make the slightest bit of difference NOW, the change is so widepspread and
rapid that your walking to work one day a week, turning out the light in that spare bedroom, or recycling that plastic grocery bag etc isn't going to do diddly squat.

The fact is having that SECOND or third kid is the problem- producing too many people for a limited sealed environment. Had we not had the 47 million abortions since 1973 we would have about 70 million MORE people today on top of the 300 million already- and about 70 million more CARS, homes, toilets, air conditioners etc
We had 100 million people in 1950 in the USA, the FACT that it has more than tripled in just 55 years is THE problem, not whether you switch your 75 watt bulb with a 42 watt florescent to "save" 33 lousy watts while Walmart and your local malls and Xmas displays burn up millions of watts on signs and tree lights.

[huskerarmy]

ksab2,

So tell us how so many of the worlds scientists have been hoodwinked by this liberal conspiracy?

[glidescube]

Ok ok ok we get the popint. We are killing the planet for the sake of profit. So who here would dare attack the rich's profit?

Can we make cleaner cars? Yes, we can but that would eat into autsale profits!

Can we develope fusion or other alternative energies? Yes, in time but that would eat into the coal/energy company profits.

Can we force equipment on factories and other industries that would dramtically reduce pollutants? Yes, we can but that would cut into the profit margins of these industries.

Can we kill this planet in the name of profit? Yes, sit back and watch cause it's already happening!!!

[frankly6]

People the science has been in and it's overwhelming. Global warming is real, it's cause is human, it threatens the survival of every species including ours. We can either sit on our thumbs or we can lead the world in developing alternatives to fossil fuels.

[susanhelit]

"Evrybody talks about global warming and cutting back on co2 emmitions. Even if all the countries
that care about co2 emmitions stoped using fossel fuels today, all the third world or developing countries that do not care would more than make up for for the emmitions that we wouldn't be using. "


Yeah, and if we don't cut back - we'll be that much higher! How can we ask third world countries to cut back on their emissions (used to feed starving people and provide some few dollars per week to a very poor people!), when we won't even dare suggest maybe a Hummer isn't a good passenger car, or ask for any fuel economy improvments in new passenger vehicles (including the 'light trucks' that we let pollute and waste gas like crazy).

[ksabicer]

Hey, wait a minute, who is publishing this report??? (no name or names are given in this article) Why not?? What are their affiliations??? Why do they have any credance???? Only one name is given as a contributor how about some more info?!? WEF has always had leftist tendancies, why should we believe the Soros crowd? Fact: yes the climate is changing, it has changed constantly from the beginning. The amount of time we have collected reliable data is but a split second of data points when compared to the compendium of historic time. Fact: more CFCs, CO and CO2 is produced from volcanic eruptions than from manmade sources. Fact: if the ice caps are melting, ocean levels would be higher than they are, why isn't Sacramento or Tallahasse beach front property by now? Fact: The only people making money from this scam are the folks that are crying wolf, producing these biased studies and espousing controls on the haves of the industrialized world and the have nots are left to their own devises (redistribution of wealth). We need conservation, nonpolluting energy and to be better stewards of our planet, but there is no way man is the major cause or able to predict what nature has always had full control of and isn't about to turn over to miniscule life forms.

[brianswanner]

Evrybody talks about global warming and cutting back on co2 emmitions. Even if all the countries
that care about co2 emmitions stoped using fossel fuels today, all the third world or developing countries that do not care would more than make up for for the emmitions that we wouldn't be using.

[ncolsens]

Just in case none of you really read the title of this article it says:

Draft Obtained By CBS News

Do you know what a draft is?

Fictional until proven

[susanhelit]

You really, really think scientists don't know about normal variation in climate change? You really think that after several decades of researching nothing but this, that they've all just missed the joke?

This is not normal, it is unprecedented. It is not explained by the sun's variation nor anything else. And it is something that will be so huge that the fact that we're taking no action because we don't want to believe we could affect it is insane!

[susanhelit]

"As far as I am concerned"... won't change a thing about what the facts are. Saying, "As far as I am concerned, my high blood pressure won't cause any heart damage or a stroke" doesn't mean a thing. "As far as I am concerned" is useless.

Facts, science, reality goes on whether you are 'concerned' or not. And everyone who studies this, who devotes their life to understanding our planet, everyone who learns even a little (rather than reading biased or corporate or conservative sponsored web sites) knows what is reality.

Reality is that we can and have already caused a great deal of damage, and if this is not reversed, we will pay a terrible price.

Reality is this is no weak theory, it is a strong theory. And we are talking about the scientific meaning of theory, meaning something solid, the best explanation for all the facts - just like the theory of gravitation, the theory of conservation of energy, and all the other theories that make up the science that has created our modern world and the computer you type on.

This is real - just because it is frightening, just because it is big, just because it means you may have to change things you don't want to change, and deal with annoyances, doesn't mean it isn't real.

[gladetryst]

Global warming is a dangerous joke. The world's environment periodically undergoes various changes. i.e. the mini-ice age of 1300-1800. The ice age before known history, and the list goes on.