UN: Climate Change Here And Getting Worse

Report Warns Global Warming Could Have "Abrupt And Irreversible" Results

(CBS/AP)  The report says emissions of carbon, which comes primarily from fossil fuels, must stabilize by 2015 and go down after that. Otherwise the consequences could be "disastrous," said IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri.

In the best-case scenario, temperatures will continue to rise from carbon already in the atmosphere, the report said. Even if factories were shut down today and cars taken off the roads, the average sea level will reach as high as 4½ feet higher than the preindustrial period, or about 1850.

"We have already committed the world to sea level rise," said Pachauri. If the Greenland ice sheet melts, the scientists couldn't even predict by how many meters the seas will rise, drowning coastal cities.

Yet differences remain stark on how to control carbon emissions.

While the European Union has taken the lead in enforcing the carbon emission targets outlined in Kyoto, the United States opted out of the 1997 accord.

President Bush described it as flawed because major developing countries such as India and China, which are large carbon emitters, were excluded from any obligations. He also favors a voluntary agreement.

Sharon Hays, a White House science official and head of the U.S. delegation, said the certainty of climate change was clearer now than when Bush rejected Kyoto.

"What's changed since 2001 is the scientific certainty that this is happening," she said in a conference call to reporters late Friday. "Back in 2001 the IPCC report said it is likely that humans were having an impact on the climate," but confidence in human responsibility had increased since then.

"What's new is the clarity of the signal, how clear the scientific message is," said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate change official. "The politicians have no excuse not to act."

Opening with a sweeping statement directed at climate change skeptics, the summary declares that climate systems have already begun to change.

Unless action is taken, human activity could lead to "abrupt and irreversible changes" that would make the planet unrecognizable.

Advocacy groups hailed the report as indispensable for the 10,000 delegates expected at Bali.

"We expect to see their personal copies of the Synthesis Report return from Bali, battered and worn from frequent use, with paragraphs underlined and notes in the margin," said Stephanie Tunmore of Greenpeace.

[Syndicate]

Yet they still can''t tell me what the weather will be in two weeks. I still don''t get how .01% change in the composition of the atmosphere can end the world. Sorry but something is not right with all these calculations.

[ralan40]

obviously, the Kyoto accord did not prohibit hunting whales or protecting endangerd species since Japan signed it. So it must be OK to eradicate endangered species and still be considered ''environmentally responsible''
interesting....

[nggr]

hmmmm...
i dont know,
jesus didn''t say anything about climate change.
and 5 % of scientists say its not true.
i dont think it exists

[ralan40]

climate change has always happened. Finding fossells of tropical plant like in Polar regeons is nothing new.
Since the last ice age, the Earth has been warming and ocean levels have been rising for centuries at the same rate due to melting polar regions. Why are people suddenly considering this climate changethroughout recorded time? We need to look at the impact of our burgening population increases on the environment before freaking out about something that has been going on for the last 11,000 years.

[ralan40]

climate change has always happened. Since the last ice age, the Earth has been warming. The ocean levels have been rising for centuries from melting polar regions. Why are people suddenly considering this a new thing when mankind has been dealing with this for centuries? We need to look at the impact of our population on the environment before freaking out about something that has been happening for the last 11,000 years.

[g-gfather]

Why are there no comments on this report?????

[denn034]

At one time global warming is getting worse and at another time the shrinking hole in the atmosphere proves that global warming is less of a problem. Make up your minds people.

[tngreen]

"It''s easier to deal with the climate change issue if you''ve got the revenues and finances to invest in new technologies that will change how we live, and at the same time enable us to grow our economies," President Bush said.

Somehow he finds the "revenues and finances" to invest in new war technologies. Could this man be any dumber or more evil?

[plantain11]

a

[jimc52]

Part I

It''s not just the US and China that needs to change. I just read an article that says that some of the worst polluters of generated electricity are third world nations. But all the emphasis is placed on the two largest industrial nations. We need to have a balanced, unified world change. If the US and China immediately stopped all sources of pollution, I don''t believe the problem would be solved. This is going to take a world-wide shift in military-political-economic thinking. It means, ALL OF US, have to contribute to the change, and it is going to require a dynamic shift of thinking by mankind. Either that, or we are going to have a Kevin Costner Water World. What it means is, that mankind must give up it''s primitive thinking about "every nation for itself." This is a global problem, which includes all of us, and not just developed nations, but all nations, including third world ones. It means, we are going to have to change the way we do business because business as usual has brought us to where we are. And of course, one, if not, THE biggest problem is energy. Yet, we sit on top of the largest source of energy that exists in the world - water, which is 2/3rd hydrogen. By building wave action electrical generators on coastlines, we could take in sea water and convert it to hydrogen, compress it to a liquid and use it as fuel.

[jimc52]

Part I

It''s not just the US and China that needs to change. I just read an article that says that some of the worst polluters of generated electricity are third world nations. But all the emphasis is placed on the two largest industrial nations. We need to have a balanced, unified world change. If the US and China immediately stopped all sources of pollution, I don''t believe the problem would be solved. This is going to take a world-wide shift in military-political-economic thinking. It means, ALL OF US, have to contribute to the change, and it is going to require a dynamic shift of thinking by mankind. Either that, or we are going to have a Kevin Costner Water World. What it means is, that mankind must give up it''s primitive thinking about "every nation for itself." This is a global problem, which includes all of us, and not just developed nations, but all nations, including third world ones. It means, we are going to have to change the way we do business because business as usual has brought us to where we are. And of course, one, if not, THE biggest problem is energy. Yet, we sit on top of the largest source of energy that exists in the world - water, which is 2/3rd hydrogen. By building wave action electrical generators on coastlines, we could take in sea water and convert it to hydrogen, compress it to a liquid and use it as fuel.

[jimc52]

Part I

It''s not just the US and China that needs to change. I just read an article that says that some of the worst polluters of generated electricity are third world nations. But all the emphasis is placed on the two largest industrial nations. We need to have a balanced, unified world change. If the US and China immediately stopped all sources of pollution, I don''t believe the problem would be solved. This is going to take a world-wide shift in military-political-economic thinking. It means, ALL OF US, have to contribute to the change, and it is going to require a dynamic shift of thinking by mankind. Either that, or we are going to have a Kevin Costner Water World. What it means is, that mankind must give up it''s primitive thinking about "every nation for itself."
This is a global problem, which includes all of us, and not just developed nations, but all nations, including third world ones. It means, we are going to have to change the way we do business because business as usual has brought us to where we are. And of course, one, if not, THE biggest problem is energy. Yet, we sit on top of the largest source of energy that exists in the world - water, which is 2/3rd hydrogen. By building wave action electrical generators on coastlines, we could take in sea water and convert it to hydrogen, compress it to a liquid and use it as fuel.

[donbl1]

So, if these guys who can not forecast next month and are forecasting "2020" are wrong, what is the penalty?

Countries are going to spend trillions of dollars globally. Jobs are going to be impacted. Economies are going to be impacted.

Here, from arid and VERY hot we have gone to mild and wet. It has become a better environment

[donbl1]

So, if these guys who can not forecast next month and are forecasting "2020" are wrong, what is the penalty?

Countries are going to spend trillions of dollars globally. Jobs are going to be impacted. Economies are going to be impacted.

Here, from arid and VERY hot we have gone to mild and wet. It has become a better environment

[jasarack]

Our president, who led us into the disasterous invasion of Iraq, has demonstrated his unwillingness to deal the the impending disaster brought by global warming. You might call him the Disaster President.

[prairiefox1]

LAST WEEK ON TV IT WAS SAID THAT THE OZONE HOLE HAD SHRUNK TO NORMAL SIZE!
THE SUN IS HOTTER! (IT DOES THIS IN CYCLES)!
THE ICE CAPS ON EARTH AND MARS ARE MELTING!
WE HAVE A BUNCH OF LITTLE SCIENTISTS BELLOWING ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING TO GET FUNDS AND TO BE RECOGNIZED

[prairiefox1]

LAST WEEK ON TV IT WAS SAID THAT THE OZONE HOLE HAD SHRUNK TO NORMAL SIZE!
THE SUN IS HOTTER! (IT DOES THIS IN CYCLES)!
THE ICE CAPS ON EARTH AND MARS ARE MELTING!
WE HAVE A BUNCH OF LITTLE SCIENTISTS BELLOWING ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING TO GET FUNDS AND TO BE RECOGNIZED

[prairiefox1]

LAST WEEK ON TV IT WAS SAID THAT THE OZONE HOLE HAD SHRUNK TO NORMAL SIZE!
THE SUN IS HOTTER! (IT DOES THIS IN CYCLES)!
THE ICE CAPS ON EARTH AND MARS ARE MELTING!
WE HAVE A BUNCH OF LITTLE SCIENTISTS BELLOWING ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING TO GET FUNDS AND TO BE RECOGNIZED

[prairiefox1]

LAST WEEK ON TV IT WAS SAID THAT THE OZONE HOLE HAD SHRUNK TO NORMAL SIZE!
THE SUN IS HOTTER! (IT DOES THIS IN CYCLES)!
THE ICE CAPS ON EARTH AND MARS ARE MELTING!
WE HAVE A BUNCH OF LITTLE SCIENTISTS BELLOWING ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING TO GET FUNDS AND TO BE RECOGNIZED

[jowand]

The UN hype didn''t work so it''s now time to try being hysterical. Absolutely no proof that humans are the cause of this. It''s all aimed at crippling the US economy by the leftist goverments around the world, who have managed to con the usual Liberals into being sypathetic to another bash America cause.