Deal with warming, don't debate it, scientists warn

[RedEarth]

Deal with warming, don't debate it, scientists warn
The U.N.'s stark report puts policymakers on notice, though there is no consensus on action.
By Thomas H. Maugh II and Karen Kaplan, Times Staff Writers
February 3, 2007


A United Nations report released Friday that blames humans for the "runaway train" of global warming has abruptly shifted the international debate from "Are humans to blame?" to "What are we going to do about it?"

"The world's scientists have spoken," said Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation. "It is time now to hear from the world's policymakers. The so-called and long-overstated 'debate' about global warming is now over."


The report said that it was "unequivocal" that global warming was occurring and that it was at least 90% certain humans were responsible. It predicted temperatures would rise 3.2 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 and that sea level would rise 7 to 23 inches, perhaps more.

If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt completely, it would lead to a 21-foot increase in sea level, forcing the relocation of more than 300 million people living in low-lying areas worldwide.

The report also said warming would continue even in the extremely unlikely event that global carbon dioxide could be stabilized at its current level. Such a stabilization would require an immediate 70% to 80% reduction in emissions, said Richard Somerville of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-warming3feb03,0,5489341.story?coll=la-home-world

[illinoisprogressive]

1. We want to deal with it if the damn repugs and corporations would just get on board

[Psephos]

2. Global warming IS happening

but "the so-called and long-overstated 'debate' about" the mechanisms behind global warming is NOT "over."

This is what happens when politics pretends to be scientific. Same result as when religion tries to be scientific, and for the same reasons.

Human activity is of course a contributor, but Earth has a long history of climate swings that had nothing to do with humans. The last big warm one (by contemporary standards) was 1000 years ago (the Medieval Warm Period), followed a couple of centuries later by the Little Ice Age.

Human impact did not figure in those last swings. We should keep that in mind, EVEN WHILE pursuing the prudent course of reigning in industrial emissions, and making sure the oversight applies to all countries, including China and India. It would be nice if Earth had fewer humans, too. Green is good, but what good is getting 20% greener if there are 30% more people? Also, as the wealth of mainland Asia increases, its billions of people acquire ever-larger carbon footprints. Unfortunately, environmental concern and regulations are still an afterthought in China and India.

We must allow our scientists to refine and revise their climate models and their rudimentary understanding of the complex and nonlinear processes that drive climate. That means no interference from either the right or the left. Skepticism and a "prove it" standard are the single most important part of the scientific process. Correlation does not equal causation, and that goes triple in a nonlinear system.

My H.O., nothing more, nothing less.

Peace.

[ixion]

3. politics is trouble...period.

anytime a debate -- on anything -- turns political, all truth and constructive results are thrown by the wayside, and what emerges is a grotesque 'law' (or series of laws) that has very little to do with the actual problem at hand, and in fact more often that not winds up making things worse. The way the government has executed the so-called 'War on Drugs' and it's ugly, vicious younger brother, the so-called 'War on Terror' are two textbook examples. These two methodologies have made things worse for the people, overall, not better.

In the History of Man, t'was ever thus, I'm sad to say. :-(

[Psephos]

4. We are reading from the same hymnal, brother

Well said - and your examples are dead on the money.

Peace.

[Morgana LaFey]

6. That's because there are always individuals or groups who can

find ways to profit from anything -- either with more money, or power, or both.

[MasonJar]

5. On NPR this morning there was an interview with a man from

Australia (I missed who) and he was saying that Aussies were going to have to purify human waste for water. He indicated that since Australia already is mostly desert that there is great need for concern about global warming, especially since a majority of the population lives in the south. Very depressing.
We need to demand action in US now. Bush is just worried about the oil companies losing some of their billions in profit. We are 5% of the world's population and use up 25% of its resources. That is criminal. We MUST stop passing the buck, such as what about China and India? We must do our part here. In fact China does have a program for saving energy. How fate gave us Bush instead of Gore is beyond belief!

[yellowcanine]

7. Purifying human waste for water......Nothing new about that. Human waste ultimately goes

back into the ground water and the surface water. At least the water that carries human waste does, anyway. This has been going on since cavemen squatted in the ravine outside their caves. Your next glass of water might be Julius Caeser's piss. Think about it.