The FACT of Global Warming

[G_j]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-emissions12sep12,1,3835943.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

The Fact of Global Warming


The Union of Concerned Scientists plans to release a study Monday explaining the ways global warming is changing California. The report predicts a rise in average summer temperatures of up to 5.5 degrees by mid-century, far higher than previous studies have projected. Even the scientists' most optimistic scenario, a temperature rise of only 2 degrees, could cause a host of economically damaging effects, such as the premature ripening of wine grapes.

Already, global warming is drying up water sources (such as the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is melting earlier than usual). It may also be helping some tropical diseases, such as West Nile virus, migrate north.

California may soon become the first state to curb vehicle tailpipe emissions, which after power plant emissions are the key fossil-fuel pollutants responsible for the rapid acceleration of global warming. On Sept. 23, the state's Air Resources Board is scheduled to order that new vehicles sold in the state cut their greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2016. California, however, will get nowhere without Washington's help, and that doesn't seem forthcoming. Congress, apparently buying into the ridiculous junk-science argument that global warming is a natural phenomenon that people can do little to thwart, is poised to pass spending bills for fiscal 2005 that will only worsen the problem.

Legislators should reconsider in light of a study presented to them Aug. 25 by President Bush's own science advisor and the secretaries of Energy and Commerce. It concluded that man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, not Mother Nature, had caused most of the increase in temperatures around the globe over the last three decades. Last month, various science officials abroad, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair's top science advisor, former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and Canada's environment minister, went even further, characterizing global warming as a far greater threat in the coming decades than terrorism.
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links to the latest articles and news from around the world:
-Climate Change Portal http://www.climateark.org/news

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-Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis

http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/index.htm
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[alittlelark]

1. The world is depressing enough as is

I didn't need this, and am going to sleep PST.

[Pachamama]

2. I'm with you littlelark....this is just more confirmation of the things we

are very aware of is happening.....It just keeps getting worse by the day....when is the nightmare going to end?

Night....I'm going to bed too, but hopefully I can sleep....

:hi:

[AntiFascist]

3. Such negativity....

Thank you G_J, this sounds like the report that I've been hearing about, but no one is talking about. I'm sorry that people around Florida have to suffer from hurricanes, but unless something is done we will all be suffering soon enough. This hurricane season should be turned into a major political issue! Odd how many of the biggest problems in the world seem to relate to oil.

[Pachamama]

5. The native tribes in the Amazon refer to Oil as "Pachamama's Blood"

....(Pachamama meaning "Mother Earth" in Quechua language)....7 years ago when I was in the Amazon of Equador, Columbia and Peru, many of the various tribes (Huarani, Achuar, Shuar, Uwa) all refer to the black gooey stuff we know as oil as "Pachamama's Blood"....

One of the Village Shamans told me then that it wasn't about the destruction of "Pachamama"....he said Pachamama was around long before humans and would be here long after humans....He said she is getting angry about her blood being taken and that its not about the destruction of Pachamama, but rather about the destruction of humans. He said she was getting very angry and if it continues, she will shake the humans off like a dog shaking off fleas.

Yep, Pachamama's blood is what all this is about and maybe the old Shaman's knew something and were right? :eyes:

[Bhaisahab]

7. that's a great story

something new i learned today. thanks!

[Pachamama]

13. I have more great stories from the trips of mine to the Amazon....what's

...incredible, is that many of the things that were told to me over 7 years ago by tribal people who had never even seen "outsiders" until about 25 years ago, are now "coming true"....At the time I heard them, I found them interesting, wrote them down and then went on with my life...now, years later, many of these things are coming true...one in particular was a warning in 1997 that the people of the north (they see the world as North/South, as opposed to many of "us" who see it as West/East) who seek Pachamama's blood (oil) will start great wars and must be prevented. Didn't think much of that during the good ole days of Clinton, but when the Texas Village Idiot and head of Halliburton took over our country, well, then suddenly the dreams of a Shaman elder in the Amazon didn't sound so crazy after all...

[Eloriel]

17. Please come down to The Meeting Room forum

and tell all. We'd love to hear your stories and experiences.

[G_j]

10. "but no one is talking about."

the report is supposed to come out today.
A news search brings up almost nothing.

[G_j]

23. ONE other story today

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2004/09/13/daily4.html

Study: Warmer climate could strain healthcare, agriculture
Continued high emissions of heat-trapping gases could quadruple the number of extreme-heat days each year in Greater Sacramento by the middle of this century, increasing the number of illnesses and deaths and straining healthcare services, a Union of Concerned Scientists study released Monday concludes. Such changes would also change everything from when we can ski to what crops we grow.


The nonprofit group built on a study and models of climate change and fossil fuel emissions that were published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examining the likely effects of warming on five metropolitan areas in California, including Sacramento.

California is likely to see average annual temperatures increase by anywhere from 4 to 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, depending on how aggressively emissions are reduced, the latest projections suggest. The corresponding quicker melting of the Sierra snowpack is likely to reduce summer water supplies and winter recreation, the study said.

The projections are built on models of global climate and the effects of continued emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called "greenhouse gases," produced through combustion of fossil fuels, wood and other carbon-bearing fuels. Such gases are thought to increase the amount of heat from the sun that is retained in the atmosphere. While there is still considerable dispute, scientists increasingly believe that the emissions are changing the climate of the planet.

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[G_j]

24. From the UCS website

http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release.cfm?newsID=419

September 13, 2004

San Francisco's Cool Climate Could Fade This Century If Nothing Done To Reduce Emissions Of Heat-Trapping Gases, New Study Shows

[keischin]

26. It's no wonder California is such a blue state....

So many people have migrated to the Central Valley from LA and elsewhere, typically a highly Republican region, that it now has about the worst air pollution in the state. During the summer there are days when the young and the elderly have to stay inside because of health issues, its been happening this week. In San Luis Obispo County, another highly Republican county, people are really worried about the effect of high temperatures on the sugar content of wine grapes.

[G_j]

20. "Devastation linked to global warming"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5014164-107406,00.html

Devastation linked to global warming

Gaby Hinsliff and Robin McKie
Sunday September 12, 2004

The Observer

Scientists are claiming that the unprecedented ferocity and frequency of the hurricanes that have battered the Caribbean this year can be blamed on one factor: the unexpectedly warm water that has been building up in the Atlantic over the past year.
But some leading US meteorologists reject the idea that this heating is in turn directly linked to global warming. The real villain is the great ocean conveyor belt that ferries warm water from the Equator to the poles, they say. Man-made climate change is a peripheral issue.

Every two or three decades, the conveyor belt picks up speed, scientists have discovered, and in doing so warms tropical waters. In turn, this heating alters atmospheric conditions around Africa, the origin of many major storm fronts. Greater storms are created and more make it to hurricane force.

According to Eric Blake of the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, sea surface temperatures are now 5C higher than recent averages and these have been directly responsible for spawning Hurricanes Ivan, Frances and Charley this summer.

The end result has been devastation. This is the first time in history that one season has produced two storms that have caused more than $1 billion in damage. Combined, Charley and Frances have resulted in insurance claims of more than $20bn. Ivan is likely to match this.


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(The warming of the Atlantic that began last year is likely to linger for a couple of decades, creating large numbers of hurricanes.)

[ogradda]

4. it might not be so much congress

doesn't believe it as we simply don't have the money. god forbid any one says this out loud tho

[welshTerrier2]

8. the problem is policy, not cost

we simply don't have the money

the issue really is all about money but not in the way you've stated the problem ...

many people have gotten very wealthy by exploiting our natural resources ... nothing embodies this more than the association between bush and his friends in the oil industry ... big money is buying bad policy ...

the policy needs to move towards alternative sources of fuel ... yes, this could be expensive ... yes, government might need to spend billions supporting research ... but zero-cost policy changes can also help ... suppose, for example, that we pass aggressive CAFE standards that would require all auto manufacturers to build cars that get an average of 40 miles per gallon ... we give the industry sufficient time (5 years?, 10 years?) to develop the necessary technology ... in the meantime, we begin to tax companies that fail to meet the standard at increasingly higher rates ... we could also offer tax breaks for companies that do better than the standard ...

we are already fighting wars to support our greedy need for other peoples' oil ... this situation will only worsen ... if "peak oil" is good science, global warfare cannot be too far in the future ... paints a pretty dark picture, doesn't it?

global warfare while the planet gasps for fresh air ... our water supply vanishes ... our growing environment for agriculture overheats and we turn our fertile farm lands into deserts ... the devastating effects of global warming are already being seen far to our north ... polar ice caps, even the glacier on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, are rapidly melting away ... some believe polar bears will be extinct within 50 years ...

it would be one thing if this global catastrophy were not of our own making ... driving around in monster SUV's is nothing but "suicide by excess" ... the public is aiding and abetting these environmental crimes ... but most of what is happening in the area of irresponsible use of global resources is being controlled by those who are making huge profits ... and until we take power from these evil bastards, the skies will continue to darken and the warning cries of Mother Earth will go unheeded ...

[G_j]

18. Polar Bears

are already sick and under great stress from the changes that are happening.

It is going to be awfully hard for future generations to forgive us for our wanton greed and voluntary ignorance.


-- gas milage should have (and could have) been brought under control decades ago.

[Bhaisahab]

6. America will drag the whole world down

because that is the one nation which can make a difference to the world's energy related problems, but instead is making things worse. America consumes almost a quarter of world energy, and all of it comes from hydrocarbons. Why can't America push for a carbon cap-and-trade system, or push renewables harder, or even follow Germany's lead in decentralizing power generation through wind mills?
That's actually an easy question to answer. Because the ruling elite in America is wedded to the Hydrocarbon energy industry.
Ergo, Bush has to GO!

on edit: How I wish a dude like Kucinich was the US president.... Hey maybe I can ask my Prime Minister if he could blackmail shrub into making Kucinich president? We would blackmail by sayin- "All your data are belong to us!" (I live in India, where most American companies- read bush donors- send their data, incl crucial company financials):evilgrin:

[Nadienne]

16. From what I hear,

"cap and trade" policies won't decrease pollution. In some cases, those who don't pollute as much and weren't going to use all of their pollution credits anyway sell them to others who don't intend to decrease their pollution.

Renewable energy sources - especially windpower - ought to be pushed harder than anything.

[G_j]

19. thinking the same

about Kucinich.. :-(

[underpants]

9. Okay G_j what does the World Bank and the Pentagon say?

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=415878

World Bank, Pentagon: global warming red alert
Weather of mass destruction bigger threat than terrorism

The World Bank and the Pentagon have both commissioned studies which finally admit that our world is in serious peril, and the biggest threat to our future is not terrorism, but our own dependence on fossil fuels. In other words, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Executive Summary of the Pentagon report

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/reports/ex-summary?item_id=416561&language_id=en

Full report (22 pages PDF)

http://www.greenpeace.org/multimedia/download/1/417492/0/pentagon-on-climate-change.pdf

[G_j]

12. but we all know those are "liberal" institutions

filled with environmental extremist tree-huggers. :think:

[wadestock]

11. Gore put together a team of about 100 scientists

circa 1998....and they came up with a model that predicted that the North Pole will be gone in the 2030 to 2050 timeframe.

To oppose the notion of anti-polution legislation or improved gas mileage is a brain dead attitude. History shows conclusively that by the stroke of a pen the technology comes in place very quickly, the standards are met, the public benefits, business benefits from the improved technologies and business, and everyone wins.

It's amazing that people can support a suicide mission to Mars and gloat over the technology fallout that they think might result and benefit mankind and then somehow get sucked into a ditto head type logic that "unless the companies give us this stuff on their own volition" we can't really come up with any consensus or rationale as to how technology might be best used to benefit our lives here on earth.

Capitalism, in its current American implementation, simply stifles the use of technology for the ultimate benefit of its people. What a shame....especially now...when we should be looking for ways to maintain a technological edge and really set a precedence for how to lead technology into the future.

The world 100 years from now is a world that you would not want to live in.

[TrogL]

14. Absolute nonsense

the North Pole will be gone

The Earth spins on its axis. The North pole is the theoretical top of that axis, located at the "top" of the planet. Magnetic compasses point at magnetic North which wanders around Northern Canada (unless the magnetic poles reverse again).

You cannot get rid of the North Pole without dissassembling the planet.

[DrWeird]

15. I think he rather obviously means the polar ice caps.

Which, indeed, are disappearing.

[RedCloud]

21. Global warming equals Ice Age!!!

When will people wake up to that blatant fact.

Fresh water from polar ice melts due to global warming. We agree so far?

Fresh water enters into the ocean changing the salinity nearby, right?

There are giant convection currents in the ocean, which bring warm surface water far north and far south and cold water returned to the tropics down deep in the ocean.

It doesn't take a great change in salinity to screw up the ocean conveyor belts. They can and have shut down. When they do, the north and south regions freeze up quickly and the equator gets far too hot in which to live, but you could cook some food in the water.

Then it takes thousands of years, sometimes millions to fix the belts. A few times the ice won out and froze even at the equator.

So stock up on coats in the subtropics and read up on community nudism/precooked bodies for cannibals if you live near the equator.

[G_j]

22. Arctic warming 5-10 times faster than once thought

http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/40910_01.html

September 10, 2004

Arctic warming 5-10 times faster than once thought

Stopping climate change will be “like trying to put brakes on a supertanker”

JANE GEORGE

NUUK — A changed world, with robins instead of polar bears, trees instead of tundra and a busy, ice-free shipping lane through the Northwest Passage. A place where sunburn and new diseases are growing hazards and the very core of the Inuit way of life is threatened — that’s the scary and stark portrait of tomorrow emerging from an Arctic Council report on climate change in the Arctic.

The 1,400-page Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, with findings from 250 experts, will be released in Iceland on Nov. 9 at a special symposium to be held before the Arctic Council meets later that month.

But, last weekend in Nuuk, a gathering of Arctic parliamentarians got a troubling preview of the environmental, health and social impacts that an upward swing of temperatures in the North will cause.

“It’s happening now, and it’s been happening for decades, and it has consequences for the whole world,” Robert Corell, chair of the ACIA, told the group.

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[Karenina]

29. Ah, Venus! Here we come!

Stopping climate change will be “like trying to put brakes on a supertanker”

And if our present trajectory is any guide, those with good plans will be run over by profiteering scammers... Sorry to be so cynical tonight, kids. :SIGH:

[wadestock]

25. You can probably calculate how deep the pole will have to be....

But you may have to go down quite a ways....

Quite literally, the POLE will be gone....or excuse me....it will have floated away.

After that point...perhaps we could call it the North "buoy".

[Xithras]

27. What? A complete eradication of the icecap is nearly impossible...

...and it is made so due to the planets tilted orbit. Global warming can never change the fact that the sun completely vanishes from the sky for three months during the winter, that no significant mixing of warmer southerly tropical waters and arctic waters occurs, or that the high tropospheric length of the polar lattitudes prevents most solar energy from ever reaching the planets surface.

Will the poles warm? Yes. Will the icecaps completely vanish? Not until the rest of the planet becomes an uninterrupted desert...and then they'll merely become seasonal.

Yes, I do believe in global warming and I support sensible technological solutions to combat it, but as a scientist it drives me absolutely nuts when people present questionable science, opinions, or even obvious scare tactics like this as "facts". It doesn't sway those we oppose, and it simply damages our credibility with those we need to have supporting us.

[AntiFascist]

28. Just wait....

until areas around the Mississippi and other rivers experience increasingly severe flooding problems due to snow melting and changing weather patterns.