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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
Monsieur Bush will not like this report.
******** Climate risk 'worse than thought' Scientists warn of Greenland, West Antarctic ice sheets melting LONDON, England (AP) -- The threat posed by climate change may be greater than previously thought, and global warming is advancing at an unsustainable rate, a report by scientists published Monday says. The UK government-commissioned report collates evidence presented at a Meteorological Office conference on climate change last year. It says scientists now have "greater clarity and reduced uncertainty" about the impacts of climate change. In a foreword, Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was clear that "the risks of climate change may well be greater than we thought." "It is now plain that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialization and economic growth from a world population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable," he wrote. Over the next century, global warming is expected to raise ocean levels, intensify storms, spread disease to new areas and shift climate zones, possibly making farmlands drier and deserts wetter. The U.N.-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says temperatures rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the 20th century. Computer modeling predicts increases of between 2.5 degrees and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees Celsius) by the year 2100, depending on how much is dome to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have warned of climatic "tipping points" such as the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melting and the Gulf Stream shutting down. In the British report, the head of the British Antarctic Survey, Chris Rapley, warned that the huge west Antarctic ice sheet may be starting to disintegrate, an event that could raise sea levels by 16 feet (five meters). Rapley said a previous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report playing down worries about the ice sheet's stability should be revised. "The last IPCC report characterized Antarctica as a slumbering giant in terms of climate change," he wrote. "I would say it is now an awakened giant. There is real concern." Blair's vow to put climate change at the center of the international agenda during Britain's leadership of the G8 and the European Union last year met brought only a limited response. He was unable to overcome the Bush administration's antipathy to the Kyoto climate-change accord -- rejected by the U.S. government on the grounds it would damage the economy. British ministers also have acknowledged that Britain is unlikely to meet its own target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2010. |
#2
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
Jean-Pierre wrote: Monsieur Bush will not like this report. He "will not like" it, if he pays it any attention! However, the moron in our White House has arbitrarily decided the scientists are wrong, that "global warming" does not exist, thus no quantity of facts contradicting his opinion will have any effect. (The man may be a disaster as president, but he IS an expert at stubborn denial in the face of mountains of evidence!) |
#3
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
Jean-Pierre writes:
Scientists warn of Greenland, West Antarctic ice sheets melting West Antarctic perhaps, but the rest of the Antarctic ice sheet is getting thicker, and the continent is getting colder as well. Part of Greenland may be melting, but with the vast majority of the ice locked up in the Antarctic, it's hard to say how much of a difference that will make. The UK government-commissioned report collates evidence presented at a Meteorological Office conference on climate change last year. It says scientists now have "greater clarity and reduced uncertainty" about the impacts of climate change. They still have no clue. Yes, the planet seems to be getting warmer, at least over the near term. But there's no way to be sure exactly why (even though the greenhouse effect is tempting), and there's certainly no way to clearly predict what the future holds. "It is now plain that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialization and economic growth from a world population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable," he wrote. It's not at all clear that this is causing the warmning trend, even though it seems highly plausible. We really won't know for sure except perhaps in retrospect. Over the next century, global warming is expected to raise ocean levels, intensify storms, spread disease to new areas and shift climate zones, possibly making farmlands drier and deserts wetter. Here again, nobody really knows. The U.N.-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says temperatures rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the 20th century. Computer modeling predicts increases of between 2.5 degrees and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees Celsius) by the year 2100, depending on how much is dome to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Computer models can't even accurately predict tomorrow's weather, much less weather a hundred years from now. Scientists have warned of climatic "tipping points" such as the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melting and the Gulf Stream shutting down. Nobody really knows. In the British report, the head of the British Antarctic Survey, Chris Rapley, warned that the huge west Antarctic ice sheet may be starting to disintegrate, an event that could raise sea levels by 16 feet (five meters). Nobody is really sure what will happen. And with the rest of the Antarctic ice sheet growing, perhaps nothing will happen at all. All of this alarmism is in itself alarming. While I agree that it's a good idea to reduce greenhouse emissions, just to be safe, I'm not at all sure that the current warming trend is due to those emissions, and in fact I don't even know how long the warming trend will last. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
#4
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
On 30/01/06 16:36, in article
, "Jean-Pierre" wrote: Climate risk 'worse than thought' Scientists warn of Greenland, West Antarctic ice sheets melting And Europe is getting colder, this winter at least! More seriously--- From Newsweek-- But from http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11009001/ "2005 warmest year on record, data indicates" "James Hansen, director of NASA¹s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said the analysis had to estimate temperatures in the Arctic from nearby weather stations because no direct data were available." The news today is that James Hansen is in trouble with the no-brainers in the White House. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8650 "Top climatologist accuses US of trying to gag him" Now the British back him up. |
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
just as YOU are an expert to answer any post as long as it's OT and
specially the ones about US internal affairs "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" a écrit dans le message de news: ... Jean-Pierre wrote: Monsieur Bush will not like this report. He "will not like" it, if he pays it any attention! However, the moron in our White House has arbitrarily decided the scientists are wrong, that "global warming" does not exist, thus no quantity of facts contradicting his opinion will have any effect. (The man may be a disaster as president, but he IS an expert at stubborn denial in the face of mountains of evidence!) |
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
of course he had to get on this train
"Earl Evleth" a écrit dans le message de news: ... On 30/01/06 16:36, in article , "Jean-Pierre" wrote: Climate risk 'worse than thought' Scientists warn of Greenland, West Antarctic ice sheets melting And Europe is getting colder, this winter at least! More seriously--- From Newsweek-- But from http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11009001/ "2005 warmest year on record, data indicates" "James Hansen, director of NASA¹s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said the analysis had to estimate temperatures in the Arctic from nearby weather stations because no direct data were available." The news today is that James Hansen is in trouble with the no-brainers in the White House. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8650 "Top climatologist accuses US of trying to gag him" Now the British back him up. |
#7
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
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#8
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
Earl Evleth wrote: On 30/01/06 17:48, in article , "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote: The news today highlights that this is a very warm winter in the US. The IHT said the ski resorts in the US are having problems. Solution: come to Europe, plenty of snow in the alps. I said no such thing! Be careful about attributions, please! (Your indiscriminate snipping is NOT appreciated, Earl.) |
#9
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" writes:
Earl Evleth wrote: On 30/01/06 17:48, in article , "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote: The news today highlights that this is a very warm winter in the US. The IHT said the ski resorts in the US are having problems. Solution: come to Europe, plenty of snow in the alps. I said no such thing! Be careful about attributions, please! The careful reader will attribute the somethings in Earl's post to Earl. The careless reader will probably ignore the attributions altogether. (Your indiscriminate snipping is [...] appreciated, Earl.) Des |
#10
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Climate risk 'worse than thought'
Des Small:
The careless reader will probably ignore the attributions altogether. Hey Pete, What's this thing about card readers? -- [how careless can you read?] |
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