Global Warming Report Parsci

8/10/2019 Global Warming Report Parsci

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Global Warming

On Feb. 2, 2007, the United Nations scientific panel studying climate change declared that theevidence of a warming trend is une!uivocal, and that human activity has very li"ely been thedriving force in that change over the last #0 years. $he last report by the group, the%ntergovernmental &anel on 'limate 'hange, in 200(, had found that humanity had li"ely

played a role.

$he addition of that single word very did more than reflect mounting scientific evidence thatthe release of carbon dio)ide and other heat*trapping gases from smo"estac"s, tailpipes andburning forests has played a central role in raising the average surface temperature of the earthby more than ( degree Fahrenheit since (+00. %t also added new momentum to a debate that nowseems centered less over whether humans are warming the planet, but instead over what to doabout it. %n recent months, business groups have banded together to ma"e unprecedented calls forfederal regulation of greenhouse gases. $he subect had a red*carpet moment when former -ice&resident l /ores documentary, n %nconvenient $ruth, was awarded an Oscar1 and theupreme 'ourt made its first global warming*related decision, ruling # to 3 that the

4nvironmental &rotection gency had not ustified its position that it was not authori5ed toregulate carbon dio)ide.

$he greenhouse effect has been part of the earths wor"ings since its earliest days. /ases li"ecarbon dio)ide and methane allow sunlight to reach the earth, but prevent some of the resultingheat from radiating bac" out into space. 6ithout the greenhouse effect, the planet would neverhave warmed enough to allow life to form. ut as ever larger amounts of carbon dio)ide havebeen released along with the development of industrial economies, the atmosphere has grownwarmer at an accelerating rate8 ince (+70, temperatures have gone up at nearly three times theaverage for the 20th century.

$he latest report from the climate panel predicted that the global climate is li"ely to rise between9.# and : degrees Fahrenheit if the carbon dio)ide concentration in the atmosphere reaches twicethe level of (7#0. y 2(00, sea levels are li"ely to rise between 7 to 29 inches, it said, and thechanges now underway will continue for centuries to come.


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A New Middle Stance Emerges in Debate over Climate

y N;


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6hile each degree of warming of tropical oceans is li"ely to intensify such storms a percentage

point or two in the future, they said, there is no firm evidence of a heat*triggered strengthening in

storms in recent years. $he e)perts added that the recent increase in the impact of storms was

because of more people getting in harmEs way, not stronger storms.

$here are enough e)perts holding such views that


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;ebate among scientists over how to describe the climate threat is particularly intense right now

as e)perts wor" on the final language in portions of the latest assessment of global warming by

the %ntergovernmental &anel on 'limate 'hange.

%n three previous reports, the last published in 200(, this global networ" of scientists operatingunder the auspices of the United Nations has presented an ever*firmer picture of a growing

human role in warming.

tudies used to generate the ne)t report @portions are to be issued in FebruaryA have shown a

li"ely warming in the 2(st century H unless emissions of greenhouse gases abate H at least

several times that of the last centuryEs one*degree rise.

ut substantial uncertainty still clouds proections of important impacts, li"e how high and

!uic"ly seas would rise as ice sheets thawed.


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Global Warming: The Cold, Hard acts!

By Timothy Ball

Monda", ebr#ar" $, %&&'

Global Warming, as we think we know it, doesn't exist. And I am not the only one trying to make

people open up their eyes and see the truth. But few listen, despite the fat that I was one of thefirst !anadian "h.#s. in !limatology and I ha$e an extensi$e bakground in limatology,

espeially the reonstrution of past limates and the impat of limate hange on human history

and the human ondition. %ew listen, e$en though I ha$e a "h.#, otor of iene( from the)ni$ersity of *ondon, +ngland and was a limatology professor at the )ni$ersity of Winnipeg.

%or some reason &atually for many(, the World is not listening. ere is why.

6hat would happen if tomorrow we were told that, after all, the 4arth is flat %t would probablybe the most important piece of news in the media and would generate a lot of debate. o why is it

that when scientists who have studied the /lobal 6arming phenomenon for years say thathumans are not the cause nobody listens 6hy does no one ac"nowledge that the 4mperor hasno clothes on

elieve it or not, /lobal 6arming is not due to human contribution of 'arbon ;io)ide @'O2A.$his in fact is the greatest deception in the history of science. 6e are wasting time, energy andtrillions of dollars while creating unnecessary fear and consternation over an issue with noscientific ustification. For e)ample, 4nvironment 'anada brags about spending I9.7 billion inthe last five years dealing with climate change almost all on propaganda trying to defend anindefensible scientific position while at the same time closing weather stations and failing tomeet legislated pollution targets.

No sensible person see"s conflict, especially with governments, but if we dont pursue the truth,we are lost as individuals and as a society. $hat is why % insist on saying that there is no evidencethat we are, or could ever cause global climate change. nd, recently, Juri . %5rael, -ice&resident of the United Nations sponsored %ntergovernmental &anel on 'limate 'hange @%&''Aconfirmed this statement. o how has the world come to believe that something is wrong

Daybe for the same reason we believed, 90 years ago, that global cooling was the biggest threat8a matter of faith. %t is a cold fact8 the /lobal 'ooling presents human"ind with the mostimportant social, political, and adaptive challenge we have had to deal with for ten thousandyears. Jour sta"e in the decisions we ma"e concerning it is of ultimate importance1 the survival

of ourselves, our children, our species, wrote Kowell &onte in (+7L.

% was as opposed to the threats of impending doom global cooling engendered as % am to thethreats made about /lobal 6arming. Ket me stress % am not denying the phenomenon hasoccurred. $he world has warmed since (L:0, the nadir of a cool period called the Kittle %ce ge@K%A that has generally continued to the present. $hese climate changes are well within naturalvariability and e)plained !uite easily by changes in the sun. ut there is nothing unusual goingon.


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ince % obtained my doctorate in climatology from the University of Kondon, Mueen Dary'ollege, 4ngland my career has spanned two climate cycles. $emperatures declined from (+30 to(+:0 and in the early (+70s global cooling became the consensus. $his proves that consensus isnot a scientific fact. y the (++0s temperatures appeared to have reversed and /lobal 6armingbecame the consensus. %t appears %ll witness another cycle before retiring, as the maor

mechanisms and the global temperature trends now indicate a cooling.

No doubt passive acceptance yields less stress, fewer personal attac"s and ma"es career progresseasier. 6hat % have e)perienced in my personal life during the last years ma"es me understandwhy most people choose not to spea" out1 ob security and fear of reprisals. 4ven in University,where free speech and challenge to prevailing wisdoms are supposedly encouraged, academicsremain silent.

% once received a three page letter that my lawyer defined as libellous, from an academiccolleague, saying % had no right to say what % was saying, especially in public lectures. adly, mye)perience is that universities are the most dogmatic and oppressive places in our society. $his

becomes progressively worse as they receive more and more funding from governments thatdemand a particular viewpoint.

%n another instance, % was accused by 'anadian environmentalist ;avid u5u"i of being paid byoil companies. $hat is a lie. pparently he thin"s if the fossil fuel companies pay you have anagenda. o if /reenpeace, ierra 'lub or governments pay there is no agenda and only truth andenlightenment

&ersonal attac"s are difficult and shouldnt occur in a debate in a civili5ed society. % can onlyconsider them from what they imply. $hey usually indicate a person or group is losing thedebate. %n this case, they also indicate how political the entire /lobal 6arming debate has

become. oth underline the lac" of or even contradictory nature of the evidence.

% am not alone in this ourney against the prevalent myth. everal well*"nown names have alsoraised their voices. Dichael 'richton, the scientist, writer and filmma"er is one of them. %n hislatest boo", tate of Fear he ta"es time to e)plain, often in surprising detail, the flawed sciencebehind /lobal 6arming and other imagined environmental crises.

nother cry in the wildenerness is


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more 'O2 than before, the temperature would inevitably rise. $he theory was accepted beforetesting had started, and effectively became a law.

s Kind5en said many years ago8 the consensus was reached before the research had evenbegun. Now, any scientist who dares to !uestion the prevailing wisdom is marginali5ed and

called a sceptic, when in fact they are simply being good scientists. $his has reached frighteninglevels with these scientists now being called climate change denier with all the holocaustconnotations of that word. $he normal scientific method is effectively being thwarted.

Deanwhile, politicians are being listened to, even though most of them have no "nowledge orunderstanding of science, especially the science of climate and climate change. ?ence, they arein no position to !uestion a policy on climate change when it threatens the entire planet.Doreover, using fear and creating hysteria ma"es it very difficult to ma"e calm rational decisionsabout issues needing attention.

Until you have challenged the prevailing wisdom you have no idea how nasty people can be.

Until you have re*e)amined any issue in an attempt to find out all the information, you cannot"now how much misinformation e)ists in the supposed age of information.

% was greatly influenced several years ago by aron 6ildavs"ys boo" Jes, but is it true $heauthor taught political science at a New Jor" University and reali5ed how science was beinginfluenced by and apparently misused by politics. ?e gave his graduate students an assignmentto pursue the science behind a policy generated by a highly publicised environmental concern. $ohis and their surprise they found there was little scientific evidence, consensus and ustificationfor the policy. Jou only reali5e the e)tent to which 6ildavs"ys findings occur when you as" the!uestion he posed. 6ildavs"ys students did it in the safety of academia and with the e)cuse thatit was an assignment. % have learned it is a difficult !uestion to as" in the real world, however %

firmly believe it is the most important !uestion to as" if we are to advance in the right direction.

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Global Warming
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by ?olli


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ome of this outgoing radiation, however, is re*absorbed by water va(or, carbon dio*ide, and

other gases in the atmosphere @called greenho#se gases because of their heat*trapping capacityA

and is then re*radiated bac" toward the 4arthEs surface. On the whole, this re*absorption (rocess

is good. %f there were no greenhouse gases or clouds in the atmosphere, the 4arthEs average

surface tem(erat#rewould be a very chilly *(:R' @0RFA instead of the comfortable (#R' @#+RFAthat it is today.

6hat has scientists concerned now is that over the past 2#0 years humans have been artificiallyraising the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at an ever*increasing rate. y2003, humans were pumping out over : billion tons of carbon dio)ide per year. ome of it wasabsorbed by Bsin"sC li"e forests or the ocean, and the rest accumulated in the atmosphere. 6eproduce millions of pounds of methaneby allowing our trash to decompose in landfills and bybreeding large herds of methane*belching cattle. Nitrogen*based fertili5ers and other soilmanagement practices lead to the release of nitro#s o*ideinto the atmosphere.

Once these greenhouse gases get into the atmosphere, they stay there for decades or longer.ccording to the %ntergovernmental &anel on Climate Change @%&''A, since the industrialrevol#tionbegan in about (7#0, carbon dio)ide levels have increased 9# percent and methanelevels have increased (3: percent. +aleoclimatereadings ta"en from ice cores and )ossilrecordsshow that these gases, two of the most abundant greenhouse gases, are at their highest levels in atleast the past L#0,000 years. cientists have very high confidence @a phrase the %&'' translatesto Bgreater than +0 percent certaintyCA that the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases havemade it more difficult for thermal radiation to leave the 4arth, and as a result, 4arth has warmed.

Evidence )or Global Warming


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the climate wor"s, and they closely monitor 4arthEs current vital signs with an array ofinstruments ranging from space*based satellites to deep sea thermometers.


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n increase in solar output also falls short of e)plaining recent warming. N satellites havebeen measuring the unEs output since (+7:, and while the unEs activity has varied a little, theobserved changes were not large enough to account for the warming recorded during the same(eriod. 'limate simulations of global temperature changes based only on solar variability andvolcanic aerosols since (7#0Homitting greenhouse gasesH are able to fit the record of global

temperatures only up until about (+#0.

$he only viable e)planation for warming after (+#0 is an increase in greenhouse gases. %t is wellestablished theoretically why carbon dio)ide, methane,and other greenhouse gases should heatthe planet, and observations show that they have.

+redicting #t#re Warming

s the world consumes ever more )ossil fuel energy, greenho#se gas concentrations will

continue to rise, and 4arthEs average surface tem(erat#re will rise with them. ased on

plausible emission scenarios, the %&'' estimates that average surface temperatures could rise

between 2R' and LR' by the end of the 2(st century.

t first glance, these numbers probably do not seem threatening. fter all, temperatures typically

change a few tens of degreeswhenever a storm )rontmoves through. uch temperature changes,

however, represent day*to*day regional fluctuations. 6hen surface temperatures are averaged

over the entire globe for e)tended (eriodsof time, it turns out that the average is remar"ably

stable. Not since the end of the last ice age20,000 years ago, when 4arth warmed about #R', has

the average surface temperature changed as dramatically as the 2R' to LR' change that scientists

are predicting for the ne)t century.

cientists predict the range of temperature increase by running different scenarios throughclimate models. ecause scientists canEt say how human society may change over the ne)tcentury, or how certain aspects of the climate s"stem@such as cloudsA will respond to globalwarming, they give a range of temperature estimates. $he higher estimates are made on theassumption that the entire world will continue to use more and more )ossil )#elper capita. $helower estimates come from best*case scenarios in which environmentally friendly technologiessuch as fuel cells and solar panels replace much of todayEs fossil fuel combustion. fter inputtingestimates for future greenhouse gas emissions, scientists run the models forward into manypossible futures to arrive at the range of estimates provided in the %&'' report. $he estimates arebeing used to predict how rising temperatures will affect both people and natural ecos"stems.$he severity of environmental change will depend on how much the 4arthEs surface warms over

the ne)t century.

+otential E))ects o) Global Warming
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$he most obvious impact of global warming will be changes in both average and e)treme

tem(erat#re and (reci(itation, but warming will also enhance coastal erosion, lengthen the

growing season, melt ice caps and glaciers, and alter the range of some infectious diseases,

among other things.

For most places, global warming will result in more hot days and fewer cool days, with the

greatest warming happening over land. Konger, more intense heat waves will become more

fre!uent. ?igh latit#des and generally wet places will tend to receive more rainfall, while

tropical regions and generally dry places will probably receive less rain. %ncreases in rainfall will

come in the form of bigger, wetter storms, rather than in the form of more rainy days. %n between

those larger storms will be longer(eriodsof lightor no rain, so the )re.#enc"of drought will

increase. H#rricaneswill li"ely increase in intensity due to warmeroceansurface temperatures.

%t is impossible to pin any one unusual weatherevent on global warming, but evidence is

emerging that suggests that global warming is already influencing the weather. $he %&'' reports

that both heat waves and intense rain events have increased in fre!uency during the last #0 years,

and human*induced global warming more li"ely than not contributed to the trend. atellite*based

rainfall measurements show tropical areas got more rain in the form of large storms or light

rainfall instead of moderate storms between (+7+ and 2009. ince the (+70s, the area affected by

drought and the number of intense tropical c"clones also have increased, trends that %&''

scientists say were more li"ely than not influenced by human activities, though in the case of

cyclones, the record is too sparse to draw any certain conclusions.

$he weather isnEt the only thing global warming will impact8 rising sea levels will erode coasts

and cause more fre!uent coastal flooding. $he problem is serious because as much as (0 percent

of the worldEs population lives in coastal areas less than (0 meters @about 90 feetA above sea

level. $he %&'' estimates that sea levels will rise between 0.(: and 0.#+ meters @0.#+ to (.+ feetA

by 20++ because of e)panding sea water and melting mountain glaciers.

$hese estimates of sea level rise may be low, however, because they do not account for changes

in the rate of melt from the worldEs maor ice sheets. s temperatures rise, ice will melt more

!uic"ly. New satellitemeasurements reveal that the /reenland and 6est ntarctic ice sheets are

shedding about (2# billion tons of ice per yearHenough to raise sea levels by 0.9# millimeters

@0.0( inchesA per year. %f the melting were to accelerate, the rise in sea level could be

significantly higher. For instance, the last time global temperatures were a degreeor so warmer

than today, sea levels were about L meters @20 feetA higher, with the water mainly coming from

the melting of the /reenland and the 6est ntarctic ice sheets. Neither ice sheet is li"ely to

disappear before 2(00, but there is the danger that global warming could initiate massive losses
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from the /reenland and ntarctic ice sheets that will continue or even accelerate over future

centuries.

/lobal warming is also putting pressure on ecos"stems, the plants and animals that co*e)ist in aparticular climate. 6armer temperatures have already shifted the growing season in many parts

of the globe. pring is coming earlier, and that means that migrating animals have to start earlierto follow food sources. nd since the growing season is longer, plants need more water to "eepgrowing or they will dry out, increasing the ris" of fires. horter, milder winters fail to "illinsects, increasing the ris" that an infestation will destroy an ecosystem. s the growing seasonprogresses, ma)imum daily temperatures increase, sometimes beyond the tolerance of the plantor animal. $o survive the climbing temperatures, both marine and land*based plants and animalshave started to migrate towards the poles. $hose species that cannot migrate or adapt facee)tinction. $he %&'' estimates that 20*90 percent of plant and animal species will be at ris" ofe)tinction if temperatures climb more than (.#R to 2.#R'.

$he people who will be hardest hit will be residents of poorer countries who do not have the

resources to fend off changes in climate. s tropical temperature 5ones e)pand, the reach ofsome infectious diseases li"e malaria will change. Dore intense rains and hurricanes, rising sealevels, and fast*melting mountain glaciers will lead to more severe flooding. ?otter summers andmore fre!uent fires will lead to more cases of heat stro"e and deaths, and to higher levels of near*surface o/oneand smo"e, which would cause more Scode redE air !uality days. %ntense droughtscould lead to an increase in malnutrition. On a longer time scale, fresh water will become scarcerduring the summer as mountain glaciers disappear, particularly in sia and parts of Northmerica. On the flip side, warmer winters will lead to fewer cold*related deaths, and the longergrowing season could increase food production in some tem(erateareas. , or else we will payfor the price.

Ultimately, global warming will impact life on 4arth in many ways, but the e)tent of the changeis up to us. cientists have shown that human emissions of greenho#se gases are pushing globaltemperatures up, and many aspects of climate are responding to the warming in the way thatscientists predicted they would. 4cosystems across the globe are already affected and surprisingchanges have already ta"en place. &olar ice caps are melting, plants and animals are migrating,tropical rain is shifting, and droughts are becoming more widespread and fre!uent. incegreenhouse gases are long*lived, the planet will continue to warm and changes will continue tohappen, but the degree to which global warming changes life on 4arth depends on our decisions.

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Coming global warming will ca#se climate /one migration, s(ecies e*tinction

News$argetA y the year 2(00, global warming li"ely will cause the e)tinction of numerousspecies by eliminating the climate 5ones in which they are able to live, according to studypublished in the "roeedings of the 2ational Aademy 3f ienes.

Using data and scenarios from the %ntergovernmental &anel on 'limate 'hange, researcherspredicted that global warming will cause currently e)isting climate 5ones to move further towardthe poles. $his will cause the elimination of the climate regions closest to the poles or near thetops of tropical mountains, including the tropical ndes, southeast ustralia, the frican riftmountains, the ngolan and ambian ?ighlands, the outh frican 'ape region, and parts of the?imalayas and rctic.

?ow do you conserve the biological diversity of these entire systems if the physicalenvironment is changing and potentially disappearing said lead author >ohn 6illiams.

$he researchers also predicted that the species least li"ely to be able to adapt or migrate along

with their preferred climate 5ones are those currently living in relatively stable tropical andsubtropical climates. $his means that species diversity in ma5on and %ndonesian rainforests isli"ely to plummet.

One of the things that comes from our paper is that because the species that live in the tropicsare adapted or have evolved for a reduced range of variability, it may be the two* to three*degreetemperature change in the tropics may be more significant, say, than a five to eight*degreechange in high latitudes, 6illiams said. $o date, however, more attention has focused on globalwarmings impacts on the rctic, which are being felt more !uic"ly.

$he study also concluded that by 2(00, climate 5ones will have changed over (2 to 9+ percent of

the 4arths land surface. $hese results came from using a scenario that presumes a continuationof current patterns of fossil fuel use and carbon emissions. ssuming continued industrialdevelopment in a less emissions*intensive pattern, the predicted change was over 3 to 20 percentof the planets land surface.

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Global warming will directl" im(act childrens0 health with increase in )evers, emergenc" visits

new report suggests global warming causes an increase in fevers among "ids during the hottest

days of the year. ournal of 4nvironmental

?ealth


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6hile childrens health may be impacted by temperature changes, the more frightening changes

are bound to occur with crop production and food supply.

4ottom line

The e))ects o) global warming directl" im(act childrens0 health d#ring the hottest da"s o)the "ear5

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Global warming co#ld ca#se severe m#nici(al water shortages, sa"s Nobel +ri/e winner

@News$argetA $he rise of global warming could cause cities run out of water, says teven 'hu,

who shared the Nobel &ri5e in &hysics a decade ago. ;ecreases in snow and glacier melt * maor

sources for water * have some wondering about global warmings impact and has spurred an

increase in pushing for ocean desalini5ation technology.

What "o# need to 1now 2 Conventional 3iew

Q $he effects of global warmingalready are being seen, as some rivers now become dry in the

summertime, and the snow and glacier melt in the ?imalayas has declined.

Q $he ierra Nevada mountain range of 'alifornia will see its snowpac" decline by between 90 to

70 percent by the year 2(00.

Q 6arming prevents snow and rain from being stored in the mountains, meaning that while some

areas will see an increase in snow, it will be wasted as run*off water.

Q $he impact of the ierra Nevadas losing water could mean that 'alifornian agriculture will be

disrupted, and that later people may migrate away from $he /olden tate.

Q $he increased attention on global warming has caused some companies to invest further in

desalini5ing seawater for human consumption.

Q @6aterA is probably the first thing that will hit home, 'hu said. $he water storage problem is

becoming a mess.

4ottom line

With global warming, the loss o) #sable water will be one o) the greatest im(acts on the

h#man race5

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6ivestoc1 ranching a leading contrib#tor to C-% emissions, global warming

@News$argetA ccording to a United Nations report published last month, raising animals for

food is one of the single biggest causes of global warming, in addition to land degradation and

pollution of air and water.

$he livestoc" sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the

most serious environmental problems, at every scale, said Kivestoc"Es Kong hadow, the

report by the U.N. Food and griculture Organi5ation.

ccording to the report, nearly one*fifth of all global warming*causing emissions come from

animalagriculture, more than the cumulative impact of all the transportation in the world. $his

effect occurs because animal wastes and digestion produce methaneand nitrous o)ide gas, which

have 29 and 2+L times the heat*trapping effect of carbon dio)ide, respectively. nimal

agriculture produces L# percent of the worlds nitrous o)ide from human*related sources and 97

percent of the methane.

$he detrimental effects of animal agriculture on the worlds climate are not limited to greenhouse

gasemissions. $hirty percent of the worlds total land surface is devoted to animal agriculture,

and 70 percent of its arable land. $he livestoc" industry is also a leading cause of deforestation1

70 percent of former ma5on


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United Nations 4nvironmental &rogram @UN4&A, chim teiner. B6e are loo"ing for an

une!uivocal response from politicians. $he evidence is on the table, we no longer have to debate

that part of it.C

$he %&'' is set to deliver three more reports this year. $he 6or"ing /roup %% report will be

unveiled in russels on pril L and 6or"ing /roup %%% will be released in ang"o" on Day 3.

$he fourth and final report of the series will serve as a summation of its predecessors. $he

ynthesis


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Scientists )ind evidence that global warming co#ld be ca#sing an 8evol#tion e*(losion8

@News$argetA %f a species of weed that has adapted to climate change within ust a few

generations is any indicator, the hotly debated phenomenon of global warming could be causing

rapid evolutionary shifts, according to a study in the ournal &roceedings of the National

cademy of ciences.

4cology professor and evolutionary biologist rthur 6eis and colleagues from the University of

'alifornia, %rvine cultivated two sets of seeds from the fast*growing weed "nown as field

mustard in a greenhouse. One set of seedswas collected ust before a five*year droughtin (++7,

and the second set was gathered in 2003. $hey divided the resulting plants into three groups, and

watered each of them in a way that mimic"ed conditions from drought to heavy rains. %n all

cases, the plants grown from the seeds gathered in 2003 flowered earlier and were therefore able

to produce seeds before the soil was too dry.

On an evolutionary timetable, the weeds rapid shift in reproductive patterns is e!uivalent to a (L

percent acceleration of its lifecycle in ust seven generations, 6eis said. %f human beings evolved

at the same rate in seven generations, he said, the average age of reproduction would drop from

(L years old to about halfway through the age of (9. lthough he noted that something with a

longer lifespan, such as a 'alifornia redwood ** which can live hundreds of years ** would not

adust as rapidly.

6eis is now at the forefront of &roect aseline, in which seeds will be collected from around

North merica so they can be dried and fro5en for study in about #0 years. ?e theori5es that the

seeds will give scientists of the time a basis for comparison to any evolutionary changes that may

have occurred due to climate change.

%f global climate change is coming, and it is, we have this huge unplanned e)periment in

evolutionary biology facing us, he said. 'limate change could lead to an evolutione)plosion.
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said. $he problem is that once you get the process started and well on the way, its impossible to

prevent it. $hats why we need to address the issue before it gets out of control.

?uman beings are not the only species in eopardy, ?ansen noted, as some plant and animal

species could be pushed off the planet by rising temperatures. %f the temperatures continue to

rise, isotherms ** lines of e!ual temperature ** will begin to travel toward the poles at about 9(

miles per decade, while the average rate of species migration is only about 9.7 miles per decade.

$hose species at high latitudes have no place to go to, ?ansen said. Dany of them will be in

trouble.

?ansen was one of the first scientists to warn of the effects of climate change in testimony to

'ongress in (+::, and made headlines last year when he complained of ush*appointed N

public relations officers limiting his access to the media in order to prevent him from discussing

global warming. 6hite ?ouse officials denied the allegations, but while ?ansen said he now

feels able to spea" out, he reported that other scientists still feel gagged.

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%&&9 hottest "ear on record )or 75S5, climate e*(erts sa"

@News$argetA $he year 200L was the hottest the continental United tates has seen in the past

((2 years, according to climate e)perts from the National 'limatic ;ata 'enter, who say drastic

action must be ta"en in the ne)t (0 years to halt catastrophic global warming damage in the

coming century.

Kast year topped off a nine*year strea" of global warming unprecedented in the historical

record and largely driven by burning fossil fuels, the N';' reported $uesday. ccording to the

report, average U.. temperatures in 200L were 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the average

temperature across the country for the 20th century.

Kast month ** which brought early blossoming of daffodils and cherry trees in the normally icy

eastern states ** was the fourth*warmest ;ecember on record, while average temperatures for all

3: mainland states were above average or well above average.

New >ersey e)perienced its hottest temperatures ever on record, while oston saw temperatures

of : degrees above average and Dinneapolis*t. &aul suffered temperatures (7 degrees higher

than normal during ;ecember.

No one should be surprised that 200L is the hottest year on record for the U.., said climate

scientist renda 4"wur5el of public interest group the Union of 'oncerned cientists. 6hen

you loo" at temperatures across the globe, every single year since (++9 has been in the top 20

warmest years on record.

$he warming is caused mostly by e)cess burning of fossil fuels, which release carbon dio)ide

into the atmosphere. 'limate scientists warn that the atmosphere has more carbon dio)ide now

than it has in the past L#0,000 years, which is creating a blan"et of the gas that traps heat on

4arth. $o ma"e matters worse, the National Oceanic P tmospheric dministration @NOA

says an 4l Nino weather pattern in the &acific near the e!uator has prevented icy rctic air from

moving south and east across the United tates.
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$he ush administration has reected proposals in recent years to place limits on carbon dio)ide

emissionsor adopt a system of carbon ta)es to help curb the United tates si5eable contribution

to greenhouse gas emissions.

NO chief of climate monitoring >ay Kawrimore said he believes global warmingcould be

seriously slowed or even solved with the development of new, clean technologies for industrial

and vehicular use.

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Global warming alread" im(acting monsoons, cro( (rod#ction in ndia

@News$argetA $he !uantity of monsoons in %ndia has increased in the last #0 years, and for some,

the monsoon rains can be seen as either a huge advantage or an e!ually large disadvantage.

lthough the average rainfall amount has not increased, the number of heavier monsoons has

increased since the (+#0s.


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Global warming co#ld wi(e o#t ;& (ercent o) h#man (o(#lation, warns Gaia scientist 6oveloc1

@News$argetA >ames Koveloc", a controversial climate scientist, announced $uesday that the

earths temperature might rise by 3L.3 degrees Fahrenheit and threaten billions of lives, and

theres nothing anyone can do about it.

cientists currently e)pect a 32.:*degree shift in average temperatures by the end of the century,

which will cause floods, famines and lethal storms. ?owever, they say that cutting carbon

emissions could prevent these catastrophes. Koveloc" says there is no such luc".

Koveloc" angered climate scientists in the (+L0s when he announced his /aia theory of a living

planet, which theori5es that the earth is an individual, self*sustaining organism. ?is theory is now

widely accepted, but now Koveloc" claims the planet has a built*in fever that cannot be

controlled by environmental efforts. 'onse!uently, the planet may only be able to support a (0

percent of its L*billion*strong population.

6e are not all doomed, Koveloc" said in a news conference. n awful lot of people will die,

but % dont see the species dying out.

hot earth couldnt support much over #00 million, he added. lmost all of the systems that

have been loo"ed at are in positive feedbac" ... and soon those effects will be larger than any of

the effects of carbon dio)ide emissionsfrom industry and so on around the world.

$he built*in warming is nothing new for the planet, according to Koveloc". 6hile addressing the

%nstitution of 'hemical 4ngineers in Kondon, he said that such dramatic climate changes had

happened at least seven times already.

%n the change from the last %ce ge to now we lost land e!uivalent to the continent of frica

beneath the sea, he said. 6e are facing things ust as bad or worse than that during this century.

$here are refuges, plenty of them. ## million years ago ... life moved up to the rctic, stayed

there during the course of it and then moved bac" again as things improved. % fear that this is

what we may have to do.
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E#ro(eans overwhelmingl" s#((ort restrictions to halt global warming

@News$argetA ?arris %nteractive poll carried out in /ermany, France, the U.=., %taly and pain

for the Financial $imes found that an overwhelmingly large number of 4uropeans believe

humans are contributing to global warming, and would be willing to accept lifestyle restrictions

to help control it.

ccording to the poll, :L percent of the respondents felt that humans were a direct cause of

climate change, and 3# percent believed it could be a threat to them and their families within

their lifetimes. i)ty*eight percent said they would either strongly or somewhat support

limitations on their purchasing and behavior in support of combating global warming, although

when the poll addressed specific restrictions, support was wea"er.

6hen respondents were as"ed about an additional charge for airline flights in order to counteract

the environmental damage, only 39 percent were either strongly or somewhat in favor, while 9L

percent either strongly or somewhat opposed such a move. round 2# percent said they were

willing to pay a wee"s wages ** about 2 percent of the national income figure that would be

needed from rich countries, according to 6orld an" 'hief 4conomist ir Nicholas tern ** in

order to combat global warming, but 99 percent said they would not pay anything.

Dore attention has been turned toward climate changein the 4uropean political arena than

overseas, bolstered by reports such as that written by tern, arguing that the economic impact of

global warming could be significantly greater than the costs of acting to prevent it.

$he concerns about global warming and possible energy shortages have not turned into support

for nuclear power, according to the poll. Only 90 percent of 4uropeans were strongly or

somewhat in favor of investing in new nuclear capacity, while 3L percent were strongly or

somewhat opposed.

$he poll found a large gender bias on the subect, as men in France, %taly, and the U.=. were in

support of building new nuclear plants, while women were against it in every country e)cept the

U.=., where most were neither for nor against.
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lthough only 2+ percent of the French respondents were in favor of nuclear e)pansion, the

country is beginning construction on a new reactor ne)t year. 'urrent anti*nuclear attitudes in

painand /ermany show no signs of wea"ening, however, as #9 percent of /ermans and L2

percent of paniards remained in opposition of new nuclear building.

$he polled 4uropeans leaned toward renewables as the environmental solution ** :# percent

were in favor of their governments spending more on such materials ** and the support was even

stronger in France and pain, where +0 percent were in favor of investment in renewables.

$he poll respondents were not optimistic that


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Global warming to #sher in weather e*tremes, im(acting cro(s and )ood s#((l"

@News$argetA Duch of the world is li"ely to e)perience e)tended droughts, heavy rainfalls and

longer heat waves over the ne)t century because of global warming, a new study has forecasted.

$he 6estern United tates, the Dediterranean and ra5il are specifically included in the findings

from the National 'enter for tmospheric


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Kead researcher $ebaldis overall global weather assessment corresponds with the National

'limatic ;ata 'enters trac"ing of e)treme events in the United tates, according to ;avid

4asterling, chief of the centers scientific services. %n addition to $ebaldis new research,

4asterlings group has created a massive climate e)treme inde) that measures the weather only inthe United tates. For e)ample, the United tates e)perienced the second most e)treme year in

+# years in 200#, and the worst year was in (++:.

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Global warming to ca#se massive dro#ght over ne*t


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Global Warming Threatens Coastal ishing =(ress release>

Dany of FloridaEs coastal bays and estuaries will be inundated by 2(00 due to sea*level rise from

global warming, ma"ing the BFishing 'apital of the 6orldC uninhabitable by some of FloridaEs

most pri5ed game fish, a new study reveals.

study of nine sites along FloridaEs coasts proects that sea*level rise would dramatically alter

the e)tent and composition of important coastal habitats throughout the region if global warming

continues unabated.

BFishing as we "now it could disappear in a matter of decades,C said Danley Fuller, president of

the Florida 6ildlife Federation. BOur coastal habitats are shrin"ing and if we lose our coastal

fisheries to rising seas, the effect on fish and wildlife Floridians have wor"ed so hard to protect

will be devastating.C

$he Florida 6ildlife Federation and the National 6ildlife Federation commissioned an

independent researcher to study nine areas along FloridaEs coast @including &ensacola ay,

palachicola ay, $ampa ay, 'harlotte ?arbor, $en $housand %slands, Florida ay, iscayne

ay, t. Kucie 4stuary and %ndian


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%n addition, global warming is e)pected to lead to an increase in marine diseases, harmful algal

blooms, more*e)treme rainfall patterns and stronger hurricanes, all of which would have a

significant impact on the stateEs prime fisheries.

BFishing is a way of life in Florida,C said Fuller. BNot only is it a wonderful pastime, itEs an

economic boon to the state.C ccording to the Florida Fish and 6ildlife 'onservation

'ommission, in 200# anglers spent I9.9 billion on saltwater recreational fishing in Florida,

supporting nearly L0,000 obs.

cientists agree that a significant increase in the rate of sea*level rise due to melting glaciers and

ice caps and the thermal e)pansion of the oceans is one of the most direct conse!uences of global

warming.

BFloridaEs game fish are on the front line,C said &atty /lic", global warming specialist for the

National 6ildlife Federation and author of the report, Unfavorable $ide8 /lobal 6arming,

'oastal ?abitats and portfishing in Florida. Bs sea level rises, fish species that need the

protection of saltmarshes and tidal flats during their early larval or uvenile stages will be most

vulnerable.C

ccording to the %ntergovernmental &anel on 'limate 'hange @%&''A the global average sea

level has already risen about L inches over the past century. ased on recent trends, scientistsE

mid*range proection is that sea level will rise another (# inches by the year 2(00.

/lic" said that along FloridaEs gradually*sloped shores, this would translate into a hori5ontal

advance of water inland by as much as 2#0 feet, contributing to coastal erosion, inundation and

changes in wetlands and mangroves.

$he proected #0 percent loss of saltmarsh habitat, for e)ample, would be a significant reduction

in fish nursery habitat, /lic" said. %n addition, significant declines in beaches and tidal flats in

some areas would reduce habitat for species that rely on those areas to feed.

mong the top (0 game species considered most at ris" are onefish1 Flounder1 /ag grouper1

/ray snapper1 &ermit1 &ompano1


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