A RISING TIDE OF RECOGNITION THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS HUMAN-INDUCED
IPCC REPORT SHOWS GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE A REAL & GATHERING PERIL
8 February 2007 :: Lainey Johr

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared last week that global warming and climate change is linked directly to human activities. The UN-based group, made up of 2500 of the world’s foremost scientists working on climate change convened again for the first time since 2001 to discuss the issue with more urgency to the global community.

The first of four findings to be released this year, the report also predicted global temperatures to rise 1.1 – 6.4°C and that sea level will also rise by 11" – 17" before this century’s end if green house gases in the atmosphere reach a level that is double pre-industrial levels.

To put that into some perspective, the current global temperatures are only 5°C warmer than during the last ice age and during the 20th century, the seas rose only 6 – 9".

Increasing sea levels are also likely be accompanied by the warming of sea temperatures, inducing more volatile and deadly tropical storms. In fact, we could see rising seas and subsequent retreat of coastlines for the next 1000 years.

Predictions made in the panel’s last report issued in 2001 seem to have been moderate to conservative regarding humanity’s negative effects on the global environment. The panel has now declared more accurate findings with more forceful and decisive language in the hope of establishing a global framework for action.

Previously, the panel calculated that humans were 60 – 90% to blame for climate change. Now, the panel asserts with 90% certainty that humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions have drastically altered the global climate.

More severe changes in seasonal weather are forecast for some of the world’s most vulnerable areas, including increased drought conditions for semi-arid regions and increased rainfall for already flood-prone areas. This could dramatically affect the global economy as well as causing an advanced humanitarian crisis in losses of livelihood and food sources and increased spread of diseases.

The reports are based on the review of hundreds of scientific studies, some of which include glacial melting, rising seas, rising rates of greenhouse gas emissions and sophisticated computer simulations of climate change.

Harvard University’s expert on energy and climate, John P. Holdren said, ‘In overwhelming proportions, this evidence has been in the direction of showing faster change, more danger and greater confidence about the dominant role of fossil fuel burning and tropical deforestation in causing the changes that are being observed.’

Not included in the panels’ calculations is a steady influx of melting glacial waters from polar ice caps into the global water system. Scientists are still unsure of the net effects of such drastic melting.

The panel decided to leave the effects of melting glacial water out of computerized predictions of climate change for now, although it is generally agreed that such a large influx of water will create further climate instability. It is predicted that continued melting could increase sea levels by up to 22".

The panel declared that the climate is likely to be altered for hundreds of years no matter how much greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

Anote Tong, president of Kiribati said, "The question is, what can we do now? There’s very little we can do about arresting the process." Kiribati is a Pacific atoll under imminent threat of falling permanently under rising sea levels. The island nation of Tuvalu has already sought refuge for its entire population in neighboring countries, under agreements which could leave the nation as a political entity intact, but without its own landmass. [s]

• BBC: "Humans blamed for climate change"
• NY Times: "Panel Issues Bleak Report on Climate Change"
• Guardian: "Humans blamed for climate change"

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CRUMBLING CANADIAN ICE SHELF SIGNALS ARCTIC CLIMATE IN DISTRESS
HIGH SUMMER TEMPERATURES REPORTEDLY CONTRIBUTED TO REDUCTION IN ICE MASS, WEAKENING OF ANCIENT FORMATION
17 January 2007 :: Lainey Johr

Less than 500 miles from Canada’s north pole, ice shelves continue to show increasing signs of distress.  A 41 square mile ice shelf, the largest to fracture in almost 30 years, broke free without notice last summer from the coast of Ellesmere Island. [Full Story]

'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH' BRINGS SCIENCE TO THE FORE IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
CENTERING ON DECADES OF ADVANCEMENT IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, DOCUMENTARY HAS REACHED MASS AUDIENCE BY PUTTING POLITICS ASIDE
25 July 2006

For a long time, conventional wisdom dictated that environmental issues were political in nature, and a matter of preference or opinion. The landmark documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' demonstrates conscientiously that the issue is beyond politics. The film takes pains to show that while priorities —and opinions about them— are at issue, not making ecological sustainability a top priority is not only foolish, but morally unjustifiable. [Full Story]

CARTERET ATOLLS OFFICIALLY TO EVACUATE PLANET'S FIRST CLIMATE CHANGE REFUGEES
5 December 2005

On 26 November, the Guardian newspaper first reported that inhabitants of the Carteret atolls, six islands which form part of Papua New Guinea, in the southwest Pacific, have been subject to the first officially mandated permanent climate change evacuations. Rising sea levels have placed the circular grouping of six islands in serious danger of permanent inundation, and have left the soil useless for harvesting traditional foods. [Full Story]

WARMING CONTINUES UNABATED
2 May 2003

While regulations aimed at holding global atmospheric warming trends are being undercut by political and industry leaders, the trends continue and gather strength. There is no sign that industry will regulate itself, though some have voluntarily shifted to new resources, citing new cost-effectiveness of power from renewable resources. [Full Story]

BACKGROUND:

WIND ENERGY DEMAND BOOMING COST DROPPING BELOW CONVENTIONAL SOURCES MARKS KEY MILESTONE IN U.S. SHIFT TO RENEWABLE ENERGY 22 March 2006 :: Lester R. Brown When Austin Energy, the publicly owned utility in Austin, Texas, launched its GreenChoice program in 2000, customers opting for green electricity paid a premium. During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy. [Full Story] GREEN LIGHT FOR RENEWABLE FUELS NEW TECHNOLOGY MAKES SOLAR END-USER FRIENDLY 15 December 2005 Renewable fuels have enjoyed a lot of attention in recent months, in a market driven by escalating oil costs, strained fuel stocks, worsening environmental degradation, and promises by the G8 to reduce carbon emissions. Revelations about the vulnerabilities inherent in the fossil fuel infrastructure, together with new technological advances in wind- and solar-based power generation mean renewables are now directly competitive with traditional fuel sources. [Full Story] WIND POWER SET TO BECOME WORLD'S LEADING ENERGY SOURCE Lester R. Brown :: 25 June 2003 In 1991, a national wind resource inventory taken by the U.S. Department of Energy startled the world when it reported that the three most wind-rich states —North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas— had enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs. Now a new study by a team of engineers at Stanford reports that the wind energy potential is actually substantially greater than that estimated in 1991. [Full Story]

ESTALLA LA DEMANDA POR LA ENERGÍA EÓLICA PRECIOS MÁS BAJOS QUE POR FUENTES TRADICIONALES AYUDAN A ADOPTAR LA ENERGÍA RENOVABLE 22 marzo 2006 :: Lester R. Brown Cuando Austin Energy, agencia pública de la ciudad de Austin, Texas, lanzó su campaña GreenChoice en el año 2000, el cliente que quería adoptar fuentes energéticas "verdes" tenía que pagar más. Durante el otoño, la persistente subida de los precios por el gas natural hizo que superaran los precios de la energía eólica, un momento clave para el proceso de mudar economía energética del país hacia las fuentes renovables. [Texto completo] WHY WIND IS SMARTER 21 November 2005 Wind energy offers something no carbon-based fuel can offer: zero emissions, zero cleanup, local control and reasonable local supply everywhere on Earth, and it is 100% non-climate disruptive and essentially infinitely renewable. In fact, the overall global wind resource far exceeds our capacity even to harness or to use it. As of 2003, Pentagon-commissioned research had found that just 3 wind-rich midwestern states possess sufficient wind resources to power the entire US economy with existing wind-turbine technology. [Full Story] LA ENERGÍA EÓLICA SERÁ EL PRIMER RECURSO ENÉRGICO MUNDIAL Lester R. Brown :: 25 junio 2003 En 1991, un estudio del Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos para medir los recursos eólicos nacionales sorprendió al mundo cuando demostró que los tres estados más ricos en viento —North Dakota, Kansas y Texas— poseían un recurso bastante como para satisfacer la demanda nacional para electricidad. Ahora un estudio nuevo, hecho por un equipo de ingenieros de Stanford, reporta que la energía eólica potencial supera por mucho los cálculos de 1991. [Texto completo]