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NEW IPCC REPORT PLOTS WAY TO REVERSE CLIMATE CHANGE UN BODY SAYS MAJOR EFFORT TO MOVE ENERGY USE TO NON-GREENHOUSE-PRODUCING FUELS CAN REDUCE MAJOR EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE 30 April 2007 Two major reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year made front-page headlines across the world, warning of dire consequences of global climate change. Now, the new report, due to be released this week, plots a course to combat and reverse the climate phenomenon. The 'greenhouse effect', whereby gases like carbon dioxide (produced mainly from burning carbon-based compounds, like coal or petroleum) accumulate in the atmosphere, blocking heat that would otherwise escape the atmosphere, and causing a positive feedback effect, where more heat means more heat still and the surface temperatures rise globally. The report, due to be released at a major climate summit in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, will be the 3rd major global status report from the IPCC this year. Together, the 3 reports will establish the scientific consensus on which to base negotiations for a new global climate change mitigation treaty, to replace the Kyoto Protocol, seen as too soft and incomplete. The moment is considered to be critical for curbing potentially disastrous effects of inaction. The Houston Chronicle reports on the IPCC summit in the following language: "Delegates at a major climate meeting debated Monday how to rein in rising greenhouse gas emissions that could threaten hundreds of millions with hunger and disease in the coming decades." The new report, according to the Guardian newspaper's first glimpse of a draft copy, will declare "It is technically and economically feasible to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere ... provided that incentives are in place to further develop and implement a range of mitigation technologies." The final report will be a product of redaction and negotiation among scientists and government officials from the member states of the IPCC. During the weeklong conference in Thailand, serious pressure will be placed upon all to avoid scenes such as those from Brussels earlier this year, when several scientists walked out of the process in protest against political interference from government officials. The report's message as such is vital, as it demonstrates the strain of thinking that shows hope for constructing a sustainable method for avoiding the serious ill effects of global climate change, while establishing new industries that will create prosperity as the world takes on the economically challenging work of reaching that goal. [s]
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