Today in Climate Change

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Here we go: the bleakest yet of authoritative declarations on how fucked up things are.

Chin up :confused: .

Climage Change "Unequivocal", Scientists Say in Paris Report

Last Updated: Friday, February 2, 2007 | 7:12 AM ET

The Associated Press

International scientists and officials hailed a report Friday saying that global warming is "very likely" caused by man, and that hotter temperatures and rises in sea level "would continue for centuries" no matter how much humans control their pollution.

The head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, called it a "very impressive document that goes several steps beyond previous research."

A top U.S. government scientist, Susan Solomon, said "there can be no question that the increase in greenhouse gases are dominated by human activities."

The 21-page summary of the panel's findings released Friday represents the most authoritative science on global warming, which the experts describe as an "unequivocal" problem. The panel comprises hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 governments.

The scientists said the changes are "very likely" caused by human activity, a phrase that translates to a more than 90 per cent certainty that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. That was the strongest conclusion to date, making it nearly impossible to say natural forces are to blame.

The report said no matter how much civilization slows or reduces its greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and sea level rise will continue for centuries.

"This is just not something you can stop. We're just going to have to live with it," co-author Kevin Trenberth, director of climate analysis for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., told the Associated Press in an interview.

"We're creating a different planet. If you were to come up back in 100 years time, we'll have a different climate."

Sharon Hays, associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, welcomed the strong language of the report.

"It's a significant report. It will be valuable to policy makers," she told the Associated Press in an interview in Paris.

Hays stopped short of saying whether or how the report could bring about change in U.S. President George W. Bush's policy about greenhouse gas emissions.

The panel predicted temperature rises of 1.8 to 4 C by the year 2100. That was a wider range than in the 2001 report.

On sea levels, the report projects rises of 17.8 centimetres to 58.4 centimetres by the end of the century. An additional 9.9 centimetres to 19.8 centimetres are possible if recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues.

Trenberth said scientists do worry that world leaders will take the message the wrong way and throw up their hands. Instead, the scientists urged leaders to reduce emissions and also adapt to a warmer world with wilder weather.

"The point here is to highlight what will happen if we don't do something and what will happen if we do something," co-author Jonathan Overpeck at the University of Arizona said. "I can tell if you will decide not to do something the impacts will be much larger than if we do something."

The panel, created by the United Nations in 1988, releases its assessments every five or six years — although scientists have been observing aspects of climate change since as far back as the 1960s.

The reports are released in phases — this is the first of four this year.

The next report is due in April and will discuss the effects of global warming. But that issue was touched upon in the current document.

[slavetothegroove]

So trying to change won't help any? We're pretty much in too far. They're saying we will have to adapt to the climate change. Is that a nice way of telling us if we can't learn to adapt then we're fucked? As long as these changes happen somewhat slowly in a drawn out period, I have a bit more faith we'll be okay. If the proccess speeds up, I think plants, animal species, insects will be too confused.

My two cents

Steph..

Edited February 2, 2007 by Guest

[ollie]

"very likely" = "unequivocal"

The way I see it we're not killing the planet, the planet is killing us. And given the low disregard many of y'all have for the human race, what's the problem exactly?

[shainhouse]

This article bothers me. I am angered by how it says 'let's adapt to us fucking things up' instead of 'let's make some necessary changes now to try and curb or at least loosen the affects.' Plus, it is written to make people think that the apocalypse is forthcoming, and we're screwed regardless. Wow, this is not going to educate the people who need to know more...

[Davey Boy 2.0]

I see it as an effort to combat these idiots who are still in denial, the michael crichtons of the world

[allison]

I agree that the article itself is badly written-irregardless of what the actual report said. I am assuming that the report underlines that irreversible harm has been done to the planet that will have repercussions we can no longer mitigate and will thus have to adapt to ,but that serious measures must be taken to slow or halt an escalation of those repercussions if "adapting" is even to be an option.In which case its not a throw your hands up in the air "we can do nothing" nor a "we can turn back the clock",neither of which is true.

[sam stone]

"The way I see it we're not killing the planet, the planet is killing us."

that makes me think.

It seems the 'enviromental movement' at its root, is not so much about protecting the environment as it is about protecting the current version of the environment which is condusive to the survival of Mankind and our modern culture. No matter what we do to the earth, the earth will live on...we could drop 1000 nuclear bombs and wipe out everything, but in 10,000 years, or 100,000 years (a blink of an eye in terms of the lifespan of the planet) - the world will team with life again....

so maybe we should be calling environmentalists, humanists. For me, thinking of it in these terms brings better perspective to why we should be fighting to prolong the lifespan of our species.

[timouse]

i don't know who said it, but i heard a quote to the effect of "climate change is like the earth running a fever to rid itself of an infection."

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY....

[YearsAlongTheSea]

knock, knock...

who's there?

oh look: the apocalypse...