January 2007 - The Latest on Global Warming

by Robert Willkinson

At my old political blog I covered a lot of stories on different aspects of global warming as it's gotten worse year by year, since it's the major issue facing our world. In this USA Today story, we are told "Human-caused global warming is here, visible in the air, water and melting ice, and is destined to get much worse in the future, an authoritative global scientific report will warn next week." As one Canadian climate scientist put it, ""This isn't a smoking gun; climate is a batallion of intergalactic smoking missiles." Some primary points of the article follow, but please go to the news story to get the full picture.

From the story:

"...The first phase of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change... written by more than 600 scientists and reviewed by another 600 experts... will feature an "explosion of new data" on observations of current global warming... the 12-page summary for policymakers will be edited in secret word-by-word by governments officials for several days next week and released to the public on Feb. 2... The full report will be issued in four phases over the year, as was the case with the last IPCC report, issued in 2001.

"Look for an "iconic statement" — a simple but strong and unequivocal summary — on how global warming is now occurring, said one of the authors, Kevin Trenberth, director of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research... the early draft adds: "An increasing body of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on other aspects of climate including sea ice, heat waves and other extremes, circulation, storm tracks and precipitation...." Some recent scientific studies show that temperatures are the hottest in thousands of years, especially during the last 30 years; ice sheets in Greenland in the past couple years have shown a dramatic melting; and sea levels are rising and doing so at a faster rate in the past decade.

Also, the second part of the international climate panel's report — to be released in April — will for the first time feature a blockbuster chapter on how global warming is already changing health, species, engineering and food production, said NASA scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig, author of that chapter.

Not to be needlessly obvious, but this report offers one more confirmation that there are changes coming like few we've ever imagined before. It's definitely time to think in the future, and begin to prepare in the NOW, for what's coming down the road.

Comments

[jeanette]

hi robert, this is the most important issue of our time and to me its so obvious you can see and feel the dramatic changes here in australia we are in the worst drought in history and are running out of water while also experiencing the worst bushfire season in 40 years....'the inconvenient truth' should be compulsory to all humans on the planet as a must see....while very few of us have a conscience the majority of people will have to be forced to make changes to their selfish materialist lifestyles....city dwellers the worst offenders.....and i am ashamed to be an australian with a prime minister like john howard not even signing kyoto!!!!i suppose it will take more natural disasters like the asian tsunami to wake people up...and when is something going to stop the war in iraq just another pollution contributor like all wars....we all need to opens our eyes and get off our butts....i feel guilty using this technology as it is just another electical device adding to the problem.... i had better go and stop contributing to co2 emissions....maybe some comet will knock out the satellites that allow us to use them....love to hear more on this could not access the article on usa today....????jeanette

[Robert]

Hi jeanette - It's a global problem that requires a global solution, and will eventually destroy the illusion that we can separately do our own national thing without it impacting EVERYONE on Earth. Australia's problems sound like California's! I would suggest that you cease beating yourself up for using the technology of the times, and instead keep educating yourself and others about alternative ways to live and simple efficient ways to decrease your use of fuels. I walk more, combine trips to the stores, and think before I jump in the car. I try to use less gas to heat the place, and wear an extra layer of clothes. And due to the inevitable disruptions in the oil supplies not that far down the road, I suspect the powers that be are already working on spreading out the energy supply to other sources that their political cronies are trying to monopolize, though they cannot succeed in that sort of obsolete control in the long run, since the "Age of Empire" is over historically.

[unukalhai]

Global warming is certainly a major concern, especially as Pluto enters Capricorn, the cardinal earth sign, it will receive much more attention and possibly be even more of a concern

[Robert]

Hi unukalhai - I suspect it's already on the way to becoming a major issue from now on, due to Jupiter and Saturn putting a fiery focus on Pluto in Sag, which is about the span that the mess has gotten so much worse than we ever could imagine way back in "the ignorant bliss" of Pluto in Scorpio ;-)

[sue]

Hi Robert,

The report you mention is also written up in The Age Newspaper from Melbourne Australia. It gets front page billing and the headline reads:
SCIENTISTS IN UNISON; WE'RE RUINING THE EARTH

Although most of the news is dire at least scientists are finally speaking out and making unequivocal statements about global warming and how human activity is causing massive environmental damage. Finally! At last! Scientists are held in such high regard by most people perhaps they can collectively work to change attitudes and government policy on a global scale.

Let's hope that the report which be released by the UN on Feb 2 will make those in power globally stop and re-think their position and instigate effective changes - hopefully without an increase in nuclear power!

[Robert]

Hi sue - I'm glad they finally shook off the chains of the gang of thugs running the governments and made this collective statement. Governments will only change when the people AND the businesses get together and agree, since little is done in our present world unless business signs off on it. As for nukes, well, almost everyone on Earth agrees nukes are bad for business, bad for plants, animals, children, and generally bad for life on Earth. Besides, nuclear energy was an invention of the Nazis, so how could it ever be good for anything?