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‘Fact vs. Fantasy’
-- Mike -- 02/05/2007
Columnist/pundit/blogger Andrew Sullivan offers this in response to last week's report on global warming:
Climate change is happening, it is almost certainly man-made, although some doubt persists as to quite how deep and swift the change will be. I write this not as a statement of dogma but as a statement of the best inference from the data we now have. This is not - or should not be - a right-vs-left issue. It's a fact vs fantasy issue. Right now, the fantasists are those saying we have nothing to worry about. We do.
Poor Outcome
-- Adam -- 02/05/2007
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon suggested in a speech today that the world's poor will suffer the most harm from global warming, as quoted by Reuters. "Experts say Africa is the lowest emitter of the greenhouse gases blamed for rising temperatures, but due to its poverty, under-development and geography, has the most to lose under dire predictions of wrenching change in weather patterns," the story notes. Tribal island nations face losing almost everything as the ocean laps higher on their shores. Shrinking glaciers in the Himalayas spell disaster for already marginal cotton farmers in Central Asia. Heavier, concentrated precipitation will spur greater levels of flooding and mudslides in developing regions of Asia and Latin America. These human impacts, in additional to the problem of climate refugees I noted a few days ago, mean that global warming is also a humanitarian issue that the world must grapple with morally.
Sen. Brownback a Proponent of Carbon Sequestration
-- John -- 02/02/2007
Pulling a nondescript handkerchief from his coat pocket at a luncheon today in Columbia, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) had an interesting observation to make: “This piece of cloth is half cotton and half corn.” The Senator even boasts a rug made of corn. And in getting America energy independent, one of his “big, America-sized goals,” Brownback offered a number of proposals during his speech, including promoting ethanol fuel, hybrid-electric motor fleets and carbon sequestration.
Meeting with Conservation Voters of South Carolina members after his speech, Senator Brownback pointed out that in 2001 he sponsored the Carbon Conservation Incentive Act, which would give tax credits to landowners who devote a portion of their land for carbon sequestration. In 2000 the Senator traveled to Brazil to view how carbon sequestration projects pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it in trees and soil. Such projects not only take carbon dioxide out of the air, they provide farmers and landowners an incentive not to put all of their arable land into agriculture. Having grown up on a farm, and representing a big agriculture state like Kansas, Senator Brownback says he sees one part of the solution to global climate change coming from America’s family farmers.
It also Presents an Opportunity
-- Mike -- 02/02/2007
The big news out today is the release of a "landmark report" saying there is little doubt that global warming is caused by human activity. I'll let others speak to the science behind this report, but as I was reading the piece on it by the Associated Press, I noticed a key aspect of this issue that was not mentioned: opportunity.
Solving global warming certainly presents challenges, but it also offers unparalleled opportunities as well. Addressing global warming means ushering in a new era of energy production and use - one that relies heavily on clean, renewable sources of energy. Not only will this new energy future protect the planet, but it will also enhance our national security by reducing our dependence on oil and strengthen our economy by creating jobs related to these new energy industries.
It can be easy to feel a sense of helplessness or despair when faced with tackling an issue as grand as global warming. But the truth is we should embrace this challenge and see it for what it truly is - and opportunity for bold leadership, worldwide cooperation and genuine hope.
International Climate Experts Release Report on Global Warming
-- Katie -- 02/02/2007
Once again, the again the world's leading climate experts are making it clear that the next occupant of the White House will need to tackle global warming to reclaim a hopeful and secure future.
Today, world-renowned climate experts released a major report with further evidence that global warming is definitely occurring and humans are the cause. The International Panel on Climate Change report was compiled by hundreds of peer-reviewed scientists and representatives of 113 governments.
This report is further proof that global warming is real, it's being caused by human activity, and it's not going away. From drowning polar bears to record-breaking temperatures, the evidence is undeniable. Now it's time to turn up the heat on the need to cool down our planet.
We know we have the solutions now to solve this challenge, and our next president will be the one to implement them here at home.
To learn more about the IPCC report, click here
To see one of many news articles on this, click here.
Grim note washes up in new UN report
-- Adam -- 02/02/2007
Sea levels, according to the new IPCC report, are rising significantly faster than what most scientists were expecting. Glaciers and ice caps worldwide are seeing "widespread decreases". Specifically, in Antartica and Greenland, the report notes "increased ice sheet mass loss has often followed thinning, reduction or loss of ice shelves or loss of floating glacier tongues." Also, surface water has absorbed over 80% of heat increases since 1961, meaning thermal expansion of the oceans has played a major role in the rate of sea-level rise. This is ominous news for all Americans and the rest of the world. Hopefully presidential candidates will take this update from scientists as a call to act urgently in advancing real solutions to climate change.
Warming Moves the People
-- Adam -- 02/01/2007
The present and growing problem of climate refugees was addressed in an article from AFP News this morning. Among the causes, desertification and shrinking water sources have made huge areas unsuitable for habitation, in Africa and Asia in particular. With global warming continuing to shift weather patterns, an even more massive human crisis is looming if some measures are not taken to abate more dramatic temperature increases in the near future. The story notes, "A Red Cross and Red Crescent study in 2000 said 25 million people had left their homes because of environmental stress, roughly as many as the refugees from armed conflict." It also says that these numbers may soar to 200 million people by the end of the century. This is just another way our country's global-warming policy will effect other nations if we do not act fast while we still have time. Once the U.S. gets on board with tackling global warming, we'll be able to work closely with other nations to solve the problem.
Al Gore Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
-- Katie -- 02/01/2007
This has been quite a month for Al Gore. Last week, "An Inconvenient Truth" was nominated for two Academy Awards. Today Al Gore was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. What award will he be nominated for next?!
Al Gore deserves considerable applause for his efforts to tell the story of global warming in theaters, auditoriums and living rooms across the country and around the world. He spent many lonely days in airports around the country spreading the gospel on why global warming is a problem and what we can do about it.
Thanks in no small part to Al Gore's work, the public now understands that global warming is one of the biggest challenges we'll face in the future. He also helped to elevate the issue and jumpstart the conversation in Congress on global warming solutions. It's so refreshing to see debates about action to combat global warming, rather than debating whether or not it even exists.
From evangelicals to CEO's to scientists, the debate has changed to what plan of action is needed to stop global warming pollution. And for the first time, the majority of 2008 presidential candidates are regularly talking about this important, global problem.
Now it’s personal?
-- Mike -- 02/01/2007
The Daily Mail in London is reporting that a hedgehog named Glen may be going bald due to global warming. Apparently, veterinarians believe that Glen is losing his prickles because of the stress of missing out on his winter hibernation.Alison Pearson, who runs the nearby Border Beasties hedgehog sanctuary, said:
"A lot of creatures miss out on hibernation. They don't recognise it is autumn because the weather is too warm or they hibernate and wake up after a few days of mild weather.
"We believe this little fellow missed out on his hibernation altogether and the stress of still being awake and trying to fend for himself has caused him to shed his prickles."
While the science behind global warming is solid and undeniable, I have yet to find a scientist - be it a climate change expert or hair loss expert - who is willing to speculate as to whether global warming is also the cause of my own premature balding.
A ‘leading issue’ in 2008
-- Mike -- 02/01/2007
The Everett Herald in Washington state published a must-read editorial today noting that global warming has become a top tier political issue. The piece is worth reading in its entirety, but here's the money quote:
But there is no longer doubt that addressing global warming will be a leading issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, one that every candidate will have to address prominently and in detail.
Yet further proof that the heat is on.
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