Dane County and the State of Wisconsin officials are among the many governmental officials not taking global warming seriously enough. If they did, they would not even be considering projects like the expansion of the West Beltline in Madison, a four lane highway around the east side of Madison and a Verona Road Freeway. ------------------------------------------ Most government officials today now say they take the problem of climate change seriously. Yet their action reflect neither the enormity of the threat nor the scale -- much less the urgency -- of what is required to minimize that threat. Articles from recent news publications follow. As scientists are sounding the alarms on the status of global warming, Government in the U.S., at all levels, continues to snooze.
Mike Neuman http://www.madison.com/communities/preserveourclimate ----------------------- All the top U.S. scientists are saying the same thing now. Immediate action must be taken now to offset impact of global warming. From a news release, June 24, 2004: "Climate Experts Urge Immediate Action to Offset Imp act of Global Warming", by the American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS]: . Governments and consumers in the United States and worldwide should take immediate steps to reduce the threat of global warming and to prepare for a future in which coastal flooding, reduced crop yields and elevated rates of climate-related illness are all but certain, top U.S. scientists said Tuesday. At a meeting organized by AAAS and its journal, Science, the climate researchers argued that while some policy experts and sectors of the public dispute the risk, there is in fact no cause for doubt: The world is significantly warmer today than it was a century ago--and it's getting warmer. Without action now, they warned, the impact could be devastating. As the Earth warms, ice sheets are melting and sea levels are rising--island and river-delta communities already are vanishing beneath the waves. Native Inuit fishermen are falling through thinning Arctic ice they've traversed many times before. In recent decades, climate change claimed some 150,000 lives in 2000 and sickened many others, especially elderly people and very young children, according to the World Health Organization. One of the conference experts, Harvard geochemistry Professor Daniel Schrag, likened the situation to the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. "So if you're standing at the back of the Titanic, you're thinking, 'Oh, I'm going up, we can't be sinking'." "We are performing an experiment at a planetary scale that hasn't been done for millions of years," Schrag said. "This should not be a partisan issue," he added. "We cannot wait for a catastrophe to appear before we act because by then it would be too late. The next few decades will determine our path for the next century." http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/0616climate.shtml Presentations by scientists in pdf (AAAS website): http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/0603climate2.shtml ---------------------- June 27, 2004 Forecast for New York This Century: Hotter and Wetter By ANTHONY DePALMA It will not happen the day after tomorrow. Nor a decade from now. But well before this century ends, global warming will make New York City and the metropolitan area that surrounds it a hotter, wetter and significantly less healthy place to live and work, according to a federally financed study released on Friday by a group of scientists at Columbia University. The three-year study by the New York Climate and Health Project is the most detailed look ever at the effects of global warming on New York. It makes no doomsday predictions, but it paints a worrisome portrait of New York's vulnerability to global climate change. As global temperatures rise by 2.4 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, a densely developed area like New York City will be hit even harder, the scientists said, because it has so few trees and so much heat-retaining concrete and asphalt. Higher temperatures intensify the creation of ozone, worsening air pollution and making the city unhealthier for the elderly and other vulnerable groups, including children in poor neighborhoods that now have some of the highest rates of asthma in the country. According to the study, heat-related deaths, which averaged about 840 a year in the region through the 1990's, could more than double by the 2050's and increase by 258 percent by the 2080's if higher temperatures are accompanied by unchecked development. The study showed that four of New York's five boroughs - Staten Island was not included - would endure the sharpest increase in deaths related to the heat, while in the less developed parts of the 31-county metropolitan region the rise would be less severe. For the three-year study project, scientists, doctors and environmental specialists from Columbia and other universities joined in an unusual collaboration, sharing information and insights to assess global warming's effects on public health. While previous studies looked at areas no smaller than the entire northeastern United States, this one covered areas as small as 2.5 square miles. As work on the project continues, projections could eventually be made for single neighborhoods; this would create important policy implications. "Climate change is not going to impact all communities equally," said Cecil Corbin-Mark, program director of West Harlem Environmental Action. He said the study should help city officials realize that crucial decisions on land use and policy, even some as simple as deciding how many air-conditioned "cooling centers" the city needs on heat emergency days, "cannot wait to be made." The coming environmental changes will be caused not just by global warming but also by increased urbanization. "If we're not careful, we'll have our own global warming situation right here, just because of the way we're building things," said Dr. Barry H. Lynn, a meteorologist at Columbia University and the NASA-Goddard Institute for Space Studies who worked on the study. Temperatures in the city will be driven up 2 to 3 percent over the next 50 years by continued development in New York, he said, unless developments are designed in a way that reduces their environmental effects. Measures like rooftop gardens and rain collection systems are already being included in the designs for some new buildings in New York. Dr. Lynn said that such initiatives help, but that officials will have to change building codes and offer more incentives if they are to have a real impact on the city's climate and public health. Besides the direct effect of the higher temperatures, the study outlines many secondary or related results of climate change. For instance, devastating floods that now are expected to occur once a century could hit the area every 40 years. Melting ice would raise the oceans and rivers, driving insects and vermin, along with the diseases they carry, from the water's edge into the city. Molds, allergens and water-borne illnesses would spread rapidly. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/nyregion/27study.html?ei=5062&en=fd70c9 dbc37eeedb&ex=1088913600&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position= ------------- Date: Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:14 pm Subject: Large investors considering ecological risks: Study Large investors are starting to put heat on companies that fail to take account of their impact on the environment, a investors' study released recently indicates. "The financial risk of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions has swiftly become a matter of primary concern among members of the global investment community," the Carbon Disclosure Project stated. Investors "are increasingly demanding an accounting of such risk exposure from companies in which they hold shares," it said. "In turn, more global companies are acknowledging their responsibility." The international project, representing 95 institutional investors with assets totalling $10 trillion (U.S.), noted in releasing its second survey that the growth in its membership points to the seriousness of the issue. Last year's report was completed on behalf of 35 institutions managing $4 trillion (U.S.). "The investment community is showing a profound new awareness of its fiduciary responsibility relating to climate change, and sending an unmistakable message to corporations that their investors will no longer tolerate a lack of accountability about their exposures and practices," stated James Cameron, chairman of the London-based project. The report includes a list of the 50 companies whose responses best addressed climate-change issues. Two Canadian corporations made that list: the Royal Bank and Suncor Energy. It also cites companies that are "behind the curve," including Microsoft, which was said to have failed to acknowledge the need for computer operating systems to reduce electricity consumption. A dozen other major companies did not bother to reply at all to the survey, including Honeywell, Boeing, Morgan Stanley and Sears, Roebuck. "Companies ignoring their investors will invite - and warrant -particular scrutiny," Cameron warned. "More than ever, investors of all sizes are making their wishes known on this key issue and are willing to reallocate their assets if necessary." The project's members include the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Acuity Investments and CI Mutual Funds from Canada, and international investment banks Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, UBS and State Street Global Advisors. The report was released on the same day that the chairman of the British wing of the Royal Dutch/Shell global oil group was quoted as saying he sees "very little hope for the world" unless carbon dioxide emissions are reduced. Lord Oxburgh, a geologist by training, told Britain's Guardian newspaper that "no one can be comfortable at the prospect of continuing to pump out the amounts of carbon dioxide that we are at present." Canadian Press http://www.electricityforum.com/news/jun04/investeco.html --------- Wednesday, June 16 2004 Alarm Sounded on Global Warming By Juliet Eilperin Ten of the nation's top climate researchers warned yesterday that policymakers must act soon to address the dangers associated with global warming, which they described as a looming threat that will hit hardest and soonest at the world's poor and at farmers. "By mid-century, millions more poor children around the world are likely to face displacement, malnourishment, disease and even starvation unless all countries take action now to slow global warming" and sea-level rises that will follow, Michael Oppenheimer, who teaches geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, said at a conference. "Imagine the difficulties faced by families in Bangladesh. An area where about 8 million people now live would be underwater if global sea level were to rise half a meter. Where are they going to go?" The day-long conference, organized by Donald Kennedy, editor of Science magazine, and Albert Teich, director of science and policy for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was aimed at convincing the public and politicians that there is ample evidence that the buildup of carbon dioxide is transforming ecosystems worldwide. Bush administration officials have consistently sparred with environmentalists on how hard it should crack down on carbon dioxide emissions and other heat-trapping industrial and tailpipe gases. In 2001, Bush opted out of the Kyoto agreement on global warming, which would have forced the United States to impose stricter limits on greenhouse gases, on grounds that it would cost American jobs and exempt developing countries from the new standards. Kennedy called climate change "the most serious issue" we face and said the scientific community must "make a clear expression" on the subject. The academics emphasized that if international leaders do not act soon, they will not have the option of reversing global warming. David S. Battisti, who teaches at the University of Washington, said it is "a huge risk" not to curb greenhouse gases. "You have to start doing things now," he said. "To undo it or stop it is not possible." Researchers, including Chris Field of the Carnegie Institution, said scientists have begun to detect evidence that various species are having to adjust to global warming. Hundreds of species have moved to cooler regions, Field said, and agricultural yields are declining. "We're seeing the least-competitive species in the ecosystem being winnowed out," he said. "If pushed hard enough, this sensitivity is going to blossom into profound problems." Bob Hopkins, spokesman for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the administration has taken steps, including devoting $4 billion to climate change science and technology programs. The Commerce Department is also speeding up deployment of technology to measure atmospheric aerosols and carbon. "The administration takes this issue very seriously and the president has laid out an aggressive plan to address climate change," he said. http://www.washingtonpost.com ------------------------ Experts Link Asthma to Global Warming Mon 21 Jun 2004 By John Innes Global warming could lead to more people in Britain suffering the misery of asthma, new research suggests today. A major study of almost 670,000 children has found a clear link between indoor humidity and asthma rates in western Europe. Every 10 per cent increase in indoor humidity was associated with a 2.7 per cent increase in the prevalence of asthma symptoms, the researchers found. House dust mites, which trigger asthma attacks, thrive in moist air, and humidity encourages mould which can irritate the airways. The study also found that places where average outdoor humidity dropped below 50 per cent for at least one month a year had lower rates of asthma. Warmer temperatures caused by climate change are expected to drive up humidity levels, especially in cities. Experts believe summers in the city will get stickier because of the "urban heat island" effect caused by asphalt and concrete trapping heat at night. The impact of climate change was acknowledged by the authors of the asthma study, led by Dr Stephen Weiland from the University of Ulm in Germany. Writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, they said the evidence showed that climate can affect rates of asthma and eczema in children. The researchers added: "This may also have implications for the assessment of potential health effects due to climate change." The scientists found that temperature, altitude, humidity and latitude all influenced the prevalence of asthma and eczema. Information was collected between 1992 and 1996 from children aged six to seven, and 12 to 13, from more than 50 countries. The research formed part of a major worldwide investigation, called the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). When the data was analysed, it showed the strong link between indoor humidity and asthma rates for both age groups. The trend emerged in western Europe, where the study focused on 57 centres in 12 countries. Increasing latitude was associated with higher rates of eczema, and higher outdoor temperatures with lower rates. An association has been seen before between thunderstorms and higher numbers of hospital admissions due to asthma, but little is known about the effect of long-term climatic conditions on the disease. Londoners can expect many more sweaty nights in years to come, as a result of rising levels of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, New Scientist magazine reported last week. In the past 30 years, there have been only 20 nights when the minimum temperature in London failed to fall below 20C. Doubling carbon-dioxide levels could quadruple that figure, but adding the urban heat island effect could see it soar by a factor of six - an extra three nights a year at least. Richard Betts, from the Met Office�s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction in Exeter, said: "This could have quite significant effects on human health." Last year�s heatwave in Europe is estimated to have caused at least 20,000 deaths. Source: news.scotsman.com ------------- Namibia seen as vulnerable to long-term climate change Tuesday, June 8, 2004 - Web posted at 9:32:18 GMT LINDSAY DENTLINGER Climate change aside, Namibia is expected to face an absolute water scarcity by 2020. Ranked among countries that are likely to be the most vulnerable to climate change in the coming years, the water sector will be the hardest hit. The greatest impact is likely to be in the central areas. "Even in the case of a moderate increase in evaporation of 15 per cent and no change in rainfall, the additional stress on the water sector due to climate change would be severe," says Namibia's report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change launched by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism yesterday. Investigations have shown that the sea level is expected to rise by as much as a metre by 2100, and will inundate significant parts of Walvis Bay. Swakopmund and Henties Bay will also suffer from the changes, but to a lesser degree. Minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to between two and six degrees Celsius higher in the next 96 years. While there is still considerable uncertainty about what will happen to rainfall patterns, the report says that even if rainfall decreased by 30 per cent and coincided with an increase in evaporation of the same amount, as projected by some, "the impact on the water sector and human development in Namibia would be extreme". Predictions of a change in rainfall patterns range from a minimal increase of 30 mm a year to severe decreases of 200 mm below the current annual average. Climate change refers to any change in the earth's climate system that departs significantly from average weather conditions that occurred in the past few hundred years. The changes may be due to natural variation; human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels; and the conversion of natural areas to farms and urban areas. As a signatory to the convention since 1995, Namibia is required to document its situation regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the anticipated impact of climate change. The aim of the convention is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will minimise interference with the climate system. The report, that also outlines Namibia's mitigating actions and what it needs to respond to the effects of climate change, paints a bleak future for the productivity of the country's agricultural and marine fisheries as a result. In the long run, climate change could also have a dramatic effect on household food security. "In the extreme, climate change could lead to social disruptions and displacement amongst rural communities," notes the report. Fisheries could be affected by possible changes to the Benguela Current. This warming trend may have already contributed to the decline in fish stocks in recent years and could have a significant economic impact on Namibia in future. The health of Namibians will also not escape the effects of climate change and an increase in malaria, under-nutrition, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections are forecast. "Projected changes in climate could extend the area at risk from malaria southwards into the centre of the country, a trend that is already apparent," says the report. While Namibia contributes very little to the world's greenhouse gas emissions, not enough is known about the extent and rate of bush encroachment and the consequent magnitude of carbon dioxide uptake. The transport sector produces about half of Namibia's total carbon dioxide emissions and the current figure is expected to triple by 2100. The digestive systems of cattle and sheep contribute 98 per cent of the methane emissions - a primary greenhouse gas. Emissions of nitrous oxide are small and come mainly from savannah grass fires. http://www.namibian.com.na/2004/June/national/04476639D0.html ---- THE WORLD IS IN CRISIS DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING! 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