Billions face climate change risk The impact of climate change has been a major source of dispute Billions of people face shortages of food and water and increased risk of flooding, experts at a major climate change conference have warned. The bleak conclusion came ahead of the publication of a ...
04-09-2007, 05:15 PM
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| no es mi culpa  Independent Beantown 
| Billions face climate change risk Billions face climate change risk  The impact of climate change has been a major source of dispute Billions of people face shortages of food and water and increased risk of flooding, experts at a major climate change conference have warned. The bleak conclusion came ahead of the publication of a key report by hundreds of international environmental experts. Agreement on the final wording of the report was reached after a marathon debate through the night in Brussels. People living in poverty would be worst affected by the effects of climate change, the gathered experts said. "It's the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit," said Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Mr Pachauri said those people were also the least equipped to deal with the effects of such changes. Key findings READ THE IPCC FINDINGS Climate Change 2007: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability [547KB]  Analysis: Stark picture Map: Climate change impact Outlining the report's findings, Martin Parry, co-chairman of IPCC Working Group II, said evidence showed climate change was having a direct effect on animals, plants and water. "For the first time, we are no longer arm-waving with models; this is empirical data, we can actually measure it," he told a news conference. Key findings of the report include:
The scientific work reviewed by IPCC scientists includes more than 29,000 pieces of data on observed changes in physical and biological aspects of the natural world. Eighty-nine percent of these, it believes, are consistent with a warming world. Year of reports Scientists and politicians have welcomed the report. "This further underlines both how urgent it is to reach global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and how important it is for us all to adapt to the climate change that is already under way," European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told the Reuters news agency.   Farewell to a melting glacier Briny future for Malta "This is another wake up call for governments, industry and individuals. We now have a clearer indication of the potential impact of global warming, some of which is already inevitable," said Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society. "The challenge is now to support those people living in the most vulnerable areas so that they are able to adapt and improve their ways of life." The wording of the summary of the report, which will be sent to world leaders in time for a G8 summit of industrialised nations in June, was finally decided after scientists and government officials from more than 100 countries worked through the night. Several delegations, including the US, Saudi Arabia, China and India, had asked for the final version to reflect less certainty than the draft. It is the second in a series of IPCC reports coming out this year, together making up its fourth global climate assessment. The first element, on the science of climate change, released in February, concluded it was at least 90% likely that human activities are principally responsible for the warming observed since 1950. The third part, due in May, will focus on ways of curbing the rise in greenhouse gas concentrations and temperature. A fourth report in November will sum up all the findings.
__________________ There is small disproportion betwixt a fool who useth not wit because he hath it not and him that useth it not when it should avail him. | ||||
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04-09-2007, 05:17 PM
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| Mission Accomplished NOT!  Independent MN
| and what are your views in regards to this article? | ||||
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04-09-2007, 05:35 PM
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| no es mi culpa Independent Beantown
| considering all the opposing global warming threads on here, I thought it would be interesting to post yet another article... I wrote to ballz in his thread about this one.... | ||||
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04-09-2007, 06:04 PM
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| Banned  Conservative Government is another way to say Better Than You
| Originally Posted by Linzyhop But as the article I posted stated, what makes everyone thing only negative things can happen from climate change? What if a warmer earth is indeed BETTER for us? 
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04-09-2007, 07:53 PM
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| Pinko Commie Bastard  Communist Moscow
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz it would undoubtedly have some positive effects for some people
it would also undoubtedly have some negative effects for some people by looking at where the biggest populations live, and where warming will likely have negative effects, it's probable that warming will have more negatives associated with it than positives - unless of course people migrate to higher latitudes and move away from the tropics 
__________________ Perhaps the sentiments contained in the preceding post, are not yet sufficiently favorable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason. - slightly modified from Common Sense, Thomas Paine, 1776 I am Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas... I am the champion of the Constitution.  | ||||
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04-10-2007, 08:48 AM
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| no es mi culpa Independent Beantown
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz dinosaurs???
RAAAARRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr | ||||
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04-10-2007, 09:05 AM
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| Banned Conservative Government is another way to say Better Than You
| Originally Posted by thomez There is absolutely nothing scientific about this statement.
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04-10-2007, 09:40 AM
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| no es mi culpa Independent Beantown
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz ballz, can you give examples of how a warmer earth could be better for us? not trying to be an instigator, I just really don't know enough about this to say one way or the other....
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04-10-2007, 09:53 AM
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| Banned Conservative Government is another way to say Better Than You
| Originally Posted by Linzyhop Obviously the weather patterns would change. What if the Sahara Desert became fertile farmland? You wouldn't have to worry about world hunger ever again.
That's just one example of what positive thing COULD happen. I have no doubt if you really tried you could think of hundreds more. | ||||
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04-10-2007, 10:01 AM
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| no es mi culpa Independent Beantown
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz but wouldn't the largest desert on the earth changing to fertile farmland have negative impacts on the climate as well?
are there any geologists on the board? any changes to climate would have negative as well as positive impact on the environment. New species could form, others could go extinct. I suppose it would due to how far positive or negative the changes go. | ||||
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04-10-2007, 10:07 AM
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| Banned Conservative Government is another way to say Better Than You
| Originally Posted by Linzyhop Why does everything have to have a negative impact? Nobody can answer these things, because nobody knows. But it doesn't automatically mean you have to assume the worst. As Lindzen has said, just because we are comfortable as things are now (we have obviously adapted to what life is like) doesn't mean it's the 'best' the earth has been. Things can possibly be better, than can possibly be worse. Don't assume change is always bad.
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04-10-2007, 10:30 AM
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| no es mi culpa Independent Beantown
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz I'm not saying change is bad. change can be very good, but for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
change can be good, but cause also be bad. depending if there's more good than bad or more bad than good is really what I'm saying. | ||||
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04-10-2007, 10:35 AM
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| Banned Conservative Government is another way to say Better Than You
| Originally Posted by Linzyhop Either way, we adapt, just as we have for centuries.
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04-10-2007, 10:37 AM
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| no es mi culpa Independent Beantown
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz correct. or we go extinct.
I think that's what the major concern is. how much we're going to have to adapt and what's going to go extinct. | ||||
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04-10-2007, 10:41 AM
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| helluo librorum The Lab Moderator  Humanist Chicago Suburbs
| Originally Posted by Linzyhop And how fast we may have forced changes in our environment.
Adaptation takes time. If we force something to happen in 100 years that is supposed to take thousands, we are not going to adapt. | ||||
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04-10-2007, 10:54 AM
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| Deuteronomy 32:41  Paleolibertarian USA
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz
The Bible says indirectly that the entire planet was a tropical paradise. I even heard on the news this morning that if you plant trees in cold, snowy areas, you could cause global warming. That's right! It's because the snow and ice reflected the sun's energy back to space, while flora would absorb the energy. So all y'all way up north- plant trees so it warms up the planet! Soon we'll all be living in a pre-flood tropical paradise!
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04-10-2007, 10:57 AM
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| Banned Conservative Government is another way to say Better Than You
| Originally Posted by Linzyhop Dude, we're not going to go extinct with a .6 degree temperature change.
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04-10-2007, 10:59 AM
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| no es mi culpa Independent Beantown
| Originally Posted by ballz2wallz i'm talking about on a global scale here. not in our lifetime, probably not in our grandchildren's lifetime, but global changes have directly or indirectly cause the extinction of plenty of species. If they can't adapt, they go extinct. what's wrong with that logic?
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04-10-2007, 11:25 AM
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| helluo librorum The Lab Moderator Humanist Chicago Suburbs
| Originally Posted by AVengeance Yes, let's base the science of our environment on a fairy tale written by multiple people over the past couple thousand years.
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04-10-2007, 11:43 AM
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| no es mi culpa |
