Climate Change [Archive] - Page 4

jayreynolds

12-01-2005, 05:02 AM

Raynolds is outlining a rhetoric that he could deploy much more successfully than chemmie-chasing as a means for achieving notoriety and a following. EVERYWHERE rising energy costs are providing ready-made ground for demagogic politicians to beat their breasts about the various phonies and charlatans whose rackets are causing 'we the people' to have to pay much more for gasoline/electricity/natural gas etc. than we should have to.

And still he stays here trying to nail a handful of 'chemmies'. What a loser.
Wayne, my tale really had nothing to do with energy costs, but had everything to do with the difference between what has been measured and what has been estimated or calculated via an imperfect model.

In the literature cited by BC, the authors reached their conclusions by estimation and modeling on computers, as did the power company in my story. They even admit,
"Though researchers have known of this North American carbon sink for the better part of the 20th century, they do not understand precisely what is causing the sink or why the amount of carbon absorbed seems to increase over the years.", and go on to express interest in the fact that more rain means plants grow faster! Duh?

In the testimony before the Senate which I posted, NOAA made measurements of CO2 and found that air that had passed over and was leaving the North American continent headed eastward had lowered carbon dioxide levels.

The only way that could occur is if all CO2 emissions, plus some more, were being absorbed by the North American continent.

I hope that clears things up.

halva

12-01-2005, 06:22 AM

Raynolds whatever point you are making about estimation vs calculation the fact is that you are playing to the emotion of outrage at high utility bills and my point was that a more promising career might be open to you if you concentrated your energies playing demagogic politics on that subject rather than spending so much time trying to prove to chemmies that black is white and prove to other people that chemmies think white is black.

jayreynolds

12-01-2005, 07:29 AM

Estimation vs calculation?
You've missed the point completely!
The issue is estimation vs measurement!!!

Wayne, for someone who lives in Greece, you have a very poor understanding of empiricism.
Perhaps you had been sent out into the hall for misbehavior when Aristotle was discussed?

Sincerely, my parable was only intended to show that, when confronted by a monetary loss due to a flawed estimation of a cost, a reasonable person would demand that an actual measurement be taken. I could have used as an example Wayne Hall at a market in Aigina asking the vendor to weigh the olives instead of estimating a quantity he claims to be a kilo.

The bottom line, measurements trump all estimates and models.

To measure is to know.

halva

12-01-2005, 08:04 AM

You are as usual misrepresenting what is involved by leaving out the innuendo of your posting, which as I said is designed to make a particular effect on a particular audience. My point was that if you want to make a name for yourself you should become a full-time demagogue for that audience, not waste your time in obscure quibbling that the masses do not understand, and if they did understand, would not support you.

jayreynolds

12-01-2005, 08:34 AM

whitemajikman

12-02-2005, 11:27 AM

NOAA made measurements of CO2 and found that air that had passed over and was leaving the North American continent headed eastward had lowered carbon dioxide levels.

The only way that could occur is if all localized CO2 emissions, plus some more, were being absorbed by the North American continent.

QED

The Great North American Carbon Sink -- Maybe

"Aha! We knew it!" a number of conservative columnists have been crowing lately. "Greenhouse, schmeenhouse, go right on driving those sports utility vehicles."

The cause of their excitement is an article published in Science magazine, one of the most prestigious places a scientific article can be published, claiming that the North American continent is a huge carbon sink. The authors found, essentially, that the carbon dioxide content of air blowing onto our west coast is higher than that of air blowing out to sea from our east coast. (Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas.)

Somehow, the authors conclude, in crossing the continent, the prevailing westerlies must run across massive carbon dioxide absorbers, perhaps growing forests. Those forests, or whatever, must take even up more carbon dioxide than the enormous amount we put out as we burn coal, oil, and gas. (North America accounts for twenty-five percent of the world's fossil fuel consumption with just six percent of the world's people). Therefore, say the columnists, not the scientists, we are not causing any greenhouse warming and needn't be bothered with the Kyoto climate treaty.

"I don't believe that article," said a visiting forest scientist at a Dartmouth seminar this week. "I don't know anyone who believes it."

So goes science, back and forth, up and down, maybe, maybe not, that's an interesting finding but let's see if we can repeat the experiment, let's see if there are other explanations, let's put it in the perspective of all these other findings.

And so goes column-writing, a handmaiden of politics, which likes to seize any shred of evidence to support what one already thought and hit everyone over the head with it.

A difficult combination, science and politics. Especially in a democratic society where the public is charged with figuring out what to believe.

Take the dioxin muddle, for example. This chemical (set of chemicals, actually) is a common contaminant in some herbicides, in wastewater from paper-making, in the stack gas of garbage incinerators. Science found it to be poisonous early on; environmentalists hyped it into "one of the most toxic chemicals known to humankind." Then the chlorine industry did some studies that found it to be not so immediately toxic after all, and the conservative columnists proclaimed it harmless.

Along came new science about chemicals that act like hormones and disrupt the development of embryos. They're called endocrine disrupters. Dioxin proves to be one of the most powerful. Excruciatingly tiny amounts seem to distort all sorts of developing critters: birds, fish, reptiles, mammals, people too.

Now both the pro- and anti-dioxin crowds have evidence they can blow out of proportion. So is dioxin safe? Science is still figuring it out. In the meantime, how much risk do we want to run with developing critters?

Another study on endocrine disrupters, from a respected lab, seemed to confirmed something environmentalists had suspected for a long time. Several different chemicals apparently acted together to create thousands of times more disruption than any one of them alone.

That result hit the press hard, one set of true believers trumpeting it, the other set studiously ignoring it.

Meanwhile other labs tried to duplicate the study and couldn't. Soon the original researchers published a retraction; they couldn't repeat the results either. That happens sometimes. These are delicate processes. There could have been a contaminant in the solutions or even in the plastic labware. Exactly that problem has messed up endocrine disruption studies before. The researchers would be considered dishonorable only for failing to publish a retraction, not for publishing one. That's science.

What's politics is to write nyah-nyah columns saying, see there? All those fears about exposure to multiple chemicals are groundless. Such columns were, of course, written.

Failure to disprove is not proof. It only means that a particular test showed no effect. In this case the test was in a lab using cultured cells, not in a developing embryo. Both theories -- chemicals acting together can add up to worse effects than they do separately, or they cannot -- are still alive.

A similar story caused havoc in England last fall. A scientist, again a respectable one from a good lab, found that rats fed genetically engineered potatoes had suppressed immune systems and stunted growth, compared to rats fed ordinary potatoes or even rats fed ordinary potatoes spiked with the specific protein whose code had been spliced into the transgenic potatoes.

That last bit looks scientifically suspicious. So does the fact that the researcher announced his results on TV instead of in a scientific journal. He was fired and forbidden to talk to the press. He sent his data to other scientists, 21 of whom have defended him and asked that he be reinstated. Foes of genetic engineering are demanding to know why his study was suppressed.

So are gene-spliced potatoes dangerous to eat? No one really knows, My scientific instinct says no. Science will slowly find out. In the meantime I'm not inclined to eat them.

Is there a great North American carbon sink? No one really knows. My scientific instinct says no. Science will slowly find out. In the meantime I see no reason to risk the climate of the planet just to drive around in oversized vehicles.

http://www.pcdf.org/meadows/carbonsink.html

WMM

foot_soldier

12-02-2005, 12:44 PM

December 2, 2005

US stand poses hurdle at environmental talks
Delegates have adopted rules for limiting greenhouse gases, making the Kyoto Protocol fully operational.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1202/p04s01-wogi.html

MONTREAL - In the halls of the Palais de Congres, where international talks are under way on next steps to combat global warming, all eyes are turning to the challenge of bringing developing countries on board.

Many of these nations have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but as yet have no obligations to reduce emissions under the pact, which targets rich countries through 2012.

Delegates hope to lure developing nations with emissions-control ideas that are flexible and acknowledge their need for economic development.

But a key hurdle may be emerging. The United States is refusing to take part in discussions that could be seen as prodding Washington toward mandatory targets and timetables. The battleground: the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change, which the US has ratified and which outlines broad but voluntary climate goals. Some industrial countries say that the framework could provide the basis for some of these more-flexible approaches that nonetheless are binding.

As the first half of the two-week conference draws to a close, the 190 participants can point to some accomplishments. They formally adopted the rules under Kyoto for reducing greenhouse gases - everything from investment in developing countries to trading carbon credits that allow larger polluters to meet their goals by buying credits from those who beat their targets.

A sense of urgency is growing, many here say. They point to recent research that appears to bear out projections of global warming's direct and indirect effects -- from shrinking Arctic ice packs to a slowing of deep-ocean circulation in the North Atlantic.

Kyoto binds its signatories to begin talks this year about what follows after the protocol's first commitment period expires in 2012. A key concern is that the US stance outside the Kyoto pact, and its current position on talks under the Framework Convention, may block discussions central to drawing in developing countries further down the road.

"I don't expect a lot of debate about the necessity to do more," says Canada's environment minister, Stéphane Dion, who is presiding over the talks. "I do expect debates about what to do and who needs to do what."

At a briefing earlier this week, Harlan Watson, who heads the US team, acknowledged signatories' obligations to start talks about the emissions-reduction regime for 2012 and beyond, but made it clear that the US would not join in if binding commitments came into play.

"We respect that obligation and expect that they will meet their commitment to do so," he said. "However, the United States is opposed to any such discussions under the Framework Convention."

In many ways, the hoped-for outcome of these two-week talks is, essentially, an agreement to keep talking. Many developing countries are interested in seeing the Kyoto process move beyond 2012, notes Jennifer Morgan, who heads the climate change program of the World Wildlife Fund International. Particularly in the months since Kyoto took effect, leaders in developing nations such as South Africa are saying, she says, that "we need to do our fair share."

Yet taking even first steps toward commitments are a hard sell back home when the US is seen as failing to act as a full partner in reducing emissions.

One fear is that if Kyoto-related discussions are the only forum for emissions discussions, the US lack of involvement in Kyoto could trigger a stampede away from future tighter targets.

"The Bush administration is playing a big game of chicken," says Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "It's saying: If you want to go ahead, fine. But you can't do it here." Since all actions are taken by consensus, he and others note, US opposition amounts to a veto.

One tack Mr. Alden and others are taking is to try to convince developing countries that US policy may change after the Bush administration.

More Kyoto-like policies are emerging at the state and local levels in the US, and environmental lobbyists here say that they see a friendlier climate in the Senate for greater action - something they hope will convince delegates from developing nations to stay the course..... (continued)

foot_soldier

12-02-2005, 12:47 PM

Re: "The Great North American Carbon Sink":

Thanks very much for submitting this piece, WMM. Am printing to read later.

foot_soldier

12-03-2005, 10:36 AM

December 3, 2005

Report Accuses EPA of Slanting Analysis
Hill Researchers Say Agency Fixed Pollution Study to Favor Bush's 'Clear Skies'
http://www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=48999

The Bush administration skewed its analysis of pending legislation on air pollution to favor its bill over two competing proposals, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Oct. 27 analysis of its plan -- along with those of Sens. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.) -- exaggerated the costs and underestimated the benefits of imposing more stringent pollution curbs, the independent, nonpartisan congressional researchers wrote in a Nov. 23 report. The EPA issued its analysis -- which Carper had demanded this spring, threatening to hold up the nomination of EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson -- in part to revive its proposal, which is stalled in the Senate.

The administration's "Clear Skies" legislation aims to achieve a 70 percent cut in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide after 2018, while Carper's and Jeffords's bills demand steeper and faster cuts and would also reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, which are linked to global warming. The Bush plan would also cut emissions of neurotoxic mercury by 70 percent, while Jeffords's bill reduces them by 90 percent.

"Although it represents a step toward understanding the impacts of legislative options, EPA's analysis is not as useful as one could hope," the Research Service report said. "The result is an analysis that some will argue is no longer sufficiently up-to-date to contribute substantially to congressional debate."

The congressional report, which was not commissioned by a lawmaker as is customary, said the EPA analysis boosted its own proposal by overestimating the cost of controlling mercury and playing down the economic benefits of reducing premature deaths and illnesses linked to air pollution.

EPA estimated the administration's plan would cost coal-fired power plants as much as $6 billion annually, compared with up to $10 billion in Carper's measure and as much as $51 billion for Jeffords's. It calculated that Bush's proposal would produce $143 billion a year in health benefits while Carper's would generate $161 billion and Jeffords would yield $211 billion. Carper's measure would achieve most of its reductions by 2013, while Jeffords's bill would enact even more ambitious pollution cuts by 2010.

EPA spokeswoman Eryn Witcher said the agency based its cost estimates on mercury controls by gathering comments from boilermaker workers, power companies and emission control companies, whereas the Research Service used a single study to reach its conclusions on mercury.

"Clear Skies delivers dramatic health benefits across the nation without raising energy costs and does it with certainty and simplicity, instead of regulation and litigation," Witcher said. "Because of our commitment to see this become a reality, EPA went above and beyond to provide the most comprehensive legislative analysis of air ever prepared by the agency, so it does a real disservice to this discussion to have a report that largely ignores and misinterprets our analysis."

But aides to Carper and Jeffords said they felt vindicated by the congressional study.

"The CRS report backs up a lot of what we initially said about EPA's latest analysis, that it overstated the costs of controlling mercury and understated the overall health benefits of Senator Carper's legislation," said Carper spokesman Bill Ghent. "The report clearly states that there's no reason to settle for the president's Clear Skies plan because the legislation doesn't clean the air much better than current law."

Originally posted at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120201767.html

Boomer Chick

12-04-2005, 11:41 AM

Boomer Chick vs the Electric Company
Hello, is this the Electric Company? This is Mrs. Boomerchick Ballbuster and I demand to know what this outrageous power bill I received is all about!.........................., MY MEASUREMENTS TRUMP ANY ESTIMATION AND ANY SO-CALLED 'MODEL' YOU BUNCH OF BLOODSUCKERS CAN COME UP WITH!
From now on, count me OUT of your money-grubbing scheme. I'll just read my own damn meter and send you what I know from reading the friggin' meter myself!
DO YOU READ ME?

Yes, madam, I understand completely(hangs up)..........................................

=======================
Power Company Method:
"According to their findings, the scientists estimate that U.S. forests and other terrestrial components absorb from one-third to two-thirds of a billion tons of carbon each year"
from: "Consistent Land- and Atmosphere-Based U.S. Carbon Sink Estimates
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/292/5525/2316

""of the 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide our consumer driven country coughs up a year, roughly 15 to 30 percent is reabsorbed back into the land. "
from: no citation given, but note the tone "consumer driven country coughs up". Those are not scientific words they are subjective, insinuating, propaganda words.
==================================
Empirical method:
http://www.cmdl.noaa.gov/info/testimony.html

Cute little story, Jay. On the irritating side of reality, but just indicative of your emotional style at times. You probably need some cuddling. Poor dear. Using the term "ballbusting" is often a tactic males use to subdue and control females who threaten their sense of power through their own level of logic and reasoning skills. I'm sorry Jay had to resort to such a tactic with me. Again, he must need cuddling. Let's all hug Jay! Group HUG!!!

Anyway to go on:

WMM's contribution noted the fact of scientists themselves arguing over the carbon and climate statistics. Obviously measurements will be continued as a more precise picture of the carbon-warming-cooling-heating-weather picture will become more lucid to all. For now, being on the safe side in reducing carbon emissions seems to be the agreed approach from corporate to governmental / legislative to private interests.

Every link I provided and quote quoted included measurement indices downloaded into computers to form the graphs and equations given. Nasa is not a propaganda site for environmentalists by any means. Computers do not spew forth data without data input which is the empirical part of the data collecting.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BOREASCarbon/missing_carbon_2.html

Not one so-called empirical data set claims that all the carbon we produce as a nation is absorbed by our continent in total. Not one.

From Jay's link:

However, other techniques involving carbon inventories and models do not indicate as large a sink, but may not be adequate in scope. All the evidence from atmospheric measurements indicates that there is substantial variability in terrestrial carbon dioxide uptake, which is not well understood. If we are to have any hope of prudent management with the goal of influencing terrestrial carbon dioxide uptake, we must understand the cause of the variability in carbon dioxide uptake. Temperature changes can affect many of these processes. Thus, future effects of climate change on carbon sequestration must be considered.

For this reason, the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) produced a report entitled "A U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan" in 1999. Copies of this report have been distributed to the committee. The plan presents a strategy for a research program to deliver credible predictions of future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, given realistic emission and climate scenarios, and in particular, improving our estimates of the North American carbon sink.

In summary, progress on the understanding of the global carbon cycle and how it has responded to human presence on the planet has been remarkable in the past 10 years. We now believe that the North American continent presents a major sink for carbon dioxide emissions. We also know that this sink is highly variable, but we do not know why. The U.S. now has a plan that includes the study of this important sink, and in particular, its regional nature. The successful carrying out of the USGCRP's "U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan" would benefit the economic future and well-being of the country.

I contributed an empirical study indicating increased rainfall as a direct (duh) stimulant to increased plant growth and thus increased carbon dioxide uptake. It was not a computer model. What Jay's site and the other NOAA and NASA sites do say is that the forests (aboreal) and plants seem to be the major carbon absorbers of the northern hemisphere.

http://nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BOREASCarbon/

Clarity check: To say that air masses entering the North Pacific edge of the continent leave at the Eastern edge of our continent with less CO2 does not mean the continent absorbs ALL of the CO2 we create. More than anything it reveals cross oceanic CO2 travel from other countries west of the Pacific Coast and a carbon sink on our continent that varies in its absorption rate. In no way do any of Jay's quotes, links, or statements prove that CO2 is absorbed into our continent to clean up and capture a hundred percent of the CO2 that we as a nation produce.

Jay's link:
Conclusion

Progress on the understanding of the global carbon cycle and how it has responded to human presence on the planet has been remarkable in the past 10 years. We now believe that the North American continent presents a major sink for carbon dioxide emissions. We also know that this sink is highly variable but we do not know why. The U.S. now has a plan that includes the study of this important sink, and in particular, its regional nature. We also have a community of scientists who are ready to execute that plan. Thank you Mr. Chairman for your interest in this matter. I would be happy to address any questions you and your committee may have.

Boomer Chick

12-04-2005, 11:44 AM

Google Alert for: global warming

Thousands in Mtl. protest against global warming (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051203/climatechange_worldwide_051203/20051203?hub=SciTech)
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Thousands of activists took to the streets in Montreal on Saturday on a worldwide day of protest against global warming. Quebec ...
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Montreal demonstration leads worldwide global warming protests (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051203.wenviro3/BNStory/National/)
Globe and Mail - Canada
Montreal -- Thousands of people led by pounding drummers are staging the centrepiece of a worldwide day of protest against global warming. ...

Worldwide protests expected against polluters and global warming (http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=4197002&nav=0w0v)
Team 4 News - Harlingen,TX,USA
UNDATED Protests are planning in 30 nations around the world today to coincide with a Canadian conference on global warming. The ...
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Inuits transformed by global warming (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/13319240.htm)
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
... sitting at the same table as the 180 nations attending the UN Climate Change Conference, they have a front-row seat to the chilling effects of global warming. ...

Montreal demo the centrepiece of worldwide global warming protests (http://www.940news.com/nouvelles.php?cat=23&id=120317)
940 News - Montreal,Quebec,Canada
MONTREAL (CP) - Thousands of people ignored frigid temperatures to lead a worldwide day of protest against global warming. The protest ...

Environmentalists warn: Bangladesh to be worst hit by global ... (http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_23597.shtml)
The New Nation - Bangladesh
... 'Saline water may enter into some 25,000 square kilometers of the coastal areas of Bangladesh if the sea-level rises by 100cm due to global warming,' they said ...

No more time to stall on global warming (http://cjonline.com/stories/120305/opi_coequyt.shtml)
Topeka Capital Journal (subscription) - Topeka,KS,USA
... But as the world reeled from all this chaos what became very clear was that this extreme weather was no rare phenomenon -- it was global warming. ...
Global warming and Kyoto hot air (http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=2343552005)
Scotsman - United Kingdom
... to emit roughly half of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions by mid-century, it was not an effective long-run safeguard against the dangers of global warming. ...

Boomer Chick

12-04-2005, 11:46 AM

WOW! Great articles, FS!

Boomer Chick

12-04-2005, 11:48 AM

Google Alert for: global warming

The relative unimportance of trying to stop global warming (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2005/12/02/2003282647)
Taipei Times - Taiwan
By Bjorn Lomborg. Global warming has become the pre-eminent concern of our time. Many governments and most campaigners meeting in ...
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Are hurricanes linked to global warming? (http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2005-12-02-hurricanes-global-warming_x.htm)
USA Today - USA
... They noted that the increase coincides with rising average sea-surface temperatures in the tropics, which other researchers have linked to global warming. ...
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Global warming is affecting our health (http://www.cbc.ca/montreal/story/qc-weather20051202.html)
CBC Montreal - Montreal,Quebec,Canada
Health experts at the UN climate change conference say global warming is responsible for as many as 150,000 deaths per year around the world. ...
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Dissident Voice - Santa Rosa,CA,USA
... demonstrated that public opinion in the United States has become more informed over the years with regard to the "scientific consensus" on global warming. ...
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Climate expert warns about the immediate consequences of global ... (http://www.newenergyreport.org/015294.html)
Newstarget.com - Taichung,Taiwan
Climate scientist Brenda Ekwurzel, PhD, discusses the recent natural disasters and hurricanes in terms of global warming and future trends that will ...
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Another Wrench in the Global Warming Works: Europe Getting Cooler (http://blog.nam.org/archives/2005/12/another_wrench_1.php)
Manufacturers' Blog - Washington,DC,USA
... Kinda bad timing for all the global warming folks shivering up in Montreal (where it's 0 degrees Celsius this week, and snowing) for this study to hit the New ...
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The EU's Global-Warming Fantasy (http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20&artnum=1&issue=20051201)
Investor's Business Daily (subscription) - USA
... How about with the fact that, leaving aside all the bitter scientific debates over global warming, the Kyoto Accord has been a complete failure. ...
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Legislators name members of NC global warming panel (http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/13305345.htm)
Myrtle Beach Sun News - Myrtle Beach,SC,USA
RALEIGH, NC - Legislative leaders named their choices Thursday to a commission that will study global warming's impact on North Carolina. Sen. ...

Limbaugh on global warming (http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2005/12/2/123612/225)
Grist Magazine - Seattle,WA,USA
Now, you might be asking yourself, "Okay, how is global warming causing this cooling?" Well, the first thing you have to understand is that global warming ...
Global Warming Gases at Highest Level in 650,000 Years (http://usliberals.about.com/b/a/2005_12_02.htm)
About - News & Issues - New York,NY,USA
Larry West, About.com's Guide to Environmental Issues has some exceptional articles on global warming that I hope each reader of US Liberals reads and takes to ...

Boomer Chick

12-07-2005, 01:09 PM

Google Alert for: global warming

Â» Global warming protests held in 32 countries, Bush vilified (http://www.whatistheword.com/story/USWorld_321.html)
What is the Word - Navi Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
MONTREAL, Canada - About 7,000 activists marched down Montreal's streets demanding greater commitment towards combating global warming even as the 10-day ...
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Global warming hits health (http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,17476740-5001028,00.html)
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Pacific islanders move to escape global warming (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-12-05T212416Z_01_HAR577036_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-ISLAND.xml)
Reuters - USA
... 100 people on a Pacific island to move to higher ground in what may be the first example of a village formally displaced because of modern global warming, a UN ...

Has global warming overheated Bush's brain? (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1133736611972&call_pageid=991479973472&col=991929131147)
Toronto Star - Canada
This past week, in Montreal, there were delegates from all over the world, meeting and discussing ways to stop global warming, or at the very least, slowing ...

Temperate forests may worsen global warming, tropical forests ... (http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1205-caldeira.html)
Mongabay.com - USA
STANFORD, CA - Growing a forest might sound like a good idea to combat global warming, since trees draw carbon dioxide from the air and release cool water from ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1205-caldeira.html)

Greens Fault Pataki on Delay on Global Warming (http://www.gp.org/press/states/ny_2005_12_03.shtml)
Green Party US (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
TROY, NY -- The Greens criticized today New York State Governor George Pataki for failing to take decisive action on global warming issues. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.gp.org/press/states/ny_2005_12_03.shtml)

Hurricane havoc: Is global warming to blame? (http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/652/652p9.htm)
Green Left Weekly - Chippendale,NSW,Australia
... the failure of US President George Bush's government to adequately respond to the disaster, catapulted the issue of industry-induced global warming into the ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/652/652p9.htm)

High prices put pressure on US Congress over global warming (http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=63334&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28)
Gulf Times - Doha,Qatar
... and home heating costs are increasing pressure on the US Congress to back the use of renewable fuels and pass legislation on global warming, Senator Byron ...

Preparefor themeltdown: Conservation groups make warning about ... (http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20051205/NEWS/112050025)
Tahoe Daily Tribune - South Lake Tahoe,CA,USA
Global warming could affect Tahoe's environment in several ways, including the lake's famed clarity, scientists say, prompting at least one conservation group ...
Coal thermal power output raises global warming concerns (http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=357403)
Japan Today - Tokyo,Japan
... more carbon dioxide than oil or natural gas, overshadowing prospects of Japan achieving its goal of reducing the emission of global warming gases under an ...

Boomer Chick

12-07-2005, 01:11 PM

An American Energy Harvest Plan

by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell
In the 1970s, America was abuzz with optimism about the potential for clean renewable energy. Solar, wind and synthetic fuels captured the imagination of environmentalists and scientists alike. But these renewable fuels did not capture the marketplace because they simply cost too much for each kW of electricity and each gallon of fuel they produced.
...read the complete RE Insider at RenewableEnergyAccess.com (http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=40073)

foot_soldier

12-07-2005, 01:50 PM

foot_soldier

12-08-2005, 10:55 AM

December 7, 2005

Bush treats planet as his alone

THE INDEPENDENT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/251030_warming07.html

It is as if we were living on two planets. Here, in the real world, the evidence that global warming is already doing immense damage to the Earth is mounting with terrifying speed. In the past two weeks alone, we have learned that the Greenland ice cap appears to be on the point of irreversible meltdown, that the Kalahari Desert is to double in size, that sea and bird life has collapsed dramatically off the U.S. Pacific coast and that the mighty Gulf Stream (which keeps Britain habitable) has weakened abruptly. This year is expected to be the hottest ever, and hurricanes are breaking all records. It is impossible to dispute the conclusion last week of the British environment secretary, Margaret Beckett, that this is "the greatest threat facing mankind."

But over on the other planet -- in Montreal, where 189 nations are meeting to work out how to combat the threat -- the issue is being tackled with all the urgency and productiveness of a more than usually constipated parish council discussing how to celebrate the queen's putative centenary.

No one expects an outcome that remotely begins to address the gravity of the crisis; the best that can be hoped for is an agreement on more talks next year, and even that will be hard to achieve. There is no chance of any decision on concrete action. Here is Beckett again, having apparently traveled from one planet to the other: Anyone suggesting that the conference should agree to binding pollution reduction targets when the ones agreed under the Kyoto protocol run out in 2012 is, she said, "living in cloud-cuckoo-land."

Much of this is, of course, down to the oil-soaked obduracy of President Bush and his bunch of corporately compromised cronies. By refusing even to talk about targets, they have ensured that the negotiations take place in an atmosphere of unreality. But it is not just him: British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for example, seems to have a different face for each planet. In one world -- as when trying to persuade Britain to embrace nuclear power last week -- he voices strong support for a binding treaty to succeed Kyoto; in the other -- as when with senior members of the Bush administration -- he casts doubt on it. Internationally, he deserves enormous credit for having put the issue high on the agenda through making it a priority at the Gleneagles summit; domestically, he has earned brickbats for having presided over an increase in Britain's carbon dioxide emissions.

Meanwhile, John Prescott -- who brokered the Kyoto treaty -- is unveiling a new greenhouse building code that actually lowers standards for energy consumption.

The marchers who demonstrated around the world are entitled to ask who is really in cloud-cuckoo-land and to demand that our leaders return to the real world. Britain, holding the presidency of the European Union, should be taking a lead in pressing for action in Montreal, rather than merely holding the ring.

Blair should confront Bush: The only time the president has shifted his position is when Britain effectively threatened to isolate him at Gleneagles; cozying up to him has been disastrous. The rest of the rich world should commit itself in principle at Montreal to setting new, stricter targets to follow Kyoto. If this means leaving him on his own planet, so be it. To join him will doom the Earth to destruction.

foot_soldier

12-08-2005, 10:59 AM

How America plotted to stop Kyoto deal
By Andrew Buncombe in Montreal
Published: 08 December 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article331768.ece

A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty on climate change.

The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal. It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and the German utility giant RWE.

Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks to draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support for the treaty.

It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition" would work. Based in Brussels, the plan would have anti-Kyoto position papers, expert spokesmen, detailed advice and networking instantly available to any politician or company who wanted to question the wisdom of proceeding with Kyoto and its demanding cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.

It has been drawn up by Chris Horner, a senior official with the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute and a veteran campaigner against Kyoto and against the evidence of climate change. One of his colleagues * who describes himself as an adviser to President George Bush * was the subject of a censure motion by the Commons last year after he attacked the Government's chief scientist.

Mr Horner, whose CEI group has received almost $1.5m (£865,000) from ExxonMobil, is convinced that Europe could be successfully influenced by such a policy coalition just as the US government has been.

He thinks Europe's weakening economies are likely to be increasingly ill at ease with the costs of meeting Kyoto. And in particular, he has spotted something he thinks most of Europe has not yet woken up to. Most of the original 15 EU Kyoto signatories * Britain is an exception * are on course to miss their 2010 CO2 reduction targets. But under the terms of the treaty, they will face large fines for doing so, in terms of much bigger reduction targets in any second phase.

These will prove unacceptably costly to their economies, Mr Horner believes, even if they try to buy their way out by buying up "spare" emissions for cash from countries such as Russia. Mr Horner believes the moment for his coalition is at hand and has been seeking support for it from multinational companies. In his pitch to one major company, he wrote: " In the US an informal coalition has helped successfully to avert adoption of a Kyoto-style programme by maintaining a rational voice for civil society and ensuring a legitimate debate over climate economics, science and politics. This model should be emulated... to guide similar efforts in Europe."

Elsewhere he claimed: "A coalition addressing the economic and social impacts of the EU climate agenda must be broad-based (cross industry) and rooted in the member states. Other companies (including Lufthansa, Exxon, Ford) have already indicated their interest!"..... (continued)

Boomer Chick

12-09-2005, 02:47 PM

Boomer Chick, I'm trying to locate that excellent "test" you posted a few days back so I can print it out. I can't remember which thread it's in. <sigh> Would you mind re-posting it *here* when you get a minute - thanks very much!

http://www.colorado.edu/epob/epob3180bolton/Ex1key.html

Wish it included the other pages of the test! It's the key! Maybe you could locate the rest once you get there? I tried but failed. Maybe just clicking the edu site might bring it up somewhere? As it was.... I found it quite interesting and enlightening and to think the colleges were teaching that back in 2001 or 2 ...... gives one hope.

halva

12-09-2005, 08:47 PM

jayreynolds

12-09-2005, 08:51 PM

FS would you mind reposting worthwhile references that BC puts up? Thanks.
Wayne's trying to pretend he has BC "ignore listed".
Wayne, you never ignored anybody here.
Every time you say you do, you always eventually respond, showing that you weren't ignoring anything.
Don't even try.

Boomer Chick

12-09-2005, 10:59 PM

Google Alert for: global warming

US Delegates Refuse to Participate in Global Warming Talks (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aI_VP7vXpswU&refer=top_world_news)
Bloomberg - USA
9 (Bloomberg) -- US delegates refused to participate in global warming talks in Montreal late yesterday after objecting to non-binding negotiations to limit ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D10000087%26sid%3DaI_VP7vXpswU%26refer %3Dtop_world_news)

Strip clubs, Global warming and torture (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/veb/archives/100762.asp)
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
... GLOBAL WARM -- The world community meets to talk about how to deal with global warming. And the United States is right there, doing ...

US's Frigid Stance on Global Warming (http://www.zaman.com/?bl=national&alt=&trh=20051209&hn=27328)
Zaman Online - Istanbul,Turkey
The distance between the United States and the international community about methods to combat with global warming became clear at the United Nations Climate ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.zaman.com/%3Fbl%3Dnational%26alt%3D%26trh%3D20051209%26hn%3D 27328)

Global warming already hitting Pacific islands (http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1528108.htm)
Radio Australia - Australia
It's being described as the first case in the world of the formal displacement of an entire human population because of global warming. ...

Gasoline fee needed to fund global warming measures, panel says (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/13362950.htm)
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
... officials are the first attempt to say how California can meet Schwarzenegger's ambitious pledge to cut pollution believed to contribute to global warming. ...

Global warming: we must act now (http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=23240&cat_id=1)
Cyprus Mail - Nicosia,Cyprus
... following suit. This is why it is so important to reach agreement on global action to cut emissions in Montreal this month. A half ...

Rutgers study reveals global warming is raising sea levels ... (http://www.newstarget.com/015577.html)
Newstarget.com - Taichung,Taiwan
A team of scientists at Rutgers University claims that global warming has caused worldwide sea levels to rise twice as fast as they were 150 years ago. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.newstarget.com/015577.html)

Eastern Europeans seek action against global warming (http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1067797.php/Eastern_Europeans_seek_action_against_global_warmi ng)
Monsters and Critics.com - Glasgow,UK
Montreal, Canada - Eastern European nations have called for concerted action against global warming as UN climate change talks headed Friday into the final ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1067797.php/Eastern_Europeans_seek_action_against_global_warmi ng) Global warming may halt ocean circulation (http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051208-095617-4915r)
United Press International - USA
CHICAGO, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A University of Illinois study shows a 70 percent chance the North Atlantic's thermohaline circulation ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php%3FStoryID%3D20051208-095617-4915r)

Boomer Chick

12-09-2005, 11:02 PM

U.S. Delegates Refuse to Participate in Global Warming Talks Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. delegates refused to participate in global warming talks in Montreal late yesterday after objecting to non-binding negotiations to limit carbon dioxide emissions.

The delegation rejected a Canadian proposal that allowed U.S. participation in international talks organized by the United Nations without committing to emissions cuts. U.S. officials in Montreal wouldn't comment on their action, according to a spokeswoman who declined to give her name.

About 10,000 representatives from almost 200 countries gathered in Montreal, the largest meeting on climate change since 1997, when delegates in Kyoto, Japan, agreed to the Kyoto Protocol to limit global greenhouse gas emissions.

``These are negotiations in which the U.S. didn't take an active part,'' Margaret Beckett, U.K. environment minister, said today in a media briefing. ``We wish to re-engage the U.S. in the process of forward discussion and exploration.''

The administration of George W. Bush favors voluntary reductions in emissions and investments in renewable technologies to combat global warming.

The Kyoto Protocol requires developed countries to cut carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gasses to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The Bush administration in 2001 rejected the agreement as too costly for the U.S., which emits 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gasses.

``If there was ever any doubt about the Bush administration tactics, they showed their true colors last night by refusing to negotiate even about a dialogue,'' Jennifer Morgan, director of climate change at World Wildlife Fund International, said at a media briefing in Montreal.

Negotiators were in Montreal to plan the next round of greenhouse gas cuts before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The Kyoto parties today reached an informal agreement to continue talks on reducing emissions over the next few years without the U.S., according to conference participants.

``What we've seen at this meeting is momentum building to take the Kyoto Protocol forward, to develop the next round of commitments for industrialized countries,'' Bill Hare, climate director for Greenpeace International, said at a media briefing.

To contact the reporters on this story:Christopher Martin in Chicago at cmartin11@bloomberg.net;Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net.Last Updated: December 9, 2005 13:45 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aI_VP7vXpswU&refer=top_world_news

Did I hear some cackling old strutting roosters?

Boomer Chick

12-09-2005, 11:04 PM

Clinton Says Bush Is 'Flat Wrong' on Kyoto
By Charles J. Hanley
The Associated Press

Friday 09 December 2005

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120905Q.shtml

whitemajikman

12-11-2005, 02:24 PM

bump

halva

12-11-2005, 02:41 PM

How much of this is a prescripted scenario??

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article332384.ece

Climate campaigners claim greatest ever success at Montreal

Humiliation for Bush as last-minute twist means an isolated US is forced to sign up for future talks on global warming

By Andrew Buncombe in Montreal and Geoffrey Lean
Published: 11 December 2005

The fight against catastrophic global warming scored its greatest success to date yesterday, when negotiators from more than 180 nations unexpectedly agreed to develop far-reaching measures to combat climate change.

In the process, the delegates to the climate summit in Montreal dealt a humiliating blow to President George Bush's five-year attempt to destroy the Kyoto Protocol. The United States, which tried to sabotage the meeting at the last minute by walking out of the negotiations, was forced to join the agreement after failing to persuade a single nation to join it.

Many delegates - including Margaret Beckett, the UK's Secretary of State for the Environment - were openly in tears when agreement was finally reached yesterday morning after two successive all-night sessions and as many dramas and cliff-hangers as a second-rate soap opera.

Mrs Beckett told The Independent on Sunday that it represented an even greater breakthrough than the original agreement of the Kyoto Protocol almost exactly eight years ago. Environmentalists hailed the agreement - which exceeded the most optimistic expectations - as "historic".

The agreement marks the culmination of a remarkable year for the world's attempts to bring global warming under control before it is too late. Not much more than a year ago, the Kyoto Protocol had yet to come into force, many leading commentators were writing its obituary, and the US administration was blocking any attempts even to talk about future negotiations.

Then Russia - the key hold-out - ratified the protocol, enabling it to come into force in February, and Tony Blair made climate change one of the top priorities of Britain's presidencies of the EU and the G8 group of industrialised nations this year. At the G8 Gleneagles summit this summer President Bush had to agree to further talks.

Yesterday's agreement - far from burying the Kyoto Protocol as the US wanted - has confirmed it and extended it. The 39 nations governed by it - all the industrialised countries apart from the US and Australia - have agreed in principle to make deeper cuts in the pollution emissions causing climate change when their present clean-up commitments run out in 2012.

They have decided to agree the new cuts by 2008, far faster than expected.

Meanwhile the US has, against its will, had to agree to talks with both rich and developing countries to new measures that all nations can take on combating the threat. The resolution is vague and the talks are only "open and non-binding", but it is far more than the US wanted or most people expected.

The atmosphere at the Montreal meeting was far more determined to reach agreement than either the US or its bitterest critics had expected, following a year of constant, alarming evidence that climate change is happening far faster than scientists had predicted. These included a record hurricane season, record melting of sea ice and glaciers in the Arctic, and disturbing signs that the Gulf Stream - which makes Britain inhabitable - may be beginning to fail.

So when the US walked out, it failed to find any support, despite intensive lobbying of delegation after delegation, as the rest of the world resolved to go ahead without it.

At the same time, the Bush administration has come under enormous pressure at home with three-quarters of Americans now demanding action on climate change and nearly 200 cities and many states taking their own far-reaching measures to cut pollution. Bill Clinton also fatally undermined the US position by calling it "dead wrong".

Last night, Tony Juniper, a director of Friends of the Earth, called the deal "excellent". Phil Clapp, head of the US National Environmental Trust, said it was "absolutely extraordinary".

The fight against catastrophic global warming scored its greatest success to date yesterday, when negotiators from more than 180 nations unexpectedly agreed to develop far-reaching measures to combat climate change.

In the process, the delegates to the climate summit in Montreal dealt a humiliating blow to President George Bush's five-year attempt to destroy the Kyoto Protocol. The United States, which tried to sabotage the meeting at the last minute by walking out of the negotiations, was forced to join the agreement after failing to persuade a single nation to join it.

Many delegates - including Margaret Beckett, the UK's Secretary of State for the Environment - were openly in tears when agreement was finally reached yesterday morning after two successive all-night sessions and as many dramas and cliff-hangers as a second-rate soap opera.

Mrs Beckett told The Independent on Sunday that it represented an even greater breakthrough than the original agreement of the Kyoto Protocol almost exactly eight years ago. Environmentalists hailed the agreement - which exceeded the most optimistic expectations - as "historic".

The agreement marks the culmination of a remarkable year for the world's attempts to bring global warming under control before it is too late. Not much more than a year ago, the Kyoto Protocol had yet to come into force, many leading commentators were writing its obituary, and the US administration was blocking any attempts even to talk about future negotiations.

Then Russia - the key hold-out - ratified the protocol, enabling it to come into force in February, and Tony Blair made climate change one of the top priorities of Britain's presidencies of the EU and the G8 group of industrialised nations this year. At the G8 Gleneagles summit this summer President Bush had to agree to further talks.
Yesterday's agreement - far from burying the Kyoto Protocol as the US wanted - has confirmed it and extended it. The 39 nations governed by it - all the industrialised countries apart from the US and Australia - have agreed in principle to make deeper cuts in the pollution emissions causing climate change when their present clean-up commitments run out in 2012.

They have decided to agree the new cuts by 2008, far faster than expected.

Meanwhile the US has, against its will, had to agree to talks with both rich and developing countries to new measures that all nations can take on combating the threat. The resolution is vague and the talks are only "open and non-binding", but it is far more than the US wanted or most people expected.

The atmosphere at the Montreal meeting was far more determined to reach agreement than either the US or its bitterest critics had expected, following a year of constant, alarming evidence that climate change is happening far faster than scientists had predicted. These included a record hurricane season, record melting of sea ice and glaciers in the Arctic, and disturbing signs that the Gulf Stream - which makes Britain inhabitable - may be beginning to fail.

So when the US walked out, it failed to find any support, despite intensive lobbying of delegation after delegation, as the rest of the world resolved to go ahead without it.

At the same time, the Bush administration has come under enormous pressure at home with three-quarters of Americans now demanding action on climate change and nearly 200 cities and many states taking their own far-reaching measures to cut pollution. Bill Clinton also fatally undermined the US position by calling it "dead wrong".

Last night, Tony Juniper, a director of Friends of the Earth, called the deal "excellent". Phil Clapp, head of the US National Environmental Trust, said it was "absolutely extraordinary".

jayreynolds

12-11-2005, 06:05 PM

Bill Clinton also fatally undermined the US position by calling it "dead wrong".

Knock'em dead with his moral authority, eh?
A bit hyperbolic. Sound like those folks were giddy with Dr. feel-good.
Oh, well, now they can all fly back home.
Ha!

foot_soldier

12-11-2005, 08:31 PM

http://www.colorado.edu/epob/epob3180bolton/Ex1key.html

Wish it included the other pages of the test! It's the key! Maybe you could locate the rest once you get there? I tried but failed. Maybe just clicking the edu site might bring it up somewhere? As it was.... I found it quite interesting and enlightening and to think the colleges were teaching that back in 2001 or 2 ...... gives one hope.
Thank you kindly for this link! I'll try to locate (a link to) the original test when I have more time. It's possible that only the key would be available online at this point. At any rate it's an excellent set of questions and I really appreciate your providing access to it.

foot_soldier

12-11-2005, 08:39 PM

Boomer Chick

12-12-2005, 09:36 AM

CLIMATE CHANGE
World Leaves the U.S. Behind

The United States emerged isolated from the rest of the world at the two-week United Nations Climate Change conference (http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_11/items/3394.php), which ended on Dec. 9. During the conference, the seas rose by 0.077mm (http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article331972.ece); 1,176 million barrels of oil were pumped; 280,000 hectares of forest were destroyed; and 907 million tons of greenhouse gases were discharged. In the face of strong scientific evidence that the climate is changing (http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=9406) and the world is increasing (http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/facts_and_figures/us_ghgemissions90_04.cfm) its greenhouse gas emissions (http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html), the Bush administration continued to reject and stall international agreements (http://allafrica.com/stories/200512090639.html) to reduce world pollution. From not signing the Kyoto Protocol (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-07.htm) in 2001, to rejecting binding talks on emission reductions (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051211/ap_on_sc/climate_change_clinton) at this past weekend's conference, the Bush administration has proved itself to be out of step, choosing excuses over action, as the rest of the world moves forward. (For an alternative approach to climate change, check out this report (http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=306503), co-sponsored by American Progress.)

A 'DIFFERENT VIEW' FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD: More than 150 countries, including nearly every industrialized nation, agreed "to engage in talks aimed at producing a new set of binding limits (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121001405.html) on greenhouse gas emissions that would take effect beginning in 2012." The United States, which produces 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, not only sat out of this agreement, it also walked out of informal discussions (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1395597&page=1) aimed at finding new ways to curb gases. But U.S. objections were based more on politics than substance. The United States rejected language lifted directly (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4508928.stm) from the G8 communique (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4508928.stm) signed by President Bush in July 2005, and reengaged only after the British government made a direct call to the White House (http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2386052005). Similarly, administration officials "privately threatened organizers (http://newyorkmag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/15314/index.html)" of the conference, "telling them that any chance there might’ve been for the United States to sign on to the Kyoto global-warming protocol would be scuttled if they allowed Bill Clinton to speak at the gathering." (Organizers allowed him to speak anyway; Clinton called the Bush administration's approach to climate change "flat wrong (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/12/09/climate.clinton.ap/).") The White House contends that it has a "a different view (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1395597&page=1)" from most other nations. "It is our belief that progress cannot be made through these formalized discussions (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051207/kyoto_treaty_051207/20051207?hub=TopStories)," said U.S. Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky. But the rest of the world isn't waiting for the United States. "Just because the Bush administration doesn't want this (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121001405_2.html) doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't see this as the right thing to do," said Danish negotiator Eva Jensen.

HORNER'S DIRTY TACTICS: Chris Horner (http://www.cei.org/dyn/view_Expert.cfm?Expert=148) is counsel at the right-wing Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which has received more than $1.3 million in funding from oil giant ExxonMobil (http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1661741,00.html). Horner "also acts for the Cooler Heads Coalition, a group set up 'to dispel the myth of global warming.'" But at the U.N. conference, Horner posed as a journalist. With press credentials (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051207-121631-7233r.htm) from the right-wing Washington Times (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/09/24/moon/), Horner appeared at the State Department's press briefing for U.S. journalists on Dec. 7, without even a notebook, according to Andrew Buncombe of the Independent, who was also at the briefing. Instead of questioning the White House's position on climate change, Horner attempted to portray the U.S. position as leading the "new consensus (http://www.state.gov/g/rls/rm/2005/57867.htm)." Horner is not a journalist; in the last two years, his only published work was a single op-ed in the Washington Times (http://www.cei.org/dyn/pubs_by_author.cfm/pubs_by_author.cfm?expert=148). But Horner is quite experienced at underhanded tactics. He drew up a plan, funded by ExxonMobil, for a secret "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition" intended to "to destroy Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty (http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article331768.ece) on climate change." The plan hoped to emulate the White Houses's success in stalling progress on climate change: "In the US an informal coalition has helped successfully to avert adoption of a Kyoto-style program. This model should be emulated (http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1661741,00.html), as appropriate, to guide similar efforts in Europe."

STATE AND LOCAL ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING: Not only is the White House being left behind by other nations, but states are also moving ahead without the federal government. In September, New Mexico became the first state to join the Chicago Climate Exchange (http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/news/press/release_20050916_NewMexico_print.html), promising to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by four percent by 2006. California has unveiled a set of new initiatives "to cap greenhouse gases (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-warming6dec06,1,657706.story?coll=la-headlines-california) and force industries to report emissions of carbon dioxide," which contradicts the Bush administration's no-mandatory limits policy. Seattle mayor Greg Nickels has also organized a grassroots campaign to tackle global warming, enlisting the cooperation of more than 180 of the nation's mayors, and eight Northeastern states proposed a plan "to set a ceiling on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants." Take action with Greenpeace (http://members.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=74&ref_source=kyotoblog) and call on more lawmakers to make progress on global warming.

***

This report was furnished by the Center for American Progress at www.americanprogress.org (http://www.americanprogress.org/) and I receive their daily column "Talking Points" which you can access at the site and also choose to receive in your inbox. I'm pleased that they concentrated on the Climate meeting in Montreal and gave their progressive view of it along with their usual attributions. I love this site!

TALKING POINTS
Standing Alone on Climate Change (http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=699965&ct=1722413)

Boomer Chick

12-12-2005, 09:42 AM

I'm impressed with this thoughtful solutions statement by the Amercian Progress team:

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=306503

Boomer Chick

12-12-2005, 09:50 AM

TALKING POINTS Standing Alone on Climate Change (http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=699965&ct=1722413)

OH! I see we're on another page! So I'm reposting the American Progress page on Climate Change! It's chock full of information, just in case you missed it as the last post on the previous page.

Looking forward to postings on the reactions to the Montreal Climate meeting.

Boomer Chick

12-12-2005, 10:35 AM

Google Alert for: global warming

US Isolated by Stance on Global Warming (http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/12/11/ap2383657.html)
Forbes - USA
... the world, and cause for frustration among many nations that believe the United States has set a glacial pace toward reversing the onset of global warming. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/12/11/ap2383657.html)

US Isolated by Stance on Global Warming (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1395597)
ABC News - USA
... and others Friday that the Bush administration is "flat wrong" in claiming that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions to fight global warming would damage the US ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory%3Fid%3D1395597)

World Moves Forward on Global Warming, Bush Administration Stays ... (http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/11854/)
Kansas City infoZine - Kansas City,MO,USA
Montreal - infoZine - In a major step forward in the fight against global warming, industrial nations other than the United States and Australia agreed early ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/11854/)

Global warming of a global village (http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-optay104546997dec11,0,5939567.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines)
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
... The 156 signers of the Kyoto global warming treaty ended their meetings in Montreal on Friday with China and India, the two giants of the developing world ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-optay104546997dec11,0,5939567.story%3Fcoll%3Dny-viewpoints-headlines)

Laina Farhat-Holzman: Prepare for global warming; it's on its way (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/December/11/edit/stories/05edit.htm)
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Santa Cruz,CA,USA
2, "Global Warming Protests Planned." Activists demand urgent action on global warming and will take to the streets. ... No, global warming is not a funny matter. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/December/11/edit/stories/05edit.htm)

Golden State aims to combat pollution, global warming (http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/05/news051211_2.htm)
Durango Herald - Durango,CO,USA
... Arnold Schwarzenegger and passed Nov. 21 by a state energy panel aims to combat the Golden State's contribution to global warming. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp%3Farticle_type%3Dnews%26art icle_path%3D/news/05/news051211_2.htm)

Land-use impact discovered in global warming (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3298451)
Denver Post - Denver,CO,USA
... much as extra greenhouse gases do. In Colorado, turning woodlands to wheat may counteract global warming, according to a new study. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3298451)

The US isolated at talks on global warming (http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=25&newsid=63236)
Daily Nation (subscription) - Nairobi,Kenya
... He and a horde of oil industry buddies sneer at the myth of global warming. The lot can argue industries didn't exist then. Myth confirmed. ...

Global warming (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/373717p-317730c.html)
New York Daily News - New York,NY,USA
It's not really happening. Fact: There's overwhelming scientific evidence that the Earth's atmosphere is warming. It's part of a ...
Couple practice what they preach on global warming (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/11/couple_practice_what_they_preach_on_global_warming )
Boston Globe - United States
... or about 320 miles, to be more exact -- to show their concern about world climate change by representing the Sierra Club at a global environmental conference ...

Boomer Chick

12-12-2005, 10:42 AM

Another new and interesting climate change site:

http://www.climatemash.org/

Boomer Chick

12-12-2005, 10:43 AM

http://www.climatemash.org/files/lyrics.pdf

This pdf contains more information than just the lyrics. It offers a full rundown on the architects of opposition to controlling our GGs!

whitemajikman

12-12-2005, 11:25 AM

December 12, 2005

The two-week United Nations Climate Change conference ended on December 9 with the United States standing apart from the rest of the world on climate change. In the face of strong evidence that the climate is changing, the Bush administration has stalled and rejected international agreements to reduce global warming pollution. From not signing Kyoto in 2001 to walking out of talks this weekend, the Bush administration continues to be out of step with the world, choosing politics over sound policy.

Whats The Big Deal......?

Bush has Chosen to commit Global Political Suicide.....

This is Just One more Instance of that fact.......

The More Bush Decides to Isolate America from the the Rest Of The World and their Views on Climate Change The more the World Wakes up to his Insanity......

Let's be honest here Boomer.......

Bush Has Made America The Most Hated Nation On The Planet......

And Has Put Americans in Jeapardy for years to come.........

Also When You allow a guy Like Chris Horner to try and affect reality by using deception and Propaganda, What does that say about the Bush Administration and where it is Headed....?

Horner posed as a journalist. With press credentials from the right-wing Washington Times, Horner appeared at the State Department's press briefing for U.S. journalists on Dec. 7, without even a notebook, according to Andrew Buncombe of the Independent, who was also at the briefing. Instead of questioning the White House's position on climate change, Horner attempted to portray the U.S. position as leading the "new consensus."

"New Concensus"........?

Whoms Concensus, The Bush Spindoctors? The Bush Propaganda Mill? Because Realistically it is not the Consensus Of The Rest Of The World.

But What Is Evident Is The Fact That If Bush Were To Take A Stand Against Climate Change...... His Visions Of Global Hegemony and Those of his Supporters would be all put to rest.

Because the days of Plundering others Natural Resources would have to cease, and REAL alternatives to fossil fuel Would Have To Be Implemented......

Up To This Point .......The "Oilman" President only cares about HIS Lifetime And The Riches He Can amass in HIS Lifetime.........

But The Problem Then Becomes More Complex.......

Because If Bush Is Willing to SELL OUT the FUTURE of America by doing Nothing........

What other aspects of AMERICA and it's FUTURE is He willing to SELL OUT........??

And Then Another question Pops To Mind......

Does Bush and his Supporters Really Care About AMERICA and AMERICANS or has he bought into Global Elitism and The New World Order................?

WMM

Boomer Chick

12-13-2005, 04:34 PM

December 12, 2005

Whats The Big Deal......?

Bush has Chosen to commit Global Political Suicide.....yes, he's not thinking about our reputation and about getting along in the world... a very selfish and bullying kind of regime

This is Just One more Instance of that fact.......yup

The More Bush Decides to Isolate America from the the Rest Of The World and their Views on Climate Change The more the World Wakes up to his Insanity......

Let's be honest here Boomer.......Yes? I'm listening....

Bush Has Made America The Most Hated Nation On The Planet......YUP!

And Has Put Americans in Jeapardy for years to come.........Not if we can help it!

Also When You allow a guy Like Chris Horner to try and affect reality by using deception and Propaganda, What does that say about the Bush Administration and where it is Headed....? Manipulative assholes?

"New Concensus"........?

WhomsWhose Concensus, The Bush Spindoctors? No.The Bush Propaganda Mill? Because Realistically it is not the Consensus Of The Rest Of The World.Definately not. More of our citizens and most of the world's citizens see the reality. Don't worry.....they're going down.

But What Is Evident Is The Fact That If Bush Were To Take A Stand Against Climate Change...... His Visions Of Global Hegemony and Those of his Supporters would be all put to rest.Well, the visions and goals are delusional anyway. The only way to enter this new century is to enter it in partnership and cooperation with the rest of the world. Not the opposite. It's a foolhardy and mistaken delusion to think they could control and dominate the world.

Because the days of Plundering others Natural Resources would have to cease, and REAL alternatives to fossil fuel Would Have To Be Implemented......yes

Up To This Point .......The "Oilman" President only cares about HIS Lifetime And The Riches He Can amass in HIS Lifetime.........yes and keeping his country and his companies going strong with lots of oil and energy... not to mention the money flowing into the party coffers.

But The Problem Then Becomes More Complex.......

Because If Bush Is Willing to SELL OUT the FUTURE of America by doing Nothing........yes?

What other aspects of AMERICA and it's FUTURE is He willing to SELL OUT........?? precisely? I already thought about that regarding 911.

And Then Another question Pops To Mind......

Does Bush and his Supporters Really Care About AMERICA and AMERICANS or has he bought into Global Elitism and The New World Order................? Doesn't seem as though they do except for their companies and their interests in certain individuals and companies....the rest of the population and other businesses can fend for themselves as far as they're concerned.

WMM

Happy Holidays!

Boomer Chick

12-13-2005, 04:37 PM

Google Alert for: global warming

Montreal global warming conference shows US is part of the problem ... (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/3520354.html)
Houston Chronicle - United States
As the accumulating scientific evidence has forced President Bush to acknowledge global warming as a proposition of when rather than if, US negotiators at the ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/3520354.html)

Global Warming Is the 'Real Thing,' Says Ad Featuring Polar Bears (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200512%5 CCUL20051213a.html)
CNSNews.com - Alexandria,VA,USA
By Susan Jones. (CNSNews.com) - "Polar bears may soon be extinct because of global warming." That's the message from Greenpeace USA, which is launching a ...

Keene's global-warming fight praised (http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Keene's%20global-warming%20fight%20praised&articleId=643d1e81-f6b9-4ce7-a97a-d28e12c562b8)
The Union Leader - Manchester,NH,USA
... The city of Keene has achieved international recognition for its efforts to do what it can to cut greenhouse gases and slow the spread of global warming. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx%3Fheadline%3DKeene's%2520global-warming%2520fight%2520praised%26articleId%3D643d1e 81-f6b9-4ce7-a97a-d28e12c562b8)

Global Warming -- A Partial Cure that Needs Help (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/12/prweb321898.htm)
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
... What are they really doing, if a product that can make such a vital impact on the "Global Warming" situation, is not being used by the people who are supposed ...

Water policies needed to meet challenges of warming: Aziz: Meeting ... (http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/13/top3.htm)
Pakistan Dawn - Karachi,Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz called for proactive water policies in order to meet global warming by making sure that an adequate quantity of ...

Bush Was Right to Reject Global Warming Pact (http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=10810)
Human Events - USA
... The government did, however, agree to engage in "open and nonbinding" discussions with 200 other nations on global warming and carbon dioxide emissions. ...

Blogging Global Warming (http://www.nationalcenter.org/2005/12/blogging-global-warming.html)
The National Center for Public Policy Research - Washington,DC,USA
Considerettes And a note to Jane: For our last year audited (2004), 97 percent of our funding came from gifts from individuals, 1.2% from foundation/non-profit ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.nationalcenter.org/2005/12/blogging-global-warming.html)

Scientists Say Global Warming Causing Migration In Yosemite (http://www.mymotherlode.com/News/article/kvml/1134490246)
MyMotherLode.com - Sonora,CA,USA
Yosemite National Park, CA -- Scientists studying Yosemite National Park's wildlife say the effects of global warming may be forcing several animal species to ...

Global warming: It's not too late (http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/13/opinion/edhansen.php)
International Herald Tribune - France
SAN FRANCISCO The Earth's temperature, with rapid global warming over the past 30 years, is now passing through the peak level of the Holocene, a period of ...
Panel to combat epidemics induced by global warming (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20051213b6.htm)
The Japan Times - Japan
... a special advisory panel to look into diseases that may become epidemics in the near future as temperatures rise in Japan due to global warming, according to ...

foot_soldier

12-14-2005, 08:48 PM

December 14, 2005

Have a Hot, Dry, Stormy Life, Kid
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1214-28.htm

(Originally published in the International Herald Tribune)

Ottawa (Canada) -- My wife and I recently became empty-nesters. Our children moved out, and we began to think of downsizing. But climate change is forcing us to reconsider. My children may need shelter yet.

The thousands of delegates who attended the United Nations conference on climate change in Montreal, which concluded on Dec. 9, reinforced the fact that after some 20 years of debate, the threat of climate change is indisputable and pervasive.

To be sure, climate is not static. It has always changed over time. But this is the first time that humans have been the principal drivers of such change. In heating our homes or propelling ourselves across our planet, we are contributing to the rate of change.

And because there are so many of us, we are now using energy in unprecedented amounts. We are converting carbon stored in coal and oil into atmospheric gases, and the increased carbon dioxide along with other gases in the atmosphere traps heat. The conveniences we use today have serious consequences for our children and grandchildren.

What if one ignores all this and says, If my children are affected, I will provide for them. If they are living in areas likely to be flooded or afflicted by severe droughts, or if they must escape conflicts over resources, or lose their jobs or run out of food, I will take them in, and their children, and maybe even some of their friends.

Those with children living in low-lying areas of the world, and particularly in hurricane-prone regions, must definitely start making plans now. Ocean waters are rising, and storms of increased intensity and frequency are already upon us. The displaced people of New Orleans are still looking for a semblance of normalcy and stability. Island states in the Pacific are building up walls that are probably as vulnerable to breeching as the Louisiana levees.

Oceans are changing. The algae in the seas are absorbing some of the excessive carbon in the air, but as they do so, the acidity of the oceans is rising. You may recall from your chemistry class how calcium carbonate fizzes when acid is poured on it. Shellfish do poorly in acidic waters, so there goes the shrimp, crab and lobster fishing industries. What will your children eat when they move in with you?

In the past, mountain glaciers melted in the warm summer months and were replenished with winter snowfalls, providing a regular source of water downstream. Urban centers expanded, farmlands were irrigated and oil production was enhanced by the water pumped into the ground.

However, as glaciers recede and disappear, water will become scarce, droughts will increase and farm crops will fail. The ice on Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro is already gone. Conflicts are inevitable, as we cannot live without water; I hope you will have some for your children to drink.

Diseases and pests that have been kept in check by limiting temperatures are on the move. Forest-killing beetles are eating their way across areas never touched before in British Columbia and now Alberta. The forests of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario await them. Forestry jobs are at risk, and the dead trees heighten the risk of fires; if your children will be affected, better make some room.

If all that is not enough, polar ice caps are melting and are expected to release a plug of cold, fresh water that could drastically affect ocean currents. Moderating currents like the Gulf Stream will be abruptly deflected, leaving northern countries in the cold and contributing to drought. Wherever they live, our children will have to burn more fossil fuels, perpetuating the problems we are creating for them.

If you are still smug about global warming, I would like to know where you live. I need to move to this safe haven and wait for my children to arrive, along with other displaced people.

Just think of the level of investment we will need to secure this zone. I can't help believing that any measures we can take now would be justified if it will help avoid such chaos in the future. That would enable us to downsize, and to stop using up fuel to heat my empty nest.

Nikita Lopoukhine, formerly director general of national parks in Canada, is chairman of the World Commission on Protected Areas of the World Conservation Union.

halva

12-14-2005, 09:55 PM

bump

Boomer Chick

12-15-2005, 09:40 AM

"It's Not Too Late" Hansen

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/13/opinion/edhansen.php

jayreynolds

12-15-2005, 09:28 PM

"Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after; so that when men come to be undeceived it is too late: the jest is over and the tale has had its effect."- Swift

]2epo]v[an

12-15-2005, 09:35 PM

flashy way of saying slander.

Boomer Chick

12-16-2005, 10:42 PM

"Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after; so that when men come to be undeceived it is too late: the jest is over and the tale has had its effect."- Swift

Indeed. Jonathan Swift. A wise and talented political satire wit with a keen eye for truth.

Boomer Chick

12-16-2005, 10:43 PM

Google Alert for: global warming

Global warming to persist until 2050, scientists predict (http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1532962.htm)
ABC Online - Australia
... And scientists meeting in Sydney today to discuss global warming say urgent action must be taken, even to make a difference in the medium term, as Paula Kruger ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1532962.htm)

Act locally on global warming (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13419088.htm)
Miami Herald - FL,USA
... In nearly every language, a graphic representation of the global conscience, the display dramatically called for unified action to stop global-warming pollution ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13419088.htm)

Warming Globally, Acting Locally (http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051216/warming_globally_acting_locally.php)
TomPaine.com - Washington,D.C.,USA
At least a few American news publications have dubbed President Bush the modern day Nero for his inattentiveness to global warming and his obstructionism at ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051216/warming_globally_acting_locally.php)

GLOBAL WARMING THREATENS SANTA CLAUS (http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20051215125704787)
Infoshop News - USA
As global warming melts his Arctic homes, Rudolph and his brother and sister reindeer are under threat, along with - polar bears, ice-dwelling seals and ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php%3Fstory%3D20051215125704787)

Global warming will force Santa into waterwings: WWF (http://www.maconareaonline.com/news.asp?id=12842)
Macon Area Online - Macon,GA,USA
LONDON (Reuters) - Santa Claus may have to swap his sleigh for waterwings sooner than expected as global warming melts his Arctic home, environmental group WWF ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.maconareaonline.com/news.asp%3Fid%3D12842)

Conference puts focus on global warming threat (http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412126)
Indian Country Today - Canastota,NY,USA
... in Montreal in early December. The 11-day conference was a UN initiative to encourage preventive measures against global warming. ...
See all stories on this topic (http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm%3Fid%3D1096412126)

Now women blame men for global warming (http://www.monitor.co.ug/fullwoman/fwoman12179.php)
The Monitor, Uganda - Kampala,Uganda
... Change Conference in Montreal, Canada one spokesman for a feminist-based environmental group accused men of being the biggest contributors to "global warming". ...
US voluntarily polices itself on global warming (http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15766424&BRD=2288&PAG=461&dept_id=475590&rfi=6)
MyWestTexas.com - Midland,TX,USA
... last week by the Associated Press that may have been of little note around the world, but it could be a sign of things to come on the global warming front. ...

Boomer Chick

12-20-2005, 09:13 AM

ACTION PAGE: http://www.millionphonemarch.com/anwr.htm (http://www.millionphonemarch.com/anwr.htm)

It's now or never if we want to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the White House and Republican leaders in Congress are stacking the odds against us.

if (wtv) { document.write(''); document.write(''); }They're using underhanded procedural tactics to sneak through legislation to destroy the Arctic Refuge. Now they want to sneak ANWR back in through the Defense Bill. Maria Cantwell has declared she will lead a filibuster. Will we support her or not?

These votes will decide the fate of the Refuge. It's no time to be sitting on the sidelines. We have to make our voice heard in this debate on Capitol Hill, and if we lose the vote there, we have to make sure we don't lose the debate across America.

Tell your Senators to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!

s1 = "";s2 = "";r1 = "";You can call your members of Congress right now on one of these toll-free numbers, 888-818-6641 or 888-355-3588. There are operators on duty 24 hours a day. Just ask to be connected to your member of the house of representatives and they'll put you through.document.write(aplook) If you don't know who they all are, or want all their direct phone and fax numbers, just submit the simple form on the right, to get all their numbers right down to their district offices, right here on this page:

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are currently rising one percent year, while the ice caps melt and we see unprecedented hurricane violence already. The insanity of putting every atom of carbon since prehistoric times back into the atmosphere must stop! Instead we must get serious about conservation and have a crash program to develop renewable energy sources.

***

AMEN!

jayreynolds

12-20-2005, 07:02 PM

Tuesday, December 20, 2005 · Last updated 2:44 p.m. PT

For Stevens, drilling in Alaska is personal payback

By LAURIE KELLMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- The Incredible Hulk appeared Tuesday on the Senate floor, adorning the necktie of Sen. Ted Stevens - a familiar sign that the veteran from Alaska is pumped for the fight to open part of an arctic wildlife refuge to oil drilling.

But to hear his colleagues tell it, Stevens is more like the Grinch who would steal Christmas - and New Year's, if need be - to collect on his end of a vote-swapping deal he struck with two Democrats 25 years ago.

"A promise made is a debt unpaid," Stevens, 82, is fond of repeating. "This is a debt unpaid to this Senate, to the country, to Alaska."

Back in 1980, the deal went like this: Vote yes on setting aside 19 million acres of wilderness, said Sens. Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Washington and Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts, and Congress will support permission to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Stevens agreed. Tsongas and Jackson, meanwhile, died before Congress could grant permission to drill.

Their debt survives, Stevens insists. And he's playing procedural hardball to make the Senate pay up.

"We're going to have to face up to ANWR either now or Christmas Day or New Year's Eve or sometime," Stevens thundered from the Senate floor Tuesday, bucking criticism from drilling opponents furious that he succeeded in attaching the drilling permission to a must-pass bill to fund the military.

Off the floor, Stevens acknowledged he has little to lose by muscling opponents into this uncomfortable choice: Vote for a bill that allows arctic drilling or be seen as blocking money for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, new aid for hurricane victims and subsidies to help the poor meet what are expected to be record winter heating bills.

"This is the toughest battle I've ever had," Stevens said Tuesday, a senatorial red handkerchief perched in a jacket pocket just inches from his surly alter ego.

The big green guy on the necktie is famous in the Senate for injecting a bit of playfulness into spending fights during Stevens' years chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee. "I've won every other battle with it on, so I'm wearing it for this one," Stevens said.

All-night sessions and a list of stalled bills have left little humor on Capitol Hill as the clock ticks toward the end of the year.

"This is, after all, Christmas!" Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., complained on the Senate floor.

The showdown vote could come as early as Wednesday.

The 1980 law doubled to 19 million acres the size of the Alaska wildlife refuge. Stevens said he supported that law only after Jackson and Tsongas promised him that Congress would later consider allowing drilling on a 1.5 million-acre tract bordering the Beaufort Sea.

Democrats disagreed on whether current senators are obligated to pay what Stevens calls a "debt" owed him by Jackson and Tsongas.

"The Grinch Who Stole the Defense Bill," they called Stevens in a news release put out Tuesday by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

"Every Sen. in Washington liked the defense bill a lot," they added, channeling Dr. Seuss. "But Stevens, who lives north, in Alaska, did NOT."

Boomer Chick

12-24-2005, 04:08 PM

Posted on Fri, Dec. 23, 2005
The devil in the deep blue sea
BY ANTHONY R. WOOD
Knight Ridder Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA - Hundreds of miles from any land, the waters of the North Atlantic suddenly developed an oddly deep-blue hue and turned incongruously warm. Patches of peculiar brown seaweed rode the surface, and the ocean brewed mild, damp winds that the muscular 20-year-old could feel on his skin.

To the sailor, Benjamin Franklin, it was a puzzle, one that would baffle and bedevil him for decades. It would take him 40 years to figure out what he had encountered back in 1726. He had crossed a moving, meandering mass of warm water, 300 times stronger than the flow of all the rivers emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. It was a force more powerful than a million nuclear plants.

Franklin would call it "the Gulf Stream," following the lead of generations of whalers. It was a current that over the centuries would conspire to scuttle countless hundreds of ships, hurtle a boatload of Florida-bound Haitian refugees to Nova Scotia, and, more recently, deposit tropical fish on the shores of New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Scientists now know that Franklin had crossed a climate divide, one that made the weather of the New World as different from the Old as the Delaware from the Thames. In the 17th century, William Penn had marveled how the Philadelphia sun was stronger and the days longer, yet the winter air more biting than London's - 700 miles farther north.

Today, scientists worry that the world is crossing yet another climate divide. They see disturbing evidence of change. All of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1990; after Katrina set new standards for devastation, the hurricane season that ended 19 days ago went on to exhaust the alphabet; water temperatures in the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico have been near record highs; Arctic ice is melting at alarming rates.

Scientists see signs that the grand North Atlantic "conveyor belt," the marvelously complex system that exports the equator's heat toward the North Pole and helps balance the planet's temperature, may be slowing.

"This is going to be one of the big issues facing humans in this century," says Ruth Curry, a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

The North Atlantic has become a hot ocean for global-warming research, and the narrow but potent ribbon of current known as the Gulf Stream is at center stage.

Just what is this mysterious force, and why is it so important?

Only in the last generation have scientists come to a deeper understanding of the stream. Now they have a new urgency to find answers - answers that don't come easily, for the stream has been reluctant to give up its secrets.

It has prowled the Atlantic for 60 million years, as inscrutable as it is magnificent.
---

In the 1760s, about 40 years after that first encounter with the mysterious blue water, Franklin was in London serving as deputy postmaster for the colonies - and doing so with the same imagination and energy that he apparently applied to everything.

He had recently introduced an important innovation, a fleet of "packet ships" to deliver mail across the Atlantic. Unlike the heavy cargo ships that didn't leave port until they were full, the packets adhered to schedules. The packets were also lighter and faster than the freighters and used smaller crews.

But a mysterious force was outwitting the great innovator. Inexplicably, the cargo ships were completing the mail runs to the colonies 17 days quicker than the packets. Franklin was flummoxed.

He was told that some of the captains were dawdling because they were unhappy with their pay. He sought a second opinion from his cousin, Timothy Folger, a Nantucket whaling captain and dealer in sperm-whale oil who frequently visited London on business.

"Can you explain this?" Franklin asked.

"Easily", Folger said.

Unlike the savvy freighter captains, the British packet captains obviously knew nothing about the Gulf Stream, which was the lifeblood of his whale hunters. The borders flanking the swift, steady current worked for whales like a superhighway, complete with rest stops. Plankton flourished at the boundaries of warm and cold water. Fish ate the plankton. Whales ate the fish.

In following their quarry, Folger's whalers were tracing the outlines of the Gulf Stream. The whalers often ran into British packet captains, who evidently were no match for the whales in terms of navigational intelligence. They were trying to buck the stream.

Even with a favorable breeze, Folger told his cousin, "they are carried back by the current more than they are forwarded by the wind." If the mail packets got caught in the stream, that would explain why it took them so long to make deliveries.

Folger's whalers often advised the British captains to get out of the current that they called the Gulf Stream, "but they were too wise to be counseled by simple American fishermen."

The British captains had their reasons for following such a circuitous route to reach New York, says Yale Franklin-ologist Ellen R. Cohn. They sailed so far south to avoid the treacherous shoals of Georges Banks off the New England coast, but had no idea of the east-flowing trap that awaited them on that course. They were following an unaltered British sailing manual published 70 years before.

Franklin threw the book away.

Boomer Chick

12-24-2005, 04:13 PM

Now, with its outlines sketched by the whales, the Gulf Stream sat for its first serious portrait. Franklin and Folger drew up a remarkably accurate chart whose mean path closely parallels that shown by satellite data today. Franklin included detailed information on how to stay out of the stream's way.

It was a prodigious achievement. Before Franklin's chart, the Gulf Stream had ambushed countless merchant seamen and pirates, but whatever they learned they kept to themselves, eager to keep their competitive advantage in the new global economy.

How valuable that chart would have been to legions of Franklin's predecessors. In 1497, John and Sebastian Cabot might have kept their beer cold. Instead, the current warmed the precious cargo in the ship's hold. Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon might have avoided major frustration. He bumped into the Gulf Stream in 1513, discovering to his dismay that a favorable wind was no match for the stream as he tried to sail against the northbound current off the Florida coast.

Once Franklin figured out the Gulf Stream, he could not leave it alone. Ultimately, his pioneering measurements laid the groundwork for generations of researchers who would try to peel away the stream's deepest secrets.
---

On April 28, 1775, with the fate of the 13 colonies in the balance, Franklin was on his way to France looking to enlist help for the burgeoning Revolution. Along the way, he decided to do something that would change the course of history - climate history.

In the company of two of his grandchildren, he carefully lowered a thermometer into the ocean at 8 a.m. on April 29. He noted an 11-degree jump in water temperatures, from 60 degrees 14 hours earlier to 71 degrees. He knew he was in the Gulf Stream.

Franklin took his measurements four to six times a day, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., until May 2. He would take similar readings every time he crossed the big current.

"I find that it is always warmer than the sea on each side of it," he observed to a French colleague. His advice to captains: Keep a thermometer handy, and use it diligently.

Franklin took measurements whenever he had the opportunity. Seventy years later, Franklin's great-grandson Alexander D. Bache persuaded the U.S. government to take systematic measurements.

The Gulf Stream's true identity would be slow to unfold; key insights came through a series of impressive efforts in the 20th century.

Prince Albert of Monaco, who lived in a resort kingdom where winter was unknown - although it was at a latitude 200 miles north of Philadelphia - had a Franklinesque curiosity. An avid oceanographer, he dropped glass bottles, copper balls and wooden barrels into the ocean from his yacht in the early 1900s. Inside them, he would place requests in 10 languages asking people to report where the objects were found. It is estimated that he sent 1,500 such devices into the North Atlantic.

The returns were startling. The trails of the bottles revealed that the Gulf Stream was part of a wild system of spinning currents. So detailed was his analysis that by the time the First World War ended, he was able to forecast the paths of drifting sea mines.

Oceanographers were getting smarter about the behavior of the Gulf Stream, yet by the mid-20th century, their understanding of what set it in motion was still seriously lacking.
---

The brilliant Henry Stommel changed all that. "Why do our ideas about the ocean circulation have such a peculiarly dreamlike quality?" he once asked. In 1948, he took the Gulf Stream out of the dream world.

Stommel came up with equations to explain why the stream was where it was and why it was so swift.

Despite its name, it is not exactly a stream. It is the western flank of an enormous circle of water, or gyre, in the Atlantic. The center of the gyre, however, is well west of the center of the ocean.

Stommel explained why the western side of an ocean basin is different from the eastern side. The planet's spin creates forces that drive currents toward the west. The Gulf Stream is forced through a narrow channel between the gyre's center and the continent, so it flows rapidly. The water to the east of the center, with more room to spread out, drifts to the south leisurely.

Stommel correctly predicted that similar currents would be found in other ocean basins. His Gulf Stream work earned him the title of the father of modern oceanography.

For an encore, he postulated that the Gulf Stream was withholding another secret. It was moving atop a cold, deepwater current that returned toward the equator. Float devices proved him correct. Warm water was transported northward. It cooled, sank, and returned southward in the deep ocean.

The term "conveyor belt for this didn't surface until the mid-1980s, yet Stommel had described this important piece of the oceanic circulation that helps the planet retain its temperature balance.

The Gulf Stream was more than an obstruction or aid to navigation. It was a key piece of the climate puzzle.

Thanks in large measure to the Gulf Stream, the Atlantic transports more heat northward than the Pacific, even though the Pacific is three times bigger. The explanation has to do with one of the most prosaic substances on Earth: salt.

Salt makes water heavier, and the Atlantic is saltier than the Pacific. Heavier water sinks faster. The sinking in the far North Atlantic pulls more warm water northward, and that keeps the conveyor moving. Climate researchers worry mightily over the fate of the conveyor. They know that the Gulf Stream holds important clues, but the elusive, ever-restless stream isn't making it easy for them.