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Xlea321
Stranger
Registered: 02/25/01
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US climate policy
#2230284 - 01/09/04 02:37 AM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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'US climate policy bigger threat to world than terrorism' By Steve Connor, Science Editor 09 January 2004
Tony Blair's chief scientist has launched a withering attack on President George Bush for failing to tackle climate change, which he says is more serious than terrorism.
Sir David King, the Government's chief scientific adviser, says in an article today in the journal Science that America, the world's greatest polluter, must take the threat of global warming more seriously.
"In my view, climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism," Sir David says.
The Bush administration was wrong to pull out of the Kyoto protocol, the international effort to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, and wrong to imply the protocol could adversely affect the US economy, Sir David says. "As the world's only remaining superpower, the United States is accustomed to leading internationally co-ordinated action. But the US government is failing to take up the challenge of global warming.
"The Bush administration's strategy relies largely on market-based incentives and voluntary action ... But the market cannot decide that mitigation is necessary, nor can it establish the basic international framework in which all actors can take their place."
Results of a major study showed yesterday that more than a million species will become extinct as a result of global warming over the next 50 years. Sir David says the Bush administration is wrong to dispute the reality of global warming. The 10 hottest years on record started in 1991 and, worldwide, average temperatures had risen by 0.6C in the past century.
Sea levels were rising, ice caps were melting and flooding had become more frequent. The Thames barrier was used about once a year in the 1980s to protect London but now it was used more than six times a year.
"If we could stabilise the atmosphere's carbon dioxide concentration at some realistically achievable and relatively low level, there is still a good chance of mitigating the worst effects of climate change."
But countries such as Britain could not solve the problem of global warming in isolation, particularly when the US was by far the biggest producer of greenhouse gases on the planet. "The United Kingdom is responsible for only 2 per cent of the world's emissions, the United States for more than 20 per cent (although it contains only 4 per cent of the world's population)," Sir David says.
"The United States is already in the forefront of the science and technology of global change, and the next step is surely to tackle emissions control too. We can overcome this challenge only by facing it together, shoulder to shoulder. We in the rest of the world are now looking to the US to play its leading part."
Advisers to President Bush have suggested climate change is a natural phenomenon and criticised climate researchers for suggesting that rises in global temperatures are the result of man-made emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
But Sir David says the "causal link" between man-made emissions and global warming is well-established and scientists cannot explain the general warming trend over the past century without invoking human-induced effects.
President Bush has said more research on global warming is needed before the US will consider the sort of action needed to comply with the Kyoto protocol, but Sir David says that by then it could be too late. "Delaying action for decades, or even just years, is not a serious option. I am firmly convinced that if we do not begin now, more substantial, more disruptive, and more expensive change will be needed later on."
Britain is committed to cutting its emissions of greenhouse gases by 60 per cent from 1990 levels by around 2050 and believes other developed countries, such as the US, should follow suit. Bush officials say that would damage their economy and provide an unfair advantage to the country's international competitors. But Sir David says that it is a "myth" that reducing greenhouse gas emissions makes us poorer. "Taking action to tackle climate change can create economic opportunities and higher living standards," he says.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=479418
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Azmodeus
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Re: US climate policy [Re: Xlea321]
#2231158 - 01/09/04 01:15 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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Global warming is a conspiracy theory....
-------------------- "Know your Body - Know your Mind - Know your Substance - Know your Source. Lest we forget. "
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Rono
DSYSB since '01
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Re: US climate policy [Re: Azmodeus]
#2231221 - 01/09/04 01:36 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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-------------------- "Life has never been weird enough for my liking"
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barfightlard
tales of theinexpressible
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Re: US climate policy [Re: Xlea321]
#2231810 - 01/09/04 05:28 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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Even CNN had a little thing on global warming. Though they didn't talk about it much because who wants to hear about the extinction of 1/3 of earths wild life when they can watch koby being booed at his first game back.
-------------------- "What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, say, think, who I fuck, what I take into my body - as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet?" - Bill Hicks
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d33p
Welcome to Violence
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Re: US climate policy [Re: Xlea321]
#2232053 - 01/09/04 07:19 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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So when did they go back in time to get an accurate reading of the all the temps in the Earth's history to be sure we are not just following a familiar pattern.
Quote:
The greenhouse effect is a myth, and there have been extensive and complete, careful measurements which show absolutely NO increase in the average global temperature. The ones usually used in promoting this concept are based on incomplete sampling. Global warming does not exist. In fact there are so many buffers in the atmosphere that it can't happen, even if the CO2 increased hundreds of times over.
First of all, the CO2 content in the atmosphere is only a very tiny amount, about 300 parts per million. This CO2 stays in the air in equilibrium with the CO2 dissolved in the oceans. Since CO2 has a very steep curve of solubility in water, the amount in the air is critically dependent upon the sea surface temperatures (cold rain falling is an excellent CO2 scrubber). World CO2 measurements have traditionally been based on the levels tested in the air at Mona Kea Observatory in Hawaii. The charts of the levels fluctuate seasonally, rising in the summer and falling in the winter. If the levels are compared to the actual sea surface temperature measurements taken at Hilo, which is at the base of Mona Kea, the seasonal variations are seen to track exactly with the temperature. Even the gradual increase over time is duplicated in the temperature reading, as the average temperature at Hilo has been rising in exact lock step with the rise in the Mona Kea CO2 levels. (The charts of these measurement are easily available, making this a trivial exercise if you wish to verify my statements).
Burning fossil fuels is probably one of the most important aids to the life cycle on this oxygen-rich, carbon-poor planet that man can do. Most of the primeval carbon is locked away in the oil and coal deposits formed over the ages by cell death of the phytoplankton (diatoms), which created the oxygen-rich environment by decarboxylating the CO2 in the primitive atmosphere. The limits placed on CO2 are unreasonable and impede the creation of wealth which benefits everyone, and are harmful to the plant life at the same time.
credit goes to bear
Many of the scientist who now claim global warming were crying an ice age only 30 years ago. Many still believe that the unearthing of carbon rocks in himalayans(not sure if these) could cause an ice age.
-------------------- I'm a nihilist. Lets be friends. bang bang
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Xlea321
Stranger
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Re: US climate policy [Re: d33p]
#2232704 - 01/10/04 02:37 AM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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"Sir David says the "causal link" between man-made emissions and global warming is well-established and scientists cannot explain the general warming trend over the past century without invoking human-induced effects."
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carbonhoots
old hand
Registered: 09/11/01
Posts: 1,351
Loc: BC Canada
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Re: US climate policy [Re: d33p]
#2233977 - 01/10/04 09:35 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
the CO2 content in the atmosphere is only a very tiny amount, about 300 parts per million.
The CO2 content of the air has risen from about 315PPM in the 1950's to above 365PPM by the late 1990's...this is pure observed fact.
The emissions of CO2 are only accelerating...
These slut 'scientists' who claim we can emit all the CO2 we desire and face no consequences are guilty of misleading the weakminded masses... to detrimental consequences for mankind.
Just cuz Dick-Head Cheney and his friends make zillions off oil we have to sacrifice the earth for them.
Maybe it is evolution...erasing a glitch in it's progress...a few greedy apples spoiling the basket for the rest of us humans...
If that's true, I do hope George Bush wins in 2004...a leader like him should help to accelerate this cleansing process...
-------------------- -I'd rather have a frontal lobotomy than a bottle in front of me CANADIAN CENTER FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES
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d33p
Welcome to Violence
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Well i guess that makes "owsley" a slut scientist But i wonder what were the exact conditions and tempertures they took those 40 year apart reading. And you still gotta watch out with that ice age.
-------------------- I'm a nihilist. Lets be friends. bang bang
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Tao
Village Genius
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Re: US climate policy [Re: d33p]
#2235902 - 01/11/04 11:56 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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youre just plain ignorant on this issue d33p.
findings of the IPCC (THE CONSENSUS OF 99.9% OF ALL CLIMATOLOGISTS ON EARTH): www.ipcc.ch
and perhaps my favorite, the findings of the BUSH-COMMISSIONED study: http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/climate/2002-06-03-epa-report.htm
your arguments just spouting back what youve been told by bush and other republicans because you happen to agree with other views held by them. think for yourself for god's sake. your 'science' reminds me of those who argue that evolution hasn't been 'proven'. (don't get me started on that please)
-------------------- Magash's Grain Tek + Tub-in-Tub Incubator + Magash's PMP + SBP Tek + Dunking = Practically all a newbie grower needs
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white_light
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Re: US climate policy [Re: Tao]
#2237064 - 01/12/04 12:48 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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"The scientists were wrong 30 years ago, so they are wrong now." argument is completely illogical.
The truth is, who the fuck knows? The bottom line is we haven't been keeping track of global temperature trends for long enough to know if the current rise (and there IS a rise) in temperature and CO2 is artificial or not. As far as the reputable scientists are concerned, there is a solid theory that the increased CO2 will cause a rise in temperature. Should we bank on the possibility that they are wrong?
To me the sad thing is that most people need the threat of apocalyptic global catastrophe to see that driving around one person per SUV is maybe not the best thing to do. It's wasteful, anti-social, and absolutely murderous. People die by the car all the time. It's ridiculous that these deaths are blamed on ice and alchohol when the real killer is the vehicle. It's no "accident" that you chose to get in your car. Time to make transportation safe and efficient, people.
(not that cars are the ONLY producer of greenhouse gasses)
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muhurgle
Turtles all theway down
Registered: 10/29/03
Posts: 299
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Re: US climate policy [Re: Xlea321]
#2237074 - 01/12/04 12:56 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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I know nothing about the climate, but I think it's funny that the greatest supporters of "global warming is junk science" are also supporters of creationism.
-------------------- "To make this mundane world sublime Take half a gram of phanerothyme." Aldous Huxley
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d33p
Welcome to Violence
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Re: US climate policy [Re: Tao]
#2237588 - 01/12/04 05:09 PM (20 years, 2 months ago) |
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I'm not really concerned with what the majority think is happening beacuse i perfer to think for myself. And i hardly see how that is bush rhetoric and i also believe in evolution.
Also first you tell me to go along with the majoirty and then you tell me to think for myself as if the collective is my opinion. You know hitler said things along those lines to confuse a nation of youths. Im not serious though.
-------------------- I'm a nihilist. Lets be friends. bang bang
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