Guest Captain Compassion Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Vital facts 'deleted' from UN report on climate change By Charles Clover, London November 14, 2007 http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/vital-facts-deleted-from-un-report-on-climate-change/2007/11/13/1194766675413.html A MAJOR United Nations report on climate change has been watered down as a result of influence from government officials from countries opposed to taking radical action, conservation group WWF claims. It says "vital facts" have been cut from the report's summary, including a warning of more destructive hurricanes, the warming of the upper Pacific Ocean and the loss of glaciers in the European Alps. The group fears that the report will play down the need for deep cuts in emissions. The report, which will be released on Saturday, will say that almost a third of the world's species will face extinction if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. A draft copy of the report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also warns that if temperatures rise by more than two degrees - now expected before 2050 - 20 per cent of the world's population will face a great risk of drought. With that level of temperature rise, other parts of the world will face increased flood risk from rainfall and there will be a decrease in cereal harvests in some regions. There will also be a rise in flooding, particularly around deltas in China and Bangladesh and low Pacific islands. The report is the focus of talks between the UN panel and government delegations at a meeting in Valencia, Spain, before next month's UN-sponsored meeting in Bali that will start negotiations on a new climate change treaty. It was compiled by the UN panel of 2500 climate change scientists, which this year won the Nobel peace prize with the former US vice-president Al Gore. It says that most of the increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is "very likely" to be the result of greenhouse gas emissions. Otherwise, global temperatures might have been expected to decrease. The scientists will say it is possible to halt global warming if the world's greenhouse gas emissions start to decline before 2015. This is highly unlikely. Emissions are projected to increase by up to 90 per cent by 2030 on present estimates, according to the report. The study will warn that if emissions continue to rise without action being taken until 2050, then global average temperatures would rise by up to five degrees. Such an average rise would cause "significant extinctions" around the world, a decrease in cereal harvests everywhere and the flooding of about 30 per cent of coastal wetlands. The chairman of the Nobel prize-winning IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, called the Valencia meeting a watershed for the group. Mr Pachauri said the UN panel scientists were determined to "adhere to standards of quality" in the fourth and final report to be issued this year. The comment was an indirect barb at the political delegations, which environmentalists have accused of watering down and excluding vital information from the summaries of earlier reports to fit their own domestic agendas. The WWF claims that the report will also not contain worrying evidence published in the past year that the Southern Ocean has started to take up less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, accelerating the pace of global warming. -- The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius "...the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science." -- Sir Winston Churchill Joseph R. Darancette daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jerry Okamura Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Is the world listening? I do no tthink so... "Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net> wrote in message news:mofmj3p80tsn4q9dqivn6f0rl8fp3160r2@4ax.com... > Vital facts 'deleted' from UN report on climate change > By Charles Clover, London > November 14, 2007 > http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/vital-facts-deleted-from-un-report-on-climate-change/2007/11/13/1194766675413.html > > A MAJOR United Nations report on climate change has been watered down > as a result of influence from government officials from countries > opposed to taking radical action, conservation group WWF claims. > > It says "vital facts" have been cut from the report's summary, > including a warning of more destructive hurricanes, the warming of the > upper Pacific Ocean and the loss of glaciers in the European Alps. > > The group fears that the report will play down the need for deep cuts > in emissions. > > The report, which will be released on Saturday, will say that almost a > third of the world's species will face extinction if greenhouse gas > emissions continue to rise. > > A draft copy of the report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on > Climate Change (IPCC) also warns that if temperatures rise by more > than two degrees - now expected before 2050 - 20 per cent of the > world's population will face a great risk of drought. > > With that level of temperature rise, other parts of the world will > face increased flood risk from rainfall and there will be a decrease > in cereal harvests in some regions. > > There will also be a rise in flooding, particularly around deltas in > China and Bangladesh and low Pacific islands. > > The report is the focus of talks between the UN panel and government > delegations at a meeting in Valencia, Spain, before next month's > UN-sponsored meeting in Bali that will start negotiations on a new > climate change treaty. > > It was compiled by the UN panel of 2500 climate change scientists, > which this year won the Nobel peace prize with the former US > vice-president Al Gore. > > It says that most of the increase in global average temperatures since > the mid-20th century is "very likely" to be the result of greenhouse > gas emissions. > > Otherwise, global temperatures might have been expected to decrease. > > The scientists will say it is possible to halt global warming if the > world's greenhouse gas emissions start to decline before 2015. > > This is highly unlikely. Emissions are projected to increase by up to > 90 per cent by 2030 on present estimates, according to the report. > > The study will warn that if emissions continue to rise without action > being taken until 2050, then global average temperatures would rise by > up to five degrees. > > Such an average rise would cause "significant extinctions" around the > world, a decrease in cereal harvests everywhere and the flooding of > about 30 per cent of coastal wetlands. > > The chairman of the Nobel prize-winning IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, > called the Valencia meeting a watershed for the group. > > Mr Pachauri said the UN panel scientists were determined to "adhere to > standards of quality" in the fourth and final report to be issued this > year. > > The comment was an indirect barb at the political delegations, which > environmentalists have accused of watering down and excluding vital > information from the summaries of earlier reports to fit their own > domestic agendas. > > The WWF claims that the report will also not contain worrying evidence > published in the past year that the Southern Ocean has started to take > up less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, accelerating the pace of > global warming. > > > -- > The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to > escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius > > "...the whole world, including the United States, including all that > we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark > Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights > of perverted science." -- Sir Winston Churchill > > Joseph R. Darancette > daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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