Vive Le Canada

Climate Change Impact More Extensive Than Previously Thought

Posted on Monday, March 05 at 12:57 by Ed Deak
According to information obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is convinced global warming is already making the world sweat. At least that's the gist of the "Summary for Policymakers" from the group made up of hundreds of scientists. The second part of the report is to be presented in April in Brussels after final discussions with government representatives from around the globe. The meta-study is certain to have a major political impact on the ongoing debate about climate change. Mounting evidence: Climate change is happening now The main conclusion of the report is that climate change is already having a profound effect on all the continents and on many of the Earth's ecosystems. The draft presents a long list of evidence: Glacial lakes are increasing in both size and number, potentially leading to deadly floods Permafrost in mountainous regions and at high latitudes is warming increasing the danger of landslides. As the temperature of rivers and lakes rises, their thermal stratification and water quality is changing. River currents, affected by melting glaciers and ice, are speeding up during the spring. Springtime is starting earlier, causing plants to bloom earlier and changing the migrations of birds. Many plants and animals are expanding their habitats into mountainous regions and higher latitudes that are becoming milder. The authors of the report have sifted through some 30,000 data sets from more than 70 international studies documenting changes to water circulation, to cryospheres (ice zones), as well as to flora and fauna over a period of at least 20 years. Related SPIEGEL ONLINE links: Photo Gallery: The Four Regions Most Affected by Climate Change http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,19791,00.html Antarctic Ice Study: Refrigeration System for the Earth's Oceans Threatens to Break Down (03/02/2007) http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,469495,00.html Hot Air: A Europe Divided over Climate Policy (02/17/2007) http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,467367,00.html Bad News for the Planet: Humans Responsible For Climate Change, Says UN Report (02/02/2007) http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,463888,00.html SPIEGEL 360: Our Climate Change Coverage http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,k- 6975,00.html UN Climate Change Report: The Main Findings on Global Warming (02/02/2007) http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,464008,00.html The Eelpout Index: A Small Fish Becomes an Indicator of Global Warming (01/18/2007) http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,459995,00.html The Warming Climate: Historically Hot in 2007 (01/04/2007) http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,457759,00.html Climate Research in the Death Zone: Why Is Mt. Kilimanjaro Melting? (02/20/2006) http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,403035,00.html More Article at: URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,469608,00.html [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on March 7, 2007]

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  1. by RPW
    Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:46 am
    <a href="http://www.heatisonline.org/contentserver/objecthandlers/index.cfm?ID=3401&Method=Full&PageCall=&Title=Ancient%20Methane%20Eruption%20May%20Hold%20Clues%20to%20Sudden%20Warming&Cache=False">http://www.heatisonline.org/contentserver/objecthandlers/index.cfm?ID=3401&Method=Full&PageCall=&Title=Ancient%20Methane%20Eruption%20May%20Hold%20Clues%20to%20Sudden%20Warming&Cache=False</a><br />
    "...for a relatively brief period around 55 million years ago, after the extinction of the dinosaurs but long before the onset of today's pattern of periodic ice ages, the temperature of the earth's surface in northern latitudes, and of the deep ocean, soared by some 9 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit." <br />
    <p>---<br>"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." <br />
    -Max Planck<br />
    <br />

  2. by Ed Deak
    Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:04 pm
    Just don't tell this to Bush and Harper, who'll tell you the Earth was created 7,000 years ago and the Lord put the fossils around to test our faith.

    Or as Jim Watts, Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior put it: "When the last tree is cut, the Lord will return".....so we might as well shorten the waiting period.

    Ed Deak.

  3. by h.f. wolff
    Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:24 am
    Let's get this straight:

    The planet's age is estimated to be around 4.5 billion years. (or maybe its 4.2, for a difference of less than 10%).

    In North America the last ice age occurred 12,000 or so years ago, and I seem to recall reading that the previous one occurred 12,000 years before that. (I'll ignore the obvious-jump-to-conclusion here).

    And here is some wise-ass who, after examining 30 years's worth of weather (or whatever) records, claims that global warming is upon us and we're all gonna fry. And governments pick up this assertion because they see new taxation opportunities.

    As some wag would have it: "Glad we have global warming or we'd all be living on top of a glacier" (here in southern Ontario).

    A couple of web sites with differing views on this topic are Friendsofscience.org and JunkScience.com. (I have no connection whatsoever, with either.).

    It is claimed that the globe has warmed by 1 or 2 degrees Celsius over the last 100 or so years. I wonder if it is indeed possible to measure the planet's temperature with such accuracy. I suspect that this claimed temperature rise gets lost in the variability of the measurements: Ten teams sent to measure the planet's temperature would obtain answers that varied more than the claimed change. I'd venture that the SAME team sent out several times to measure the earth's temperature would obtain a different answer each time, with each difference larger than the claimed temp. rise.

    There are valid concerns about the quality of the air we breathe but personally I doubt very much that a rise in temperature is one of them.

    H.F. Wolff



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