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To: JohnM who wrote (20769)	6/12/2006 5:31:35 PM
From: Alastair McIntosh	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 541164

You may wish to look at some of the mass balance studies of the ice on Antarctica and Greenland. You will find that there is no consensus that either is loosing ice. The consensus is that increases in global temperatures (up to about 3 deg C.) melt the edges of the glaciers but lead to thickening of the glaciers at higher elevations due to increased precipitation. It does appear that the average global temperature has recently been rising at about 0.2 deg C/decade. How much of this is due to human activity is unknown. It is also unknown whether or not humans can do anything to stop climate change. It may be far more cost effective to develop plans to adapt to climate change rather than try to prevent it.

To: JohnM who wrote (20769)	6/12/2006 6:43:07 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541164

Case Closed: The Debate about Global Warming is Over _______________________________________________________________ The Brookings Institution, May 17, 2006 By Gregg Easterbrook, Visiting Fellow, Governance Studies brookings.edu Executive Summary Here's the short version of everything you need to know about global warming. First, the consensus of the scientific community has shifted from skepticism to near-unanimous acceptance of the evidence of an artificial greenhouse effect. Second, while artificial climate change may have some beneficial effects, the odds are we're not going to like it. Third, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases may turn out to be much more practical and affordable than currently assumed. This briefing will address the three points above and, in an appendix, offer non-jargon explanations of the most important recent findings of greenhouse science. But the pressing point of this briefing is not so much scientific as it is practical—that action against artificial global warming may not prove nearly as expensive or daunting as commonly believed. Greenhouse gases are an air pollution problem, and all air pollution problems of the past have cost significantly less to fix than projected, while declining faster than expected. This gives cause to hope that artificial greenhouse gases can be controlled reasonably cheaply and without wrenching sacrifices to the global economy. And if there is a chance of an economical approach to greenhouse-gas reduction, then what are we waiting for? Let's start now. View Full Paper(PDF—163kb) here: brookings.edu

To: JohnM who wrote (20769)	6/13/2006 10:36:31 AM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541164

that there is now a scientific consensus that human activity contributes to global warming There is something of a consensus but it goes to far to state the debate is completely over. Even assuming that it is over that statement wouldn't mean a lot. A climatologist who believes that the earth would warm by a degree over the next century without human CO2 emissions and would warm by 1.1 degrees with the CO2 emissions would agree with the idea that human activity contributes to global warming, but he might not consider it a serious problem, and is unlikely to think that there would be a near term disaster. The debate is far from over about how much warming will happen, how much of it is caused by human activity, what the effects of the warming will be, how long will it take, and what we should do about it. Gore claims the debate is over about far more than "human activity contributes to global warming" - "AL GORE: (takes a deep breath) Well, the debate is over in the scientific community. There are 5 points to the global consensus. Number one, global warming is real, Number two, we are mainly responsible for it. Number 3, the effects are catastrophic, Number 4, we need to fix it quickly, and number 5 it’s not too late. Those 5 elements make up a very strong consensus. And on those points, the debate is over. " He goes on to say - "But on the last point, “How long before it might be too late?” The scientists, who I most respect on this question, are now saying, and this is new for them to say, that in their view we have less than 10 years in which to make a significant start in changing the amount of carbon dioxide pollution we put into the earth’s atmosphere or else it will be too late." retrocrush.com