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Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (6745)	6/20/2006 10:21:01 AM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 36921

Global 'Truth' "'Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it,' Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film 'An Inconvenient Truth.' With that outlook in mind, what do world climate experts actually think about the science of his movie? "Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University in Australia gives ... a surprising assessment: 'Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention.' "But surely Carter is merely part of what most people regard as a tiny cadre of 'climate change skeptics' who disagree with the 'vast majority of scientists' Gore cites? "No; Carter is one of hundreds of highly qualified ... climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions ... are causing significant global climate change. 'Climate experts' is the operative term here. Why? Because what Gore's 'majority of scientists' think is immaterial when only a very small fraction of them actually work in the climate field. -- Tom Harris, writing on "Gore's Bad Science," June 15 in the Canada Free Press

To: Rock_nj who wrote (6745)	6/20/2006 5:07:05 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 36921

Destroying the deep seas by Michael Stickings According to the U.N. (via Guardian Unlimited), "[d]amage to the once pristine habitats of the deep oceans by pollution, litter and overfishing is running out of control". Consider: Last year some 85 million tonnes of wild fish were pulled from the global oceans, 100 million sharks and related species were butchered for their fins, some 250,000 turtles became tangled in fishing gear, and 300,000 seabirds, including 100,000 albatrosses, were killed by illegal longline fishing. Into the water in their place went three billion individual pieces of litter -- about eight million a day -- joining the 46,000 pieces of discarded plastic that currently float on every square mile of ocean and kill another million seabirds each year. The water temperature rose and its alkalinity fell - both the result of climate change. Coral barriers off Australia and Belize are dying and newly discovered reefs in the Atlantic have already been destroyed by bottom trawling. Are we not meant to be the stewards of our environment rather than its destroyers? It's like we don't care. And many of us -- too many of us -- don't. Misanthropy is fully justified, in my view. There is simply no excuse for what we're doing.

To: Rock_nj who wrote (6745)	6/20/2006 5:07:34 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 36921

Time running out to curb effects of deep sea pollution, warns UN · Pace of change outstrips conservation efforts · Water temperature rises as alkalinity falls David Adam, environment correspondent Saturday June 17, 2006 The Guardian Damage to the once pristine habitats of the deep oceans by pollution, litter and overfishing is running out of control, the United Nations warned yesterday. In a report that indicates that time is running out to save them, the UN said humankind's exploitation of the the deep seas and oceans was "rapidly passing the point of no return". Last year some 85 million tonnes of wild fish were pulled from the global oceans, 100 million sharks and related species were butchered for their fins, some 250,000 turtles became tangled in fishing gear, and 300,000 seabirds, including 100,000 albatrosses, were killed by illegal longline fishing. Article continues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Into the water in their place went three billion individual pieces of litter - about eight million a day - joining the 46,000 pieces of discarded plastic that currently float on every square mile of ocean and kill another million seabirds each year. The water temperature rose and its alkalinity fell - both the result of climate change. Coral barriers off Australia and Belize are dying and newly discovered reefs in the Atlantic have already been destroyed by bottom trawling. Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN's environment programme, said: "Humankind's ability to exploit the deep oceans and high seas has accelerated rapidly over recent years. It is a pace of change that has outstripped our institutions and conservation efforts." Mining, for example, could soon spread to the sea floor for the first time. The Canadian company Nautilus Minerals plans to dig for deposits of gold and copper off Papua New Guinea. More than 90% of the world's living organisms are found in the oceans, but a new UN report says that researchers are only now beginning to understand the nature of their ecosystems."Today, these environments are considered to have been the very cradle for life on Earth." Yesterday's warning from the UN came as officials and experts met in New York to discuss ways the international community could better police activities in international waters. Mr Steiner said: "Well over 60% of the marine world and its rich biodiversity is found beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and is vulnerable and at increasing risk. Governments must urgently develop guidelines, rules and actions needed to bridge this gulf." The UN says countries need to manage oceans along ecological boundaries rather than political borders. It says more research is needed to investigate the 90% of the oceans that remain unexplored. It also calls for greater protection for vulnerable species such as cod, marlin and swordfish, which have lost 90% of their global stocks over the last century. Kristina Gjerde, high seas policy adviser with the International Conservation Union's global marine programme, who wrote the new report, said: "Once limited largely to shipping and open ocean fishing, commercial activities at sea are expanding rapidly and plunging ever deeper." She said the effects of climate change made conservation efforts more important.

To: Rock_nj who wrote (6745)	6/22/2006 6:25:27 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 36921

Study finds strong warming tie to hurricanes ________________________________________________________ Half of Atlantic temperature increase in 2005 linked to global rise June 22, 2006 MSNBC - Global warming accounted for about half of the extra hurricane-fueling warmth in Atlantic waters off the United States in 2005, while natural cycles were smaller factors, according to a study released Thursday by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "The global warming influence provides a new background level that increases the risk of future enhancements in hurricane activity," co-author Kevin Trenberth wrote in the study. A statement issued by the center said that the study "contradicts recent claims that natural cycles are responsible for the upturn in Atlantic hurricane activity since 1995. It also adds support to the premise that hurricane seasons will become more active as global temperatures rise." While researchers agree that the warming waters fuel hurricane intensity, they have been uncertain whether Atlantic waters have warmed because of a natural, decades-long cycle, or because of longer-term global warming. The study found that during much of last year's hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, sea-surface temperatures in Atlantic waters where many hurricanes form were a record 1.7 degrees F above the 1901-1970 average. Comparing the Atlantic data to worldwide data since the early 20th century, the researchers calculated that global warming explained about 0.8 degrees of this rise. The 2004-05 El Nino ocean cycle accounted for about 0.4 degrees, they calculated, while the 60-80 year natural cycle was thought to explain less than 0.2 degrees of the increase, according to Trenberth. The remainder is due to year-to-year variability in temperatures. The center said the researchers "subtracted the global trend from the irregular Atlantic temperatures — in effect, separating global warming from the Atlantic natural cycle." The results show that the 60-80 year natural cycle "is actually much weaker now than it was in the 1950s, when Atlantic hurricanes were also quite active," the center said. The researchers stressed that global warming does not guarantee that each year will set records for hurricanes, noting that last year's record was due also to upper-level winds that contributed to hurricane formation. The study by Trenberth and colleague Dennis Shea will appear in the June 27 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is primarily sponsored by a consortium of universities and the National Science Foundation. msnbc.msn.com