The Final Report Is Out - And It's Not Pretty
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 04. 6.07
Under the header "Roasted World," We summarized prepublication coverage of the much anticipated second IPCC climate report, which would be detailing regional impacts of climate change . With that summary report out today, it turns out that some of the contributors got heated up from the all night editing process. Via the Washington Post:- "Agreement came after an all-night session during which key sections were deleted from the draft and scientists angrily confronted government negotiators who they feared were watering down their findings." And to now one's surprise, "The United States, China and Saudi Arabia raised many of the objections to the phrasing, often seeking to tone down the certainty of some of the more dire projections." (Those of you who were around for the drafting of the Kyoto Treaty will recall OPEC nations objecting then as well.) Bringing all this home for US readers (where the lesson most needs to sink in), we recommend this article from the LA Times, where they lay out the regional implications, drawing on a corroborating study that was just published:- "The driest periods of the last century — the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and the droughts of the 1950s — may become the norm in the Southwest United States within decades because of global warming, according to a study released Thursday. The research suggests that the transformation may already be underway. Much of the region has been in a severe drought since 2000, which the study's analysis of computer climate models shows as the beginning of a long dry period." Peak Oil and Peak Objections are about to correlate with Peak Drought, leading to Peak Reality Facing. We are about to enter the "what should we do now" phase.
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Do you think the people who put this together realise that "Europe" is not a country?
Well I just want to thank you for this blog in general, because this is my first comment, so thank you. I was just wondering if you could post a summary of link to one, so we can get a detailed account of the report. Thanks!
===== author's response follows ====
You are most welcome. Thought I'd wait a few days and see what others have to say: then post a synopsis of goings on, with link to full summary. JL
Thank you for a great entry. It's time for us to get our politicians off their butts, or they'll be out of jobs in 2008.
Just a slight correction...this is not the FINAL report from IPCC. Their first report was on the *evidence* of climate change whereas this one is on its *impact*.
There are two more reports to be released by IPCC this year, one of which (4th May) will be on *mitigation* and finally (13th July) a synthesis report.
A couple of points about Europe - firstly, its a Union of states, ie the European Union. This concept should be familiar to anyone living in the United States of America. And secondly the most interesting thing about their levels of GHG production is that they have not changed in 25 years.
On another point I just read a similar summary at http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21517594-2,00.html. This Murdoch paper subtley changed a couple of the details, saying that China is the 2nd biggest emitter of GHG's and also suggested that Russia not the USA raised most objections overnight.
Mr Rupert Mudoch you have been caught out!
Does it say top GHG emitting [i]countries[/i]?
No.
"March 23 (Reuters) - China is on course to overtake the United States this year as the world's biggest carbon emitter, estimates based on Chinese energy data show, potentially pressuring Beijing to take more action on climate change."
Every other source says that China is #2 and poised to surpass the US soon. (note the data is 4yrs out of date and Europe isn't usually ranked so high because it is shown here as a conglomerate of nations).
It bothers me that most media blame China for its rapid growth and neglect to mention that most of that coal is burned to produce the products that us westerners buy. The average Chinese citizen probably emits much less.
hi,
the future of a more sustainable post katrina new orleans depends solely on the green community. one of the very few organizations devoted to preserving the historical integrity of the city, using waste to create art & helping locals to rebuild in greener way is struggling.
please help the green project in new orleans.
http://nolagreenproject.chipin.com/nola-green-project
if you do, you'll not only be helping an amazing organization, you'll also be entered to win a groovy green goodie bag filled with eco swag.
thanks.
I dread to think .... more natural disasters, chemically inclined agriculatural produce to counteract an increase in pests multiplying in the warmer weather, less land to stand on as the oceans swell, I'll stop there. For certain it doesnt paint a rosy outlook for my beloved Puerh cha (an ancient form of Chinese tea).
Varat
http://www.puerhcha.com
I said the same in another post:
This is what all those big guys are fighting about nowadays; shall we say goodbye to fossil and huge money attached to it, or shall we simply fund the rersearch on alternative and not encourage but push people to buy it? I wish the latter but...
Middle East, Russia, South America will all produce and sell fossil as long as they have it. China and India will use fossil (as the US and Europe did in the past) no matter what we do/say and blow up the CO2 and claim their huge share in the global climate change. There is nothing that anybody can do about it. We have to wait for and watch those guys to become rich of their industrialization era. Do you really think those moguls care about the frogs in the forest (and the forest)?
Isn't "Eco Swag" an oxymoron?
Interesting to note that of the areas listed in the chart, although Europe has the flattest growth in C02, it also has the most, ahem "inert" economic growth, compared to the other regions.
I wonder how many people would rather have high unemployment, as opposed to high C02 output?
=== author's response follows====
Well. Much lies behind the curtain.
Approximately 2.5% of the US population is behind bars and not counted in the unemployment role, for example.
More interesting to compare C02 footprint to economic output.