Conference joins business, environmental ideals (Al Gore calls for immediate action)

Conference joins business, environmental ideals
Gore encourages corporations to address global warming before climate changes accelerate
By Rick Jurgens
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

OAKLAND - Former Vice President Al Gore called for immediate action to avert global warming, which threatens to spread disease, make species extinct and turn tens of millions of coastal dwellers into refugees from rising ocean levels.

Speaking Thursday morning in Oakland at the annual conference of a network of environmentalists and sympathetic investors, Gore quoted Winston Churchill's 1936 comment that the world was "entering a period of consequences."

Churchill's remark addressed the threat posed by fascism. Gore's message, accompanied by photographs of melting glaciers and graphs showing rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and average temperatures, sought to rally forces to fight climate change.

An audience of nearly 600 listened intently to Gore, who appeared more animated and relaxed than the 2000 presidential candidate who often seemed emotionally estranged from voters. As evidence of changing weather, he invoked the memories of Northern California's heavy winter rain and Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans.

"We have lost a major city," he said. "No," a lone voice called out, prompting Gore to pause. "We have so far," he said quietly.

It was no surprise to see Gore, who has voiced concerns about climate issues throughout his long public life, speaking at a gathering of Ceres Inc., a 19-year-old environmental advocacy network.

But some at the conference believed that public opinion would seek action on global warming before it goes too far.

Said Paul Joffe, an official of the National Wildlife Federation: "Hopefully, we reach the citizens' tipping point before we reach the climate's tipping point."

The cover of the May 2006 issue of 'Vanity Fair' magazine's Green issue features from (L-R) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., actor George Clooney, actress Julia Roberts and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore photographed exclusively for Vanity Fair by Annie Liebovitz. The issue with an emphasis on the environment, hits newsstands in Los Angeles and New York April 5, 2006. NO SALES NO ARCHIVES REUTERS/Annie Liebovitz for Vanity Fair/Handout

More from - http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_3683394

Gore urges moral crusade against global warming
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND — Al Gore brought corporate executives and environmentally minded investors roaring to their feet Thursday with multimedia images of an overheating planet and a call for Americans to reclaim their "moral authority" by tackling global warming.

"This is really not a political issue, it is disguised as a political issue," Gore said. "It is a moral issue, it is an ethical issue — If we allow this to happen, we will destroy the habitability of the planet. We can't do that, and I am confident we won't do that."

As a U.S. senator, Gore gave global warming talks 15 years ago in Washington that relied almost entirely on scientists' best guesses and computer models.

Now bolstered by real climate changes, he has gone Hollywood, with movies of collapsing ice shelves, then-and-now shots of vanishing glaciers and lakes, telegenic photos of dwindling wildlife species — plus floods, tornadoes and, of course, hurricanes.

"We have been blind to the fact that the human species is now having a crushing impact on the ecological system of the planet," Gore said.

From BBCNews (Science/Technology Section):

Scientists blame sun for global warming The Sun is more active than it has ever been in the last 300 years. Climate changes such as global warming may be due to changes in the sun rather than to the release of greenhouse gases on Earth.

Climatologists and astronomers speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Philadelphia say the present warming may be unusual - but a mini ice age could soon follow. The sun provides all the energy that drives our climate, but it is not the constant star it might seem. Careful studies over the last 20 years show that its overall brightness and energy output increases slightly as sunspot activity rises to the peak of its 11-year cycle. And individual cycles can be more or less active. The sun is currently at its most active for 300 years. That, say scientists in Philadelphia, could be a more significant cause of global warming than the emissions of greenhouse gases that are most often blamed.

The researchers point out that much of the half-a-degree rise in global temperature over the last 120 years occurred before 1940 - earlier than the biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions. [ image: Ancient trees reveal most warm spells are caused by the sun] Ancient trees reveal most warm spells are caused by the sun Using ancient tree rings, they show that 17 out of 19 warm spells in the last 10,000 years coincided with peaks in solar activity. They have also studied other sun-like stars and found that they spend significant periods without sunspots at all, so perhaps cool spells should be feared more than global warming. The scientists do not pretend they can explain everything, nor do they say that attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should be abandoned. But they do feel that understanding of our nearest star must be increased if the climate is to be understood.

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