Global warming to last for 1,000 years: report

CTV.ca ^ | Wed. Jan. 31 2007

[A. Pole]

Humans have already left such a deep footprint on the environment that the effects of global warming will last for the next 1,000 years, according to a draft copy of a new report.

The Globe and Mail obtained an early version of the climate change study being prepared by the world's leading scientists, and reported that little doubt remains that the planet is getting hotter.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release the report on Friday at a news conference in Paris, while a simultaneous conference will be held in Ottawa.

The report says heat waves, droughts and rain storms, as well as violent typhoons and hurricanes, will become more frequent.

The report paints a startling picture of the effects of climate change and says evidence of the phenomenon is now "unequivocal."

It says human influence on the atmosphere during the 21st century alone will propel global warming for another 1,000 years, based on estimates of how long it will take nature to clean the air of gases that contribute to climate change.

Among the other findings, the report states that the last half-century was probably the hottest in at least the past 1,300 years. And in 11 of the past 12 years, temperatures were among the highest since the 1850s, when accurate temperature measurements were first set down.

"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, melting of snow and ice, and rising sea level," says the draft. The document is being reviewed in Paris.

It is the fourth report to be issued by the group of 2,000 global experts organized by the UN, including many from Canada.

The first report was issued in 1990. Since then, the panel's stance on global warming -- and the notion that it is being brought on in large part by deforestation, large scale agriculture and burning of fossil fuels -- has become more established.

The IPPC's first report suggested global warming might be under way. In 1995, the second report said it was likely that global warming was happening. In 2001, the third report suggested scientists were pretty sure human behaviour was impacting the climate.

But the tone of the newest report suggests there's nothing left to argue and climate change is now a stark reality.

Evidence of the phenomenon is being seen almost everywhere on the planet, from mountain tops, where glaciers are shrinking, to the bottom of the oceans, where average water temperatures are increasing as far as 3,000 metres below the surface.

The strong tone of the IPCC report should eliminate any lingering doubts that global warming is really happening, say some environmentalists who are calling on politicians to take more drastic action to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

"There is no more reason to delay," John Bennett, spokesman for the Climate Action Network Canada told The Globe. "We need the policies, regulations, and programs to reduce emissions and we need to do it with the same kind of urgency that we would use to fight a war."

The draft predicts the following developments will occur as the ongoing results of global warming:

• Arctic and Antarctic sea ice will continue to shrink and late summer sea ice in the Arctic could disappear almost entirely by the latter part of the 21st century;
• Droughts, along with heat waves and storms involving heavy precipitation will continue to become more common;
• There will be fewer hurricanes, but the ones that do develop will be more powerful;
• The planet's temperatures in 2090-99 are likely to be 1.7 degrees to 4 degrees warmer than the period from 1980-1999;
• According to current predictions, global warming of 1.9 to 4.6 degrees would lead to a near-complete elimination of the Greenland ice sheet and a rise in sea levels of about 7 metres, if sustained for millennia.

[milwguy]

Today
Jan 31 Mostly Cloudy
21°/18° 0%
21°F

Thu
Feb 1 Cloudy
24°/13° 20%
24°F

Global Warming hits Milwaukee!

Fri
Feb 2 Snow Shower
17°/4° 50%
17°F

Fun Things To Do on a Snowy Day
Sat
Feb 3 Flurries / Wind
8°/-3° 30%
8°F

Sun
Feb 4 Snow Shower
5°/-2° 40%
5°F

Mon
Feb 5 Mostly Cloudy / Wind
8°/-2° 10%
8°F

Tue
Feb 6 Partly Cloudy
12°/2° 10%
12°F

Wed
Feb 7 Mostly Sunny
14°/11° 10%
14°F

Thu
Feb 8 Few Snow Showers
24°/16° 30%
24°F

Fun Things To Do on a Snowy Day
Fri
Feb 9 Cloudy
28°/13° 10%
28°F

[tcrlaf]

"6,000 years ago ... during a period known as the "Holocene Maximum," global temperatures were about 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than today."

Must have been those Early Egyptian SUV's, right?

[A. Pole]

"There will be fewer hurricanes, but the ones that do develop will be more powerful"

But in his movie, Al Gore says there will be MORE hurricanes.

So maybe there will be more hurricanes but less powerful. Same thing.

[NavyCanDo]

I got the answer to Global Warming. And it has been proved to work by Mothers all over the World - Yes even your Mother. To regulate the Earth’s temperature all we have to do is everyone simultaneously open your refrigerator door and leave it open until the temperature returns to normal. Hasn’t your Mother told you over and over again to "close the refrigerator door you’re letting the cold air out"?

You can thank me now for saving the Planet.

[rightinthemiddle]

"Global warming? Poppycock. Oh, what I would have given for a little global warming..."

[reagan_fanatic]

This is not going to sit well with the envirowackos. After all, Bush won't be around in 1000 years to put the blame on.

[AmishDude]

They can't even predict the number of hurricanes in a season. They were staggeringly wrong. It would be like predicting Barry Bonds would strike out 500 times in a season, it was that far off.

[Publius6961]

Global warming to last for 1,000 years: report

Unless we do what?
For heaven's sake, I wish they would not leave us hanging... !

[NavyCanDo]

"Makes as much sense as the "science" supporting these idiots"



LOL - The Pirate theory sounds logical except when I look way back to the Ice Age and think wait a minute there were no Pirates then. Back to the drawing board.

[ChildOfThe60s]

It says human influence on the atmosphere during the 21st century alone will propel global warming for another 1,000 years, based on estimates of how long it will take nature to clean the air of gases that contribute to climate change.

It's that time again.....

[Dutch Boy]

Looks about right since this is when we came out of the last little ice age.

[maryz]

Aren't some of them claiming that clean air actually accelerates "global warming." Of course, I don't think any of those claiming it are suggesting we repeal all environmental rules and regulations . . . though I can't see why not! ;-)

[milwguy]

The rest of the world's glaciers may be melting, but New Zealand's two best-known glaciers are still on the march.


Guides say the Franz Josef and the Fox glaciers continued advancing down their valleys in the past year and may soon be close to positions reached 40 years ago.

That contrasts sharply with the plight of many glaciers elsewhere on the planet, which are shrinking three times faster than they were in the 1980s, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS).

The Swiss organisation maintains a constant watch of 30 mountain glaciers and said yesterday its latest survey, of 2005 conditions, showed the glaciers had become on average 60cm to 70cm thinner, which it blamed on climate change.

WGMS director Wilfried Haeberli said with many mountain glaciers only tens of metres thick, they would disappear in decades if the trend continued.

"We can say there were times during the warmer periods of the last 10,000 years when glaciers have been comparable to what they are now," he told the BBC.

[Pete]

Naturally occurring water vapor makes up 95% of atmospheric greenhouse gases. The IPPC ignores water vapor in their models. Of the CO2 in the atmosphere, around 2-3% is anthropogenic (man-made). When taking all greenhouse gas effect into account, around 1/4 of 1%(0.0025) can be attributed to human activity. The variability in the earth's climate would wash out any anthropogenic effect.

I have serious questions about the competence of any scientist who attributes global warming to anthropogenic causes.

[o_zarkman44]

This is gobbledy gook from the United Nothings. UN.

InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change has an interesting web site. The organization is created by the WMO (World meteorological Organisation) and the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme). There is some input by some greenhouse gas inventory. Someone named Susan solomon from the USA is named as a co chair on some working study group. the rest of the list is a predictable list of United Nobodys from the UN. For the list of study group members
http://www.ipcc.ch/about/faq/IPCC%20Who%20is%20who.pdf


http://www.ipcc.ch/activity/uncertaintyguidancenote.pdf
look to page 3, number 9 on their web page that directs how to present information so it sounds more appealing.

Also the names of the so called hundreds of experts involved in the studies is nowhere ot be found. So it is my opinion that that actual number of so called experts is probably less than one hundred world wide.

[listenhillary]

So why bother to spend any money? It's a done deal so saving energy and reducing carbon is pointless.

Will they FRIKIN SHUT UP now?

[dave k]

The IPPC's first report suggested global warming might be under way...

No one listened then.

In 1995, the second report said it was likely that global warming was happening...

As the hysteria got louder, the nuts were still ignored.

In 2001, the third report suggested scientists were pretty sure human behaviour was impacting the climate...

And we are still not buying it.

Boy, talk about throwing the cr@p on the wall until something sticks.

[milwguy]

Brüggen Glacier in southern Chile is the largest western outflow from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and, unlike most glaciers worldwide, advanced significantly since 1945. From 1945 to 1976, Brüggen surged 5 km across the Eyre Fjord, reaching the western shore by 1962 and cutting off Lake Greve from the sea. The glacier continued advancing both northward and southward in the fjord to near its present position before stabilizing. The growth covers a distance of more than 10 km north to south, adding nearly 60 square km of ice.

[epluribus_2]

Ah, more untestable predictions. I love "science".

[MaxMax]

Last ditch attempt to hurt the Bush economy IMO.
Then they can actually say that tax cuts don't work.