Climate Change Impact More Extensive than Thought

Spiegel ^ | 3/2/07 | Volker Mrasek

[NormsRevenge]

Global climate change is happening faster than previously believed and its impact is worse than expected, information from an as-yet unpublished draft of the long-awaited second part of a United Nations report obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE reveals. No region of the planet will be spared and some will be hit especially hard.

Is the world's weather already out of control? Is the pollution of the past decades having an impact on the present? That's exactly what the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change fears: Human influences over the last 30 years "have had a recognizable effect on many physical and biological systems," write the authors of the as yet unreleased second part of the 2007 global climate change report.

--snip--

The second part of the report is to be presented in April in Brussels after final discussions with government representatives from around the globe. The meta-study is certain to have a major political impact on the ongoing debate about climate change.

Mounting evidence: Climate change is happening now

The main conclusion of the report is that climate change is already having a profound effect on all the continents and on many of the Earth's ecosystems. The draft presents a long list of evidence:

Glacial lakes are increasing in both size and number, potentially leading to deadly floods.

Permafrost in mountainous regions and at high latitudes is warming increasing the danger of land slides.

As the temperature of rivers and lakes rises, their thermal stratification and water quality is changing.

River currents, affected by melting glaciers and ice, are speeding up during the spring.

Springtime is starting earlier, causing plants to bloom earlier and changing the migrations of birds.

Many plants and animals are expanding their habitats into mountainous regions and higher latitudes that are becoming milder.

[Shanty Shaker]

I am thinking of going around to all the farmers in this area and having them sign up to sell "Carbon offsets" I wonder how much I could get on Ebay for the carbon offsets for an acre of corn.

If it was a legitimately honest business I would be doing it.

[xcamel]

FReepmail me to get on or off

Click pn POGW graphic for full GW rundown

Ping me if you find one I've missed.

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[SolitaryMan]

New York City's temperature has risen by ~5 degrees over the last 150 years, however, Albany and other upstate cities temps have stayed nearly consistent or actually dropped in the same period of time. The US has the best and longest kept temp records of any nation, and those records shown no noticeable change with the exception of large metro areas such as New York City. But how much does the rise in temps in the large urban areas actually effect global temps, and how is that data weighed? Thats the problem with the "science" of global warming. How are these factors accounted for.