Posted on 11/09/2007 9:01:25 PM PST by NormsRevenge
If there's one document on global warming policymakers might put in their briefcase, this would be it. On Monday, scientists and government officials gather in Valencia, Spain to put together the fourth and last U.N. report on the state of global warming and what it will mean to hundreds of millions of people whose lives are being dramatically altered.
Unlike the past three tomes, this one will have little new data. Instead, it will distill the previous work into a compact guide of roughly 30 pages that summarizes complex science into language politicians and bureaucrats can understand.
It will be the first point of reference for negotiators meeting next month in Bali, Indonesia, to decide the future course of the worldwide push to curb greenhouse gas emissions after the 2012 expiration of the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, the landmark agreement that assigned binding reduction targets to 36 countries.
The last of four reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "integrates all the elements, the connections between them," said one of its authors, Bert Metz, of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
U.N. officials delayed the Bali meeting by several months until after the report is released, expecting it would add political momentum to the conference.
Though the IPCC was created in 1988 to assess the science of global warming, its work gathered a momentum this year that has helped reshape opinion in the public and governments.
In the ultimate validation, the IPCC's warnings of man-induced climate change shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore, the world's best-known global warming campaigner.
"The reactions that I heard from politicians around the world is that they were shocked by the reports and that they should be acted on," said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate official.
The United States, Australia and many developing countries that shunned the Kyoto treaty are now ready to begin discussing a successor agreement at the Bali conference, De Boer said.
"There is a growing consensus that Bali needs to achieve a breakthrough to put negotiations in place, and that's very encouraging," he said. "But it's not going to be a piece of cake."
The studies issued earlier this year painted a dire picture of a planet in which unabated greenhouse gas emissions could drive average temperatures up as much as 11 degrees by 2100.
Even a 3.6-degree rise could subject up to 2 billion people to water shortages by 2050 and threaten extinction for 20 percent to 30 percent of the world's species, the IPCC said.
While some people will go thirsty from lack of rain, millions more will suffer devastating floods; diseases will proliferate; the food supply may at first increase in some areas, but will plummet later; countries that are now poor will grow still poorer.
The scientists set out a basket of technological options to keep the temperature rise to the minimum, with investments amounting to about 3 percent of the world's gross domestic product — far less than what the IPCC said it would cost later to fix the damage caused by higher temperature increases.
Campaigners are looking for the final "synthesis report" to emphasize the action governments can take, the consequences of inaction and the brief time remaining to put that action into gear.
"We would want to emphasize the urgency which comes from the science," said Stephanie Tunmore of the Greenpeace environmental group. "We know what's happening, we know what's causing it, and we know what we have to do about it."
A draft report of about 60 pages — distilling the previous three reports totaling more than 4,000 pages — has been circulating for months to governments, environmentalists and scientists for comment. The authors gathered in Valencia last week to incorporate some of the comments into the final draft.
Starting Monday, delegations from 145 countries meeting in this Spanish Mediterranean city will review the Summary for Policymakers, the critical document that becomes the single most important reference for nonscientists.
Each line must be adopted by consensus — and sometimes the use of a single word can be heatedly contested.
The final document is due to be released Saturday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's presence at the unveiling is meant to underscore its importance.
"I expect some scuffling over the final language," especially over the urgency and the level of certainty of some predicted events, said Peter Altman, of the Washington-based lobby National Environmental Trust.
Despite the haggling, the political input into a scientific document is essential, because governments cannot later disown it.
"After the summary is approved, it becomes the property of the governments," said Metz, who was one of about 40 scientists working on the final draft. "It becomes difficult for them to ignore the conclusions that they were subscribing to."
Chairman of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Rajendra Pachauri talks during a news conference in Bern October 16, 2007. The U.N. climate panel, winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, will meet in Valencia from November 12-17 to condense 3,000 pages of already published science into a 20-page summary for policy makers. (Ruben Sprich/Reuters)
They ought to hire a few of the on strike hollyweed writers, try and add a little humor to the final report.
It ain’t gonna be pretty.
Yes, they are too big of idiots to understand, so they will put the lies into nice little fear-mongering propaganda.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore speaks at a news conference in Palo Alto, California, October 12, 2007 after winning the Nobel Peace Prize along with the U.N. climate panel. REUTERS/Kimberly White
I've known some crazy people in my day.. never heard of him.
Actor Tommy Lee Jones arrives for the screening of the movie 'No Country for Old Men' in New York in this Oct. 6, 2007, file photo. Jones will co-host the Nobel Peace Prize concert for former Vice President Al Gore, his roommate at Harvard University, and representatives from the United Nations' climate change panel. The lineup for this year's Dec. 11 concert honoring Nobel Peace Prize laureates includes Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox and Melissa Etheridge, who won an Oscar for the song 'I Need to Wake Up,' which was featured in Gore's environmental documentary, 'An Inconvenient Truth.' (AP Photo/Rick Maiman, file)
Final Report: “Give all of your money, and we’ll get back to you after you have more”
I bet there will be a free copy available somewhere; I’ll have to request it... Running out of toiletpaper in the john.
Mr. Nobel Peace Prize winner, incredible.
I along with others marvel as we try to figure out how the "fight" against globalwarming is kind of akin to waging peace by eradicating the states that breed war and this the medal and loot.
Is climate change anywhere near that level for such actions or is it being milked for all its worth?
Wouldn't be the first time..
Former U.S. Vice President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore delivers a speech on the last day of "Grenelle de l'Environnement" ecological talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris October 25, 2007. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer (FRANCE)
Be very very careful with that bonfire, you know what the media would do if they got wind of it.. on second thought, light her up!
.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy listens to former U.S. Vice President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore on the last day of "Grenelle de l'Environnement" ecological talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris October 25, 2007. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer (FRANCE)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
http://www.ipcc.ch/
.."hold on to your wallets kids"
LOLOL
It could get ugly indeed.
Norm - anyway you can put this guys photo and the GEICO caveman next to each other?
Maybe its just accidental but they could be brothers from another mother........
T'wouldn't be prudent, No sir-ree Bob.
.
Good, then does that mean this will be the last we hear of this scientific, political boondogle? This has been a funding scam and power trip from the beginning.
Maybe this report will explain how they can claim glaciers are receding - when they've only studied a small fraction of them worldwide.
Or maybe they'll explain how they can look at the ice on one small peninsula of Antarctica and conclude it is melting - when other studies show a net gain of 29 billion tons of ice per year for the continent...
Or maybe they'll explain how they can claim GW means more bad weather - when hurricane strikes on the US mainland are actually down. To the point there are drought conditions in the SE - they need a good hurricane!
Or maybe they can explain why Ski resorts in Co opened record-setting early this year. Oh yeah, global warming somehow causes places to get colder...
Maybe they'll explain why none of their dire predictions about sea level rises have come true?
Maybe they'll explain just how in the heck you can use a computer model to prove a theory? Last time I checked, theories were proven by experiments and observations. I can write a computer model to prove anything - even that Elvis lives...
We would want to emphasize the urgency which comes from the science,” said Stephanie Tunmore of the Greenpeace environmental group. “We know what’s happening, we know what’s causing it, and we know what we have to do about it.”
well if steph over at greenpeace sez greenpeace has all the answers:
ie they know whats happenin, what the cause is n what to doo aboud it...I guess that should be good enuff for me:
still in all i’d be happier if them expert greenpeacers would read everything in the urls below and come back later...
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/st
art.html
http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/In
dex.jsp
http://www.ecoenquirer.com/red-cheeked-squirrel.htm
‘this report will have little new data. Instead, it will DISTILL the previous work
DISTILL? IT WILL DISTILL? SAY, IF YOU DISTILL B.S. THEN IS IT STILL B.S.?
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