Posted on 02/14/2009 6:25:29 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CHICAGO (AFP) – It seems the dire warnings about future devastation sparked by global warming have not been dire enough, top climate scientists warned Saturday.
It has been just over a year since the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a landmark report warning of rising sea levels, expanding deserts, more intense storms and the extinction of up to 30 percent of plant and animal species.
But recent climate studies suggest that report significantly underestimates the potential severity of global warming over the next 100 years, a senior member of the panel warned.
"We are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously in climate policy," said Chris Field, who was a coordinating lead author of the report.
"Without effective action, climate change is going to be larger and more difficult to deal with than we thought."
Fresh data has shown that greenhouse gas emissions have grown by an average of 3.5 percent a year from 2000 to 2007, Field told reporters at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
That's "far more rapid than we expected" and more than three times the 0.9 growth rate in the 1990's, he said.
While increased economic activity could have contributed to the growth in emissions, Field said it appears as though the bulk of the growth is "because developing countries like China and India saw a huge upsurge in electric power generation, almost all of it based on coal."
Further complicating the problem is that higher temperatures could thaw the Arctic tundra and ignite tropical forests, potentially releasing billions of tons of carbon dioxide ..
That could raise temperatures even more and create "a vicious cycle that could spiral out of control by the end of the century."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
You too eh? I wasn’t going to tell anyone that God told me that.
Let it be a secret between the three of us!
For now....
Well dang, we just need to start harvesting those tropical woods ASAP, before they all burn up. Putting them to good use is a form of sequestering their carbon content.
With this preamble to an article you just know what is to follow is pure unadulterated crap.
Perfect and right on. More analysis from computer models?
Nothing new at all; just a weekly reminder like the grocery store ads .
You mean like, “We’re coming for you.”?
Global warming ended in 1998, where have you been?
No, just sort of like those “GOING OUT FOR BUSINESS” sales that take up white space.
I think we need to take tree huggers and send them up there with the trees, Trees eat CO2 and produce O2, problem solved
They are losing and they know it.
What is that?
The title should be “CO2 concentrations are greater than they expected”. The article isn’t about an underestimated global warming trends. Its about higher than expected CO2 concentrations. But that doesn’t grab headlines and government grants. They automaticly assume a connection between CO2 concentrations and global warming(hell they don’t even stick their necks out and call it global warming, leaving the door open in case we re-enter a new iceage I guess). They then go on to propose several doomsday scenarios of a very hot globe. The connection between CO2 concentrations and global warming hasn’t come close to being made. DON’T ACCEPT THE PREMISE that higher CO2 concentrations equal global warming.
I believe Genesis 8:22.
Ojmjakon, Russia, Monday’s low -76 F.
Toko, Russia, Thursday’s low -83 F.
I bet they would like a little gobal warming!
“Perfect and right on. More analysis from computer models?”
YES! Just like the computer models that predicted you’ll NEVER lose money on credit-default swaps!/s;)
I get what you mean, but bad example.
It is true. I’ve never lost money on a CDS.;-]
You are aware that Barak Obama is our President, the Dems control boht houses of Congress and Porkulus is poised to pass, right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
