Glaciers all over the world are melting. Sea levels are rising. Pacific atolls have had to be evacuated as they sank under water. Prevailing winds can change course based on fractions of a degree of temperature change. The jet stream has changed its course over the past few years and changed weather patterns in Europe very significantly as unprecedented floods occurred all over Europe. Hurricanes that 'brew up' in mid-atlantic are becoming more frequent and more powerful.
Climate change is
difficult because retrofitting companies to prevent or
reduce pollutants can be costly and time consuming.
This is not a partisan issue - as climate change
becomes more severe drought will occur. There will be
massive economic emigration from these regions to
where work, food and water is more plentiful. This
itself will fuel conflict. Even the pentagon is
concerned about the threats to our national security
from economic migration on a tremendous scale and the
inevitable conflicts over scarer food supplies and
water.
The overwhelming majority of scientists around the world,
and the organizations they work for, believe that we are
closely approaching a crisis point. The American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) joined
the growing clamour for political action in a public
statement approved by its board. It is the first time that
the AAAS, which represents 262 societies and scientific
academies, has published a statement of consensus on
climate change. It was issued during a conference where a
series of studies added weight to the body of evidence of
human impact on the climate and environment.
In the statement the association said: “The scientific
evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human
activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to
society. “Accumulating data from across the globe reveal a
wide array of effects: rapidly melting glaciers,
destabilisation of major ice sheets, increases in extreme
weather, rising sea level, shifts in species ranges, and
more.
“The pace of change and the evidence of harm have increased
markedly over the last five years. The time to control
greenhouse gas emissions is now. “The growing torrent of
information presents a clear message: we are already
experiencing global climate change. It is time to muster
the political will for concerted action.” The statement
reflects growing frustration among US scientists with the
White House’s reluctance to tackle climate change.
In June 2005 the national academy of science for all the G8
countries and those of Brazil, India and China issued a
joint statement demanding an end to political
procrastination. Among the signatories was Bruce Alberts,
president of the US National Academy of Sciences, but there
has been little shift since then in President Bush’s
position. The AAAS said that concentrations of carbon
dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, were higher than they had
been for at least 650,000 years and that temperatures were
heading to “levels not experienced for millions of years”.
The best start you can do is educate yourself, your family
and friends, and then begin by making a smaller impact on
the earth.
Links
An
Inconvenient Truth
www.climatecrisis.net
Climate Solutions
www.climatesolutions.org
Climate Trust
www.climatetrust.org
Conservation International
www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/programs/climatechange
David Suzuki Foundation
www.davidsuzuki.org
Environmental Defense
www.environmentaldefense.org
Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov/climatechange
Hadley Centre (U.K.)
www.metoffice.com/research
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
www.ipcc.ch
International Institute for Sustainable Development
www.iisd.org/climate
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
www.giss.nasa.gov/research
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate &
Global Dynamics Division
www.cgd.ucar.edu
National Climatic Data Center at NOAA
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/about/ncdcwelcome
National Weather Service, Climate Prediction Center
www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
National Wildlife Federation
www.nwf.org
Natural Resources Defense Council
www.nrdc.org
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
www.pewclimate.org
Real Climate
www.realclimate.org
Portland Office of Sustainable Development
www.portlandonline.com/osd
Seattle Climate Action
www.seattle.gov/climate
Stop Global Warming
www.stopglobalwarming.org
Union of Concerned Scientists
www.ucsusa.org
UW Climate Impacts Group
www.cses.washington.edu
WA Department of Ecology
www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange
World Meteorological Organization
www.wmo.ch/web/gcos/gcoshome
World Resources Institute
www.wri.org/climate
World Wildlife Fund
www.panda.org
Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
Working Group 1 - Summary for Policy
Makers
Working Group 2 - Summary for Policy
Makers
Working Group 3 - Summary for Policy
Makers
Synthesis Report - Summary for Policy
Makers
Other Reports
Agriculture & Climate Change:
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Opportunities & The 2007
Farm Bill (PDF 600 KB)
Agriculture & Climate Change: The
Policy Context (PDF 700
KB)
ASES Climate Change
(PDF 8.8 MB)
Climate Change 2007: Climate Change
Impacts Adaptation & Vulnerability
(PDF 550 KB)
Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of
Climate Change (PDF 400 KB)
Climate Change in Puget Sound
(PDF 4.8 MB)
Facing the Challenge of Climate
Change (PDF 800 KB)
Impacts of Climate Change on Washington’s
Economy (PDF 2.2 MB)
National Security & The Threat of
Climate Change (PDF 1.1MB)
Stern Review: The Economics of Climate
Change (PDF 312 KB)
Stern Review: Summary of
Conclusions (PDF 176 KB)