[Texgreen] Global warming 'is three times faster than worst predictions'

[Roger Baker]

[Clearly if things get any worse, somebody is going to have to do  
something. -- Roger]




<http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article2609305.ece>

  Global warming 'is three times faster than worst predictions'
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Published: 03 June 2007

Global warming is accelerating three times more quickly than feared,  
a series of startling, authoritative studies has revealed.

They have found that emissions of carbon dioxide have been rising at  
thrice the rate in the 1990s. The Arctic ice cap is melting three  
times as fast - and the seas are rising twice as rapidly - as had  
been predicted.

News of the studies - which are bound to lead to calls for even  
tougher anti-pollution measures than have yet been contemplated -  
comes as the leaders of the world's most powerful nations prepare for  
the most crucial meeting yet on tackling climate change.

The issue will be top of the agenda of the G8 summit which opens in  
the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on Wednesday, placing  
unprecedented pressure on President George Bush finally to agree to  
international measures.

Tony Blair flies to Berlin today to prepare for the summit with its  
host, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. They will discuss how to  
tackle President Bush, who last week called for action to deal with  
climate change, which his critics suggested was instead a way of  
delaying international agreements.

Yesterday, there were violent clashes in the city harbour of Rostock  
between police and demonstrators, during a largely peaceful march of  
tens of thousands of people protesting against the summit.

The study, published by the US National Academy of Sciences, shows  
that carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing by about 3 per  
cent a year during this decade, compared with 1.1 per cent a year in  
the 1990s.

The significance is that this is much faster than even the highest  
scenario outlined in this year's massive reports by the  
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - and suggests that  
their dire forecasts of devastating harvests, dwindling water  
supplies, melting ice and loss of species are likely to be  
understating the threat facing the world.

The study found that nearly three-quarters of the growth in emissions  
came from developing countries, with a particularly rapid rise in  
China. The country, however, will resist being blamed for the  
problem, pointing out that its people on average still contribute  
only about a sixth of the carbon dioxide emitted by each American.  
And, the study shows, developed countries, with less than a sixth of  
the world's people, still contribute more than two-thirds of total  
emissions of the greenhouse gas.

On the ground, a study by the University of California's National  
Snow and Ice Data Center shows that Arctic ice has declined by 7.8  
per cent a decade over the past 50 years, compared with an average  
estimate by IPCC computer models of 2.5 per cent.

In yesterday's clashes, masked protesters hurled flagpoles, stones  
and bottles and attacked with sticks forcing police to retreat. The  
police said they were suffering "massive assaults" and that the  
situation was "very chaotic". They put the size of the demonstration  
at 25,000; organisers said it was 80,000.