Governments Want IPCC Report Watered Down
Some governments are calling for the watering down of the report onthe impact of climate changes, and is angering the scientists that workedon the report. Some of the scientists have vowed never to participate in theprocess again.
Several governments had forced scaling down of the report prepared by thescientists for United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),which was released in Brussels on April 6.
Intense arguments had taken place before the agreement could be reached onthe report’s conclusions, in which many key sections were deleted. Scientistsconfronted government negotiators who they feared were watering down theirfindings. Several scientists objected to the editing of the final draft bygovernment negotiators but, in the end, agreed to the compromises.
Thereis some opposition to the threat of Global Warming (or climate change as theopposition refers to it as), but many of the "experts" are employed bythe large oil companies which would explain their "doubts". And Iwasn't surprised to see the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia objecting to some ofthe phrasing (rich countries topping the list of Co2 emissions).
The US, Chinaand Saudi Arabia raised many of the objections to the phrasing, often seeking totone down the certainty of some of the more dire projections. The reportprojected an increased risk of disappearance of up to 30 percent of species ifglobal temperatures rise 3.6 degrees above the average in the 1980s and 1990s.Areas in drought will become even drier, adding to the risks of hunger anddisease, it said.
While we're sitting in front of our TV's watching CSI Miami, global warminghas no effect on us, our government will fix the problem, and we even care lesswhen climate change will be more of a problem thousands of miles away. I thinkwe've all been guilty of dismissing disasters or tragedies when they're not inour neighborhoods, and don't think they will have an affect on us (butthey do).
This year’s series of reports by the IPCC were the first in six years fromthe prestigious body of 2,500 scientists, formed in 1988.
‘Food, water scarcity in India by 2050’
IPCC report says food and water scarcity loom large over India as globaltemperatures are rising due to emission of greenhouse gases, and its effectswill be visible by year 2050. IPCC head Dr R K Pachauri said the UN Panelprojects substantial decreases in the production of food grains in India andother Asian countries.
He said half a degree Celsius rise in winter temperatures would reduce wheatproduction by 0.45 metric tons per hectare.
India is completely unprepared for the effects of climate change that couldlead to widespread flooding and drought across the impoverished country, aresearcher said Tuesday. On a scale of 10, India’s preparedness is 0.5, warnedPachauri.
I'm always amazed at the expectations that other people develop and hold.
Did these scientists really think that because it was the UN it wouldn't be a political process?
Posted by: | 2007.04.11 at 10:05 AM