World faces 5-year deadline for decisions on climate change: WWF - AFP

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France-Presse

World faces 5-year deadline for decisions on climate change: WWF

by Peter Capella Tue May 15, 10:14 AM ET

GENEVA (AFP) - Governments need to take key decisions within five
years on how to tackle climate change to cope with an expected
doubling of energy demand over the next 50 years, the environmental
group WWF said Tuesday.

Delays would expose the planet to dangerous warming within a lifetime
or force even harsher and costlier measures that could cause significant
damage to the global economy, WWF International said in a technical
report.

"The question for leaders and governments everywhere is how to rein in
dangerously high levels of carbon dioxide emissions without stunting
development and reducing living standards," said WWF Director General
James Leape.

-snip-

The report set a target of limiting the increase in global average
temperatures to two degrees centigrade over pre-industrial levels by
2050 -- compared to 0.7 degrees now -- and a 50 percent cut in
greenhouse gas emissions.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070515/sc_afp/wwfclimateenergy_070515141454

[nomo]

1. Five years, my brain hurts a lot

Five years, that's all we got

[LSK]

2. and we have 2 years to go with this fucking baffoon in the White House

:grr:

[Dogmudgeon]

3. I think we passed that point around 1985

It's going to get hotter. Then the weather will get completely screwed up. Then lots of people will die.

--p!

[hunter]

4. I figure the election of Ronald Reagan sealed our fate.

From that day on we were toast.

It's morning again in America, another sunny day in Hell.

[NNadir]

6. Probably so.

[Delphinus]

5. This story goes along with it:

Ten-year warming window closing
David Adam in London

CLIMATE change may have passed a key tipping point that could mean temperatures rising more quickly than predicted and it being harder to tackle global warming, research suggests.

Scientists at Bristol University say a previously unexplained surge of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere in recent years is due to more greenhouse gas escaping from trees, plants and soils. Global warming was making vegetation less able to absorb the carbon pollution pumped out by human activity.

Such a shift would worsen the gloomy predictions of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned last week that there is less than a decade to tackle rising emissions to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

The prediction came as an equally stark warning was issued that global warming was contributing to increased conflict over dwindling resources.

{snip}
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/tenyear-warming-window-closing/2007/05/11/1178390554472.html

[KurtNYC]

7. I just got back from the C40 Climate Summit

It is very well attended and I was very encouraged to see mayors from cities around the world sharing information and raising awareness. It continues tomorrow with a key note speech by President Clinton.

I was actually able to walk up to the Mayor of Toronto and pitch my environmentally-friendly LED light. Then I went to Mayor Bloomberg's representatives -- he has established an office for Sustainability. They were open to what I have -- an LED replacement for the 4 billion fluorescents that light the offices and stores in North America. (This LED light is not supposed to exist for 2 years so it pays to just walk up to people and plug it in -- which I did.)

Info on the summit is here:
http://www.nycclimatesummit.com/