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Global Warming Could Devastate Economy

lkgeo1

2006-10-30, 5:25 pm

Global Warming Could Devastate Economy
Monday October 30, 12:07 pm ET
By Thomas Wagner, Associated Press Writer
British Government Report Says Unchecked Global Warming Will Devastate
World Economy

LONDON (AP) -- Unchecked global warming will devastate the world
economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, a
British government report said Monday, as the country launched a bid to
convince doubters that environmentalism and economic growth can
coincide.
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Britain hired former Vice President Al Gore, who has emerged as a
powerful environmental spokesman since his defeat in the 2000
presidential election, to advise the government on climate change -- a
clear indication of Prime Minister Tony Blair's dissatisfaction with
current U.S. policy.

Blair, President Bush's top ally in the Iraq war, said unabated climate
change would eventually cost the world between 5 percent and 20 percent
of global gross domestic product each year. He called for "bold and
decisive action" to cut carbon emissions and stem the worst of the
temperature rise.

"It is not in doubt that, if the science is right, the consequences for
our planet are literally disastrous," he said. "This disaster is not
set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in
our lifetime."

The report emphasized that global warming can only be fought with the
cooperation of major countries such as the United States and China, and
represents a huge contrast to the Bush administration's wait-and-see
global warming policies.

Sir Nicholas Stern, the senior government economist who wrote the
report, said that acting now to cut greenhouse gas emissions would cost
about 1 percent of global GDP each year. He recommended a "low-carbon
global economy" through measures including taxation, regulation of
greenhouse gas emissions and carbon trading.

"That is manageable," he said. "We can grow and be green."

Bush kept America -- by far the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide and
other gases blamed for global warming -- out of the Kyoto international
treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, saying the pact would harm the U.S.
economy. The international agreement was reached in Kyoto, Japan, in
1997 and expires in 2012.

Blair made his displeasure with U.S. environmental policy clear when he
signed an agreement this year with California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger to develop new technologies to combat the problem. The
measure imposed the first emissions cap in the United States on
utilities, refineries and manufacturing plants in a bid to curb the
gases that scientists blame for warming the Earth.

The prime minister and the report also said that no matter what
Britain, the United States and Japan do, the battle against global
warming cannot succeed without deciding when and how to control the
greenhouse gas emissions by such fast-industrializing giants as China
and India.

Stern's 700-page report said evidence showed "that ignoring climate
change will eventually damage economic growth."

"Our actions over the coming decades could create risks of major
disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and
in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars
and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century," he
said.

The report said at current trends average global temperatures will rise
by 3.6 to 5.4 degrees within the next 50 years or so, and the earth
will experience several degrees more of warming if emissions continue
to grow.

It said such warming could have effects such as melting glaciers,
rising sea levels, declining crop yields, drinking water shortages,
higher death tolls from malnutrition and heat stress, and widespread
outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever. Developing countries often would
be the hardest hit.

The report acknowledged that its predictions regarding GDP relied on
sparse data about high temperatures and developing countries, and
placed monetary values on human health and the environment, "which is
conceptually, ethically and empirically very difficult."

Treasury Chief Gordon Brown, who is expected to replace Blair as prime
minister next year, said Britain would lead the international effort
against climate change, establishing "an economy that is both
pro-growth and pro-green." He called for Europe to cut its carbon
emissions by 30 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050 -- and Blair's
government on Monday said it would propose a British law to that
effect.

Under the 1997 Kyoto accord, 35 industrialized nations committed to
reducing emissions by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

But Britain is one of only a handful of industrialized nations whose
greenhouse gas emissions have fallen in the last decade and a half, the
United Nations said Monday.

The U.N. said Germany's emissions dropped 17 percent between 1990 and
2004, Britain's by 14 percent and France's by almost 1 percent.

Overall, there was a 2.4 percent rise in emissions by 41 industrialized
nations from 2000 to 2004, mostly because former Soviet-bloc countries,
whose emissions declined in their economic downturn of the 1990s,
increased emissions during the recent four-year period by 4.1 percent.

The British government is considering new "green taxes" on cheap
airline flights, fuel and high-emission vehicles.

CJT

2006-10-31, 3:25 am

lkgeo1 wrote:

> Global Warming Could Devastate Economy
> Monday October 30, 12:07 pm ET
> By Thomas Wagner, Associated Press Writer
> British Government Report Says Unchecked Global Warming Will Devastate
> World Economy
>
>
> LONDON (AP) -- Unchecked global warming will devastate the world
> economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, a
> British government report said Monday, as the country launched a bid to
> convince doubters that environmentalism and economic growth can
> coincide.
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
> Britain hired former Vice President Al Gore, who has emerged as a
> powerful environmental spokesman since his defeat in the 2000
> presidential election, to advise the government on climate change -- a
> clear indication of Prime Minister Tony Blair's dissatisfaction with
> current U.S. policy.
>
> Blair, President Bush's top ally in the Iraq war, said unabated climate
> change would eventually cost the world between 5 percent and 20 percent
> of global gross domestic product each year. He called for "bold and
> decisive action" to cut carbon emissions and stem the worst of the
> temperature rise.
>
> "It is not in doubt that, if the science is right, the consequences for
> our planet are literally disastrous," he said. "This disaster is not
> set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in
> our lifetime."
>
> The report emphasized that global warming can only be fought with the
> cooperation of major countries such as the United States and China, and
> represents a huge contrast to the Bush administration's wait-and-see
> global warming policies.
>
> Sir Nicholas Stern, the senior government economist who wrote the
> report, said that acting now to cut greenhouse gas emissions would cost
> about 1 percent of global GDP each year. He recommended a "low-carbon
> global economy" through measures including taxation, regulation of
> greenhouse gas emissions and carbon trading.
>
> "That is manageable," he said. "We can grow and be green."
>
> Bush kept America -- by far the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide and
> other gases blamed for global warming -- out of the Kyoto international
> treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, saying the pact would harm the U.S.
> economy. The international agreement was reached in Kyoto, Japan, in
> 1997 and expires in 2012.
>
> Blair made his displeasure with U.S. environmental policy clear when he
> signed an agreement this year with California Gov. Arnold
> Schwarzenegger to develop new technologies to combat the problem. The
> measure imposed the first emissions cap in the United States on
> utilities, refineries and manufacturing plants in a bid to curb the
> gases that scientists blame for warming the Earth.
>
> The prime minister and the report also said that no matter what
> Britain, the United States and Japan do, the battle against global
> warming cannot succeed without deciding when and how to control the
> greenhouse gas emissions by such fast-industrializing giants as China
> and India.
>
> Stern's 700-page report said evidence showed "that ignoring climate
> change will eventually damage economic growth."
>
> "Our actions over the coming decades could create risks of major
> disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and
> in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars
> and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century," he
> said.
>
> The report said at current trends average global temperatures will rise
> by 3.6 to 5.4 degrees within the next 50 years or so, and the earth
> will experience several degrees more of warming if emissions continue
> to grow.
>
> It said such warming could have effects such as melting glaciers,
> rising sea levels, declining crop yields, drinking water shortages,
> higher death tolls from malnutrition and heat stress, and widespread
> outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever. Developing countries often would
> be the hardest hit.
>
> The report acknowledged that its predictions regarding GDP relied on
> sparse data about high temperatures and developing countries, and
> placed monetary values on human health and the environment, "which is
> conceptually, ethically and empirically very difficult."
>
> Treasury Chief Gordon Brown, who is expected to replace Blair as prime
> minister next year, said Britain would lead the international effort
> against climate change, establishing "an economy that is both
> pro-growth and pro-green." He called for Europe to cut its carbon
> emissions by 30 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050 -- and Blair's
> government on Monday said it would propose a British law to that
> effect.
>
> Under the 1997 Kyoto accord, 35 industrialized nations committed to
> reducing emissions by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
>
> But Britain is one of only a handful of industrialized nations whose
> greenhouse gas emissions have fallen in the last decade and a half, the
> United Nations said Monday.
>
> The U.N. said Germany's emissions dropped 17 percent between 1990 and
> 2004, Britain's by 14 percent and France's by almost 1 percent.
>
> Overall, there was a 2.4 percent rise in emissions by 41 industrialized
> nations from 2000 to 2004, mostly because former Soviet-bloc countries,
> whose emissions declined in their economic downturn of the 1990s,
> increased emissions during the recent four-year period by 4.1 percent.
>
> The British government is considering new "green taxes" on cheap
> airline flights, fuel and high-emission vehicles.
>
It seems everyone except the head-in-sand Bush administration and their
sycophants realizes the problem we're creating.

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Windsun

2006-10-31, 9:25 am

And how, exactly, do you "check" global warming?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"lkgeo1" <lkgeo1@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1162236563.968402.250850@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Global Warming Could Devastate Economy
> Monday October 30, 12:07 pm ET
>
> LONDON (AP) -- Unchecked global warming will devastate the world
> economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, a
> British government report said Monday, as the country launched a bid to

Randy

2006-11-27, 3:25 am

I usually check it with my hand and if it is too hot, if it is I take it off
the radiator and put it back on the classroom shelf.

sorry couldn't resist

"Windsun" <wind-sun@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:7WH1h.185$0r.169@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> And how, exactly, do you "check" global warming?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "lkgeo1" <lkgeo1@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1162236563.968402.250850@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
>

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