By Les Blumenthal
    McClatchy Newspapers

    Sunday 16 December 2007

    Forget about sea levels rising as glaciers and polar ice melt, and increasing water temperatures affecting global weather patterns. As the oceans absorb more and more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, they're gradually becoming more acidic.

    And some scientists fear that the change may be irreversible.

    At risk are sea creatures up and down the food chain, from the tiniest phytoplankton and zooplankton to whales, from squid to salmon to crabs, coral, oysters and clams.

    The oceans are already 30 percent more acidic than they were at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, as they absorb 22 tons of carbon dioxide a day. By the end of the century, they could be 150 percent more acidic.

    "Everything points to dramatic effects," said Richard Feely, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle. "There are suggestions the entire ecosystem could change over time."

    
    By Seth Borenstein
    The Associated Press

    Wednesday 05 December 2007

    Washington - For the first time, more than 200 of the world's leading climate scientists, losing their patience, urged government leaders to take radical action to slow global warming because "there is no time to lose."

    A petition from at least 215 climate scientists calls for the world to cut in half greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It is directed at a conference of diplomats meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to negotiate the next global warming treaty. The petition, obtained by The Associated Press, is to be announced at a press conference there Wednesday night.

    The appeal from scientists follows a petition last week from more than 150 global business leaders also demanding the 50 percent cut in greenhouse gases. That is the estimate that scientists calculate would hold future global warming to a little more than a 3-degree Fahrenheit increase and is in line with what the European Union has adopted.

    In the past, many of these scientists have avoided calls for action, leaving that to environmental advocacy groups. That dispassionate stance was taken during the release this year of four separate reports by the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

    But no more.

    "It's a grave crisis, and we need to do something real fast," said petition signer Jeff Severinghaus, a geosciences professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. "I think the stakes are way way too high to be playing around."

   
    By Justin Hyde
    Detroit Free Press

    Thursday 29 November 2007

    Greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks rose slightly in 2006, even as the United States cut its overall emissions by 1.5%, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

    The administration said the decline in man-made emissions to 7.08 billion metric tons was the first since 2001, and only the third since 1990.

    Higher energy costs, a warmer winter that cut heating demand and a greater use of natural gas instead of coal by electric utilities drove the decline.

    But carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks burning gasoline rose 0.3% to 1.19 billion tons, or about 17% of the U.S. total.

    Greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. vehicles have risen steadily since 1990, as a growing number of drivers traveling farther every year overwhelmed any reductions from more efficient vehicles.

    Total emissions from transportation - including everything from diesel trucks to airplanes - rose slightly to 2.01 billion metric tons.

    
    By Elisabeth Rosenthal
    The New York Times

    Friday 16 November 2007

    Valencia, Spain - In its final and most powerful report, a United Nations panel of scientists meeting here describes the mounting risks of climate change in language that is both more specific and forceful than its previous assessments, according to scientists here.

    Synthesizing reams of data from its three previous reports, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the first time specifically points out important risks if governments fail to respond: melting ice sheets that could lead to a rapid rise in sea levels and the extinction of large numbers of species brought about by even moderate amounts of warming, on the order of 1 to 3 degrees.

    The report carries heightened significance because it is the last word from the influential global climate panel before world leaders meet in Bali, Indonesia, next month to begin to discuss a global climate change treaty that will replace the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012. It is also the first report from the panel since it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October - an honor that many scientists here said emboldened them to stand more forcefully behind their positions.

    As a sign of the deepening urgency surrounding the climate change issue, the report, which was being printed Friday night, will be officially released by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday.

    The full report was embargoed from news organizations until Saturday. But drafts have been circulating for weeks, and descriptions of its findings began to appear on Web sites and in news agency reports on Friday. Bush administration officials held a news conference to discuss the report but insisted that their comments be withheld until after its official release.