4 Yrs. Of "Sound Science"= Alarming Climate Results, No Change In Policy

[hatrack]

"In the four years since President Bush took office, scientific sleuths trying to understand the extent of global climate change -- and finger the culprits -- have come up with several important new clues:

• Glaciers in the Antarctic and in Greenland are melting much faster than expected, and the fastest moving glacier in the world has doubled its speed.

• Worldwide, plants are blooming several days earlier than they did a decade ago, and animals are migrating toward cooler climates across the globe.

• The oceans have absorbed extra heat trapped in the atmosphere, which indicates Earth's temperature should rise by another degree Fahrenheit in the coming decades.

The president's scientific and policy advisers on global warming do not dispute these findings, but none of them has persuaded the White House to alter its current climate policy. Rather than endorsing mandatory limits on carbon dioxide emissions linked to warming, the course embraced by most of America's allies, the White House is focusing on technological fixes: developing energy sources that burn cleaner or finding ways to extract excess carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. "Our approach is founded on sound science, and on trying to address, with different strategies, climate change," said Paula J. Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for global affairs.

EDIT

"We're learning fast, but part of what we're learning is the climate system is really complicated. . . . I don't think we'll ever make the kind of prediction Bush would want," said Wallace S. Broecker, a geochemist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Broecker believes the United States has to act quickly to counter its contribution to global warming. "If we don't pick up the pace, we're not going to get there." The United States is taking part in the Buenos Aires talks even though the administration opted out of the Kyoto Protocol, which will restrict carbon emissions in most industrialized nations starting in 2008. Dobriansky said U.S. officials will try to convince their counterparts that technological change, not government mandates, offers the best chance to preserve both economic growth and the environment."

EDIT

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35915-2004Dec4.html?sub=AR

[bullimiami]

1. Faith based. God created man just like we is now.

Dont worry about it. Gods plan.

[cornermouse]

2. Televangelist this morning...

In essence, God's taking them soon before all the bad stuff happens.

Of couse, that isn't quite what I was taught in sunday school, but as long as they think they can do whatever they want to the planet and then be gone before the bad stuff happens...well, why would they do anything else?

[Ian David]

3. Stop calling it "climate change." It's "Global Warming"

Don't look directly into Carl Rove's eyes.

It's called "Global Warming."

Or perhaps "Global Climate Failure" or "Catastrophic Climate Change."

[madrchsod]

4. he doesn`t give a fuck about anything at all

other than his self induced greatness. he doesn`t give a fuck about his daughters and his grandchildren or anyone else`s. he lives in his own delusions of his world.

[brokensymmetry]

5. The mesquite tree thinks its Spring.

The lore of the area (Texas. Apologies to everyone) is that the mesquite tree never grows new leaves until all danger of frost is past. And here we are, just starting December, and the mesquite has little green leaves. I expect to see it nipped by frost as the season progresses.

When we combine climate destruction with peak oil, I wonder when the dieoff will hit. I fear soon....