140 countries (including 35 highly industrialised nations) began implementing the kyoto protocol today. i’d be remiss if i didn’t post anything to mark this historic occassion. honestly, i can’t believe that people even question whether global warming is real. all you have to do is open your eyes and take a good look around. seeing is believing, right?
This is a section of shoreline at Cape Hatteras in North Carolina in the USA, pictured in 1999 and 2004. Rising sea levels are also expected to speed up coastal erosion.
it’s pretty obvious to me that things are changing rapidly. when i was young the sky was blue; now it’s a hazy shade of yellowish-blueish-brown. i remember when winter up north started in late october instead of january. there’s a reason we have storms called “nor’easters” and songs called “white christmas”; it’s because winter used to be winter.
Argentina’s Upsala Glacier was once the biggest in South America, but it is now disappearing at a rate of 200 metres per year.
in my opinion there is no debate: global warming is happening and we humans are playing a large part. so where do we go from here? what can we do? well, i think we just have to start somewhere and kyoto is better than doing nothing at all. in addition, a visionary environmental and energy policy would be great for our economy.
i wonder if kyoto critics have even read the protocol. i have, and i find the goals both admirable and attainable. these are the pollutants and industries targetted by kyoto:
Greenhouse gases: Carbon dioxide CO2, Methane CH4, Nitrous oxide NO2, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulphur hexafluoride SF6
Sectors/source categories: Energy, Fuel combustion, Energy industries, Manufacturing industries and construction, Transport
Other: Fugitive emissions from fuels, Solid fuels, Oil and natural gas
Industrial processes: Mineral products, Chemical industry, Metal production, Production of halocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride, Consumption of halocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride
Solvent and other product use: Agriculture, Enteric fermentation, Manure management, Rice cultivation, Agricultural soils, Prescribed burning of savannas, Field burning of agricultural residues
Waste: Solid waste disposal on land, Wastewater handling, Waste incineration
when you look at the list, it’s easy to see why there is so much energy industry opposition to kyoto. it’ll cut into their bottom line. in fact, exxon has been one of the biggest industry opponents:
“…the company [Exxon Mobil], the world’s largest oil and gas concern, has increased donations to Washington-based policy groups that, like Exxon itself, question the human role in global warming and argue that proposed government policies to limit carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming are too heavy handed.
“Exxon now gives more than $1 million a year to such organizations, which include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the George C. Marshall Institute, the American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research and the American Legislative Exchange Council.
“The organizations are modest in size but have been outspoken in the global warming debate. Exxon has become the single-largest corporate donor to some of the groups, accounting for more than 10 percent of their annual budgets. While a few of the groups say they also receive some money from other oil companies, it is only a small fraction of what they receive from Exxon Mobil…
“Exxon’s publicly disclosed documents reveal that donations to many of these organizations increased by more than 50 percent from 2000 to 2002.”
- “Exxon Backs Groups That Question Global Warming” Jennifer Lee, New York Times, May 28, 2003
i’ve done a lot of thinking about what we do *now*. i’ve long been an advocate of personal responsibility on the global warming front. i do what i can to reduce my output and encourage others to do the same (here is a short list of things you can do, and here is a short list of suggestions i posted two years ago). but we’ve also got to get some control over our fossil fuel industry. they are obviously not going to go clean voluntarily; they must be forced and i have no problem with imposing strict regulations on the energy industry.
The image on the left is from an 1859 etching of the Rhone glacier in Valais, Switzerland, and shows ice filling the valley. In 2001, the glacier had shrunk by some 2.5km, and its ’snout’ had shifted about 450 metres higher up.
one thing i’ve given a lot of thought to recently is the use of clean energy. i think wind, solar, and hydro are all very cool conceptually… but i don’t believe we have twenty or thirty years of wiggle room. i believe the problem is urgent and imminent. and with that in mind, i’ve drastically changed my thinking on nuclear power. although i don’t agree with some of the sentiments expressed by the author, this wired article describes many of the reasons i’ve changed my mind. i’d suggest you read it if you have time; it might give you some things to think about.
i also support the work being done by the apollo alliance. they are emphasising long-term solutions like hydro, solar, and wind. now even though i said a moment ago that we need to seriously rethink nuclear power, i do believe that we need to continue to invest in long-term, completely clean energy. the alliance “gets it” in that regard. go check them out; they put the “kyoto will destroy our economy” argument into the dustbin where it belongs.
but back to the seeing is believing thing… a photographer named gary braasch has been documenting global warming for a few decades. his site, world view of global warming, contains many images that so clearly document climate change that i find it impossible to understand why some people still don’t believe what’s happening. this page really stands out IMO – glacier melts are pretty compelling evidence of a warming trend.
The northern waters are getting fresher while the southern waters (near equator) are increasing in salinity. Curry says this indicates a change in the climate with more precipitation and ice melt in the north and much stronger evaporation in the south. In other words: “Global warming.”
so what do we have to look forward to? well, in the immediate future, NASA says 2005 will be the warmest year on record. although i’m no expert, i imagine that we’ll continue to experience the warming trend for the forseeable future. and i don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility to say that many of our coastlines will disappear in my lifetime. more species will become extinct, and humanity will suffer from the effects of increased pollutants. basically, i think the outlook is very bleak. but today is historic anyway, as the entire world has finally taken the first step towards reducing our impact. i just hope it isn’t too late.
*pictures courtesy of the BBC. further information may be found in the these posts: 1, 2, 3
