(((URGENT FOR PLANET))) Scientists beg for climate action ((PLEASE READ))

[BigBearJohn]

"Action needs to be taken and needs to be taken now," said Marika Holland,
a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who signed on. "The longer we wait,
the worse it's going to become." 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."


PLEASE READ MORE AND SPREAD THE WORD: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_sc/climate_scientists&printer=1;_ylt=Av7lr6OfO51bpuOTpljG5GNxieAA

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. KnR

[BigBearJohn]

3. Thanks! We just need one more rec. Who will it be?

[rodeodance]

2. Jr has his Talk to my hand up again

[greyl]

4. Yes, I'm sure I want to recommend this thread.

We all need to spend at least an extra few minutes every day participating in solutions to the problem.
As it is, we all spend several hours every day contributing to it.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

5. My pleasure to provide the 5th rec...

... We need to ditch this current administration and join the EU in their efforts:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_CrL2fW8IIY

[Trillo]

6. I'll give it a sixth.

Yep, climate change could be a killer. No doubt about it, weather is more severe and extreme than when I was young.

[BigBearJohn]

7. AND WE WONDER WHY AL GORE IS FOCSING ON THIS INSTEAD OF THE PRESIDENCY?

[Indi Guy]

8. Green-house - Shmeen-house!...

I've got mine; if you don't have yours - that's your problem.

...so says our nation's PIC (People In Charge)

[orleans]

9. k&r n/t

[Swamp Rat]

10. k&r

[opihimoimoi]

11. K&R

:Swift Action by Bush:

:$$$$$$$ For the Effort:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

12. K&R!!

:kick: :)

[Maestro]

13. Kickin' away!

:kick: Very important read. My congresscritters could give a rat's ass about this. I am so frustrated!

[Snarkturian Clone]

14. Is it possible that

Global Climate Change is inevitable and we should stop focusing on prevention and start focusing on how the fuck we are going to adapt to survive?

Seriously. I keep getting this fear that climate change will occur regardless of the steps that we take to prevent it and that in 50 years people will be like "those idiots back then should have developed technology geared toward adapting to the change instead of trying to prevent something that they were too late to prevent!"

[lunatica]

15. Gore will take your signature to Bali...

He sent this link in an email requesting us to sign it and promising to hand deliver it in Bali.

http://www.climateprotect.org/standwithal

[The2ndWheel]

16. "Action needs to be taken and needs to be taken now,"

"The longer we wait,
the worse it's going to become."

"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."

So we need to take radical action right now by setting the goal for more then 4 decades from now. It's probably me, but that makes very little sense.

"Cut greenhouse gas emissions now!"

"When do we want it?"

"When our kids are middle aged!"

"Wait...what?...what does our sign say?"

[Tejas]

20. good post!

Few interesting anomalies there.

43 years?

:(

[riverdeep]

33. Not strange.

An oil tanker can't turn on a dime. We have to change our entire energy infrastructure, consumption habits, the relationship between rich and poor nations, and a whole lot of other things. These things aren't going to change quickly; but by setting the wheels turning now, we can begin the painful course correction.

Here's a secret-it's now a question not of whether or not we will experience deleterious effects, but to what degree those effects will occur. We're going to take water onto the ship. Will it sink us or can we bail it out? That's the question. To have avoided the worst effects, we should have listened to the original warnings in the 1970's.

I applaud these scientists.

[FourScore]

17. Thanks BBJ.

This is THE most important issue there issue. K&R

[lovuian]

18. kick

:kick:

[nannah]

19. re: western washington flooding

I posted this as it's own message, but it is relevent here.

I live in western washington and have since early 70's. In the late 70's I worked in real estate development and land use planning; i served on the planning commission for the community in which i lived. At that time there were concerns about development along the I-5 corridor in Lewis County due to the increased flooding caused by creating impervious surface (non-permeable surface ie. roofs, roads, parking lots,) in an area that relies on natural drainage to handle rainfall and slow run off into the river. Needless to say, the clamor from outraged landowners claiming their right to develop and profit on their real estate purchase joined with the banks eager to loan money, developers hot to do their community building, businesses wanting to expand with the magic words of bringing "economic development" won over common sense and paying attention to the mundane realities of hydrology, geology, and basic land use concepts.

Now, we have wailing and hand wringing about the losses. It isn't that I am insensitive to people's suffering and the loss of livestock and pets, especially the losses of farmers whose farms were devastated by the increased flooding.

Why is this relevant???? Because on a global scale we are in possession of scientific findings that suggest the need to make changes in how we live and use our resources. And again common sense and scientific information is being drowned out by paid nay saying shills, representatives of the magical thinking trades; representatives of industries who continue to bank on things staying the same; and people who don't like disrupting their comfortable lives.

People may call this blaming, but I think it reveals an important error in how we tend to function... when problems are predicted farther out than a few months or a year, people can't wrap their actions around them...they don't seem real and likely the cavelry will ride in to save us anyway. The essence of leadership lies in the ability to help people recognize and respond to unpleasant truths in a timely fashion. Apparently Germany has just passed environmental policy to ratchet down their contribution to global warming. they are hoping it will be a model for the Bali talks. At the very least...we live in interesting times.

[Uncle Joe]

21. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, BigBearJohn.

[cbmanchester]

22. Bye Bye Humanity!

It was such a nice, short, intense visit we've had on this planet.

[earth mom]

23. So long and thanks for all the fish.

:cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG6b3V2MNxQ

[autorank]

24. K*R Bigbear - vital THANKS!

[Faygo Kid]

25. Nope. Rush Limbaugh - the great scientist - says it's nothing. Case closed.

Like Rush, I am 56 years old. I pray I outlive him so I can celebrate his demise. Which I would do without hesitation.

But neither of us will live through the full fury of what's coming to our planet. To him, it's hilarious. All three weeks of his college education informs him.

You and I know better.

[SpiralHawk]

26. Things look different to drug addicts like Limbaugh

And the sheep who listen to his well-financed propaganda and demagoguery...

[Danger Mouse]

28. I'm offended that you'd insult a beautiful bird by putting a horse's ass where its head should be.

:P

[emmadoggy]

27. K & R.

Although I don't think that a 50% reduction by 2050 is nearly enough.

And I kinda agree with a poster above who said we should be doing more to prepare for the inevitable changes that are coming - IN TANDEM WITH cutting emissions.

I'm so terrified for my kids and their future. :scared: :cry:

[happygoluckytoyou]

29. don't worry...by 2999 we'll cut something by some %

HOW ABOUT RATHER THAN PROMISING 20% BETTER IN 20 YEARS.... WHO THE F(*&* CARES ABOUT THAT


HOW ABOUT-------> FORCING 1% EACH YEAR FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS....
AT LEAST THEN WHEN WE ARE GETTING BULLSHITTED WE WILL KNOW IT SOONER

[Danger Mouse]

30. Dude...why do you feel the need to scream all the time?

The Caps Lock Key is only sometimes your friend. Let's use our indoor voices.

[BigBearJohn]

31. Thanks to all of you for your wonderful responses

[riverdeep]

32. To put this in simple terms-

this is the equivalent of driving down the road and seeing the check engine light flashing followed by plumes of smoke from the hood. You keep driving, and you should know what to expect. Yet, we just keep on driving day after day on spaceship earth. And we ain't got no warranty.

[GrannyK]

34. Snarkturian Clone

gets it. This is the crucial issue. We truly need to be thinking about dealing with the inevitable results of climate change, peak oil, financial collapse and other surprises in the near future.

[toadzilla]

35. kick

[BigBearJohn]

36. THANKS