Window Closing On Planet's Chances - Sydney Morning Herald

[hatrack]

WORLD leaders must urgently deal with the impact of climate change and stop it accelerating or it will be beyond the capacity of humans to cope, a new report by a United Nations body of leading scientific experts warns.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whose wording was agreed in Brussels only yesterday after all-night disputes between scientists and governments and last-minute objections from the US, China and Saudi Arabia over wording and graphics, bluntly says: "Unmitigated climate change would, in the long term, be likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to adapt."

The report challenges world leaders to begin producing and costing plans to handle the huge changes that will be wrought this century by global warming. It lays out the devastating effect around the world from Australia to the Americas, Africa to Europe and the Pacific islands to the polar regions if global temperature rises between 1.5 and 2.5 degrees.

In a sobering assessment, the report finds this warming would mean "approximately 20 per cent to 30 per cent of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction". It also warns of malnutrition, water shortages, disease and injury from predicted increases in heatwaves, droughts, storms and other severe weather events.

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/window-closing-on-planets-chances/2007/04/06/1175366473950.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Heads up, folks. This is the handwriting on the wall.

Failure to act drastically and immediately will mean NO WAY FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRADNCHILDREN to survive.

Time to alter all of our lifestyles right now. If it hurts or even if it annoys, too bad. We CANNOT continue down the road we are on.

[htuttle]

3. "the handwriting on the wall"

If I recall correctly, that aphorism refers to a story from the Old Testament (Daniel 5?). I believe the actual writing said "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin", which means something like "you have been measured in the balance and found wanting".

Indeed...indeed.

[MountainLaurel]

2. What an excellent metaphor n/t