Emissions record clouds climate talks after International Energy Agency report released

[Amonester]

Source: NEWS.COM.AU

BAD news awaits delegates from about 180 countries at the start of two weeks of climate talks beginning on Monday to debate a new global warming accord.

Greenhouse gas emissions are going up instead of down despite 20 years of effort, hitting record highs, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Other unpleasant topics at the conference in Bonn include the tsunami-triggered nuclear disaster in March, which apparently has sidelined Japan's aggressive policies to combat climate change. It also prompted countries like Germany to hasten the decommissioning of nuclear power stations which, regardless of other drawbacks, have nearly zero carbon emissions.

Analyst Endre Tvinnereim of the consultancy firm Point Carbon says the fallout from Japan's earthquake and tsumani has "put climate policy further down the priority list."


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/emissions-record-clouds-climate-talks/story-e6frfku0-1226070336896

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Talks, talks, talks.

Twenty Years of Talks.

Oceans Become More Acidic.

Marine Life (CO2 Munchers...) Is DYING.

So they talk, talk, talk.

Hello mega-giga death... :grr:

[StarsInHerHair]

1. to change course we need a bossy dominating hell-bent determined leader

willing & able to take public misdirected outrage, competiters' smears, & media bullshit, all while being VERY vociferous about exactly where we are, how much we're managing to reduce-maybe monthly, & the signposts telling us we're going in the proper direction.


Now, is there any ONE person who can do this? I think it will take a whole team of them, at the top of several nations-or what's left of them.

[Amonester]

2. Even if we could find that one person, or many, the fossil fuel lobbyists would....

first, "try" to bribe that one person, or many (they already do it), and if the fossil fuel lobbyists could not bribe that one person, or many, what would they try to do to him/her/or them? (Small planes?$?%1!)

Besides, who could check China's reductions (if any)? India? Or even Russia?

It's a lost cause, IMO, or it would need a massive strike all over the world at once, and even then. :(

[StarsInHerHair]

3. I reject your rejection before even trying, sorry, I believe keeping such a

person or group of people AMONG the common people, to remain in touch & I know security can guard them too. If it's ONLY the US etc. & China isn't doing it go all against apartheid on them, same with the other countries. The PLANET cannot be considered a "lost cause"

[Amonester]

6. I admire your optimism. We have to show the door to the professional politicians

who failed this (for twenty years already!).

Clearly, they're only in it for the money. :mad:

[Ghost Dog]

4. Yes, we need to kick out the 'professional' politicians and change the 'western' political system,

more and more people seem to agree, for these environmental and also for strong economic reasons. Populist leaders seeking real change will arise.

eg. "It's almost surreal to listen to the economists running monetary policy discuss ways to "fix" this economy. WAKE UP! This is NOT a financial crisis to be solved by financial stimulus, it's a purely political problem. Over the last 20-30 years American industry and innovation has been decimated by corporate greed with the consent of the political establishment. Until the CORE issue is addressed (>> create an environment for REAL jobs that provide REAL wealth to return) no amount of "stimulus" will be effective!" - Bloomberg, The U.S. Economy's 'You First' Problem, comments

Note the emphasis on REAL wealth. Real wealth includes feeling secure in a secure environment. Our environment at the moment is far from secure and the situation is worsening.

[Ghost Dog]

5. Dire climate warning locked in ancient rocks

AFP - Carbon is pouring into Earth's atmosphere ten times faster today than during a dramatic event 56 million years ago that raised Earth's temperature by at least five degrees Celsius (nine degrees Fahrenheit), according to a study released Sunday.

...


"Since life is as sensitive to the rates of change as to the absolute amount of change, fossil-fuel burning is likely disrupting natural ecosystems at a global scale in a way that may have little precedence in Earth history," Kump said in an email exchange.

...

If the PETM was a climate change "squeeze," while the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 10 million years earlier was a "punch," we are "probably closer to the punch than the squeeze," Kump said.

...

The findings "provides further support for the idea that it is the rapid rate at which we are dumping carbon that is so dangerous, as well as the large volumes involved," said Cambridge University professor Bryan Lovell, whose recent book "Challenged by Carbon" examines the PETM in detail.

/... http://www.france24.com/en/20110605-dire-climate-warning-locked-ancient-rocks

[Amonester]

7. Thanks for these posts, Ghost Dog.

K & R

[Ghost Dog]

19. Thank you for the OP, and your other contributions, Amonester.

I do reckon it helps. :hi:

[PuffedMica]

8. We need an Apollo moon shot program so we can produce clean, renewable energy sources

We are at the cross roads for energy production with global warming on one side and Peak Oil on the other. America can take the path of advanced technology energy production for of the future, or continue down the road of obsolete of petroleum production. The choice is ours to either hold the chair of excellence for energy production, or languish in the torment of peak oil.

[SkyDaddy7]

11. Well, I agree the choice is "OURS" in a way...

However, we have a HUGE PROBLEM...Folks like the very wealthy KOCH Brothers & many others who are motivated by profit use science denying Christians as a HUGE VOTING BLOCK to prevent "US" from doing what is so obviously needs to be done!

So, YES, it is "OUR CHOICE" but as long as we have very powerful & very wealthy people using RELIGIOUSLY motivated people who hate science to block "OUR CHOICE" to do what is needed then we are SCREWED! Christians in this country think science is simply the OPINIONS of folks who hate GOD...And want to teach their children they come from monkeys & have no morals...And if they have no morals then they could catch the GAY DISEASE...Plus, Christians do not have to worry about the "Climate Change" because very soon Jesus will swoop down out of the clouds & save them from the evils of this world like science & rational thinking!

I wish the above comment was hyperbole & exaggeration but it is exactly what a majority of this country's Christians think. The 2012 Election will determine "OUR CHOICE"...Will we continue what we are doing, NOT DOING...Or will we vote to do what we need to do like accelerate the direction President Obama & the Democrats have tried to move us in?

[bread_and_roses]

16. "the direction President Obama & the Democrats....

have tried to move us in? "

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[SkyDaddy7]

20. Well...Ok, you got me...

I am far too lazy to post 8 ROTFL emoticon kinda like your non-comment.

[bread_and_roses]

22. i apologize for being so obnoxious - sincerely

I may have issues with your comment but there really is no excuse for being so juvenile - especially at my advanced age.

[SkyDaddy7]

23. Thank-you! I really mean that...

It really does mean a lot to me because this is just a internet forum & you could have just ignored my reply...Which was not exactly mature either. I know we all get a little worked up over issues like this & so many others because we really do care! I honestly think we are on the same side in terms of we are far past time to do something about what we are doing to this planet.

Again, thank-you very much for being a wonderful person. I too have let my emotions or passion get the best of me recently as well.

:toast: :hi:

[JJW]

9. Look to self for leadership

You can't trust global corporations, big business, the wealthy or politicians to do what is necessary.

With very little effort you can reduce your CO2 foot print by 50% and save a lot of money by simple things like better planing and conservation. Over time, you can reduce another 50% with better investments, such as higher efficiency lights, appliances, better auto, insulation, etc.

If people cut back on unhealthy diets, reduce animal consumption, eating more fruits & vegetables that along could make them healthier and reduce water usable and CO2 emissions.

[bread_and_roses]

10. And IF wishes were horses.... Individual action is NOT the answer

First, and making all other points unnecessary, what people "should" do is not an answer - you will never get enough individuals to make such major changes. For many reasons, but foremost among them that it is impracticable for individuals to always make the more difficult choice. Are you going to ask the individual feeding his/her family by getting paid to work in a deforestation to let his/her children starve? Someone else will just take the job.

The systems must change. The laws must change.

[Bragi]

14. I agree

I think the whole "individual action" meme serves the powers that be quite well.

It's an extension of Oprah-style, Nike-laden, classic American dream thinking: If each of us makes an effort, then we can do it!

No we can't. We're doomed by an insane economic system and a corrupted democracy.

[bread_and_roses]

15. exactly. (n/t)

[Nihil]

12. "despite 20 years of effort"?

Someone needs to explain to those tossers that "20 years of
content-free talking from obstructive shitheads" is not the
same thing as "20 years of effort" ...

:grr:

[cyberpj]

17. Not to mention that the first official Earth Day was back in 1970!

At least I THINK it was 1970 -- I was a senior in high school and lots of us cut that day in order to participate in local events.

What a joke THAT has become!
(And probably always was to those with the power to do anything real and quantitative about it.)

As George Carlin once said, Mother Earth will soon exhibit signs of a nasty infection and fever and then shake us all off like a bad case of the flu so that she can heal.

[Ghost Dog]

21. Like a bad case of the flu would be very heavy, both for her

and for us.

Let's hope it's more like ... a summer cold. Soon sorted, once the required relevant steps have been taken.

[Bragi]

18. Maybe they meant 20 years of "PR" effort?

You know, a 20 year long attack on climate science and scientists, massive ad campaigns, demonization of opponents, etc. etc. resulting in the total route of common sense and the triumph of stupidity.

Maybe that was just too many words to put in the press release.

[Bragi]

13. So what's our crtitical flaw?

I have no doubt that we are well down the road to the worst possible climate change outcomes, and that nothing will be done to stop our descent.

When I ask "why" we have been unable to take any steps to prevent the harm that is looming, I come up with two answers:

- First, we are not hard wired to make sacrifices now to prevent an inevitable catastrophe that is not immediate, so it is impossible for people to actually make the kind of sacrifices needed to make a difference

- Alternately, even if "people" as a whole could be convinced as a whole to act so as to prevent a future catastrophe, our political culture and economic systems have evolved specifically so as prevent any such social consensus from prevailing over short-term economic factors.

Either way, it is clear to me that we're doomed to suffer the worst outcomes, famines, mass migrations, wars, etc.

Sorry, did I say "we"? I meant "anyone currently under the age of 30".