Australian Government's Climate Plan Will Do Next To Nothing

[hatrack]

The federal government's preferred way to tackle global warming will go only a small way to stop greenhouse gases making the world hotter, a report has found. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) says a string of government plans to slow global warming will only have a marginal effect.

Australia, along with the United States, has refused to sign up to the Kyoto protocol aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, they back the creation of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which includes countries such as China, to back low emission technologies. Australia is also supporting research into the geo-sequestration of carbon dioxide, where greenhouse gases are theoretically stored underground.

But the ABARE research found these and other greenhouse gas friendly technologies such as hybrid vehicles will not stop global warming. By 2050, greenhouses gases are likely to be 142 per cent above levels measured in 2001 if current polices are not changed. Under the most widespread adoption of the government's preferred policies, greenhouse gases would still increase by more than 100 per cent.

More worryingly, the work will not achieve much in terms of slowing global warming. "Even after accounting for the assumed widespread diffusion of cleaner technologies, the impact on global mean temperature is still expected to be significant," it found. The most recent temperature models suggest that by 2100, the globe will be at least 2.3 degrees warmer. There's also a 50 per cent chance the world would be 3.5 degrees hotter. ABARE found that under all the policies being supported by Australia, global temperatures would be between 1.7 degrees and 2.6 degrees hotter.

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Greenhouse-plans-wont-stop-warming/2006/07/07/1152240481308.html