(From the diaries -- Plutonium Page.)
No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief,
More pangs will, schooled at forepangs, wilder wring.
--Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard expresses pretty well what we're feeling on all fronts. On the subject of global warming, Glacial Melting Accelerates, a diary last night, cites recent reports that the Greenland ice sheet is melting twice as fast as we thought. Now a complementary and reinforcing article in New Scientist will project beyond 2100 the consequences of using all the fossil fuels still underground: just for starters, a sea level rise of 11 meters (36 feet).
More below.
The article is behind a subscription wall.
Worst case global warming scenario revealed Rather than rehearse doomsday again, and risk the wrath of their serious copyright police, we'll skip to the money quote from the study's author:
Only by starting to reduce carbon dioxide emissions now can we avoid the melting of the Greenland ice cap.
NB: Not by reducing the rate at which emissions are rising, not by some emissions trading slight of hand, counting trees we don't cut down as if that actually
reduced emissions, but by reducing them, for real, now. The author is also concerned that the Antarctic sheet may go next. He sees a very steep temperature curve coming, and stopping well short of "worst case" will leave London (and Amsterdam, and Bangladesh . . .) under only a few feet less of seawater.
Meanwhile, Bush's ally on this front as on all things twisted and wrong is the Howard government of Australia. In a revelation that should surprise no one here, it's been revealed that science has been hushed there too:
Scientists in Aus Pressured not to Disclose Global Warming
Three Australian scientists said they were pressured by the government not to issue any statements on global warming.
The former head of the climate department at the independent institution, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Graeme Pearman told ABC TV Monday, "I was told not to say anything that contradicts the policy of the government."
Pearman went on to say that he had been censured at least six times last year.
~~~~~
Barrie Pittock, also from the same institution, said they have been under pressure to remove information on global warming from any official documents.
(This was also reported in the
Guardian)
Further food for thought on Science Friday: Do we laugh or cry at the following? CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) worked long and hard to figure this one out. From
The Age:Fires up as world warms
Global warming will cause more bushfires by 2020, increasing destruction of the environment and causing more health problems and fire-related injury and death, a new report says.
~~~~~
The report said increased fires would mean even higher greenhouse gas emissions, greater destruction of ecosystems and forests, and more damage to property, livestock and crops.
Pretty much anyone could have figured that out before coffee, one would think, but the bold portion does give pause.
What does anyone think about the idea of a carbon tax? Seriously. bonddad, Jerome, Darksyde? Anyone at all?