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Global Warming, 2/1/07
Key Lecture Points:
• On February 2, 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its fourth report. In it, the IPCC stated that it is 90% likely that human activities (particularly those associated with the release of greenhouse gasses) are causing an increase in the earth’s temperatures. Additionally, the report stated that it is probable that the earth’s temperature will rise between 3.2 and 7.2 degrees F.
• The White House released a statement calling the 2007 IPCC report “comprehensive and accurate”. But the White House also states that current US approaches to global warming “are working”.
• In January of 2007, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of industry CEOs, urged President Bush to support mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. This group represents companies including Alcoa, BP, General Electric and Duke Energy.
• On February 16, 2005 the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change went into effect. The Protocol calls for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions for developed countries, but does not currently place restrictions upon emissions for “developing countries” including China. Over 160 countries have ratified the Protocol, with the notable exception of the U.S. President Bush withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol discussions in 2001, citing that participation in the Protocol would be harmful to the U.S. economy.
• Recent events indicate that the politics of Global Warming are shifting from a debate about whether it is occurring as a result of human actions to what (if anything) the US should do to lessen the impact of Global Warming.
For More Information:
• The Environmental Protection Agency Climate Change website (background and government policy): http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (includes a link to the entire Kyoto Protocol text): http://unfccc.int/2860.php
• Union of Concerned Scientists information on global warming (touts the view of global warmng as a danger): http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/
• The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change (challenges the view of global warming as a danger): http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/Index.jsp
Books For Further Reading:
• Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. Rodale Press, 2006. 328 pages.
Description: The former Vice President summarizes the evidence for human-induced global warming and criticizes the current Bush administration environmental policies.
Click here to order.
• Victor, David. Climate Change: Debating America's Policy Options. Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2004. 165 pages.
Description: This book is written from the perspective of an environmentalist policy maker. The author offers 3 different approaches to dealing with global warming in the form of fictional presidential addresses.
Click here to order.
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