History of the global warming scare

Chapter 5: 2000 to 2005

Cha-am Jamal, 2010
All rights reserved

2000, CORAL REEFS HIT HARD BY GLOBAL WARMING, Rapidly warming seas
caused by global warming has turned coral reefs into endangered ecosystems.
According to coral reef scientists meeting in Bali, a 25% of the world's coral reefs are
already gone. Without urgent and immediate CO2 emission reductions coral reefs will
be completely gone from the planet in 30 to 50 years.

2000, SATELLITE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS SHOW COOLING,

According to John Christy of NASA, satellite data show temperature of the upper
atmosphere has been cooling by 0.5F per year since 1979. These data are
inconsistent with ground based measurements that show a warming trend. Climate
scientists point out that warming of the surface and cooling of the upper atmosphere
are not necessarily inconsistent if you take into account things like the Mt Pinatubo
volcanic eruption and ozone depletion. It is possible for the upper atmosphere to cool
while the earths surface is warming because volcanic debris in the stratosphere
occludes sunlight and ozone depletion lowers amount of heat being absorbed in the
upper atmosphere.

2000, GLOBAL WARMING IS THE RESULT OF HUMAN ACTIVITY, According to

an IPCC panel of scientists, human activity that releases greenhouse gases like CO2
into the atmosphere is at least partially responsible for global warming because
greenhouse gases trap heat reflected from the surface of the earth. The consequent
global warming will raise the temperature by between 2.0F and 6.3F by the year
2100. The warming will cause melting ice and thermal expansion of the oceans and
raise sea levels by between one and three feet and flood coastal areas. There will be
an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather such as storms,
droughts, and floods. Tropical diseases will spread into a pandemic. Plants and
animals that fail to adapt to these changes will die off in waves of extinctions and loss
of biodiversity.

2000, CHINA TO BECOME NEW GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION LEADER, The

Kyoto Protocol will cause the economies of industrialized nations to suffer and give
developing countries an unfair advantage in global trade. China, with a booming, coal-
based economy, is projected to zoom past the United States in greenhouse emissions
by 2025.

2000, GLOBAL WARMING IS UNDOUBTEDLY REAL, A blue-ribbon panel of

climate scientists from the National Academy of Sciences has issued a report saying
that global warming is undoubtedly real and it is under way with dire consequences
to follow. Global temperatures have risen more sharply in the last 20 years than at
any time this century. The contradictory evidence from satellite data showing cooling
instead of warming are irrelevant. There is no mention in the report of a link between
global warming and human activity.
2000, CLIMATE TALKS COLLAPSE, The UN climate meeting in the Hague has
collapsed in disarray over disagreements between the EU and the USA on how to curb
greenhouse gas emissions. At issue is the use of sinks in the emission accounting
with the USA saying that it should be able to use existing forests and agriculture as
carbon sinks. Nations have been arguing over contentious positions on how they can
do as little as possible to technically reach Kyoto targets. Under the Kyoto Protocol,
worldwide emissions of heat-trapping gases must decline to 5.2 percent below their
1990 levels by 2012.

2001, GLOBAL WARMING NOW UNSTOPPABLE, A 500-member IPCC led by Sir

John Houghton issued the most authoritative report on global warming so far. It
contains the following alarming findings: so much CO2 has already been injected into
the air that global warming is already unstoppable; the world is warming at an
accelerating rate; tens of millions of people around the world will be driven from their
homes in the coming decades to become climate change refugees; governments must
take urgent action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; climate change is now so rapid
that it is not possible for us to adapt to these changes; human ecosystems,
biodiversity, will all be affected and it will affect the world economy; the temperature
rise in the next 100 years will be between 1.4C and 5.8C, significantly higher than
previously thought; there is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming
observed over the past 50 years is attributable to human activities"; "human
influences will continue to change atmospheric composition throughout the 21st
century"; global warming will persist for many centuries by virtue of the CO2 we have
already put into the air; change caused by humans is far greater than the changes
due to nature; global warming is caused by carbon dioxide trapping heat;

2001, GLOBAL WARMING REPORT CREATES PRESIDENTIAL HEADACHE,

(Time) A study of global warming by the National Academy of Sciences ordered by
President Bush has concluded, to the Presidents chagrin, that, despite the
uncertainties about global warming, it is real and that it is not natural but caused by
human activities that produce greenhouse gases. The Bush team was surprised and
shocked by the report which went counter to their stance on global warming which
saw the issue as a left wing conspiracy to take control of energy policy. The report
comes just in time for a trip by the President to Europe where leaders are furious with
the US for not joining the Kyoto Protocol. Having rejected Kyoto out of hand W, now
having to cede some ground to the Europeans, admitted that global warming was a
problem.

2001, GLOBAL WARMING IN MARS, Researchers say that Mars, too, may be a
victim of global warming. The planet's solid carbon-dioxide polar caps seem to have
receded over the past Martian year (687 days). The more they evaporate, the more
the atmosphere warms.

2001, GLOBAL WARMING MAY TRIGGER ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGES, A

report by the National Research Council (USA) says that global warming may trigger
climate changes so abrupt that ecosystems will not be able to adapt. Look for local or
short term cooling, floods, droughts, and other unexpected changes. A growing CO2
concentration in the atmosphere due to the use of fossil fuels is to blame. Some
regional climates have changed by as much as 18F in 10 years. Antarctica's largest
glaciers are rapidly thinning, and in the last 10 years have lost up to 150 feet of
thickness in some places, enough to raise global sea levels by 0.015 inch. Global
warming is a real problem and it is getting worse.

2001, IPCC REPORT, Carbon dioxide from unhindered burning of fossil fuels will
raise earth's temperature 5.8C by 2100. The work of the panel over the last 10 years
has now effectively ended the debate about man made global warming It is time for
governments to get serious about reducing emissions. "No country can afford to
ignore the coming transformation of its natural and human environment. The poor
and vulnerable are at greatest risk.

2002, JAPAN RATIFIES KYOTO PROTOCOL, Japan, the 4th largest CO2 emitter in
the world ratified the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions and urged other
industrialized nations to follow suit.

2002, ICE SHELF COLLAPSE A WARNING, A piece of ice the size of Rhode island
broke off the Larsen ice shelf in Antarctica and within a month it dissipated sending a
huge flotsam of ice into the sea. At about the same time an iceberg the size of
Delaware broke off the Thwaites Glacier. A few months ago parts of the Ross ice shelf
had broken off in a similar way. These events serve as a dramatic reminders that
global warming is real and its effects are potentially catastrophic and underscores the
urgent need for a binding international agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

2002, HUMANS CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING, U.S. ADMITS, In major U-turn by

the USA, the EPA has acknowledged for the first time that greenhouse gas emissions
from human activity cause global warming but stopped short of endorsing the Kyoto
Protocol as all 15 EU nations have done choosing instead to follow a voluntary
emission reduction program of its own design. The EPA report is contrary to the
position of the White House. President Bush distanced himself from the report saying
that it was put out by the bureaucracy and that the report itself had caveats with
respect to the uncertainties inherent in global warming science.

2002, U.S. EPA REPORT ON GLOBAL WARMING , The 2002 EPA report endorses
the global warming theory that underlies the Kyoto Protocol saying that
"Greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth's atmosphere as a result
of human activities, causing global mean surface air temperatures and
subsurface ocean temperatures to rise". Other excerpts: US greenhouse gas
emissions will rise 43% from 2000 to 2020; a few ecosystems, such as alpine
meadows in the Rocky Mountains and some barrier islands, are likely to
disappear entirely; changes observed over the last several decades are likely due to
human activities. It concludes that global warming is a threat and that it can be
mitigated by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.

2003, SOOT WORSE FOR GLOBAL WARMING THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT,

Soot that lands on snow has caused of the warming since 1880 because dirty snow
traps more solar heat than pristine snow and induces a strong warming effect,
according to a new computer model by James Hansen of NASA. It explains why sea
ice and glaciers are melting faster than they should. Reducing soot emissions is an
effective tool to curb global warming. It is easier to cut soot emissions than it is to cut
CO2 emissions but we still need to reduce CO2 emissions in order to stabilize the
atmosphere.
2003, GLOBAL WARMING TO AFFECT SKI AREAS, (UNEP report) Global warming
will melt snow at lower altitudes forcing ski areas to move higher and higher up the
mountain. Downhill skiing could disappear altogether in some resorts. a retreating
snow line will cut off base villages from their ski runs by 2030. Climate change is
happening now and we can measure it. Traditional low altitude ski resorts of Europe
will have to either shut down or suffer higher costs of snow making. Global warming
will push the altitude for ski resorts from 4265 feet to 4900-6000 feet. In Switzerland,
several low-lying resorts are already having problems getting bank loans. Austrias
snow line is set to rise by 656 to 984 feet in the next 30-50 years leaving many ski
resorts behind. Banks are now less willing to lend money to ski resorts. Temperatures
are set to rise by 2.5F to 10.4F by 2100 unless dramatic action is taken to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IPCC, a body of 2000 scientists.

2004, GRIM SIGNS OF GLOBAL WARMING. Global warming has unleashed

massive ecological changes that are already under way. These changes are ushering
in a grim future including massive species extinctions, an elevation of sea levels by 3
feet, wholesale changes to the Arctic, and disruptions to the earths life support
system. These changes should serve as a wake up call to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.

2004, PEW CENTER REPORT Observed impacts of global climate change in the
US. Global warming is plain to see if you look at how it has affected wildlife. Half of
the 150 species studied showed these effects. Global warming is changing life in your
own back yard. Many species are going extinct in the southern edge of their range
and doing better in the northern edge. Ediths checkerspot butterfly is in sharp decline
near the Mexico-California border where it has become too warm and dry, but their
numbers are rising in British Columbia. The red fox is heading north and can now be
found in the Arctic. In Florida and the Gulf coast people are seeing many many new
species coming up from Mexico and th Caribbean. A previous worldwide study of 1500
species showed that this effect is global.

2004, ARCTIC CLIMATE IMPACT ASSESSMENT, An unprecedented 4-year study

of the Arctic shows that polar bears, walruses, and some seals are becoming extinct.
Arctic summer sea ice may disappear entirely. Combined with a rapidly melting
Greenland ice sheet, it will raise the sea level by 3 feet by 2100 inundating lowlands
from Florida to Bangladesh. Average winter temperatures in Alaska and the rest of the
Arctic are projected to rise an additional 7 to 13 degrees over the next 100 years
because of increasing emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities. The area
is warming twice as fast as anywhere else because of global air circulation patterns
and natural feedback loops, such as less ice reflecting sunlight, leading to increased
warming at ground level and more ice melt. Native peoples' ways of life are
threatened. Animal migration patterns have changed, and the thin sea ice and
thawing tundra make it too dangerous for humans to hunt and travel.

2004, US STATES SUE OVER GLOBAL WARMING, Eight states and the City of
New York have sued five electric power public utilities for failing to cut greenhouse
gas emissions and for causing global warming. They are demanding emission
reductions of 3% per year for 10 years. Currently carbon dioxide is not recognized as
a pollutant by the Clean Air Act and the federal govt is therefore accused of abdicating
its responsibility in the matter.
2004, GLOBAL WARMING TO MELT GREENLAND ICE SHEET, A meltdown of
the massive ice sheet, which is more than 3km-thick would raise sea levels by an
average seven meters, threatening countries such as Bangladesh, certain islands in
the Pacific and some parts of Florida. Greenland's huge ice sheet could melt within the
next thousand years if emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and global warming are not
reduced.

2004, RAPID ARCTIC WARMING BRINGS SEA LEVEL RISE, The Arctic Climate
Impact Assessment (ACIA) report says: increasing greenhouse gases from human
activities is causing the Arctic to warm twice as fast as the rest of the planet; in
Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia winter temperatures have risen by 4F to
7F in the last 50 years; the Arctic will warm by 7F to 13F by 2100; a portion of
Greenland's ice sheet will melt; global sea levels will rise; global warming will
intensify; Greenland contains enough melting ice to raise sea levels by 7 meters;
Bangkok, Manila, Dhaka, Florida, Louisiana, and New Jersey are at risk of inundation;
thawing permafrost and rising seas threaten Arctic coastal regions; climate change
will accelerate and bring about profound ecological and social changes; the Arctic is
experiencing the most rapid and severe climate change on earth and it's going to get
a lot worse; Arctic summer sea ice will decline by 50% to 100%; polar bears will be
driven towards extinction; this report is an urgent SOS for the Arctic; forest fires and
insect infestations will increase in frequency and intensity; changing vegetation and
rising sea levels will shrink the tundra to its lowest level in 21000 years; vanishing
breeding areas for birds and grazing areas for animals will cause extinctions of many
species; if we limit emission of heat trapping carbon dioxide we can still help protect
the Arctic and slow global warming.

2004 GLOBAL WARMING THE MOVIE, Hollywood released a movie called The
day after tomorrow, a dramatization of the horrors of global warming complete with
superstorms, and a climate shift. There is death and destruction on a global scale
scale Hollywood style. It is promoted by the global warming camp as a teachable
moment and derided by skeptics as goofy. It helps to dramatically increase public
support for global warming issues and for reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

2004 GLOBAL WARMING WILL LEAVE ARCTIC ICE FREE, The Arctic ice cap is
shrinking at an unprecedented rate and will be gone by 2070. It has shrunk by 15%
to 20% in the last 30 years. This process will accelerate with the Arctic warming twice
as fast as the rest of the world due to a buildup of heat trapping greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere. The findings support the broad scientific consensus that global
warming is caused mainly by rising atmospheric greenhouse gases as a result of
emissions from cars, factories and power plants.