Beating the Heat, a Practical Manual of Climate Change
BERKELEY, California, October 27, 2000 (ENS) - Scientists charged
with forecasting global temperature increases due to climate
change have almost doubled their worst case scenarios since their
last assessment for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
in 1995.
The latest projections to the year 2100 range from a 1.5 to 6
degrees centigrade increase in global average temperatures.
In 1995, the projections were for increases between one and 3.5
degrees.
The report also suggests more strongly than in the past that
human induced climate change is actually occurring.
The IPCC forecasts have emerged months before representatives of
the world's governments were due to agree them and just before
world governments meet in the Hague to finalise rules for
implementing the United Nations Kyoto Protocol.
Now, just in time, an easy to understand primer on climate change
- its causes and consequences - is on the market in the form of a
slim paperback by John Berger entitled, "Beating the Heat: Why
and How We Must Combat Global Warming."
Berger involves the reader from the start in a swoop across the
Earth in the year 2100 after the climate has warmed. Trees have
died, permafrost has melted, wetlands have turned to deserts,
fires are burning across a seared landscape.
An independent energy and environmental consultant who has worked
for the National Research Council and corporations such as
Lockheed and Chevron as well as non-profit groups and the U.S.
Congress, Berger embarks on a dramatized explanation of the
political scene in the year 2100.
Back in real time, Berger points out that the oil and coal
industries "are conducting a sophisticated multimillion dollar
campaign to convince the public that climate change is not a
serious threat. The campaign opposes international cooperation to
protect the world's climate."
"The industries involved have succeeded in confusing tens of
millions of people about climate change," Berger says. He goes
into detail about the opposition of the fossil fuel industries to
the international agreement to cut heat trapping greenhouse gas
emissions, the Kyoto Protocol.
Signed but not ratified by the 39 industrialized nations whose
emissions it controls, the Kyoto Protocol will be the subject of
a final set of negotiations next month in the Netherlands.
In the chapter, "Myths and Mythmakers," Berger identifies by name
the paid "climate skeptics" who speak for the oil and coal
industries.
A few pages later he also identifies the fossil fuel producers
who have joined the Business Environmental Leadership Council of
the Pew Center of Global Climate Change. This group accepts the
views of most scientists that while some uncertainties remain,
enough is known about climate change to take action. "It
advocates emission reductions by business through improved energy
efficiency, and it recognizes the Kyoto agreement as an important
first step toward further international cooperation," Berger
writes.
The book briefly summarizes the main renewable energy
technologies: biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind,
fuel cells.
In sum, Berger's attitude is hopeful and he offers an array of
practical actions that ordinary people can take to reverse
climate change. He encourages the purchase of fuel efficient
vehicles, the practice of energy efficiency at home and on the
job, and the planting of trees.
He advocates eating organic foods grown close to the consumer.
"Avoiding food shipped long distances will reduce the large
amounts of energy consumed in transportation. So will choosing
organic foods that are produced without energy-intensive
pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers," Berger
writes.
Finally, the book lists one or two organizations that are active
on energy and climate issues in each state with contact numbers,
email addresses and websites.
"Beating the Heat" is published by Berkeley Hills Books and is
available online at: http://www.berkeleyhills.com
SOURCE: Environment News Service (ENS)
****************************************************************
To post a submission by email at climate-newswire@sidsnet.org
To unsubscribe, email to majordomo@sidsnet.org with the message:
unsubscribe climate-newswire
To receive updates via email, send an email to majordomo@sidsnet.org with the message:
subscribe climate-newswire
No SUBJECTS required either case.
Brought to you on the SMALL Island Developing States Network: http://www.sidsnet.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Oct 30 2000 - 16:33:46 EST