[Mb-civic] Meanwhile, back in the atmosphere.........(+ farehneit 9-11 making GOP nervous)

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

2 articles, 2 topics, one world...

Melting ice - The threat to London's 
future
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,12608
25,00.html
July 14, 2004


There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now than for 55m years, 
enough to melt all the ice on the planet and submerge cities like London, 
New York and New Orleans, Sir David King, the government's chief 
scientific adviser has warned.

Speaking on his return from Moscow, where he has been acting as 
the prime minister's "unofficial envoy" to persuade the Russians to 
ratify the Kyoto protocol to fight climate change, Sir David said the 
most recent science bore out the worst predictions.

An ice core 3km deep from the Antarctic had a record of the climate 
for 800,000 years and showed the direct relationship between the 
amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and warm and cold 
periods for the planet.

Critical in climate records is the quantity of ice at the poles and in 
glaciers. Records show that at the peak of the ice age 12,000 years 
ago, the sea was 150 metres below where it is now. "You might think 
it is not wise, since we are currently melting ice so fast, to have built 
our big cities on the edge of the sea where it is now obvious they 
cannot remain.

"On current trends, cities like London, New York and New Orleans 
will be among the first to go.

"Ice melting is a relatively slow process but is speeding up. When the 
Greenland ice cap goes, the sea level will rise six to seven metres, 
when Antarctica melts it will be another 110 metres," he said.

Records of the 3km deep Antarctic ice core showed that during ice 
ages the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was around 200 parts per 
million (ppm), and during warm periods reached around 270 ppm, 
before sinking back down again for another ice age. That pattern had 
been repeated many times in that period but had now been broken 
because of the intervention of man.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had reached 360 ppm in the 1990s 
and now was up to 379 ppm and increasing at the rate of 3 ppm a 
year - reaching a level not seen for 55 million years when there was 
no ice on the planet because the atmosphere was too warm.

"I am sure that climate change is the biggest problem that civilisation 
has had to face in 5,000 years," he concluded.

Sir David, who is also to visit China and Japan, was speaking at the 
launch of a scientific expedition to Cape Farewell in the Arctic, which 
aims to raise awareness of climate change in students. It will also 
study the oceans' currents with the help of Southampton University, 
particularly the fate of the gulf stream which warms northern Europe 
but is slowing down because of excess fresh water in the north 
Atlantic caused by ice melt.

Dr King described how the ice caps like those on Mount Kilimanjaro, 
Tanzania, had been continuous for hundreds of thousands of years 
and survived through successive warm periods but were now 
expected to disappear in 30 to 40 years.

He said that the realisation of the scale of the crisis was what 
prompted him to say in January that climate change was a bigger 
threat than global terrorism. "We are moving from a warm period into 
the first hot period that man has ever experienced since he walked on 
the planet."

He said the heatwave of last summer in which 25,000 Europeans 
died had killed more people than terrorism, yet had not been given 
anything like the same level of attention.

The prime minister had charged him with talking to governments 
ahead of the G8 summit to convince them of the urgency of action on 
climate change, of research and development of renewables. He 
warned of the slow response of the climate system and said we were 
already doomed to 30 or 40 years of climate heating because of the 
carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, hence the need to multiply 
effective flood defences such as the Thames barrier.

Sir David said because there was no ice on the planet 55m years ago, 
it was impossible to tell how much carbon dioxide there was in the 
atmosphere but it was probably only slightly more than "we are 
currently heading towards".

Sir David was backed up last night by Margaret Beckett, the 
environment secretary, speaking at the Green Alliance about the 
value of the EU's campaign to fight climate change.

"Climate change is the predominant global environmental issue 
where European leadership is vital," she said.

"But, of course, we need to persuade others to come with us, and we 
need to inject new momentum into international discussions on 
climate change.

"Above all, we also need to demonstrate that countries do not have to 
choose between their environmental and economic aspirations, to 
forfeit one or the other, but that these aspirations can not only be 
compatible but mutually reinforcing."

She said that the government had set ambitious targets for 2010 and 
beyond for virtually every big environmental issue.

But there needed to be a greater emphasis on assessing progress and 
identifying action needed to deliver existing commitments.

There also needed to be more consistent implementation of EU rules 
across the union, she said.

-----

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/072304Z.shtml

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Making GOP Nervous
===================================

By Mike Glover
The Associated Press
Thursday 22 July 2004

Des Moines, Iowa - Republicans initially dismissed
"Fahrenheit 9/11" as a cinematic screed that would play
mostly to inveterate Bush bashers. Four weeks and $94
million later, the film is still pulling in moviegoers
at 2,000 theaters around the country, making
Republicans nervous as it settles into the American
mainstream.

"I'm not sure if it moves voters," GOP consultant Scott
Reed said, "but if it moves 3 or 4 percent it's been a
success."

Two senior Republicans closely tied to the White House
said the movie from director Michael Moore is seen as a
political headache because it has reached beyond the
Democratic base. Independents and GOP-leaning voters
are likely to be found sitting beside those set to
revel in its depiction of a clueless president with
questionable ties to the oil industry.

"If you are a naive, uncommitted voter and wander into
a theater, you aren't going to come away with a good
impression of the president," Republican operative Joe
Gaylord said. "It's a problem only if a lot of people
see it."

Based on a record-breaking gross of $94 million through
last weekend, theaters already have sold an estimated
12 million tickets to "Fahrenheit 9/11." A Gallup
survey conducted July 8-11 said 8 percent of American
adults had seen the film at that time, but that 18
percent still planned to see it at a theater and
another 30 percent plan to see it on video.

More than a third of Republicans and nearly two-thirds
of independents told Gallup they had seen or expected
to see the film at theaters or on video.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" opened in June mainly in locally
owned arts theaters that specialize in obscure films
and tiny audiences. Drawn in part by the buzz
surrounding the film, people packed the theaters and
formed long lines for tickets. Within a week, it was
appearing in chain-owned theaters along with "Spider-
Man 2," "The Notebook" and other big summer
attractions.

When he sat down to watch the film at the Varsity
Theater in Des Moines last weekend, Rob Sheesley didn't
harbor anti-Bush feelings. Two hours later, he left
with conflicted emotions.

"You want to respect the president," Sheesley said. "It
raised a lot of questions."

Bush's leadership in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks had impressed retired teacher Lavone
Mann, another Des Moines moviegoer. After watching the
film, Mann wanted to know more about its claims.

"I guess that I think it makes me want to pursue how
much of it is accurate and not just get carried away
with one film," she said. "I don't hear Bush and (Vice
President Dick) Cheney saying that this is incorrect."

Retired college professor Dennis O'Brien, a Bush voter
in 2000 and a movie buff who has seen other Moore
films, said "Fahrenheit 9/11" hasn't changed his view
of Bush but may well serve a larger purpose by sparking
debate.

"Moore forces you to think about the role of oil in the
politics of American life," O'Brien said. "This goes
back a long way."

In GOP-strong Columbia, S.C., watching the movie last
week at the Columbiana Grande tipped 26-year-old
David Wood's support more to the left.
"I don't consider myself a Republican or a Democrat.
I just vote for whoever is right for the job," the
University of South Carolina student said. "I think
most people don't bother to really research, and all
they need is something popular to sway them."

Others at the screening in Columbia were put off by
what they saw as the film's biased approach to
examining Bush and the reasons he took the country to
war. For Scott Campbell, 19, the movie reinforced his
apathy toward politics.  "We didn't even stay to see the
whole thing," Campbell said. "It was one-sided."

Former Iowa Republican Chairman Michael Mahaffey said
the movie's impact could be dulled over time. "It's
July," he said. "Conventional wisdom will change
completely every four or five weeks."
Still, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is likely to gain an even
wider audience when it's released on home video in the
weeks before Election Day. The Gallup survey found that
nearly half of the Republicans and independents who
expect to see the film said they were likely to view it
on video.

"In all honesty, in a very close election, who knows
what will sway the public?" Mahaffey said.

-----






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