As jobs dry up in Southeast Asia, a return to the safety of the countryside
After months of clinging to the hope that Southeast Asia might avoid the worst effects of the global economic crisis, layoffs across the region have gathered pace, governments are announcing sharp falls in economic growth and lawmakers are passing a raft of stimulus packages. Economic woes are high on the agenda at the summit meeting of the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this weekend.
While the crisis in the West centers on insolvent banks, home foreclosures and swelling unemployment, in Southeast Asia economists predict that one hallmark of the downturn will be the exodus of workers back to the family farm.
Most countries in the region, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos, do not have a national system of unemployment benefits, according to Gyorgy Sziraczki, an economist at the International Labor Organization's regional office in Bangkok. Other countries, like Thailand, offer modest assistance to the jobless: a maximum of $200 a month for no longer than six months, provided they paid into a social security fund while they were still working.
Economists are predicting that millions of workers will be unemployed as the economies of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia contract this year while the Philippines and Indonesia grow at sharply reduced levels. Thailand, which is highly dependent on exports, is among the worst hit in the region, with its economy shrinking 6 percent in the last quarter of 2008 alone.
February 27, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/27/asia/asean.php
28 February 2009
China's Economic Crisis: Tens of Millions Unemployed
China fears tremors as migrants flock from coast
As the global economic crisis deepens and the demand for Chinese exports slackens, manufacturing jobs in the Pearl River Delta and all along the once-booming coast are disappearing at a stunning pace. Over the last few months, more than 20 million migrant workers have been cast into the ranks of the unemployed...
In a nation obsessed with social harmony, the well-being of China's mobile work force has become the top priority for a government that has long seen its fortunes tied to those of the country's 800 million rural dwellers. Mao's revolution, after all, was fueled by embittered peasants, and it has not gone unnoticed in Beijing that decades of heady growth has fed a widening gap between urban residents and those who live in the rural interior.
Although the government has not released updated information about rural unrest, officials have been strategizing about how best to keep large protests and riots from spreading, should the dispossessed grow unruly.
This week, more than 3,000 public security directors from across the country are gathering in the capital to learn how to neutralize rallies and strikes before they blossom into so-called mass incidents. At a meeting of the Chinese cabinet last month, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told government leaders they should prepare for rough times ahead. "The country's employment situation is extremely grim," he said.
To ameliorate the hardship of idled migrants, the central government has announced a series of initiatives that include vocational training, an expansion of rural health care and crop subsidies to ensure that those who return to the land can make a living despite a slump in agricultural prices. A $585 billion stimulus package introduced in November, much of it weighted toward labor-intensive construction projects, is also expected to absorb some of the newly unemployed.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/23/asia/23migrants.php
As the global economic crisis deepens and the demand for Chinese exports slackens, manufacturing jobs in the Pearl River Delta and all along the once-booming coast are disappearing at a stunning pace. Over the last few months, more than 20 million migrant workers have been cast into the ranks of the unemployed...
In a nation obsessed with social harmony, the well-being of China's mobile work force has become the top priority for a government that has long seen its fortunes tied to those of the country's 800 million rural dwellers. Mao's revolution, after all, was fueled by embittered peasants, and it has not gone unnoticed in Beijing that decades of heady growth has fed a widening gap between urban residents and those who live in the rural interior.
Although the government has not released updated information about rural unrest, officials have been strategizing about how best to keep large protests and riots from spreading, should the dispossessed grow unruly.
This week, more than 3,000 public security directors from across the country are gathering in the capital to learn how to neutralize rallies and strikes before they blossom into so-called mass incidents. At a meeting of the Chinese cabinet last month, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told government leaders they should prepare for rough times ahead. "The country's employment situation is extremely grim," he said.
To ameliorate the hardship of idled migrants, the central government has announced a series of initiatives that include vocational training, an expansion of rural health care and crop subsidies to ensure that those who return to the land can make a living despite a slump in agricultural prices. A $585 billion stimulus package introduced in November, much of it weighted toward labor-intensive construction projects, is also expected to absorb some of the newly unemployed.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/23/asia/23migrants.php
Romania and Other Eastern European Nations Faces Economic Crisis
Romania to ask for financial help
The head of Romania's central bank said Thursday his country will ask the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for loans to help it fight the economic crisis.
"Romania's discussions with international and EU financing bodies refer to a program spreading over several years, because we have all the data to believe that this crisis will last," said Mugur Isarescu, the governor of the National Bank of Romania.
Like other countries in Eastern Europe, Romania is facing financial and economic difficulty after a period of rapid growth fueled in part by credit. Currencies across the region have fallen amid fears about the stability of banks in the region and concens that richer countries in Western Europe or the IMF may have to come to the rescue.
Hungary, Latvia and Ukraine have already turned to the IMF for help.
February 26, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/26/business/EU-Romania-Financial-Crisis.php
The head of Romania's central bank said Thursday his country will ask the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for loans to help it fight the economic crisis.
"Romania's discussions with international and EU financing bodies refer to a program spreading over several years, because we have all the data to believe that this crisis will last," said Mugur Isarescu, the governor of the National Bank of Romania.
Like other countries in Eastern Europe, Romania is facing financial and economic difficulty after a period of rapid growth fueled in part by credit. Currencies across the region have fallen amid fears about the stability of banks in the region and concens that richer countries in Western Europe or the IMF may have to come to the rescue.
Hungary, Latvia and Ukraine have already turned to the IMF for help.
February 26, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/26/business/EU-Romania-Financial-Crisis.php
South Korea Faces Economic Crisis and Protest Against Free Trade
South Korea Warns of Unprecedented Economic Crisis
Opposition lawmakers tried to enter a blockaded room in which a committee was discussing a contentious free trade deal with the United States in Seoul on Thursday, December 18, 2008 (see article below:
South Korean Lawmakers Clash Over Fate of Trade Deal With U.S.)
South Korea's economy is in an unprecedented crisis with domestic and overseas demand falling at the same time, but the government will strive to avert an annual decline in exports in 2009, the economy ministry said Friday.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in its new year policy report to President Lee Myung Bak that it would aim to boost 2009 exports to $450 billion from around $430 billion projected for this year and post a trade surplus of more than $10 billion.
"The Korean economy is faced with an unprecedented crisis with exports and domestic demand, the two pillars of economic growth, falling at the same time," the ministry said.
December 26, 2008
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/26/business/26won.php
South Korean Lawmakers Clash Over Fate of Trade Deal With U.S.
The parliamentary battle over a contentious free trade deal in South Korea led to a confrontation on Thursday in which opposition lawmakers used a sledgehammer to knock down the doors of a blockaded room where a committee was discussing the agreement.
Television reports showed fire extinguishers being sprayed at the opposition lawmakers who were trying to get into the room. At least one person was shown bleeding from the face.
The members of the opposition Democratic Party were trying to stop the trade agreement with the United States from advancing to the floor of South Korea’s legislature, the National Assembly, for a final vote. The governing party has been seeking to ratify the trade pact by the year’s end, saying it would improve South Korea’s competitiveness and ties with the United States. Opponents say it will hurt South Korean farmers.
Thursday’s assault came after the opposition party had threatened to block the deal by force if necessary. Fearing an attack, members of the foreign affairs committee, under the control of the governing Grand National Party, had barricaded themselves inside the room as they met.
December 18, 2008
for complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/asia/19korea.html
Watch legislators get tear-gassed, view the furniture barricaded against the door in Parliament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=en&v=TqvdJSO6Ssc
See 200 security guards storm Parliament and brawl with protesters:
http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=151&a=6819
Opposition lawmakers tried to enter a blockaded room in which a committee was discussing a contentious free trade deal with the United States in Seoul on Thursday, December 18, 2008 (see article below:
South Korean Lawmakers Clash Over Fate of Trade Deal With U.S.)
South Korea's economy is in an unprecedented crisis with domestic and overseas demand falling at the same time, but the government will strive to avert an annual decline in exports in 2009, the economy ministry said Friday.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in its new year policy report to President Lee Myung Bak that it would aim to boost 2009 exports to $450 billion from around $430 billion projected for this year and post a trade surplus of more than $10 billion.
"The Korean economy is faced with an unprecedented crisis with exports and domestic demand, the two pillars of economic growth, falling at the same time," the ministry said.
December 26, 2008
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/26/business/26won.php
South Korean Lawmakers Clash Over Fate of Trade Deal With U.S.
The parliamentary battle over a contentious free trade deal in South Korea led to a confrontation on Thursday in which opposition lawmakers used a sledgehammer to knock down the doors of a blockaded room where a committee was discussing the agreement.
Television reports showed fire extinguishers being sprayed at the opposition lawmakers who were trying to get into the room. At least one person was shown bleeding from the face.
The members of the opposition Democratic Party were trying to stop the trade agreement with the United States from advancing to the floor of South Korea’s legislature, the National Assembly, for a final vote. The governing party has been seeking to ratify the trade pact by the year’s end, saying it would improve South Korea’s competitiveness and ties with the United States. Opponents say it will hurt South Korean farmers.
Thursday’s assault came after the opposition party had threatened to block the deal by force if necessary. Fearing an attack, members of the foreign affairs committee, under the control of the governing Grand National Party, had barricaded themselves inside the room as they met.
December 18, 2008
for complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/asia/19korea.html
Watch legislators get tear-gassed, view the furniture barricaded against the door in Parliament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=en&v=TqvdJSO6Ssc
See 200 security guards storm Parliament and brawl with protesters:
http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=151&a=6819
27 February 2009
Global Crisis Hits Nordic Economies Hard
Global crisis hits Swedish economy hard
Sweden is in the middle of a much more serious recession than previously thought, according to official figures for the fourth quarter of last year that revealed the economy contracted by nearly 10 per cent on an annualised basis...
...“Today’s national accounts confirmed the Swedish economy is falling off a cliff,” said Nicola Mai, economist at JP Morgan, in a research note. “The report confirms Sweden is in the midst of a very deep recession.”
The economic news from Nordic economies was not much better.
Danish gross domestic product fell 2 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous period, marking the severest recession since the 1970s. Swedish GDP shrank 2.4 percent in the period, the most in 18 years, and Finnish output slumped 1.3 percent, the most in 17 years, national statistics offices said.
February 27, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a3664322-04c5-11de-8166-000077b07658.html
Sweden is in the middle of a much more serious recession than previously thought, according to official figures for the fourth quarter of last year that revealed the economy contracted by nearly 10 per cent on an annualised basis...
...“Today’s national accounts confirmed the Swedish economy is falling off a cliff,” said Nicola Mai, economist at JP Morgan, in a research note. “The report confirms Sweden is in the midst of a very deep recession.”
The economic news from Nordic economies was not much better.
Danish gross domestic product fell 2 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous period, marking the severest recession since the 1970s. Swedish GDP shrank 2.4 percent in the period, the most in 18 years, and Finnish output slumped 1.3 percent, the most in 17 years, national statistics offices said.
February 27, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a3664322-04c5-11de-8166-000077b07658.html
Protests as Economic Crisis Hits Greece
Protests as Economic Crisis Hits Greece
The police sprayed tear gas at Piraeus, near Athens, on Monday. (Phasma/Reuters)
Greek farmers shut border crossings and blocked roads for a tenth day on Wednesday while aviation officials disrupted international flights, piling pressure on a government struggling to face the economic crisis.
The clashes highlighted growing social unrest in Greece. The center-right government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is struggling to restore its credibility after student riots in December. The violence in Greece on Monday follows protests in others parts Europe - most recently in France and Britain - as the global economic crisis bites into jobs and incomes.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting throughout Greece since Jan. 20, blockading the country's main roads and starving the capital of food and medicine as they demand government aid and tax breaks following a harsh winter and a drop in commodity prices.
Watch footage of the December protests while a student organizer discusses the demonstrators' demands:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/11/greek_uprising_protests_riots_strikes_enter
See Greek farmers blockade one of the Greek-Bulgarian border crossings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZpiKN8wrXk
for complete articles:
Greek farmers block borders
January 28, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/01/28/europe/OUKWD-UK-GREECE-PROTESTS.php
Clashes in Greece highlight growing social unrest
February 2, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/02/europe/02greece-421386.php
The police sprayed tear gas at Piraeus, near Athens, on Monday. (Phasma/Reuters)
Greek farmers shut border crossings and blocked roads for a tenth day on Wednesday while aviation officials disrupted international flights, piling pressure on a government struggling to face the economic crisis.
The clashes highlighted growing social unrest in Greece. The center-right government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is struggling to restore its credibility after student riots in December. The violence in Greece on Monday follows protests in others parts Europe - most recently in France and Britain - as the global economic crisis bites into jobs and incomes.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting throughout Greece since Jan. 20, blockading the country's main roads and starving the capital of food and medicine as they demand government aid and tax breaks following a harsh winter and a drop in commodity prices.
Watch footage of the December protests while a student organizer discusses the demonstrators' demands:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/11/greek_uprising_protests_riots_strikes_enter
See Greek farmers blockade one of the Greek-Bulgarian border crossings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZpiKN8wrXk
for complete articles:
Greek farmers block borders
January 28, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/01/28/europe/OUKWD-UK-GREECE-PROTESTS.php
Clashes in Greece highlight growing social unrest
February 2, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/02/europe/02greece-421386.php
Britain Faces Protests Due to Economic Crisis
Britain Faces Summer of Rage - Police
Middle-class anger at economic crisis could erupt into violence on streets
Protesters clash with police in London in January over Israel's action in Gaza. Such scenes could become more common sights in the UK. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Police are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions, the Guardian has learned.
Britain's most senior police officer with responsibility for public order raised the spectre of a return of the riots of the 1980s, with people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings becoming "footsoldiers" in a wave of potentially violent mass protests.
The warning comes in the wake of often violent protests against the handling of the economy across Europe. In recent weeks Greek farmers have blocked roads over falling agricultural prices, a million workers in France joined demonstrations to demand greater protection for jobs and wages and Icelandic demonstrators have clashed with police in Reykjavik.
Police were said to have been heavy-handed at Greek solidarity marches in London in December and, last month, at protests against Israel's invasion of Gaza. In August 1,000 officers, helicopters and riot horses were drafted to Kent from 26 UK police forces to oversee the climate camp demonstration against the Kingsnorth power station. The massive operation to monitor the protesters cost £5.9m and resulted in 100 arrests. But in December the government was forced to apologise to parliament after the Guardian revealed that its claims that 70 officers had been hurt in violent clashes were wrong.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/23/police-civil-unrest-recession
Middle-class anger at economic crisis could erupt into violence on streets
Protesters clash with police in London in January over Israel's action in Gaza. Such scenes could become more common sights in the UK. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Police are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions, the Guardian has learned.
Britain's most senior police officer with responsibility for public order raised the spectre of a return of the riots of the 1980s, with people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings becoming "footsoldiers" in a wave of potentially violent mass protests.
The warning comes in the wake of often violent protests against the handling of the economy across Europe. In recent weeks Greek farmers have blocked roads over falling agricultural prices, a million workers in France joined demonstrations to demand greater protection for jobs and wages and Icelandic demonstrators have clashed with police in Reykjavik.
Police were said to have been heavy-handed at Greek solidarity marches in London in December and, last month, at protests against Israel's invasion of Gaza. In August 1,000 officers, helicopters and riot horses were drafted to Kent from 26 UK police forces to oversee the climate camp demonstration against the Kingsnorth power station. The massive operation to monitor the protesters cost £5.9m and resulted in 100 arrests. But in December the government was forced to apologise to parliament after the Guardian revealed that its claims that 70 officers had been hurt in violent clashes were wrong.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/23/police-civil-unrest-recession
Latvia's Government Collapses as Unrest Grows Due to Economic Crisis
Latvia's Government Collapses as Unrest Grows Due to Economic Crisis
Protests over government policies in a deepening economic crisis turned violent last month near the Latvian Parliament. (Ilmars Znotins/Agence France-Presse)
Latvia's center-right coalition government collapsed Friday, a victim of the country's growing economic and political turmoil and the second European government, after Iceland, to disintegrate because of the international financial crisis.
Latvia, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Lithuania and Estonia, has been wracked by demonstrations in recent weeks over its imperiled economy. In January, an initially peaceful gathering of about 10,000 people descended into rioting when, after the crowd had mostly dispersed, a handful of protesters attacked the police and looted stores. About 40 people were injured in Latvia's worst violence since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
...public discontent pushed Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis to hand in his resignation, contributing to further political instability. Like Iceland, Latvia is a prime example of how economic woes are being translated into a public backlash against the excesses of market capitalism and what is seen as the failure of various governmental institutions to mount an effective response.
After posting the highest growth figures in Europe just two years ago, the Latvian economy is collapsing. It shrank at over a 10 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008 and economists estimated it could contract 12 percent or more this year, which would almost certainly be the worst in Europe. The country's credit rating, already the lowest in the Baltics, was cut to junk status Tuesday by Standard & Poor's.
Unemployment is climbing, reaching 8.3 percent in January from 7 percent in December and 5.6 percent as recently as October.
President Valdis Zatlers named Valdis Dombrovskis, 37, a finance minister between 2002 and 2004 and current member of the European Parliament, as candidate for prime minister of the country of 2.3 million, a European Union and NATO member.
"...In reality the state is on the verge of bankruptcy," Dombrovskis told reporters after his nomination.
Watch raw footage of the January 13 protests in Riga:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6TNr1OVVrA
for complete articles:
Latvia's government collapses
February 20, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/20/europe/latvia.php
As Latvian economy falters, unrest grows
February 25, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/25/business/latvia.php
Latvia leader names PM nominee amid crisis
February 26, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/02/26/europe/OUKWD-UK-LATVIA-PM.php
Protests over government policies in a deepening economic crisis turned violent last month near the Latvian Parliament. (Ilmars Znotins/Agence France-Presse)
Latvia's center-right coalition government collapsed Friday, a victim of the country's growing economic and political turmoil and the second European government, after Iceland, to disintegrate because of the international financial crisis.
Latvia, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Lithuania and Estonia, has been wracked by demonstrations in recent weeks over its imperiled economy. In January, an initially peaceful gathering of about 10,000 people descended into rioting when, after the crowd had mostly dispersed, a handful of protesters attacked the police and looted stores. About 40 people were injured in Latvia's worst violence since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
...public discontent pushed Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis to hand in his resignation, contributing to further political instability. Like Iceland, Latvia is a prime example of how economic woes are being translated into a public backlash against the excesses of market capitalism and what is seen as the failure of various governmental institutions to mount an effective response.
After posting the highest growth figures in Europe just two years ago, the Latvian economy is collapsing. It shrank at over a 10 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008 and economists estimated it could contract 12 percent or more this year, which would almost certainly be the worst in Europe. The country's credit rating, already the lowest in the Baltics, was cut to junk status Tuesday by Standard & Poor's.
Unemployment is climbing, reaching 8.3 percent in January from 7 percent in December and 5.6 percent as recently as October.
President Valdis Zatlers named Valdis Dombrovskis, 37, a finance minister between 2002 and 2004 and current member of the European Parliament, as candidate for prime minister of the country of 2.3 million, a European Union and NATO member.
"...In reality the state is on the verge of bankruptcy," Dombrovskis told reporters after his nomination.
Watch raw footage of the January 13 protests in Riga:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6TNr1OVVrA
for complete articles:
Latvia's government collapses
February 20, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/20/europe/latvia.php
As Latvian economy falters, unrest grows
February 25, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/25/business/latvia.php
Latvia leader names PM nominee amid crisis
February 26, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/02/26/europe/OUKWD-UK-LATVIA-PM.php
U.S. Economy Shrinks Faster Than Expected
U.S. Economy Shrinks Faster Than Expected
The Commerce Department report said the decline in the gross domestic product - a measure of a country's total output of goods and services - in the last quarter of 2008 was the worst since the 1982 recession. That indicated that the recession has been deeper than previously believed. Economists are expecting a similar drop in the first quarter of 2009 as well.
"What a ghastly report," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics. "Since the recession started in December 2007, this will almost certainly be the longest postwar recession, and now potentially the deepest one as well."
In reaction, stocks tumbled in early trading but pulled off their lows after the Standard & Poor's 500 index broke through a closely watched November trading low of 741.02, which came during the height of the credit crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average came within 34 points of falling below the 7,000 mark for the first time in more than 11 years. But by midafternoon trading, the indexes were mixed.
With the exception of government spending, every major component of the economy shrank.
February 27, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/27/business/stox.php
The Commerce Department report said the decline in the gross domestic product - a measure of a country's total output of goods and services - in the last quarter of 2008 was the worst since the 1982 recession. That indicated that the recession has been deeper than previously believed. Economists are expecting a similar drop in the first quarter of 2009 as well.
"What a ghastly report," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics. "Since the recession started in December 2007, this will almost certainly be the longest postwar recession, and now potentially the deepest one as well."
In reaction, stocks tumbled in early trading but pulled off their lows after the Standard & Poor's 500 index broke through a closely watched November trading low of 741.02, which came during the height of the credit crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average came within 34 points of falling below the 7,000 mark for the first time in more than 11 years. But by midafternoon trading, the indexes were mixed.
With the exception of government spending, every major component of the economy shrank.
February 27, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/27/business/stox.php
26 February 2009
Droughts 'May Lay Waste' to Parts of U.S.
Droughts 'May Lay Waste' to Parts of US
The world's pre-eminent climate scientists produced a blunt assessment of the impact of global warming on the US yesterday, warning of droughts that could reduce the American south-west to a wasteland and heatwaves that could make life impossible even in northern cities.
In an update on the latest science on climate change, the US Congress was told that melting snow pack could lead to severe drought from California to Oklahoma. In the midwest, diminishing rains and shrinking rivers were lowering water levels in the Great Lakes, even to the extent where it could affect shipping.
"With severe drought from California to Oklahoma, a broad swath of the south-west is basically robbed of having a sustainable lifestyle," said Christopher Field, of the Carnegie Institution for Science. He went on to warn of scorching temperatures in an array of cities. Sacramento in California, for example, could face heatwaves for up to 100 days a year.
"We are close to a threshold in a very large number of American cities where uncomfortable heatwaves make cities uninhabitable," Field told the Senate's environment and public works committee.
The warnings were the first time Congress had been directly confronted with the growing evidence that the impact of climate change will be far more severe than revealed even in the UN's most recent report, in 2007.
The hearing was also the first time senators had been permitted to hear testimony about the dangers to human health from climate change. In 2007, the Bush administration censored testimony from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the rise in asthma and other respiratory illnesses, as well as the increasing occurrence of "tropical" parasites.
"The CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern," said Howard Frumkin, the director of the centre for environmental health at the CDC.
Yesterday's gathering of climate scientists, led by the head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, RK Pachauri, was designed to give momentum to efforts by the Democratic leadership to press ahead on energy reform.
"If we don't do it people are going to die. They are going to get sick and they are going to die," said Barbara Boxer, who as chair of the Senate environment and public works committee is key to securing the passage of climate change legislation.
But even with the new administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress now united on the urgency of acting on climate change, there were still signs of battles ahead...
February 26, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/feb/26/drought-us-climate-change
The world's pre-eminent climate scientists produced a blunt assessment of the impact of global warming on the US yesterday, warning of droughts that could reduce the American south-west to a wasteland and heatwaves that could make life impossible even in northern cities.
In an update on the latest science on climate change, the US Congress was told that melting snow pack could lead to severe drought from California to Oklahoma. In the midwest, diminishing rains and shrinking rivers were lowering water levels in the Great Lakes, even to the extent where it could affect shipping.
"With severe drought from California to Oklahoma, a broad swath of the south-west is basically robbed of having a sustainable lifestyle," said Christopher Field, of the Carnegie Institution for Science. He went on to warn of scorching temperatures in an array of cities. Sacramento in California, for example, could face heatwaves for up to 100 days a year.
"We are close to a threshold in a very large number of American cities where uncomfortable heatwaves make cities uninhabitable," Field told the Senate's environment and public works committee.
The warnings were the first time Congress had been directly confronted with the growing evidence that the impact of climate change will be far more severe than revealed even in the UN's most recent report, in 2007.
The hearing was also the first time senators had been permitted to hear testimony about the dangers to human health from climate change. In 2007, the Bush administration censored testimony from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the rise in asthma and other respiratory illnesses, as well as the increasing occurrence of "tropical" parasites.
"The CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern," said Howard Frumkin, the director of the centre for environmental health at the CDC.
Yesterday's gathering of climate scientists, led by the head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, RK Pachauri, was designed to give momentum to efforts by the Democratic leadership to press ahead on energy reform.
"If we don't do it people are going to die. They are going to get sick and they are going to die," said Barbara Boxer, who as chair of the Senate environment and public works committee is key to securing the passage of climate change legislation.
But even with the new administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress now united on the urgency of acting on climate change, there were still signs of battles ahead...
February 26, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/feb/26/drought-us-climate-change
Obama's Energy Secretary Outlines Dire Climate Change Scenario
Obama's Energy Secretary Outlines Dire Climate Change Scenario
Unless there is timely action on climate change, California's agricultural bounty could be reduced to a dust bowl and its cities disappear, Barack Obama's energy secretary said yesterday.
The apocalyptic scenario sketched out by Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate appointed as energy secretary, was the clearest sign to date of the greening of America's political class under the new president.
In blunt language, Chu said Americans had yet to fully understand the urgency of dealing with climate change. "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he told the Los Angeles Times in his first interview since taking the post. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going."
February 4, 2009
for complete articles:
summary:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/04/steven-chu-obama-climate-change-drought
excerpt of Chu's speech:
Chu: 'economic disaster' from warming (February 7, 2009)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/02/chu-economic-di.html
Unless there is timely action on climate change, California's agricultural bounty could be reduced to a dust bowl and its cities disappear, Barack Obama's energy secretary said yesterday.
The apocalyptic scenario sketched out by Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate appointed as energy secretary, was the clearest sign to date of the greening of America's political class under the new president.
In blunt language, Chu said Americans had yet to fully understand the urgency of dealing with climate change. "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he told the Los Angeles Times in his first interview since taking the post. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going."
February 4, 2009
for complete articles:
summary:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/04/steven-chu-obama-climate-change-drought
excerpt of Chu's speech:
Chu: 'economic disaster' from warming (February 7, 2009)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/02/chu-economic-di.html
Member of IPCC Warns Greenhouse Emissions Rising at Alarming, Unexpected Rate
Member of UN Environment Panel Warns Greenhouse Emissions Rising at Alarming, Unexpected Rate
A leading member of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is rising more rapidly than expected in recent years. The scientist, Chris Field, says the current trajectory of climate change is now much worse than the IPCC had originally projected in part due to China and India’s increasing reliance on coal power.
The research shows carbon emissions have grown sharply since 2000, despite growing concerns about global warming. During the 1990s, carbon emissions grew by less than one percent per year. Since 2000, emissions have grown at a rate of 3.5 percent per year. No part of the world had a decline in emissions from 2000 to 2008.
Earlier this month, Field told the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “We are basically looking now at a future climate beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model situations.”...
...On Wednesday, Chris Field testified before a Senate panel and warned droughts caused by global warming could make parts of the American Southwest dangerous to live in...
February 26, 2009
for complete article and video:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/26/member_of_un_environment_panel_warns
A leading member of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is rising more rapidly than expected in recent years. The scientist, Chris Field, says the current trajectory of climate change is now much worse than the IPCC had originally projected in part due to China and India’s increasing reliance on coal power.
The research shows carbon emissions have grown sharply since 2000, despite growing concerns about global warming. During the 1990s, carbon emissions grew by less than one percent per year. Since 2000, emissions have grown at a rate of 3.5 percent per year. No part of the world had a decline in emissions from 2000 to 2008.
Earlier this month, Field told the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “We are basically looking now at a future climate beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model situations.”...
...On Wednesday, Chris Field testified before a Senate panel and warned droughts caused by global warming could make parts of the American Southwest dangerous to live in...
February 26, 2009
for complete article and video:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/26/member_of_un_environment_panel_warns
25 February 2009
Climate Change Lays Waste to Spain's Glaciers
Climate Change Lays Waste to Spain's Glaciers
Spain loses 90% of its glaciers thanks to global warming, threatening drought as rivers dry up
The Pyrenees mountains have lost almost 90% of their glacier ice over the past century, according to scientists who warn that global warning means they will disappear completely within a few decades.
While glaciers covered 3,300 hectares of land on the mountain range that divides Spain and France at the turn of the last century, only 390 hectares remain, according to Spain's environment ministry...
"This century could see (perhaps within a few decades) the total, or almost total, disappearance of the last reserves of ice in the Spanish Pyrenees and, as a result, a major change in the current nature of upper reaches of the mountains," the authors of the report on Spain's glaciers said.
Scientists have ruled out the idea that the progressive deterioration of glaciers around the globe are part of normal, long-term fluctuations in their size. Europe's glaciers are thought to have lost a quarter of their mass in the last 8 years...
Even the Alps, though, stand to lose up to 75% of its glacial area by mid-century.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/23/spain-glaciers-climate-change
Spain loses 90% of its glaciers thanks to global warming, threatening drought as rivers dry up
The Pyrenees mountains have lost almost 90% of their glacier ice over the past century, according to scientists who warn that global warning means they will disappear completely within a few decades.
While glaciers covered 3,300 hectares of land on the mountain range that divides Spain and France at the turn of the last century, only 390 hectares remain, according to Spain's environment ministry...
"This century could see (perhaps within a few decades) the total, or almost total, disappearance of the last reserves of ice in the Spanish Pyrenees and, as a result, a major change in the current nature of upper reaches of the mountains," the authors of the report on Spain's glaciers said.
Scientists have ruled out the idea that the progressive deterioration of glaciers around the globe are part of normal, long-term fluctuations in their size. Europe's glaciers are thought to have lost a quarter of their mass in the last 8 years...
Even the Alps, though, stand to lose up to 75% of its glacial area by mid-century.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/23/spain-glaciers-climate-change
Obama's Energy Secretary Outlines Dire Climate Change Scenario
Obama's Energy Secretary Outlines Dire Climate Change Scenario
Unless there is timely action on climate change, California's agricultural bounty could be reduced to a dust bowl and its cities disappear, Barack Obama's energy secretary said yesterday.
The apocalyptic scenario sketched out by Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate appointed as energy secretary, was the clearest sign to date of the greening of America's political class under the new president.
In blunt language, Chu said Americans had yet to fully understand the urgency of dealing with climate change. "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he told the Los Angeles Times in his first interview since taking the post. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going."
February 4, 2009
for complete articles:
summary:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/04/steven-chu-obama-climate-change-drought
excerpt of Chu's speech:
Chu: 'economic disaster' from warming, February 7, 2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/02/chu-economic-di.html
Unless there is timely action on climate change, California's agricultural bounty could be reduced to a dust bowl and its cities disappear, Barack Obama's energy secretary said yesterday.
The apocalyptic scenario sketched out by Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate appointed as energy secretary, was the clearest sign to date of the greening of America's political class under the new president.
In blunt language, Chu said Americans had yet to fully understand the urgency of dealing with climate change. "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he told the Los Angeles Times in his first interview since taking the post. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going."
February 4, 2009
for complete articles:
summary:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/04/steven-chu-obama-climate-change-drought
excerpt of Chu's speech:
Chu: 'economic disaster' from warming, February 7, 2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/02/chu-economic-di.html
23 February 2009
Global Uprisings Due To Economic Crisis
All Of Them Must Go
Watching the crowds in Iceland banging pots and pans until their government fell reminded me of a chant popular in anti-capitalist circles back in 2002: "You are Enron. We are Argentina."
Its message was simple enough. You--politicians and CEOs huddled at some trade summit--are like the reckless scamming execs at Enron (of course, we didn't know the half of it). We--the rabble outside--are like the people of Argentina, who, in the midst of an economic crisis eerily similar to our own, took to the street banging pots and pans. They shouted, "¡Que se vayan todos!" ("All of them must go!") and forced out a procession of four presidents in less than three weeks. What made Argentina's 2001-02 uprising unique was that it wasn't directed at a particular political party or even at corruption in the abstract. The target was the dominant economic model--this was the first national revolt against contemporary deregulated capitalism.
It's taken a while, but from Iceland to Latvia, South Korea to Greece, the rest of the world is finally having its ¡Que se vayan todos! moment...
...The pattern is clear: governments that respond to a crisis created by free-market ideology with an acceleration of that same discredited agenda will not survive to tell the tale. As Italy's students have taken to shouting in the streets: "We won't pay for your crisis!"
By Naomi Klein
February 5, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090223/klein
http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/02/all-them-must-go
Watching the crowds in Iceland banging pots and pans until their government fell reminded me of a chant popular in anti-capitalist circles back in 2002: "You are Enron. We are Argentina."
Its message was simple enough. You--politicians and CEOs huddled at some trade summit--are like the reckless scamming execs at Enron (of course, we didn't know the half of it). We--the rabble outside--are like the people of Argentina, who, in the midst of an economic crisis eerily similar to our own, took to the street banging pots and pans. They shouted, "¡Que se vayan todos!" ("All of them must go!") and forced out a procession of four presidents in less than three weeks. What made Argentina's 2001-02 uprising unique was that it wasn't directed at a particular political party or even at corruption in the abstract. The target was the dominant economic model--this was the first national revolt against contemporary deregulated capitalism.
It's taken a while, but from Iceland to Latvia, South Korea to Greece, the rest of the world is finally having its ¡Que se vayan todos! moment...
...The pattern is clear: governments that respond to a crisis created by free-market ideology with an acceleration of that same discredited agenda will not survive to tell the tale. As Italy's students have taken to shouting in the streets: "We won't pay for your crisis!"
By Naomi Klein
February 5, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090223/klein
http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/02/all-them-must-go
West Blamed for Rapid increase in China's CO2
West Blamed for Rapid increase in China's CO2
The full extent of the west's responsibility for Chinese emissions of greenhouse gases has been revealed by a new study. The report shows that half of the recent rise in China's carbon dioxide pollution is caused by the manufacturing of goods for other countries - particularly developed nations such as the UK.
Last year, China officially overtook the US as the world's biggest CO2 emitter. But the new research shows that about a third of all Chinese carbon emissions are the result of producing goods for export.
The research, due to be published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, underlines "offshored emissions" as a key unresolved issue in the run up to this year's crucial Copenhagen summit, at which world leaders will attempt to thrash out a deal to replace the Kyoto protocol.
Developing countries are under pressure to commit to binding emissions cuts in Copenhagen. But China is resistant, partly because it does not accept responsibility for the emissions involved in producing goods for foreign markets.
Under Kyoto, emissions are allocated to the country where they are produced. By these rules, the UK can claim to have reduced emissions by about 18% since 1990 - more than sufficient to meet its Kyoto target.
But research published last year by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) suggests that, once imports, exports and international transport are accounted for, the real change for the UK has been a rise in emissions of more than 20%.
China, as the world's biggest export manufacturer, is key to explaining this kind of discrepancy. According to Glen Peters, one of the authors of the new report at Oslo's Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, about 9% of total Chinese emissions are the result of manufacturing goods for the US, and 6% are from producing goods for Europe.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/23/china-co2-emissions-climate
The full extent of the west's responsibility for Chinese emissions of greenhouse gases has been revealed by a new study. The report shows that half of the recent rise in China's carbon dioxide pollution is caused by the manufacturing of goods for other countries - particularly developed nations such as the UK.
Last year, China officially overtook the US as the world's biggest CO2 emitter. But the new research shows that about a third of all Chinese carbon emissions are the result of producing goods for export.
The research, due to be published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, underlines "offshored emissions" as a key unresolved issue in the run up to this year's crucial Copenhagen summit, at which world leaders will attempt to thrash out a deal to replace the Kyoto protocol.
Developing countries are under pressure to commit to binding emissions cuts in Copenhagen. But China is resistant, partly because it does not accept responsibility for the emissions involved in producing goods for foreign markets.
Under Kyoto, emissions are allocated to the country where they are produced. By these rules, the UK can claim to have reduced emissions by about 18% since 1990 - more than sufficient to meet its Kyoto target.
But research published last year by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) suggests that, once imports, exports and international transport are accounted for, the real change for the UK has been a rise in emissions of more than 20%.
China, as the world's biggest export manufacturer, is key to explaining this kind of discrepancy. According to Glen Peters, one of the authors of the new report at Oslo's Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, about 9% of total Chinese emissions are the result of manufacturing goods for the US, and 6% are from producing goods for Europe.
February 23, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/23/china-co2-emissions-climate
22 February 2009
Greenspan Suggests Nationalising Banks
Nationalizing troubled banks may be the only answer
"It may be necessary to temporarily nationalize some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring," Greenspan, the long-revered sage of free-market theory, told London's Financial Times in an interview published Wednesday. "I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do."
When Bernanke was asked whether he shared his predecessor's views, he didn't distance himself from them during a question session Wednesday at the National Press Club. He answered as if nationalization were inevitable, after first listing some of the problems it would entail.
February 19, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/62515.html
"It may be necessary to temporarily nationalize some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring," Greenspan, the long-revered sage of free-market theory, told London's Financial Times in an interview published Wednesday. "I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do."
When Bernanke was asked whether he shared his predecessor's views, he didn't distance himself from them during a question session Wednesday at the National Press Club. He answered as if nationalization were inevitable, after first listing some of the problems it would entail.
February 19, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/62515.html
21 February 2009
A Call to Action on Global Warming from Dr. James Hansen
A Call to Action on Global Warming from Dr. James Hansen
It's time to take a stand on global warming. Dr. James Hansen, an internationally-recognized climate scientist, calls for Americans to take part in the Capitol Climate Action on March 2 at the Capitol power plant in Washington DC -- expected to be the largest display of civil disobedience against global warming in US history.
Dr. Hansen warns that unless we stop burning coal, the country's largest source of global warming pollution, young people will inherit a dramatically different world than the one we know. For more info visit capitolclimateaction.org.
for video:
http://vimeo.com/3268481
It's time to take a stand on global warming. Dr. James Hansen, an internationally-recognized climate scientist, calls for Americans to take part in the Capitol Climate Action on March 2 at the Capitol power plant in Washington DC -- expected to be the largest display of civil disobedience against global warming in US history.
Dr. Hansen warns that unless we stop burning coal, the country's largest source of global warming pollution, young people will inherit a dramatically different world than the one we know. For more info visit capitolclimateaction.org.
for video:
http://vimeo.com/3268481
Largest Eco-Protest in History: Global Youth Climate Movement
Power Shift: Global Youth Climate Movement Comes of Age
Obama's first big test on climate change - the largest eco protest in history
[Obama's] biggest test yet will be how to deal with an event that will represent the largest mass civil disobedience on climate change the world has ever seen. For the last eight months, organisers have been bringing together over 70 conservation, public health, labour, social justice and faith-based organisations along with figureheads of the climate movement like Bill McKibben and Dr James Hansen.
On 2 March, over 10,000 people will join a sit-in at the coal-power plant that literally powers the congressional building in Washington DC. For many, it is a national symbol for the stranglehold that dirty energy sources have over their communities, their climate and their future. Just this week, Hansen released a public broadcast explaining why he will be taking part.
February 20, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/feb/20/coal-protest-power-shift
A Call to Action on Global Warming from Dr. James Hansen
video: http://vimeo.com/3268481
Obama's first big test on climate change - the largest eco protest in history
[Obama's] biggest test yet will be how to deal with an event that will represent the largest mass civil disobedience on climate change the world has ever seen. For the last eight months, organisers have been bringing together over 70 conservation, public health, labour, social justice and faith-based organisations along with figureheads of the climate movement like Bill McKibben and Dr James Hansen.
On 2 March, over 10,000 people will join a sit-in at the coal-power plant that literally powers the congressional building in Washington DC. For many, it is a national symbol for the stranglehold that dirty energy sources have over their communities, their climate and their future. Just this week, Hansen released a public broadcast explaining why he will be taking part.
February 20, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/feb/20/coal-protest-power-shift
A Call to Action on Global Warming from Dr. James Hansen
video: http://vimeo.com/3268481
16 February 2009
Coal-Fired Power Stations Are Death Factories: A Letter from James Hansen
Coal-fired power stations are death factories. Close them
A year ago, I wrote to Gordon Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other leaders. The reason is this - coal is the single greatest threat to civilisation and all life on our planet.
The climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear and there is a potential for explosive changes, effects that would be irreversible...
Those who lead us have no excuse - they are elected to guide, to protect the public and its best interests. They have at their disposal the best scientific organisations in the world...
Coal is not only the largest fossil fuel reservoir of carbon dioxide, it is the dirtiest fuel. Coal is polluting the world's oceans and streams with mercury, arsenic and other dangerous chemicals. The dirtiest trick that governments play on their citizens is the pretence that they are working on "clean coal" or that they will build power plants that are "capture-ready" in case technology is ever developed to capture all pollutants.
...The trains carrying coal to power plants are death trains. Coal-fired power plants are factories of death...
...These governments are not green. They are black - coal black...
February 15, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/15/james-hansen-power-plants-coal
A year ago, I wrote to Gordon Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other leaders. The reason is this - coal is the single greatest threat to civilisation and all life on our planet.
The climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear and there is a potential for explosive changes, effects that would be irreversible...
Those who lead us have no excuse - they are elected to guide, to protect the public and its best interests. They have at their disposal the best scientific organisations in the world...
Coal is not only the largest fossil fuel reservoir of carbon dioxide, it is the dirtiest fuel. Coal is polluting the world's oceans and streams with mercury, arsenic and other dangerous chemicals. The dirtiest trick that governments play on their citizens is the pretence that they are working on "clean coal" or that they will build power plants that are "capture-ready" in case technology is ever developed to capture all pollutants.
...The trains carrying coal to power plants are death trains. Coal-fired power plants are factories of death...
...These governments are not green. They are black - coal black...
February 15, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/15/james-hansen-power-plants-coal
13 February 2009
Intelligence Director Says Global Economic Crisis is Top Threat to U.S.
Intelligence director says global crisis is top threat to U.S.
The new director of national intelligence told Congress that global economic turmoil and the instability it could ignite had outpaced terrorism as the most urgent threat facing the United States.
The assessment underscored concern inside America's intelligence agencies not only about the fallout from the economic crisis around the globe, but also about long-term harm to America's reputation. The crisis that began in American markets has already "increased questioning of U.S. stewardship of the global economy," the intelligence chief, Dennis Blair, said.
Februaury 13, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/13/america/intel.php
The new director of national intelligence told Congress that global economic turmoil and the instability it could ignite had outpaced terrorism as the most urgent threat facing the United States.
The assessment underscored concern inside America's intelligence agencies not only about the fallout from the economic crisis around the globe, but also about long-term harm to America's reputation. The crisis that began in American markets has already "increased questioning of U.S. stewardship of the global economy," the intelligence chief, Dennis Blair, said.
Februaury 13, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/13/america/intel.php
09 February 2009
Scientists Plan Emergency Summit on Climate Change
Scientists plan emergency summit on climate change
Scientists are to hold an emergency summit to warn the world's politicians they are being too timid in their response to global warming.
Climate experts from across the world will gather in Copenhagen next month to agree a stark message to policy makers, which they hope will break the political deadlock on efforts to curb rising temperatures. The meeting follows "disturbing" studies that suggest global warming could strike harder and faster than expected.
...
Katherine Richardson, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen, who is organising next month's event, said: "This is not a regular scientific conference. This is a deliberate attempt to influence policy."
February 9, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/09/scientists-summit-climate-change
Scientists are to hold an emergency summit to warn the world's politicians they are being too timid in their response to global warming.
Climate experts from across the world will gather in Copenhagen next month to agree a stark message to policy makers, which they hope will break the political deadlock on efforts to curb rising temperatures. The meeting follows "disturbing" studies that suggest global warming could strike harder and faster than expected.
...
Katherine Richardson, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen, who is organising next month's event, said: "This is not a regular scientific conference. This is a deliberate attempt to influence policy."
February 9, 2009
for complete article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/09/scientists-summit-climate-change
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