Author: postMigrator

This could be PRICELESS! Should have happened quite a while ago…

ASW

Science Paves Way for Climate Lawsuits

David Adam and Afua Hirsch  The Guardian, Tuesday December 9 2008

People affected by worsening storms, heatwaves and floods could soon  

be able to sue the oil and power companies they blame for global  

warming, a leading climate expert has said.

Myles Allen, a physicist at Oxford University, said a breakthrough  

that allows scientists to judge the role man-made climate change  

played in extreme weather events could see a rush to the courts over  

the next decade.

He said: “We are starting to get to the point that when an adverse  

weather event occurs we can quantify how much more likely it was made  

by human activity. And people adversely affected by climate change  

today are in a position to document and quantify their losses. This is  

going to be hugely important.”

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Protest Manifests as Indigenous Rights are opposed by U.S., Canada,

Australia and New Zealand at UN Climate Conference. 

Poznan, Poland– 9 December 2008

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND NGOs OUTRAGED AT THE REMOVAL OF

RIGHTS FROM UNFCCC DECISION ON REDD

For photos and more: http://globaljusticeecology.org 

We, the undersigned representatives of indigenous peoples, local communities

and non-governmental organizations monitoring the progress of negotiations

in Poznan are outraged that the United States, Canada, Australia and New

Zealand opposed the inclusion of recognition of the rights of indigenous

peoples and local communities in a decision on REDD (Reduced Emissions from

Deforestation and Forest Degradation) drafted today by government delegates

at the UN Climate Conference.

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There’s a broad consensus that we  must avoid

letting atmospheric CO2 levels exceed 450 ppm

(parts per million), because 450ppm will heat the

planet to a dangerous 2 Celsius above

pre-industrial levels.

Over the past couple years, there’s been a

broadening consensus that we won’t hold the ppm

to 450. Why? Simply because we aren’t cutting our

consumption of forests and fossil fuels by

anywhere near enough to do that job.

Lance

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“In the jargon used to count the steady

accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s

thin layer of atmosphere, he said it was

‘improbable’ that levels could now be restricted

to 650 parts per million (ppm).”

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The Guardian (UK)

Tuesday December 9 2008

Too late? Why scientists say we should expect the worst

At a high-level academic conference on global

warming at Exeter University this summer, climate

scientist Kevin Anderson stood before his expert

audience and contemplated a strange feeling. He

wanted to be wrong. Many of those in the room who

knew what he was about to say felt the same. His

conclusions had already caused a stir in

scientific and political circles. Even committed

green campaigners said the implications left them

terrified.

Anderson, an expert at the Tyndall Centre for

Climate Change Research at Manchester University,

was about to send the gloomiest dispatch yet from

the frontline of the war against climate change.

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