Category: RT Newswire

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“Oppenheimer said policy-makers will have to
respond to the consequences of higher
temperatures in four main areas: access to water
and food; human health in extreme climate
conditions; ecosystems and species; and sea-level
rise from ice sheet melting. ”
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Science
29 February 2008

Science Policy
Scientists “Uniquely Positioned” to Assist Climate Policy-Makers

[PHOTOGRAPH] Michael Oppenheimer, Stephen
Schneider, David Goldston, and Ralph Cicerone

As governments around the world search for ways
to address rising greenhouse gas emissions,
researchers should be ready to offer expert
advice to lawmakers seeking a broad view of
global climate change and its potential
consequences, according to a distinguished panel
of science policy advisers at a recent Capitol
Hill briefing.

The panel, convened by AAAS and three other
scientific societies on 11 January, drew more
than 150 congressional staffers, think tank
representatives, university faculty, and
journalists spilling out of the briefing room in
the Rayburn House Office Building. In front of a
crowd eager for answers, the speakers discussed
how scientists can assist policy-makers in their
analysis of climate change proposals awaiting
congressional debate.

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In using the word “adaption,” I don’t imply that
it’s a successful adaption or that adaption is
always a positive thing — while we can adapt to
the loss of a leg, or a loved one, most of us
would rather not.
Lance Olsen

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” … one of the hundreds of thousands who in
recent years have abandoned their nomadic herding
lives for an urban existence.”

“The biggest problem is that [the warming] leads
to an increasing loss of soil moisture, which is
critical to plant growth,” Goulden said.

The average amount of precipitation has remained
steady. But rains tend to be more infrequent and
heavier when they occur.

“When you have these heavier rains, you get
greater runoff, with less of the moisture being
soaked up by the soil for the summer growth,”
Goulden said
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National Geographic News: NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/NEWS

Climate Change Driving Mongolians From Steppe to Cities
Stefan Lövgren in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
for National Geographic News
February 21, 2008

Lifelong herder Namdag lives in a traditional
felt tent home-or “ger”-among some half dozen
cars in various states of disrepair, an informal
junkyard against the towering, snow-capped
mountains that surround the Mongolian capital of
Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator).

“I miss my old life,” said the 71-year-old, now a
world removed from the sweeping steppes he once
called home. “But life out there is too
difficult.”

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Companies such as Monsanto are at the forefront of pushing the destructive biofuels industry. Capitalizing on the fear of climate change, giant agribusiness companies are making big bucks on the biofuel craze. Unfortunately biofuels do nothing to reduce emissions, and in many cases actually increase emissions above those created by burning gasoline. To add insult to injury, massive biofuel plantations destroy native forests and undermine the food sovereignty of local communities.  

Women Invade Monsanto Fields in Brazil
Oread Daily

Hundreds of Brazilian women activists from the group Via Campesina today raided a research unit of U.S. agricultural biotech company Monsanto destroying a tree nursery and an experimental field of genetically modified corn.

Just how much of those fields were destroyed, and how, was still unknown, a Monsanto press agent said Friday.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the invasion of the Monsanto farm about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city.

The women were angry over the Brazilian government’s decision last month to give clearance for two varieties of GMO corn for commercial use. Continue reading

CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 77, MARCH 2008
Compiled and sent out by Rising Tide UK: info at risingtide.org.uk
To receive this News Sheet monthly, email news-subscribe at risingtide.org.uk
with the subject line ‘subscribe’ (without the quotes).CONTENTS:

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UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
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1) FOSSIL FOOLS DAY – INTERNATIONAL, 1.4.08
2) MAYDAY! MAYDAY! INVASION OF THE CLIMATE SNATCHERS – INT’L, 1.5.08
3) CLIMATE ACTION WITH A BITE! – INTERNATIONAL, 3.6.08
4) “PEOPLE ARE STILL THE SAME” – BRECON, 8.3.08
5) PADDY’S DAY OF ACTION AGAINST SHELL – IRELAND AND BEYOND, 17.3.08
6) BIKES NOT BOMBS TOUR – LONDON TO ALDERMASTON, 22-24.3.08
7) TERMINAL 5 FLASHMOB – HEATHROW, 27.3.08
8) CLIMATE BILL PUBLIC MEETING – LONDON, 22.4.08
9) COIN WORKSHOPS – NATIONAL, MARCH-APRIL 2008
10) NATIONAL CLIMATE FORUM – LONDON, 14-15.6.08
11) EARTH ACTIVIST TRAINING – GLOUCESTERSHIRE, 12-26.7.08
12) ENVIRONMENT CAMPAIGNER AWARD – 2008
13) LILI COURSES IN APRIL – BUCKS/LONDON/SHEFFIELD Continue reading