Scientist Testifies on
Global Warming
July 21, 2005 — By John Heilprin, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Global warming is caused
primarily by humans and "nearly all climate scientists today" agree with
that viewpoint, the new head of the National Academy of Sciences -- a
climate scientist himself -- said Wednesday.
Ralph Cicerone's views contrasted with Bush administration officials'
emphasis on uncertainty about how much carbon dioxide and other
industrial gases warm the atmosphere like a greenhouse.
"Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now at its highest level in 400,000
years and it continues to rise," said Cicerone, an atmospheric scientist
who left as chancellor of University of California-Irvine to become
academy president this month. "Nearly all climate scientists today
believe that much of Earth's current warming has been caused by
increases in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mostly
from the burning of fuels."
Cicerone, testifying before a Senate Commerce subcommittee on global
climate change, cited data from weather stations and ships indicating
the surface of the Earth is generally hotter by about seven-tenths of 1
degree Fahrenheit just since the early 1970s.
The administration officials stressed the $5 billion spent yearly on
U.S. climate programs, mostly research. David Conover, a principal
deputy assistant energy secretary, said President Bush would lead on the
issue though "the scientific and technology challenges are
considerable."
James Mahoney, assistant commerce secretary for oceans and atmosphere,
said, "We know that the surface of the Earth is warmer, and that an
increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans is contributing to the
problem." But he did not go further than that.
"We see economic growth, addressing the climate change problem and
energy security as integrally related," said Daniel Reifsnyder, director
of the State Department's Office of Global Change.
Just three senators -- David Vitter, R-La., Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.,
and Ted Stevens, R-Alaska -- were at the hearing. All three shared
concerns about coastlines disappearing.
Cicerone also bolstered a 2004 Pentagon report that two private
consultants prepared on potential global impacts of an abrupt and severe
change in the world's climate. When the report was issued, it was met
with some skepticism and disbelief -- even by the Pentagon official who
commissioned the study.
Among the dire consequences sketched out were surging seas breaking down
levees in the Netherlands in 2007, making the Hague "unlivable," and
Europe's climate becoming "more like Siberia's" by 2020. They saw
possible "mega-droughts" in southern China and northern Europe.
"It was well done," Cicerone said of the report. "I didn't think it was
fictional."
Last month, the National Academy of Sciences -- an independent
organization chartered by Congress to advise the government on
scientific matters -- joined with similar groups from 10 other nations
in calling for prompt action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those
nations were Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India,
Italy, Japan and Russia.
Bush said earlier this month he recognizes that human activity
contributes to a warmer Earth. But he continues to reject the Kyoto
treaty on global warming that all other G-8 industrialized nations
signed, because developing nations weren't included in it.
His administration has argued strongly against mandatory climate-related
emissions caps, contending that its voluntary program is countering the
growth of those emissions, but not actually reducing the tons annually
being released into the atmosphere.
Source: Associated Press |