[CINC] IHT.com Article: Leader of disappearing island nation says climate change an issue of survival, not economics

[Kenneth A. Tatro]

Robert, you hit the nail on the head, square!!  Very well said.

Ken Tatro


On Jun 6, 2008, at 11:57 AM, R. Schwartz wrote:

> Well, now I too now. must throw in my two cents--enlightening or  
> not.  I do hope my idle opinions are uninfluenced by any false idols  
> that might influence my judgement.
>
> Yes, "climate change is a natural process."  Death is also a natural  
> process.  But when we suspect that somone has helped along that  
> natural process and forensic scientists prove who that person or  
> persons were and how they did it, we call it murder and society does  
> what it can to prevent the crime from happening again; perhaps by  
> eliminating the perpetrator(s) or looking for ways--scientific and  
> social--to discourage others from doing the same.  We also come  
> together and mourn the victim and condemn the crime.  Why?  Because  
> it's the right thing to do and because we are rational and social  
> critters, we humans.
>
> What don't we do?  We don't say, "Well, she was going to die anyway  
> so why worry?"  We don't think, "Well, there were people ten  
> thousand years ago and they died, so isn't this persons death-- 
> murder, whatever--the same thing all over again?  Let's get over it  
> and move on."
>
> No.  We are rational and social critters and we don't ignore  
> rational scientific evidence and we don't withold our empathy nor  
> our social outrage when fellow humans are suffering because "stuff  
> happens."  We do all we can to make things better even when we can't  
> be sure it will work.
>
> That, my friend, is what being human is all about.  Politics?   
> That's something altogether different.
>
> On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at  6:05 PM, dvabbott wrote:
>
>> I almost didn't respond, but I can't sit idol without offering my  
>> two cents
>> worth of enlightenment to this post.
>>
>> Ten-thousand years ago it was much colder and Chumash (or at least  
>> their
>> ancestors) lived on an island that we call Santarosae.
>>
>> Climate change is a natural phenomena.
>>
>> on 6/5/08 3:02 PM, oaars at sbcglobal.net at oaars at sbcglobal.net wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> This IHT.com article has been sent to you by: oaars at sbcglobal.net
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Leader of disappearing island nation says climate change an issue  
>>> of survival,
>>> not economics
>>> The Associated Press
>>> Thursday, June 5, 2008
>>>
>>> The leader of a country slowly being submerged by the Pacific  
>>> Ocean told an
>>> environment conference Thursday that climate change is an issue of  
>>> human
>>> survival, not economic development.
>>>
>>>
>>> Speaking in New Zealand � the host country for the U.N.'s World  
>>> Environment
>>> Day on Thursday � Kiribati President Note Tong said global  
>>> efforts to curb
>>> climate change may already be too late for low-lying Pacific  
>>> islands.
>>>
>>>
>>> "We may already be at the point of no return, where the emissions  
>>> in the
>>> atmosphere will carry on contributing to climate change, so in  
>>> time our small
>>> low-lying islands will be submerged," Tong said. "According to the  
>>> worst case
>>> scenarios, Kiribati will be submerged within (this) century."
>>>
>>>
>>> The highest point of land on Kiribati is now just two yards  
>>> (meters) above sea
>>> level, said Tong, a graduate of the London School of Economics. He  
>>> said
>>> climate change "is not an issue of economic development; it's an  
>>> issue of
>>> human survival."
>>>
>>>
>>> Some of Kiribati's 94,000 people living in shoreline village  
>>> communities have
>>> already been relocated from century-old sites. "We're doing it  
>>> now ... it's
>>> that urgent," Tong said.
>>>
>>>
>>> United Nations Environment Program Executive Director Achim  
>>> Steiner said it
>>> was difficult for island nations to watch as the effects of  
>>> climate change
>>> take hold.
>>>
>>>
>>> "It's a humbling prospect when a nation has to begin talking about  
>>> its own
>>> demise, not because of some inevitable natural disaster ... but  
>>> because of
>>> what we are doing on this planet," Steiner said.
>>>
>>>
>>> He said the world must find the "collective purpose" to combat  
>>> climate change.
>>> "Unless everyone ... on this planet takes their responsibility  
>>> seriously we
>>> will simply not make a difference," he said.
>>>
>>>
>>> New Zealand was chosen to host World Environment Day because it  
>>> was one of the
>>> first nations to commit to carbon neutrality and has provided  
>>> climate change
>>> leadership, Steiner said.
>>>
>>>
>>> A major new wind farm being developed on its outskirts of the  
>>> capital
>>> Wellington means the city will soon be 100 percent carbon neutral  
>>> in its
>>> electricity supply, Prime Minister Helen Clark said.
>>>
>>>
>>> Environment chiefs from the world's top industrial nations pledged  
>>> last month
>>> to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, but stopped short  
>>> of making
>>> firm commitments for a midterm goal for 2020 � which many  
>>> countries argue is
>>> crucial to saving the planet from environmental crisis.
>>>
>>>
>>> Climate scientists have urged rich countries to reduce emissions  
>>> by between 25
>>> percent and 40 percent by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of  
>>> warming.
>>>
>>>
>>> Scientists say warming weather will lead to widespread drought,  
>>> floods, higher
>>> sea levels and worsening storms.
>>>
>>>
>>> Even a 3.6-degree-Fahrenheit (2-degree-Celsius) temperature rise  
>>> could subject
>>> up to 2 billion people to water shortages by 2050 and threaten  
>>> extinction for
>>> 20 percent to 30 percent of the world's species, according to a  
>>> 2007 report by
>>> the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. network of  
>>> 2,000
>>> scientists.
>>>
>>>
>>> IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri said Thursday in Wellington that  
>>> the panel's
>>> fourth climate change assessment report had noted "we have only  
>>> seven years"
>>> to take action if rising temperatures are to be limited to no more  
>>> than 4
>>> degrees Fahrenheit (2.4 degrees Celsius).
>>>
>>>
>>> "After 2015 and there on, we have to bring about a reduction in  
>>> emissions of
>>> greenhouse gases worldwide and ... we don't have more than seven  
>>> years. The
>>> earlier we can start the better," he said.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/05/asia/AS-GEN-New-Zealand-World-Enviro
>>> nment-Day.php
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