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

[dvabbott]

I used a CINP example to remind all that islands do sink due to ongoing
global climate changes.

If my facts are incorrect please let me know.

Otherwise, end of case.....CLOSED!
 
This, my friend, is NOT the proper forum for preaching Liberal or
Conservative agendas.



on 6/6/08 11:57 AM, R. Schwartz at razz442 at verizon.net 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-Envi
>>> ro
>>> nment-Day.php
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>> 
>> 
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