We saved the planet? Already?

[Swiss Miss]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/internatio...856583,00.html

Ozone hole has stabilised, say scientists

Hilary Osborne
Wednesday August 23, 2006

Guardian Unlimited
Efforts to stop the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic from growing have worked, leading US scientists said today.

Two decades after research began, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the level of ozone-depleting gases was decreasing and it seemed the hole over the Antarctic had been stabilised.

David Hofmann, director of NOAA's global monitoring division, said: "We can say the patient isn't getting any sicker because the ozone hole isn't getting any deeper, any broader."

His colleague, senior scientist Susan Solomon, said the discovery of ozone depletion and the response of the scientific community were "nothing less than a scientific success story".

But they said Antarctica had yet to see a build up in ozone levels and it was too early to talk of "an unambiguous recovery" in the ozone layer over the area.

The scientists were speaking at a conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the arrival in Antarctica of four teams of researchers from NOAA, Nasa and two American universities.

Their work began in 1986 following the discovery by a British team that there had been a decline in stratospheric ozone over Antarctica.

The ozone layer protects the planet from ultraviolet radiation, which at high levels poses a number of dangers, including increased risk of skin cancer and cataracts.

The scientists discovered a hole in the layer that appears between September and November, the southern hemisphere's spring. Early theories about the cause included solar activity affecting the magnetic field, atmospheric motions and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigerators and aerosols.

The work conducted by the scientists was the first to show a link between CFCs and ozone loss, and led to the Montreal protocol in 1987 under which countries agreed to stop producing CFC-like compounds by 1995.

The gases had been used since the 1930s in refrigerators and aerosol sprays and are found in insulating foam used in some buildings and white goods.

Although CFCs are not used in new goods, they are still being emitted as old fridges and foam are disposed off, and at much higher levels than anticipated, said Dr Solomon.

"This is working against the Montreal protocol to some degree," she said.

Continued CFC emissions, together with climate change, could slow down the recovery of the ozone layer, but both scientists said they were "optimistic" it would one day return to previous levels.

"It will not be until the middle of the century though," said Dr Solomon.

Isn't it a bit too soon to determine if we're all okay? It took years to cause the problem, how quickly can it be solved? Even if this is true, they should not utter a single word of this "news" to anyone in the US. We are not deserving of it. We do not deserve to relax because we are the main cause of this problem. Global warming will drastically slow down the process of recovery for the ozone layer so the more we slack off, the longer it's going to take and it will not be until the middle of NEXT Century (if we make it that long) that we will recover from this.

[Big Red 11]

Exactl swiss. If the big-wigs get wind of this news, they will immediately see this as a signal to return to old ways. Still, I doubt the validity of this "news".

[DansDarkSide]

How come we cant just fix the ozone by putting O3 into the air?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by DansDarkSide

How come we cant just fix the ozone by putting O3 into the air?

The reason the ozone is getting worse is because of the co2 being released into the air. Theres nothing we can release into the air, because stuff needs to be taken out, not added.

[Calvin Locke]

How can anybody say that the ozone layer being supposedly fixed is everything to the world? Dans is correct in saying that we need to clean the air not release more artificial additives to it to repair the ozone layer, but the truth is that there is nothing that can be done until the big guys in politics realize that there is a problem and decide to fix it...THE ODDS OF THAT HAPPENING ARE ABOUT AS HIGH AS WINNING THE LOTTERY EIGHT TIMES IN EIGHT DAYS!!! In addition there is the factor of the Montreal Protocols, and all of it's amendments, something which even though the United States has ratified, the present Senate, House of Representatives, and President do not fully agree with it, and have allowed violations to big businesses.

The truth of the matter is that we can never fix the Earth unless all parties (Nations) really work together and do something about the issues, something that the government of the United States presently has issues with.

[Martin]

Welcome and good point, Calvin.

[waltky]

The W gonna fix global warming...

Bush calls climate change talks
Friday, 3 August 2007, Mr Bush says technology holds the key to curbing emissions

US President George W Bush has announced that his government will host a multinational conference on climate change in Washington next month.

The US has invited the UN, EU and 15 of the world's leading economies to the high-level talks on 27-28 September, the White House said in a statement. The talks will seek to set the stage for an agreement by 2008 on a long-term goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists say the accumulation of such gases is causing global warming. Mr Bush had first proposed the conference on 31 May, shortly before the G8 summit in Germany.

'Global framework'

[waltky]

Not quite, islands starting to submerge...

Tiny country frightened of sinking
Thursday 13th September, 2007 The tiny Pacific island state of Tuvalu is sinking and its Deputy Prime Minister Tavau Teii is calling for urgent action.

He has urged the rest of the world to do more to combat global warming before Tuvalu simply disappears. Mr Teii says the country one of the most vulnerable in the world to man-made climate change.

The group of atolls and reefs, of which Tuvalu is a part, is barely two metres above sea level. One study has predicted that at the current rate the ocean is rising, Tuvalu could disappear in the next 30 to 50 years, leaving ten thousand people homeless.

Mr Teii says his government has been told by New Zealand the inhabitants will be welcomed there if the situation becomes any more dangerous.

Tiny country frightened of sinking

See also:


Rising Seas Likely to Flood U.S. History
September 22, 2007 - Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in Jamestown, Va., as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting.

In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased. Global warming _ through a combination of melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warmer waters expanding _ is expected to cause oceans to rise by one meter, or about 39 inches. It will happen regardless of any future actions to curb greenhouse gases, several leading scientists say. And it will reshape the nation.

Rising waters will lap at the foundations of old money Wall Street and the new money towers of Silicon Valley. They will swamp the locations of big city airports and major interstate highways. Storm surges worsened by sea level rise will flood the waterfront getaways of rich politicians _ the Bushes' Kennebunkport and John Edwards' place on the Outer Banks. And gone will be many of the beaches in Texas and Florida favored by budget-conscious students on Spring Break.

That's the troubling outlook projected by coastal maps reviewed by The Associated Press. The maps, created by scientists at the University of Arizona, are based on data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Few of the more than two dozen climate experts interviewed disagree with the one-meter projection. Some believe it could happen in 50 years, others say 100, and still others say 150.

Sea level rise is 'the thing that I'm most concerned about as a scientist,' says Benjamin Santer, a climate physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. 'We're going to get a meter and there's nothing we can do about it,' said University of Victoria climatologist Andrew Weaver, a lead author of the February report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Paris. 'It's going to happen no matter what _ the question is when.'

MORE

[waltky]

Gonna clean up the ozone layer...

Nations to ramp up phase-out of ozone-killers
Sept 22, 2007: 200 nations agree to speed elimination of HCFCs, major greenhouse gas

Governments of almost 200 countries have agreed to speed the elimination of a major greenhouse gas that depletes ozone, U.N. and Canadian officials said Saturday, describing a deal they said was a significant step toward fighting global warming. The agreement reached Friday night will accelerate a treaty to freeze and phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) which are used in home appliances, some refrigerators, hair sprays and air conditioners, said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the United Nations Environment Program.

"With this plan of an accelerated freeze and accelerated phase-out, we could have potentially significant benefits arising in terms of combating climate change and ozone loss," Nuttall said. "It's a remarkable change in how we view the issue of climate change." The treaty known as the Montreal Protocol was originally established in the Canadian city in 1987 to protect the ozone layer from destructive chemicals. It was negotiated by 191 countries to cut back on chemicals blamed for destroying the ozone layer.

The member nations, gathering in Montreal again 20 years later, agreed to freeze production and consumption of HCFCs in 2013. Developed countries have agreed to reduce production and consumption by 75 percent by 2010 and by 90 percent by 2015 with final phase out in 2020 — 10 years sooner than the earlier agreement. Developing countries have agreed to cut production and consumption by 10 per cent in 2015; by 35 percent by 2020 and by 67.5 percent by 2025 with a final phase-out in 2030.

White House lauds agreement

See also:

China all for it...

China says West should continue its 'key role' on climate change
Sept.22, 2007 : China has said that developed countries should continue to take the lead in reducing emissions in the post Kyoto Protocol period.

China's newly appointed special representative for climate change, Yui Qingtai, has said that the current international mechanism for tackling global warming after 2012 should define the obligations of developed countries. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN-sponsored Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, are key guiding instruments for addressing global warming. China, as a developing country and a signatory of the protocol, believes post-Kyoto regulations should be part of the UN process.

Speaking of China's position in the international negotiations on climate change, Yu said China insists on international cooperation, pursuing sustainable development, upholding the UNFCCC as the core mechanism and promoting scientific and technological innovation. Beijing has set targets of reducing energy consumption per unit of the gross domestic product by 20 percent and discharges of main pollutants by 10 percent and raising forest coverage from 18.2 percent to 20 percent between the end of 2005 and 2010.


The State Council had set up a leading group for work on responding to climate change, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao. In addition, the Foreign Ministry has established a leading group in charge of international work on climate change, headed by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. The group has two deputy heads, Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai.

China says West should continue its 'key role' on climate change

[waltky]

Hey, they fooled Uncle Ferd...

Hoax bacteria study tricks climate sceptics
November 09, 2007 - A HOAX scientific study pointing to ocean bacteria as the overwhelming cause of global warming fooled some sceptics who doubt growing evidence that human activities are to blame.

Laden with scientific jargon and published online in the previously unknown Journal of Geoclimatic Studies based in Japan, the report suggested the findings could be “the death of manmade global warming theory”. Sceptics jumped on the report.

A British scientist e-mailed the report to 2000 colleagues before spotting it was a spoof. Another from the US called it a “blockbuster”. Blogger sceptic Neil Craig wrote: “This could not be more damaging to manmade global warming theory ... I somehow doubt if this is going to be on the BBC news.”

It was not clear who was behind the report, which said bacteria in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans emitted at least 300 times more carbon dioxide than industrial activity - a finding that, if true, would overturn the widely held view of scientists that burning fossil fuels are the main cause of warming.

But scientists knocked the report down. “The whole story is a hoax,” Deliang Chen, professor of Meteorology at Gothenburg University in Sweden, told Reuters. He said two “authors” listed as from his University were unknown.

Hoax bacteria study tricks climate sceptics | NEWS.com.au