Explore Our Planet

Speech was held 31.01.2007 at European Parliament in Brussels:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Climate change is a reality. Scientists have been issuing warnings for a long time. And anyone who reads the newspapers attentively will have noticed that these warnings have become more and more radical. Alarming incidents are occurring with increasing frequency and intensity: floods, droughts, the dramatically accelerating melting of icecaps, disappearing species. (more…)

Currently in Paris, France, hundreds of Scientists are approving the IPCC report from Working Group 1 “The Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis” (chapters outline) in closed-door sessions. They finish 1st February 2007 and next day the release is planned.

Upcoming reports this year cover ‘Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability‘ and ‘Mitigation of Climate Change‘. The final part, a synthesis of all three parts for policy-makers, is expected in November.

The IPCC report will not outline measures to tackle global warming. Instead, it will concentrate on the latest evidence that the phenomenon is underway. The publication sets a milestone in fighting Global Warming, all included points are no longer matter of discussions and it provides the substantiated state of knowledge for decision-maker.

L’Alliance pour la Planète values highly this moment and calls for action. Simply stop using energy between 19:55 and 20:00 MEZ - switch off lights!. Main purpose is not to save power rather than showing your interests. The signal is well recognizable and measurable.

L’Alliance pour la Planète (groupement national d’associations environnementales) lance 5 minutes de répit pour la planète, un appel simple à l’attention de tous les citoyens : le 1er février 2007 entre 19h55 et 20h00, éteignez veilles et lumières.
Participez à la plus grande mobilisation citoyenne contre le changement climatique !

This campaign is supported by dozens of french environmental groups, Friends of Earth and german BUND.

Der Standard: Hitzige Klimadebatte unter dem Eiffelturm
Gruene Jugend: FYEG supports the “Alliance pour la planète”
Joplin Independent: Group calls for five minutes of no power usage
Ottawa Sun: Area blackout protest targets climate change

Today Bushfire swept through transmission lines near Benalla, caused a massive blackouts in Victoria and affected 200,000. Temperature was at 39°C and network came under demand by cooling devices. Seen by Daily Terra, 2007-01-15.

Latest report from the Union of Concerned Scientists offers the most comprehensive documentation of how ExxonMobil [ NYSE:XOM ] has adopted the tobacco industry’s disinformation tactics, as well as some of the same organizations and personnel, to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue.

According to the report, ExxonMobil has funneled nearly $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to a network of 43 advocacy organizations that seek to confuse the public on global warming science.

The report names groups, individuals and scientific spokespeople along with funding amount affiliated with ExxonMobile and/or provide disinformation on Global Warming.

The World Health Organization states:

• Poor nutrition contributes to 1 out of 2 deaths (53%) associated with infectious diseases among children aged under five in developing countries.
• 1 out of 4 preschool children suffers from under-nutrition, which can severely affect a child’s mental and physical development
• 1 out of 3 people in developing countries are affected by vitamin and mineral deficiencies and therefore more subject to infection, birth defects and impaired physical and psycho-intellectual development.

This McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and McKinsey’s Global Energy and Materials (GEM) perspective aims to increment the understanding of global energy demand.

The main finding is that, even with growing demands, there are sufficient opportunities for energy-productivity improvements which could represent a 15 to 25 percent cut in the end-use energy demand by 2020.

McKinsey identifies market-distorting subsidies, information gaps, agency issues and other market inefficiencies as fields of improvement. Shortly, end consumers need more information to make educated market decisions.

Productivity of growing global energy demand: A microeconomic perspective, Executive summary

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
By using a coupled climate and carbon cycle model to look at global climate and carbon cycle changes, the scientists found that the earth would warm by 8 degrees Celsius (14.5 degrees Fahrenheit) if humans use the entire planet’s available fossil fuels by the year 2300.

The jump in temperature would have alarming consequences for the polar ice caps and the ocean, said lead author Govindasamy Bala of the Laboratory’s Energy and Environment Directorate.

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