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Hundreds of scientists around the world say humans are undoubtedly to blame for global warming. The authors of the UN report expect temperatures to increase by at least two degrees over the next 50 years. The result … more glacial melting, higher sea levels, and significant shifts in weather patterns.
David Doniger is with the Natural Resources Defense Council. He says the report fundamentally alters the global warming discussion.
ACTS: DONIGER (:08) "The debate now is what to do about it and how fast. So the science debate is over."
ACTS: COHEN (:07) "Ah, yes. That's the common refrain of the
environmental groups and the people supporting it. And I think it's
utter nonsense.
NARR: Bonner Cohen of the National Institute of Public Policy, a conservative Washington think tank, calls the study's timing a PR move. The UN report was released in a summary form only. And Cohen says environmentalists should hold off on doomsday predictions until the release of the full report, later this year.
Cohen believes scientists may have been playing politics.
ACTS: COHEN: (:19) "The release of the summary for policy makers is being done to influence the course of the debate here in the United States in the aftermath of the democratic take over in the house and the Senate."
NARR: Gavin Schmidt is a climate researcher for NASA. He disputes any claim that the report is political. Speaking before its official release, Schmidt said the UN's findings were based not on politics but on data.
ACTS: SCHMIDT (:11) "This is probably going to be the most well-peer reviewed document that's ever been written on any subject in science and certainly on the subject of climate change."
NARR: Schmidt says fundamental knowledge about greenhouse gases hasn't changed much since the last UN study in 2001. This time, the report is significant because policy makers are listening, he says.
And policy makers have pushed an environmental agenda in its first 30 days. New bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate would mandate significant caps on emissions from power plants and automobiles. Even leaders of major mining and energy corporations have urged President Bush to regulate emissions.
Angela Anderson works for the nonpartisan National Environmental Trust. She says the blitz of climate consideration has been unheard of in Washington. Even so, Anderson says America's leaders have a long way to go if they're really going to slow down, or even reverse, climate change.
ACTS: ANDERSON (:19) "I don't think we can say the Congress is ready to move past awareness to implementation of a solution to climate. They are ready to assess the options for implementation. And when they do they are going to face some pretty stiff opposition from some pretty powerful entities, companies and industries in this country.
NARR: Lawmakers may also have to battle their own constituents. A Pew Center Poll released in January concluded that most Americans consider the war in Iraq, healthcare and illegal immigration much higher priorities than global warming.
I'm Peter O'Dowd, Columbia Radio News.