GLOBAL WARMING: US experts say global warming faster than thought
From: Psalm 110 (Melchizedek_at_USA.com)
Date: 06/25/04
- Next message: Psalm 110: "GLOBAL WARMING: States, Conservation Groups File Brief Challenging Bush Administration's Global Warming Rebuff"
- Previous message: Psalm 110: "GLOBAL WARMING: Heinz blamed for global warming"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Date: 24 Jun 2004 19:10:15 -0700
http://www.terradaily.com/2004/040624153940.04k9jrg6.html
US experts say global warming faster than thought
WASHINGTON, June 24 (AFP)- (AFP) Jun 24, 2004
A new US supercomputer has shown that global temperatures could be
rising more than scientists had thought, experts said Thursday.
The computer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research projects
that temperatures could rise by 2.6 degrees Celsius (4.7 degrees
Fahrenheit) if countries continue to emit large amounts of carbon
dioxide.
The previous estimates were a rise of about two degrees Celsiusdegrees
Fahrenheit).
Information from the Community Climate System Model, known as CCSM3,
will be presented to the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, an
international body of experts established by the United Nations to
assess the environmental impact of climate change.
According to the US National Science Foundation (NSF), a variety of
models in the past have been used to understand the effects of carbon
dioxide, a common greenhouse gas emitted by cars and power plants.
Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have increased significantly in
recent decades to about 370 million parts per million today and levels
are continuing to rise.
If carbon dioxide emissions were to double, most scientific models
agree that this would signifigantly increase global temperatures.
But, the models have been unable to produce consistent results in
trying to determine the impact of other sources global warming, such
as radiation from clouds or thunderstorms and the effect aerosol gases
have on the environment.
Clifford Jacobs, an NSF scientist, said that with the new models "the
degree of uncertainty has narrowed."
"We have a higher degree of confidence in these results than in the
previous results."
Jacobs said scientists now hope their models will become sophisticated
enough to predict how climate change will affect specific regions,
such as in Africa or the American Midwest.
He hopes the scientific breakthrough will "better inform the ongoing
debate" over global warming.
"The key question is: How much of the change is a natural variability
and how much of the change is caused by activities of mankind on the
face of planet," he said.
All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs,
logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence
France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify,
transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of
the content of this section without the prior written consent of
Agence France-Presse.
- Next message: Psalm 110: "GLOBAL WARMING: States, Conservation Groups File Brief Challenging Bush Administration's Global Warming Rebuff"
- Previous message: Psalm 110: "GLOBAL WARMING: Heinz blamed for global warming"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Relevant Pages
|
|
