Does This Planet Have Future?

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http://www.cato.org/dispatch/08-19-04d.html#1

 

Agency Claims Global Warming Woes Loom for Europe

 

The Associated Press reports: "Rising sea levels, disappearing glaciers in the Alps and more deadly heat waves are coming for Europeans because of global warming, Europe's environmental agency warned Wednesday. ... It said rising temperatures could eliminate three-quarters of the Alpine glaciers by 2050 and bring repeats of Europe's mammoth floods and the heat wave that killed thousands and burned up crops."

 

In "All that Hot Air Is a Killer; Energy Tax Blacks Out Many Lives in Europe," Cato Senior Fellow Patrick J. Michaels, author of the forthcoming book Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, argues that the lack of affordable energy in Europe--not global warming--is what killed thousands of Europeans last year. "For the record, the mean summer temperature in Paris is the same as in Detroit, Chicago and Denver, and when these American cities heat up to record levels (as long as the power stays on), there's no proportional number of excess deaths," he writes.

 

"Obviously the solution is air conditioning powered by affordable energy. And that's the difference between America and Europe."

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FACTBOX-What is the Kyoto protocol?

 

 

MOSCOW, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Russia's parliament was due to vote on

Friday on ratifying the U.N. Kyoto protocol, the last hurdle before

the long-delayed climate change treaty comes into force worldwide.

 

Kyoto needs Russian backing to come into force after it was weakened

by a U.S. pullout in 2001.

 

Here are some frequently asked questions about the pact:

 

WHAT IS THE KYOTO PROTOCOL?

 

It is a pact agreed by governments at a 1997 U.N. conference in Kyoto,

Japan, to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by developed

countries by 5.2 percent of 1990 levels during the five-year period

2008-2012. A total of 122 nations have ratified the pact or acceded to

it, according to U.N. data.

 

IS IT THE FIRST AGREEMENT OF ITS KIND?

 

Governments originally agreed to tackle climate change at an "Earth

Summit" in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. At that meeting, leaders created

the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which set a

non-binding goal of stabilising emissions at 1990 levels by 2000, a

goal not met overall. The Kyoto protocol is the follow-up to that and

is the first legally binding global agreement to cut greenhouse gases.

 

SO IT'S LEGALLY BINDING?

 

It is binding once it has been ratified by at least 55 nations and by

countries representing at least 55 percent of developed countries'

carbon dioxide emissions. Kyoto has been ratified by 126 states but

has so far only received pledges from nations representing 44 percent

of total emissions.

 

Russia holds the key to Kyoto's success or failure with its 17 percent

share of emissions by developed nations. U.S. President George W. Bush

pulled out in 2001, arguing that Kyoto was too expensive and unfairly

excludes developing nations. The United States is the biggest polluter

with a 36 percent share.

 

WHEN WILL IT ENTER INTO FORCE?

 

Kyoto will apply worldwide 90 days after Russia completes ratification

formalities, including approval by the Duma, upper house and signature

by its key advocate, President Vladimir Putin.

 

HOW WILL IT BE ENFORCED?

 

Under a 2001 deal made by environment ministers in Bonn, Germany, if

countries emit more gases than allowed under their targets at the end

of 2012, they will be required to make the cuts, and 30 percent more,

in the second commitment period which is due to start in 2013. They

rejected the idea of a financial penalty.

 

DOES EVERY COUNTRY HAVE TO REDUCE EMISSIONS BY 5.2 PERCENT?

 

No, only 39 countries -- relatively developed ones -- have target

levels for the 2008-12 period, adhering to the principle established

under the UNFCCC that richer countries should take the lead. Each

country negotiated different targets, with Russia aiming for

stabilisation at 1990 levels and the European Union trying for an

eight percent cut.

 

HOW ARE THEY DOING SO FAR?

 

Most countries are lagging targets under Kyoto. The UNFCCC Secretariat

says emissions by Spain and Portugal were worst, at 40.5 percent above

1990 levels in 2002 while U.S. emissions, for instance, were up 13.1

percent. Emissions by ex-communist bloc states had fallen most sharply

after the collapse of Soviet-era industries -- Russian emissions were

down 38 percent from 1990.

 

WHAT ARE THESE "GREENHOUSE GASES?"

 

Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in the earth's

atmosphere. The main one is carbon dioxide (CO2), most of which comes

from burning fossil fuel. The protocol also covers methane (CH4),

much of which comes from agriculture and waste dumps, and nitrous

oxide (N2O), mostly a result of fertiliser use. Three industrial

gases used in various applications, such as refrigerants, heat

conductors and insulators, are also included - they are

hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur

hexafluoride (SF6).

 

WHAT HAPPENS TO COUNTRIES THAT MISS THE TARGET?

 

The protocol provides for "flexible mechanisms" - ways for countries

to reach their targets without actually reducing emissions at

home. These include emissions trading - where one country buys the

right to emit from another country which has already reduced its

emissions sufficiently and has "spare" emissions reductions. Another

is the "clean development mechanism" where developed countries can

earn credits to offset against their targets by funding clean

technologies, such as solar power, in poorer countries.

 

Countries can also claim credits for planting trees in the Third World

that soak up CO2 - so-called carbon "sinks."

 

10/22/04 05:57 ET