APEC
George Bush and John Howard did their best to try very hard to appear to be doing something about climate change at the APEC meeting in Sydney last month. With other pacific rim countries they declared some completely “voluntary, aspirational” goals for reducing emissions which probably means that as far as polluting goes, its business as usual.
Meanwhile, the National Snow and Ice Data Centre reported that this summer, the polar ice cap in the Arctic has shrunk by almost one million square kilometres below last year’s record melt.
And the US Geological Survey reported in September, that with the current rate of melting, by 2050 two thirds of the 16,000 polar bear population will be gone. They will disappear along the north coasts of Alaska and Russia and lose 42 percent of the Arctic range they need to live in during summer in the Polar Basin when they hunt and breed. A polar bear’s life usually lasts about 30 years.
This is the science behind the concern on global warming is what the leaders DIDN’T talk about. This is why we need countries to commit to deep cuts in C02. We need atmospheric C02 levels to stabilise and start dropping within 10-15 years.
This is a real, worsening planetary emergency, and in the real world no one in charge should ever be allowed to get away with “aspiring” to address a life threatening emergency.
Source: Greenpeace
Tags: apec
