 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Humans not proven to cause global warming: Australian MPs
Sydney (AFP) Aug 13, 2007 Scientists have yet to prove that human activity causes global warming, a point other planets in the solar system may exemplify, a group of Australian legislators said Monday. Warming was a recurring natural phenomenon and had been observed on other planets, including Mars, Jupiter, Pluto and Neptune, the four backbenchers said in a dissenting chapter in a parliamentary report related to climate change. "It is the natural property of planets with fluid envelopes to have variability in climate. Thus, at any given time, we may expect about half the planets to be warming. This has nothing to do with human activities," they wrote. The fact that climate change had been observed on other planets and on Triton, Neptune's largest moon, was a problem for the view that man-made greenhouse gases had caused global warming on Earth, they said. Climate change believers, including media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, often formed their environmental views without due knowledge, they added. "This exemplifies the more general problem that most of the public statements that promote the dangerous human warming scare are made from a position of ignorance," they wrote. The four backbenchers are all members of Prime Minister John Howard's coalition government and included two former ministers. Howard distanced himself from the four. "No, I don't agree with their views," he said when asked about their statement about Rupert Murdoch. The prime minister was previously a global warming sceptic but has since accepted majority scientific opinion that the emission of greenhouse gases is heating up the planet. Former rock star Peter Garrett, now the environment spokesman for the opposition Labor party, asked Howard which planet the backbenchers were on after the report triggered a debate in parliament. The four included former ministers Jackie Kelly and Danna Vale, former research scientist Dennis Jensen and David Tollner, a legislator from the rugged Northern Territory. Related Links Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation
Climate Change And Permafrost Thaw Alter Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Northern Wetlands
East Lansing MI (SPX) Aug 12, 2007Permafrost - the perpetually frozen foundation of North America - isn't so permanent anymore, and scientists are scrambling to understand the pros and cons when terra firma goes soft. Permafrost serves like a platform underneath vast expanses of northern forests and wetlands that are rooted, literally, in melting permafrost in many northern ecosystems. But rising atmospheric temperatures are accelerating rates of permafrost thaw in northern regions, says MSU researcher Merritt Turetsky. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement |
