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GreatQuotes

Page history last edited by Trevor 14 years, 2 months ago

"Our estimates indicate that climate risk — damages if no action is taken — would include tens of billions per year in direct costs, even higher indirect costs, and expose trillions of dollars of assets to collateral risk....Climate response — mitigation to prevent the worst impacts and adaptation to climate change that is unavoidable — on the other hand, can be executed for a fraction of these net costs by strategic deployment of existing resources for infrastructure renewal/replacement and significant private investments that would enhance both employment and productivity."  California Climate Risk and Response  UC Berkeley

 

Posted by TM 14 Jan 2010


 

 

"In 1989, incredible changes that were deemed impossible just a few years earlier were implemented. But this was no accident. The changes resonated the hopes of the time and leaders responded. We brought down the wall in the belief that future generations would be able to solve challenges together.....Today another planetary threat has emerged. The climate crisis is the new wall that divides us from our future, and today’s leaders are vastly underestimating the urgency, and potentially catastrophic scale, of the emergency. ....To echo the demand made of me by my late friend and sparring partner President Reagan: Mr Obama, Mr Hu, Mr Singh, Mr Brown and, back in Berlin, Ms Merkel and her European counterparts: “Tear down this wall!” For this is Your Wall, your defining moment. You cannot dodge the call of history. I appeal to heads of state and government to personally come to the climate change conference in Copenhagen this December and dismantle the wall. The people of the world expect you to deliver; do not fail them" Tear down this wall! And save the planet, Mikhail Gorbachev.

 

Powerful stuff.

Posted by TM 13 November 2009


 

 

 

 

Climate change expert Nicholas Stern has endorsed the CO2 stabilisation target of 350ppm! Below is an extract from an article on the website www.350.org from 9th September 2009.

 

'Today in Berlin, a reporter from one of the city's papers, Daniel Boese, asked him [Lord Nicholas Stern] about the 350 target--which goes well beyond the numbers he was using in his book even in April. It's a sign of how quickly the tide is shifting, and also of Stern's intellectual integrity, that he said:

"I think it's a very sensible long-term target." He went on to explain: "People have to be aware that is a truly long-term target. We have already passed 350ppm, we are at 390 ppm of Co2 and at 435 ppm of Co2-equivalents right now. It is most important to stop the increase of flows of emissions short term and then start the decline of flows of annual emissions and get them down to levels which will move concentrations of CO2 back down towards 350ppm." '

Link to full article.

Posted by OB on 17 September 2009

 

 


 

 

"Climate change is already contributing to displacement and migration. Although economic and political factors are the dominant drivers of displacement and migration today, climate change is already having a detectable effect. From "In search of shelter: mapping the effects of climate change on human migration; by 2008 Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc. (CARE).

 

They conclude we must:

  • Avoid dangerous climate change
  • Focus on human security
  • Invest in resilience
  • Prioritize the world’s most vulnerable populations
  • Include migration in adaptation strategies
  • Close the gaps in protection

 

Posted by TM on 23 June 2009 

 


 

"Impacts are expected to become increasingly severe for more people and places as the amount of warming increases. Rapid rates of warming would lead to particularly large impacts on natural ecosystems and the benefits they provide to humanity. Some of the impacts of climate change will be irreversible, such as species extinctions and coastal land lost to rising seas." From a new report "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States" authored by the United States Global Change Research Program USGCRP published June 2009.

Posted by TM on 17 June 2009


 

 

"The key sentence of legislation that passed the Texas Senate last week reads as follows: “Not later than August 31, 2012, all rates used by the association for an initial policy or renewal policy issued by the association shall be actuarially sound as determined by the association.” Translation: The long era of growing and often regressive subsidies from the rest of Texas to coastal residents and businesses is coming to an end."   From Houston Chronicle article "Windstorm reform trims subsidies". 

Posted by TM on 20 May 2009

 

 


 

"Politicians, for their part, should stop begging climatologists for easy answers. What they need instead is a new breed of advisers to descend from the ivory towers of academia and join the climate fray - people who are willing and able to weigh up the risks, costs and benefits of various degrees of action. Risk managers, step up to the plate." From a leader in New Scientist about the recent Climate Congress in Copenhagen

Posted by OB 23/3/09


"Now let me explain why I even bothered to write this piece. It's true that, if you're reading the mainstream press, each of the droughts mentioned above has gotten at least some attention, several of them a fair amount of attention (as well as some fine reporting), and the Australian firestorms have been headlines globally for weeks. The problem is that (the professional literature, the science magazines, and a few environmental websites and blogs aside) no one in the mainstream media seems to have thought to connect these dots or blots of aridity in any way. And yet it seems a no-brainer that mainstream reporters should be doing just that." From an article written by Tom Engelhardt (UTNE.

Posted by TM 25/2/09

 

"The deadly bush fires in Australia have released millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equivalent to more than a third of the country's CO2 emissions for a whole year, according to scientists.". The Australian bushfires are a human tragedy; but also an environmental one. A clear global warming feedback. Reported in the Guardian.

Posted by TM on 25 February


Bring on the third runway – it’s a gift to the green movement

"As both its opponents and, unintentionally, its supporters have demonstrated, the economic case for a Heathrow third runway is weak. But though today's announcement does not represent much of a boost for the London economy, it does throw a vital lifeline to another troubled cause: the British green movement...

We should, therefore, be grateful, if rather surprised, that the Government has chosen such weak ground for its first big green fight. Because one way or another, this cause could be a defining one. This could be the moment when we decide what is more important, the economy or the environment. This could be the moment when we choose as a country whether we are going to carry on down the old road of growth at any cost, or take a new road towards a more sustainable way of life."

Andrew Gilligan writing in the London Evening Standard 15 January 2009

Posted by OB on 16th January 2009


"Over the past few weeks, Vice President-Elect Biden and I have announced some of the leaders who will advise us as we seek to meet America's 21st-century challenges – from strengthening our security, to rebuilding our economy, to preserving our planet for our children and grandchildren. Whether it's the science to slow global warming; the technology to protect our troops and confront bio-terror and weapons of mass destruction; the research to find life-saving cures; or the innovations to remake our industries and create 21st-century jobs – today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation.

...the truth is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources – it's about protecting free and open inquiry. It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It's about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient – especially when it's inconvenient.

I am confident that ... if we have the vision to believe and invest in things unseen, then we can lead the world into a new future of peace and prosperity."

Barack Obama's radio address 20 December 2008

Posted by OB on 24th December 2008


"Don't kill the planet in the name of saving the economy."

"We are living through two great meltdowns – the credit crunch, and the climate crunch. The heating of the planet is now happening so fast it’s hard to pluck a single event to fix on, but here’s one. By the summer of 2013, the Arctic will be free of ice. How big an event is this? The Wall Street Crash hadn’t happened for eighty years. The Arctic Crash hasn’t happened for three million years: that’s the last time there was watery emptiness at the top of the world. The Arctic is often described as the canary in the coal mine. As one Arctic researcher put it to me this week: the canary is dead. It’s time to clear the mine, and run...

...Feeling pessimistic yet? Don’t be. There is another way. This is, perversely, a dazzling time to be alive: every human being who ever lives will deal with the decisions we make here. If we disregard the voices of denial, Europe – and each one of us – has a chance to do something extraordinary. We could be the people who saw this great threat to our species coming and remade our societies to stop it, showing the world it can be done. The story of Europe’s 2020 vision could be heroic – but only if we fight now to save it from the vandals." Johann Hari writing in the Independent 20 October 2008

Posted by OB on 2nd November 2008


"AAL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES CLOSER TO THE COAST. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE...WITH MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HOMES...INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO REPAIR." National Hurricane Centre Local Statement for IKE (bold formatting is ours).

Posted by TM on 12th September 2008


In this video Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert talks about the psychology of climate change. He explains why our brains have not evolved to respond to this type of impersonal and gradual threat.

"Global warming is by its very nature a threat but it is a deadly threat only because it fails to trigger our brain's alarm. It leaves us sleeping in a burning bed. It remains to be seen whether we can learn to rouse ourselves to battle an impersonal, slow and quiet enemy that is indeed more dangerous than any our ancestors imagined."

 

Posted by OB on 12th September 2008


James Hansen, a former White House adviser and Al Gore's science adviser, giving evidence in a British court, said sticking to a "business as usual" approach would see the planet passing its climate change tipping point.

Asked what his message to Gordon Brown would be, Hansen said: "I would ask him to make a clear public statement for a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants that do not capture CO2. There is enough potential in renewables for our energy requirements. The moratorium should be immediate. We do not need new coal-fired power plants. They all need to be phased out over the next 20 years. If nothing is done we would be handing our children, our grandchildren and the unborn, a situation that would be out of their control"."

Read full story here

 

Posted by OB on 5th September 2008


"I am very pleased today to announce that Californians will soon have another option for homeowners insurance - and an opportunity to make environmentally-friendly choices at the same time,...I encourage all insurance companies to expand options for consumers. Innovative products like these are a win-win for consumers and the environment, lowering energy bills and cutting consumption." LOS ANGELES ― Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, in a press release

 

Posted by TM on 31 July 2008


"Robert Allen and Steven Sherwood of Yale University have used wind data taken from weather balloons as a proxy for direct temperature measurements to give the first conclusive evidence that the upper troposphere has been warming after all. Although they are an indirect measure of temperature, these wind records can be backed up by satellite and ground instruments, making them more reliable than existing direct temperature measurements (Nature Geoscience doi: 10.1038/ngeo208)."

Physics world article.

 

Posted by NB on 10 July 2008

 


"We need a climate change cabinet, modelled on similar lines to Churchill's war cabinet; we need a climate change department which ends the absurd dichotomy in government between energy supply and demand; we need to emulate and surpass Germany's renewables energy investment strategy which recognises future global markets in green technologies and is somehow supporting R&D without breaking EU state aid rules; we need to stop believing that technologies like nuclear, which will not deliver a single extra watt of "green" electricity until around 2030, are part of the solution; and most urgently we need to recognise that early carbon reductions are the most important step, and that will only happen with rapid behavioural change, which means some form of carbon rationing."

Colin Challen MP, Chair, all-party parliamentary climate change group, in a letter to the Guardian.

 

Posted by OB on 28 June 2008


"...an oft cited case study of the loss-prevention benefits of green buildings...is the Harmony Report on the island of St. John which weathered hurricanes Marilyn, Bertha, Georges and Lenny with no loss of (solar) power or (solar) hot water, whilst operations on other facilities on the islands were disrupted for weeks or months." on the subject of how green practices can reduce business interruption: From risk to opportunity:2007 by Ceres

 

Posted by TM on 28 April 2008


""Climate change presents a particular challenge to fast-growing emerging countries like India", says Torsten Jeworrek from Munich Re's Board of Management. "In conjunction with greater prosperity and the effects of climate change, there is a distinct increase in losses." See this article on the Munich Re website

 

Posted by TM on 18 April 2008


Extract from a Wall Street Journal article on limits to growth, which quotes the Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, discussing environmental issues:

"Today, the Nobel laureate is concerned that oil is underpriced relative to the cost of carbon emissions, and that key resources such as water are often provided free. 'In the absence of market signals, there's no way the market will solve these problems,' he says. 'How do we make people who have gotten something for free start paying for it? That's really hard. If our patterns of living, our patterns of consumption are imitated, as others are striving to do, the world probably is not viable.'"

New Limits to Growth Revive Malthusian Fears, WSJ online, 24 March 2008

 

Posted by OB, March 2008


"The three scenarios we develop in this study are based on expected, severe, and catastrophic climate cases. The first scenario projects the effects in the next 30 years with the expected level of climate change. The severe scenario, which posits that the climate responds much more strongly to continued carbon loading over the next few decades than predicted by current scientific models, foresees profound and potentially destabilizing global effects over the course of the next generation or more. Finally, the catastrophic scenario is characterized by a devastating “tipping point” in the climate system, perhaps 50 or 100 years hence. In this future world, global climate conditions have changed radically, including the rapid loss of the land-based polar ice sheets, an associated dramatic rise in global sea levels, and the destruction beyond repair of the existing natural order."

The age of consequences, Campbell et al , Centre for strategic and international studies.


"Many of the world's poorest countries and communities ...face a double-headed problem: that of climate change and violent conflict. There is a real risk that climate change will compound the propensity for violent conflict....There are 46 countries - home to 2.7 billion people - in which the effects of climate change interacting with economic, social and political problems will create a high risk of violent conflict. There is a second group of 56 countries where...the risk of armed conflict may not be so immediate [but where] climate change and other factors creates a high risk of political instability...These 56 countries are home to 1.2 billion people."Quote from International alert's A climate of conflict by Dan Smith and Janani Vivekananda.

 

Posted by TM on 20 November 2007


"Whats the worst that can happen? .....the end of the world as we know it?" You Tube presentation, take a look.

 

Posted by TM on 8 November 2007


"This is just the beginning of the process of real change. Time is a luxury we do not have and I urge companies both at home and internationally to sign the ClimateWise principles and take the necessary action." HRH The Prince of Wales, speaking at the Launch of Climatewise on 13 September 2007.

 

Posted by TM on 17 September 2007

 


 

“The floods of the last five weeks remind us of the devastating impact of severe weather on people's lives and livelihoods. We must address the consequences, as well as the causes, of climate change. The Climate Change Bill offers a unique opportunity to ensure sustained, Government-wide action to tackle the increased incidence of flooding, storm damage, subsidence and heatwaves that climate change will bring.."

 

Jane Milne, the ABI's Head of Property Insurance 3rd August 2007

 

Posted by GF on 10 August 2007

 

 


"We find that long-period variations in tropical cyclone and hurricane frequency over the past century in the North Atlantic Ocean have occurred as three relatively stable regimes separated by sharp transitions. Each regime has seen 50% more cyclones and hurricanes than the previous regime....It is concluded that the overall trend in SSTs, and tropical cyclone and hurricane numbers is substantially influenced by greenhouse warming." Heightened tropical cyclone activity in

the North Atlantic: natural variability or climate trend? Holland and Webster

 

Posted by TM on 2 August 2007

 


"'T is not too late to seek a newer world."

Alfred Tennyson, 1809-1892

"Ulysses" from Poems, In Two Volumes (London: Moxon, 1842).

 

Posted by TM 9 July 2007

 

 


"The last time Europeans saw similar temperatures to the autumn and winter of 2006-07, they were eating strawberries at Christmas in 1289."

- Jürg Luterbacher, University of Bern

 

Posted by NB 2 July 2007


Stephen Haddrill, director general of the ABI, said: "However successful we are at reducing our carbon footprint now, weather damage will worsen over the next 40 years because of past emissions. The Government needs to invest at least £750 million a year in flood defences, and should use the Climate Change Bill and Comprehensive Spending Review to set out an effective climate risk management strategy."

 

He added: "Insurers remain committed to working with Government and our customers to help manage the consequences of climate change."

 

Posted by VM 28 June 2007

 

 


"The insurance industry, perhaps more than any other institution, has the power to set the stage for enduring and significant contributions to solving the problem of global climate change."

- Christina Ross, Environmental Consultant, Evan Mills, Government Scientist and Sean B. Hecht, Environmental-Law Expert

The Wall Street Journal - 5 June 2007

 

Posted by LG 13 June 2007


"Fate of the world's snowy and icy places as a result of climate change should be cause for concern in every ministry, boardroom and living room across the world [...] from Berlin to Brasilia, and Beijing to Boston."

- Achim Steiner, head of U.N. Environment Programme

Source

 

Posted by LM 4 June 2007


"Climate change is the only thing that I believe has the power to fundamentally end the march of civilization as we know it, and make a lot of the other efforts that we're making irrelevant and impossible."

- former US President Bill Clinton

 

Posted by LM 24 May 2007


"We have to overcome the dependency on fossil fuel, which brought about the first and second industrial revolution. Now we are facing the third industrial revolution: How do we switch to truly sustainable energy sources?"

- EU Commissioner Günther Verheugen and Nobel Prize Economist Joseph E. Stiglitz

Source

 

Posted by LM 24 May 2007


"An average citizen nowadays expects to fly to Mallorca for 20 euros. Growth in carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector pretty much devours all the efficiency gained in manufacturing."

- EU Commissioner Günther Verheugen and Nobel Prize Economist Joseph E. Stiglitz

Source

 

Posted by LM 24 May 2007


“We see raising claims due to natural catastrophes and have a vested interest in reducing global warming. Our industry has been at the forefront of this debate for a long time.”

- Clememt Booth, Allianz board member

Source

 

Posted by LM 24 May 2007


"In sum — at least according to petitioners’ uncontested affidavits — the rise in sea levels associated with global warming has already harmed and will continue to harm Massachusetts. The risk of catastrophic harm, though remote, is nevertheless real. That risk would be reduced to some extent if petitioners received the relief they seek. We therefore hold that petitioners have standing to challenge the EPA’s denial of their rulemaking petition." U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v EPA April 2 2007 [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-1120.pdf]

"EPA can no longer hide behind the fiction that it lacks any regulatory authority to address the problem of global warming,"

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley

[http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2007/2007-04-02-10.asp]

 

Posted by DAS 16 May 2007


 

"This approach shows how a military leader’s perspective often differs from the perspectives of scientists, policymakers, or the media. Military leaders see a range of estimates and tend not to see it as a stark disagreement, but as evidence of varying degrees of risk. They don’t see the range of possibilities as justification for inaction. Risk is at the heart of their job." National Security and the threat of climate change Available from securityandclimate.cna.org

 

Posted by TM 8 May 2007 (you could replace the words "military leader" with "actuary" and it should still be true (is it?))


"Climate Change - Financial Risks to Federal and Private Insurers in Coming Decades are Potentially Significant" - the title of a new report to the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs by the US Government Accountability Office - an investigative/research arm of Congress and available here

Posted by GF 27 April 2007


 

"Climate Change - Financial Risks to Federal and Private Insurers in Coming Decades are Potentially Significant" - the title of a new report to the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs by the US Government Accountability Office - an investigative/research arm of Congress. Available here

 

Posted by GF 27 April 2007


"Any insurance company that is not focusing on climate change and related possible damage is not being realistic in looking at their future profitability, as an investor a lack of disclosure worries me.” Richard Moore, North Carolina State Treasurer

Posted by CH 18 April 2007


"The question really is not whether global warming will lead to an increase in street crime, but by how much?". Ken Pease, Visiting professor at University College London

Posted by NB 16 April 2007


"There's going to be plenty of money to be made from green, but the investments need to make sense from a commercial perspective." Geoff Lewis, JF Asset Management

Posted by LM 4 April 2007


"Every risk that global warming poses to our planet - higher sea levels, more frequent and intense storms, drought, flooding, heat waves - winds up to some extent, on the balance sheet of an insurance company." Greg Larkin, Innovent Strategic Advisors

Posted by LM 4 April 2007


"We are entering the climate revolution - risk is increasing and demand for protection is increasing. This is our opportunity to drive the adaptation agenda."

David Brown, Chief Actuary of HBOS

Posted by LM 4 April 2007

 


"The longer we wait to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the larger the impact will be on various meteorological patterns and hence also on loss developments."Ernst Rauch, Munich Re

Posted by LM 4 April 2007

 


"Financial markets and businesses need to grasp the reality we face: that we have to invest now to both reduce our emissions and adapt to unavoidable climate change. There is no choice between mitigation and adaptation – we have to pursue complementary actions on both.". Gerry Archer, London Climate Change Partnership.

 

Posted by TM 2 April 2007

 


 

"Climate change litigation will increase as the impacts of a changing climate are felt around the world."

David Williams - Claims Director, AXA

 

Posted by: LG 26 March 2007


 

"Just as we manage our financial budgets over the economic cycle with prudence and discipline, so we will have to manage our carbon budgets with the same prudence and discipline."

- Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP

Posted by: LM 14 March 2007


So far climate change measures have been “timid and deficient” and the country must unite like it did during World War II against the new threat of the “fossil fuel behemoth”.

- Rt Hon Michael Meacher MP

Posted by: LM 14 March 2007


“Whether we like it or not, the insurance industry is in the front line of the climate change debate" ...and you should be ready to deal with "new challenges, new threats and new opportunities.”

- Rt Hon Stephen Byers, former Cabinet Minister and Co-Chair of the International Climate Change Taskforce

Posted by: LM 14 March 2007


"The necessity to combat climate change and to reduce our energy dependency, coupled with the fact Kyoto is running out, have concentrated minds."

- German Chancellor Angela Merkel, March 2007

The German chancellor has said she plans to make climate change a priority at the G8 summit of industrialised nations to be held in Germany in June.

Posted by: LM 12 March 2007


"Climate change will affect us all, but we can all do our bit to help tackle it. Little changes can make a big difference [...] if all motorists did their bit, we'll see a reduction of some five and a half million tonnes of CO2 in just a year, and also a reduction in motoring costs as people use less fuel."

- Transport Minister Gillian Merron, March 2007

Posted by: LM 12 March 2007


“We'd be out of our minds if we wrote weather insurance on the opinion global warming would have no effect at all.”

– Warren Buffett, 2006

Posted by: LM 12 March 2007


“In terms of its impact on people, the economy, and the insurance industry there can currently be few issues of more significance than that of climate change”

– Lord Levene, Chairman of Lloyd’s, July 2006.

Posted by: LM 12 March 2007


"I am one of those who believes that any reasonably comprehensive and up-to-date look at the evidence makes clear that civilization has already generated dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system. ... What keeps me going is my belief that there is still a chance of avoiding catastrophe."

Prof.P.Holdren, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard and Director of the Woods Hole Research Center. 2007

Posted by: DAS 26 February 2007


"Climate change, and how it affects your ability to compete and build your business, is probably the most discussed subject in world business at the moment."

- Brian Storms, Chairman and CEO of Marsh

Posted by: LM 26 February 2007


"Tomorrow's climate is today's challenge."

- Tagline for the Climate Change Communication Initiative

Posted by: LM 23 February 2007


"Climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today - more serious even than the threat of terrorism"

- David King, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government, 2004.

Posted by: GF 22 February 2007


"An awful lot of people are living only a foot above high water and do not know it."

- Jim Titus, US Environmental Protection Agency, June 2001.

Posted by: DH 26 January 2007


"You'd better learn to make money from climate change or you'll be eaten for lunch"

- Paul Dickinson of the Carbon Disclosure Project

 

Posted by: LM 24 January 2007


"The smoking gun is definitely lying on the table as we speak," -Jerry Mahlman, top U.S. climate scientist

 

"This isn't a smoking gun; climate is a batallion of intergalactic smoking missiles." -Andrew Weaver, Canadian climate scientist

 

Posted by: LM 23 January 2007


Not really a quote but a great resource....

"see this e-learning site; it looks interesting" e-learning

 

Posted by: TM 19 January 2007


Science On Line December 2006

"...We can explore the consequences of this semi-empirical relationship for future sea levels...the range is extended to 55-125cm. These numbers are significantly higher than the model-based estimates of the IPCC for the same temperature scenarios..."

 

Posted by: TM 2 January 2007


Europe in the World, Tom Burke and Nick Mabey, E3G

 

"The pensions of European citizens under the age of 30 will depend, in part, on the success of the investments we make in China....the future stability of China may depend on how well the USA manages its increasingly strained water resources west of the Mississippi."

 

Posted by: TM 18 December 2006


realclimate.org Avery and Singer: Unstoppable hot air

Point. Environmentalists do what they do because they miss having their mommies reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales to them. They like getting all scared.

CounterPoint. ....., I tremble for humanity when I reflect that nature cannot be fooled. You're damn right I’m scared.

 

Note: if you dont follow realclimate.org this might not have much impact. The real climate folk are scientists and in general stick firmly to the science. The last sentence to me was very powerful as sometimes a human voice (rather than a professional one) has more impact. TM 27/11/06


Ceres - From Risk to Opportunity August 2006

"Society cannot take for granted that government will assume the exposures that insurers jettison"


The Economist, 4 Nov

"Just as people spend a small slice of their incomes on buying insurance on the off-chance that their house might burn down, and nations use a slice of taxpayers' money to pay for standing armies just in case a rival power might try to invade them, so the world should invest a small proportion of its resources in trying to avert the risk of boiling the planet. The costs are not huge. The dangers are."


Powerful quote from Margaret Beckett from her 24th October speech from the British Embassy in Berlin.

"...the very process which is making people's lives better across the world today is destroying their future."


A quote from Kerry Emanuel attributed in this paper.

"We will have some quiet [hurricane] years... but we'll never see another quiet decade in the

 

'Today in Berlin, a reporter from one of the city's papers, Daniel Boese, asked him about the 350 target--which goes well beyond the numbers he was using in his book even in April. It's a sign of how quickly the tide is shifting, and also of Stern's intellectual integrity, that he said:  "I think it's a very sensible long-term target."  He went on to explain: "People have to be aware that is a truly long-term target. We have already passed 350ppm, we are at 390 ppm of Co2 and at 435 ppm of Co2-equivalents right now. It is most important to stop the increase of flows of emissions short term and then start the decline of flows of annual emissions and get them down to levels which will move concentrations of CO2 back down towards 350ppm."

http://www.350.org/about/blogs/lord-nicholas-stern-supports-350ppm-target

 

 

Climate change expert Nicholas Stern has endorsed the CO2 stabilisation target of 350ppm! Below is an extract from a report on the website www.350.org.

 

 

 

 

Today in Berlin, a reporter from one of the city's papers, Daniel Boese, asked him [Lord Nicholas Stern] about the 350 target--which goes well beyond the numbers he was using in his book even in April. It's a sign of how quickly the tide is shifting, and also of Stern's intellectual integrity, that he said:

"I think it's a very sensible long-term target." He went on to explain:"People have to be aware that is a truly long-term target. We have already passed 350ppm, we are at 390 ppm of Co2 and at 435 ppm of Co2-equivalents right now. It is most important to stop the increase of flows of emissions short term and then start the decline of flows of annual emissions and get them down to levels which will move concentrations of CO2 back down towards 350ppm."

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