16 yrs
EWEA's Opinion

EWEA's opinion

14.04.2009

Life on Earth will be traumatically altered in less than five generations from now.

That is the inescapable message from a new poll which indicates that the chasm between promised political action to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by the beginning of the next century and scientists who are currently immersed in studying climate change is getting larger.

Yet that piece of sobering news is just what a new Guardian survey released on Tuesday shows: scientists surveyed say stalling tactics by policy makers and rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions mean it is much more likely that global temperatures will rise by at least 4 degrees.

That frightening scenario, as all those who keep abreast of basic climate science already know, would usher in an exponential increase in human misery and death and mean many types of animals and plants would become extinct compared to the 2 degree scenario many  politicians are currently planning for.

Since it would mean that our planet would be unrecognisable from what it is today, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) encourages policy makers to dig deeper, work harder, work faster, be more innovative and be more cooperative in reaching solutions that can slow down global warming. If Europe, despite the ongoing financial crisis, can quickly find a path to mitigating climate change, so can the rest of the world.

In a nutshell, the Guardian poll, conducted at a recent climate change meeting, revealed that nearly nine of 10 climate scientists surveyed believe political efforts to keep temperature increases to 2 degrees will not be successful and might instead work against efforts to adapt to an even hotter, more dangerous atmosphere.

It is important to add that the Guardian noted that many of the scientists said that even though restricting temperature increases to two degrees will not happen, plans to mitigate global warming should not be discarded. Instead, they said, more effort is now needed on finding ways to limit damage.

Whether this alarming poll will have any influence on international negotiators trying to reach a new post-Kyoto agreement in Copenhagen this December remains to be seen.

What it most assuredly will do, however, is begin to change the dynamic of the entire global warming crisis.

As an organisation which believes in the sustainable and non-polluting power of wind energy, EWEA believes the poll will serve a useful purpose. If only our political leaders do too.

For the full article in The Guardian, click here

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