The Stern Report commissioned by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown shows that doing nothing to mitigate climate change will cost us at least five times as much as if we start to act now, but will any government take heed? Prof. Peter Saunders
Almost everyone now accepts that climate change is already happening, that it is going to get worse and that the main cause is the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases we have been spewing into the atmosphere in increasing amounts since the Industrial Revolution [1] ( Global Warming Is Happening , SiS 31). More importantly, almost everyone agrees that we really must start to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately [2] ( Which Energy? ).
.
There are many ways to cut emissions. Some are comparatively cheap and can be done quickly once we decide to go ahead, such as insulating our houses and not cutting down the rain forests. Others are expensive, or will take a long time to put in place, or will require changes in the way we do things. Governments will have to be convinced that these measures are necessary and cost-effective before they adopt them as policy. Furthermore, because climate change is by its very nature a global problem, there will have to be international agreement about what should be done and who should pay for it, even though individual countries, or individual states in the USA, can make a start on their own. So we need a clear idea of what the proposed measures will cost and what they will accomplish.
PLEASE CONTINUE
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/The_Economics_of_Climate_Change.php
Please also see:
Huge storms sweep northern Europe
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6274377.stm
Europe lashed by severe weather
http://www.euronews.net/create_html.php?page=accueil_info&article=401821&lng=1
Deadly storms sweep northern Europe
http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=30088
Dangerous climate change is hitting Africa hard
say top aid and environment groups
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/africaupinsmoke291006.aspx
White House Resists Calls for Carbon Emission Caps
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0118-05.htm
Almost everyone now accepts that climate change is already happening, that it is going to get worse and that the main cause is the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases we have been spewing into the atmosphere in increasing amounts since the Industrial Revolution [1] ( Global Warming Is Happening , SiS 31). More importantly, almost everyone agrees that we really must start to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately [2] ( Which Energy? ).
.
There are many ways to cut emissions. Some are comparatively cheap and can be done quickly once we decide to go ahead, such as insulating our houses and not cutting down the rain forests. Others are expensive, or will take a long time to put in place, or will require changes in the way we do things. Governments will have to be convinced that these measures are necessary and cost-effective before they adopt them as policy. Furthermore, because climate change is by its very nature a global problem, there will have to be international agreement about what should be done and who should pay for it, even though individual countries, or individual states in the USA, can make a start on their own. So we need a clear idea of what the proposed measures will cost and what they will accomplish.
PLEASE CONTINUE
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/The_Economics_of_Climate_Change.php
Please also see:
Huge storms sweep northern Europe
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6274377.stm
Europe lashed by severe weather
http://www.euronews.net/create_html.php?page=accueil_info&article=401821&lng=1
Deadly storms sweep northern Europe
http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=30088
Dangerous climate change is hitting Africa hard
say top aid and environment groups
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/africaupinsmoke291006.aspx
White House Resists Calls for Carbon Emission Caps
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0118-05.htm