Nov 27 2009

Climate Changes

Posted by: Kory Raftery

Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:

After weeks of speculation, White House representatives announced that President Obama will head to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on December 9. It's expected that while in Copenhagen, the President will propose reducing emissions 83 percent by 2050 and will urge a 30 percent reduction in 2005 levels by 2025. He'd like to reach 42 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. About six or seven cabinet members will join the President when he visits Copenhagen. The announcement comes on the heels of many groups urging the president to attend, including the American Medical Association, which claims global warming is contributing to health problems.

White House energy and environment czar Carol Browner says emails that were stolen last week by Russian hackers suggesting collusion on the part of climate scientists have not changed the White House's position on global warming. "There has been for a very long time a very small group of people who continue to say this isn't a real problem, that we don't need to do anything," Browner said. "On the other hand, we have 2,500 of the word's foremost scientists who are in absolute agreement that this is a real problem and that we need to do something and we need to do something as soon as possible. What am I going to do, side with the couple of naysayers out there or the 2,500 scientists? I'm sticking with the 2,500 scientists."

Members of the "clean plate club" may be helping in the fight against global warming. Scientists claim Americans are wasting 1,400 calories of food per person per day. Decomposing food waste emits the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide and producing and cooking food that doesn't get eaten burns excess fossil fuels, as well. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health believe methane from food rotting in landfills is more than 20 times as powerful in contributing to global warming as an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide and that the rate of food waste in the U.S. is has increased by 50 percent since 1974.

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