SCIENCE AFFIRMS GLOBAL WARMING

Abstract

APANEL OF LEADING U.S. SCIentists reported to President George W. Bush last week that global warming is really happening and that it could have serious adverse societal and ecological impacts by the end of this century. This conclusion could affect the President's policies in regard to energy and consideration of the Kyoto protocol. It may also affect the Administration's alternative plan of voluntary emissions targets that Bush is expected to present at a meeting of European Union leaders on June 14-15. In its report, the 11-member National Research Council (NRC) panel concludes that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise. Global mean surface air temperatures warmed between 0.7 and 1.5 °F during the 20th century, the report says. And if present trends continue, global average temperatures will rise a further 2.5 to 10.4 °F ...