Panel’s Warning on Climate Risk: Worst Is Yet to Come

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Climate change is already having sweeping effects on every continent and throughout the world’s oceans, scientists reported on Monday, and they warned that the problem was likely to grow substantially worse unless greenhouse emissions are brought under control.

The  by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations group that periodically summarizes climate science, concluded that ice caps are melting, sea ice in the Arctic is collapsing, water supplies are coming under stress, heat waves and heavy rains are intensifying, coral reefs are dying, and fish and many other creatures are migrating toward the poles or in some cases going extinct.

The oceans are rising at a pace that threatens coastal communities and are becoming more acidic as they absorb some of the carbon dioxide given off by cars and power plants, which is killing some creatures or stunting their growth, the report found.

Organic matter frozen in Arctic soils since before civilization began is now melting, allowing it to decay into greenhouse gases that will cause further warming, the scientists said. And the worst is yet to come, the scientists said in the second of three reports that are expected to carry considerable weight next year as nations try to agree on a new global climate treaty.

In particular, the report emphasized that the world’s food supply is at considerable risk — a threat that could have serious consequences for the poorest nations.

“Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,”  chairman of the intergovernmental panel, said at a news conference here on Monday presenting the report.

The report was among the most sobering yet issued by the scientific panel. The group, along with Al Gore, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its efforts to clarify the risks of climate change. The report is the final work of several hundred authors; details from the drafts of this and of the last report in the series, which will be released in Berlin in April, leaked in the last few months.

The report attempts to project how the effects will alter human society in coming decades. While the impact of global warming may actually be moderated by factors like economic or technological change, the report found, the disruptions are nonetheless likely to be profound. That will be especially so if emissions are allowed to continue at a runaway pace, the report said.

It cited the risk of death or injury on a wide scale, probable damage to public health, displacement of people and potential mass migrations.

“Throughout the 21st century, climate-change impacts are projected to slow down economic growth, make poverty reduction more difficult, further erode food security, and prolong existing and create new poverty traps, the latter particularly in urban areas and emerging hot spots of hunger,” the report declared.

The report also cited the possibility of violent conflict over land, water or other resources, to which climate change might contribute indirectly “by exacerbating well-established drivers of these conflicts such as poverty and economic shocks.”

The scientists emphasized that climate change is not just a problem of the distant future, but is happening now.

  out because of climate change, and some experts believe that droughts there have contributed to political destabilization in the Middle East and North Africa.

In much of the American West, mountain snowpack is declining, threatening water supplies for the region, the scientists said in the report. And the snow that does fall is melting earlier in the year, which means there is less melt water to ease the parched summers. In Alaska, the collapse of sea ice is allowing huge waves to strike the coast, causing erosion so rapid that it is already forcing entire communities to relocate.

“Now we are at the point where there is so much information, so much evidence, that we can no longer plead ignorance,” Michel Jarraud, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, said at the news conference.

The report was quickly welcomed in Washington, where President Obama is trying to use his executive power under the Clean Air Act and other laws to impose significant new limits on the country’s greenhouse emissions. He faces determined opposition in Congress.

“There are those who say we can’t afford to act,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. “But waiting is truly unaffordable. The costs of inaction are catastrophic.”

Amid all the risks the experts cited, they did find a bright spot. Since the intergovernmental panel issued its last big report in 2007, it has found growing evidence that governments and businesses around the world are making extensive plans to adapt to climate disruptions, even as some conservatives in the United States and a small number of scientists continue to deny that a problem exists.

“I think that dealing effectively with climate change is just going to be something that great nations do,” said  co-chairman of the working group that wrote the report and an earth scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, Calif. Talk of adaptation to global warming was once avoided in some quarters, on the ground that it would distract from the need to cut emissions. But the past few years have seen a shift in thinking, including research from scientists and economists who argue that both strategies must be pursued at once.

A striking example of the change occurred recently in the state of New York, where the Public Service Commission ordered Consolidated Edison, the electric utility serving New York City and some suburbs, to spend about $1 billion upgrading its system to prevent future damage from flooding and other weather disruptions.

The plan is a reaction to the blackouts caused by Hurricane Sandy. Con Ed will raise flood walls, bury some vital equipment and conduct a study of whether emerging climate risks require even more changes. Other utilities in the state face similar requirements, and utility regulators across the United States are discussing whether to follow New York’s lead.

But with a global failure to limit greenhouse gases, the risk is rising that climatic changes in coming decades could overwhelm such efforts to adapt, the panel found. It cited a particular risk that in a hotter climate, farmers will not be able to keep up with the fast-rising demand for food.enough food,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton University climate scientist who helped write the new report. “When some people don’t have food, you get starvation. Yes, I’m worried.”

The poorest people in the world, who have had virtually nothing to do with causing global warming, will be high on the list of victims as climatic disruptions intensify, the report said. It cited a World Bank estimate that poor countries need as much as $100 billion a year to try to offset the effects of climate change; they are now getting, at best, a few billion dollars a year in such aid from rich countries.

The $100 billion figure, though included in the 2,500-page main report, was removed from a 48-page executive summary to be read by the world’s top political leaders. It was among the most significant changes made as the summary underwent final review during an editing session of several days in Yokohama.

The edit came after several rich countries, including the United States, raised questions about the language, according to several people who were in the room at the time but did not wish to be identified because the negotiations were private. The language is contentious because poor countries are expected to renew their demand for aid this September in New York at a summit meeting of world leaders, who will attempt to make headway on a new treaty to limit greenhouse gases.

Many rich countries argue that $100 billion a year is an unrealistic demand; it would essentially require them to double their budgets for foreign aid, at a time of economic distress at home. That argument has fed a rising sense of outrage among the leaders of poor countries, who feel their people are paying the price for decades of profligate Western consumption.

Two decades of international efforts to limit emissions have yielded little result, and it is not clear whether the negotiations in New York this fall will be any different. While greenhouse gas emissions have begun to decline slightly in many wealthy countries, including the United States, those gains are being swamped by emissions from rising economic powers like China and India.

For the world’s poorer countries, food is not the only issue, but it may be the most acute. Several times in recent years, climatic disruptions in major growing regions have helped to throw supply and demand out of balance, contributing to price increases that have reversed decades of gains against global hunger, at least temporarily.The warning about the food supply in the new report is much sharper in tone than any previously issued by the panel. That reflects a growing body of research about how sensitive many crops are to heat waves and water stress. The report said that climate change was already dragging down the output of wheat and corn at a global scale, compared to what it would otherwise be.

David B. Lobell, a Stanford University scientist who has published much of the recent research and helped write the new report, said in an interview that as yet, too little work was being done to understand the risk, much less counter it with improved crop varieties and farming techniques. “It is a surprisingly small amount of effort for the stakes,” he said.

Timothy Gore, an analyst for Oxfam, the antipoverty group that sent observers to the proceedings in Yokohama, praised the new report as painting a clear picture of the consequences of a warming planet. But he warned that without greater efforts to limit global warming and to adapt to the changes that have become inevitable, “the goal we have in Oxfam of ensuring that every person has enough food to eat could be lost forever.”http://loverytnews247.blogspot.com/

Giant rat: Swedes agog at 'Ratzilla' in Stockholm

The appearance of a massive rat in a Stockholm family's kitchen has made headlines in Sweden, where it is being dubbed "Ratzilla".

Measuring 40cm (nearly 16in) plus tail, the creature terrified the family in Solna district.
Pest controllers finally killed the intruder using an oversized trap.
Even the family cat had refused to enter the kitchen while the giant rat was in residence, father Erik Korsas told BBC News.
It appears that it entered the kitchen via a ventilation pipe, having gnawed its way through cement and wood.
After devouring food leftovers under the sink, the creature feasted on a "Swedish smorgasbord" of waste in the bin, according to Mr Korsas.
'Mega rat'
The incident occurred three weeks ago and initially, after taking a few souvenir photos, the family thought no more about it.
But when they contacted Sweden's Home And Rent website to see if it was interested in the story, it rapidly scurried to the top of the country's news agenda after attracting the attention of reporters at newspapers including the English language the local

On Tuesday, the "mega rat" became the most shared item for popular Swedish daily Aftonbladet, according to a tweet by jounalist Sven Nordenstam
Social media rang with gasps of disbelief, disgust and amusement. "Can't even read the news because there's a story about a giant rat on it," wrote one person. "I'd be moving on out of there," wrote another.
Laughing incredulously, Mr Korsas told the BBC that one reporter had said he should have frozen the rat's carcass for posterity. "You do have big rats in London too, yes?" he asked.
Since the incident, the family and its cat - a Cornish Rex by the name of Enok - have not been bothered by rats of any size, Mr Korsas added.
Despite regular media speculation, there appears to be little evidence of rats getting bigger in developed countries.
However, scientists do believe they could eventually grow into the size of sheep, Dr Jan Zalasiewicz, of the University of Leicester in the UK, recently told the BBC.

That said, any significant change would be a long way off.   http://loverytnews247.blogspot.com/

What a wicked generation...How Pastor took Teenager for Abortion - Medical doctor

A medical doctor, Felix Ogunlade, on Wednesday told an FCT High Court that a 14-year-old rape victim was brought to his clinic for an abortion by an accused, Apostle Basil Princewill

Apostle Princewill, of  Mountain Mover Fire Ministry Church  Nyanya, Abuja was arraigned on five counts of rape and having unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor. Other charges are criminal impersonation, criminal intimidation and assault.

Led in evidence by Simon Lough, the prosecutor, the witness who owned Fantanu Head Medical Centre, Mararaba, Nasarawa  State, said the victim was brought for an abortion by her father.

"The victim was brought to my clinic by the accused who claimed to be her father. He told me the victim was his daughter and she was raped by their senior pastor's son. He said his daughter was two months pregnant and noticed that his daughter had been trying to abort it.

The medical practitioner told the court that he tried to question the victim but the accused was answering on her behalf.

He said,"I examined the victim and confirmed that she was pregnant. I discovered there was an active bleeding in the vagina and the mouth of the womb was opened with about 3 CM in diametre.

The doctor told the court that the accused was briefed about his findings and the Apostle replied that he did not want his daughter to die.

The witness said that he further briefed the accused that the only way to stop the bleeding was to carry out an evacuation on the victim.

He added that the accused gave him the go ahead for the evacuation and it was carried out on the victim.
The witness said that he suggested to the accused to file a criminal charge against the pastor's son, but he rejected the suggestion.

"My lord, after that, the accused paid me N2,000 for scanning and also paid N20,000 for the evacuation as at then,'' he said.

The doctor's report was admitted as evidence in court.

After hearing the doctor's testimony, Justice Hussien Baba-Yusuf adjourned the case until May 9 for continuation of hearing.

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Obama, Pope Francis meet for first time

President Obama meets the Pope

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The meeting between the Pope and the President could help smooth tensions with Catholics
• Abortion and Obamacare mandates on contraception are areas of disagreement
• One place for common ground could be the plight of immigrants and the poor
• Pope Francis' popularity could give President Obama a small bump in the polls

(CNN) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and Pope Francis met Thursday for the first time at Vatican City, offering a chance for a reset of sorts between the administration and Catholic leadership following years of strained relations.

The two world leaders greeted each other with a smile and a handshake, and posed for pictures before sitting down across a table from each other.

The goal of the meeting: Focus on areas where two of the world's most influential men agree and gently tread ground where they differ.

The President and the Pontiff will, as the White House said in a  statement  focus on "shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing (income) inequality" and gingerly navigate such thornier topics as same-sex marriage, contraception and abortion.

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"In general, they'll be looking for areas of conversation where there is great agreement between the Vatican and the administration," said Steve Schneck, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America.

"The Pope will likely bring up immigration in a broad way ... and I do think there's a possibility the bishops' concerns about contraception in the (Affordable Care Act) might be mentioned," Schneck said.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Obama pointed to the Pope's concern for income inequality, saying, "Given his great moral authority, when the Pope speaks it carries enormous weight."

Continuing to focus on income inequality, Obama said, "And it isn't just an economic issue, it's a moral issue. I think the Pope was speaking to the danger that over time we grow accustomed to this kind of inequality and accept it as normal. But we can't."

The President said he admires the Pope's courage to speak out on economic and social issues.

"It doesn't mean we agree on every issue, but his voice is one that I think the world needs to hear. He challenges us," Obama told the newspaper. "He implores us to remember the people, especially the poor, who are affected by the economic decisions we make."

The meeting took place two days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on a contraception mandate included in the President's signature health care reform law.

The law exempts churches and houses of worship from the requirement, but nonprofit, religiously affiliated groups are required either to provide contraception coverage to their employees directly or through a third-party insurer.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been vocal in its opposition to the provision, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the organization.

"Religious liberties and right-to-life issues are a concern," she said of the tension between American Catholic leadership and the administration. However, "the U.S. bishops have appreciated the administration's cooperation on issues of mutual concern."

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Those areas of "mutual concern" include immigration and poverty -- issues where the President and the Pope could find common ground.

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Francis underscored his commitment to the plight of immigrants during a trip last year to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a place where thousands of African migrants desperately fleeing political upheaval and poverty pour onto European shores. Many die in the attempt to cross.

Next month, a group of American Catholic leaders, including Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston, will follow suit and travel to the U.S.-Mexico border to highlight immigration concerns.

On Wednesday, the administration renewed its public call for immigration reform by backing an effort by House Democrats to force a vote on the matter.

"Immigration reform is the right thing to do for our economy, our security, and our future," the White House said in a statement.

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Tensions between the administration and many leaders in the American Catholic community began early in the President's tenure over his support for abortion rights.

A number of bishops criticized the University of Notre Dame's decision in 2009 to award Obama an honorary law degree and invite him to give the commencement address.

Relations frayed further over the contraception coverage requirement in Obamacare, leading the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to pan the law.

"It was a very tough year," said Christopher Hale, a senior fellow with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good who helped lead national Catholic outreach for Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. "It was hard to find any reasonable Catholic who thought the Health and Human Services mandate was handled well."

Differences over same sex-marriage only added to the strained relationship.

Francis will likely not wade into politically charged conversations during the meeting, religion experts say.

"The Vatican has to be very careful to not create a gap between what they're saying and the bishops are saying," Schneck said. "They will be very careful not to undercut the American bishops in that regard."

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The meeting with Francis, whose approval ratings are in the High 80's , might also boost Obama in that regard. His standing with the public has hovered in the low 40s.

After all, the Pope's name and quotes have been invoked in everything from discussions over unemployment insurance, the minimum wage and the bigger issue of income inequality.

"If I was advising President Obama, I would say the No. 1 spokesperson on American immigration reform should be Pope Francis," Hale said. "He has so much capital in this city. You have Catholics, Jews and atheists on the Hill quoting him."

House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican and a Catholic, recently Invited the Pope to address a joint session of Congress.

"Everybody on the planet would like to have their picture taken with the Pope these days," Schneck said. "One of the things that would delight Obama is if some of that popularity would rub off. Given the President's current low numbers, he is hoping for a bit of a boost.

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