Global warming "is three times faster than worst predictions"

By Geoffrey Lean,
Environment EditorU.K. Independent
June 3, 2007

Global warming is accelerating three times more quickly than feared,a series of startling, authoritative studies has revealed.They have found that emissions of carbon dioxide have been rising atthrice the rate in the 1990s. The Arctic ice cap is melting threetimes as fast - and the seas are rising twice as rapidly - as hadbeen predicted.

News of the studies - which are bound to lead to calls for eventougher anti-pollution measures than have yet been contemplated -comes as the leaders of the world's most powerful nations prepare forthe most crucial meeting yet on tackling climate change.

The issue will be top of the agenda of the G8 summit which opens inthe German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on Wednesday, placingunprecedented pressure on President George Bush finally to agree tointernational measures.

Tony Blair flies to Berlin today to prepare for the summit with itshost, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. They will discuss how totackle President Bush, who last week called for action to deal withclimate change, which his critics suggested was instead a way ofdelaying international agreements.

Yesterday, there were violent clashes in the city harbour of Rostockbetween police and demonstrators, during a largely peaceful march oftens of thousands of people protesting against the summit.

The study, published by the US National Academy of Sciences, showsthat carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing by about 3 percent a year during this decade, compared with 1.1 per cent a year inthe 1990s.

The significance is that this is much faster than even the highestscenario outlined in this year's massive reports by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - and suggests thattheir dire forecasts of devastating harvests, dwindling watersupplies, melting ice and loss of species are likely to beunderstating the threat facing the world.

The study found that nearly three-quarters of the growth in emissionscame from developing countries, with a particularly rapid rise inChina. The country, however, will resist being blamed for theproblem, pointing out that its people on average still contributeonly about a sixth of the carbon dioxide emitted by each American.

And, the study shows, developed countries, with less than a sixth ofthe world's people, still contribute more than two-thirds of totalemissions of the greenhouse gas.

On the ground, a study by the University of California's NationalSnow and Ice Data Center shows that Arctic ice has declined by 7.8per cent a decade over the past 50 years, compared with an averageestimate by IPCC computer models of 2.5 per cent.

In yesterday's clashes, masked protesters hurled flagpoles, stonesand bottles and attacked with sticks forcing police to retreat. Thepolice said they were suffering "massive assaults" and that thesituation was "very chaotic". They put the size of the demonstrationat 25,000; organisers said it was 80,000.http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article2609305.ece