From Scripps:
Vatican Science Panel Calls Attention to the Threat of Glacial Melt
Pontifical Academy of Sciences working group of leading scientists to present report to Pope Benedict XVI
Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego
A panel of some of the world’s leading climate and glacier scientists co-chaired by a Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego researcher issued a report today commissioned by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences citing the moral imperative before society to properly address climate change.
The co-authors of “Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene” list numerous examples of glacial decline around the world and the evidence linking that decline to human-caused changes in climate and air pollution. The threat to the ways of life of people dependent upon glaciers and snow packs for water supplies compels immediate action to mitigate the effects of climate change and to adapt to what changes are happening now and are projected to happen in the future.
V. Ramanathan
“We are committed to ensuring that all inhabitants of this planet receive their daily bread, fresh air to breathe and clean water to drink as we are aware that, if we want justice and peace, we must protect the habitat that sustains us,” the authors write in a declaration prefacing the report. “The believers among us ask God to grant us this wish.”
Scripps Climate and Atmospheric Scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan co-chaired the working group with Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen, formerly affiliated with Scripps and Lennart Bengtsson, former head of the European weather forecasting center. The group also included Nobel Laureate Carlo Rubbia, former director general of the CERN Laboratory. Among the rest of the 24 authors are Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University, Wilfried Haeberli from Switzerland, Georg Kaser from Austria and Anil Kulkarni from India, considered among the world’s foremost experts on glacial change. Former Scripps Director Charles Kennel and Scripps Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry Lynn Russell are also members of the working group.
“The widespread loss of snow and ice in the mountain glaciers is one of the most visible changes attributable to global climate change. The disintegration of many small glaciers in the Himalayas is most disturbing to me since this region serves as the water tower of Asia and since both the greenhouse gases and air pollutants like soot and ozone contribute to the melting,” said Ramanathan, who has been a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences since 2004.
Report authors met at the Vatican from April 2 to April 4, 2011 under the invitation of Chancellor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo of the pontifical academy. The report was issued by the Vatican today and will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI.
Though scientists usually refrain from proposing action, Ramanathan said the circumstances warranted advancing suggestions from the working group. The authors recommend pursuit of three measures: immediate reduction of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, reduction of concentrations of warming air pollutants such as soot, ozone, methane and hydroflurocarbons by up to 50 percent, and preparation to adapt to climate changes that society will not be able to mitigate.
Main Rongbuk Glacier on Mount Everest in 1921 and 2007. It experienced average vertical glacier loss of 101 meters (331 feet) between 1921 and 2008. Photo credits: (1921) Courtesy of Royal Geographical Society, (2007) Courtesy of Glacier Works.
The report title refers to the term coined by Crutzen to describe what is considered a new geologic epoch that began when the impacts of mankind on the planet became a major factor in environmental and climate changes.
“The recent changes observed in glacial behavior are due to a complex mix of causal factors that include greenhouse gas forcing together with large scale emissions of dark soot particles and dust in ‘brown clouds’, and the associated changes in regional atmospheric energy and moisture content, all of which result in significant warming at higher altitudes, not least in the Himalayas,” the authors write.
“Changes of mountain glaciers all around the world are rapid and impacts are expected to be detrimental, particularly in the high mountains of South America and Asia,” said Kaser, of the Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Innsbruck. “Yet, our understanding about glacier changes in these regions is still limited and ambitious and joint efforts are required to respond to these problems. With its report, the pontifical academy contributes considerably to raising awareness.”
“Glaciers are one of our most visible evidences of global climate change,” added Thompson. “They integrate many climate variables in the Earth system. Their loss is readily apparent and they have no political agenda. Glaciers remind us of the stunning beauty of nature and in turn the urgency of doing everything in our power to protect it.”
The authors conclude: “We appeal to all nations to develop and implement, without delay, effective and fair policies to reduce the causes and impacts of climate change on communi¬ties and ecosystems, including mountain glaciers and their watersheds, aware that we all live in the same home. By acting now, in the spirit of common but differentiated responsibility, we accept our duty to one another and to the stewardship of a planet blessed with the gift of life.”
# # #
‘Glacial melt is rapid’ they state. No it isn’t unless your time scale is hundreds of years. glaciers retreat due to failing precipitation and melting normally is the result of geothermal heat not a warming atmosphere. Precipitation failure can be the result of several factors not just climate change.
Many alarmists have spent holidays in mountainous areas with the majestic U shaped valleys which were caused by glaciers and are now visible because the glaciers have retreated. Glaciers come and go in the natural cycles so live with it.
Bob in Castlemaine @ur momisugly May 9, 2011 at 1:13 says:
“Australia’s own Archbishop George Pell, leader of the Catholic Church in this country. Pell maintains his sceptical viewpoint.”
With that news, and the subsequent hysterical response from a gaggle of rusted on alarmists, I came close to converting to the Faith! No chance now after reading the Vatican’s baloney.
son of mulder,
Beat me to it.
Only problem is that most windmills have 3 blades, and the new windmills need 4 blades. So when they’re not operating (which is most of the time), they have to be positioned to double as a cross. We could refer to it as the Double Cross of the Faithful. And if any of the Catholic and Gaian faithful get confused when the “cross” is spinning and what it means to them, the Vatican can issue an ecumenical encyclical series entitled “Inquisitional Minds Want to Know” to clear everything up.
Actually, putting windmills on cathedrals would have a secondary benefit for the green faithful. Windmills are considered by many of the faithful to be the wave of the future. So when the wind doesn’t blow, and the cathedral’s lights/heat/A/C go out, the only heat and light in the cathedrals will be from votive candles that the faithful light as partial penance for their sins and as prayers for the future. The irony of that moment will be that the faithful will be simultaneously suffering penance and seeing their future by hovering around those tiny votive candles for light and warmth.
I just finished redirecting my wife’s monthly Catholic Church contribution to the Anthony Watts – surfacestations.org fund.
Actually loss of glaciers will reduce stream flow eventually. What is missed is that growth of glacier would reduce it right now. annual stream flow is going to be greatest if the glaciers are retreating.
I haven’t seen anything to suggest the Church has had much to say on this at all, other than we should take care of our environment. Isn’t this just an opinion piece from some people that some clergy asked for an opinion? If you don’t like this opinion politely tell the vatican why. Some mighty smart men there but not many scientists these days.
The entire Galileo event is very interesting. For example, Galileo insisted comets were a weather phenomena and was insulting and abusive for years to the astronomer priest who demonstrated otherwise. Then “surprise” the same insulted priest refused to testify on his behalf.
This wrangel took place over a quarter of a century duting the counter reformation when the Church could not afford to be seen as liberal. A fascinating story, James Burke did a nice job though incomplete in the old video series “The Day the Universe Changed” Science Revises the Heavens.
It will be really serious when the first AGW Fatwa is issued.
Wouldn’t it be more intellectually honest to compare e.g. 1970-now, than 1922-now for glacial ice loss.
According to every climate model, all of the warming prior to 1970 was natural, and Ramanathan certainly knows this.
It is completely intellectually bankrupt to make comparisons like these, since he is making an attribution to anthropogenic forcing that is not supported by the science.
I wonder how many of the Warmists take the Catholic’s official position on Abortion to heart.
Hands up, I am totally agnostic but I am reminded of a Jethro Tull song, a line of which went something like…
“I don’t believe you, you’ve got the whole dam thing all wrong”
In the UK the study of glaciers was dropped from GCSE Geography in favour of studying the slums of Rio. I never thought it would arise in RE.
“Though scientists usually refrain from proposing action, Ramanathan said the circumstances warranted advancing suggestions from the working group. The authors recommend pursuit of three measures: immediate reduction of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, reduction of concentrations of warming air pollutants such as soot, ozone, methane and hydroflurocarbons by up to 50 percent, and preparation to adapt to climate changes that society will not be able to mitigate.”
How strange. My Irony Detector did not sense a WHIFF of anything but a serious statement there. Most of us Skeptiks don’t worry so much about the science (at least those of us who aren’t climate scientists). We could live with strangers having a theorem we don’t agree with. That happens all day, every day. Our problem for the most part are the drastic and intrusive solutions that are proposed and preached ad nauseum by scientists, those who claim to be scientists, politicians and charlatans trying to empower or enrich themselves by appealing to scientists…hoo boy.
It is just a shame that the Curia has fallen for this. You’d think with their unparalleled access to documents from the Roman era to the present that they would notice the differences between the warm Roman period, the cold dark ages, Medieval warmth, the LIA, and the present. It has to be right there in their library. They probably have farming records for various monasteries like Monte Cassino going back to the beginning.
I hope Father doesn’t latch on to this for his next few sermons! I’d rather hear about sin and redemption and the afterlife.
My first thought was when your priest takes your confession of having a larger than average carbon footprint will be the equivalent of your plumber giving you stock market advice at market tops.
“Jerry from Boston said:
So when the wind doesn’t blow, and the cathedral’s lights/heat/A/C go out, the only heat and light in the cathedrals will be from votive candles that the faithful light as partial penance for their sins and as prayers for the future.”
No, they will sing the hymn ‘Breath on me breath of God’, the sails will turn and the votive candles will be extinguished.
This is truly embarassing. 🙁
Andrew
Too bad indulgences were so egregious that they spawned the Protestant revolution.
Otherwise we could have combined all the “Get Out of Guilt” (GOG) mechanisms into a single global GOG Mercantile Exchange (GME).
“Vatican Science Panel Calls Attention to the Threat of Glacial Melt
Pontifical Academy of Sciences working group of leading scientists to present report to Pope Benedict XVI
Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego
A panel of some of the world’s leading climate and glacier scientists co-chaired by a Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego researcher issued a report today commissioned by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences citing the moral imperative before society to properly address climate change.”
When I read this carefully it gives me hope because it’s not what it seems.
This is a “report” by a group “commissioned by” the Pontifical Academy of Sciences working group of leading scientists to present report to Pope Benedict XVI.
Hopefully the Pope will also receive the other side of the story when he carefully evaluates whether or not his input is helpful, or necessary.
In other words, “The Church” has not yet spoken on this matter, let alone given it’s endorsement to the CAGW belief.
There is at least one recent (1968) precedent of a Pope ignoring a “Science Panel’s” advice.
Hasn’t the pope got better things to do?
It’ll be a cold day before there is a glacier in Rome.
================
Well… At least the AGW science has moved into the correct forum… RELIGION.
Where the heck is Martin Luther, when we need him??? GK
Jimbo says: May 9, 2011 at 1:48 am- “Why don’t we try and do something that can make a difference instead of trying to shave a trace amount from the trace gas co2? “Plausible estimates for the effect of soot on snow and ice albedos (1.5% in the Arctic and 3% in Northern Hemisphere land areas) yield a climate forcing of +0.3 W/m2 in the Northern Hemisphere. The “efficacy” of this forcing is ~2, i.e., for a given forcing it is twice as effective as CO2 in altering global surface air temperature.”
Soot climate forcing via snow and ice albedos
Hansen et al. 2003
NASA on the Himalayas also points to soot.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/himalayan-soot.html
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/himalayan-warming.html ”
Yes, it does seem like it’s past time for the application of the 80/20 rule to the perceived problems of climate change.- I concur with your comment on lets “do something that can make a difference”. I take it the new vehicle emission testing for diesel vehicles in CA is an attempt to address soot.
At some point in time the way we have been allocating resources- primarily towards reducing the CO2 load- will need to be evaluated in terms of the effectiveness. Do we need to spend 50% of our limited resources on adaption , or should it be a greater percentage. As Jack noted- at 12:29 am
“However if the point is that we should be storing more water for irrigation and health and wellbeing of people then this will be a good document.” – a focus on adaption is needed.
The comments here provide ample facts for the older post here: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/04/23/upcoming-anonymous-poll-on-anonymity/
Why do some people comment anonymously? Because they (justly) fear critique based on who they are or their affiliation. Just about NO post here comments on the merits or lack thereof in the original posts content. Instead the comments are merely a weak tirade of church bashing because of WHERE the source emanates from.
And before I’m accused of it, no, I am not a catholic. I just deeply wish people would address the content and not the source. Sad, for a community that likes to tout their high value they supposedly place on debating the science. Please, play the ball, not the person.
Philip Finck says:
“The Catholic church would do well to stay out of science and instead concentrate on cleaning up the hords of freaks, perverts and pedofiles that permeate the church to its upmost levels.”
________
This is libelous. There is no more pedophilia in the Catholic Church than in any other denomination, and were it not for drama queens seeking attention and money, and crooked lawyers seeking huge settlements, many (not all) of the accusations made against priests would never see the light of day. Protestant denominations, in general, don’t have the buckets of money that make suing them worth the effort. As because trials are public and potentially even more expensive, settling claims, even false ones, has become the Catholic Church’s quickest PR response.
With regard to the actual subject of the article, who cares what the Church’s has to say on global warming? Do any of its subscribers actually take its press releases seriously?
When AGW believers resort to argument from authority, as they always do, they prove themselves incapable of logical argument. Citing the alleged authority of the Church, which even many Catholics find dubious, is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Patrick Kelly has it right – this is a report of advisors reporting to the Pope, not a pontification. As always, the Pope gets all sorts of recommendations put in front of him, including boulderdash dressed-up as faithful, wise counsel. Such documents merely flush-out the enemy, and provide the Pope with a synopsis of the misguided thinking that screams for an intelligent response. If you’ve ever actually read anything completely which BXVI has written you’d know he’s no slouch, whatever the topic.
Good education, manners and culture remind us that he’s as entitled to his voice as anyone, but even more so considering he is the leader of one of the Western World’s largest organisations, offering more humanitarian aide worldwide than anyone. Misreporting and bias aside, if and when he eventually speaks, people would do well to listen, because he wouldn’t speak on matters of science nor politics unless he was qualified to speak and unless the mistakes that people are making directly affects the way people live out their lives.
MooLoo and Ron House have made a valid point. Rain runoff is due to yearly precipitation, which doesn’t change on the average, regardless of the existence of glaciers. If glaciers are growing, runoff is less than average yearly rainfall, if glaciers are melting, runoff is more than average yearly rainfall. Relying on glaicer runoff
is like relying on “fossil water”: It can be temporarily useful, but it can’t be relied on as
a long term solution.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100505-fossil-water-radioactive-science-environment/
“Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
Published May 6, 2010
This story is part of a special series that explores the global water crisis. For more clean water news, photos, and information, visit National Geographic’s Freshwater website.
In the world’s driest places, “fossil water” is becoming as valuable as fossil fuel, experts say.
This ancient freshwater was created eons ago and trapped underground in huge reservoirs, or aquifers. And like oil, no one knows how much there is—but experts do know that when it’s gone, it’s gone. (See a map of the world’s freshwater in National Geographic magazine.)”
Not especially new. Rome, along with all the other mainstream religions, switched from Jehovah to Gaia about 10 years ago. I don’t know of any organized Christian group that hasn’t switched. A few non-hierarchical groups haven’t done it explicitly, because they don’t take official positions on any secular matter.
The Pentecostals who follow Hal Lindsay were pioneers, switching to Gaia even before the communists and “scientists” took up the cause.
You’d think they would have noticed some of the stuff about the Antichrist in the Bible, but apparently not.
Of course one of the main characteristics of the predicted Antichrist, if I understand the concept, is that all the mainstream churches will believe it without noticing the problem.