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.”
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“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,”
So give us your money to do god’s work or you will burn in hell.
Extortion made legal and they pay no taxes!! On the bright side, maybe if they are busy with climate, choir boys will breathe a sigh of relief.
Billy Liar says:
May 9, 2011 at 8:43 am
Exactly, except it has to have formed only in the Holocene.
It was only a matter of time, I suppose, before someone brought up the child abuse meme and Galileo. One track minds always go in circles, I guess.
This story isn’t even new news, really. The Vatican has held this position for sometime. Must be a slow day. 🙂
REPLY: I look forward then to you sending a letter to Scripps, saying the exact same thing to them for posting it in the news section of their website. Please post a copy here for us to read. – Anthony
There is a connection, Al Gore flunked Divinity School. And so did Stalin.
Hey using Jethro Tull is my job! and Alan D, yes good summary.
Regarding Galileo, he employed Kepler’s work not the work of Copernicus. Using Kepler’s work, he explicated (and thereby invented) scientific method. Galileo’s problem was that he would not shut up. He used Kepler’s work and the newly invented telescope to predict this, that, and the other all of which contradicted the teachings of Aristotle. He predicted the phases of Venus and used to telescope to present Kepler’s system. Aristotle had been embraced fully by the factions within the Inquistion who won the argument over Galileo.
I am aware that in the last thirty years or so some “philosopher” has published a book arguing that the Inquisition was after Galileo because of the transubstantion issue. No philosopher of science has ever given credence to this view. For those of you not in the know, philosophers of science are not on speaking terms with “philosophers.”
Paul Westhaver (May 9, 2011 at 7:46 am) said, “…as a frame of reference, the earth just happens to be the center of the universe.”
I agree with you, Paul, in a limited way, namely in that within a theological or spiritual frame of reference, especially in the Jewish and Christian traditions, it is perfectly legitimate and logically consistent to see humankind and our home as being in the centre of the universe.
However, I’m not sure I understand the distinction between “cosmos” and “universe,” having always thought of them merely as Greek and Latin words for the same concept. I also accept, and I say this as a fairly religious chap, that the observable, physical universe does not and need not dovetail with what we think as our literal and correct understanding of scripture. Methinks that when home turfs are not respected, when theology begins to spill over into science, and vice-versa, we are concocting a stinky and very volatile “chemical” cocktail and trouble is not far behind. So, should your contention that “…the earth just happens to be the center of the universe, based on the background radiation map and every other observable items in the Cosmos,” prove to be empirically either correct or entirely false, I’d argue that it makes no difference, as it does not and should not have any effect on our theological, spiritual and ethical convictions. In this approach, consistency is crucial to the integrity of both the theological and scientific worldviews.
” The tropics, it is claimed, will be hardest hit by climate change.”
And yet, the models predict that the greatest warming will occur at the poles. Where it will do the most good by extending the growing season. Oops, better not mention this. Where it will flood the planet when the arctic ice cap melts, as happens every year, with no change in sea level. No problem, most people will never figure that out. Ice floats on top of the ocean, so when it melts the oceans will rise to the level of the top of the ice. Folks will believe that.
The church is busy in the tropics because that is where it is easiest to grow people to convert to the cause. It is hard to grow people in polar regions, so the investment doesn’t pay off nearly as well.
If you want clean air and water, don’t go looking for it in the poor nations of the earth. Only the rich industrialized nations can afford such luxuries. The poor nations of the earth you will find garbage lying everywhere. In the rich industrialized nations they pay people to pick it up, or fine them if they don’t. In the poor nations they simply leave it sitting where it is. In the poor nations there is no money to pay someone to pick it up, and you cannot fine someone that cannot pay the fine. It cost money to keep them in jail and if there was money to put them in jail there would be money to pay them to pick up the garbage.
Banda says:
“The tropics, it is claimed, will be hardest hit by climate change.”
“…it is claimed…”?? By whom?
Prof Richard Lindzen states that “there is ample evidence” that the earth’s temperature at the equator has varied by less than 1°C over the past billion years, and that those temperatures have also not changed over the past century.
Lindzen also says:
“If one assumes all warming over the past century is due to anthropogenic greenhouse forcing, then the derived sensitivity of the climate to a doubling of CO2 is less than 1°C.” [my bold]
No credible scientist claims that all warming over the past century is due to CO2, which would imply that there would otherwise be no change in temperature – a situation without precedent. Therefore, sensitivity to CO2 must be substantially below 1°C – and there is no empirical evidence showing that sensitivity to CO2 is not zero. In fact, there is no testable evidence showing that the recent rise in temperature is not simply coincidental with the rise in CO2, or with postal rates. The assumptions made in mainstream climate science would not withstand scrutiny in any of the hard sciences.
So I would not worry about “climate change” in the tropics, any more than I worry about a rising sea level submerging Tuvalu. There is zero evidence that either is happening. There is only model-based conjecture.
My interpretation of photos such as those, is that they are indicative of the impacts of mega droughts. Mega droughts tend to associate with a cold troposphere. Especially true in the case of tropical glaciers, when you consider how cold conditions in continental interiors will take the wind out of the sails of Monsoonal moisture flows.
What next?: “A coin in the coffer rings a soul from carbon purgatory springs!”
However-Instead of a Sistine Chapel , Algore gets a new Gulfsream jet..
Things are getting a bit Galilean around here…
The Catholic relief aid charity Cafod has been up to its neck in political posturing and proselytizing on behalf of the AGW cause for years.
“the earth just happens to be the center of the universe, based on the background radiation map and every other observable items in the Cosmos”
or not.
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/080923_wmap.htm
I think those of you assuming that a report made for some clergy, which is all this is, will somehow become Catholic doctrine have a very poor understanding of the church.
The church is a mighty conservative institution in its own way. It is likely some eco-fanatics within the church are trying to move the church in a more green direction. It is EXTREMELY unlikely they will have any significan success.
The green movement hates humanity, you are more likely to see Obama as the nominee of the Libertarian party than to see the church join up with Greenpeace.
The canard that glacier melt in the Himalayas influences river level in the region was not only exposed decades ago but is, in its own clear terms, so nonsensical that anyone who would assert it can only be deranged or an idiot. The Ganges River has been sacred to the Vedic Religion for at least 4500 years. It has been constantly monitored by religious bodies from its headwaters all the way to Varanasi. The chief priests live on platforms in the river. If river level had varied with glacier melt and freeze then there exists a detailed record of this. However, there is no need to check the records. One simple physical calculation is enough. Just add up the amount of water that flows from the Himalayan glaciers and compare that volume of water to the volume of water at Varanasi. The water from glaciers is a tiny bit of the volume. This should be obvious to just about everyone. Does anyone really believe that the Mississippi coming out of Minnesota is comparable to the Mississippi at Memphis? All the additional volume comes from watersheds that are located between Mississippi and Memphis. Same for the Ganges.
This report from the so-called “Pontifical Academy of Sciences working group of leading scientists” has been railroaded by Greenies who are presenting canards to the Pope. That Ramanathan would permit his name to be associated with this project means that he is no longer practicing science and is willing to publicly declare the fact. Shameless!
Jessie quotes:
4. ….Truth, by enabling men and women to let go of their subjective opinions and impressions, allows them to move beyond cultural and historical limitations and to come together in the assessment of the value and substance of things.
And just how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? But be careful, you could be burnt at the stake for ‘calculating.’
“Hey using Jethro Tull is my job!” (Wondering Aloud, May 9, 2011 at 9:52 am )
I see your moniker here every now and then, Wondering, and every time I do so, it messes with my head, as I veer off into to the intro to the tune (lovely transition from C, through G and of course, into D and Am).
Sorry for being pedantic on this, Wandering Aloud, but Ian Anderson spells it, Wond’ring Aloud! Mind you, before I got the Aqualung album, long after it was issued, I thought the title was Wandering Allowed!
Well those two photos of some mountains, with a lake or a glacier, are clearly not taken from the same spot, nor are they taken with the same focal length lens, and I doubt that they are both taken on the same day of the year; whenever they were taken.
And if they’ll change those variables, who can trust them not to make other changes.
Same goes for the Everest photos. Not the same camera position or scale. Dates of the photos please ?
One of the best chapters of the Brian Fagan’s Little Ice Age dealt with glaciers -namely the Alpine glaciers of Switzerland and France. From the 14th through 18th Centuries these glaciers did affect the “way of life” for the mountain dwellers. The glaciers expanded so quickly down slope that entire farms, pasture lands, and villages were subsumed. During the summer months, when the clouds cleared, sunlight would melt large portions of the outer glacial crust; small and large lakes formed. And within a few weeks the ice dams that kept this melt water in check would burst sending millions of gallons of water downslope killing and destroying everthing in its path. The poor, destitute farmers and sheppards were desperate and pleaded to Bishop Froncois de Sales. The future Swiss saint visited a number of glaciers and performed minor excorcisms.
The amount of destruction to humans brought on by the LIA, especially in the mountains is difficult to comprehend. What if find ironic is that the Alarmists have been successful in twisting history. When glaciers expand, they do so quite quickly. While it took 3-4 centuries to melts a significant amount of tropical and mid-latitude glaciers, in as little as 150 years a glacier can doube and even triple its size.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/AIRCONDITIONING-OF-MOTHER-EARTH/186829931365261
Regarding Jessie’s quote from Pope Benedict’s encyclical (May 9, 2011 at 4:42 am), the following is an example where religion and science can and often do clash:
“She [i.e., the Church] does, however, have a mission of truth to accomplish, in every time and circumstance, for a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation. Without truth, it is easy to fall into an empiricist and sceptical view of life, incapable of rising to the level of praxis because of a lack of interest in grasping the values — sometimes even the meanings — with which to judge and direct it.”
Fine, except that the implications of that exerpt potentially lead to a lot of messy thinking and pointless arguments. In our case, we are struggling with trying to uncover what the truth regarding our physical relationship to climate may be, not the Truth, as it is understood theologically. Having no direct and detailed scriptural sources on our climate change debate, the Church will corner itself in the position of having to implicitly accept and rely on empiricism and skepticism, after having rejected them from the arena of praxis. Such stuff can give one a nasty headache.
Reason number 432.22 that I don’t follow organized religion any longer. I was raised a catholic…no thanks!
Vatican should tell
there is lot of ‘global warming’ in hell
in haven it is much colder
Do good deeds and you’ll be here for longer.
I too was raised a Catholic.
When I was 15 I had a bit of a fall out with my priest and bishop over Adam and Eve. I felt that it was an allegorical story, they believed it was fact.
I have been an atheist for quite a while now and I often thank Father O’Dwyre and Bishop Lamont for getting me on the right track.