Al Gore likes to present himself as a tribune of science, warning the world of imminent danger. But he is more like an Old Testament prophet, calling on us to bewail our wrongful conduct and to go and sin no more. He starts off with the science. The world's climate, he reports, is getting warmer. This accurate report is, however, not set in historic context. World climate has grown warmer and cooler at various times in history. Climate change is not some unique historic event. It is the way the world works.
Not this time, Gore says. What's different is that climate change is being driven by human activity -- to wit, increasing carbon dioxide emissions. Which means, he says, that we have to sharply reduce those emissions. But what the scientists tell us is that some proportion of climate change is caused by human activity and some proportion by natural causes -- and that they can only estimate what those proportions are. The estimates they have produced have varied sharply. The climate change models that have been developed don't account for events of the recent past, much less predict with precision events in the future.
Earth Changes
Czech President Vaclav Klaus said on Wednesday that fighting global warming has turned into a a "religion" that replaced the ideology of communism and threatens to clip basic freedoms.
The right-wing president, a free-market champion, wrote to the U.S. Congress that adopting tough environmental policies to fight climate change would have destructive impact on national economies.
"Communism has been replaced by the threat of an ambitious environmentalism," Klaus wrote in response to questions from the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce.
The U.S. House Subcommittee for Energy and Air Quality was due to hold a hearing on climate on Wednesday with former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, who sees global warming as a key challenge, and Danish sceptic Bjorn Lomborg, who says governments should focus on fight disease and hunger instead.
The right-wing president, a free-market champion, wrote to the U.S. Congress that adopting tough environmental policies to fight climate change would have destructive impact on national economies.
"Communism has been replaced by the threat of an ambitious environmentalism," Klaus wrote in response to questions from the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce.
The U.S. House Subcommittee for Energy and Air Quality was due to hold a hearing on climate on Wednesday with former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, who sees global warming as a key challenge, and Danish sceptic Bjorn Lomborg, who says governments should focus on fight disease and hunger instead.
At least 10 people were killed and around 200 were injured as the year's first violent storm swept through Lalmohon and Char Borhanuddin upazilas in Bhola on Thursday leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
The 10-minute long storm damaged no less than a thousand houses leaving hundreds of people homeless. Many trees in the local reserved forest were uprooted and a heavy hail shower following the storm completely destroyed the crops on the fields.
The 10-minute long storm damaged no less than a thousand houses leaving hundreds of people homeless. Many trees in the local reserved forest were uprooted and a heavy hail shower following the storm completely destroyed the crops on the fields.
Thousands of people on Lembata Island in Indonesia's Solor Archipelago are sleeping away from home as Mount Batutara spews ash and lava.
The volcano became more active Saturday, the Jakarta Post reported. Tons of ash and lava spewed from its cone into the sea.
The volcano became more active Saturday, the Jakarta Post reported. Tons of ash and lava spewed from its cone into the sea.
HAMMERFEST, Norway - Barren and uninhabited, Hans Island is very hard to find on a map. Yet these days the Frisbee-shaped rock in the Arctic is much in demand _ so much so that Canada and Denmark have both staked their claim to it with flags and warships. The reason: an international race for oil, fish, diamonds and shipping routes, accelerated by the impact of global warming on Earth's frozen north.
Taiwan is to close one lane of a major highway to protect more than a million butterflies, which cross the road on their seasonal migration.
The purple milkweed butterfly, which winters in the south of the island, passes over some 600m of motorway to reach its breeding ground in the north.
Many of the 11,500 butterflies that attempt the journey each hour do not reach safety, experts say.
Protective nets and ultra-violet lights will also be used to aid the insects.
The purple milkweed butterfly, which winters in the south of the island, passes over some 600m of motorway to reach its breeding ground in the north.
Many of the 11,500 butterflies that attempt the journey each hour do not reach safety, experts say.
Protective nets and ultra-violet lights will also be used to aid the insects.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Two strong earthquakes struck the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Sunday and a tsunami warning was issued for some of its southern islands, police said.
TOKYO - A strong earthquake struck Japan early Sunday, killing at least one person, violently shaking buildings and triggering two very small tsunamis which hit the coast, officials and media reports said.
LOS ANGELES - Monsanto Co. (NYSE:MON - news) has asked a San Francisco federal court to allow it to continue selling its genetically modified Roundup Ready Alfalfa while the USDA conducts a court-ordered environmental impact study.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Storms that produced at least 13 tornadoes swept along New Mexico's border with Texas on Friday, destroying homes and other buildings and injuring at least 16 people, several critically, authorities said.
