Global warming is real, dangerous and ignored at great risk to the
planet, a leading environmentalist told an audience of about 250 at
last week's inaugural MIT Environmental Fellows Invitational Lecture.
Professor James Gustave Speth, Dean of Yale University's School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, urged the scientific community to
make its case to the public, which remains unconvinced of the crisis
despite decades of first-rate science and policy analysis, he said.

Temperatures at the Arctic are already climbing, and there will be
"irreparable damage in the decades ahead due to our negligence" in
addressing climate change. U.S. policy makers and citizens must be
spurred into action, Speth said in his talk, "Some Say by Fi Climate
Change and the American Response," held Wednesday, April 6.

"If I had a hundred million dollars," Speth said, "I think I'd put
almost every penny of it into a public service advertising
campaign...because we've got to reach lots of people quickly with this
issue."

Speth is a founder of the World Resources Institute, co-founder of the
Natural Resources Defense Council and former advisor to Presidents
Carter and Clinton. His lecture was sponsored by the Laboratory for
Energy and the Environment.

Climate-change research results and forecasts appear repeatedly in the
scientific literature--some information "startling in its
significance"--but Speth said good climate science rarely reaches the
public in a "forceful and meaningful way." Indeed, the mainstream
American press persists in portraying global change as controversial
and uncertain, he said.

There is now clear consensus among scientists that Earth's climate is
being affected by the greenhouse gases generated by human activities.
"We've seen these credible forecasts and credible warnings coming from
the scientific community for the better part of three decades," Speth
said. "But the influence of all the good science on policy and action
has been puny compared with the need."

Noting MIT's phenomenal capacity to help tackle this critical global
problem, Speth called for scientists at MIT and elsewhere to actively
engage in public policy debates and issues. "Only the scientific
community has the credibility to take the climate issue to the public
and to the politicians," he said.

Given the lack of action at the federal level, he called for building a
broad network of civic, scientific, environmental, religious, business
and other communities to demand action and to take concrete steps to
reduce emissions.

What can universities do? He recommended that they join together and
commit to reducing their own emissions, which are often significant.

Source: MIT


http://www.physorg.com/news3675.html

In article , "Alastair McDonald" k writes:

Global warming is real, dangerous and ignored at great risk to the
planet, a leading environmentalist told an audience of about 250 at
last week's inaugural MIT Environmental Fellows Invitational Lecture.
Professor James Gustave Speth, Dean of Yale University's School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, urged the scientific community to
make its case to the public, which remains unconvinced of the crisis
despite decades of first-rate science and policy analysis, he said.


Good piece. Climate change as a subject has not raised one eyebrow above
the parapit, let alone a whole head, in the current General Election
campaign.

Polticians, Green Party excepted, are afraid of confronting the electorate
with the reality of the situation.

Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

Well, yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the launch of "my" satellite,
ERS-2, and it is still going strong - albeit with a few busted bits and
pieces. I'm the only original science-software guy left to administer
"first-aid" on "our" instrument, the UK's Along Track Scanning Radiometer.

Since the launch I have worked on its successor, Envisat, while also
maintaining its predecessor ERS-1 whilst that was still operational (there
was a recent 18 month "loan" to Mars Express, though;-)

This continuity of data is growing in importance, and giving rise to new
opportunities for comparitive science.

See http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM3MZW797E_index_0.html for some
examples.


Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

Well, yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the launch of "my" satellite,
ERS-2, and it is still going strong - albeit with a few busted bits and
pieces. I'm the only original science-software guy left to administer
"first-aid" on "our" instrument, the UK's Along Track Scanning Radiometer.

Since the launch I have worked on its successor, Envisat, while also
maintaining its predecessor ERS-1 whilst that was still operational (there
was a recent 18 month "loan" to Mars Express, though;-)

This continuity of data is growing in importance, and giving rise to new
opportunities for comparitive science.

See http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM3MZW797E_index_0.html for some
examples.


Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

Well, yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the launch of "my" satellite,
ERS-2, and it is still going strong - albeit with a few busted bits and
pieces. I'm the only original science-software guy left to administer
"first-aid" on "our" instrument, the UK's Along Track Scanning Radiometer.

Since the launch I have worked on its successor, Envisat, while also
maintaining its predecessor ERS-1 whilst that was still operational (there
was a recent 18 month "loan" to Mars Express, though;-)

This continuity of data is growing in importance, and giving rise to new
opportunities for comparitive science.

See http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM3MZW797E_index_0.html for some
examples.


Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

Well, yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the launch of "my" satellite,
ERS-2, and it is still going strong - albeit with a few busted bits and
pieces. I'm the only original science-software guy left to administer
"first-aid" on "our" instrument, the UK's Along Track Scanning Radiometer.

Since the launch I have worked on its successor, Envisat, while also
maintaining its predecessor ERS-1 whilst that was still operational (there
was a recent 18 month "loan" to Mars Express, though;-)

This continuity of data is growing in importance, and giving rise to new
opportunities for comparitive science.

See http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM3MZW797E_index_0.html for some
examples.


Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

In article , "Alastair McDonald" k writes:

Global warming is real, dangerous and ignored at great risk to the
planet, a leading environmentalist told an audience of about 250 at
last week's inaugural MIT Environmental Fellows Invitational Lecture.
Professor James Gustave Speth, Dean of Yale University's School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, urged the scientific community to
make its case to the public, which remains unconvinced of the crisis
despite decades of first-rate science and policy analysis, he said.


Good piece. Climate change as a subject has not raised one eyebrow above
the parapit, let alone a whole head, in the current General Election
campaign.

Polticians, Green Party excepted, are afraid of confronting the electorate
with the reality of the situation.

Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

In article , "Alastair McDonald" k writes:

Global warming is real, dangerous and ignored at great risk to the
planet, a leading environmentalist told an audience of about 250 at
last week's inaugural MIT Environmental Fellows Invitational Lecture.
Professor James Gustave Speth, Dean of Yale University's School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, urged the scientific community to
make its case to the public, which remains unconvinced of the crisis
despite decades of first-rate science and policy analysis, he said.


Good piece. Climate change as a subject has not raised one eyebrow above
the parapit, let alone a whole head, in the current General Election
campaign.

Polticians, Green Party excepted, are afraid of confronting the electorate
with the reality of the situation.

Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

In article , "Alastair McDonald" k writes:

Global warming is real, dangerous and ignored at great risk to the
planet, a leading environmentalist told an audience of about 250 at
last week's inaugural MIT Environmental Fellows Invitational Lecture.
Professor James Gustave Speth, Dean of Yale University's School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, urged the scientific community to
make its case to the public, which remains unconvinced of the crisis
despite decades of first-rate science and policy analysis, he said.


Good piece. Climate change as a subject has not raised one eyebrow above
the parapit, let alone a whole head, in the current General Election
campaign.

Polticians, Green Party excepted, are afraid of confronting the electorate
with the reality of the situation.

Cheers,

keith



---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 80 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...