Global Warming Controversy 2002 through 2004
"Greenhouse Effect", Ice Age Reversal, Climatic Changes, Ozone Layer.
The year 2002 through 2004
Deciphering Antarctica's Contradictory Climate Patterns
Rising Temperatures Creating Dramatic Changes In Alaska
Scientists study climate change in Artic Ocean
Russia to ratify Kyoto protocol

Scientists say ozone depletion slowing
Atlantic unusually cold for swimmers
Antarctic ozone hole reaches record size
Putin cast new doubt on Russia ratifying greenhouse gas pact
Senate rejects bill to limit emissions from industrial plants
Study: Warming ocean undermining Antactic ice shelf
Shrinking Glaciers Alarm Scientists
Data supports human link to global warming

Scientists say global warming imperils hundreds of species
Carbon dioxide buildup reportedly accelerating
Report says Europe to face floods, extreme heat - Global warming to exact heavy toll
U.S. report blames greenhouse gases
Russian vote moves Kyoto Protocol ahead - Putin signs treaty on global warming
Bush stands by rejection of environmental treaty
Study: Arctic warming intense
U.N. summit focuses on greenhouse gases
Tsunamis kills 11,600 following earthquake, Parts of Southeast Asia left in ruins, people, cars, cottages swept into the ocean
Bush forms coalition to guide Asian relief - Death toll from tsunamis soars to 77,000


• 4/15/2002 - Deciphering Antarctica's Contradictory Climate Patterns by Kenneth Chang, The New York Times.
      Antarctica is experiencing some of the fastest warming in the world.    And Antarctica is cooling.    Some of its glaciers are thinning; some are thickening.    Ice shelves are disappearing; more sea ice is forming.    Scientists have reproted all this recently.    It may all be true, even the contradictions.    Those warning of dire consequences from global warming and those playing down the dangers of heat-trapping gases can both find data to support their views.    Ninety percent of the world's ice lies around the continent.    If all of Antarctica's ice sheets turned to water, the world's oceans would deepen by more than 200 feet.    That will not happen of course.    But of concern is that even modest sea-level rises could increase flooding of coastal lands like Bangladesh, Florida and even Manhattan.    Changes in ocean current could alter the climate.    Whether it is a delayed effect of the end of the last ice age, or a warming trend of the last century is still unknown.
• 6/16/2002 - Rising Temperatures Creating Dramatic Changes In Alaska by Timothy Egan, New York Times News Service.
      Anchor point, Alaska -- To live in Alaska where the average temperature has risen about 7 degrees over the past 30 years means learning to cope with a landscape that can sink, catch fire or break apart in the turn of a season.
      In the village of Shishmaref, on the Chukchi Sea just south of the Artic Circle, it means rising water encroaching on so many homes and buildings that people will vote next month on moving the village inland.
      In Barrow, the northernmost city in North America, it means coping with mosquitoes where they once were nonexistent and rescuing hunters trapped on break-away ice at a time of year when such things once were unheard of.
      In Fairbanks to the north, where wildfires have been burning off and on since mid-May, it means living with hydraulic jacks to keep houses from slouching and buckling on foundations that used to be frozen all year.    Permafrost, they say, is no longer permanent.
      On the Kenai Peninsula, a recreation wonderland a few hours' drive from Anchorage, it means living in a 4-million-acre spruce forest that has been killed by beetles, the largest loss of trees to insects recorded in North America, federal officials say.    Government scientist tied the event to rising temperatures, which allow the beetles to reproduce at twice their normal rate.
      In Alaska mean temperatures have risen by 5 degrees in summer and 10 degrees in winter since the 1970s, federal officials say.
      The leading Republican in this state, Sen. Ted Stevens, says that no place is experiencing more startling changes from rising temperatures than Alaska.
      The social costs of higher temperatures have been mostly negative, people here say.
      The Bush administration report, which was drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency, also found few positives to Alaska's thermal rise.    However, it said climate change would bring a longer growing season and open ice-free seas in the Artic for shipping.
      "There can no longer be any doubt that major changes in the climate have occurred in recent decades in the region, with visible and measurable consequences," the government concluded in the report to the United Nations last month.
• 8/25/2002 - Scientists study climate change in Artic Ocean by Rachel D'oro, The Associated Press.
      Aboard the USCGC Healy, is completing a 40-day mission to research in the Western Arctic Chukchi and Beaufort seas funded by the National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research to find possible indicators of climate change.    Hope is to determine whether the apparent warming of the world is a modern phenomenon or part of an ancient cycle.    Instruments were being planted so over the coming year, these will measure marine conditions like salinity, temperature and currents.
• 9/3/2002 - Russia to ratify Kyoto protocol - Leaders at S. Africa World Summit, finish plan on poverty, environment - by Alexandra Zavis, The Associated Press.
      Johannesburg, South Africa -- As negotiators finished a global plan to tackle poverty and save the environment, Russia said it would soon ratify the Kyoto Protocol, a move that would bring the key climate change agreement into effect.    Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov was among a series of leaders at the World Summit urging action on Kyoto.    Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said he would submit the protocol to his Parliment to consider ratification, and China's minister of environment protection, Xie Zhenhua announced it had already ratified it.    The accord can still come into effect if Russia, joins the European Union and Japan in ratifying.
  
  
• 7/30/2003 - Scientists say ozone depletion slowing by The Associated Press.
      Washington -- Using NASA satellite observations, the rate of destruction of the protective ozone layer in the upper reaches of the atmosphere is slowing, and scientists say it mirrors a decline in the use of certain man-made chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons, used in refrigeration and air conditioning.    The 1987 Montreal Protocols, ratified by more than 170 countries, requires that CFCs be phased out of production and use in developing countries by 2010.    Industralized nations stopped using them in 1996, and scientists claim it will take decades to repair the damage to the ozone layer, which helps protect the Earth from ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
• 8/8/2003 - Atlantic unusually cold for swimmers - Experts suspect wind upsetting water layers - by John F. Kelly, The Washington Post.
      Ocean City, Md. -- Surfers, lifeguard and anglers from Maryland who are familiar with cold winter water, claim they are surprised when the water in the Atlantic is that cold in the summer, which normally would be bath water-warm.    There has been a tremendous change in temperature, as much as 10 degrees overnight, and some swimmers have suffered from hypothermia.    It is suspected that this may be occurring also in Virginia, North and South Carolina, and as far as Daytona Beach, Fla.
      Researchers suspect that it may be caused by a process known as the Corolis force, caused by winds blowing up the coast from south and sothwest, pushing away the warm surface layer of water, which is then carried eastward as the Earth spins.
      And I thought it might be caused by a current of cold seawater snaking down from the North Atlantic, caused by melting icebergs.
• 9/18/2003 - Antarctic ozone hole reaches record size.
      The ozone hole over the Antarctic this year has reached a record size of 10.8 million square miles set three years ago, a United Nations World Meteorological Organization said.
• 10/1/2003 - Putin cast new doubt on Russia ratifying greenhouse gas pact by Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press.
      Moscow - President Vladimir Putin cast new doubts on Moscow's willingness to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, saying it will not achieve its goal of fighting global warming.    "Even 100 percent compliance won't reverse climate change," he told a conference organized by the World Economic Forum in Moscow.    Putin noted ongoing disputes between scientists over the pact, which without Russia's backing cannot come into existence.    European and U.N. supporters of the pact are accusing Moscow of reneging on a pledge to ratify it.    Russia even claimed that Kyoto would slow economic growth of European Union states, and prevent Russia from doubling its gross domestic product in 10 years by forcing it to cut industrial emissions.    "It will doom Russia to poverty, weakness and backwardness."
• 10/31/2003 - Senate rejects bill to limit emissions from industrial plants by John Heilprin, The Associated Press.
      Washington - The Senate rejected a plan to curb global warming, which would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from industrial smokestacks.    This is against the international climate treaty negotiated in Kyoto, Japan, and reflects the way that America conducts its business.    Fear of eliminating jobs and driving up electricity prices was the short term issue.    President Bush has reversed the regulation of industrial carbon dioxide emissions and withdrew the U.S. from the Kyoto treaty of 1997.
• 10/31/2003 - Study: Warming ocean undermining Antarctic ice shelf by The Associated Press.
      Washington - Two sections (1995, 2002) of Antarctica's Larsen ice shelf have collapsed over the past decade and another portion could be headed for the same fate as warming ocean waters undermine the ice, researchers and Andrew Shephered of the University of Cambridge in England say.    Because ice shelves float, it does not threaten any increase in sea levels, but can affect ocean circulation in ways not well understood.
• 11/24/2003 - Shrinking Glaciers Alarm Scientists by Alexa Stanard, The Associated Press.
      Three top scientists used maps, satellite imagery and digital elevation models to measure the change in velocity of 63 Patagonian glaciers in South America (between Chile and Argentina) over 25 years.    They found that the Patagonian glaciers melted at twice the rate in 1995-2000 - when compared with measurements from 1975 to 2000, thus losing 10 cubic miles of ice every year - enough to raise the sea level four-one thousandths of an inch.    The shrinking is reflective of rising global temperatures, and is happening to glaciers around the world.
• 12/1/2003 - Data supports human link to global warming by The New York Times.
      One of the last gaps in the evidence pointing to a human cause for global warming appears to be closing.    Twenty-four years of data from weather satellites has found that temperatures are rising in the lower layer of the atmosphere (troposphere), at a rate that is consistent with what has been measured at the Earth's surface.    The result is more consensus than ever that emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases are noticeably altering climate.
  
• 1/8/2004 - Scientists say global warming imperils hundreds of species by Rick Callahan, Associated Press.
      Hundreds of species of plants and animals around the globe could vanish over the next 50 years if global warming continues, according to Chris Thomas, a conservation biologist at the University of Leeds in England and 18 other research scientists say in the journal Nature.    Although uncertain in their climate forecasts and the computer models predict if emissions of greenhouse gases are not curtailed it could come to pass.
      They claim that more than one-third of the 1,103 native species could approach extinction by 2050 as climate change turns plains into deserts or alters forests.    The Australian Boyd's forest dragon, a tree dwelling lizard, and Europe's azure-winged magpie are already threatened by deforestation and the impact of invasive, non-native species.    Is this the third horseman in that particular apocalypse?    Global warming is already allowing some spring flowers to bloom early in Britain.    They predicted the Earth's warming trend will increase average global temperatures by 2.5 degrees to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.    Earth has an estimated 14 million plant and animal species, and the estimate is 12,000 are threatened with extinction.
• 3/21/2004 - Carbon dioxide buildup reportedly accelerating by the Mauna Loa Observatory.
      Carbon Dioxide, the gas blamed for global warming, has reached record-high levels in the atmosphere after growing at an accelerated pace in the past year, say scientists from Mauna Loa Observatory atop a Hawaiian volcano, which is operated by Russell Schnell, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate-monitoring laboratory.
• 8/19/2004 - Report says Europe to face floods, extreme heat - Global warming to exact heavy toll - by Jan M. Olsen, Associated Press.
      Copenhagen, Denmark - Rising sea levels causing mammoth floods, and disappearance of up to three-quarters of glaciers in the Alps by 2050 and more deadly heat waves could kill thousands and cause fires in Europe because of global warming, according to Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen.    Global warming has been evident for years, but the problem is becoming acute.    This is why the 25-member European Union has been a leader in pushing for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, which now has 123 countries ratifying the pact.    The United States, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has refused to ratify, arguing the agreement would hurt its economy, and Russia also hasn't signed on.
• 8/26/2004 - U.S. report blames greenhouse gases - Position has shifted on global warming - by Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times.
      The Bush administration submitted to Congress a report that focuses on federal research indicating that emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from smokestack and tailpipe discharges are the only likely explanation for global warming over the last three decades.    The report poses new risks to farmers, showing that carbon dioxide promotes the growth of invasive weeds far more than it stimulates crops and that it reduces the nutritional value of some rangeland grasses.
      The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, found that natural shifts in the output of the sun, and other factors were responsible for the warming from 1900 to 1950, but could not explain the sharp and continuing rise since 1970.
• 10/1/2004 - Russian Cabinet OKs Kyoto by The Washington Post.
      MOSCOW -- After years of debate the Russian Cabinet endorsed the 1997 Kyoto accord on global climate change clearing the way for likely ratification by the pro-Kremlin parliament and the implementation of the United Nations pact.    Russia has come under strong pressure from the European Union to ratify the protocol in exchange for endorsement as a member in the World Trade Organization.    It comes into effect when at least 55 countries accounting for 55 percent of the world's emissions of the gases have ratified it.    To date, 122 nations have done so, but they only account for 44 percent of emissions.    Russia, which produces 17 percent of world emissions, puts the figure past 55 percent.    The United States accounts for 35 percent.
• 10/23/2004 - Russian vote moves Kyoto Protocol ahead - Lower house OKs joining pact - by Mike Eckel, Associated Press.
      MOSCOW - Russia's lower house of parliament ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which will only apply to nations that ratify it, giving leading industrial nations eight years to cut collective emissions of six key greenhouse gases to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels.    The treaty still must be approved by Russia's upper house and President Vladimir Putin.    The United States and Australia were the only other major countries to reject it.
• 11/6/2004 - Putin signs treaty on global warming by Mike Eckel, Associated Press.
      MOSCOW - Russia gave final approval to the Kyoto Protocol as President Vladimir Putin signed legislation ratifying the pact after both houses ratified it.    Putin pledged in May to hasten approval in return for the European Union's support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade organization.    The 1997 pact will take effect 90 days after Russia notifies the United Nations of its ratification.
• 11/7/2004 - Bush stands by rejection of environmental treaty by John Heilprin, Associated Press.
      Washington - President Bush is holding fast to his rejection of mandatory curbs on greenhouse gases, despite a report from 300 scientists that shows rising Arctic temperatures.    His rejection is based on loss of up to 5 million American jobs and a cost of $400 billion.    From 1990 to 2002, U.S. greenhouse gases increased 13.1 percent, according to the latest U.N. figures.    U.S. businesses may be left out of the new global carbon market.
• 11/9/2004 - Study: Arctic warming intense - 'Earth's air conditioner' at risk, scientists say - by John Heilprin, Associated Press.
      Washington - 300 Scientists in a four year study of eight Arctic-bordering nations say changes in the Earth's climate from human influences are occurring intensely in the Arctic region, evidenced by widespread melting of glaciers, thinning sea ice and rising permafrost temperatures.
      The annual average amount of sea ice in the Arctic has decreased about 8 percent in the past 30 years, an area as big as Texas and Arizona combined.    This melting contributed to sea levels rising globally by an average of about 3 inches in the past 20 years, and predicted to continue    This loss area is no longer reflecting the sun's heat.    In the past 50 years, average yearly temperatures in Alaska and Siberia rose about 3.6 degrees to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and winters in Alaska and western Canada warmed an average of 5 to 7 degrees.    The study projects in the next 100 years, the yearly average temperatures will increase by 7 to 13 degrees over land and 13 to 18 degrees over the ocean.    The growing of forest in the Arctic region will shrink the tundra to its smallest extent since 21,000 years ago, when humans began emerging from an Ice Age.
• 12/12/2004 - U.N. summit focuses on greenhouse gases by Associated Press.
      Buenos Aires, Argentina - 200 nations assembled at a U.N conference on global warming to prepare for the launch next year of the Kyoto Protocol.    Latin America was hit especially hard by emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for abrupt climate changes in a region that is home to more than 300 million people.
• 12/15/2004 - Experts call for immediate greenhouse-gas cuts 2004 is among warmest ever, and costliest for insurers - by Kevin Gray, Associated Press.
      Buenos Aires, Argentina - The world's chief climate scientist disputed the U.S. government's contention that cutbacks in carbon dioxide emissions are not yet warranted to check global warming.
      The year 2004, punctuated by four powerful hurricanes in the Caribbean and deadly typhoons lashing Asia, and the 10 warmest years since 1990.    This has been the most expensive for the insurance industry in the first 10 months at just over $35 billion, up from $16 billion in 2003.
      This summer, heat waves in southern Europe pushed temperatures in the 100s in southern Spain, Portugal and Romania.    The Carribean had four Category 4 or 5 hurricanes at $43 billion in damage, including the United States.    As many as 1,900 people died in Haiti from flooding and mudslides caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne.    A record of deadly typhoons hit Japan and the Phillipines killing 740 people.    Droughts have set in the western United States, parts of Africa, Afghanistan, Australia and India.    Peru, Chile, and southern Argentina were hit with severe cold and snow during June and July.
• 12/27/2004 - Tsunamis kills 11,600 following earthquake, Parts of Southeast Asia left in ruins, people, cars, cottages swept into the ocean - Tsunamis' sudden devastation widespread - by Dilip Ganguly, Associated Press.
      Columbo, Sri Lanka - The 9.0-magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean hit at 6:58 a.m.; the tsunami came as much as 2 ^1/2 hours later, without warning, on a morning of crystal blue skies.    Swimmers, cars, cottages, fishing boats and even a lighthouse were swept away.    The tidal wave has been estimated to have killed 11,600 people, 4,185 in Indonesia, 4,500 in Sri Lanka, 2,300 in India, 289 in Thailand, 42 in Malaysia, 32 in the Maldives, 2 in Bangladesh and displacing more than a million people.
      On December 28, 2004 the death toll tops 22,000, at 5,000 in Indonesia, 12,000 in Sri Lanka, 4,000 in India, 900 in Thailand, one-third were probably children.    The United States sends teams in disaster's wake of the 10-nation disaster and prepared a $15 million aid package to the Asian countries, and the European Union $4 million, and Japan, China and Russian a team of experts.
      Of interest is that quakes have killed: 50,000 in Iran in 1990; 10,000 in India in 1993; 6,000 in Japan in 1995; 17,000 in Turkey 1999; 13,000 in India 2001; 2,300 in Algeria 2003; 26,000 in Iran 2003; and now 22,000 in the Indian ocean in a year when global warming is an issue.
• 12/30/2004 - Bush forms coalition to guide Asian relief - Death toll from tsunamis soars to 77,000 by Deb Riechmann, Associated Press.
      President Bush assembled a four-nation coalition to organize humanitarian releif for Asia and bankroll long-term rebuilding in the region leveled by a massive earthquake and tsunamis.    The official death toll across 12 countries soared to near 77,000 and the Red Cross predicted it could pass 100,000.    Airlifts of supplies and an entire Marine expeditionary force went across the globe with a $35 million aid package.    Death toll in Sri Lanka 21,700, and in Indonesia at 27,178, as refugees forage for food and water, and there are great concerns of epidemics as the world attempts to help the region.
  

Last updated January 27, 2004, and January 31, 2006.