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Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects With all due respect to the awards given, most of the science in this email is CRAP that I wouldn't shovel to my first year students. 1) The reason for the increased number of hurricanes is La Nina, not human induced global warming. 2) Hurricane Hugo wasin 1989. 3) There is NO connection between increased global temperatures and increased tropical storminess--it's an urban legend. The points about deforestation are true and important...but trying to make this out as some kind of syndrome of global warming is nonsense. The assertion by the 190 IPCC document regarding storms, even those in our latitudes, are hotly debated. There may be some changes but at the recent Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Meeting here in Halifax the details of this change were a matter of debate. The more relevant issue in this disaster is the incredible lack of forward planning...both by governments in the region and by aid agencies up here. It was clear there was going to be a disaster down there as soon as Mitch stalled. So why weren't we airlifting in supplies then? 3 days before that volcano landslide it was obvious from the satellite pictures that a major rain event was already beating on Honduras. The QUESTION we should be asking is why we can't respond more quickly to disasters based in agricultural practices that are very questionable. BUt please, don't lay this on fossil fuels. I'm surprised the Sierra Club didn't do its homework on this. On Tue, 10 Nov 1998, Matthew Jamieson Jonah wrote: > Hiya Sust-mar'ars, > > Here's a dose of reality to add to our evening newscasts. > > >>Posted by the SCC National Office: > >> News Release > >> > >>412-1 rue Nicholas St., Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7 Tel: (613) 241-4611 > >>Fax: (613) 241-2292 e-mail: sierra@web.net > >> > >>For Immediate release > >>Was Hurricane Mitch a Natural Disaster? > >> > >>(Ottawa, November 6, 1998) The Salvadoran Centre For Appropriate Technology > >>(CESTA) has declared Hurricane Mitch an unnatural disaster. Dr. Ricardo > >>Navarro, the president of the Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology, > >>said today that he believes hurricane Mitch is a result of human fossil > >>fuel emissions and deforestation. > >> > >>The winner of the International Goldman Award for the Environment said, > >>"Why should we be surprised. We have changed the global climate. We > >>predicted an increase in global climatic disasters, and now we are > >>confronted with the human and environmental consequences. Unfortunately, we > >>are paying a very high price for our actions...death and destruction." > >> > >>There have always been natural disasters. Hurricanes, floods, drought and > >>heat waves. However, in 1990 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate > >>Change, an international body of eminent scientists, warned that human > >>fossil fuel emissions and deforestation would lead to global climate > >>change. As a consequence of a rise in global temperature, they predicted > >>an increase in severe climatic events. > >> > >>Hurricane Mitch could be a symptom of these changing times. The nine > >>hottest years on record have been in the last 15 years. The hottest year on > >>record could be 1998, the hottest global month on record was recorded this > >>past July and the hottest temperature on the planet was recorded this year > >>in India at an astounding 52 degrees Celsius. But global climate change is > >>not about just heat, scientists predicted many years ago that the result > >>would be increased intensity and frequency of droughts, forest fire hazards > >>and storm activity. Hurricane Mitch marks the fourth hurricane in the > >>region this year and follows on the heels of Hurricane Hugo only a few > >>weeks ago. > >> > >>"The climate catastrophes we are seeing around the globe are occurring > >>because the First world is driving cars, the world's forests are > >>disappearing and we are not addressing the root causes of this problem in > >>either the North or the South", Dr. Navarro. > >> > >>The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology seeks to find solutions to > >>our current environmental and social problems through appropriate > >>technology. > >> > >>Dr. Ricardo Navarro is an internationally recognized environmental activist > >>and a recipient of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Award and a winner > >>of the Global 500 Award. He is the president of the Salvadoran Centre For > >>Appropriate Technology (CESTA) and the international representative for El > >>Salvador of Friends of the Earth. > >> > >> He is currently in Ottawa as a guest speaker of the Canadian International > >>Development Agency. CESTA is one of the largest environmental > >>organizations in Latin America with programs in appropriate technology, > >>environmental law, ecological awareness and social rehabilitation. CESTA > >>was recognized in Canada through the Canadian Council for International > >>Cooperation Peace building award for their ground breaking work with > >>environmental and social reconciliation. Dr. Ricardo speaks fluent > >>English, Spanish, French and some German. > >> > >>Dr. Navarro released a statement this morning in Latin America and in > >>Argentina regarding Hurricane Mitch. He is currently working with the > >>assistance of the Sierra Club of Canada to draw the links between the > >>current disaster of Hurricane Mitch and global climate change. His recent > >>statements coincide with the international discussions on climate change > >>(COPS 4) underway in Buenos Aires. > >> > >>He attended a federal consultation yesterday on Canada's humanitarian > >>response to the disaster in Central America. Dr. Navarro is available for > >>interviews at the offices of the Sierra Club of Canada this afternoon and > >>is available this evening. He is leaving to go back to his country > >>tomorrow in response to the disaster. > >> > >>- 30 - > >> > >>For more information: John Bennett, Sierra Club of Canada, (613) 241-4611 > > Wilderness needs no defense. Only more defenders." -- Edward Abbey > > ________________________________________________________________ Owen Hertzman E-mail: Owen.Hertzman@Dal.Ca Dept. of Oceanography Phone: (902) 494-3683 Dalhousie University FAX: (902) 494-2885 Halifax, NS CANADA, B3H 4J1