Global Warming Conference Opens
T H E H A G U E, Netherlands, Nov. 13 -- A crucial U.N. conference openedtoday hoping to bridge sharp differences on how to reducegreenhouse gases that threaten to bring cataclysmic changes in theEarth’s climate.
Under the imperative banner “Work it out,” some 10,000government bureaucrats, scientists, environmentalists and membersof the business community from 150 countries began two weeks ofmeetings, lobbying and tough negotiations over how to comply withan international treaty to roll back emissions of heat-trappinggases to less than what they were 10 years ago.
Flooding, Elections in Background
Recent flooding on the European continent and Britain, whichsome scientists attribute partially to global warming, highlightedthe consequences of changing weather patterns and added to thesense of urgency in reaching an agreement.
Delegates also were closely watching the political turmoil inthe U.S. presidential election, noting the opposing views ofDemocrat Al Gore, who has supported emissions reductions, andRepublican George W. Bush, who has voiced strong reservations aboutU.S. promises to help control global warming.
Robert Watson, head of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change, set the challenge before the delegates with a starkreview of the earth’s climate, which he said had been stable sincethe last Ice Age until well into the 20th century.
“The weight of scientific evidence suggests that the observedchanges in the Earth’s climate are, at least in part, due to humanactivities,” he said, in a speech attended by Queen Beatrix of theNetherlands.
In the next 100 years, he said, deserts will become drier, cropswill decrease in areas like Africa and Latin America, forests willbecome more vulnerable to pests and disease, coral reefs will dieand rising seas will cause the displacement of tens of millions ofpeople.
Three years ago in Kyoto, Japan, governments drew up targets anda rough outline for rolling back emissions of carbon-based gases bya total of 5.2 percent from the 1990 level. Europe agreed to cutemissions of these greenhouse gases by 8 percent, the United Statesby 7 percent and Japan by 6 percent.
