Sneak preview of big report: Change is 'already showing up'

The second report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts massive humanitarian crises.

from the March 15, 2007 edition

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These reports follow action on March 9 by the European Union's 27 member nations who agreed to adopt legally binding reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions and increase the use of renewable energy – steps which go beyond the targets of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

"During a sometimes contentious two-day meeting in Brussels, the leaders agreed to cut the gas emissions by at least 20 percent from 1990 levels in the next 13 years," The Washington Post reported.

"They set binding targets for renewable-energy sources, such as wind, solar, and hydro power, to supply 20 percent of the union's power needs and for biofuels to be used in 10 percent of the bloc's road vehicles by 2020."

National targets will be negotiated by the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, before going to the European Parliament for approval. British Prime Minister Tony Blair this week called global warming "the biggest long-term threat facing our world."

The British government proposed a draft climate-change bill that would require a 60 percent reduction in total carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050. "This bill is an international landmark," the environment minister, David Miliband, told reporters. "It is the first time any country has set itself legally binding carbon targets. It is an environmental contract for future generations."

As public and political pressure build to do something about climate change, mainstream magazines, including some that might seem unlikely to cover the subject, are taking up the call. Sports Illustrated, ELLE, Outside Magazine, and The Atlantic will all feature global warming and the environment in coming weeks, Reuters reported. Media consultant Peter Kreisky told the news agency:

"Clearly the editors of these magazines feel that the time has come. With Al Gore, his Oscar [for the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth"], and a higher level of awareness, this is becoming important."

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