Glacier Retreat and Many Key Indicators Worldwide
Prove Climate Change Happening Now, Says WWF Report
* Denmark Pledges 500 Offshore Windmills By 2005 As A Gift to the Earth
* New Poll Shows US Voters Want President Clinton to Act Now
GLAND, Switzerland -- A new report released today by WWF-World Wide Fund
For Nature, identifies the most compelling evidence available that global
warming is underway and is not a distant threat. According to the
report, nature and human populations worldwide are now--more visibly
than ever before--at risk from climate change.
The report, The State of the Climate: A Time for
Action,
compiles a huge array of data from all over the world to indicate that a
shift in our planet's weather patterns and changes in climate are
happening today including: droughts, melting glaciers and ice caps,
dramatic ocean warming, regional increases in extreme and violent storms,
and dozens of other key indicators.
The report also highlights initiatives available now to combat
climate change, such as a new Gift to the Earth,
announced today
for the first time by the Government of Denmark, to build 500 offshore
windmills by 2005.
And while politicians in the US, the worst greenhouse gas emitter
on the planet, are behind their European counterparts in proposing
progressive emission reduction targets, a new poll
unveiled this morning
by WWF shows US voters aren't of the same mind-- a majority want
President Clinton to act now to slow climate change. The poll also showed
the vast majority of Americans support an international agreement to curb
carbon dioxide, the primary cause of global warming.
This report shows that climate change impacts aren't a science
fiction creation--they're real, and occurring now all over the planet,
said Dr. Claude Martin, Director General, WWF-International. It also
shows we can curb global warming in our lifetimes. The technology is
there. We need commitments like today's announcement from the Government
of Denmark, to reduce energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions if
we're going to make a difference during the critical next 10-15 years.
But the most exciting new information came from the opinion
poll, Martin added. The American public is way ahead of the political
and business community on global warming. This survey shows that a
majority of Americans are demanding that politicians and progressive
businesses come up with cost-effective solutions to global warming.
The State of the Climate report presents a vast
array of data from around the world, including dramatic examples of the current impacts
from global warming, including:
- 1997 looks to be the second hottest year in history,
after record heat in 1995
- The world is experiencing the biggest thaw since the ice
age: Europe*s glaciers have lost half their volume since 1850.
- The surface of the Pacific Ocean west of the US state of
California has warmed by 1.5 degrees C, triggering the decline of
zooplankton and the loss of four million sea birds.
- In Spain, the long Mediterranean drought has destroyed an
estimated 400 square kilometres of wetlands.
The Danish Gift to the Earth presented by Svend
Auken, Minister
for the Environment and Energy, spotlights a theme WWF climate change
economists and experts believe isn't getting enough attention: solutions
to climate change are available and economically feasible. The Danish
gift, given to WWF as part of its Living Planet Campaign, commits
Denmark to construct over 500 offshore windmills by 2005, generating 750
megawatts of energy, in its effort to combat climate change.
The electricity produced by the Danish wind turbines is not only
clean, but cheap. First phase production prices from the turbines are
expected to be around 5.4-5.8 US cents, which is comparable in cost to
energy from CO2-emitting coal-fired plants.
This new commitment builds towards the Danish goal of generating
sustainable power via 4,000 megawatts (MW) of energy from offshore
windmills by the year 2030. Globally, total wind-power generating
capacity as of 1996 was approximately 6,000 MW. Including land-based
wind turbines, 50% of Danish electricity consumption will be borne by
windmills in 2030, the most of any country.
WWF leads international efforts to protect the diversity of life
on Earth. The WWF Climate Change Campaign is working around the world to
raise awareness of the threats of climate change to wildlife and natural
ecosystems, urge governments to taking action to prevent climate change,
and to build partnerships with business and industry to find solutions to
the problem. For more information, access the WWF Climate Change
Campaign website at http://www.panda.org/climate/climate.htm.
CONTACT:
Gisele McAuliffe, WWF Climate Change Campaign, Washington, DC
Telephone: +1 202 861 8369 or +1 202 531 0935 (mobile); E-mail:
gisele.mcauliffe@wwfus.org
Liz Foley, WWF-International, Gland, Switzerland (speaks French and English)
Telephone: +41 22 364 9554; E-mail: efoley@wwfnet.org