🚀 go-pugleaf

## Nachricht vom 17.12.98, erstellt von greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org
## weitergeleitet durch Klaus Merkle
## PMs zum Inhalt bitte an den Ersteller, Brett-Mail ans Gruppenbrett



RECORD WORLD TEMPERATURES SIGNAL IT IS TIME FOR FOSSIL PHASEOUT
: GREENPEACE

AMSTERDAM, Dec 18, 1998 - The continuing record breaking global
temperatures reported by the World Meterological Organisation
(WMO) provide a timely warming to governments that they must act
urgently to phase out fossil fuels,  Greenpeace International
said today.

The WMO stated that the earth's temperature in 1998 will be the
highest in the global record reaching back to 1860. It will be
the 20th consecutive year with an above normal global surface
temperature.

"Governments around the world must begin now to plan a phase-out
of  fossil fuels-- coal, oil and gas - the earlier we begin, the
easier  the transition, said Greenpeace. "We can not afford to
ignore the warning signs around us. The climate catastrophes
this year are just a reminder of how dependent we are on the
climate as we know it - we cannot afford to gamble with the
future." 

The western Arctic is warming at least twice as fast as the rest
of  the globe, as predicted by scientists studying the effect of 
increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Nansen 
Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre in Norway found a 4.6 
percent decline in ice extent and a 5.8 percent decline in
actual  ice area between 1978 and 1994. A Greenpeace expedition
to the Arctic  aboard the vessel Arctic Sunrise earlier this
year documented the impacts of these dramatic temperature
increases which threaten  a range of Arctic wildlife, especially
those ice-dependent species  such as polar bears, seals and
walruses. 

According to a  global energy analysis by Greenpeace, critical
levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide will be reached  within 30
years, if current rates of fossil fuel consumption are
maintained. At these levels there is likely to be major and
irreversible climatic changes.

Greenpeace on the web: http://www.greenpeace.org