ECOLOGY

DOING SOMETHING NOW COULD MITIGATE WARMING DAMAGE

ALISTER DOYLE, REUTERS - Cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases can mute
the worst impacts of global warming, such as water shortages for
billions of people or extinction of almost half of Amazonian tree
species, a draft U.N. report shows. The report, due for release on April
6, foresees ever worsening damage to the planet as temperatures gain,
including rising seas that could swamp low-lying Pacific island states
or declining crop yields that could mean hunger for millions. . .

"We can make a big difference by either choosing a low emissions
scenario or a high emissions scenario," said Gunnar Myhre, of the Center
for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo. . .

In the scenarios, the biggest temperature gain comes if the world stays
dependent on fossil fuels, with 70 percent of energy in 2100 from
sources such as coal and gas, and sharply raises greenhouse gas
emissions.

The scenario with the smallest temperature gain, below about 3 Celsius
(5.4 F), assumes that carbon emissions will dip by 2100 by when the
world will get about half its energy from renewable sources.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070319/wl_nm/globalwarming_dc_1