Climate Portal

Welcome to the Climate Portal on Powerbase

Welcome to the Climate Portal, the portal dedicated to exposing and reporting on the spin and lobbying efforts concerning climate change, global warming and other climate-related topics. The Climate Portal is part of Powerbase—your guide to networks of power, lobbying and deceptive PR. Powerbase has a policy of strict referencing and is overseen by a managing editor and a Sysop and several associate portal editors. This article is part of the Climate project of Spinwatch.

What is climate change? The term climate change refers to all forms of climate inconsistency, but because the Earth's climate is never static, “climate change” signifies a significant change from one set of climate conditions to another. In the context of environmental policy, climate change or global warming usually refer to changes on modern climate caused by human made CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. This is still a theory trying to establish two ‘cause and effects’: firstly that CO2 is the cause of global warming, and secondly, that humans are causing it through the burning of fossil fuels. Some facts and figures The International Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, is an international body of scientists researching Climate Change. This United Nations study, which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, was the most comprehensive study of peer reviewed climate research ever undertaken, and one of the most comprehensive studies of any scientific question ever. The 4th IPCC Climate Change Report published in 2007 states: Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level. Global GHG emissions due to human activities have grown since pre-industrial times, with an increase of 70% between 1970 and 2004.. Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely (confidence level >90%) due to the observed increase in human greenhouse gas concentrations. The IPCC report conclusions are that climate change is an empirical fact. The only question worth asking is how fast we can act to create real reductions in atmospheric CO2. C02 levels over the past 60,000 years. Source: Training for Transition, TTT, 2007. Carbon dioxide is not, however, the only greenhouse gas affecting climate. Experts also warm that other greenhouse gases, such as methane, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons, are also directly involved in most of the increases in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century".. The road to Copenhagen COP15 is the popular name for a conference that took place under the general framework of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, 7–18 December at the Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark. This conference represents the 15th Conference of the Parties – hence the name – to the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change. Copenhagen 2009 included the 5th Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP5) to the Kyoto Protocol. The conference was significant as it was scheduled to come up with the next binding agreement after the first stage of the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012. In the largest climate demonstrations to date over 100,000 people protested in Copenhagen, putting pressure on governments to achieve tough and legally binding carbon descent targets, highlighting the ineffectiveness of the Kyoto targets, which are far from being met by most states. Meanwhile the conference was slammed for turning away even mainstream NGOs such as Friends of the Earth and Avaaz as many registered civil society participants and observers were prevented from attending, leading to accusations of elitism and a denial of democracy . The ultimate failure of the conference to reach any effective agreement is is also being hailed as historically important as it is seen by some to signify the end of hope in top-down government and business led climate change strategy. Lumumba Di-Aping, chief negotiator for the G77 group of 130 developing countries, called the conference outcome 'nothing short of climate change scepticism in action', adding 'It locks countries into a cycle of poverty for ever'. The increase in public denial and disillusionment about climate change in Britain may also be seen as a manifestation of hopelessness and apathy about finding solutions to the issue, perpetuated by ineffective government strategies, which have historically targeted individual behaviour over polluting industry. Only 41% of those surveyed by a recent Times newspaper poll believed climate change was anthropogenic (man made) despite established science to the contrary. The graph below shows the path of current Kyoto strategy which takes us over the red tipping point (using IPCC's most recent reports) and into 'runaway' or unstoppable climate change (caused by a number of natural knock on effects or 'positive feedbacks' which kick in once a certain carbon concentration is reached). The action needed to address this devastating threat is rapid carbon descent, translating into deep cuts in the activities of carbon heavy industries and energy production, and a matching decrease in consumption. Despite this, in mid November 2009 President Obama and other world leaders announced their plan to delay any agreement until after the Copenhagen summit, pushing urgent issues into the future. Copenhagen 2009: Who's Who

Categories There are a list of categories associated with this page: Climate Climate Change Climate Change Sceptics Climate: Energy Climate: Energy Industry Climate: Industry Lobby Groups Climate: Industry People Climate: NGOs and Consumer Groups Climate: Lobbyists and PR Consultants Climate: Front Groups Climate: Government and International Agencies Climate Policy Groups Climate Scientists Climate Science News and articles The Hadley Centre Warns that Average 4°C Warming Could Happen Within a Human Lifetime, With Even Greater Warming in Many Regions Resources