Friday, May 4, 2007

IPCC WG III Summary For Policymakers (SPM)

As was the case with the SPM from WG II, I get frustrated by references to a report that won't be out for months.
I've given the SPM a quick skim. Some of the nuggets that I glean:

p3 "The effect on global emissions of the decrease in global energy intensity (-33%) during 1970 to 2004 has been smaller than the combined effect of global income growth (77 %) and global population growth (69%)" inserted, I believe to pre-empt the energy intensity arguments that some Kyoto signatories are already making.

"The emissions of ozone depleting substances (ODS) controlled under the Montreal Protocol7, which are also GHGs, have declined significantly since the 1990s. By 2004 the emissions of these gases were about 20% of their 1990 level [1.3]." referencing a political success, although not necessarily a scientific one. The 2006 ozone hole is the largest ever measured "NASA and NOAA Announce Ozone Hole is a Double Record Breaker"

I have five pages of notes I'll post today. Right now I'm going to read Der Spiegel: "
Is the IPCC Doing Harm to Science?"

P.S. They pulled the positive reference to genetically modified crops, flat or short on MON?