Global warming, at the center of the G8 discussions in Rostock

 President Bush promised to hold a climate conference in the fall, but promised nothing about its content. The UN hopes that the conference will not be renamed the Bali Conference that will discuss the issue on behalf of the UN in December

 concentration of sources.

This week in Rostock, Germany, under heavy security, the conference of the heads of the G8 industrialized countries is gathering. One of the issues that will come up for discussion will be global warming.

Director of Climate Change at the United Nations, Yvo de Barre, welcomed President Bush's announcement about the planned meeting that will deal with the climate issue. As you may remember, the President of the United States, George Bush, presented his plan to combat global warming last week. The plan proposes a gathering in the fall of the 15 leading countries in greenhouse gas emissions, setting long-term goals for reducing emissions and reducing the tariff on technological measures to reduce warming. Environmental organizations have criticized the plan, because it does not meet the requirement to immediately establish quotas for gas emissions.

However, de Bar said that he received a promise from the White House according to which the initiative is planned to help the anti-warming process led by the UN and will not undermine it. In an interview with the BBC, de Barre said that the head of the climate department in the White House, James Connaughton, assured him that the president's climate meeting in the fall would feed into the process carried out by the United Nations.

Earlier, the US refused to take part in the UN discussions scheduled for December on climate change, but de Bar hopes that now, after this statement, the US will participate in the discussions. "Any assistance that the US can give and that will enable the ground to be prepared for the Bali conference in December is welcome." However, he added that there are three important elements missing from Bush's climate statement:

* Helping poor countries to develop, in a cleaner way

* Expanding global trade in carbon emissions

* Support for the current UN agreements according to which the rich countries must lead in the trend of cuts. Without support for these goals, the talks in the US will be useless," he added.

Last week, studies published by the US National Academy of Sciences determined that the picture of global warming is much worse than observed so far. According to the tests conducted, greenhouse gas emissions tripled compared to 1990. The main increase in pollution was measured in the developing countries, with China in the lead. Despite this, China abdicates responsibility on the pretext that a Chinese citizen pollutes at a rate of one-sixth that of an average American citizen. The developed countries emit two-thirds of all greenhouse gases, even though their total population constitutes only one-sixth of the Earth's population. These and other issues will be the focus of discussions at the G8 conference this weekend in Germany. Apparently, the heads of the other countries have given up on Bush, and are now planning an agreement to be signed after he leaves the White House. The US, Australia and South Korea are the only economic powers that have not signed the Kyoto Treaty, arguing that this will severely damage their economy.

In the preliminary talks to the G-8 summit, the leading countries such as Germany and Great Britain agreed on a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent within 20 years. Even Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced that his country will join carbon emission cap traders. Representatives of the American government refused to accept the proposed numbers.

 The warming will cost Alaska $10 billion
In the meantime, the news agencies report that Alaska may pay a heavy price for global warming. Researchers say that the damage caused by collapsing bridges, bursting sewers and collapsing roads will amount to 10 billion dollars.
Temperatures in Alaska have risen in the last five decades by about 3 degrees. A group of economists made an estimate of the damages that will be caused by the warming. Two-thirds of Alaska's surface is covered by ice, and if it melts, many infrastructures will be severely damaged. An analysis of twenty types of public buildings in the country, ranging from schools to bridges, revealed that flooding and erosion will place a heavy burden on the state coffers. Regular maintenance until 2080 will cost the country between 32 and 56 billion dollars.

Already today, the state coffers are absorbing the consequences of global warming. In certain coastal areas the water level is rising and in the village of Shishmarf, on the coast of the Chukchi Sea south of the Arctic Circle, the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that a plan is needed to relocate the village, at a cost of 100 million dollars.

Climate conservatism