http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2749097.stm
Tuesday, 11 February,
2003, 16:16 GMT
Greenhouse gases 'at record levels'
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent
British scientists
say greenhouse gases are at the highest
background levels ever recorded in the atmosphere.
They say stabilising
the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)
will be harder, because a warming world will trigger feedback
mechanisms.
Their report says the
UK exceeded its international target
for cutting greenhouse emissions by 2000.
The UK Government says
the scientists' findings show much more
needs to be done to reduce emissions.
The report, the Global
Atmosphere Research Programme 2000-2002,
is published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra).
More to do
It provides the results
of Defra's research programme on climate
change and stratospheric ozone, based at the UK's Hadley Centre
for Climate Prediction and Research.
Launching the report
the Environment Minister, Michael Meacher,
said: "This report does show that the UK is making good progress
to tackle its greenhouse gas emissions.
"But much more
needs to be done if we are to stabilise concentrations
in the atmosphere at a safe level.
"However, this
report does also show that the UK more than met
our target under the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) to return emissions to 1990 levels
by 2000.
"And we are on
track to exceed our Kyoto Protocol target of
a 12.5% cut in emissions below 1990 levels by 2008-12."
The report's
key findings include:
- atmospheric concentrations
of many greenhouse gases reached
their highest-ever levels in 2001
- the three hottest
years on record were 1998, 2001 and 2002
- positive carbon cycle
feedbacks from forests and vegetation
could sharply speed up future warming. A positive feedback
occurs when warming sets off a further warming trend - when
thawing permafrost, for example, releases a greenhouse gas
- action being taken
in the UK could reduce its total greenhouse
gas emissions to 23% below 1990 levels by 2010
- the world's protective
ozone layer should recover by mid-century.
Mr Meacher said the
world faced "a serious wake-up call". A second
report says Defra has already made adaptation to climate change
a reality in some areas, but needs to include it in long-term
policy development.
The report, Climate
Change: The Implications for Defra,
is an audit carried out by a unit of the UK Department
of Transport.
It praises Defra for
including climate change as a factor
in flood management and water resources policies.
But it says: "Climate
change will need to be factored into
the long-term development of a wide range of Defra's polices,
including on agriculture, biodiversity and animal health."
Caught in crossfire
Mr Meacher's acknowledgement
that the UK - government, industry,
and the whole of society - needs to do much more to face up to
climate change will be welcomed by scientists who argue for cuts
of more than half in CO2 emissions over the next 50 years.
Many of them remain
doubtful that the UK will achieve
its demanding target of cutting carbon emissions to
20% below their 1990 levels by 2010.
His comments will provoke
scepticism as well from those
scientists and their supporters who argue that climate
change remains unproven.
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