I/L – Energy K/ To Big Climate

I/L – Energy K/ To Big Climate

And so the possibility of a scaled-back climate and energy bill—while a disappointing reminder of how hard transforming the U.S. Energy system is going to be—really doesn't change the fundamentals of the present juncture. Bill by bill, the energy innovation remains an afterthought, the potential yield for R&D remains paltry, and the temporary burst of investment applied through the stimulus package continues to look like a one-shot wonder without follow-through. In that sense, what bears watching is not just the breadth of whatever carbon initiatives emerge in the coming weeks but their seriousness about financing a new push for energy innovation. But don't take it from me. Listen to Daniel Kammen, an energy and policy expert at the University of California at Berkeley, whose remarks in another great post at Dot Earth I will defer to as a closing. Writes Kammen— ...the 800-pound gorilla in the room is not being addressed: what plans or political will or results exist to justify and maintain...funding levels post-ARRA stimulus? The key issue is to develop a sane and calm path from where we are now—with a large amount of short-term funding—to a strategy for long-term investment in energy science and technology that has a clear management plan to bring these to the market. Right now many federal agencies are awash in funds, but as the ramp-down happens, infighting and battles over which program is better on merits, or better-connected politically, will emerge. To avoid this we need clear energy and climate legislation (which could be combined or could be separate) and a national strategy. That would send important priority and marching orders across agencies, and allow an orderly evolution, not a destructive scramble.

Warming Impact- Coral

Warming kills coral reefs- hurricanes and waves

The Guardian 8 (1/24/08, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/24/climatechange) ET

Warmer seas and a record hurricane season in 2005 have devastated more than half of the coral reefs in the Caribbean, according to scientists. In a report published yesterday, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) warned that this severe damage to reefs would probably become a regular event given current predictions of rising global temperatures due to climate change. According to the report, 2005 was the hottest year on average since records began and had the most hurricanes ever recorded in a season. Large hotspots in the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico powered strong tropical hurricanes such as Katrina, which developed into the most devastating storm ever to hit the US. In addition to the well-documented human cost, the storms damaged coral by increasing the physical strength of waves and covering the coast in muddy run-off water from the land. The higher sea temperature also caused bleaching, in which the coral lose the symbiotic algae they need to survive. The reefs then lose their colour and become more susceptible to death from starvation or disease.

Coral reefs are critical to human survival.

Mccmichael 3 (Anthony J, National Centre of Epidemiology and Population Health Director, Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses, p. 254, http://books.google.com/books?id=tQFYJjDEwhIC&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=coral+reefs+critical+human+survival&source=web&ots=PpvyXNZ_Ve&sig=HuTi0RaOUUfhEhs1_zYoDQhJFz0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPP1,M1)

Coral reefs are one of the most threatened global ecosystems and also one of the most vital. They offer critical support to human survival, especially in developing countries, serving as barriers for coastal protection; major tourist attractions; and especially as a productive source of food for a large portion of the population (39, 40). Coral reefs supply a wide variety of valuable fisheries, including both fish and invertebrate species (41). Some fisheries are harvested for food, others are collected for the curio and aquarium trades.

Warming Impacts- Disease

Warming will strain the health care industry while increasing infectious disease spread.

IPCC 7 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “ 12/12-17, p. 26) ET

The health status of millions of people is projected to be affected through, for example, increases in malnutrition; increased deaths, diseases and injury due to extreme weather events; increased burden of diarrhoeal diseases; increased frequency of cardio-respiratory diseases due to higher concentrations of ground-level ozone in urban areas related to climate change; and the altered spatial distribution of some infectious diseases. {WGI 7.4, Box 7.4; WGII 8.ES, 8.2, 8.4, SPM} Climate change is projected to bring some benefits in temperate areas, such as fewer deaths from cold exposure, and some mixed effects such as changes in range and transmission potential of malaria in Africa. Overall it is expected that benefits will be outweighed by the negative health effects of rising temperatures, especially in developing countries. {WGII 8.4, 8.7, 8ES, SPM}

Global disease spread culminates in human extinction.

Dutta-Roy 7 (Debajyoti, software technician, 5/31, http://globalstudy.blogspot.com/2007/05/coming-pandemic-threat-of-human.html) ET

As we are relying more and more on antibiotics, modern medical marvels, IMHO…we humans, the hairless apes who are now dominating this Blue Planet….are living on an “artificial life support system”. This might sound shocking to you, but many experts agree this is the TRUTH. Look around us……observe closely those “inferior” creatures who are around us – starting from the domesticated animals to the creatures of the wild. Let’s say, bird flu or a dangerous strain of the ebola virus hits us. WHO DO YOU THINK HAS A BETTER CHANCE OF SURVIVING? The so-called “inferior” animals, through millions of years, developed a robust immune system…..they have been through hundreds of such bacterial & viral outbreaks…..the weakest have died in the beginning….much the stronger ones have survived. Now, they are much equipped to fight off a pandemic like the Bird Flu. Sure, millions would die. But the majority will survive. But, I don’t think humans have much chance. Man of today, though much advanced in his “cranial capacity” is, from a biological point of view, a much poorer specimen than the Man of, say, 10,000 years back.

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