BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Top scientist's fears for climate

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | "Top scientist's fears for climate":

"In his first broadcast interview as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, John Holdren told the BBC that the climate was changing much faster than predicted.

'We are not talking anymore about what climate models say might happen in the future.

'We are experiencing dangerous human disruption of the global climate and we're going to experience more,' Professor Holdren said.

He emphasised the seriousness of the melting Greenland ice cap, saying that without drastic action the world would experience more heatwaves, wild fires and floods.

He added that if the current pace of change continued, a catastrophic sea level rise of 4m (13ft) this century was within the realm of possibility; much higher than previous forecasts."

I have been reading "The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization" by Brian M. Fagan. I had not really realized how dramatic climate changes have been in the last 15,000 years. They were enough to melt huge ice sheets, and when the melt water broke through to flow to the oceans, it was enough to shut off the Atlantic circulation, not to mention the geography of continents. Century and millenial climate changes had dramatic effects on plant, animal and human populations.

On the one hand, the book has made me more worried about the impacts of global warming in the 21st century. On the other hand, it has somewhat reduced my concerns for the loss of biodiversity, since species have advanced and retreated to sanctuaries in the past. Still, species are disappearing at a rate never before seen because we are not only changing the climate, but destroying habitat in many other ways.

Would Al Gore accept a position as environmental czar in a Democratic administration in 2009? It gives me some hope!