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It's official; climate change is real
by Michelle Minnoch

There will be a news conference in Paris on Friday, in which a report, completed by scientists and government officials who make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will be released, stating that climate change real, serious, and human influences are a contributing factor.

I am sure glad they got the scientists to figure that one out for us!

The report, drawing information from 2,500 scientists, including those who are skeptic about climate change and researchers in the industry from more than 130 countries, will be an update of the last report from 2001.

One of the discussion topics in the paper includes rising sea levels. While some say within the next 100 years, the rising sea levels could swallow most of P.E.I. and become a threat to Vancouver and Halifax, other disagree. How big is the disagreement? Some are concluding the next century will see sea levels rising 12.7 centimetres, others go as high as 58.5 centimetres. That's quite a big difference. This information is based on the fact that melting ice sheets, particularly in Greenland and Antarctica, is adding volume to our oceans, and physically adding water as it warms. Some believe the melting is temporary, while others aren't so sure.

Many have their own theories and are inputting their information into their computer models. Taking raw data and feeding it into a machine is one thing, making a prediction is another.

The report, presented to 154 governments, has to be unanimously approved, for the panel to move forward. The information regarding how to address the impact of global warming is the next phase of the report, as well as how to get a hold of the problem.

The Age, a newspaper in Australia, got an early copy of the report, and reported towards the end of this century, the world will experience food and water shortages, affecting millions around the globe.

There are two types of people that can weigh in on this debate; the one's who want to make corrections of our mistakes, and fix the problem for generations down the road; or the people who have the mindset that they won't be around in one hundred years from now, why worry?

We live in a wasteful, want not world, that is selfish, demanding, and unaccountable; it is never our fault, the fault of the government, your neighbour, or whomever else you can think of, is to blame.

Who knew climate change would have such an effect? Well, I think most of us did.