Another touch from ENN,
Friday, October 03, 2003
By Alister Doyle, Reuters
MOSCOW — Scientists said Thursday that global warming could slash Russia's crucial grain harvests if President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders refuse to endorse the U.N. pact.
About 1,000 scientists at a World Climate Change Conference in Moscow ending Friday were sharply divided over Putin's belief that Russians could benefit overall from a world with less bone-chilling winters. But some experts say that agricultural output in the key southern grain areas could be hit by a forecast decline in rains even though a warmer climate will extend growing areas further north as the permafrost thaws in Siberia.
"Climate change will generally not benefit Russia," said Joseph Alcamo of the University of Kassel in Germany. Harvests in the south might be hit by more frequent droughts, he added. Oleg Sirotenko of the All Russian Institute for Agricultural Meteorology said that Russian grain harvests would dip by about two percent in 2020-30 from current levels due to disruptions from global warming. Fodder crops, however, would benefit, he added.
Putin said Monday that he needed more time to decide whether to ratify the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, which hinges on Russian ratification to take effect. Kyoto seeks to rein in emissions of gases like carbon dioxide released by cars and factories. The gases are blamed for blanketing the planet and driving up temperatures.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia's Emergencies Minister, said that climate change was likely to trigger more...(Read on in: Scientists say warming could cut Russian crops
A personal quest to promote the use of wind energy and hydrogen technology in the Great Lakes area of the United States. The Great Lakes area is in a unique position to become an energy exporting region through these and other renewable energy technologies. *Update 2014: Just do it everywhere - Dan*
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