By Garda Ghista
Global climate change is an issue ignored and denied by the US and Australian governments, while simultaneously creating huge concerns and tensions in the British, Japanese and other governments around the world. Do US and Australia have a moral right to ignore this issue, as demonstrated by their refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol? Are the Protocol signers more than 130 countries justified in their concerns over the likely devastating impact of global warming in large part caused by US carbon dioxide emissions? While Brennan and Withgott uphold the precautionary principle included in the 1992 Rio Declaration, and continue to consider opposing viewpoints, numerous recent newspaper articles indicate that global warming is occurring far faster than originally calculated by atmospheric scientists, which means its impact in the form of rising sea levels with consequent devastation to the earths low-lying areas is far more imminent than previously predicted. While current official projections state that sea level will rise 20-35 inches by the year 2100, it is clear from recent articles that the ice caps, ice shelves and glaciers are melting far more rapidly than earlier anticipated, which means that what was predicted for 2100 is very likely to happen in the next 15-25 years!
