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G8 Summit
Tue Jul 05, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
Much has already been reported about the upcoming G8 summit, the meeting of the world’s leading economic powers, most of it centered on relieving poverty in Africa. But another major topic British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to cover is Climate Change. Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton with the return of The Weather Notebook’ Climate Change series.
The G8 meetings, scheduled to start on July 6th in Scotland, are held yearly for member countries to discuss what they see are the most important economic issues of the day. As Mr. Blair holds the G8 presidency for this year, he also controls the agenda. And Blair wants to talk about Climate Change.
In a speech, delivered on September 14, 2004, Blair said, “What is now plain is that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialisation and strong economic growth…is causing global warming at a rate that began as significant, has become alarming, and is simply unsustainable in the long-term.”
Blair believes that problems caused by climate warming will evidence sooner than we had previously thought. “I mean within the lifetime of my children certainly; and possibly within my own,” he said.
Blair spoke about a global consensus of thousands of scientists who, apart from a “diminishing handful of skeptics,” are working on what he calls “the world’s greatest environmental challenge.”
However, Blair faces a tough battle, as in the United States, President Bush still holds that the scientists are incorrect in their conclusions. Mr. Bush maintains that the United States is the leader when it comes to developing emissions reduction technology.
But Blair seems willing to fight, saying it is “A challenge so far-reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power, that it alters radically human existence
The Weather Notebook is funded by Subaru of America. Our Climate Change series is also supported by Environmental Defense.
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