Warming 'could bring 1930s havoc'

Now we have to wait for Blair's best friend to speak up and dismiss all that rhetoric.
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Warming 'could bring 1930s havoc'
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October 30, 2006
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LONDON, England -- Climate change will devastate the global economy on a scale of the two world wars and the depression of the 1930s if left unchecked, a top economist has warned.

Introducing the report by Nicholas Stern, the British government also said Monday that former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who is now a vocal environmental advocate, is to serve as its adviser on the issue.

The report's main argument is that the benefits of coordinated action around the world to tackle global warming will greatly outweigh any financial costs.

But Stern, a former World Bank economist, who wrote the report commissioned by ministers, concludes that ignoring climate change could lead to huge economic upheaval.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said if no action was taken, climate change could cost the world up to 20 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) each year.

Blair said: "This is the most important report on the future published by this government in its time in office."

The prospect of global warming is "frightening," but the scientific case that it is taking place is now "overwhelming," the PM added.

"What is not in doubt is that the scientific evidence of global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions is now overwhelming.

"It is not in doubt that if the science is right, the consequences for our planet are literally disastrous."

"This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime.

"Unless we act now ... these consequences, disastrous as they are, will be irreversible.

"There is nothing more serious, more urgent, more demanding of leadership -- here, of course, but most importantly in the global community."
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/10/30/warming.report/index.html