Measurements of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are worrying climate scientists. Dr Craig Wallace from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research said "If it's the start of a real trend then this potentially is very serious indeed. The time for halting climate change actually went and passed in the late 1980s. What we can do now is hopefully slow down climate change, mitigate climate change by following the precedent set by the Kyoto Climate Agreement."

With the Russian Government giving the green light to the Kyoto Protocol, the treaty is set to become international law in 2005. The USA and Australia are the only two industrialised countries refusing to ratify the treaty which places quotas on carbon dioxide production, a major contributor to global warming.

[Melbourne Climate Change Features | The Discovery of Global Warming]

More reports on climate change from New Scientist magazine and other sources detail that:

• Antarctic glaciers slipping faster into the sea and the changes are expected to cause an appreciable rise in sea levels. (New Scientist)
• Rice yields are crashing as a result of global warming at twice the rate predicted by climate modellers, according to the first "real world" experiment on the impact of rising temperatures in the Philippines. (New Scientist)
• Europe is warming more quickly than the rest of the world with potentially devastating consequences, including more frequent heatwaves, flooding, rising sea levels and melting glaciers, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) document, released in August. (New Scientist)
• The world's oceans are sacrificing themselves to try to stave off global warming. While absorption of carbon dioxide has moderated climate change effects, seas have become more acid, threatening their very life. The research warns that this could kill off their coral reefs, shellfish and plankton, on which all marine life depends. (The Independent)
• Climate change is also impacting North America's Forest Dieback (Melbourne Indymedia)
• Breakup Of The North Pole "The northeast passage across the siberian polar ice is open. The glaciers on Ellesmere Island and the northern and northeastern shores of Greenland are collapsing within a matter of days. The channel between Greenland and Ellesmere Isalnd is open. And only about 250 miles of ice remains on the north shore of Greenland connecting it to the polar ice. And that is breaking up." (Melbourne Indymedia)

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