Tiempo Climate Newswatch

In the United States, the Bush administration has been accused of watering down climate change testimony to Congress. Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) says that the White House forced Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to cut specific references to the effects of climate change, removing a statement that her organization "considers climate change a serious public health concern."

"It appears the White House has denied a congressional committee access to scientific information about health and global warming. This misuse of science and abuse of the legislative process is deplorable," said Michael McCally from PSR. The White House has denied that any serious changes were made to the draft testimony. "A number of the agencies had some concerns with the draft and I know that our scientists at the Office of Science and Technology Policy looked at the draft and wanted to make sure that it was taking advantage of the science that had been provided in the [Intergovernmental] Panel on Climate Change," commented White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

The oceans may be taking less carbon out of the atmosphere, according to a recent study, raising concern that, if the ocean sink continues to decrease in strength, the rate of global warming may accelerate. Since the mid-1990s, levels of carbon dioxide in North Atlantic waters have fallen by over a half. It is too early to tell whether this is a short-term fluctuation or part of a long-term trend.

Study author Andrew Watson from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom, suspects that the process is climatically-driven. He reckons that "the sink is much more sensitive to changes in climate than we expected. Therefore, if you have a series of relatively warm winters, the ocean surface doesn't cool quite so much, you don't get so much sub-surface water formed and so the carbon dioxide is not being taken down into the deep water."

Leading cement manufacturers met in Brussels recently to discuss their industry's contribution to carbon emissions. Howard Klee, who coordinates the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), noted that "most people are not even aware that making cement produces carbon dioxide. It is an incredibly low-profile business and power companies, transportation and airlines get much more attention."

Manufacturing cement involves burning large amounts of coal and, as the raw material, limestone, decomposes, carbon dioxide is released as a byproduct. "We know there is an issue. If we draw attention to ourselves then we could attract criticism, but we could also have a voice in the regulatory solutions. Otherwise we could have something thrust upon us," said Dimitri Papalexopoulos of Titan Cement.