******************** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ********************
ISSUE: The world's top environment ministers will meet May 5-6 in Miami to
discuss the health impacts of global warming, children's environmental
health, and environmental crimes. These talks are hosted by Carol Browner,
EPA Administrator. This meeting is a good opportunity to persuade a key
Clinton Administration official to speak out on global warming.
ACTION: Send an email message to Carol Browner.
MAIN MESSAGE: The scientific community is deeply concerned that global
warming poses a serious threat to our children's health. As you gather with
other environment ministers, I urge you to publicly call for measures to
mitigate global warming's worst impacts.
DEADLINE: No later than Friday, May 2, 1997.
******************************************
*** THE ISSUE ***
Since 1976, the leaders of the seven major industrial democracies -- the US,
Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Britain, and Canada -- have been holding
annual Summit meetings to discuss the major economic and political issues
facing their domestic societies and the international community as a whole.
The G7 Summit has traditionally dealt with macroeconomic and trade issues
and relations with developing countries. More recently, the Summit agenda
has broadened considerably to include issues such as employment,
political-security issues, human rights, and the environment.
While the G7 meetings are often portrayed as unsubstantive photo-ops, they
actually do have some influence. Agreements reached at G7 Summits set
priorities, define new issues, and provide guidance to established
international organizations, and as such, influence the discussions of the
broader international community. This year's G7 Summit will be held in
Denver, CO. A number of environmental issues are on the G7 agenda, including
renewable energy research and development and reform of lending practices
for energy projects.
As one of the prepatory meetings leading up to the Summit, the G7
environment ministers will meet May 5-6 in Miami to discuss the health
impacts of global warming, children's environmental health, and
environmental crimes. The environment ministers' meeting in Miami is a
critical one, and these ministers should carry the message back to their
leaders that the risks of global warming demand real and effective action.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol Browner is hosting
the Miami talks and has been emphasizing the theme of children's health.
Browner is a key administration spokesperson on environmental issues and has
worked closely with Vice President Al Gore. Browner should be publicly
calling for measures to curb global warming and for strong US action at the
international negotiations. This meeting gives her a high profile
opportunity to do so.
-- SEND AN EMAIL MESSAGE TO CAROL BROWNER, EPA ADMINISTRATOR.
<browner.carol@epamail.epa.gov>
-- MAIN MESSAGE: THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IS DEEPLY CONCERNED THAT GLOBAL
WARMING POSES A SERIOUS THREAT TO OUR CHILDREN'S HEALTH. AS YOU GATHER WITH
OTHER ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS, I URGE YOU TO PUBLICLY CALL FOR MEASURES TO
MITIGATE GLOBAL WARMING'S WORST IMPACTS.
-- TIMING: No later than Friday, May 2, 1997
With the ministers' meeting starting Monday, May 5, your message should
ideally reach Browner on Friday, May 2.
*** SUPPORTING MESSAGES ***
-- [Be sure to reference the environment ministers' meeting in your message
and to explain your expertise and/or interest in climate change. Mention
your children or grandchildren if you feel comfortable doing so, as this
will tie your message to an important theme of the meeting.]
-- To protect our children's health from the worst impacts of global
warming, I urge you [Browner] to work inside the administration to press for
US leadership on strong targets and timetables at the international climate
negotiations.
-- Global warming will adversely impact our children's health. Extreme
weather events -- such as heat waves, floods, and storms -- will heighten
the risk of injury, disease, and death, especially among vulnerable
populations such as children.
-- Changes in regional rain and snowfall may effect the fresh water supply,
potentially causing a higher incidence of some water- and food-borne
diseases and parasites. Insect-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue
fever are already moving northward from tropical regions.
-- Global warming will greatly impact the future of our children's natural
environment and the many species that live in it. Forests and wetlands
provide critical benefits to human health, by filtering our air and water,
and to human welfare, by providing opportunities for recreation and
commerce. Changes in regional climate put many such ecosystems at risk by
hindering their ability to grow and regenerate.
*** SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ***
-- Intensification of the global hydrological cycle will increase the
frequency and severity of extreme weather events. According to a 1996 World
Health Organization report, "Climate Change and Human Health," extreme
weather events -- such as heat waves, floods, and storms -- will heighten
the risk of injury, disease, and death, and also threaten health through
shortages or interruptions in the supply of food, water, and power. Changes
in regional rain and snowfall may effect the fresh water supply potentially
causing a higher incidence of some water- and food-borne diseases and
parasites. Insect-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever are
already moving northward from tropical regions. These changes, while not
likely to cause large epidemics in the United States, will require more
public health resources as the number of people, including children,
affected by these diseases grows. American children and adults who are poor
or have inadequate access to health care may suffer disproportionately.
-- Global warming will impact agriculture and could effect our children's
food supply. While impacts of global warming on crop yields and productivity
will vary considerably by geographic region, several studies suggest that
maintaining agricultural productivity will be difficult in many areas. For
example, a study by the US Department of Agriculture indicates that soil
moisture losses could reduce agricultural opportunities in the Corn Belt and
the Southeast. Maintaining agricultural production may require costly
adaptation strategies.
-- Changes in temperature and rainfall induced by global warming could shift
habitat boundaries dramatically -- alpine ecosystems could shift to higher
elevations, and forests could be forced northward. Since climatic changes
may well occur rapidly, some species may be unable to adapt or migrate. Many
could face extinction. Scientists are confident that global warming will
reduce the area of wetlands and change their distribution. Other coastal
zone habitats -- including marshes, mangroves, coral reefs and atolls, and
river deltas -- will also be threatened.
-- [Those of you living in Florida -- the state hosting the environmental
ministers' meeting -- may wish to emphasize your state's particular
vulnerabilities.] Global warming is particularly relevant for Floridians who
can reasonably expect to feel the effects of sea level rise sooner and more
forcefully than most others in the United States. The other potential
impacts of global warming for the state are not to be taken lightly either
-- relentless heat waves, more tropical storms, and more tropical
disease-spreading mosquitoes, to name a few.
*** KEY TARGETS ***
In addition to the primary target, we suggest you cc: your letter to: Fred
Hansen, EPA Deputy Administrator. <hansen.fred@epamail.epa.gov> Hansen is
known to be quite knowledgeable about as well as quite concerned about
global warming. He is EPA's representative to the influential "deputies
group" that essentially creates the Administration's climate change policy
positions. It will bolster his position to know that many scientists support
strong US action at the international negotiations.
NOTE: Please send us an email message that tells us what action you took. If
you actually send a letter, please send us a "blind copy." (A blind copy
simply means that you do not indicate anywhere on your letter that you are
sending a copy to us.) Send to: ssi@ucsusa.org or UCS, 2 Brattle Square,
Cambridge, MA 02238-9105 (attn. Lori Jackson).
Jane Jackson (Prof. of Physics, Scottsdale Comm. College--on leave)
Dept.of Physics, Box 871504, Arizona State Univ.,Tempe AZ 85287-1504.
jane.jackson@asu.edu (602)965-8438 FAX:965-7331
Modeling Workshop Project: http://modeling.la.asu.edu/modeling.html