PDA project 2.27.07 Climate change

Climate Protection Campaign

for Jefferson County

February, 2007



The debate is over! The 2007 IPCC report, based on hundreds of scientific studies in the last 3 years, confirms that global warming is real, that rising sea levels and severe climate changes are already occurring, and that increasing levels of carbon dioxide arising from the burning of fossil fuels and forests are the major contributors. If we are to have a planet on which present and future generations can survive, we must act now to limit the emission of greenhouse gases.

The Climate Protection Campaign requests that the City of Port Townsend and Jefferson County take leadership roles, similar to those of other governments, and initiate local actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as a contribution to climate protection. In signing the enclosed ICLEI resolution, our local governments agree to inventory greenhouse gas emissions, develop a local action plan for reducing such emissions, and implement the plan for both the government and the community. This packet includes materials that hopefully will inspire our elected officials to address this critical issue NOW!

Contents
Evidence for Climate Change 2
Resolution for Jefferson County 4
Why this Resolution 6
Local Actions Taken by Other Communities 7
Benefits to Port Townsend and Jefferson County 8
Resources 8
Appendix
Sea Level Rise Scenarios for Puget Sound 9
Impacts of Climate Change on Washington’s Economy 10

Campaign Members: Kees Kolff (facilitator), Carol Bernthal, Vern Garrison, Sam Gibboney, Marion Huxtable, Joanna Loehr, Thomas Loehr, Jude Rubin, Deborah Stinson, Scott Walker, Roderick Wilde, and William Wise

For more information contact Kees Kolff, 360-379-4658, kkolff@olympus.net
Download this document at www.jefferson.wsu.edu/local2020

Printed on paper with 35% post-consumer content.

Climate Protection Campaign

Evidence for Climate Change
Below are excerpts from the Fourth Assessment Report released by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on February 2, 2007. This report, based on a three-year review of hundreds of scientific studies, was drafted by 51 lead scientists. Approval of the final wording was achieved in January, 2007 by discussions between the lead scientists and officials from more than 100 countries.


Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice cores spanning many thousands of years (see Figure 1). The global increases in carbon dioxide concentration are due primarily to fossil fuel use and land-use change, while those of methane and nitrous oxide are primarily due to agriculture.



FIGURE 1. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane over the last 10,000 years (large panels) and since 1750 (inset panels). Measurements are shown from ice cores (symbols) and atmospheric samples (lines).
Climate Protection Campaign

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level (see Figure 2). The projected rise in sea level by 2099 is between 8 and 23 inches, excluding future rapid dynamical changes in ice flow.