Nobel laureate concerned by global warming

Nobel laureate concerned by global warming

Published on Dec 2, 2003

Nobel laureate for chemistry Paul J Crutzen yesterday expressed
"worries" about the unchecked negative impact by man on the
atmosphere.

All countries should take stronger actions to reverse the trend as the
world's population was expected to double to 10 billion by the end
this century, he said.

Prof Crutzen who is an expert on climate, said he was disappointed by
the lack of political will among governments in both the industrial
and developing nations to tackle the problem.

Ultimately, he said, the pressure to create a healthier atmosphere has
to come from people, not large organisations.

Crutzen, who arrived here on Sunday, also feared what he saw in
Bangkok, a city covered in grey smog from petrochemical fuel emission,
much of which is caused by heavy traffic congestion.

"I don't want to see Bangkok develop into a city of 20 million," he
said. "How would people get around in the traffic [with that many more
people]?

"We have other kinds of communication. The advent of the Internet,
business does not necessarily required people to be concentrated in
the city but can be decentralised. People can do their work from the
countryside."

He cited cities in Europe, which grew very rapidly after WWII, but now
have seen residents moving to the countryside because of urban
pollution and congestion. Air pollution has caused many health threats
such as asthma and lung diseases.

During his first meeting with the local press yesterday, he said:
"Politicians in rich countries are aware of the problem, but action is
taking a long time."

While scientists estimate the world temperature will increase from 1.4
to 4.7C, some governments tend to listen to the small number, he said.

"I'm disappointed, but [I] never lose the inspiration to do more
work," he said. "Real good research is the base of good action."

Crutzen, a former member of the Expert Advisory Group on "Global
Change, Climate and Biodiversity" at the European Commission, will
today begin his series of speeches called "Air Pollution in Asia and
its impact on Regional and Global Climate".

The speeches are a part of a programme organised by the International
Peace Foundation.

In his keynote address at Chulalongkorn University today, Crutzen will
discuss growing chemical imbalance in the atmosphere caused mainly by
industrial development.

He said rich countries still emitted the most carbon dioxide and other
pollutants while developing countries also have problems of burning of
biomass and agricultural wastes.

He noted that the world might need to prepare for more surprises
regarding the loss of balance in interactions between complex
chemical, physical and biological web.

Crutzen recalled the discoveries of an ozone hole caused by
chlorinecatalysed ozone destruction in the Antarctica by British
scientists in 1985.

"The ozone hole came as a total surprise, also for scientific world.
Nobody had expected maximum loss of ozone [which] occurred over
Antarctica, the furthest away from locations where CFCs
[chloroflurocarbons] are released in the atmosphere," he wrote in his
paper to be presented today.

His speech today starts at 2pm.

Nantiya Tangwisutijit

The Nation 

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