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Friends of the Earth International
Media Advisory

climate change fears grow as carbon dioxide levels soar

London (UK), 11 October 2004 -- Responding to today's reports that the rate at which the main global warming gas - carbon dioxide - is accumulating in the atmosphere has jumped [1] Friends of the Earth International’s climate campaigner Catherine Pearce, said:

"These results are deeply worrying, and indicate that the battle against global climate change could be even more pressing than was previously thought. Politicians around the globe world must take urgent steps to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels to prevent a global catastrophe. The alarm bells are ringing, but is the world listening?"

note

[1] According to reports, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, have made a sudden jump that cannot be explained by any corresponding jump in terrestrial emissions of carbon dioxide from power stations and motor vehicles. There are fears that the devastating effects of climate change may hit the world even sooner than has been predicted.

Two UK newspapers published articles that are available at: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=570734 http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1324379,00.html

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