Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Maybe I could step in here to try to comment on that. Most of you here will understand that at the level of the states in the United States today, California's Pavley bill has now been passed into law and is looking for a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over a fairly short time scale.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Absolutely. The scientists from these countries are full participants in the IPCC process, in many cases in important leadership positions. Susan Solomon, for example, is the co-chair of Working Group I. She is an American scientist working out of Boulder, in one of the NOAA laboratories.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I wouldn't want to make that claim, but it's close to it, I would say, yes.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Sure.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Yes, I'd like to comment on this point too, and really go back to several of the comments I made before. On this problem of climate change, we have to get the economy working for us rather than against us. It seems to me that this is really the job of the legislative regime, right?

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I think the new regime into which we have to be moving is going to stress all of us--not only our corporations, but also us as individuals. I think Canada cannot afford to hold back on this problem and do nothing and wait for the rest of the world to solve our problem for us, because what's at stake here, as I commented before, is not only the problem of climate change; it's also the problem of innovation; it's the problem of leadership; it's the problem of creativity.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  From my perspective as an academic, I live in the world of physics, and particularly in the world of climate change. First, I would be very hard-pressed to find any of my colleagues who did not feel very strongly about the critical situation we're facing now. We all believe very strongly in the predictions that our best models are making, and we believe that on all the issues you've raised, we have to move forward simultaneously.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  The question of sea levels rising is a very interesting and important one, but it requires some subtlety of thought. For example, Canada, which was covered by ice until around 12,000 years ago up to a thickness of four kilometres through most regions, is experiencing a very strong rebound of its crust out of the sea.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Could I comment on this point? I think it's a very important one. All of the points you've listed are fair enough. But what we're talking about here, and what I think is required, is a major change in the way our economic system operates. In my view, we are challenged by global climate change to basically reinvent the way we operate.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Pardon me if I speak in English, but that's my mother tongue.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'll comment on that again. Subsequent to the information that was reported in the AR4, we began to receive data from the GRACE satellite system, which is now in space and which is focused on both Antarctica and Greenland. What we're seeing in Antarctica is basically what we would anticipate, based on the global warming projections; i.e., that the Antarctic is more or less stable.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Forty-five seconds? Clearly there is a problem here that requires adaptation to the inevitable effects over the next two to three decades. As John and my other colleague have said, there's nothing we can do about this. This is inertia that's built into the system. The differences, however, beyond two to three decades are huge, depending upon the greenhouse gas path we choose to travel.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'll try to respond to the first of these questions concerning the completeness of science. I very strongly agree with you that science is an ongoing enterprise. I commented at the end of my presentation, for example, that we are unable to predict what may be one of the most important impacts of global climate change, namely the stability of the cryosphere.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of the committee, John has covered almost every single point that's contained in the Summary for Policymakers of the AR4, and I'm not going to go through the process of repeating them once again. What I thought I would do is focus on the high latitudes of this hemisphere and the comments the report makes about the situation northern Canada can expect to experience, if not in the next one or two decades, then certainly within the next century.