Seminar explores "cold" side of global warming

Wysmuller argues that the current spike in temperature and carbon dioxide levels are approaching levels that existed just prior to the most recent ice age. What that means, he said, is that we are nearing a period when temperatures will actually start to decrease and weather patterns dramatically change.

"As there is more open water in the Arctic, it absorbs more light and warmth," he said. "There's been a great loss of multi-year ice. The Arctic will be open soon."

Rather than temperatures continuing to increase as a result of that, however, Wysmuller says they will start to decline. That will happen because the open water will generate an abundance of "ocean effect" snow, similar to the lake effect snow that hits the upstate New York area.

"(The Arctic) will have massive amounts of ocean effect snow," Wysmuller said. "The accumulated snowfall increases reflecting light, so temperatures will cool."

Wysmuller said the temperature increases of today are distinct from carbon dioxide levels.

"Carbon dioxide is increasing but not dragging the temperatures up," he said. "If we controlled pollution now, we still wouldn't stop the ice cap from melting. The carbon management issue is a separate and equally important issue. The largest contributor to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the warming oceans."

France proposes watered-down climate laws for EU summit : Environment

The proposal is also aimed at placating Central and Eastern European member states such as Slovakia, Poland and the Baltic states, who say that the climate laws should give them credit for reducing their CO2 emissions between 1990 and 2005 - a period when their inefficient communist industries collapsed.

A new clause says those countries should be given 2 per cent of all the CO2 permits available for auction in the EU as a way of rewarding their "early efforts."

The idea looks set to spark a political storm, as it comes on top of a proposal to give the EU's poorest and most vulnerable states a further 10-per-cent handout of auctionable permits - a proposal which Britain and Germany have already criticized.

The French proposal also disregards a call from the commission for member states to use the revenue for auctioning on green projects, saying that the decision on where to spend the income lies solely with member states.

And its definition of which type of industry should be given free CO2 permits if international rivals do not sign up to similar climate-protection laws leads to the exemption of up to 90 per cent of EU industry, analysts say.

Finally, it adds a clause allowing EU member states to overshoot their annual emissions targets by 5 per cent in any year.