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CLIMATE-L NEWS
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4
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Contents
1) SAVING THE PLANET SAVES
MONEY CUTTING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IS GOOD FOR THE POCKET (Nature
October 17, 2002)
2) GOVERNMENTS PREPARE FOR
KYOTO PROTOCOL STARTING GUN (UNFCCC October 16, 2002)
3) EU HAS TOUGH CHOICES AS
KYOTO TARGETS LOOM (Reuters 16 Oct 2002)
4) GOVT CLEARS SIX PROJECTS TO
CUT GAS EMISSIONS (The Economic Times OCTOBER 16, 2002)
5) CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT KICKS
OFF IN CHINA (Asia Pulse October 15, 2002)
6) WHITE HOUSE, EPA CLASH ON
LOWER VEHICLE EMISSIONS (Reuters October 15, 2002)
7) GERMAN GREENS WIN CLIMATE REMEDIES IN NEW GOVERNMENT (ENS October 15, 2002)
8) AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR
ICELAND'S SURPLUS ENERGY (Cordis October 15, 2002)
9) CUT DOWN ON GREENHOUSE
GASES, EARN GREENBACKS (The Hindu October 15, 2002)
10) UK ALKANE ENERGY LAUNCHES GREEN ENERGY
PARK (Planet Ark October 14, 2002)
11) EU ASSEMBLY BACKS CLIMATE
EMISSIONS TRADING PLAN (Planet Ark October 14, 2002)
12) INDIA'S GDP TO BE IMPACTED BY
GLOBAL WARMING (Rediff October 14, 2002)
13) GREENLAND'S GLACIERS CRUMBLE GLOBAL WARMING MELTS POLAR ICE CAP INTO DEADLY
ICEBERGS (Washington Post October
13, 2002 )
14) GLOBAL WARMING MAY HAVE
CAUSED GIANT SQUID DEATHS (Reuters October 11, 2002)
15) GERMANY TO PRESS EU FOR NEW
GREENHOUSE GAS TARGETS (Planet Ark October 11, 2002)
16) CONTROL OF METHANE EMISSIONS
WOULD REDUCE BOTH GLOBAL WARMING AND AIR POLLUTION, RESEARCHERS FIND
(Science Daily October 10, 2002)
17) JAPAN TO TALK CLIMATE CHANGE
(The Daily Post October 10, 2002)
18) AUSTRIA LAGS BEHIND IN BATTLE
AGAINST GREENHOUSE GASES (EU Business October 10, 2002)
19) EU MOVES TOWARD
IMPLEMENTATION OF KYOTO PROTOCOL (VOA News October 10, 2002)
20) U.S. FEELS SAFE FROM ANY
TRADE THREATS OVER KYOTO (ENN October 10, 2002)
21) BUSH ADMINISTRATION SIDES
WITH CAR MAKERS IN CALIFORNIA EMISSION FIGHT (Associated Press October 9,
2002)
22) GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REVEALS MAJOR GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS AND AIR
QUALITY BENEFITS FROM WIDESPREAD USE OF 'GREEN ROOFS' (National Research
Council Communiqué October 9, 2002)
23) FINANCIAL SECTOR, GOVERNMENTS
AND BUSINESS MUST ACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES (UNEP
October 8, 2002)
24) THREE-QUARTERS OF CANADIANS
SUPPORT KYOTO: POLL (CTV October 8, 2002)
25) REPUBLICANS BLOCK GLOBAL
WARMING IN US ENERGY BILL (Planet Ark October 7, 2002)
26) CITY COUNCIL LAUNCHES ACTION
PLAN TO HELP FIGHT GREENHOUSE GASES (The Scotsman October 4, 2002)
27) UK OFFSHORE WIND FARMS GET
GREEN LIGHT, 20 MLN STG SUPPORT (Planet Ark October 4, 2002)
28) SCIENTISTS FIND FIRST
EVIDENCE OF CORAL BLEACHING IN NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN CHAIN (The Associated
Press October 4, 2002)
29) INCREASED CARBON DIOXIDE
LEVELS ARE MIXED BLESSING FOR AGRICULTURE: YIELDS INCREASE, BUT
NUTRITIONAL VALUE DECREASES (COMTEX October 4, 2002)
30) ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY GOOD FOR
CONSUMERS (The Star October 4, 2002)
31) GOVT MAINTAINS KYOTO STANCE
(News Com Au October 3, 2002)
32) RUSSIA CAUGHT BETWEEN COAL
AND KYOTO (Inter Press Service October 3, 2002)
33) MANITOBA FOREST TARGET OF
GLOBAL WARMING STUDY (Associated Press October 3, 2002)
34) FARMING, LOGGING, DEVELOPMENT
AFFECT CLIMATE, TOO, NASA STUDY FINDS 'HUMAN-CAUSED LAND COVER CHANGES'
KEY (CNN October 3, 2002)
35) LINK BETWEEN POLLUTION CLOUD,
CLIMATE CHANGE: STUDY (ABC October 2 2002)
36) LANDCOVER CHANGES MAY RIVAL
GREENHOUSE GASES AS CAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE (Science Daily
October 2, 2002)
37) GLOBAL WARMING COULD SPREAD MALARIA( IOL October 2 2002)
38) EU WILL MISS KYOTO TARGET-TOP
ENERGY ECONOMIST (Reuters October 2, 2002)
39) MINISTRY PLANS 'DELHI
DECLARATION' TO CHECK GAS EMMISSIONS (Economic Times of India October 2,
2002)
40) CHRÉTIEN DISMISSES CONCERNS
OVER KYOTO PROMISES HOUSE VOTE ON
ACCORD BEFORE END OF YEAR (The Star October 2, 2002)
41) CANADIAN BUSINESS RALLIES
AGAINST KYOTO ACCORD CUTS (FT October 1
2002)
42) BIRDS ARE RESPONDING TO
GLOBAL WARMING, BUT FORECASTING IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE WON'T BE EASY,
BIOLOGISTS REPORT (Space Daily October 1, 2002)
43) INDIA NOT TO COMMIT TO UN TARGET ON GHG REDUCTION (Outlook
India October 1, 2002)
44) ENERGY WORKERS VOTE ON KYOTO (CNW October 1, 2002)
45) ICE 'METEORS' SIGN OF CLIMATE
CHANGE: SCIENTIST (CNN September 30, 2002)
46) INDIA TO HOST CLIMATE CHANGE
CONFERENCE (UNFCCC September 30, 2002)
47) INDIA
TO WELCOME CLIMATE CHANGE DELEGATES (ENS September 30, 2002)
48) FARMERS FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING
WITH NO-TILL FARMING (AlterNet September 30, 2002)
49) ALL COUNTRIES MUST PROMOTE
CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES: US EXPERT CHANDIGARH (Outlook India September
30, 2002)
50) IPCC TO DISCUSS POSSIBILITY
OF UNDERGROUND CARBON STORAGE (Outlook India September 29, 2002)
51) CLIMATE CHANGE: BLAME IT ON
CHINA, INDIA (Economic Times of India September 27, 2002)
52) ICLR LAUNCHES THE NATURAL
DISASTER HEALTH RESEARCH NETWORK (Canada NewsWire September 27, 2002)
53) KYOTO MAY HELP DEVELOPING
NATIONS (The Western Producer September 26, 2002)
54) INTO THE COLD? SLOWING OCEAN CIRCULATION COULD PRESAGE
DRAMATIC AND CHILLY CLIMATE CHANGE (The Christian Science Monitor September 26, 2002)
55) THEY'LL TRADE ANYTHING ...
EVEN HOT AIR (New York Post September 24, 2002)
56) FOSSIL FUEL BURNING BLAMED
FOR U.S. PARKS AIR POLLUTION (ENS September 23, 2002)
57) US LAWMAKERS MAY DEAL ON
DRILLING, CLIMATE CHANGE (Planet Ark September 23, 2002)
58) THE FIRST GLOBAL WARMING
REFUGEES (The Scotsman September 20, 2002)
59) CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS
DEVELOPMENT - KHALEDA (Gulf News September 20, 2002)
60) STUDY: EARTH TO WARM EVEN IF
GREENHOUSE GAS CUT (Reuters September 19, 2002)
61) WORLD FACING INCREASED
CLIMATE CHANGE: CSIRO (ABC.net September 20 2002)
62) BANGLADESH PM CALLS ON POOR
NATIONS TO FACE CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES (Space Daily September 19, 2002)
63) CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS LONDON'S FUTURE REPORT (Reuters September 14,
2002)
64) INSURING IT ENDS IN A FLOOD
OF TEARS by Jeremy Leggett (The Guardian October 14, 2002)
65) KYOTO AT THE WTO by
Christopher C. Horner (National Post October 11, 2002)
66) DIRTY AIR FUELS GLOBAL
WARMING by David Suzuki (ENN October 8, 2002)
67) WINDS OF CHANGE : THE FUTURE
LOOKS BRIGHT FOR ONE SOURCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY by Crispin Aubrey (The
Guardian September 25, 2002)
68) EMBRACE KYOTO ... OR WE WILL SURELY FACE A DRY AND DUSTY
FUTURE by Bob Carr (Smh.com September 16, 2002)
GENERAL NEWS
1) SAVING THE PLANET SAVES
MONEY CUTTING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IS GOOD FOR THE POCKET.
Nature
October 17, 2002
Internet:
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021014/021014-7.html
Leading an
energy-efficient life could save you £80,000 and save the planet more than
1,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases, a UK environmental scientist has
calculated. The analysis shows that measures to alleviate climate change
need not come with a financial punishment. About a third of the emissions in
developed countries come from cars, homes and leisure activities. Raising
public awareness could lead to big cuts, says David Reay of the University
of Edinburgh. "I'm optimistic that most people would go for the chance to leave a
big inheritance and a better environment for their children," says Reay.
Last year, he worked out how individuals could cut their emissions to come
into line with the Kyoto protocol. Now, to illustrate the economic consequences of such a lifestyle, Reay has
created two hypothetical Londoners: the wasteful Mr Carbone and the virtuous
Mr Bellamy, whose every deed is informed by a need to save energy. Mr
Bellamy, for example, wears reusable nappies as a baby, travels by public
transport, holidays in his own country, buys locally produced food and
recycles his rubbish. This eco-paragon is named after David Bellamy, the
British conservationist.Mr Carbone's life, on the other hand, is all
gas-guzzling cars and long-haul flights. The two lifestyles are extremes,
says Reay, but small changes are also worthwhile: "You can make a
significant difference without going the whole hog," he says - driving a
small, energy-efficient car, for example. You can make a significant
difference without going the whole hog. By age 75, Mr Carbone has been
responsible for the emission of 1,251 tonnes of greenhouse gases, and spent
£131,000 in the process. For Mr Bellamy, the figures are just 370 tonnes - a
cut in emissions of 70% - and £48,845.
Reay draws a veil over
the costs and environmental effects of their different funerals. But he
intends to look at this final decision - cardboard coffins versus cremation,
for example - in the future. The benefits of cutting personal emissions may
not necessarily translate into wider economic gains, warns climate-change
specialist Richard Tipper, of the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management.
For example, he says, burning less coal is bad news for coal miners.
Creating a low-emissions economy may be beneficial for all in the long run,
says Tipper, but it will require big changes. "We've got to be able to
persuade the losers that there's something in it for them."
2) GOVERNMENTS PREPARE FOR KYOTO PROTOCOL STARTING GUN
UNFCCC
October 16, 2002
Internet:
http://unfccc.int/press/prel2002/pressrel161002.pdf
New Delhi, 16 October
2002 Anticipating that the Kyoto Protocol will come into effect in early
2003, the 185 member states of the UN Climate Change Convention are meeting
in New Delhi from 23 October to 1 November to broaden the range of actions
available to governments and civil society for addressing climate change.
By the time the Protocol enters into force, developed countries will have
less than ten years to meet their Kyoto targets for greenhouse gases, said
Joke Waller-Hunter, Executive Secretary of the Climate Change Convention.
The big question now is what practical actions these governments
including those that choose to remain outside
Kyoto are taking to lower
their emissions. The Kyoto Protocol will enter into force 90 days after
being ratified by 55 governments, including developed countries representing
at least 55% of that groups 1990 carbon dioxide emissions. As of early
October, 95 Parties have ratified, including developed countries accounting
for 37.1% of CO2 emissions. The Russian Federation and several other
countries are expected to ratify in the near future, pushing this percentage
over the threshold.
Progress on
implementation is vital, and with our annual conference being hosted this
year by India I hope and expect that there will be a strong focus on the
concerns of developing countries, said Ms. Waller-Hunter. These concerns
include preparing to cope with global warming impacts, accelerating the
transfer of climate-friendly technologies, and integrating climate policies
more closely with sustainable development. Recent climate disasters around
the world from droughts in India and the US to floods throughout Europe
have served as potent reminders of some of the expected consequences of
global warming. The New Delhi conference will discuss how to build greater
capacity, especially in developing countries, for minimizing vulnerabilities
and preparing for worsening droughts, floods, storms, health emergencies,
and other expected impacts.
According to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, rising temperatures will increase
the frequency and severity of heat waves. The intensity of tropical cyclones
will likely worsen over some areas. Major climate patterns could shift,
leading, for example, to greater annual variability in the precipitation
levels of the Asian monsoon and thus more intense floods and droughts.
Recognizing that many developing countries will need support to cope with
such impacts, governments established an Adaptation Fund under the Kyoto
Protocol to finance projects and programmes on adaptation. Developing
countries will also need better access to innovative technologies for
reducing greenhouse emissions from energy and production. The Plan of
Implementation adopted last month by the World Summit on Sustainable
Development underlined the importance of developing cleaner technologies in
key sectors such as energy. It also called for greater efforts to promote
technology transfer, including through the private sector.
Another key agenda item
is the review of national communications containing emissions and other data
from member governments. According to a report being considered at the
meeting, the latest available data (2000) reveal that greenhouse gas
emissions in the richest (essentially OECD) countries have risen by 8.4%
since 1990 (the baseline year for Kyoto targets); this figure excludes
sequestration by carbon sinks. Meanwhile, emissions in the economies in
transition (Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union) declined by
38% due to economic restructuring. The New Delhi meeting is known officially
as the Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change
Convention (COP 8) and is likely to draw at least 3,000 participants. The
high-level segment will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, 30-31 October.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee plans to address the meeting on
Wednesday, plus some 80 ministers from around the world are expected to
participate in the high-level segment, thus adding political momentum to the
decisions taken by the conference.
3) EU HAS TOUGH CHOICES AS KYOTO TARGETS LOOM
Reuters
16 Oct 2002
Internet:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16472478
BRUSSELS, Oct 16
(Reuters) - European Union industry is bracing itself for two major new
policies to make it slash greenhouse gas emissions under a global climate
treaty the EU fought to protect. As the Kyoto global warming pact, rejected
by the United States over fears it would harm the economy, nears coming into
force, the EU faces some stark choices about how to cut pollution from its
factories, farms, transport and homes. On Thursday, EU environment ministers
will discuss one of the most radical ideas -- a bill to limit the amount of
carbon dioxide (CO2) industry can emit and get firms that breach their caps
to buy emissions credits from less polluting companies. And by the end of
the year, finance ministers are due to agree a new EU energy tax system that
would raise minimum tax levels on the use of oil products and set, for the
first time at EU level, minimum tax rates on coal, electricity and gas. EU
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom robustly defended the emissions
trading bill in front of a sceptical electricity industry conference earlier
this week. "The major risk is climate change itself," Wallstrom told EU
power body Eurelectric. "It is an obligation of the business community to
take on climate change, but it is an obligation of policy makers to use the
most cost effective measures."
Wallstrom led diplomatic
efforts to convince the rest of the world to stick with Kyoto following the
U.S. pullout last year and she said the EU now had to live up to its
promises. "The EU's credibility is at stake should (the emissions trading
bill) fail," Wallstrom told the conference. Kyoto aims to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from the developed world by 5.2 percent of 1990 levels by 2012
as a first step to bigger cuts aimed at stopping global warming. The treaty
will come into force once ratified by Russia.
GERMAN OPPOSITION
The EU emissions trading
plan is touted by the European Commission as a way to let companies find the
cheapest way of reducing their emissions of CO2 -- the main Kyoto gas, which
is an inevitable by-product of fossil fuel use. But the bill hit a major
political obstacle in June when the head of the EU's biggest economy, German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, said it would disadvantage EU industry. Under
Kyoto, the EU has to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent of
1990 levels during the period 2008-2012. But under a burden sharing
agreement between EU member states, Germany faces the biggest reductions. To
allow less developed EU countries to increase their emissions, Germany
agreed to cut its output by 21 percent -- making up around three quarters of
the total EU cut, a point Schroeder repeatedly reminds his EU colleagues.
Germany's concerns on a system that would cap CO2 emissions from most of its
big industries including power plants, metals smelters, glass, paper and
cement makers, have meant there is no chance of a deal on the bill this week
at the ministers' meeting. According to EU diplomats, Germany asked for a
delay on the issue while its new government coalition beds in. But on
Tuesday, German opposition to the bill softened to reflect the increased
profile of the Green party in the ruling coalition following last month's
election. Germany said it would now support the bill, but will request many
amendments that would favour its industry.
ENERGY TAX
EU industry has welcomed
the principle of emissions trading -- a concept that was first used in the
United States as a way of reducing the acid rain pollution -- but has many
concerns over how it might look in the EU. When the scheme starts in 2005,
industry wants it to be on a voluntary basis for a trial period of around
three years, to allow for a learning by doing process. Such a voluntary
system has already been launched in Britain. Big business also wants a
payback for making the effort to cut emissions in the form of less old style
regulation that told them how and where to apply environmental rules and,
more importantly, no new environmental taxes.
Unfortunately for
industry, a new energy tax is under serious consideration. At a summit in
Barcelona, Spain in March, EU leaders said
they wanted a deal on the issue by year-end. "If there is emissions trading
there should be no double jeopardy -- no energy taxes applied to those
(firms involved) in emissions trading," said William Kyte, head of
sustainable development at British electricity firm Powergen.
But tax reform has
become one of the key goals of Europe's vocal environmental movement. Green
group coalition, the European Environmental Bureau, says the issue is
urgent, not only because of the impact the tax could have on emissions, but
also because a deal would be even harder once the EU expands in less than
two years' time. Unanimity among member states is required to alter EU
taxation rules, unlike in the environment field where a weighted majority of
countries is sufficient to pass laws. Despite the message from Barcelona to
agree on energy tax, EU diplomats consider a deal on the bill -- which has
languished on the negotiating table for five years -- as a tall order.
Wallstrom also has little faith. "I'll believe it when I see it," she told a
conference.
4) GOVT CLEARS SIX PROJECTS TO CUT GAS EMISSIONS
The Economic Times
OCTOBER 16, 2002
Internet:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=25293519
NEW DELHI: Though the
Kyoto Protocol is unlikely to become operational this year, India - which
will soon host the Eighth Conference of Parties on Climate Change - has
cleared six project proposals under the "prompt start" clean development
mechanism. This was agreed under the Marrakesh Accord to enable parties to
embrace CDM without waiting for Kyoto to come into force. CDM is a scheme
under which companies in developing countries can win investments from
developed countries for projects based on green technologies, which help to
cut greenhouse gas emissions. While developed countries are major
contributors to GHGs, the relative costs of reducing emission levels are far
higher there. Global warming being all pervasive, the Protocol has allowed
the CDM mechanism under which developed countries can meet their commitments
(they have to reduce emissions by an average of 5.2% with reference to 1990
levels during 08-12) by acquiring emission reduction credits from outside.
At this point of time,
with Kyoto yet to become operational, only two players are offering to trade
carbon Netherlands and the World Bank. Government approval would allow
five Indian companies to vie with 20 others from across the world for the
tender floated by the Netherlands government. Netherlands, through Senter
International, a Dutch government agency, floated a tender for procurement
of Certified Emission Reductions from potential Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) projects in November 01. Its commitment under Kyoto is 6% below the
1990 level roughly 200 mega tonnes of carbon dioxide. It received 80
proposals including 11 from India of which 26 have been shortlisted. While
the Netherlands proposes to achieve 50% reduction through domestic effort,
50% would be through Kyoto, which incidentally offers two other mechanisms
as well joint implementation and emission trading. A MoEF source said,
The important thing is that India has made a start and showed commitment.
The six Indian projects
namely Ind Barath Energies (7.5 MW biomass power project), Kalpataru Energy
Venture (biomass in Rajasthan: electricity generation from mustard crop
residues), Vestas RRB India (which proposes two projects, a combined 15 MW
wind biomass project and another 14.45 MW wind power project) Suzlon Energy
(15 MW grid connected wind energy project) and Enercon (India) (15 MW grid
connected renewable electricity supply project) together propose an
estimated reduction of 2,64,66,549 tonnes of carbon dioxide. While an
inter-ministerial group here has approved the above projects as in the
interest of sustainable development (while rejecting 7 others of the
original expressions of interest), it remains to be seen if they get Senter
Internationals stamp of approval as well. The price at which Indian
companies would be able to trade CER is not yet clear. A senior MoEF source
says, It is too early to go into those details at this stage. Even the
reduction may fall below or be far above the estimated target. The important
thing is that we have made a start. Meanwhile another biomass project
approved by the government in response to a World Bank call hangs fire.
5) CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT KICKS OFF IN CHINA
Asia Pulse
October 15, 2002
Internet:
http://library.northernlight.com/FA20021015310000013.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc
BEIJING, Oct 15, 2002 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- A project for improving energy efficiency
with a clean environment kicked off in
Beijing on October 14. The launching ceremony
of the "Opportunities for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the
Energy Sector" project was jointly held by the Chinese Ministry of Science
and Technology and the Asian Development Bank. According to experts, the CDM
project, under the sponsorship of the bank, is aimed at analyzing
opportunities for the CDM project in China's energy sector, putting forward
strategies and actions on promoting the CDM, and working out a set of
technical guides in line with China's circumstances. Jia Jingdun, an
official with the science ministry, said this project will involve a case
study of small CDM projects in areas of renewable resources and energy
efficiency in China's Gansu Province and Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region. The CDM is said to be an international cooperating
mechanism for reducing the greenhouse effect under the "Kyoto Protocol." It
has been revealed that China is carrying out a series of research and
training activities, including cooperation with international organs and
developed countries, to help improve the country's capability in
implementing the CDM project.
6) WHITE HOUSE, EPA CLASH ON LOWER VEHICLE EMISSIONS
Reuters
October 15, 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021015/pl_nm/environment_vehicles_dc_2
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
The Environmental Protection Agency is again at odds with the White House on
clean air policies, with the EPA proposing on Tuesday to approve a vehicle
low emission program for Massachusetts that Justice Department lawyers
oppose for California. The Massachusetts program incorporates the California
vehicle low emission standards that the Bush administration said earlier
this month infringed on the federal government's authority to set vehicle
mileage requirements. The White House sided with automakers DaimlerChrysler
AG and General Motors Corp. in opposing the California standards. The
Justice Department, acting on behalf of the administration, filed a brief
with 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supporting a federal judge's
injunction that delayed the California vehicle emission standards from
taking effect for two years until the 2005 model year.
In contrast to the White
House position, the EPA praised Massachusetts for adopting the California
emission standards, saying it will help the state meet clean air
requirements and may result in cleaner vehicles being put on the market. The
California standards that Massachusetts wants to adopt would require at
least one out of every 10 vehicles sold to produce no pollution. U.S.
automakers would have a tougher time in meeting such a tough requirement
compared to Japanese competitors Toyota Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., which
already build several low emission vehicles that also have higher fuel
economy. "It makes it appear that the administration's actions with regard
to California were blatantly political (to favor U.S. automakers)," said
Frank O'Donnell, executive director for the Clean Air Trust. EPA officials
could not immediately be reached for comment.
The agency asked for
public comment through Nov. 14 on Massachusetts' emissions reduction
program. California's Democratic Gov. Gray Davis recently signed into state
law a measure to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
Automakers contend that the California law is a veiled attempt to require
stricter fuel economy standards, which only Congress can regulate. EPA and
the White House have a history of disagreement on environmental issues.
Earlier this year, EPA released a report that concluded human activities --
such as operating power plants and oil refineries -- were responsible for
causing the emissions that were primarily responsible for global
warming.However, the Bush administration has said more scientific study is
needed to determine the cause of rising world temperatures.
President Bush dismissed
the EPA report, saying he never read it.
7) GERMAN
GREENS WIN CLIMATE REMEDIES IN NEW GOVERNMENT
ENS
October 15, 2002
Internet:
http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2002/2002-10-15-05.asp
BERLIN, Germany, October
15, 2002 (ENS) - Germany's Social Democrat and Green parties are ready to
return to full time government after finalizing a coalition agreement
following last month's elections. The deal includes some stronger
environmental policy positions, though the current program of annual energy
tax increases is to be halted. There are 10 ministries for the SPD and
three for the Greens. Buoyed by their best ever election result, the Greens
have won further responsibilities for their three ministers, including
promotion of renewable energy, which passes to the environment ministry from
the economic portfolio. For the Greens, Joschka Fischer remains foreign
minister, Juergen Trittin remains environment minister and Renate Kuenast
keeps control of consumer protection, agriculture and food. Key
environmental policy elements of the coalition deal focus on energy and
climate change.
Energy taxes will rise
only once more, on January 1, 2003 as already scheduled, despite pressure
from the Greens for further increases. The party's consolation prize is a
scheduled review of the ecotax program in 2004. Several loopholes that have
benefited energy intensive companies such as aluminium manufacturers will be
closed.
The government is to
abandon opposition to European Commission proposals for mandatory rather
than voluntary participation in a EU carbon dioxide emissions trading
scheme. The change should make it easier for EU environment ministers to
reach agreement on emissions trading. Under the deal, German companies would
be able to join trading pools rather than having to participate
individually. Germany will push for the EU to go beyond its current Kyoto
Protocol commitment to cut greenhouse gases to agree a target reduction of
30 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. In this context, Germany should reduce
its own emissions by 40 percent, the parties have agreed.
Among a string of tax
measures, car taxes will continue to be developed along "environmental
lines," including tax breaks for natural gas powered vehicles until 2020.
Flights from Germany to
other EU nations will no longer be exempt from the Value Added Tax. The
government will do its utmost to achieve an EU accord on jet fuel taxation.
There will also be equal taxation of gas and heating oil. On subsidies,
coal industry support is to be cut from 3.05 billion to 2.17 billion by
2005. Meanwhile, renewable energy subsidies are to be increased to 230
million by 2006. One of four nuclear power stations prioritized for closure
under the government's nuclear phaseout program has been given an additional
two years of operation. Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW) was seeking to
postpone the planned early 2003 closure of its Obrigheim nuclear power
plant. EnBW had requested to transfer a portion of another reactor's
generation credit to Obrigheim so that it could operate longer.
Officials reaffirmed
their commitment to introduce deposits on one-way drinks containers to
protect refillables' share of the market as planned on January 1, despite a
recent court decision banning them in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany's most
populous state.
8) AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR ICELAND'S SURPLUS ENERGY
Cordis
October 15, 2002
Internet:
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:19086
Researchers in Iceland
are thinking of innovative ways in which the country can benefit from the
island's wealth of renewable energy resources, with one possible plan being
the direct export of electricity to mainland Europe via the world's longest
submarine cable. Iceland has only 300,000 inhabitants, but it is estimated
that its geothermal and hydroelectric resources alone could be sufficient to
meet the annual electricity requirements of 6 million people, more than the
entire population of Denmark. Consequently, energy research in the country,
the second largest area after marine research, has always focussed on new
ways of utilising these resources.
Traditionally, the
country has used surplus energy to fuel power intensive industries (PII),
most notably in the production of aluminium. PII provides around 500 million
euros in export revenue per year for Iceland, around half the amount of
their main source of exports, fishing and fish processing. With new
large-scale investment in aluminium smelting plants planned, the amount of
energy being utilised is set to rise, but a huge potential surplus remains
for further exploitation. One highly ambitious scheme being proposed is the
generation and direct export of electricity to mainland Europe via a
submarine cable. The demand for clean and renewable sources of energy is
high in Europe, with Kyoto protocol targets on emissions to be met and
further aims identified at the world summit in Johannesburg. Some in Iceland
would be reluctant to export such a raw material, however, preferring
instead to use that energy to produce exportable goods. There are practical
difficulties also: it is estimated that the world's current cable
manufacturing capacity would require 6 years to construct the 1170
kilometres required to reach Scotland.
Another possibility is
the use of energy to produce clean fuels that could, in turn, be exported to
Europe and the rest of the world. The production of hydrogen through
electrolysis is one such method, and many in Iceland are keen to explore the
possibilities of hydrogen technology with a view to creating a viable mass
market. Research projects, including collaborations on EU funded
initiatives, are ongoing in Iceland, and the vast majority of Icelanders see
hydrogen as the fuel of the future. A world hydrogen market is still decades
away from becoming a reality, however, and there are other practical
obstacles such as storage that still need to be resolved.
Iceland remains fully
committed to increasing the production of clean and renewable energy though,
with PII providing the most viable short-term outlet for its exploitation.
Speaking at an Energy Day in Brussels on 14 October, Icelandic Minister for
Energy and Commerce, Ms. Valgerdur Sverrisdóttir, stated that 'as a country
with an abundance of renewable energy resources, and corresponding levels of
expertise in the area, Iceland will lead the way towards meeting the targets
discussed at the world summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg.'
9) CUT DOWN ON GREENHOUSE GASES, EARN GREENBACKS
The Hindu
October 15, 2002
Internet:
http://thehindubusinessline.com/stories/2002101602180100.htm
INDIAN companies have
started out on the path of making millions of dollars by reducing greenhouse
gas emissions and selling the emission reductions as credits to developed
country institutions and companies. The first signs of carbon dollars materialising in the near future have emerged with six Indian companies
being shortlisted as part of the Certified Emissions Reductions Procurement
Tender (CERUPT) issued by the Dutch organisation, Senter International,
under orders from the Ministry of Environment, Government of the
Netherlands. Experts say that while this marks the beginning, there is a
far greater potential that the Indian industry can tap by trading greenhouse
gas emission reductions under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the
Climate Change Convention. According to the list published by the Indian
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the companies shortlisted are:
Ind-Bharat Energies, KalpaTaru Energy Venture, Vestas RRB (two projects),
Suzlon Energy and Enercon India. All the projects shortlisted are in the
renewable energy sector.
Ind-Bharat Energies and
KalpaTaru have submitted projects for 7.5-MW biomass-based power plants, in
Maharashtra and Rajasthan respectively. Vestas RRB submitted one proposal for 15 MW
power from wind-biomass project and another proposal for 14.45-MW wind power
(from advanced 850 kW wind turbines) project. Both projects are proposed in
Tamil Nadu. The other wind energy proposal is from Suzlon, which would
generate 15 MW of wind power from one MW wind turbines, at Sankaneri in
Tamil Nadu. The last project selected is a proposal for 15-MW grid-connected
renewable electricity supply project to be established at Nipani, Karnataka,
by Enercon India. According to Dr P.
Ram Babu of PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd (PwC), these companies have been
given a nominal amount from CERUPT to start the validation process and then
take the process forward. The cash flow can start once the agreement is
finalised. Dr Babu, who leads PwC's Sustainability Solutions Group in the
country, said that there was much optimism about Indian companies raking in
millions of dollars through carbon trading. While the six shortlisted could
get around Rs 50 crore for their carbon traded, PWC estimates a market of
$400 million for Indian industry in the initial years of carbon trading
itself.
When some of the
proposals for energy conservation in steel plants would materialise, the
potential would be for trading millions of tonnes of carbon from India, he
added. Though Kyoto Protocol lists six greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur
hexaflouride - the unit for transactions will be tonne carbon dioxide
equivalents (tCO2e). According to Dr Babu, for the CERUPT process a higher
price per tCO2e for the Indian wind energy projects for the carbon saved was
expected than the global average of 4.7 Euro stated by the Dutch agency
handling the tender. PwC had provided consultancy for three of the companies
shortlisted in the process. While the negotiations on the price are
expected to start in November, the fact that the six companies have started
with the process of carbon trading is significant since the Indian
Government will be hosting the Eighth Conference of Parties (CoP-8) at New
Delhi between October 23 and November 1. India ratified the Kyoto Protocol
on August 26 this year. This is a prerequisite before Indian companies can
start participating in carbon trading under CDM. The CDM process goes
through the stages of project identification, host country endorsement,
development of baseline emission data, validation by an independent agency
(Designated Operating Entity), registration with the Executive Board for CDM,
independent monitoring of the actual emission reductions and verification. The end of the process is the certification of emission reductions, which
can then be traded. However, according to Dr Babu, the cash flow for carbon
trading can start once the prices are negotiated.
10) UK ALKANE ENERGY LAUNCHES GREEN ENERGY
PARK
Planet Ark
October 14, 2002
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18167/story.htm
LONDON - UK energy group
Alkane Energy opened a new energy park in north England to turn polluting
methane gas into power to supply 8,000 homes and cut greenhouse gas
emissions. The new Alkane Energy Park built on the former
Wheldale coal mine in West Yorkshire in north England has a capacity of 10.6
megawatt and is expected to cut methane emissions from the mine by 85
percent, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said in a statement. "Converting methane from abandoned coal mines into electricity is an
innovative method of generating electricity," British Energy Minister Brian
Wilson said in the statement. "If fully exploited it could provide an
extremely valuable contribution to meeting the UK's
Kyoto targets." The Kyoto
protocol aims to curb global warming by cutting greenhouse gases such as
carbon dioxide and methane by 5.2 percent by 2008-2012 on 1990s levels. Britain plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 percent during the
same period under the Kyoto protocol. There are more than 1,000 abandoned
coalmines in the UK and estimates suggest they could leak up to 13.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the DTI said. Coalmine
methane gas is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide produced from
conventional coal-fired power stations, it added.
11)
EU ASSEMBLY BACKS CLIMATE EMISSIONS TRADING PLAN
Planet Ark
October 14, 2002
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18166/story.htm
BRUSSELS - The European
Parliament gave its backing to a plan that will limit the amount of
"greenhouse gases" firms can emit and encourage them to buy and sell the
right to pollute. The policy is a cornerstone of the European Union's
strategy to reduce the gas emissions, blamed for trapping heat in the
atmosphere, which it agreed to cut under the 1997 Kyoto treaty. Environment
Commissioner Margot Wallstrom called the action a "major step forward
towards implementing the Kyoto protocol within the EU". Under the bill,
from 2005 most heavy industries will be granted emissions permits by their
governments, setting ceilings on their outputs. If they exceed a maximum
emissions level, they will be allowed to buy extra credits from less
polluting firms. The bill will be discussed by EU environment ministers
next week. EU governments have joint legislative powers on the issue with
the European Parliament. In a key amendment, Parliament voted to allow
member states to let their industries opt out of the scheme until the end of
2007 - a change that would allow an existing, voluntary, emissions trading
scheme in Britain to continue.
Such an opt out would
only be allowed if member states could make the same emissions cuts as they
would under the EU scheme. Britain launched its trading system this year,
offering financial incentives for firms that volunteered to take part. According to British Liberal Democrat Euro MP Chris Davies, who pushed for
the change, some 6,000 companies are taking part in the scheme including
heavyweights like Shell UK, Blue Circle Industries and British Airways.
NO
THATCHERITE OPT-OUT
Wallstrom has said that
Britain would have to adapt its scheme once the EU system was in place,
threatening the British scheme's voluntary nature.Environment Minister
Michael Meacher told a conference in Brussels on Thursday that industry and
lawmakers needed time to learn how such a radical new scheme would work, but
that Britain would move to a mandatory system in time. Despite the possible
opt-out offered by the amendment, Greens in Parliament were pleased by the
vote which brings the EU a step closer to creating the world's first
coordinated greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. Dutch Green Alex de Roo said that for the trading to begin in 2005 EU ministers must agree to
its principles during their meeting next week, but that he expected Germany
to resist. Parliament said the scheme should include all six greenhouse
gases covered under Kyoto, rather than restricting it to the main one,
carbon dioxide, as proposed by the Commission.
12)
INDIA'S GDP TO BE IMPACTED BY GLOBAL WARMING
Rediff
October 14, 2002
Internet:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2002/oct/14gdp.htm
With earth's temperature
rising and leading to increase in sea level, climatic change will have
serious impact on agriculture, economy and human health, an issue, which
will be hotly debated at an international meet in New Delhi later in
November. The discussion is important for India as an increase in global
temperature can result in fall in food production and decline in India's
Gross Domestic Product by a significant 4.9 per cent in this century
according to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change. Billed to be
the largest-ever international gathering in India, the 8th Conference of
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
beginning on October 23, will be attended by 186 countries. The conference
assumes significance as it comes shortly after the Global Summit on
Environment in South Africa, which was sharply divided on the issue of
reducing the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
Without emission control policies, atmospheric concentrations of carbon
dioxide is expected to increase from the present 367 particles per million
to 490-1260 particles per million by the end of the century, the IPCC said.
Stabilising carbon
dioxide concentrations at 450 ppm, a major issue the conclave will have to
deal with, will require worldwide emissions to fall below 1990 level.
Developed countries are
primarily responsible for the current high levels of concentration of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere but are in a position to absorb the
impact of climate change on account of their economic strength. There is no
unanimity on the issue of reduction in emission of greenhouse gases, which
is a matter of concern as climate change is a global issue whose impact is
not limited to any specific country or region. Earth's temperature has
increased by 0.6 per cent in the 20th century. Temperature increase by more
than 2.5 per cent will reduce global food production resulting in
significant increase in food prices. Moreover the GDP of the US, European
Union, Africa and India can reduce by 0.5, 2.8, 3.9, and 4.9 per cent
respectively. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and
severity of heat waves and more intense rainfall leading to greater
flooding. Intensity of tropical cyclones will also worsen. It will reduce
ice cover of the seas, 14 per cent fall of which in the Arctic and 25 per
cent in the Antarctic has already been recorded. While the mid and high
latitudes of Northern Hemisphere receive heavy rains and snow, tropics and
sub-tropics will suffer from declining rains. Water availability in the
large basins of Africa has already declined. As a
result 1.7 billion people accounting for one-third of the world's population
live in water-stressed countries, which is expected to rise to five billion
by 2025. Climate change will also impact human health in the form of
increased incidence of vector borne diseases like malaria.
13) GREENLAND'S GLACIERS CRUMBLE GLOBAL WARMING MELTS
POLAR ICE CAP INTO DEADLY ICEBERGS
Washington Post
October 13, 2002
Internet:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18559-2002Oct12.html
ILULISSAT,
Greenland -- The iceberg was at
his back. Suddenly it began moving like a monster that was waking up.
Aqqaluk Lynge, hunting for seal on an ice sheet nearby, looked up in alarm,
knowing that these floating mountains off the coast of Greenland, for all their frozen beauty, are ruthless and deadly. So he decided to
get moving, he recounted recently. But the engine on his motorboat wouldn't
start. Lynge has a special reverence for
Greenland's icebergs. A member of the Inughuit native people, he's out on the
water often and says the icebergs have become more numerous and more
dangerous in recent years, a change he attributes to warming of the global
climate. Icebergs are tongues of glaciers that have broken off and fallen
into the sea. That process is called "calving," and it is often announced by
a loud hiss of ice crackling and air exploding from ancient ice. Soon after,
an iceberg is born and sent into the sea. If it is spring, the baby will
flow away. But if it is winter, it will be blocked and stay near the arms of
its mother, the glacier, until spring, when the sea ice melts and opens the
way. Once floating in the open sea, it may be unstable, flipping top to
bottom. This is the time when it is most dangerous for hunters on the sea.
In recent years, some
scientific surveys have shown that more icebergs are slipping into the sea,
as glaciers melt faster than expected. Greenland's ice cover, which holds 10
percent of the world's ice, has been thinning, studies have shown.
Scientists are debating why this is happening, whether it's part of global
warming or a local phenomenon, but they generally agree that something
unusual is going on. In Greenland, "the higher elevation appears to be stable, but in a lot of areas
around the coast the ice is thinning," said Waleed Abdalati, a manager in
the Earth Sciences Department of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "There
is a net loss of ice, particularly in the south. "In some places, the
coastal thinning is proceeding as fast as three feet each year. If this
signals a general global warming trend, researchers worry, so much ice could
melt that sea levels will rise and flood coastal cities. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has warned that water levels may increase
6 to 12 inches over the next century.
They have already been rising 10 to 12 inches per century along the U.S.
coast. NASA has been watching the melting of Greenland's ice sheets since 1993, when its scientists conducted airborne
studies. "We went back five years later to measure the same locations to see
how they changed. It was a snapshot in time of the changes," said Abdalati.
"If we can better understand changes, we can better predict what they are
likely to be in the future." Greenland is known for icebergs that seem to lurk behind fog. Visitors come here
to Ilulissat to go out to sea, get close to the icebergs and experience
their majesty. Nine-tenths of the ice mass hides beneath the sea. Ships must
be careful how they navigate these waters.
One of the largest
icebergs found here was four miles long. But as icebergs go, that is small.
The true monsters occur in the south, off Antarctica. One of the most
immense icebergs ever found there measured 200 miles long and 60 miles wide.
Last spring, a huge ice shelf attached to Antarctica snapped off the frozen
continent and split into thousands of small icebergs. Scientists, who had
been predicting for years that the ice there would snap, were surprised at
how fast the break-off happened. "The disintegration of the ice shelf, ice
that has been around for thousands of years, now gone and disappearing so
quickly -- that was a significant event," Abdalati said. Lynge remembers the
fear that chilled him that day when he was hunting near the iceberg. He was
out on an ice sheet, chasing a seal. The seal had dived and Lynge was
waiting for it to return to its breathing hole. Patience when seal hunting
is essential. So he waited. But the seal never came up. When an animal
begins to act strangely, such as not coming up for breath, something
tremendous is happening in nature, the native people here say. Just then he
noticed the iceberg moving. If the tip is moving, he knew, it can mean that
one end is moving up and the other end is moving down. Lynge turned
instantly and jumped into his motor boat, but it would not start. A friend
in another boat nearby quickly gave him a tow. Soon they were speeding away
from the iceberg, not waiting to look back. Behind them they heard it
turning. "We looked back and saw the whole iceberg was collapsing, exploding
almost," he says. "We were so afraid." Then it flipped, creating a great
tidal wave that crashed hard onto nearby shorelines. By then the two men
were out of the wave's path. "When we were finally far away, we could
breathe normally again. We were looking back and seeing nothing was left. It
exploded underneath the surface of the sea."
14) GLOBAL WARMING MAY HAVE CAUSED GIANT SQUID DEATHS
Reuters
October 11, 2002
Internet:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=worldnews&StoryID=1566796
LUARCA, Spain (Reuters)
- Global warming could be behind the mysterious deaths of giant squid off
the north coast of Spain, a marine biologist said on Friday.
Experts at a marine life
protection center in the northern region of Asturias said that of the 40
giant squid recorded in the area since 1962, three had been found in the
past month. "The increased sightings of dead giant squid could be due to
various factors, from (military) maneuvers to pollution and global warming,"
Angel Guerra, of the Spanish Institute of Scientific Research, told Reuters
as he dissected one of the squid in an attempt to establish why it had died.
The giant squid, the mythical monster of the deep that attacked Captain
Nemo's Nautilus in the Jules Verne adventure "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
the Sea," is believed to lurk in cool waters at a depth of between 600 and
2,300 feet. Scientists say warm water will cause a giant squid to rise to
the surface and not be able to get back down, which is why they are probably
more likely to be found in cooler water. Giant squid are the world's largest
invertebrates which can grow up to almost 60 feet in length and weigh up to
two tons. No specimen of the creature, whose eyes can be as large as a human
head, has ever been studied alive. One of the giant squid the biologist was
cutting up in Luarca was the first male of the species -- also known as
Architeuthis Dux -- ever seen so far south. "The fact that no males had been
found here could be due to the abundance of females versus males, and the
fact that they live apart until they come together to reproduce in a deep
shelf off the coast of Asturias," he said.
15) GERMANY TO PRESS EU FOR NEW GREENHOUSE GAS TARGETS
Planet Ark
October 11, 2002
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18146/story.htm
BERLIN - Germany's
Greens, junior partners in the coalition government, said this week they
would urge the EU to set new targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
which go beyond those agreed under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. "We want an EU
agreement to cut emissions of gases that damage the environment by 30
percent compared with 1990 levels by 2020," the chairman of the Greens,
Fritz Kuhn, told a news conference. "If we are successful in this, the
German government will cut carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions by 40
percent (compared to 1990 levels) by 2020." Under the Kyoto accord, the
European Union has to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent of
1990 levels by 2012. Scientists say emissions of gases such as carbon
dioxide (CO2) in fuel combustion are causing a greenhouse effect, warming up
the atmosphere. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats are in the
middle of working out a new government programme with the Greens after the
coalition narrowly won re-election last month. The coalition agreement is
due to be completed by the first sitting of parliament on October 17.
16)
CONTROL OF METHANE EMISSIONS WOULD REDUCE BOTH GLOBAL WARMING AND AIR
POLLUTION, RESEARCHERS FIND
Science Daily
October 10, 2002
Internet:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021010065923.htm
WASHINGTON - Both air
pollution and global warming could be reduced by controlling emissions of
methane gas, according to a new study by scientists at Harvard University,
the Argonne National Laboratory, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The reason, they say, is that methane is directly linked to the production
of ozone in the troposphere, the lowest part of Earth's atmosphere,
extending from the surface to around 12 kilometers [7 miles] altitude. Ozone
is the primary constituent of smog and both methane and ozone are
significant greenhouse gases. A simulation based upon emissions projections
by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a longer
and more intense ozone season in the United States by 2030, despite domestic
emission reductions, the researchers note. Mitigation should therefore be
considered on a global scale, the researchers say, and must take into
account a rising global background level of ozone. Currently, the U.S.
standard is based upon 84 parts per billion by volume of ozone, not to be
exceeded more than three times per year, a standard that is not currently
met nationwide. In Europe, the standard is much stricter, 55-65 parts of
ozone per billion by volume, but these targets are also exceeded in many
European countries.
Writing this month in
the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Arlene M. Fiore and her colleagues
say that one way to simultaneously decrease ozone pollution and greenhouse
warming is to reduce methane emissions. Ozone is formed in the troposphere
by chemical reactions involving methane, other organic compounds, and carbon
monoxide, in the presence of nitrogen oxides and sunlight. Methane is known
to be a major source of ozone throughout the troposphere, but is not usually
considered to play a key role in the production of ozone smog in surface
air, because of its long lifetime. Sources of manmade methane include,
notably, herds of cattle and other ungulates, rice production, and leaks of
natural gas from pipelines, according to the IPCC. In addition, natural
sources of methane include wetlands, termites, oceans, and gas hydrate
nodules on the sea floor. In a baseline study in 1995, 60 percent of methane
emissions to the atmosphere were the result of human activity. The IPCC's A1
scenario, which Fiore characterizes as "less optimistic in terms of
anticipated emissions than a companion B1 scenario," posits economic
development as the primary policy influencing future trends of manmade
emissions in most countries. Under A1, emissions would increase globally
from 1995 to 2030, but their distribution would shift. Manmade nitrogen
oxides would decline by 10 percent in the developed world, but increase by
130 percent in developing countries. During the same period, methane
emissions would increase by 43 percent globally, according to the A1
scenario.
The researchers find
that a reduction of manmade methane by 50 percent would have a greater
impact on global tropospheric ozone than a comparable reduction in manmade
nitrogen oxide emissions. Reducing surface nitrogen oxide emissions does
effectively improve air quality by decreasing surface ozone levels, but this
impact tends to be localized, and does not yield much benefit in terms of
greenhouse warming. Reductions in methane emissions would, however, help to
decrease greenhouse warming by decreasing both methane and ozone in the
atmosphere world-wide, and this would also help to reduce surface air
pollution. Both in the United States and Europe, aggressive programs of
emission controls aimed at lowering ozone-based pollution may be offset by
rising emissions of methane and nitrogen oxides from developing countries,
the researchers write. Pollution could therefore increase, despite these
controls, and the summertime pollution season would actually lengthen,
according to the simulation under the A1 scenario. The study was funded by
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), and the National Science Foundation.
17) JAPAN TO TALK CLIMATE CHANGE
The Daily Post
October 10, 2002
Internet:
http://www.fijilive.com/news/news.php3?art=10/10r.htm
Japan is to pursue
climate-change and waste management talks with Pacific Island Forum
countries in an effort to convince other development nations to take the
same steps it has in the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
Japans Foreign Minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi last night told the chair of the
Forum countries, Fijis Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase that next years
Summit or PALM (Pacific Island Leaders
Meeting) between the Japanese Prime Minister and Forum countries is intended
to encourage and develop actions on such abnormal patterns. Ms Kawaguchi
assured Mr Qarase that Japans stand on climate-change was very strong, and
they hoped that other developed countries such as Russia, the United States
of America and Australia would ratify it.
18) AUSTRIA LAGS BEHIND IN BATTLE AGAINST GREENHOUSE
GASES
EU Business
October 10, 2002
Internet:
http://www.eubusiness.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=92940&d=101&h=240&f=56&dateformat=%25o%20%25B%20%25Y
VIENNA, Oct 10 (AFP) -
Austria, a champion of renewable energy in Europe, is paradoxically lagging
behind its European Union partners in the battle against greenhouse gases,
which it has pledged to dramatically reduce. Having promised in 1997 to cut
greenhouse gases by 13 percent from 1990 to 2012, Austria has instead seen
them climb by 2.7 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to a recent study
by the European Environment Agency (EEA). "We are a long way away from the
Kyoto protocol. Only four countries in the European Union -- Spain, Ireland,
Portugal and Belgium -- are further away than us," said Stefan Schleicher,
an economist and member of the Austrian commission on climatic change.
strategy to fight greenhouse gases by developing rail transport, saving
energy and subsidising renewable energy. "These are only declarations of
intention which are in no way binding," noted Schleicher, slamming the
government for its "lack of political will" to battle the problem. A quarter
of Austria's total energy comes from renewable energy sources. The small
alpine country, with eight million inhabitants, prides itself on producing
70 percent of its electricity in hydroelectric plants.
In Europe, only
Luxembourg, which produces 73.3 percent of its energy in hydroelectric
plants, and Norway, with 99.6 percent, use a larger percentage of this
renewable source. Austria is also European leader
in thermal solar energy -- which is used for central heating and hot water
-- with 268 square metres (2,884 square feet) of solar panels for each 1,000
inhabitants, a recent study by European institute EurObserv'ER showed. But
the share of renewable energy in Austria's total energy production is
dropping, warned Erwin Mayer, a Greenpeace climate expert. He said that the
explosion in road traffic and the fuel consumption it has brought have more
than negated the environmental benefits of a rise in renewable energy. "Cars
do not run on renewable energy but on fuel, and traffic is increasing
throughout the country," notably because of the increase of heavy goods
transport between eastern and western Europe, he said. The Kyoto objectives
are not being respected because of "a transport policy which favours the
road too much, a lack of ecological tax which makes energy too inexpensive,
and because a plan to fight greenhouse gases adopted by the council of
ministers, which requires an annual budget of 90 million euros (88 million
dollars), has not been put into practice", said Mayer.
Floods which ravaged
swathes of Austria in August "have raised consciousness among the
population, who are now convinced that they must act," he said.
Seven weeks ahead of
legislative ballots on November 24, the catastrophic floods -- linked by
some experts to climate destabilisation caused by the greenhouse effect --
seem to be aiding the Green Party's election campaign. Opinion polls show
they have 13 percent support, twice their share of the vote at the last
elections in 1999.
According to Mayer, the
Austrians' environmental awareness has had an impact on political discourse.
"Austrian politicians back the most progressive positions in all conferences
on the climate -- but the gap between what they say and what they do is
bigger than in any other country," he said.
19) EU MOVES TOWARD IMPLEMENTATION OF KYOTO PROTOCOL
VOA News
October 10, 2002
Internet:
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=832C7EC7-166C-4462-BA7C4E4F5E2CEAD5
The European Parliament
has approved a plan that aims to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions. The
European Union assembly Thursday voted to approve a measure that would
obligate EU countries to abide by the 1997 Kyoto agreement to reduce
industrial greenhouse gas emissions to below 1990 levels by the year 2012.
Under the proposal, most
heavy industries would be granted permits by their governments setting
limits on their pollution emissions. EU Environment Commissioner Margot
Wallstroem said Thursday's vote is a major step toward implementing the
Kyoto agreement. European Union environment ministers are scheduled to
begin discussing the proposed plan next week. The 15-nation EU has already
ratified Kyoto in principle, but has yet to find ways to successfully
implement it.
20) U.S. FEELS SAFE FROM ANY TRADE THREATS OVER KYOTO
ENN
October 10, 2002
Internet:
http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/10/10102002/reu_48658.asp
BRUSSELS, Belgium The top U.S.
negotiator on climate change said Wednesday the United States may face
future trade disputes because of its rejection of the Kyoto pact, but such
challenges were unlikely to succeed. The United States has been portrayed
as the global environmental villain by green groups since it pulled out of
Kyoto climate change pact last year, and some campaigners would like to see
legal and trade sanctions against Washington. But U.S. Senior Climate
Negotiator Harlan Watson said he doubted any country could successfully use
trade rules to challenge the U.S. position on global warming. "The trade
issue is a concern voiced by the business community," Watson said in
response to questions from reporters while on a visit to Brussels. Some
environmentalists say U.S. exporters should be penalized as they will have
an unfair competitive advantage over companies in places such as Europe and
Japan that will be forced to cut their emissions under the Kyoto pact. "We
do not believe that, based on what came out of Doha (the 2001 agreement to
launch a new round of world trade talks), it will be a problem, but it won't
prevent perhaps action being undertaken at some point.," said Watson. "We do
not believe we can be penalized for not entering a treaty regime that we
have not agreed to." Watson said he was even less concerned by legal
challenges already launched against the United States, which emits around
one-quarter of the world's human-made greenhouse gases blamed by some
scientists for blocking heat in the atmosphere.
The tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu, which faces
annihilation from rising sea levels that some scientists think are a result
of global warming, has threatened the United States with a lawsuit. Boulder, Colo., teamed up with two green groups to launch a case against
U.S. government finance agencies for funding fossil fuel projects that, they
claim, harm their interests because of the climate change threat. "We don't
take that seriously right now, but obviously it is a long-run concern,"
Watson said.
Watson will represent
the United States at the next global climate change negotiations in New
Delhi later this month, the first since the Kyoto pact was salvaged from the
U.S. pull-out by an agreement in Bonn, Germany, last year. Although no
longer a part of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires developed countries to
reduce their greenhouse emissions by 5.2 percent of 1990 levels by 2012, the
United States remains a party to its parent treaty, the 1992 U.N. Framework
Convention on Climate Change.
21) BUSH ADMINISTRATION SIDES WITH CAR MAKERS IN
CALIFORNIA EMISSION FIGHT
Associated Press
October 9, 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/dowjones/20021010/bs_dowjones/200210092110000866
WASHINGTON -- The Bush
administration sided Wednesday with auto manufacturers in opposing a
California requirement that a percentage of passenger vehicles sold in the
state achieve zero emissions, meaning reliance on all-electric cars. The
Justice Department maintained that federal law overrides any state effort to
regulate fuel economy for cars and trucks. In a 37-page filing with a
federal appeals court in San Francisco, the department lawyers argued that
California's zero-emission mandate impinges on what is solely a federal
responsibility. "The Energy Policy and Conservation Act provides that when a
federal fuel- economy standard is in effect, a state or a political
subdivision of a state may not adopt or enforce a law or regulation related
to fuel-economy standards," the department argued. In its court papers, the
state of California says there is an exception to the federal Clean Air Act
permitting the state to regulate auto emissions.
But the Justice filing
maintained that Congress has never authorized California or any other state
to enact regulations related to fuel-economy standards. California's
zero-emission mandate, covering an increasing percentage of new cars and
trucks, was to have taken effect next year, but General Motors Corp. ,
DaimlerChrysler Corp. and several California auto dealers won a preliminary
injunction that delays implementation for two years. The standard says that
for model years 2003 through 2008, at least 10% of the passenger cars and
light-duty trucks in California must emit no pollution. The state argues
that the auto companies have various technologies to meet the new standards,
but the federal court which granted the injunction found that these are
impractical. Neither the Justice filing, nor the court case, is related to a
separate California law, enacted earlier this year, that limits vehicle
emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases believed to contribute to global
warming. Auto makers, who have threatened a lawsuit against that law as
well, have said the only way they can reduce carbon dioxide coming out of
tailpipes is to sell cars that use less fuel.
22) GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REVEALS MAJOR GREENHOUSE GAS
REDUCTIONS AND AIR QUALITY BENEFITS FROM WIDESPREAD USE OF 'GREEN ROOFS'
National Research Council Communiqué
October 9, 2002
Internet:
http://www.nrc.ca/corporate/english/media/news/green02_e.html
(October 9, 2002 -
Toronto, Ontario) -- City of
Toronto Deputy Mayor Case Ootes, as well as public and industry delegates
today gathered at Toronto City Hall for a demonstration of the National
Research Council (NRC)-led green roof initiative and to announce findings of
a major study completed by Environment Canada indicating how green roofs can
save millions of dollars in energy consumption, improve air quality and
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The Green Roof Infrastructure
Demonstration Project is a $1 million public-private partnership between
NRC's Institute for Research in Construction (NRC-IRC), Environment Canada,
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the City of Toronto, the Toronto Atmospheric
Fund and the Technology Early Action Measures component of the Government of
Canada's Climate Change Action Fund. The project consists of planting
vegetation on building rooftops using infrastructure technology such as
highly water-and-root-repellant membranes. NRC has instrumented the roofing
systems and will monitor their performance over the next two years. These
systems are located on two green roof sites, the publicly accessible City
Hall podium roof and the recently completed Eastview Neighbourhood Community
Centre, in Toronto. "NRC's green roof infrastructure research initiative
demonstrates the Government of Canada's commitment to innovation and the
development of sustainable, healthy and economically competitive cities, and
to improving the quality of life in Canadian communities through investments
in environmental technologies," said Allan Rock, Industry Minister and
Minister responsible for the National Research Council.Findings from an
Environment Canada study show green roofs can help Torontonians save energy,
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide and
breathe easier on hot summer days. Toronto's summer temperatures are 4oC to
10oC higher than those in the surrounding rural communities, a phenomenon
known as the urban heat island effect. This means that more energy is
consumed to cool buildings, leading to more air pollution, in the form of
smog and sulphur dioxide, as well as more greenhouse gases. The study
illustrates that relatively minimal green roof implementation, approximately
6% of the total available roof space, can reduce summer air temperatures in
the City of Toronto by 1-2oC."Environment Canada's study shows that green
roofs can contribute to a reduction of energy use, which in turn helps
reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. We are happy to
be involved in the research and thinking for innovative ways of dealing with
climate change and clean air," said the Honourable David Anderson, Minister
of the Environment. "The Government of Canada not only supports this
initiative, but we are acting on it with the construction of Canada's new
War Museum in Ottawa which will
feature a green roof." Even a 1oC reduction in the urban heat island will
result in a 5% decrease in demand for electricity for cooling and
refrigeration, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions. Combined with
direct energy savings on buildings, green roofs can save an estimated $1
million in energy costs per year, reduce GHG emissions by an estimated 2.18
MT based on 6.5 km2 of green roof coverage, and remove 30 metric tonnes of
pollutants from the air. The reductions are measured in CO2."When it comes
to climate change, innovative thinking and programs are key," said Herb
Dhaliwal, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. "Projects such as this
clearly show that we can address climate change while making our cities more
liveable." "Green roofs can help Toronto manage projected future population
growth by creating accessible green spaces from existing roof tops," said
Case Ootes, City of Toronto Deputy Mayor. "Green roof investment and
incentives will also generate jobs, here in Toronto, while reducing air
pollution." "Green roof infrastructure investment addresses many key
challenges facing cities across North America such as how to grow our cities
up rather than sprawling to accommodate new growth and still maintain a very
high quality of life," said Steven Peck, Executive Director, Green Roofs for
Healthy Cities. "This research will help us to develop appropriate public
incentives to encourage widespread private sector green roof installation
and build a green roof industry in Canada."Modern green roofs are an
extension of the roofing system that can be designed to support different
vegetation. The system involves growing plants on the top of built
structures, below, at or above grade using a combination of plants, light
weight engineered growing media, filter cloths, drainage layers and highly
water-and-root repellant membranes. The project allows researchers to
monitor storm water retention, energy efficiency and roof membrane
durability. There are also plans to use these data to model the storm water
benefits of green roofs later this year, in partnership with the Toronto and
Region Conservation Authority.
This initiative builds
upon the Government of Canada's commitment to ensuring a clean, healthy
environment and preserving our natural spaces, which are essential elements
of our quality of life. For additional information, such as the project
background and technical data, please visit the project Website at
www.greenroofs.ca
23)
FINANCIAL SECTOR, GOVERNMENTS AND BUSINESS MUST ACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE OR
FACE THE CONSEQUENCES
UNEP
October 8, 2002
Internet:
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=266&ArticleID=3140
Too few financial
companies including banks, pension funds and insurance companies are taking
the risks and opportunities posed by climate change seriously, members of
the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Finance Initiatives are
warning. Zurich/Nairobi, 8 October 2002 - Losses as a result of natural
disasters appear to be doubling every decade and have reached one trillion
US dollars in the past 15 years. Annual losses, in the next ten years, will
reach close to $150 billion if current trends continue. The massive economic
losses stemming from the devastating summertime flooding in central Europe
are in line with the kinds of increasingly severe weather events anticipated
by scientists as a result of human-induced climate change. This year has
also seen a failure of the Monsoon in Asia, dramatic forest fires in the
United States and the onset of another El Nino event in the Pacific.
Members of the UNEP
Finance Initiatives, a unique partnership between UNEP and 295 banks,
insurance and investment companies, argue that climate change-driven,
natural disasters, have the potential to wreak havoc across the world's
stock markets and financial centres. "The increasing frequency of severe
climatic events, threatening the social stability or coupled with
significant social costs, has the potential to stress insurers, reinsurers
and banks to the point of impaired viability or even insolvency," the
report, Climate Change and the Financial Services Industry, says. The
property market, where loans for houses and buildings are made over
relatively large periods, could be particularly vulnerable as a result of
extreme weather events. Home-owners and companies with property holdings may
find that their insurance cover is cancelled at short notice, leaving them
highly exposed.
Government action to
arrest the problem will inevitably mean a reduction in emissions of the main
sources of greenhouse gases linked with global warming. This will require
cut backs and the more efficient use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
Asset managers, such as pension funds which are slow to appreciate the
climate change threat, may see the value of energy or power company holdings
decline as investors become more aware of the liabilities linked with carbon
intensive industries, the report further concludes. Yet opportunities are
emerging that should allow the financial services industry to reduce or
hedge against the risks and even help curb emissions of the greenhouse gases
linked with the de-stabilisation of the Earth's climate and weather systems.
The report says that the
annual market in trading greenhouse gases, emerging as a result of
international agreements to reduce emissions, could be worth as much as US $
two trillion by 2012. The market for clean energy could stand at $1.9
trillion by 2020, according to some estimates. Meanwhile the financial
services industry, with over $26 trillion in assets under management, could
if mobilized "wield significant influence over future economic
development
.and therefore the future global greenhouse gas emissions" for
the benefit of itself and society as a whole. However a survey of mainstream
financial institutions carried out for the report indicates that most are
"unaware of the climate change issue" or have adopted a "wait and see
policy". These attitudes are due to the prolonged wrangling over the Kyoto
Protocol, the international treaty designed to deal with the threat of
global warming, compounded by practical issues like the lack of solid
information on emissions and delays in finalising the regulations of the new
greenhouse gas markets.
As a result, only a
small group of forward looking financial companies are addressing the issue
many of whom are reinsurers whose businesses are already feeling the
economic impact of rising, weather-related, insurance claims. Klaus Toepfer,
UNEP Executive Director, said today at the launch of the report: "This
report is a wake up call for the global financial community. It highlights
the real risks and economic perils they are facing as a result of
human-influenced climate change. It also highlights how the industry can
make a real difference through harnessing the new market instruments and
mechanisms made possible by the Kyoto Protocol and by developing their own
imaginative solutions." "It also underscores how, given the financial muscle
available to them, these institutions could move markets and minds to
deliver a cleaner, healthier and less vulnerable world for the benefit of
the world economy, for the benefit of people everywhere," he said. The
report and its studies, supported by a group of the world's biggest banks,
insurers and re-insurers, were launched today at the Swiss Re Greenhouse Gas
conference in Zurich, Switzerland. The findings will also be presented to
governments at the next round of climate change negotiations set to commence
in New Delhi, India, on 23 October until 1
November.
"In addition to the
emitting industry needing to take a carbon constrained future into account",
concluded John H. Fitzpatrick, CFO and member of the Executive Board of
Swiss Re, "the financial services industry, of which we are a part, also has
an obligation to contribute to the solution of these problems through its
own investments and business expertise. After all, climate change and
substantial emissions reductions - like any other strategic global business
challenge - ultimately becomes a financial issue. The problems associated
with environmental disasters quickly become measured in dollars and cents.
Our industry needs to lead by developing financial solutions and risk
mitigation techniques to assist our clients in achieving global emission
reductions." The report has drawn up a blue-print for action, designed to
galvanize the financial services industry to address the climate change
threat more directly. The blue-print is also aimed at assisting governments
to create the right conditions for the industry to operate swiftly and
effectively in delivering new climate-related businesses and markets.
Recommendations include
urging insurers and re-insurers to better reflect the risks from
climate-related perils in policies and to develop public/private
partnerships in high-risk areas so that cover can be maintained. Commercial
banks should fully price risks from climate change into loan agreements and
give incentives to schemes that encourage energy efficiency or cleaner
fuels. Asset managers, such as pension funds, should request the companies
in which they invest better information on their carbon emissions and their
exposure to greenhouse gases. Accountants, actuaries, analysts, credit
rating agencies and others providing professional services should help
corporate clients to better understand the threats and opportunities of
climate change. Greenhouse gas trading markets need standardized accounting
methods to operate and is thus another area where professional people and
their professional organizations can help.
Meanwhile governments
are urged to adopt a long term, global plan, to keep greenhouse gases at
safe levels. This is vital because the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012
whereas carbon dioxide, methane and the other greenhouse gases can persist
in the atmosphere for many tens of decades. At home, governments should also
take a variety of actions including a clear commitment on how greenhouse gas
reduction targets will be met alongside economic incentives for investing in
clean energy schemes and clean energy research and development. Governments
are also asked to work with stock market regulators to help boost
understanding of the impacts of global warming on publicly listed companies
and new offerings. The report concludes by calling for a major drive to
mobilise the financial sector on this issue and recommends that new
financial techniques and methods are developed to help investors and project
financiers factor in climate change into the valuation of their assets.
See Also:
http://www.unepfi.net/cc/ceobriefing_ccwg_unepfi.pdf
http://www.unepfi.net/cc/mod1_ccwg_unepfi.pdf
http://www.unepfi.net/cc/mod2_ccwg_unepfi.pdf
24) THREE-QUARTERS OF CANADIANS SUPPORT KYOTO: POLL
CTV
October 8, 2002
Internet:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1034014051181_29423251/?hub=Canada
Three-quarters of
Canadians support implementing the Kyoto Accord, but many say the government
needs to spend more time investigating the time and cost of the
environmental accord, according to a new poll. The Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and
Mail poll shows that 74 per cent of those surveyed said they strongly
supported or somewhat supported the environmental accord. However, those
numbers are down 12 points from a survey conducted between May 22 and June
2. The Kyoto Protocol requires Canada to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
by 6 per cent to below 1990 levels by 2012. Support for the environmental
treaty was lowest in Alberta, (27 per cent). Alberta Premier Ralph Klein is
a staunch critic of the accord and is pushing for a made-in-Canada solution.
Support for the accord was strongest in Quebec, with 85 per cent, followed
by 81 per cent in Ontario, 70 per cent in the Atlantic, 68 per cent in British Columbia and 67 per cent
in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
However, 78 per cent of
Canadians surveyed said the government needs to spend more time
"investigating the costs and impact of the Kyoto Accord before implementing
it." That's down four points since June. Albertans (88 per cent) are most
likely to express this view, followed by Saskatchewan/Manitoba (84 per
cent), B.C. and Atlantic Canada (both 80 per cent), Ontario (76 per cent)
and Quebec (75 per cent). Another 57 per cent, up five points since June,
said the government should ratify it, even if it means significant costs to
the economy and causes the Canadian lifestyle to change. Regionally,
residents of Quebec (71 per cent) are most likely to hold this view, and
Albertans (16 per cent) are least likely to hold this view. As well, 71 per
cent of those surveyed said "it is possible for Canada to develop an
alternative to the accord." That number is unchanged since the previous
poll. Support for this question was strongest in Alberta (91 per cent)
where Klein has established an anti-Kyoto task force and launched an
advertising campaign blasting the cost of the accord, claiming that it will
cost the province up to $1 billion annually. Quebec came in behind Alberta
with 76 per cent, followed by Atlantic Canada with 74 per cent.
Saskatchewan/Manitoba (67 per cent), B.C. (66 per cent) and Ontario (65 per
cent) followed closely behind.
Prime Minister Jean
Chretien announced at the end of August that the government would ratify the
Kyoto accord this year. However, Alberta and industry are against the
environmental accord, saying it will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and
raise electricity bills. The poll was conducted between Oct. 1-3. It is
based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians, and is
considered accurate to within plus or minus three percentage points, 19
times out of 20.
25) REPUBLICANS BLOCK GLOBAL WARMING IN US ENERGY BILL
Planet Ark
October 7, 2002
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18065/story.htm
WASHINGTON - Republican
House negotiators refused to allow a prime Senate goal - tracking U.S.
companies' greenhouse gas emissions - into a comprehensive energy bill last
week but a leading senator said the issue was not dead. With time running
out for this session of Congress, negotiators from the U.S. House of
Representatives and Senate have failed to settle any of the energy bill's
major issues. Republicans and Democrats clashed over allowing drilling in an
Alaskan wildlife refuge, the extent of reforms for U.S. electricity markets,
and how quickly to boost production of ethanol-mixed gasoline. But Rep.
Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican leading the talks, was not yet ready to
give up. Private discussions were expected through the weekend, Tauzin
said, and he expected "by Tuesday to be in a position to vote" on major
issues. Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman said, "We're
continuing to have meetings."
A major goal of the
Republican-run House, and of President (George W.) Bush, was opening the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, to oil and gas exploration. The
Democratic-run Senate has refused to consider ANWR drilling. Last week,
House negotiators were successful in keeping out a Senate plan for companies
to report heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions that are linked to global
warming, rejecting the Senate language, 13-2. "I can assure you, it is not a
dead issue from the perspective of the Senate," responded Bingaman, a New
Mexico Democrat. House and Senate negotiators have to agree before an issue
can be included in a compromise bill. "We want to have a bill, but it has to
be a bill that's good energy policy," said Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas
Republican and leading House negotiator. Barton earlier suggested the energy
bill should be scrapped if the Senate would not compromise on ANWR, located
in northern Alaska. Bush and his Republican allies contend access to the oil
is needed more than ever because of potential U.S. military strikes against
Iraq. ANWR holds a potential 16 billion barrels of oil - equal to the amount
of crude oil the United States imports from foreign countries for five
years. The refuge is also home to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife,
which has turned it into a rallying point for environmental opposition.
26) CITY COUNCIL LAUNCHES ACTION PLAN TO HELP FIGHT
GREENHOUSE GASES
The Scotsman
October 4, 2002
Internet:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1099482002
ABERDEEN City Council
has become the first local authority in Scotland to draw up its own climate
change action plan to deal with the predicted regional consequences of
global warming. The plan was officially launched yesterday at a conference
at the citys Town House which was addressed by Sir John Houghton, a world
expert on global climate change and a former chairman of the Royal
Commission on Environmental Pollution. The councils action plan details a
series of practical measures which ordinary citizens and local businesses,
as well as the authority, can take to reduce greenhouse gases and to plan
ahead for the consequences of global warning. Councillor Ted Harris, the
convener of the city councils environment and climate change working group,
said: "Latest predictions for the north of Scotland show that by the end of
this century we could have increases in temperatures of around 2C to 3.5C
and heavier winter rainfall by up to 25 per cent in the next 80 years.
"There may be more intense storms, up to 90 per cent less snowfall,
increased wind speeds and rising sea levels. While many people say they look
forward to warmer summers, Im sure none of us relishes more intense
rainfall, flooding or wind speed." He added: "The reality is that such
changes will create serious problems for the council and other agencies to
cope with, including health, water and emergency services. We also need to
be aware of our responsibility to the problems climate change will cause in
other parts of the world. "Therefore, we at Aberdeen City Council are
leading the city on tackling climate change. We must first ensure we reduce
the emissions from fossil fuels - greenhouse gases - that are causing
climate change. Secondly we should mitigate against the greenhouse gases by
intervening to capture or reduce them and thirdly we must look at adaptation
in terms of planning for potential problems in the future, in Aberdeen and
the north east of Scotland."
The Aberdeen initiative
was praised by Allan Wilson, the Scottish Deputy Minister for Environment
and Rural Development. He said: "Scottish Ministers are committed to
tackling climate change, but an effective strategy to tackle climate change
must engage with local communities. The publication of Aberdeen City
Councils climate change action plan underlines its commitment to lead the
response in its own community. "The plan will act as an incentive to others
to reduce greenhouse gases, and increase their capacity to adapt to the
unavoidable impacts of climate change."
27)
UK OFFSHORE WIND FARMS GET GREEN LIGHT, 20 MLN STG SUPPORT
Planet Ark
October 4, 2002
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18042/story.htm
LONDON - Britain's first
two offshore wind farms have won 20 million pounds in government aid to
power 100,000 homes and boost green energy, the Department for Trade and
Industry said this week. "These developments are a major step forward for
the UK offshore wind industry, and the clearest signal yet that
UK manufacturing can play its part in the
growing market for sustainable energy at home and abroad," UK Energy
Minister Brian Wilson said in a statement.
The funding will be
split equally between the two sites off the coasts of North Wales and
Norfolk which are the first to gain full consent out of 18 potential
projects identified by offshore developers. National Windpower, part of UK
utility Innogy, will operate the North Wales site, comprising 30 turbines
and a total capacity of 90 megawatt (MW), to provide 50,000 homes with
electricity. Innogy is owned by German energy company RWE.
Powergen, owned by
German utility E.ON, will operate the other site, which will include 39
turbines and have a capacity of up to 80 MW to power 50,000 homes.
The 20 million pounds
aid package is part of a wider 300 million pounds programme to boost the use
of renewable energy such as solar, wind and biomass power and cut polluting
greenhouse gas emissions on the energy-hungry island. The burning of fossil
fuels such as oil and coal emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide
(CO2) - widely blamed for global warming. Britain aims to cut its CO2
emissions by 12.5 percent by 2010 on 1990s levels under a global Kyoto
Protocol to cut greenhouse gases and curb gloabal warming. It also plans to
slash greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent during the same period. Under
a Renewables Obligation the UK government wants electricity suppliers to
take 10 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2010. Britain currently takes 2.8 percent of its electricity from renewable
energy. The government also launched new guidelines for developers on where
to locate their wind farms to avoid interfering with military and civil
aviation operations. Radar can be disrupted by wind turbines.
28) SCIENTISTS FIND FIRST EVIDENCE OF CORAL BLEACHING IN
NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN CHAIN
The Associated Press
October 4, 2002
Internet:
http://pennlive.com/newsflash/topstory/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0791_BC_CoralReefExpedition
&&news&newsflash-topstory
HONOLULU (AP) --
Scientists have found the first evidence of coral bleaching in the Hawaiian
Islands, providing a worrisome sign of more potential environmental damage
from global warming. Coral bleaching happens when the algae that populate
and build the coral die off. The bleaching was discovered around the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 10 mostly uninhabited islets and atolls that
extend 1,200 miles northwest of the main
Hawaiian Islands. The reefs are
some of the most pristine in the world. Scientists said that the reefs will
probably recover in a few weeks but that the condition should be watched
closely. "It's important not to overreact to the evidence of coral bleaching
we've observed during this trip," said Greta Aeby, a coral biologist with
the state. "In severe cases, coral bleaching can cause mortality, but most
mildly bleached colonies will recover in a few weeks." Coral bleaching has
increased worldwide over the past several decades, particularly in Florida.
Some environmentalists have warned that coral reefs are headed for
extinction. Short-term bleaching happens in higher water temperatures and
often is linked to global warming. Pollution can also cause bleaching.
Federal officials are working to establish a national marine sanctuary in
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which have more than 70 percent of the
nation's coral reefs. They are home to endangered seals and a rich variety
of other wildlife.
See Also:
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands educational project:
http://www.hawaiianatolls.org/
Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve:
http://www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov
29) INCREASED CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS ARE MIXED BLESSING
FOR AGRICULTURE: YIELDS INCREASE, BUT NUTRITIONAL VALUE DECREASES
COMTEX
October 4, 2002
Internet:
http://library.northernlight.com/FG20021004070000039.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct 03,
2002 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- A new study suggests that rising levels of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could be a boon for agricultural crops, as
this greenhouse gas helps crop plants grow and reproduce more. But that
boon comes with a price, said Peter Curtis, a professor of evolution,
ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State University. Greater growth
and reproduction may hurt the nutritional value of crops. "If you're
looking for a positive spin on rising CO2 levels, it's that agricultural
production in some areas is bound to increase," Curtis said. "Crops have
higher yields when more CO2 is available, even if growing conditions aren't
perfect." "But there's a tradeoff between quantity and quality. While crops
may be more productive, the resulting produce will be of lower nutritional
quality."
Nutritional quality
declines because while the plants produce more seeds under higher CO2
levels, the seeds contain less nitrogen. "The quality of the food produced
by the plant decreases, so you've got to eat more of it to get the same
benefits," Curtis said. "Nitrogen is a critical component for building
protein in animals, and much of the grain grown in the United States is fed
to livestock." "Under the rising CO2 scenario, livestock -- and humans --
would have to increase their intake of plants to compensate for the loss." The research appears in the current issue of the journal New Phytologist. To understand the role that rising CO2 levels may play on plant growth,
Curtis and his colleagues conducted a meta-analysis -- a technique in which
researchers pull together data from a large number of similar studies (159,
in this case) and summarize the results. Curtis said that this is the first
time that researchers have used the meta-analysis technique to determine the
effects of climate change on plant reproduction. The studies were published
between 1983 and 2000. The results included data on crop and wild plant
species' reproductive responses to estimated CO2 levels at the end of this
century. Scientists expect CO2 levels to nearly double by 2100.
The researchers analyzed
eight different ways plants respond to higher CO2 levels: number of flowers;
number of fruits; fruit weight; number of seeds; total seed weight;
individual seed weight; the amount of nitrogen contained in seeds; and a
plant's reproductive allocation, a measurement of a plant's capacity to
reproduce.
Plants grown at higher
CO2 levels had more flowers (an average of 19 percent more in the species
studied); more seeds (16 percent more); greater individual seed weight (four
percent more); greater total seed weight (25 percent more) and lower
concentration of nitrogen in the seeds (a decrease of 14 percent) than those
grown at current levels of atmospheric CO2. Under higher CO2 levels, crop
plants showed a notable increase in reproduction while wild plants did not.
On average, crops produced more fruits than did wild species (28 percent
higher in crops vs. 4 percent higher in wild plants) as well as seeds (21
percent higher vs. 4 percent higher, respectively). Individual crops varied
in their response to increased CO2 levels. Rice seemed to be the most
responsive, as its seed production increased an average of 42 percent.
Soybean followed with a 20 percent increase in seed, then wheat (15 percent
increase) and, finally, corn (5 percent increase).
While crop plants and
wild plants had similar increases in total growth (a 31 percent increase),
crops allocated the additional weight to reproduction, while wild plants
seem to funnel much of it to tasks other than reproduction, Curtis said. "Wild plants are constrained by what they can do with increased CO2," he
said. "They may use it for survival and defense rather than to boost
reproduction. Agricultural crops, on the other hand, are protected from
pests and diseases, so they have the luxury of using extra CO2 to enhance
reproduction." Even though seed size increased, the amount of nitrogen in
the seeds didn't. Nitrogen levels decreased by an average of 14 percent
across all plants except cultivated legumes, such as peas and soybeans. For
example, the total number of seeds in wheat and barley plants increased by
15 percent, but the amount of nitrogen in the seeds declined by 20 percent. "That's bad news," Curtis said. "Nitrogen is important for building protein
in humans and animals. If anything, plant biologists want to boost the
levels of nitrogen in crops." "A growing global population demands more
food, but humans would have to eat more of the food to get the same
nutritional benefits." On the flip side, legumes are able to use a rise in
CO2 to increase the amount of nitrogen they take in. The result is that
these plants maintain their nutritional quality during conditions of high
CO2 levels. "Ecologically speaking, changes in the number of flowers,
fruits and seeds and their nutritional quality could have far-reaching
consequences," Curtis said. "Changes in the amount of nutrients in seeds
could affect reproductive success and seedling survival. Such changes could
also have long-term effects on ecosystem functioning." The study was funded
by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Curtis conducted the
meta-analysis with Leanne Jablonski of
Ohio State and the Marianist
Environmental Education Center in Dayton, Ohio, and Xianzhong Wang, of the
department of biology at Indiana University-Purdue University in
Indianapolis.
30) ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY GOOD FOR CONSUMERS
The Star
October 4, 2002
Internet:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1026146001176&
call_page=TS_Editorial&call_pageid=968256290204&call_pagepath=News/Editorial&col=968350116795
The David Suzuki
Foundation released a report Wednesday looking at the impact of implementing
the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here is an edited
excerpt: Over the past generation, Canada's most important source of new
energy has been increased energy productivity that is, energy saved
through conservation and a more efficient economy. This trend produced more
new energy than all other sources combined. New energy technologies are a
part of today's more attractive and efficient buildings and homes, improved
appliances and cleaner industrial processes. Cost savings for Canadian
consumers totalled more than $50 billion from 1970 to 1998. Many times this
amount in capital investment would have been required to generate equivalent
amounts of energy from new oil, gas, coal, hydro and nuclear sources.
The additional burning
of oil and coal would have dumped 200 megatonnes of CO2 per year into the
atmosphere, increasing emissions output by a quarter, and would have
increased smog by 20 to 25 per cent at a health cost in the billions of
dollars. All of this has taken place with no sustained national strategy to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions or conserve energy. The gains occurred in
the face of heavily subsidized competition and highly organized lobbying for
oil, gas and nuclear power. Just imagine what Canada could do if we tried,
collectively, to reduce emissions. The interest of energy producers in this
debate is clear. In the low-carbon, energy-efficient scenario, the
consumption of oil, coal and electric power will drop. Energy producing
communities will be affected, and governments will need to prepare
retraining and transition programs for possible use. Consumers, however,
including industry, will enjoy short and long-term benefits from increased
energy productivity. Billions of dollars in cost savings from energy
efficiency will be reallocated throughout the economy, creating new jobs and
opportunities across Canada, including those related to the production of
ethanol and bio-diesel fuels on the Prairies. As well, consumer exposure to
energy price shocks will be reduced with the development of more diverse and
localized energy sources.
31) GOVT MAINTAINS KYOTO STANCE
News Com Au
October 3, 2002
Internet:
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5218974%255E1702,00.html
The federal government
today made clear it would continue to oppose ratifying the Kyoto Protocol in
the lead-up to world climate talks in New Delhi. Environment Minister David
Kemp said Australia would not change its long expressed opposition to the
protocol because it would send the wrong signal to investors. Dr Kemp told
Labor the world pact on climate change abatement was not a trivial matter
and had great economic significance. For years the government has argued
against ratifying the protocol, maintaining it would not help cement the
pact in place on the grounds it could cost jobs. Dr Kemp responded to an
opposition question on notice by saying his government would continue to
reject ratification.
32) RUSSIA CAUGHT BETWEEN COAL AND KYOTO
Inter Press Service
October 3, 2002
Internet:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/DJ03Ag03.html
MOSCOW - Russian
President Vladimir Putin has called for greater exploitation of the
country's vast coal reserves, but this policy could clash with Moscow's
commitments to reducing carbon dioxide emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. "By preparing to burn more coal for its energy needs, Russia aims to free
more natural gas for lucrative exports to Western markets," Natalia
Olefirenko, climate programs coordinator with Greenpeace Russia said. "It is
a flawed approach, and it amounts to a sell-out of the Russian environment
because growing use of coal is likely to adversely affect the country's
ecological balance and cause acid rains." Russia's coal reserves are
estimated at 3,000 billion tonnes, which is nearly a third of the world's
coal deposits. About 80 percent of the country's known coal deposits are in
Siberia. Once a pillar of the Russian economy, coal went out of favor after the
Soviet era. The Soviets had kept old mines open long after they had ceased
to make profit. But government subsidies were slashed after 1993 and the
coal sector could not compete any more with gas prices, kept artificially
low to contain inflation. Electricity from coal is now twice as costly as
power generation from gas.
The World Bank helped
close loss-making coal mines and privatize others. In 1998 alone some
420,000 miners were laid off, and the World Bank has given Russia US$1.3
billion in loans to close mines and to pay for re-skilling of miners laid
off. The coal sector still employs 320,000 people and produced 270 million
tonnes of coal last year. But production was down 11 percent in the first
half of this year, largely because the monopoly firm, Unified Energy Systems
(UES), switched to gas for power generation. ES managers say that it would
cost $1 billion to refit 30 power stations for use of coal. That would
include the cost of environmental protection. But not many companies that go
for coal would have a budget for such safeguards. Greater use of coal
without such protection threatens to increase the emission of carbon
dioxide, which is blamed for global warming. Putin has said that Russia was
"inclined" to approve the Kyoto Protocol (the protocol of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change signed in December 1997 in Kyoto,
Japan). Under this, industrialized countries commit themselves to reducing
the emission of greenhouse gases in an effort to combat global warming.
Russian Prime Minister
Mikhail Kasyanov told the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South
Africa recently that "ratification will take place in the very near future".
Kasyanov pointed out that Putin had taken the initiative in calling an
international conference on climate change in Moscow next year. The Kyoto
Protocol comes into effect when nations that account for 55 percent of the
1990 emissions levels ratify the treaty. The European Union, other European
states and Japan - which are expected to ratify the protocol - account for
39 percent. The US walked away from the Kyoto Protocol in March this year.
But Russia's share is 17 percent and ratification by Moscow along with the
others means that the Kyoto Protocol can become effective. Russia's latest
pledges indicate that ratification may come by the end of this year. But
some environmentalists have their doubts about Russia's official pledges.
The fact that the South Africa summit was given virtually no coverage in
Russian media and the recent drive towards increased use of coal indicated
that Russia was not moving towards the Kyoto Protocol, says Vladimir Zakharov, head of the Moscow-based Center of Ecological Policies.
33) MANITOBA FOREST TARGET OF GLOBAL WARMING STUDY
Associated Press
October 3, 2002
Internet:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1033668587860_103/?hub=SciTech
MADISON, Wis. An American researcher
plans to heat up a small plot of forest land in
Manitoba in an effort to study
the effects of global warming on trees.
Ecology professor Tom
Gower of the University of Wisconsin-Madison will enclose a
section of forest near Thompson, Man., and warm the area with
heating cables placed in the ground to mimic the conditions of global
warming. "That way we can create a whole ecosystem warming experiment, and
that's never been done before," said Gower, who leaves Friday for Canada to
begin the three-year study. He will measure the experiment's effect on the
trees, looking for changes in the amount of carbon dioxide they release. Gower is using a $750,000 US grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to pay
for the study. He plans to heat a 0.2-hectare section of high-latitude
boreal forest almost three degrees Celsius warmer than the surrounding air
temperature. Boreal forest is the second-largest type of forest, stretching
around the Arctic Circle through Canada, Europe and Russia. Global warming
has long worried scientists because of its potential environmental effects,
but Gower said his research findings may challenge the most dire warnings. Preliminary studies he made in Sweden's forests showed warmer conditions did
not thaw the ground to the point of leading to large releases of carbon
dioxide by trees. Scientists don't understand why that didn't happen. "With
this experiment, we will start to look at that from Day 1," Gower said.
34) FARMING, LOGGING, DEVELOPMENT AFFECT CLIMATE, TOO,
NASA STUDY FINDS 'HUMAN-CAUSED LAND COVER CHANGES' KEY
CNN
October 3, 2002
Internet:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/10/03/climate.landcover/
(CNN) -- Cutting trees,
building cities and growing crops have profound effects on the climate in
addition to human activities that release greenhouse gases, a new NASA study
reports. Land surface disturbances influence everything from temperature,
precipitation, atmospheric circulation and how much solar heat bounces off
the planet. Concentrated development, in particular in North America,
Europe and Southeast Asia, disperses enough heat into the atmosphere to
rival the effect of all greenhouse gas emissions combined, according to
atmospheric scientists. "Our work suggests that the impacts of human-caused
land cover changes on climate are at least as important, and quite possibly
more important, than those of carbon dioxide," said Roger Pielke Sr. of
Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
Carbon dioxide is the
primary culprit among numerous heat-trapping gases caused by human activity
thought to contribute to global warming. "Through land cover changes over
the last 300 years, we may have already altered the climate more than would
occur associated with the ... effect of a doubling of carbon dioxide," Pielke said in a statement this week. If current trends continue, carbon
dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere will double within 50 years.
Scientists predict that the added greenhouse gases could push the global
temperature up several degrees by the end of this century, causing major
changes in regional weather patterns. Pielke and colleagues, who conducted
the study for NASA's Earth Observing System Project Office and the National
Science Foundation, said the type of land surface affects how it
redistributes solar energy into the atmosphere. For instance, if farmers
replace forests with crops, less water evaporates from leaves, which
contributes to hotter temperatures in that area, they said. And in places
with dwindling snow or ice cover, whether because of retreating glaciers or
reforestation, the land reflects less sunlight and absorbs more heat,
leading to hotter temperatures. The net effects are complex and sometimes
seem contradictory. For example, compared with non-irrigated land, more
water evaporates from irrigated fields, which cools and moistens the nearby
air. Yet on a larger scale, atmospheric water vapor contributes greatly to
greenhouse gas warming. The scientists propose a new method to predict
climate change, which factors in how different kinds of land forms absorb,
reflect or distribute heat.
35) LINK BETWEEN POLLUTION CLOUD, CLIMATE CHANGE: STUDY
ABC
October 2 2002
Internet:
http://abc.net.au/news/scitech/2002/09/item20020930115213_1.htm
The "Asian Brown Cloud",
a vast haze of soot particle hovering over south Asia, is at least partly to
blame for China's recent climatic disasters, according a NASA study
published this week in US journal Science. Surabi Menon of NASA and
Columbia University, and James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute, said the
study proved there was a clear link between increased amounts of man-made
soot and the kind of climate change witnessed in the south-Asian region over
the past few years. "Reducing the amount of black carbon, or soot, may help
diminish the intensity of floods in the south and droughts in the northern
areas of China, in addition to having human health benefits," Dr Hansen
said. The pair conducted four computer simulations using scientific data
from 46 ground stations in China to examine whether airborne soot affected
China's water cycle.
They found the soot
particles affected the climate by absorbing sunlight, which then heated the
air and made the atmosphere unstable. This created rising air that formed
clouds and brought rainfall to heavily polluted southern China. It was
balanced out by an increase of sinking air, which prevented clouds and rain
from forming in northern China, contributing to the droughts there. The
researchers took other factors into account, including ocean surface
temperature and the presence of other greenhouse gases, in their computer
models. In a related commentary in Science, scientists William Chameides and
Michael Bergin said both carbon particles and carbon dioxide gas were to
blame. "The contribution of black carbon to global warming may be
substantial, perhaps second only to that of carbon dioxide." Soot is
generated from industrial pollution, traffic, outdoor fires and household
burning of coal and biomass fuels, such as cow dung and field residues. It
occurs when the combustion of coal and other fuels is incomplete. It
continues to be produced in large amounts in Asia, especially in China and
India, because cooking and heating are done using wood, coal and biomass
fuels at low temperatures, which prevents complete combustion taking place.
Based on their
simulations, the authors predicted soot-induced cooling over China, extended
warming over northern Africa and cooling over the southern United States,
amidst overall global warning. The Asian Brown Cloud phenomenon has stirred
controversy recently, as scientists across the globe warn of its radical
consequences and regional scientists retort that it does not exist and is
not specifically Asian. In August, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said
the pollution haze was damaging agriculture, modifying rainfall patterns and
endangering the population. Using global models to study the phenomenon, the
UNEP said the cloud could reduce precipitation over north-west
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, western
China and the western part of Central Asia by as much as between 20 and 40
percent. However, Indian scientists slammed the findings last week as
"exaggerated and distorted", saying it was not a thick, choking cloud but
only a wintertime haze. They said the report reflected a trend of blaming
developing Asian countries for global pollution.
See Also:
DROUGHT IN NORTH CHINA, FLOODS IN THE
SOUTH...
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/story/0,1870,146369,00.html
Pollution contributed to China floods and
droughts: NASA PARIS (AFP) Sep 29, 2002
http://spacedaily.com/news/020929141839.b7wwauti.html
36) LANDCOVER CHANGES MAY RIVAL GREENHOUSE GASES AS
CAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Science Daily
October 2, 2002
Internet:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021002070639.htm
While many scientists
and policy makers have focused only on how heat-trapping gases like carbon
dioxide are altering our global climate, a new NASA-funded study points to
the importance of also including human-caused land-use changes as a major
factor contributing to climate change. Land surface changes, like urban
sprawl, deforestation and reforestation, and agricultural and irrigation
practices strongly affect regional surface temperatures, precipitation and
larger-scale atmospheric circulation. The study argues that human-caused
land surface changes in places like North America, Europe, and southeast
Asia, redistribute heat regionally and globally within the atmosphere and
may actually have a greater impact on climate than that due to anthropogenic
greenhouse gases combined. The study also proposes a new method for
comparing different human-influenced agents of climate change in terms of
the redistribution of heat over land and in the atmosphere. Using a single
unit of measurement may open the door to future work that more accurately
represents human-caused climate change.
"Our work suggests that
the impacts of human-caused landcover changes on climate are at least as
important, and quite possibly more important than those of carbon dioxide,"
said Roger Pielke, Sr., an atmospheric scientist at Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, Colo., and lead
author of the study. "Through landcover changes over the last 300 years, we
may have already altered the climate more than would occur associated with
the radiative effect of a doubling of carbon dioxide." If carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions continue at current rates, atmospheric CO2 concentrations
are expected to double by 2050. Land surface changes will also continue to
occur. Types of land surface strongly influence how the Sun's energy is
distributed back to the atmosphere. For example, if a rainforest is removed
and replaced with crops, there is less transpiration, or evaporation of
water from leaves. Less transpiration leads to warmer temperatures in that
area. On the other hand, if farmland is irrigated, more water is transpired
and also evaporated from moist soils, which cools and moistens the
atmosphere, and can affect precipitation and cloudiness. Similarly, forests
may influence the climate in more complicated ways than previously thought.
For example, in regions with heavy snowfall, reforestation or afforestation
would cause the land to reflect less sunlight, and more heat would be
absorbed, resulting in a net warming effect despite the removal of CO2 from
the atmosphere through photosynthesis during the growing season. Further,
reforestation could increase transpiration in an area, putting more water
vapor in the air. Water vapor in the troposphere is the biggest contributor
to greenhouse gas warming.
Local land surface
changes can also influence the atmosphere in far-reaching ways, much like
regional warming of tropical eastern and central Pacific Ocean waters known
as El Niño. El Niño events create moist rising air, thunderstorms and
cumulus clouds, which in turn alter atmospheric circulations that export
heat, moisture, and energy to higher latitudes. Tropical land surface
changes should be expected to play a greater role on global climate than El
Niño, given that thunderstorms prefer to form over land, and the fact that
the large area of tropical land-use changes far exceeds the relatively small
area of water responsible for El Niño. Impacts of land use changes are
harder to detect because they are permanent, as opposed to El Niño, which
comes and goes. Pielke Sr., and colleagues propose a new method for
measuring the impacts of both greenhouse gases and landcover changes by
using a formula that quantifies all the various anthropogenic climate change
factors in terms of the amount of heat that is redistributed from one area
to another. This heat redistribution is stated in terms of watts per meter
squared, or the amount of heat associated with a square meter area. For
example, if a flashlight generated heat of one watt that covers a square
meter, then the heat energy emitted would be one watt per meter squared. By
using a measure based on the spatial redistribution of heat to quantify the
different human influences on climate, including landcover changes and
greenhouse gases, the researchers hope to achieve a more accurate portrayal
of all of the anthropogenic influences on climate change in future
research. The paper was published in a recent issue of the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society of London. The research was funded by
grants from NASA and the National Science Foundation.
37) 'GLOBAL WARMING COULD SPREAD MALARIA'
IOL
October 2 2002 at 11:24AM
Internet:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=143&art_id=qw103354848112B243&set_id=1
Two pools of
malaria-carrying mosquitoes discovered in the United States could be linked
to global warming, Netcare Travel Clinics said on Wednesday. Dr Andrew
Jamieson, medical director for the travel clinics, said there were no
guarantees that areas where malaria had been eradicated would remain so. Anopheline mosquitoes responsible for the spread of malaria are generally
limited to hot and humid tropical climates. "Global warming may lead to
suitable habitats developing in the temperate zones," he said. 'Malaria
could become endemic in other parts of South Africa'"Should this happen,
malaria could re-establish itself in these regions, affecting places
currently as unlikely as southern England." US health authorities
discovered two pools of malaria-carrying mosquitoes near the Potomac River
in Loudon County in Virginia.
The discovery followed
an intensive search for infected mosquitoes and malaria patients after two
local teenagers developed the disease in recent weeks. Jamieson said the
pools were found within several miles of where the teenagers lived.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta this is the first time
in more than 20 years that mosquitoes carrying the malaria inducing
Plasmodium parasite have been identified in a US community where humans have
also been infected with the disease. He said domestically transmitted cases
of the disease were rare in the US, with the majority of the 1 500 cases of
malaria reported in the US annually being in people who had travelled overseas. Given that neither
of the teenagers travelled to known malaria regions recently, officials
believed that the pair were bitten and infected by mosquitoes that had
previously bitten someone who had contracted malaria while travelling
overseas, Jamieson said.He said the findings had prompted additional
anti-malaria measures in the region.
Jamieson said a study
conducted at the University of Durham in the UK into the
medico-geographic patterns of malaria in Britain prior to the 1920s, had
indicated that as the British climate became warmer, so conditions for
malaria transmission would become more favourable and last longer. "By
implication, the currently temperate climate in Virginia in the USA could
become more conducive to mosquito breeding as a result of global warming.
"Likewise, instead of being restricted to north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal and
the lowveld areas of the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, malaria could
become endemic in other parts of South Africa," he said. Jamieson cautioned
those travelling to malaria regions to take the necessary precautions such
as consuming anti-malaria medication, wearing protective clothing that
covers most of the body and applying mosquito repellents. One of the
functions of the Netcare Travel Clinics is to deliver a consulting and
treatment service to the travel and tourist industry. - Sapa.
38) EU WILL MISS KYOTO TARGET-TOP ENERGY ECONOMIST
Reuters
October 2, 2002
Internet:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1526355
BRUSSELS, Oct 2
(Reuters) - The EU will be unable to reach its Kyoto targets for reducing
carbon dioxide emissions even if it launches new policies on boosting
cleaner energy, the International Energy Agency's chief economist said on
Wednesday. According to IEA forecasts, the European Union could boost the
share of renewable power like wind and solar in its electricity generation
to 30 percent by 2030, but even that would not cut enough emissions to meet
climate change targets.
"Fossil fuels will still
dominate," IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol told a news conference. "Even
with these alternative policies (on renewables) we don't reach the Kyoto
targets." Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the EU has to reduce its emissions
of the greenhouse gases blamed for causing global warming by eight percent
of 1990 levels by 2012. The most important of these gases is carbon dioxide
(CO2), which is emitted during fuel combustion.
According to the IEA,
the EU emitted around 3,080 million tonnes of CO2 in 1990. This would rise
to 3,146 million tonnes in 2010 and to 3,829 by 2030 without any new "green"
policies. With new policies on renewable energy, emissions would be 4.9
percent less than that "business as usual" case by 2010, but would still be
up from the 1990 level, according to the IEA. Emissions would be 19 percent
less than the 2030 business as usual prediction, still a rise over all. Fatih said the reason was a large rise in demand for transport, which mostly
runs on oil products, and the fact traditional electricity plants had a long
life span and would not be replaced overnight.
"If governments want to
do something they have to act not only radically but also as soon as
possible," he said, adding that a move towards renewables offered not only
some scope to reduce emissions but also reduced reliance on energy imports. European Commission environment spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen was upbeat
about reaching Kyoto targets. "We still believe that the EU can meet its
target, but we need to implement key elements of the European climate change
programme," she told Reuters. As well as boosting renewables, the
Commission has proposed measures to improve energy efficiency in buildings
and an emissions trading scheme which would set maximum levels for CO2
output from industry.
39) MINISTRY PLANS 'DELHI DECLARATION' TO CHECK GAS
EMMISSIONS
Economic Times of India
October 2, 2002
Internet:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=23896449
NEW DELHI: The Eighth
Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, to be held in Delhi between October 23 and November 1, is likely to
come up with a Delhi Declaration a concrete framework of action
envisaged at tackling climate change. Addressing a high-level meeting of
environment ministers and delegates from about 40 countries here on Monday,
the environment and forests minister TR Baalu urged countries that are
parties to the United Nations Convention to evolve a framework of global
action for containing global warming and mitigating adverse consequences of
climate change. Baalu said that India was conscious of various specific
situations and special needs, particularly of South Asia, which is a region
of diversity. Indias perspective in this regard reflects the social and
economic dimensions that are common to developing countries, he pointed
out.
India has recently
ratified the Kyoto Protocol under the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change. The protocol commits developed countries to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels during 08-12. While the overall reduction aimed at is 5.2%, the specific limits vary from
country to country. For developing countries including India and China,
there are no commitments for quantified reduction. For the US, the largest
producer of GHGs, the target was set at 7% below 1990 levels. While the
country had signed the Protocol earlier, the Bush administration refused to
ratify it. Various countries including the United States are represented in
the two day preparatory meet to the COP-8 that began on Monday. Indias
official stance has always been that while the Kyoto Protocol would by
itself not solve the problem of global warming, it would serve as a
significant first step towards mitigating the problem. Attempts by the
developed world to get India and China to commit themselves to quantified
reduction of GHGs have been resisted.
40) CHRÉTIEN DISMISSES CONCERNS OVER KYOTO PROMISES
HOUSE VOTE ON ACCORD BEFORE END OF YEAR
The Star
October 2, 2002
Internet:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1026145915653&call_page=TS_News&call_
pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News&col=968793972154
OTTAWA Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien shrugged off concerns yesterday about how the
Kyoto accord's obligations to
cut greenhouse gas emissions would be implemented. "Many countries have
implemented or have voted for Kyoto without any plans at all," Chrétien said
during question period when faced with Opposition demands for details. "Here
in Canada we have had discussions for years. We will have a plan and will
proceed before the end of the year with a vote in the House of Commons." He
said Parliament will get a chance to vote on the accord, but said the final
decision will be his cabinet's alone. The hotly debated accord dominated
the first question period of the new parliamentary session, with all four
opposition parties demanding details from the government. So far, only the
Canadian Alliance definitively opposes ratification of the accord, which
commits Canada to reducing average greenhouse gas emissions by 6 per cent from 1990 in
the years 2008 to 2012.
The NDP and Bloc
Québécois will vote in favour of ratification, while Tory Leader Joe Clark
said yesterday his party would not support the Kyoto protocol "unless there
is fuller information." "I'm not going to vote blindly for a protocol that
would have the impacts that Kyoto would have," said Clark in his clearest
statement to date.
Alliance leader Stephen
Harper denounced the vague promises on Kyoto as purporting "to be nothing
less than a grandiose scheme to save the planet itself."
Harper criticized the
Liberal government's failure to tell Canadians exactly how the treaty would
affect regions, industries and consumers, and urged provinces and
individuals to block the accord using any legal means possible. Former
Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, now heading a committee looking into the
impact of Kyoto, said any federal move to
ratify without first revealing an implementation plan would be "foolish" and
warned the province "owns natural resources" and may have to look into legal
action to protect its jurisdiction from federal intrusion. But federal
Environment Minister David Anderson dismissed such suggestions.
"This is not an issue of
natural resources. This is an issue of a global problem of emissions, and a
global problem in the atmosphere. And the Constitution is very clear that
international issues of that type are the domain of the federal
government." "We can limit emissions in all provinces of Canada and all
territories of Canada and we hope that we'll be able to do that with the
co-operation of every province and every territory."
Still, even within the
ranks of federal cabinet ministers there is distinct unease with the
government's ambiguous plans. Former finance minister Paul Martin, the man
most expect to succeed Chrétien, and who would ultimately be responsible for
implementation of the treaty, did not attend question period. He has
recently questioned the wisdom of proceeding without nailing down the
details of how the emissions reductions targets would be reached. Senior
Alberta cabinet minister Anne McLellan said in an interview published
yesterday she expects a clear plan before ratification. "One cannot make an
informed decision around ratification of Kyoto until you know what the
components of the plan are, how they will impact on different provinces,
industrial sectors and consumers, and who will be paying what. And then at
that point we can move forward." McLellan ducked out of the Commons after
question period, avoiding reporters. But Anderson said he spoke with her and
insisted she doesn't oppose the accord. NDP Leader Alexa McDonough scoffed
at the government's promise to consult, so late in the game. "The reality is
they've been dragging their feet for five years," she said, but added the
NDP will support ratification of the accord even without an implementation
plan. Meanwhile, Ontario Environment Minister Chris Stockwell said Ontario
will not sign on to the Kyoto accord unless Ottawa tells the province the
exact details of the plan. "I cannot buy a pig in a poke. You got to tell
me what impact this has on the people of the province of
Ontario by way of jobs, lost economic growth and prosperity," he said
yesterday.
41) CANADIAN BUSINESS RALLIES AGAINST KYOTO ACCORD CUTS
FT
October 1 2002
Internet:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1031119791826
A battle is being fought
in Canada over the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change,
with business leaders claiming that it could inflict severe damage on the
economy. Canada's decision is expected to have a crucial effect on the
long-term future of UN efforts to curb climate change even though its
approval is not essential for the protocol to come into force. The dispute
has escalated since Jean Chrétien, the prime minister, announced plans at
the Earth Summit in Johannesburg last month to put the protocol to a vote in
parliament this year. The widely-held belief that it will win approval from
parliament has unleashed intense criticism from opponents. "It's the
goofiest, most devastating thing that was ever conceived and has ever been
contemplated by a Canadian government in the history of this country," said
Ralph Klein, premier of Alberta, the leading oil-producing province. Last
week, a broad cross-section of Canadian industry launched a coalition to
fight ratification plans. Gwyn Morgan, president of EnCana, an energy
producer, accused the government of being "led down the garden path" by an
EU plan to gain commercial advantage over other countries". "Now that the US
and Australia have dropped out, the EU countries are worried that the jig is
up. They're scrambling to make sure Canada ratifies so they can at least
have competitive advantage over our country," Mr Morgan said.
The debate has been
hampered by a lack of information about the costs of measures that would be
required to implement the protocol, which requires
Canada to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 per cent from 1990 levels by
2008-2012. A government assessment, prepared with the provinces and
industry, concluded that by 2012, Kyoto might leave GDP unchanged
or cut growth by as much as two percentage points. But it did not analyse
the potential impact of the protocol on sales to the US, which buys most
Canadian exports. The paper also assumed Canada would get credits for clean
energy exports which displace dirtier fuels such as coal. This proposal,
which would require a reopening of talks on the Kyoto Protocol, has been
flatly rejected by Margot Wallström, EU environment commissioner. The paper
also predicted that Canada would buy emission credits from Russia, a step
that has been attacked by business representatives as a significant transfer
of wealth for no return. These emission credits - which allow pollution
allowances to be transferred - stem from the decline of Russia's industrial
base since 1990, allowing it to overshoot its Kyoto targets. Russia joined
Canada at the Johannesburg summit in indicating it would ratify the
protocol. Russia's participation is critical for the protocol to enter into
force, which requires the ratification of countries representing 55 per cent
of the industrialised world's emissions.
Canada does not emit
enough greenhouse gases for its approval to have a decisive influence but a
rejection would be significant because it would mean that there were no
countries in the Americas taking on legally-binding emission targets. Some
analysts think that could lead to development of a North America Free Trade
Area (Nafta) climate initiative, scuppering the UN's ambitions of drawing
the US back into its international coalition on climate change. "Canada is crucial, not because it is required to get
Kyoto into force but because it changes the
long-term dynamics," said Michael Grubb, professor of climate change at
London's Imperial College. Jennifer Morgan, director of the climate campaign
of WWF, the environment group, said Canada's ratification would split the
north American block. "It is both economically and politically important
because it sends a signal about just how isolated the Bush administration is
on this." Conversely, if Canada decides against ratification it would strengthen the feeling in the
US that the Kyoto Protocol is a
European conspiracy, said Philip Clapp, president of NET, a US environment
group. "If ratification failed in Canada it would enormously strengthen
opposition to Kyoto in the US."
42) BIRDS ARE RESPONDING TO GLOBAL WARMING, BUT
FORECASTING IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE WON'T BE EASY, BIOLOGISTS REPORT
Space Daily
October 1, 2002
Internet:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/09/020926065816.htm
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Earlier
springs with warmer temperatures over the past 30 years have prompted a
ubiquitous North American bird species, tree swallows, to begin laying eggs,
on average, a week or more earlier. But whether these harbingers of global
warming are being adversely affected by changing weather patterns isn't
clear, biologists in New York, Wisconsin and California report
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS ). When tree
swallows start earlier, they often lay more eggs, say the biologists,
referring to data collected by thousands of volunteer citizen-scientists who
have watched the birds' nest boxes for 40 years. "We don't know whether
earlier lay dates and larger clutch sizes will be good in the long term for
populations of tree swallows," says David W. Winkler, a Cornell University
professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. "And tree swallows are just
one of the many organisms that potentially can be affected by climate
change."
After an exhaustive,
three-year statistical analysis of bird and weather data, Winkler, Peter O.
Dunn of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Charles E. McCulloch, a
biostatistician at the University of California-San Francisco, report the
effects of climate change on swallows in the PNAS Online Early Edition, week
of Sept. 23, 2002. Their article is titled "Predicting the effects of
climate change on avian life history traits." Tree swallows (Tachycineta
bicolor ) are astute weather monitors, Winkler explains, because of three
characteristics:
-
They are aerial
insectivores, hunting the insects they crave "on the wing." (An adult tree
swallow can capture as many as 50 insects before returning to the nest and
feeding its young.)
-
Tree swallows are
"income breeders" that rely, more than many other species, on their daily
foraging intake -- both before and during the spring breeding season.
(Tree swallows begin breeding once their source of insect income looks
large enough, but the future of their growing family is at the mercy of
sometimes-fickle weather.) o Insects the swallows need do not fly during
cool weather, and swallows will not forage on the ground. (A sudden cold
snap and a local shortage of insects can kill 5- to 8-day-old nestlings
before their developing bodies learn to thermoregulate and grow insulating
feathers. When adult tree swallows are forced by cool weather to travel
greater distances in search of insects, they may be forced to abandon
their chicks.)
Professional
ornithologists rely on trained amateurs in volunteer programs, such as the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Nest Record Card Program, to report on birds
throughout a wide geographic area. In 1999, after studying 21,000 nest
records from Cornell's database and similar programs in Canada, Dunn and
Winkler reported that the lay date of tree swallows shifted an average of
nine days earlier between 1959 and 1991. Since that report, which was among
the first to link animal-behavior changes to global warming, Winkler and
Dunn have worked with McCulloch and extended the analysis to another key
life-history trait -- the number of eggs birds lay each year. "One of the
strongest patterns in this data set showed birds that begin earlier in a
given season tend to lay larger clutches of eggs," Winkler recalls. "We
wanted to see if earlier average lay dates over the past 30 years have led
to larger clutches. However, it is interesting to find that, despite the
change in lay dates, there has been no significant increase in clutch size
across the years." To say more with any certainty will require a much
better understanding of how birds respond to climate change -- and more
detailed, hands-on research than even the most dedicated legions of
volunteers can conduct. Nevertheless, the PNAS authors believe that their
statistical analysis of tree swallows' response can be a template for
studies by other researchers of how climate change might affect various
plant and animal species. "Tree swallows are doing a fine job of observing
seasonal climate conditions and responding in a way that's easy for us to
measure," Winkler notes. "Clearly, they're laying eggs earlier on average.
Our job as biologists is to learn more about the birds and their food
organisms in order to understand the effects of this and other responses to
climate change." The study was sponsored, in part, by the National Science
Foundation and Cornell University.
43) INDIA NOT TO COMMIT TO UN TARGET ON GHG REDUCTION
Outlook India
October 1, 2002
Internet;
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=87591
Even as India reiterated
its stand not to commit itself to the UN target of Greenhouse Gas Emission (GHG)
reductions under pressure from developed countries, a top US official said
today his country is not keen on commitment by developing countries and will
not ratify the Kyoto Protocol. "As a developing country we will not concede
to commit in the second phase or 'even nth phase' of implementation of
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol,"
Union Minister for Environment and Forests T R Baalu told reporters after
the preparatory meeting of 35 countries ahead of Conference of Parties
(COP-8) on climate change to be held here. "In the foreseeable future it is
impossible for India to take up any target commitments", he said. However,
senior Climate Negotiator and Special Representative of US Department of
State, Harlan L Watson, categorically said "the Bush administration had not
asked the developing countries to take up target commitments." "We will not
ratify the Kyoto Protocol in the present form but if, in future, there were
other protocols, we may consider it," Watson told reporters after the
two-day preparatory meeting ahead of COP-8 beginning October 23. Citing
serious economic harm as the reason for not ratifying the Protocol, Watson
also added that the time set for the measures to be implemented under it was
not realistic and thus not achievable. "The problem of climate change is
not a short-term one but a long drawn one and needs heavy investments in
R&D," he said.
44) ENERGY WORKERS VOTE ON KYOTO
CNW
October 1, 2002
Internet:
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/October2002/01/c6500.html
TORONTO, Oct. 1 /CNW/ -
Canada's largest energy union is meeting the challenge of climate change
head on. Delegates to the CEP's national convention being held this week at
the Metro Toronto Convention Centre are today discussing a national energy
policy that includes promoting the ratification of the Kyoto agreement and a
transition program for workers and communities affected by it. "Climate
change is real," says CEP President Brian Payne whose union represents some
30,000 workers in the gas, oil, energy and petrochemical industries. "The
future of the planet is at stake, he told delegates earlier in the
convention. "And as the energy union in this country, it is our
responsibility to tell the truth and to be a part of the solution."
Prior to the convention debate at 2 pm, a panel of experts will discuss the
policy: Mel Watkins, economist with the University of
Toronto, Corinne Gendren with the Université du Québec à Montréal. The 50-page
comprehensive document also calls for: regional energy grids to emphasize
sustainable and renewable energy supply; an industrial policy to use natural
gas resources to further develop the petrochemical industry; the
Canadianization of energy industries; and a reformed and democratized
National Energy Board.
45) ICE 'METEORS' SIGN OF CLIMATE CHANGE: SCIENTIST
CNN
September 30, 2002
Internet:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/09/30/climate.ice.reut/
MADRID, Spain (Reuters)
-- A Spanish scientist says global warming may be to blame for giant blocks
of ice which fall from clear skies and rip gaping holes in cars and houses. Jesus Martinez-Frias has spent the last two-and-a-half years investigating
so-called megacryometeors -- ice meteors -- which tend to weigh more than 22
pounds and have been known to leave five-foot holes in houses. He fears the
formation of these hailstone-like blocks on clear days could be a worrying
symptom of climate change. "I'm not worried that a block of ice might fall
on your head ... but that great blocks of ice are forming where they
shouldn't exist," said Martinez-Frias, director of planetary geography at
Spain's Astrobiology Center in Madrid. "Components of the atmosphere, like
ozone and water, are changing in different levels of the atmosphere ... We
think these signs could be evidence of climate change," he said in a
telephone interview with Reuters. While Martinez-Frias said he was far from
certain as to why the ice meteors formed, he said they were neither hoaxes
nor blocks of ice falling from the bars or bathrooms of passing aircraft, as
skeptics have suggested. "We're not talking about hoaxes," Martinez-Frias
said. "It's very easy to tell real and false ice blocks apart."
"It's not water from airplane toilets ... Its isotopic composition bears the
signature ... of Iberian rain."
SMASHING WINDSHIELDS
Ice clouds made from
crystallized vapor trails of aircraft are well known to pilots, but
Martinez-Frias suggests that because global warming involves one level of
the atmosphere getting colder while another gets hotter, some ice clouds now
remain longer. Their centers then fall through the atmosphere, bouncing and
gathering mass, to end up smashing through a car windshields or, more
usually, landing softly in a field, he suggested. The first megacryometeor
found this year in Spain -- by a startled farmer riding his tractor in Soria
-- weighed 35.27 pounds. Three others were found later, bringing the world
total over the last decade to more than 50. But Martinez-Frias said only
around a fifth of the ice meteors are ever found. An ice meteors weighing
around 440 pounds has been found in Brazil, Martinez-Frias said. Other
blocks have been found in Mexico and Australia. The blocks form between four
and two-and-a-half and six miles above ground, he said. Some scientists
doubt whether hail can form on a clear day. "Solid ice cannot form in the
absence of thick, highly visible clouds," Charles Knight, a hail expert at
the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado was quoted as saying
in a supplement of Science journal. But geologist Roger Buick of the
University of Washington in Seattle told the same
publication that a model created by Martinez-Frias and his team showing ice
can form on a clear day was an "important advance in that it thoroughly
documents and provides an explanation for a spectacular phenomenon."
46) INDIA TO HOST CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
UNFCCC
September 30, 2002
Internet:
http://unfccc.int/press/prel2002/pressrel300902.pdf
New Delhi, 30 September
2002 - The Government of India and the secretariat of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change signed today a Host Country Agreement (HCA)
that finalized practical arrangements for next month's high-level conference
on global warming. The conference, known officially as the Eighth Session of
the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention, is expected
to attract some 5,000 participants - including over 100 ministers - from the
Convention's 186 Parties. It will be held at the Vigyan Bhawan Conference
Center in New Delhi from 23 October to 1 November 2002.The international
community will use the meeting to prepare for the entry into force of the
Kyoto Protocol. Delegates will also focus on key concerns of developing
countries, such as how to gain better access to low-emitting technologies
and how to cope with the expected impacts of climate change.
Mr. T.R. Baalu, Minister
of Environment and Forests will sign the HCA for the host government. Ms
Joke Waller-Hunter, Executive Secretary of the Convention, will sign on
behalf of the UNFCCC. "India has a leadership role to play in the climate
change arena, and we are extremely pleased to have been invited this year to
the vibrant city of New Delhi for our annual meeting. In return, I hope the
people of India will benefit from news about our meeting and that they will
gain a greater understanding of climate change and its importance for their
future," said Ms Waller-Hunter. A high-level segment will take place from
Wednesday, 30 October to Friday, 1 November. It will be opened by the Prime
Minister of India, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and attended by Ministers and
senior officials.
47) INDIA TO WELCOME CLIMATE CHANGE DELEGATES
ENS
September 30, 2002
Internet:
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/sep2002/2002-09-30-01.asp
NEW DELHI, India, September 30, 2002 (ENS)
- The next step in global action to deal with a warming climate will be
taken in New Delhi in October when the 186 countries that are Parties to the
United Nations climate treaty meet to prepare for the entry into force of
the Kyoto Protocol. The government of India and the secretariat of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed today a Host Country
Agreement that finalized practical arrangements for the high-level
conference on global warming. It will be held at the Vigyan Bhawan
Conference Centre in New Delhi from October 23 to November 1. T.R. Baalu,
India's minister of environment and forests signed the HCA for the host
government. Joke Waller-Hunter, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, signed on
behalf of the secretariat.
"India has a leadership
role to play in the climate change arena," said Waller-Hunter, "and we are
extremely pleased to have been invited this year to the vibrant city of New
Delhi for our annual meeting. In return, I hope the people of India will
benefit from news about our meeting and that they will gain a greater
understanding of climate change and its importance for their future." The
conference, known officially as the 8th Session of the Conference of the
Parties to the Climate Change Convention, is expected to attract some 5,000
participants, including over 100 ministers, from the Convention's 186
Parties. A high-level segment will take place from October 30 to November
1. It will be opened by the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
and attended by ministers and senior officials. The international community
will use the meeting to prepare for the entry into force of the Kyoto
Protocol. The protocol, an international agreement under the UNFCCC, limits
the emission of six greenhouse gases by 37 industrialized nations. As
signed in Kyoto in 1997, the protocol covered 39 nations, but the United
States, which produces some 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, and
Australia, which would have been allowed to increase its emissions by eight
percent, have decided not to ratify the agreement. The protocol will not
enter into force until it is ratified by 55 percent of the nations
responsible for at least 55 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions
for 1990.
On September 12, Peru
became the latest country to deposit its instrument of ratification to the
Kyoto Protocol. The total number of ratifications, accessions, and
acceptances now stands at 94, representing 37.1 percent of emissions. The
European Union and Japan ratified the protocol earlier this year. Canada
has not yet decided whether or not it will ratify. Canadian Environment
Minister David Anderson pledged at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development that his government would submit the protocol to Parliament
before the end of this year. Other industrialized nations covered by the
protocol that still must decide on ratification include: Croatia, Estonia,
Lichtenstein, Monaco, New
Zealand, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Ukraine. India is not
on the list of 37 nations that must limit their emissions.
India has neither signed nor ratified, but on August 26, acceded to the
protocol thereby accepting the opportunity to become a party to the treaty
already negotiated and signed by other states. It has the same legal effect
as ratification. The other two major developing nations that emit large
amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases -
Brazil and China - have both signed and
ratified the protocol.
The protocol contains
legally binding targets by which developed countries must reduce their
combined emissions of six key greenhouse gases by at least five percent by
the period 2008-2012, calculated as an average over those five years. Cuts
in the three most important gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous
oxide will be measured primarily against a base year of 1990. Cuts in
three long lived industrial gases hydroflourocarbons, perflourocarbons and
sulphur hexafluoride can be measured against either a 1990 or 1995
baseline. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions to percent below 1990
levels, the protocol will result in 2010 emissions levels that are
approximately 20 percent below what they would have been in the absence of
the protocol. Greenhouse gas emission limits for developing countries will
be addressed at future negotiations of the Parties to the UNFCCC. Delegates
to the conference in New Delhi will focus on key concerns of developing
countries, such as how to gain better access to low emitting technologies
and how to cope with the expected impacts of climate change. The
relationship between efforts to protect the statospheric ozone layer and
efforts to safeguard the global climate system will be a topic of
discussion.
See Also:
INDIA TO HOST CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
October 2, 2002
http://www.ippmedia.com/guardian/2002/10/02/guardian4.asp
48) FARMERS FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING WITH NO-TILL FARMING
AlterNet
September 30, 2002
Internet:
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14079
On one field, there is
only rich, lumpy black earth, free of weeds or debris, below the rows of
cornstalks waving gently in the breeze. On another field, you can hardly
even see the dirt below a thick layer of woody residue -- dried-up bits of
corn cobs, pieces of stalk up to eight inches long, even the crumbly remains
of the soybean plants that typically alternate with corn crops on Midwestern
fields. A city dweller might think the difference is the matter of a lazy
or preoccupied farmer. But in reality, the messier-looking field is an
example of a practice that could play a significant role in reducing global
warming. The first field is tilled with a standard plow, a massive machine
towed by a tractor that grabs the earth and turns it over completely,
removing the residue of past crops. The second field is a "no-till" plot,
meaning it was not plowed but rather the new crop was planted amidst the
waste of the old. There are also "partial till" plots, in which a special
plow that turns over the soil to a lesser degree than the standard one is
used. When a field is plowed, the turning over and stirring of the soil
spurs the release of carbon dioxide, which has been identified as a
greenhouse gas contributing to global warming and climate change. Though
industry and automobiles are responsible for the majority of carbon dioxide
emissions in the U.S., the decomposition of organic matter on farmlands is a significant
source of the gas. When a field is not tilled, the decomposition and
resultant release of carbon dioxide is vastly slowed.
TO
TILL OR NOT TO TILL
No-till farming has
grown in popularity over the past decade, as farmers who once would have
called the practice "crazy" realize the benefits in lower labor and
equipment costs and increased productivity. Labor and time are saved when
the farmer doesn't plow the field, and the organic matter sitting on the
soil works effectively to decrease water run-off and erosion and boost the
soil's nutrient retention. In 2000, about 52 million acres in the U.S. were
no-till, according to the group Conservation for Agriculture's Future, for a
total of about 17 percent of the country's farmland. The practice had
increased dramatically between 1990 and 1995, then leveled off over the past
half decade. It wasn't until recently, however, that farmers and scientists
began talking about the role of carbon sequestration (meaning 'no-till' or
reduction of plowing) in connection with diminishing the greenhouse effect.
A groundbreaking $15
million project called CASMGS (Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation
of Greenhouse Gases) being carried out by 10 universities with funding from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture is in the process of documenting the
environmental benefits of carbon sequestration in agriculture and developing
outreach programs to convince farmers to adopt the practice. CASMGS
scientists note that while carbon sequestration doesn't actually remove
carbon dioxide from the air, it can significantly slow the expected increase
in emissions. If no-till farming were widely adopted in the U.S., they say
the projected increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions could be cut by as
much as 20 percent. "Plants trap carbon during photosynthesis, and that
carbon goes into the soil [in the form of plant residue] during harvesting,"
said Ron Turco, director of the Environmental Sciences Engineering Institute
and head of the CASMGS group at Purdue University in Indiana. "We want
to keep that carbon in the soil rather than releasing it into the atmosphere
as carbon dioxide."
Turco noted that the
original carbon content of the soil across the country has been reduced by
about 50 percent since John Deere invented the steel plow in the mid-1800s.
With widespread no-till, he thinks close to original levels could be
restored in as little as 40 years, with 75 to 200 million metric tons of
carbon sequestered per year. "In prairie conditions, everything is in
equilibrium," he said. "Then you come in with a destructive force like a
plow and it causes aeration, things get disturbed. What we want to do is
bring the soil back to its original quality." There are economic and
environmental drawbacks to no-till, including the fact that more pesticide
is usually needed to fight the organisms that find homes in the residue.
Farmers who have been using conventional plowing will also have some
start-up costs to switch over to no- or partial-till equipment. "What we
don't want to do is forget all the other management concerns that have an
environmental impact," said Sylvie Brouder, the Purdue scientist in charge
of outreach to farmers for that region. "We need to provide guidance to
farmers and look at what in the big picture is your environmental and
economic benefit." Even with the benefits, it is hard to convince farmers
to change traditions and ways of doing things that have been around for
generations. "If you tilled your whole life and your father tilled before
you, it's a change," said Turco. "You're used to seeing a field that looks a
certain way."
CASH
FOR CARBON
As an added bonus on top
of the soil quality, labor saving and environmental benefits of no-till
farming, there may soon be an added economic incentive. If the federal
government passes caps on carbon dioxide emissions, as many are hoping, a
market in "carbon credits" could likely develop in which those who practice
carbon dioxide reduction could "sell" their credits to industries or
manufacturers who fail to meet the cap. Similar markets already exist in
sulfur dioxide. Many economists say that if a carbon dioxide cap were
enacted, then a carbon credit market wouldn't be far behind. Then, farmers
could potentially make a decent profit in credits along with their
agricultural revenues. "For farmers, their bottom line is economics," said
Charles Rice, head of the CASMGS project out of Kansas State University. "If they can
see an economic incentive, and improve the soil at the same time, all the
better. It's taking a risk, and if there's a low profit margin than you are
less willing to take that risk. That's where the carbon credit market comes
in. It could help overcome that risk and fear of change."
There are several ways a
carbon credit market could function. Farmers could be given subsidies or
incentives from the government for adopting the practice, a measure that
could be taken even if emissions caps aren't instituted. Some of the
conservation funds allotted in the Farm Bill could be used for carbon
sequestration incentives, a move some farmers have suggested. A more
profitable version would be the exchange of the credits on a private market,
with the credits even potentially being traded on the stock market. The
Chicago-based Environmental Financial Products is currently carrying out a
project with funding from the Joyce Foundation and the Kellogg Graduate
School of Management at Northwestern University to develop a structure that
would allow the credits to be traded on the Chicago Board of Trade. "Probably in years to come there will be a private market for carbon
credits, as we learn better ways to measure and monitor it," said Bill Ryan,
a farmer and former head of the Soil Conservation Service under the first
President Bush. "In the short term we could have a public incentive through
the Farm Bill."
Estimates of how much
the credits would be worth are all over the map, depending on what type of
model is developed. They range from a few dollars per untilled acre under a
government subsidy program or private trading program based on voluntary
emissions reductions, to $40 or more per acre if a private market based on
mandatory emissions caps develops. "If it's based on a very significant
reduction required of industry, and industry can buy credits to meet that,
it would be very valuable," said Catherine Kling, an Iowa State University economics
professor working with the CASMGS project. "If it's based solely on
voluntary reductions from companies, on 'green marketing,' then it might be
a couple dollars per acre. It depends on what institutional and legal
requirements are facing firms." For carbon credit incentives to work, there
would be tricky issues to address such as how to monitor whether farmers
were practicing no-till and what to do if farmers sold their no-till credits
but then decided they were unable or unwilling to continue the practice.
GLOBALIZING CARBON CREDITS
The Kyoto Protocols,
which President George W. Bush still refuses to sign, would impose mandatory
caps on greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions trading programs were among the
options discussed during the Kyoto talks. Already,
Canada, Norway, Australia and other
countries have been experimenting with carbon credit trading. Turco noted
that some Canadian companies have already paid Iowa farmers for carbon
credits. He hopes that huge agricultural countries like China and India will
also push the practice. Some analysts picture that in keeping with the
Kyoto Protocols a huge global emissions trading market covering all
greenhouse gases will eventually develop. In this vision, manufacturers and
farmers all over the world would receive payment for feeding into "an
atmospheric sink" of unreleased carbon dioxide, while carbon dioxide
emitters would have to pay "rent" for the right to emit the gas. In that
case, a small farmer in Kansas could essentially sell his carbon
sequestration credits to a pool where they might be picked up by a
multinational company in Japan. A paper by the American Council on Capital
Formation (ACCF)'s Center on Policy Research notes that were such a thing to
develop, U.S. companies could look to buy cheaper emissions credits from
abroad. That would raise all sorts of issues concerning who regulates the
market and where the profit from emissions trading goes.
"The biggest obstacle to
implementing such a system, should we decide to, is a crassly familiar one:
who gets the rent generated by limiting the right to emit CO2," says the
ACCF report. Some environmentalists might find the whole concept of a
carbon credit market dubious -- in effect, farmers using a practice that
they might well have adopted anyway are helping polluting companies avoid
their obligation to cut down on emissions. The concept becomes especially
abstract when you consider a global market in which a U.S. corporation could
continue its polluting because it is buying credits from a no-till farmer
(or other emissions reducer) in China or Russia.
When it comes down to
it, switching to renewable fuel sources and developing technologies for
industry, automobiles and the like that have less emissions are more
critical measures than no-till farming in slowing global warming. "None of
this will replace industry doing its part," said Purdue agronomy professor
Eileen Kladivko. "But what we're doing is buying some time."
49) ALL COUNTRIES MUST PROMOTE CLEAN ENERGY
TECHNOLOGIES: US EXPERT CHANDIGARH, SEPT 30 (PTI)
Outlook India
September 30, 2002
Internet:
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=87175
India as well as other
countries have a global responsibility for promoting clean energy
technologies so as to promote a robust economy and healthier environment, an
official official of the U S Department of Energy said here today. Addressing a session on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy(EERE) Robert
K Dixon, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Power Technologies, US
Department of Energy (DoE), highlighted the opportunities for clean and
energy efficient technologies The session was organised by CII (Northern
Region) in association with the Public Affairs Section of the U S Embassy, a
CII release said. The portfolio of Energy Efficient Renewable Technologies
covers areas such as hydrogen, super conducting cables, solar energy,
advanced turbines, photovoltaics, microturbines, hydro power and biomass,
Dixon said. However, hydrogen was America's clean energy choice for the
future as it is flexible, affordable, safe, and usable in all sectors of the
economy, besides being pollution free and abundantly available in the
environment, he added. The session discussed clean energy technologies and
practical options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, implementation of
clean coal and natural gas technologies to provide heat and power and
development of renewable energy technologies to produce electricity, the
release said.
50) IPCC TO DISCUSS POSSIBILITY OF UNDERGROUND CARBON
STORAGE
Outlook
India
September 29, 2002
Internet:
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=86726
International Panel on
Climate Change will discuss the possibility and cost-effectiveness of
underground carbon storage in its November meeting in Canada, a top official
has said. "In November, we will convene a meeting of scientists, academics
and experts in Regina, Canada, to assess the geological carbon storage
possibility," R K Pachauri, Chairman, IPCC, told reporters here. "We will
discuss whether there is a possible technology and whether it is
cost-effective, and if there is enough scope in it we will come out with a
special report," Pachauri said. In the process of geological storage of
carbon, it is compacted by mixing it with some other materials and stored
underground. Various studies were on to assess this technology but the only
known experiment was done off the coast of Australia with carbon-absorbing
iron pellets. However, there was no serious option of such a storage
facility immediately, Pachauri added. Carbon dioxide is one of the most
polluting Green House gases with the longest shelf life of 100 years and US
and Canada, together, are responsible for 25 per cent of annual emissions. Various oil companies are reportedly interested in this technology as it
might prove cheaper than other options.
51) CLIMATE CHANGE: BLAME IT ON CHINA, INDIA
Economic Times of India
September 27, 2002
Internet:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=23444891
WASHINGTON: Black carbon
soot from coal burning, diesel engines, open fires and other sources is
contributing to global warming and climate change in China and India,
researchers report. A study appearing in today's issue of the Science
magazine is based on computer modeling at the NASA Goddard Institute for
Space Studies by researchers Surabi Menon and James Hansen. "If our
interpretation is correct, then reducing the amount of black carbon or soot
may help diminish the intensity of floods in the south and droughts in the
northern areas of China, in addition to having human health benefits,"
Hansen said. The research, based on data from Chinese ground stations
provided by Yunfeng Luo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is continuing in
order to see if a similar pattern of disturbances exists in India. Black
carbon - a product of incomplete combustion - comes from industrial
pollution, traffic, fires, the burning of coal in homes and biomass fuels.
It is especially prevalent in countries such as China and India, where
cooking and heating are typically done at a low temperatures using wood, cow
dung or coal. Unlike carbon dioxide emissions, which add to global warming
by trapping heat in the atmosphere, soot emissions may contribute to global
warming and climate change by absorbing sunlight, heating the air and making
the atmosphere more unstable, according to the study.
52) ICLR LAUNCHES THE NATURAL DISASTER HEALTH RESEARCH
NETWORK
Canada NewsWire
September 27, 2002
Internet:
http://library.northernlight.com/FD20020927730000056.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc
LONDON, ON, Sep 27, 2002
(Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- The Institute for Catastrophic Loss
Reduction (ICLR) is launching its Natural Disaster Health Research Network
today at a conference being held at the University of Western Ontario in
London, Ontario. The Natural Disaster Health Research Network, established
by ICLR with operating funding from the Climate Change and Health Office,
Health Canada, brings together individuals from the climate change, health sciences
and disaster management communities to identify strategies for Canadians to
successfully cope with the increasing extreme weather events. "The Institute
for Catastrophic Loss Reduction is proud to partner with Health
Canada to launch the Natural Disasters Health
Research Network," says Paul Kovacs, ICLR's executive director. "Research
provides an essential scientific foundation that will allow Canadians to
effectively address the growing threat to our health and property due to
severe weather."
The goal of the research
network is to gain a better understanding of the health and social impacts
of natural disasters. ICLR's innovative network will bring together
scholars, practitioners and natural disaster management personnel. Together,
they will address research gaps in the areas such as mental health,
population displacement, the ability of the public health infrastructure to
cope with the increase in extreme weather events, and the changing nature of
physical injuries and the treatment methods available. "Canadians will see
more storms and increased frequency of floods and droughts in decades to
come. Action now, including research, will help make our lives healthier in
the future," says Dr. Gordon McBean, ICLR's chair of research. The current
debate over the Kyoto Protocol has Canadian attention focused on the costs
of reducing emissions. According to ICLR, the impact of climate change is
being overlooked. "Neglected in this debate are the costs of the impacts of
a changing climate on Canadians, their health, their property and their
lifestyles," says McBean. "Since Kyoto is only a small step towards reducing
global emissions and greenhouse gases, we need to be aware that the climate
of Canada fifty years from now will be quite different from the past fifty
years." ICLR's two-day workshop - Dealing with Disasters: Impact on Human
Health - is being held at Spencer Hall Conference Centre, 51 Windermere
Road, London, Ontario, today and tomorrow (September 27 and 28, 2002). Canada's home, car and business insurers founded the Institute for
Catastrophic Loss Reduction in 1998. ICLR is a coordinated effort to reduce
disaster losses involving member insurance companies, the University of
Western Ontario and other
partners. The Institute earns contract revenue for specific projects and
workshop fees. Member insurers and the Ontario Research and Development
Challenge Fund provide ongoing funding. For more information about ICLR,
visit our web site at
www.iclr.org.
53) KYOTO MAY HELP DEVELOPING NATIONS
The Western Producer
September 26, 2002
Internet:
http://www.producer.com/articles/20020926/news/20020926news16.html
An international climate
change treaty that offers to compensate farmers for adopting environmental
practices and for their role as managers of carbon-storing lands could be an
important boost for peasant farmers in developing countries, says the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. But in its annual The State of
Food and Agriculture report published last week, the FAO called for a simple
and efficient system for paying farmers, measuring their contribution to the
fight against greenhouse gas emissions, and teaching them how to take
advantage of the opportunity. "Even where such measures are being taken,
payments for carbon-sequestering land-use changes do not represent a panacea
for either the reduction of rural poverty or the mitigation of climate
change," the report said. "Nonetheless, carbon sequestration payments can
play an important role in promoting sustainable development among the poor
... and may represent an important new means of finance for such efforts." The potential for farmers to make money from a system of carbon-storing
credits will also be part of the debate in Canada over whether the
government should ratify the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change.
Kyoto ratification would
require Canada to cut greenhouse gas emissions, principally carbon dioxide,
to levels six percent below 1990 levels a real cut estimated at as much as
15 percent by 2012. Industries that are mainly responsible for carbon
dioxide emissions have warned that tens of thousands of jobs would be lost
and Canada would suffer a competitive disadvantage because the United States
is refusing to sign. But in agriculture, opinion is more divided. Kyoto
offers the spectre of higher energy costs, but also a new income source for
farmers who use environmental practices or who sell grain or straw to
ethanol companies. FAO analysts said the same debate is raging over
potential costs and benefits to developing world farmers. Adopting such
carbon-storing practices as zero or minimum till can increase soil
productivity and farmer income, the report said. But poor farmers often do
not have the money to make initial investments required to change farming
practices.
"Payments for carbon
sequestration services offer an interesting way of reducing the cost of
capital to low income land users." In the broader debate about whether
human activities and the pollution they create really are contributing to
global warming, the FAO comes down squarely on the side of those who insist
there is a problem. And it says agriculture is responsible for more than 12
percent of emissions, while suffering the consequences of erratic weather,
droughts, floods and declining water resources. "The agriculture sector is
of key importance in the issue of climate change, both as one of the sources
of the problem and as a recipient of its impacts," the report said. It also
cautions that storing carbon in land and forests is not a long-term
solution. After 20 years or so, land becomes saturated and stored carbon
starts making its way back into the air.
54) INTO THE COLD? SLOWING OCEAN CIRCULATION COULD
PRESAGE DRAMATIC AND CHILLY CLIMATE CHANGE
The Christian Science Monitor
September 26, 2002
Internet:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0926/p14s02-sten.html
Call it global warming's
dirty little secret. Those much-publicized scenarios of how carbon-dioxide
(CO2) pollution may gradually heat up the earth don't tell you another key
fact: that climate has sometimes changed without warning. It can go from
warm to cold or cold to warm in less than decade, and stay that way for
centuries.
Water-circulation data
from the North Atlantic now suggest the climate system may be approaching
that kind of threshold. If man-made warming or natural causes push it over
the edge, the system will chill down many temperate parts of North America
and Europe, even while the planet as a whole continues to warm.
Terrence Joyce, chairman
of the physical-oceanography department at Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution in Massachusetts, is one of a handful of scientists trying to
raise awareness about this possibility. He says he is "not predicting an
imminent climate change only that once it started (and it is getting more
likely) it could occur within 10 years." Mr. Joyce explains that many of the
computer simulations of climate change "never predict any abrupt
transition." But, he says, such an event could occur. "Abrupt climate change
has been a part of our history," he says. That's what happened when the
so-called Little Ice Age cut in about 500 years ago. Take a look at
Bruegel's famous paintings of skaters on frozen Dutch canals to get an idea
of what would be in store for regions that haven't known such harsh winters
since we emerged from the Little Ice Age during the last century. There is
as yet no conclusive evidence that the Dutch should stock pile ice skates.
But Woods Hole director Robert Gagosian feels an urgency to settle the
question. He sees enough disturbing information in the North Atlantic data,
which oceanographers from Woods Hole and other institutions have gathered,
to call it "strong evidence that we may be approaching a dangerous
threshold." He says we need to know whether we are blindly walking toward
the edge of a cliff.
North Atlantic water
circulation raises this level of concern because it is a key factor in the
climate system. Broadly speaking, that system redistributes solar heat from
the tropics around the planet. The atmosphere carries heat north and south
in the form of warm air and water vapor. The latter releases its heat when
it condenses into droplets. That's about half the distribution; ocean
currents carry the rest. Winds move heat around quickly. Ocean currents can
take centuries. Oceanographers call their stately flow the Great Ocean
Conveyor. Warm surface currents distribute tropical heat. Deep currents
carry cold water back toward the equator. Together, these currents form an
interconnected system that circulates through the North and South Atlantic
into the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The
"pump" that drives the conveyor is in the northern part of the North
Atlantic. There, the Gulf Stream brings in warm,
relatively salty water. This cools as it gives up heat to the winds that
warm Britain and Europe. Cold, salty water is relatively heavy. Mingling
with Arctic outflows, the Gulf Stream water sinks to great depths and flows
southward. More Gulf Stream water flows in to replace it.
This circulation
sucking in Gulf Stream water at the top and forcing it down and out at the bottom propels
the North Atlantic branch of the
conveyor. Shut down that pump, and you could have what Dr. Gagosian calls
"dramatic" climate change. He explains in a posting to the Woods Hole
website that "average winter temperatures could drop by 5 degrees Fahrenheit
over much of the United States, and by 10 degrees in the northeastern United
States and in Europe." The way to shut down the pump is to dilute the inflow
water to the point where it is no longer salty enough to sink deeply and
flow southward near the bottom. That seems to be happening now. Last April,
Robert Dickson of Britain's Centre for
Environment, Fisheries, and Agricultural Science, together with colleagues
from Canada, Germany, and Scotland reported in Nature magazine that fresh
water has been diluting the North Atlantic for the past four decades.
Research by other groups confirms this trend. Joyce says the evidence
"strongly suggests" the North Atlantic pump is "threatened by fresh-water
dilution." The cause is unclear. It could be a subtle effect of global
warming. Changes in air circulation have altered the freezing and melting
patterns of Arctic ice generally. Ice in the Arctic Ocean, in particular,
has thinned. Also, the Arctic has warmed to the point where melting
permafrost now is a major concern. But there is no clear causal pattern to
the North Atlantic fresh-water dilution. The urgent need, Joyce says, is for
"specific research to clarify what is going on." That includes more
upper-ocean salinity measurements and monitoring of the North Atlantic
conveyor circulation.
Last December, the
National Academy of Sciences released a report urging research to understand
abrupt climate change generally. Richard Alley of Pennsylvania State
University at University College, chairman of the Academy committee, warned
at that time that "it will be a long time, if at all, before we are really
good at predicting climate change...." He added, "Any reality may be very
different from the predictions, and we need to anticipate changes and
surprises." Right now, those climate simulations don't deal with the nasty
surprises Gagosian anticipates if the North Atlantic circulation pump shuts
down, as it has done in some past climate changes. Instead of half a century
or more to adapt to global warming, the next 10 to 20 years might bring a
climate change that would change the world and the world economy. In
Gagosian's words, it could "freeze rivers and harbors and bind North
Atlantic shipping lanes in ice ... disrupt the operation of ground and air
transportation ... cause energy needs to soar exponentially ... force
wholesale changes in agricultural practices and fisheries." Efforts to curb
CO2 emissions to slow global warming would become a secondary issue as
people tried to cope with more immediate challenges. Dr. Alley says there's
no reason yet for alarm, although there is a case to be made for more
intensive research to find out what's happening to North Atlantic
circulation. He also sees a larger challenge. If drastic climate change were
imminent, there is little we could do to stop it. The best strategy, he
says, is to work harder now to build resiliency into agriculture, housing,
energy use, and into economies generally. That's essentially the conclusion
a US Department of Energy climate-change study group reached 25 years ago.
55) THEY'LL TRADE ANYTHING ... EVEN HOT AIR
New York Post
September 24, 2002
Internet:
http://www.nypost.com/business/57699.htm
September 24, 2002 -- At
last - a trading market for windbags. The NASD said yesterday it will help
launch the new Chicago Climate Exchange, which was created to make a market
for hot air. Does it mean that popular pundits like Donald Trump, James
Cramer and ex-Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget can make a quick buck by
opening their mouths on the new exchange? Not really, says Richard Sandor,
chairman of the exchange. When the Chicago Climate Exchange opens next
spring, it will provide a market for stinky methane gasses and other
emissions that cause global warming and are thus subject to regulation. "We're creating a market for companies to get credits when they reduce their
emissions from factories, vehicles and landfills, as well as increase the
oxygen-producing forests with tree reforestation," Sandor said. The credits
can be monetized and traded among companies listed on an exchange. Just
plain hot air won't cut it, he said.
56) FOSSIL FUEL BURNING BLAMED FOR U.S. PARKS AIR
POLLUTION
ENS
September 23, 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20020924/wl_oneworld/1032_1032867808
WASHINGTON, DC, September 23, 2002 (ENS) -
The air above five of the most famous United States national parks is often
more polluted than that of many urban areas, finds a new report released
Monday by three conservation groups. The National Park Service countered
with its own report, finding that the results of a 10 year study show that
air quality is improving or remaining stable in more than half of the
national parks monitored. Both reports blame fossil fuel burning power
plants, industrial facilities and motor vehicles for generating the smog and
haze that threatens the health and beauty of the nation's parks. The
National Park Service (NPS) report "shows that in most parks, air quality
exceeds standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect
public health and welfare," said NPS Director Fran Mainella. "Our findings
also show that some parks occasionally experience pristine air quality
conditions, unaffected by air pollution."
The best visibility, the
NPS report found, occurs in Denali National Park in Alaska, and in
an area centered around Great Basin National Park in Nevada. However,
Mainella acknowledged that more work needs to be done to improve air quality
and visibility at many national parks. Air pollution now impairs visibility
to some degree in every national park, she noted. In 1977, Congress amended
the Clean Air Act to establish a national goal of cleaning up the air over
national parks and wildlands, called Class I areas. That goal has yet to be
reached. "Information in this report will help us to protect air quality
related values from the adverse effects of air pollution by communicating
information about air quality conditions in parks to the public and to
state, federal and tribal authorities," Mainella said. For more than 20
years, the NPS has been studying air quality in national park areas, with
monitoring now underway at 60 NPS sites. The NPS air quality monitoring
program provides information on ozone levels, acid rain and visibility
impairment in parks.
The NPS report found
that from 1990 to 1999, of the 28 parks that were monitored for visibility,
22 had improving visibility conditions on the clearest days. Ground level
ozone concentrations were monitored at 32 parks, and the results show that
while ozone levels in eight parks are improving, in 16 parks they are
getting worse. Acid rain monitoring was conducted in 29 parks, including
testing for levels of sulfates and nitrates in rain and snow. Twenty-five
parks are showing a decrease in sulfate levels, while 14 show a decrease in
nitrate levels, the NPS report found. The NPS report agreed with the report
issued by the conservation groups in ranking the parks with the worst air
pollution problems. "Code Red: America's Five Most Polluted National Parks,"
a report produced by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA),
Appalachian Voices, and Our Children's Earth, uses an air pollution index,
developed by Appalachian Voices for two earlier studies, to rank the five
most polluted national parks based on haze, ozone and acid precipitation.
"In the
Great Smoky Mountains, our most
polluted national park, ozone pollution exceeds that of Atlanta, Georgia, and even rivals Los
Angeles, California," said Harvard
Ayers, chair of Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit conservation group focused
on protecting forests and communities of the Appalachian Mountain region.
Besides Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina,
the "Code Red" report names Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, Mammoth
Cave National Park in Kentucky, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks in
California, and Acadia National Park in Maine as the parks with the nation's
worst air pollution. All of these parks are also cited in the NPS report,
titled "Air Quality in the National Parks." The ways in which air pollution
harms the parks varies. At Great Smoky Mountains, for example, ozone
pollution has violated federal health standards more than 175 times since
1998 and is damaging 30 species of plants. Acidic mountaintop clouds blanket
spruce and fir tree forests, and saturate soils with excess nitrogen.
At Shenandoah National
Park, visibility from Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail has shrunk to
as little as one mile on smoggy summer days, and acid precipitation is
ruining streams for native fish. At Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks,
ozone levels surpassed human health standards on 61 summer days in 2001,
posing a risk to sequoia seedlings and blocking views of the Sierra mountain
scenery. The NPS report confirms that ozone injury to vegetation has been
documented at Ozone injury to vegetation has been identified in Shenandoah,
Great Smoky Mountains, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, as well as two
additional national parks in California: Yosemite, and Lassen Volcanic National Park. At
Acadia National Park, scenic views are
impaired and acid rain threatens streams and lakes. Acid rain is also a
major problem at Mammoth Cave National Park, where it seeps through the
porous karst rock to pollute underground streams and the unique wildlife
that depends upon them. The impacts of air pollution are evident throughout
the National Park System, charge the groups behind the "Code Red" report.
For example, Big Bend National Park in Texas was found to have some of the
worst visibility in the western states, and air pollution at this park along
the Mexican border is growing worse. Many other parks are not included in
the report because they lack complete monitoring data, the groups noted.
Other types of air
pollution, such as mercury deposits, pose risks at parks ranging from Acadia
to the Everglades in southern Florida. Airborne pesticide residues from
agricultural areas threaten park wildlife, the groups warn, and global
warming caused by emissions of greenhouse gases could disrupt ecosystems in
national parks. Most park air pollution from human sources comes from
burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, both reports agree.
Power plants and industrial facilities, as well as cars, trucks, planes,
trains and construction equipment, all produce fossil fuel pollution. Power
plant emissions vary by region, but this one industrial sector ranks among
the worst polluters, particularly in the eastern half of the country, the
reports note. For example, sulfate particles formed from sulfur dioxide
emissions from fossil fuel combustion - mostly from electric generation
facilities - accounts for 60 to 80 percent of the visibility impairment in
the eastern parks and 30 to 40 percent of the impairment in western states,
the NPS report states. Besides damaging visibility and natural resources at
national parks, this pollution can also harm human health. "New statistics
from the World Health Organization) show that in the United States, air
pollution annually kills nearly twice as many people as do traffic accidents
and that deaths from air pollution equal deaths from breast cancer and
prostate cancer combined," said Tiffany Schauer, executive director of Our
Children's Earth Foundation.
The "Code Red" report
also assesses progress made during the decade since the passage of 1990
mendments to the Clean Air Act, the most recent changes to the law.
"National parks have seen little to no improvement despite the most recent
amendments to the Clean Air Act," said Don Barger, NPCA's southeast regional
director. "For example, pollution from outdated power plants continues to
harm parks and people, when there's no reason older power plants cannot meet
modern pollution control requirements." NPS Director Mainella says the
agency is working to improve air quality in parks by promoting pollution
prevention practices in parks and reviewing permit applications for new and
modified air pollution sources near parks. Yet just last month, the
Department of Interior approved plans for a new coal fired power plant in
western Kentucky that critics charge will increase air pollution at nearby
Mammoth Cave National Park, which already suffers from some of the worst
visibility in the nation. The "Code Red" groups argue that the Bush
administration could, and should, be doing more to clean up the air over
national parks.
"Air pollution in the
national parks is a national crisis that requires national solutions," said
Joy Oakes, director of NPCA's Clean Air for Parks and People campaign. "A
key part of the solution is for the Bush Administration to enforce existing
pollution laws. Unfortunately, the Administration is abandoning programs
essential to cleaning up the air in our parks and communities." The groups
argue that the Bush administration must implement and enforce existing
programs of the Clean Air Act, such as the Regional Haze Rule, including the
Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) amendment and the New Source
Review program. Current Bush administration proposals would eliminate these
basic programs, weakening provisions to protect parks, the groups charge,
while President George W. Bush's plan for clean air protection, called the
Clear Skies Initiative, will not do enough to protect air quality in
national parks, the report says. "Code Red" also makes a case for new
federal legislation that would make "sizeable cuts in power plant
emissions," including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon
dioxide. New legislation is also needed to cut emissions from mobile sources
such as cars and trucks, and to increase the fuel efficiency of motor
vehicles. Until these actions are taken on the federal level, the "Code Red"
report urges states to find ways to protect themselves, such as controlling
in state sources of pollution. Several states are already moving in this
direction, the report notes. Earlier this year, California became the first
state in the nation to control greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes.
In June, North Carolina
passed the Clean Smokestacks Act, requiring the state's power plants to
slash sulfur dioxide emissions by 74 percent, and nitrogen oxide emissions
by 78 percent. Similar legislation has been introduced by Democrats in the
U.S. House and Senate, but has been stalled by Republican and White House
opposition. "Ironically, as North Carolina takes steps to improve air
quality, the Bush Administration has proposed a major step backward -
actually weakening the Clean Air Act," noted U.S. Representative David
Price, a North Carolina Democrat. "So even though North Carolina will be
doing its part to reduce pollution that causes ozone and acid rain, our
state will continue to be stricken by pollution coming from other states."
57) US
LAWMAKERS MAY DEAL ON DRILLING, CLIMATE CHANGE
Planet Ark
September 23, 2002
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=17866&newsdate=23-Sep-2002
WASHINGTON - The
chairman of the congressional committee trying to hammer out a final energy
bill indicated that Republican House lawmakers might accept a climate change
package if Senate Democrats agreed to drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. As Senate and House negotiators try to finish a broad
energy bill before Congress adjourns next month, two of the more contentious
issues still to be worked out are whether to allow oil drilling in Alaska's
ANWR and implementing a program to reduce global warming emissions from
industrial facilities like power plants. "The Senate very clearly wants to
have climate change in the bill. We very clearly on the House side want to
see ANWR in (the bill). There may be room for discussion," Rep. Billy Tauzin
of Louisiana told reporters. U.S. President George W. Bush last year
withdrew the nation from a global treaty to reduce heat-trapping gas
emissions because of concerns such a move would hurt the U.S. economy.
Senate Democrats want to spur action through the energy bill.
Tauzin's hint at
possible "horsetrading" among lawmakers is an important step to settle major
differences between the Senate and House on how to overhaul U.S. energy
policy for the first time in a decade. While the House voted in its energy
bill to allow drilling in ANWR, the Senate's energy legislation kept the
refuge closed to oil firms. Separately, the Senate voted to maintain a
federal registry that companies would voluntary provide information to on
their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, the registry would
be mandatory after five years if it accounted for less than 60 percent of
all U.S. greenhouse emissions. The House's energy bill did not include a
climate change provision. "There might be a trade there. We'll look for
it," Tauzin said. "Everything is on the table."
58) THE FIRST GLOBAL WARMING REFUGEES
The Scotsman
September 20, 2002
Internet:
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=1043362002
STRIPPED to his shirt
sleeves on a desolate polar beach, the Inupiat Eskimo hunter gazes over his
Arctic world. The midnight sun catches on the waves surrounding his island
village. The town sits amid the ruins of dugouts that his ancestors chipped
from the permafrost when Pharaohs were erecting pyramids in the hot sands of
Egypt. His children and their cousins play tag on a hillock where his wifes
parents and their parents are buried. Thousands of years ago, hungry nomads
chased caribou here across a now-lost land bridge from Siberia, just 100 miles away. Many scientists believe those nomads became the
first Americans. Now their descendants are about to become global warming
refugees. Their village is about to be swallowed up by the sea. "We have no
room left here," Tony Weyiouanna, 43, said. "I have to think about my
grandchildren. We need to move." Weather dictates survival in the
Arctic. Always it has been the fearsome cold
that meant life or death. Now, native Alaskans are alarmed by a noticeable
warming trend. Average temperatures in the Arctic have risen more than 2.2C
since 1971 - about the same time, coincidentally, that the first snowmobile
made an appearance.
Mr Weyiouanna remembers:
"It was mind-boggling to see a sled move without dogs pulling it."
Snowmobile aside, this is still a very rustic village. Its breakwater of
sandbags, tires and rusting vehicles is often breached by storms. Recently,
four homes tumbled into the sea as villagers huddled in the Lutheran church.
Fuel and water tanks teeter just a few strides from the brink. Another gale
or two and the entire island - a half-mile at its widest, 10ft at its
highest - could be swamped. Mr Weyiouannas ancestors simply would have
loaded their dogsleds and mushed inland. But in modern times, moving a town
means Shishmarefs 600 residents must vote. It will cost at least £70
million, the US Army Corps of Engineers says. Its a staggering sum even by
Shishmaref standards, where a light bulb costs £7 at the Nayokpuk Trading
Company.
Residents believe the
government will pay, although state and federal officials say no relocation
fund exists. It is an upheaval many Americans might face in coming decades.
In June, the Bush administration submitted a report to the United Nations
acknowledging for the first time that climate change is real and
unavoidable. The administration recommends adapting. Still unresolved is
whether rising temperatures are caused by smokestacks and traffic jams
pumping more heat-trapping emissions into the atmosphere. Or, natural
variations in the complex relationship between the oceans, the atmosphere
and the sun. The army has a £2.1 million plan to rebuild the islands
leading edge with bargeloads of rock. But the money can only be used for
erosion control, not relocation. The Corps offers to design a breakwater
that is more effective. The other option is to move. Three village women
open the bingo hall and stretch the Stars and Stripes across the wall. They
unfold two portable, metal voting booths and tack a sample ballot to the
door. It reads: "Do you want to relocate the Community of Shishmaref?" To
vote: "Mark an X to the right of Yes or No."
NO
DANGLING CHADS HERE.
An hour ticks by.
Winfred Obruk, who runs the village generator, wanders in. He drops his
ballot into the locked box, tapping the lid twice for emphasis. At 63, he
says he is ready to abandon the only home hes known. "Theres nothing else
we can do," Mr Obruk said. "The storms make you feel kind of small. It feels
odd to move, but thats nature." For a valid referendum, Shishmaref needs 40
per cent of its 341 registered voters to cast ballots. The villages median
age is about 20. Most youths stay up late hunting, playing video games or
cruising the beach on 4x4s. By mid-afternoon, some were persuaded to vote.
They want to go anywhere, it seems. "I went to school on the mainland," said
Leona Goodhope, 19. "And when I came back, my house was gone. They moved it
to the other side of the village, or it wouldve fallen in." At 8pm, the
election judges put down their copy of the National Enquirer to hand-count
the ballots. Outside, a crowd gathered for bingo. The vote: 161-20.
Shishmaref will move. Nobody cheered. The island still could be used as a
summer fishing camp, said Mr Weyiouanna. He will become a bureaucrat and
co-ordinate relocation planning. "We will be putting money into the move,"
he said, "and not pouring it into the sea." The favoured spot for this £70
million move? Five miles east.
59)
CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS DEVELOPMENT - KHALEDA
Gulf News
September 20, 2002
Internet:
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=63590http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=63590
Prime Minister Khaleda
Zia yesterday said the impact of climate change adds additional complexities
and burden to planning for sustainable development. "It's a real challenge
for the governments of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to
simultaneously address the issues of climate change and sustainable
development," she told the inaugural session of a three-day LDC Expert Group
Workshop at Dhaka Hotel Sheraton. More than 140 participants from 46
countries and representatives of donor countries and organisations are
taking part in the workshop on Capacity Building for Preparation of National
Adaptation Progr-amme of Action. The Ministry of Environment and Forest and
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organised the workshop in
association with the LDC Expert Group on Climate Change. Ministers,
political leaders and a large number of environmentalists attended the
session.
Addressing the session,
the prime minister pointed at the impact of global warming, saying that for
some countries it might be mere "lifestyle threatening" but for others it is
"life threatening". She said the least developed countries faced the worst
effects because of their dependence on agriculture and a natural
resources-based economy. Referring to the international summit on global
climate to be held in New Delhi next month, she said the LDCs require more
interaction and dialogue among themselves for working out a common strategy
before negotiating with larger groups. She assured Bangladesh's total
cooperation in these efforts.Khaleda said Bangladesh, as the most densely
populated, deltaic and low-lying country, is extremely vulnerable to climate
change.
60) STUDY: EARTH TO WARM EVEN IF GREENHOUSE GAS CUT
Reuters
September 19, 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020919/ts_nm/environment_warming_dc_2
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Earth's climate will warm up over the next 50 years, whether or not
greenhouse gases are curbed soon, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday in a
NASA study. If nations cut back on emissions, it will not heat up as much,
but it will still be hotter than it is now, according to a computer climate
model. "Some continued global warming will occur ... even if the greenhouse
gases in the air do not increase further, but the warming could be much less
than the worst-case scenarios," lead researcher James Hansen said in a
statement. If emissions continue to increase at the current rate, global
temperatures may increase by 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit (1-2 Celsius) the study
found. But if carbon dioxide emissions do not increase any faster than they
are now and if nations cut emissions of true air pollutants -- those harmful
to humans -- temperatures might only rise 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (.75
Celsius).
The climate model
provided a convincing demonstration that global temperature change of the
past half-century was mainly a response to climate forcing agents, or
imposed perturbations of the Earth's energy balance, researchers found. This
was especially true of human-made forcings, such as carbon dioxide and
methane, which trap the Earth's heat radiation as a blanket traps body heat.
Hansen is based at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York
City, but the research was a collaborative effort among 19 institutions,
including seven universities, federal agencies, private industry and other
NASA centers, and was funded by NASA. The results appear in the current
Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres.
61) WORLD FACING INCREASED CLIMATE CHANGE: CSIRO
Abc.net
September 20 2002
Internet:
http://abc.net.au/news/scitech/2002/09/item20020918181156_1.htm
Australian scientists
are predicting that future climate change will occur more rapidly in the
next 100 years, prompted by increasing carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere. Australian researchers have just completed their first climate
model predicting the world's weather thousands of years into the future.
CSIRO oceanographer Steve Rintoul says in the next 100 years, even if global
warming does not increase, sea ice will still melt in the Antarctic and at
the North Pole.
Water from the ice will
be too light and fresh to sink into the deep ocean leaving it without fresh
oxygen, currents and ocean circulation in the lower depths will slowly grind
to a halt. Dr Rintoul says without circulation in the southern ocean, it
will not act as a carbon sink, and there will be more carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere "As that circulation slows it carries less carbon dioxide from
the sea surface down into the deep seas," he said. "That will lead to
climate change happening at a more rapid rate than if the southern ocean
currents stayed as they are today."
62) BANGLADESH PM CALLS ON POOR NATIONS TO FACE CLIMATE
CHANGE CHALLENGES
Space Daily
September 19, 2002
Internet:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/020919151618.7noowqh4.html
Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called
Thursday on both rich and poor nations to work against climate change, as
she opened an environmental conference involving representatives from 46
developing countries. Zia, speaking to some 140 delegates from the Least
Developed Countries forum, said that greenhouse gases emitted by developed
countries also impacted on the poor world. "Public pressure on
policy-makers in the developed countries needs to be mounted to address the
problem," she said. "We have only one earth to live in. Once some of its
parts are affected by environmental disasters, other parts will not remain
safe." The 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming is opposed by US President
George W. Bush's administration, which says the treaty does not bind China,
India and other fast-growing, populous countries to target their emissions. The United States accounted for 36.1 percent of the world's greenhouse gas
emissions in 1990.
Environment officials here said Bangladesh,
with a population of 129 million crammed into only 147,570 square kilometers
(56,977 sq miles), was extremely vulnerable to climate change and global
warming from greenhouse effects. "A meter sea-level rise will permanently
inundate about 11 percent of Bangladesh territory," they said, adding the
vast coastal Sundarban forest, the world's largest mangrove and a
UNESCO-declared world heritage site, could be in jeopardy. Zia said climate
change added "negative burdens to planning for sustainable development" and
noted that poor countries had to meet the challenge of global warming
"within their limited resources". She said Bangladesh had taken measures to
contain pollution. Bangladesh this year banned production and use of
hazardous polybags and is forcing out of the capital, Dhaka, two-stroke
three-wheel taxis, which are blamed for emitting polluting exhaust. Bangladesh's environment ministry and the United Nations are organising the
three-day conference.
63)
CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS LONDON'S FUTURE - REPORT
Reuters
September 14, 2002
Internet:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=1449570
LONDON (Reuters) -
Flooding as a result of global warming threatens one in every 13 British
homes and could even erode London's role as a international commercial
center, the Independent newspaper said on Sunday. Citing a new government
report, it said buildings and land worth 222 billion pounds were under
threat from global warming, which it describes as "the greatest threat
facing the world community." The report by the government's Energy Savings
Trust, which was handed privately to ministers on Thursday, is one of the
starkest official warnings yet of the cost of climate change. "A long term
policy aimed at slowing down and ultimately reducing car ownership, as well
as use, will be necessary to have any real impact on transport emissions,"
the report said. This month's marathon Earth Summit in Johannesburg was
widely criticized by environmentalists and vulnerable Pacific nations for
barely touching on the problem of global warming.
The
United States was singled out for criticism. President Bush has pulled out
of the 1997 Kyoto pact, under which developed nations agreed to rein in
emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for warming the atmosphere. About half
of the 222 billion pounds of property under threat in Britain is in the
Thames region around London, threatening the capital's future "as an
international center for trade and commerce," the report said. Some five
million people living in 1.8 million homes risk being inundated by rising
seas and increased rainfall, as does "61 percent of the total of grade one
land in England and Wales."
64)
INSURING IT ENDS IN A FLOOD OF TEARS by Jeremy Leggett
The Guardian
October 14, 2002
Internet:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,811232,00.html
Jeremy Leggett is
associate fellow at Oxford University's environmental
change unit and chief executive officer of Solar Century, the UK's largest
solar electric power company. His 10-year history of global warming, The
Carbon War, is available via
www.carbonwar.com
The unravelling of
Anglo-Saxon style capitalism has continued in recent weeks with the
realisation that the insurance industry's core business doesn't work.
Competitive paring of
rates by insurers to attract premium income, par for the course for years,
has meant that even a mild crop of disasters can render insurance
unprofitable. This was acceptable as long as investment returns could
compensate. Now, with the demise of the bull market and consequent withering
of investment returns, they can't. All this is playing out on a stage that
is largely ignoring the risk of global warming. But as the United Nations
environment programme pointed out in a report this week, this danger is real
and present. As long ago as 1993, I listened to a director of Lloyd's of
London warn that enhancing the greenhouse effect could bankrupt not just
Lloyd's but the entire global insurance industry. By 1995, I had also heard
industry leaders warn of a greenhouse-triggered global insurance crash. In
1997, the world's largest reinsurance company, Munich Re, went further
still. It warned that the ripple effects from such a crash could topple
global capital markets.
The insurance industry
takes well over a trillion dollars in annual premiums. Much of this income
is invested. Several hundred billion dollars are retained for property
catastrophe losses, which mainly involve earthquakes and climatic disasters.
Although losses in recent years have been unprecedented, they have not
exceeded a quarter of the reserve pot in any one year. But in a warming
world, disasters are likely to be more numerous, and more intense. And to
date, amazingly, no climate catastrophe has hit a city in a developed
country.
The worst-case scenario
for insurers works like this. The dice finally roll unkindly. A full-blown
hurricane hits New York, say. A drought-related wildfire sweeps into Los
Angeles. It would take only a few catastrophes like these to drain the
industry's reserves. A machine-gun volley of smaller catastrophes could have
the same effect. Even on current bullet-dodging trends, one of the
industry's most eminent climate experts, Andrew Dlugolecki, has warned that,
in a world doing nothing about greenhouse gas emissions, net wealth
destruction will exceed net wealth creation by 2065. What has the insurance
industry done about this threat to its profitability and indeed survival?
Virtually nothing. Not a single full-time lobbyist has been deployed. The
fossil-fuel industries deploy hundreds. Some companies joined an initiative
set up by the United Nations environment programme. Despite UNEP's best
efforts, it has become a mere talking shop. Only a few companies have
instigated unilateral initiatives. The insurance industry is at its most
dysfunctional when it comes to investment. Most of the climate-risk
whistleblowers come from underwriting departments. They are people who
understand risk. The investment departments, meanwhile, behave as though
global warming has no price implications. They invest much of their vast
income in energy, mainly in fossil fuels - which is of course the primary
source of greenhouse gas emissions.
I have been saying this
situation cannot last since 1993. I still believe it cannot last. But the
collective irresponsibility of the insurance industry now beggars belief.
Of course, the industry
could begin the process of risk abatement belatedly by serious investment in
renewable energy. But increasingly the insurance industry is reminiscent of
the Bismark. Hit by a few shells from the collapse of the bull market, the
ship is ablaze already, without much of a rudder. Global warming could
provide the salvoes that sink it at any time, now.
65) KYOTO AT THE WTO by Christopher C. Horner
National Post
October 11, 2002
Internet:
http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/story.html?id=%7B4E4F16D4-6320-4C95-A5C7-AE7BEE56330C%7D
Christopher C. Horner is a senior fellow at
the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
The Kyoto Protocol was
not formally on the agenda at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development. Russia -- one of only two countries now able to dictate Kyoto's
fate -- nonetheless made news by declaring, again, that it will soon ratify
Kyoto. This announcement,
combined with European Union threats, imperil the global trading system. The
Bush administration has appeared to be paying little attention. Hopefully, a
recent petition to the EU Trade Commissioner by Friends of the Earth-Europe
(FOE) will change that. If Russia ratifies, Kyoto will have attained the
requisite numbers to go into effect against nations that have voted to
accept it. The EU has made clear its intent, either through U.S.
participation in Kyoto or otherwise, to extract Kyoto-style economic pain
from the United States (which, Bush administration rhetoric notwithstanding,
remains a non-ratifying signatory). The EU apparently intends to claim that
all U.S. goods are impermissibly subsidized by the United States' refusal to
adopt Kyoto-style energy taxes. Last week, FOE fired the first shot in this
inevitable conflict, demanding the EU apply penalties against
energy-intensive U.S. products in retaliation for the United States not
going along with Kyoto.
Such a penalty, or
alternatively an EU "eco-dumping" suit, would force the pro-growth World
Trade Organization to address anti-growth multilateral environmental
agreements (MEAs) such as Kyoto. It is not clear whether the WTO, confronted
with this conflict, would remain true to its pro-growth mission. Such a suit
would also trigger a landmark battle over the freedom of states to refuse to
adopt the policies of others, without incurring penalty for unfair trade
practice. Further, this would raise sharp questions about the Bush
administration's curious refusal to withdraw from Kyoto -- as it did from
the Rome Treaty's International Criminal Court -- which as a matter of law
hobbles the United States' ability to defend itself. Independent of the FOE
effort, EU rhetoric indicates it will approach the WTO with a complaint
about U.S. economic policies. Doubtless accompanied by specious claims of
scientific certainty, its plea would claim that the U.S. refusal to follow
the EU's greenhouse gas (Kyoto) path constitutes impermissible protectionism
and/or "eco-dumping." Incredibly, the WTO has indicated a willingness to
accept such an argument, also advocated by some as a path to "harmonize" the
otherwise incompatible pro-trade and anti-energy pacts.
The WTO claims its
"overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible" by
eliminating economic barriers to increased productivity, trade and global
economy. Kyoto, on the other hand, restricts energy-use emissions and
penalizes parties who refuse to abide by energy-use edicts. Energy use is a
solid measure of economic activity. Despite being wrapped in "green,"
therefore, Kyoto is in reality an economic instrument. Kyoto's advocates
expressly deny the connection between quality of life, or satisfaction, and
increasing gross national product. This represents the antithesis of
globalization. Reconciling the WTO and Kyoto documents, as opposed to
litigating the conflict, requires involving economic and trade ministers as
well as their environmental counterparts. The former individuals tend to
possess an awareness and acceptance of the role that economic wealth plays
in improving the human and environmental condition; in contrast, most
environment ministers often buy into the "people are pollution" ideology and
objectives. Further, at that ministerial level lesser developed countries
overwhelmingly prefer the WTO's pro-growth goals to the
Kyoto agenda, despite the
latter's wealth transfers. They know that only a prosperous West can ensure
their own escape from poverty and dependence. Now, their conviction is
penetrating into the chambers of even some European governments long
supportive of Kyoto. Germany's economic minister has spoken out against
mindless carbon dioxide suppression.
Still, last year EU
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom revealed the mindset of the
European policymakers. "[Kyoto] is not a simple environmental issue where
you can say it is an issue where the scientists are not unanimous," she
said. "This is about international relations, this is about economy, about
trying to create a level playing field for big businesses throughout the
world." To the EU, Kyoto is about the United States' "unfair tax
competition," its government consistently refusing to match the Europeans'
zeal for taxing energy use to modify behaviour, particularly repressing
automobile use and population. As a result, according to
Yale University economist
William D. Nordhaus, the United States not ratifying Kyoto "is likely to
engender trade disputes because it widens the already large disparities in
energy prices between Europe and the United States." Any treaty threatening
the economic health of nations will ultimately collapse of its own potential
harm, though not without first wreaking havoc. As the Bush administration
seeks to reshape U.S. foreign policy, one important step would be to abandon
Kyoto once and for all, with its built-in appeasement of ideological
extremists seeking to impede global prosperity. To date, however, the Bush
administration's abandonment has been purely rhetorical. This is problematic
because there is no doubt that both "customary law" (international common
law) and Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties require
a non-ratifying treaty signatory to communicate its withdrawal or be held to
"not violate the treaty's purpose or objective." This is why the United
States withdrew from the ICC -- Americans could have their standing
challenged, for example to object to the abduction of an ICC-indicted
serviceman. Similarly, this means Americans would likely be denied standing
to object to EU retaliation or enforcement of Kyoto's objectives. That
merely adds to the reasons why President Bush should finally and actually
withdraw from Kyoto. That act would, however, merely facilitate a fair fight
in the looming battle over Kyoto et al. before the WTO.
66) DIRTY AIR FUELS GLOBAL WARMING by David Suzuki
ENN
October 8, 2002
Internet:
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/10/10082002/s_48618.asp
While Alberta and the
fossil fuel sector trade jabs with clean energy advocates over the
Kyoto climate treaty, the
science of climate change marches on.
The political world may
have been slow to tackle the challenge of global warming, but the scientific
community early on recognized the enormity of the problem and set about to
better understand the Earth's climate system. One of the more perplexing
factors of climate is the role of aerosols. Although most people probably
associate aerosols with things like hair spray, scientists actually use the
term to refer to fine particles suspended in the air. These particles are a
mix of salts, mineral dust, carbon, and other ingredients. Some aerosols
come from natural sources, like volcanoes, but most are from human
activities, such as burning wood and coal.
These particles are bad
for human health and they can also alter the climate. Some of them reflect
sunlight back into space and thus cool the Earth to certain extent while
others absorb sunlight, heat the air, and contribute to global warming.
It is the latter
particles, called black carbon or soot, that have especially interested
scientists because many of our dirty energy sources like coal, wood, and
diesel produce it in large quantities. And scientists say that it may be the
biggest single contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. We can
see soot in the air on smoggy days in our cities; it forms part of the brown
haze that covers urban areas. But soot is much worse in many developing
countries like China and India, which use far more coal and wood as fuel for
industry, heating, and cooking. These fuels are inefficient and dirty at the
best of times. Using old, wasteful combustion technologies (in many cases
simply open cooking fires) makes them even worse. The resulting air
pollution in the towns and cities of many developed countries has become a
terrible health hazard. Soot is known to cause cancer and is a major cause
of illness and death in these areas. All that soot in the air is also having
a significant effect on regional climate. A recent study published in the
journal Science reported that soot emissions from China and India may be
responsible for increased droughts in northeast China and floods in
southeast parts of that country. Northeast China has suffered from
increasingly severe dust storms that may be due to a combination of poor
land-use practices (such as overgrazing and forest destruction) and the
effects of soot on the area's climate. Soot and other particles in the air
are also thought to be blocking sunlight, reducing photosynthesis and
lowering crop yields. Last year, a plume of soot and dust from Asian storms
actually found its way across the pacific to North America.
If soot is such an
important factor in regional climate change, does it mean that we should be
going after China and India to reduce their soot emissions, rather than
reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions as is required by the Kyoto
Protocol? No. It means we should be doing both. But it should be done
fairly. Developed and developing nations are not exactly on a level playing
field. Telling an auto company that it needs to make more fuel-efficient
SUVs and telling a Chinese peasant that her cooking fire needs to produce
less soot are not exactly equal on the fairness scale. And unlike greenhouse
gases, which build up in the atmosphere and contribute to an overall warming
effect for hundreds of years, soot's effect on climate is more localized and
short-term. So we have to address both problems. The Kyoto Protocol offers
us a starting point because mechanisms built into the treaty allow developed
counties to fund energy-efficiency projects in the developing world and
obtain greenhouse gas credits for the emissions reduced. Wise use of such
mechanisms could be beneficial to both parties and also start to reduce the
substantial health and environmental damage caused by soot.
67) WINDS OF CHANGE : THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR ONE
SOURCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY BY CRISPIN AUBREY
The Guardian
September 25, 2002
Internet:
http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,7843,797954,00.html
Crispin Aubrey is editor of Wind Directions,
the magazine of the European Wind Energy Association.
The North Sea port of Esbjerg promotes itself as
Denmark's one and only oil town, but nowadays its docks are filled with the
tall towers, giant white fibreglass blades and solid steel foundations of a
rival power supplier. Twenty nautical miles out to sea, the world's largest
offshore wind farm is being built. On a windless day, the rows of 70-metre
high towers loom up from the depths, each supported by a pile driven up to
26 metres into the sea bottom. Eventually, there will be 80 wind turbines.
With the piles alone weighing 150 tonnes each, this is a major marine
construction site. It's also a sign that the wind energy industry has
entered a new phase in which the seeds of technological maturity are bearing
fruit in economies of scale. When the job is finished in November, and the
power flowing back to shore through undersea cables, the Horns Rev wind farm
will supply enough carbon-free electricity for 150,000 households - about 2%
of Denmark's total demand. "This isn't just a collection of windmills," says
Jens Nybo Jensen, from the company which backed the development. It will be
a real power station."
Horns Rev is supported
by government, its grid connection costs met by the state. But there are
many other major offshore wind projects moving ahead in Europe, backed by a
range of incentives, all driven by the need to combat climate change and
meet the targets set at Kyoto. Dwarfing Denmark's ambitions, more than a
dozen companies have plans for up to 12,000 megawatts (MW) of wind farms
around the shortish coastline of Germany. Some will be built up to 60km from
the shore, in water up to 35 metres deep, to avoidcoastal wildlife parks.
Last year, the first construction permit was granted by the German national
maritime authority to the pilot phase of a 1,000 MW development off the
North Sea island of
Borkum, prompting other
developers to accelerate their pace. Off the Netherlands, a privately
financed offshore park of 60 large turbines looks likely to upstage a
state-backed project of similar size. In Belgium, several rival schemes are
on the cards. In Ireland, a 500 MW park off the eastern coast now has
approval to go ahead. And even in Britain, a laggard until now, 18 companies
have approval to pursue 1,500 MW of offshore plans. The first should start
building later this year at Scroby Sands, off the Norfolk coast. All this
adds up to more than 20,000 MW planned in northern European seas alone - and
an investment of roughly £20bn.
Offshore may be the new
frontier - with the stronger and less turbulent wind regime out at sea
justifying the extra cost of construction - but larger wind farms are
forging ahead on land as well. In Spain, they have been the norm for some
time, with multi-turbine developments marching across the plains and
sierras. With plenty of space and driving winds, Spain is now second in
Europe's wind power league. Scotland is also going big on wind, with 11
planned wind farms of more than 50 MW in size. The largest would have 250
turbines spread across the moors of Lewis, with backing from AMEC and
nuclear generator British Energy. Opponents argue thatit could devastate the
landscape, but local council approval of wind farms has been more
forthcoming north of the border than in Wales or England. Across the
Atlantic, the US wind industry is
experiencing a major revival, with 1,700 MW installed last year alone.
Ironically, Texas, right in the Bush backyard, now has the world's largest
wind farm, the 250 MW King Mountain scheme, built by a team led by UK
company Renewable Energy Systems. One reason why the wind industry has been
able to embark on larger projects is that it is now trusted by the banks,
whose loans are crucial to its progress. European investment analysts have
issued glowing reports over the past year or so, praising the technology's
potential. This has brought in a new wave of investors keen to share the
clean power dividend. Most dramatically, these include oil giant Shell,
which recently bought up two large wind farms in the US, and multinational
General Electric, which snapped up Enron Wind after its fortunes got
entangled with those of its bankrupt parent. This shift has even brought a
smile to the face of Greenpeace, keen to see oil companies in particular
moving into renewable energy.
What wind energy has
proved is that it is possible to move from the marginal into the mainstream
with clear financial incentives and technology innovation, cutting both
costs and emissions in the process. A new report from Greenpeace and the
European Wind Energy Association projects that wind could be supplying 12%
of the world's electricity by 2020 if the threat of climate change is taken
seriously. If so, can solar and wave and biomass be far behind, making a
100% renewable supply a feasible reality?
68) EMBRACE KYOTO ... OR WE WILL SURELY FACE A DRY AND
DUSTY FUTURE by Bob Carr
Smh.com
September 16, 2002
Internet:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/15/1032054711097.html
Bob Carr is the Premier of NSW.
Australia will be
hard-hit by global warming unless it acts now on environment protocols,
writes Bob Carr. Just over a month ago I stood in a bare, dusty field next
to a dried-up dam on a grazing property outside Bourke. This drought is not
caused by the greenhouse effect, but it gives us a taste of a burnt-out
future.Global warming will shrivel flows in the Murray Darling by 20 per
cent and take a lot of arable land out of production. If the planet
continues to heat up, Australia will suffer. But let's set aside the
environmental imperatives. On grounds of economic self-interest alone
Australia should ratify the Kyoto protocol.The network of agreements created
by Kyoto mean trading opportunities and incentives for new industries and
huge funds of global capital for investment in clean power. But by standing
aside from Kyoto we'll be left behind.In 1998 the NSW Government was the
first in the world to legislate for carbon rights, and the Tokyo Electric
Power Company has already committed to 3000 hectares of new plantations on
the North Coast. Our legislation measures
the sequestrated carbon locked in the trees. This gives the company carbon
credits it "banks" in Japan. Australia will only be able to attract more of
this type of investment if we ratify
Kyoto. If we don't, it will dry
up.Moreover, the protocol creates penalties for non-compliance with
environmental standards. Japanese trading houses may only be prepared to buy
commodities like coal that have carbon credits linked to them. And just last
week Japan announced that it would introduce a tax on coal imports from
April, adding an additional $4 billion to the price of Australia's coal.
AUSTRALIA IS JUST
BEGINNING TO EXPORT CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES. Global Renewables has developed a
way to transform garbage into energy, which means no landfill and no methane
- a gas worse than carbon in greenhouse impact. The company recently signed
a joint venture agreement to operate the waste management of China's Taizhou,
a city of 5.2 million people. This project, worth $200 million over three
years, will earn $500,000 in carbon credits each year. These credits have
been sold to BP. Global Renewables could not use them here because the Prime
Minister has kept Australia out of this world trading system established
under Kyoto.What would happen if the Chinese were to declare the 2008
Olympic Games will not only be green, but also Kyoto-compliant? That is,
they would generate no net carbon emissions. Australian companies should be
at the forefront of achieving this but they would likely be locked out.The
cost of climate change on our economy will be harsher than the costs of
meeting Kyoto targets. Modelling by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural
and Resource Economics from last October estimates that implementation of
Kyoto could lead to GDP growing by about 0.17 per cent less than would
otherwise be the case by 2010. That's 0.17 per cent less when, through the
same period, GDP is expected to rise by about 40 per cent.
Looked at this way, if
Australia were to sign the Kyoto protocol by 2010, our economy would take a
mere three extra weeks to reach the expected 40 per cent growth. Do we reach
our growth potential on January 1, 2010, while doing little to address the
biggest environmental threat to our country? Or do we wait until January 22,
2010, while acting in our environmental interest? Some US state governments
are ignoring Washington and adopting ambitious greenhouse gas reduction
programs. For example, all the New England states have joined with Canada's
eastern provinces to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2010, and 10 per
cent below 1990 levels by 2020. NSW's greenhouse benchmark scheme means
energy retailers will have to meet compulsory per capita-based emissions
reduction targets every year to 2006-07. Retailers can do this by sourcing
electricity from low carbon fuels and renewables like wind and solar, or by
introducing measures to reduce demand.
This
will stimulate further investment in renewable technologies. It will quicken
energy efficiency and we will see new carbon sinks through forestry
plantations. It will help ensure that NSW's businesses and industry are not
left behind in the Kyoto world.If the NSW measures were to be expanded to
the whole of Australia's national electricity market, then 35 million tonnes
of carbon emissions would be cut each year. That puts us in the Kyoto
targets. The country could then sell 15 million tonnes of abatement credits
to German steel manufacturers or Chinese power generators. This would earn
Australia as much $800 million a year.As I read the scientific reports and
the economic analysis my mind returns to that dry landscape near Bourke. We
must do all we can to avert an even drier, dusty future. With my heart and
my head I believe we should ratify the Kyoto protocol.
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