India in solar energy push as climate plan launched
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: NEW DELHI - India on Monday released a national plan to tackle climate change with a focus on renewable energy, but stuck by its refusal to specify targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
German Test Facility to Start CO2 Sequestration
Spiegel Online reports here: A power plant just outside of Berlin is expected to test carbon sequestration for the first time this week. The technology, which would see coal-fired power plants pumping CO2 underground, could help reverse climate change. But it could also be dangerous.
Hawaii requires solar water heaters for new homes
AP reports here at Yahoo News: HONOLULU - With a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, Hawaii has become the first state to require solar water heaters in new homes, pleasing environmentalists but leading opponents to note the island chain's already high home prices.
Bees' decline could lead to higher food prices
AP reports here at CNN: "Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday." Remember this Albert Einstein quote: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." More also here in this article from Spiegel Online: "A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous."
Warming world sends plants uphill
BBC News reports here: Climate change has resulted in many plant species moving an average of 29 metres uphill every decade, a study finds.
North Pole could be ice-free this summer, scientists say
CNN reports here: The North Pole may be briefly ice-free by September as global warming melts away Arctic sea ice, according to scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.
UK plans big wind power expansion
UK plans big wind power expansion, BBC News reports here: Thousands of new wind turbines could be built across the UK over the coming decade as part of a £100bn plan to boost renewable energy.
McCain tries to balance energy solutions, votes
AP reports here at Yahoo News: LAS VEGAS - After fending off ocean drilling critics in California, Republican John McCain on Wednesday stiff-armed opponents of a Nevada nuclear waste repository as he outlined ways to resolve the nation's energy crisis while seeking votes in another swing state.
Oxfam Warns Poor Nations against Biofuels
Spiegel Online reports here: Biofuels have pushed up world food prices and won't ease global warming, a new Oxfam report warns. Developing nations, the organization argues, should "move with extreme caution" before switching from staple food crops.
Landmark Florida Everglades deal
The Everglades is network of swamps and rivers covering 6,000sq km, BBC News reports here: One of America's key ecosystems, the Everglades in Florida, is to be greatly expanded after a landmark deal between the state and a major sugar company.
Global Warming Twenty Years Later: Tipping Points Near - Speech by James Hansen
Hansen's speech: My presentation today is exactly 20 years after my 23 June 1988 testimony to
Congress, which alerted the public that global warming was underway. There are
striking similarities between then and now, but one big difference.
Again a wide gap has developed between what is understood about global
warming by the relevant scientific community and what is known by policymakers
and the public. Now, as then, frank assessment of scientific data yields
conclusions that are shocking to the body politic. Now, as then, I can assert
that these conclusions have a certainty exceeding 99 percent. The difference is
that now we have used up all slack in the schedule for actions needed to defuse
the global warming time bomb. The next President and Congress must define a
course next year in which the United States exerts leadership commensurate with
our responsibility for the present dangerous situation.
Otherwise it will become impractical to constrain atmospheric carbon dioxide,
the greenhouse gas produced in burning fossil fuels, to a level that prevents
the climate system from passing tipping points that lead to disastrous climate
changes that spiral dynamically out of humanity’s control.
Changes needed to preserve creation, the planet on which civilization
developed, are clear. But the changes have been blocked by special interests,
focused on short-term profits, who hold sway in Washington and other capitals.
I argue that a path yielding energy independence and a healthier environment
is, barely, still possible. It requires a transformative change of direction in
Washington in the next year. On 23 June 1988 I testified to a hearing, chaired
by Senator Tim Wirth of Colorado, that the Earth had entered a long-term warming
trend and that human-made greenhouse gases almost surely were responsible. I
noted that global warming enhanced both extremes of the water cycle, meaning
stronger droughts and forest fires, on the one hand, but also heavier rains and
floods. My testimony two decades ago was greeted with skepticism. But while
skepticism is the
lifeblood of science, it can confuse the public. As scientists examine a topic
from all perspectives, it may appear that nothing is known with confidence. But
from such broad openminded study of all data, valid conclusions can be drawn.
My conclusions in 1988 were built on a wide range of inputs from basic
physics, planetary studies, observations of on-going changes, and climate
models. The evidence was strong enough that I could say it was time to “stop
waffling”. I was sure that time would bring the scientific community to a
similar consensus, as it has.
While international recognition of global warming was swift, actions have
faltered. The U.S. refused to place limits on its emissions, and developing
countries such as China and India rapidly increased their emissions.
What is at stake? Warming so far, about two degrees Fahrenheit over land
areas, seems almost innocuous, being less than day-to-day weather fluctuations.
But more warming is already “inthe- pipeline”, delayed only by the great inertia
of the world ocean. And climate is nearing dangerous tipping points. Elements of
a “perfect storm”, a global cataclysm, are assembled. Climate can reach points
such that amplifying feedbacks spur large rapid changes. Arctic sea ice is a
current example. Global warming initiated sea ice melt, exposing darker ocean
that absorbs more sunlight, melting more ice. As a result, without any
additional greenhouse gases, the Arctic soon will be ice-free in the summer.
More ominous tipping points loom. West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are
vulnerable to even small additional warming. These two-mile-thick behemoths
respond slowly at first, but if disintegration gets well underway it will become
unstoppable. Debate among scientists is only about how much sea level would rise
by a given date. In my opinion, if emissions follow a business-as-usual
scenario, sea level rise of at least two meters is likely this century. Hundreds
of millions of people would become refugees. No stable shoreline would be
reestablished in any time frame that humanity can conceive.
Animal and plant species are already stressed by climate change. Polar and alpine species will be pushed off the planet, if warming continues. Other species attempt to migrate, but as some are extinguished their interdependencies can cause ecosystem collapse. Mass extinctions, of more than half the species on the planet, have occurred several times when the Earth warmed as much as expected if greenhouse gases continue to increase. Biodiversity recovered, but it required hundreds of thousands of years.
The disturbing conclusion, documented in a paper2 I have written with several
of the world’s leading climate experts, is that the safe level of atmospheric
carbon dioxide is no more than 350 ppm (parts per million) and it may be less.
Carbon dioxide amount is already 385 ppm and rising about 2 ppm per year.
Stunning corollary: the oft-stated goal to keep global warming less than two
degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is a recipe for global disaster, not
salvation. These conclusions are based on paleoclimate data showing how the
Earth responded to past levels of greenhouse gases and on observations showing
how the world is responding to today’s carbon dioxide amount. The consequences
of continued increase of greenhouse gases extend far beyond extermination of
species and future sea level rise.
Arid subtropical climate zones are expanding poleward. Already an average
expansion of about 250 miles has occurred, affecting the southern United States,
the Mediterranean region, Australia and southern Africa. Forest fires and
drying-up of lakes will increase further unless carbon dioxide growth is halted
and reversed.
Mountain glaciers are the source of fresh water for hundreds of millions of
people. These glaciers are receding world-wide, in the Himalayas, Andes and
Rocky Mountains. They will disappear, leaving their rivers as trickles in late
summer and fall, unless the growth of carbon dioxide is reversed.
Coral reefs, the rainforest of the ocean, are home for one-third of the
species in the sea. Coral reefs are under stress for several reasons, including
warming of the ocean, but especially because of ocean acidification, a direct
effect of added carbon dioxide. Ocean life dependent on carbonate shells and
skeletons is threatened by dissolution as the ocean becomes more acid.
Such phenomena, including the instability of Arctic sea ice and the great ice
sheets at today’s carbon dioxide amount, show that we have already gone too far.
We must draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide to preserve the planet we know. A
level of no more than 350 ppm is still feasible, with the help of reforestation
and improved agricultural practices, but just barely – time is running out.
Requirements to halt carbon dioxide growth follow from the size of fossil
carbon reservoirs. Coal towers over oil and gas. Phase out of coal use except
where the carbon is captured and stored below ground is the primary requirement
for solving global warming. Oil is used in vehicles where it is impractical to
capture the carbon. But oil is running out. To preserve our planet we must also
ensure that the next mobile energy source is not obtained by squeezing oil from
coal, tar shale or other fossil fuels. Fossil fuel reservoirs are finite, which
is the main reason that prices are rising. We must move beyond fossil fuels
eventually. Solution of the climate problem requires that we move to carbon-free
energy promptly.
Special interests have blocked transition to our renewable energy future.
Instead of moving heavily into renewable energies, fossil companies choose to
spread doubt about global warming, as tobacco companies discredited the
smoking-cancer link. Methods are sophisticated, including funding to help shape
school textbook discussions of global warming. CEOs of fossil energy companies
know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued
business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes
against humanity and nature.
Conviction of ExxonMobil and Peabody Coal CEOs will be no consolation, if we
pass on a runaway climate to our children. Humanity would be impoverished by
ravages of continually shifting shorelines and intensification of regional
climate extremes. Loss of countless species would leave a more desolate planet.
If politicians remain at loggerheads, citizens must lead. We must demand a
moratorium on new coal-fired power plants. We must block fossil fuel interests
who aim to squeeze every last drop of oil from public lands, off-shore, and
wilderness areas. Those last drops are no solution. They yield continued
exorbitant profits for a short-sighted self-serving industry, but no alleviation
of our addiction or long-term energy source.
Moving from fossil fuels to clean energy is challenging, yet transformative
in ways that will be welcomed. Cheap, subsidized fossil fuels engendered bad
habits. We import food from halfway around the world, for example, even with
healthier products available from nearby fields. Local produce would be
competitive if not for fossil fuel subsidies and the fact that climate change
damages and costs, due to fossil fuels, are also borne by the public.
A price on emissions that cause harm is essential. Yes, a carbon tax. Carbon
tax with 100 percent dividend3 is needed to wean us off fossil fuel addiction.
Tax and dividend allows the marketplace, not politicians, to make investment
decisions.
Carbon tax on coal, oil and gas is simple, applied at the first point of sale
or port of entry. The entire tax must be returned to the public, an equal amount
to each adult, a half-share for children. This dividend can be deposited monthly
in an individual’s bank account. Carbon tax with 100 percent dividend is
non-regressive. On the contrary, you can bet that low and middle income people
will find ways to limit their carbon tax and come out ahead. Profligate energy
users will have to pay for their excesses.
Demand for low-carbon high-efficiency products will spur innovation, making
our products more competitive on international markets. Carbon emissions will
plummet as energy efficiency and renewable energies grow rapidly. Black soot,
mercury and other fossil fuel emissions will decline. A brighter, cleaner
future, with energy independence, is possible. Washington likes to spend our tax
money line-by-line. Swarms of high-priced lobbyists in alligator shoes help
Congress decide where to spend, and in turn the lobbyists’ clients provide
“campaign” money.
The public must send a message to Washington. Preserve our planet, creation,
for our children and grandchildren, but do not use that as an excuse for more
tax-and-spend. Let this be our motto: “One hundred percent dividend or fight!”
The next President must make a national low-loss electric grid an imperative.
It will allow dispersed renewable energies to supplant fossil fuels for power
generation. Technology exists for direct-current high-voltage buried
transmission lines. Trunk lines can be completed in less than a decade and
expanded analogous to interstate highways.
Government must also change utility regulations so that profits do not depend
on selling ever more energy, but instead increase with efficiency. Building code
and vehicle efficiency requirements must be improved and put on a path toward
carbon neutrality. The fossil-industry maintains its strangle-hold on Washington
via demagoguery, using China and other developing nations as scapegoats to
rationalize inaction. In fact, we produced most of the excess carbon in the air
today, and it is to our advantage as a nation to move smartly in developing ways
to reduce emissions. As with the ozone problem, developing countries can be
allowed limited extra time to reduce emissions. They will cooperate: they have
much to lose from climate change and much to gain from clean air and reduced
dependence on fossil fuels.
We must establish fair agreements with other countries. However, our own tax and dividend should start immediately. We have much to gain from it as a nation, and other countries will copy our success. If necessary, import duties on products from uncooperative countries can level the playing field, with the import tax added to the dividend pool. Democracy works, but sometimes churns slowly. Time is short. The 2008 election is critical for the planet. If Americans turn out to pasture the most brontosaurian congressmen, if Washington adapts to address climate change, our children and grandchildren can still hold great expectations. (more)
NASA warming scientist: 'This is the last chance'
AP reports here at Yahoo News: WASHINGTON - Exactly 20 years after warning America about global warming, a top NASA scientist said the situation has gotten so bad that the world's only hope is drastic action.
Carbon standard to renew trust
Firms that pay someone else to offset their emissions will not be eligible, BBC News reports here: A scheme highlighting businesses which have made genuine cuts in emissions is being launched to rebuild public trust in the green claims made by firms.
McCain calls for $300 million prize for better car battery
CNN reports here: Sen. John McCain on Monday called for a $300 million prize to whoever can develop a battery that will "leapfrog" the abilities of current hybrid and electric cars.
International Effort Pushes a New Climate Target: 350 ppm
350.org - For Immediate Release - June 16, 2008
International Effort Pushes a New Climate Target: 350 ppm
San Francisco, CA – 350.org, a new effort lead by author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, launched its campaign today to rally an international grassroots movement behind a new climate target: 350 parts per million of carbon the atmosphere. In a paper released this January, Dr. James Hansen, the United State's top climatologist wrote, “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm.”
350.org is translated into eight languages and uses the latest Web 2.0 technology to coordinate events around the world to spread the number 350. Grassroots events have already been held in Korea, Nepal, the United States, and India. Each event is linked together in a growing mosaic on the 350.org website, connecting organizers across boundaries and languages. “350 may be the most important number on Earth, and the Internet was invented, in some sense, to spread it around the globe,” says Bill McKibben. “Already we've heard from artists, musicians and activists dramatizing those digits in Congo, Sweden, and Italy, each of them trying to put pressure on international negotiators to forge a powerful global treaty.” *****
Contact: Jamie Henn or May Boeve, 350.org, +1.415.839.8331 For more information please visit the 350.org campaign website at www.350.org
Put oil firm chiefs on trial, says leading climate change scientist
The Guardian reports here on its website: James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.
Whaling commission meet to debate hunting resumption
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: SANTIAGO - The International Whaling Commission, a treaty organization grouping 80 countries, was to meet on Monday in Chile to debate a possible resumption of commercial whale-hunting.
Green energy push planned for UK
Solar panels for domestic use are already becoming popular, BBC News reports here: As many as a quarter of British homes could be fitted with solar heating panels under new government plans for a "green revolution".
Hunted, rammed, poisoned, whales may die from heartbreak too
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: PARIS - More than two decades after the start of a leaky moratorium on whale hunting, the most majestic of sea mammals have made little headway in recovering their once robust populations, say experts.
Brazil creates new Indian reservation
AP reports here at Yahoo News: RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decreed a new 3.8 million acre (1.5 million hectare) Indian reservation Friday in the heart of the Amazon rain forest's logging frontier.
Wanted -- Young, Urban, Professional Beekeepers
Spiegel Online reports here: Germany is running out of bees. But urban beekeeping may just be the solution. The country's aging beekeepers are looking to attract young city dwellers to the hobby.
Climate Change Fueling Extreme Weather Events, Government Study Finds
From this World Wildlife Fund Press Release: Climate change is altering the frequency and severity of many extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and hurricanes, according to a government report issued today.
Business chiefs urge carbon curbs
Aviation is the fastest rising source of emissions, despite efficiency gains, BBC News reports here: A coalition of 99 companies is asking political leaders to set targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and to establish a global carbon market.
Experts fight disease with weather forecasts
CNN reports here: A cyclone wrecks coastal Myanmar, spawning outbreaks of malaria, cholera and dengue fever. Flooding in Iowa raises public health concerns. As these disasters draw attention to weather hazards, scientists are working to be able to better predict health dangers as they forecast the weather.
Arctic sea ice melt 'even faster'
BBC News reports here: Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than last year, despite a cold winter. - The ice cap holds enough water to lift sea levels globally by about seven metres (22ft) if it all melted.
Satellite for tracking sea levels set for launch
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: WASHINGTON - The French-US satellite Jason 2, slated for lift-off Friday from California, will provide precise monitoring of rising sea levels and currents and track the effects of climate change.
Jellyfish outbreaks a sign of nature out of sync
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: PARIS - The dramatic proliferation of jellyfish in oceans around the world, driven by overfishing and climate change, is a sure sign of ecosystems out of kilter, warn experts.
Europe To Ban Energy- Wasting Lightbulbs
Spiegel Online reports here: According to reports, the European Union is planning to implement a phase-out of energy-wasting, climate-killing incandescent lightbulbs, starting next year. They will be replaced by energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs, which last 10 times longer.
Space cameras to monitor forests
Deforestation threatens the long-term future of the Congo rainforest, BBC News reports here: Plans to use a state-of-the-art camera onboard a satellite to monitor deforestation levels in Africa's Congo Basin have been unveiled.
R.I.P. to the SUV
New York Times writes in its editorial see here at the Spiegel Online: The announcement that General Motors would shutter much of its production of pickups and sport utility vehicles is a step in the right direction.
Climate book is judges' hot pick
National Geographic has produced a film based on the book, BBC News reports here: Mark Lynas Book Six Degrees about global warming has won this year's Royal Society prize for popular science writing. (more)
Honda starts production of zero-emission cars
AP reports here at CNN: TAKANEZAWA, Japan - Honda Motor Co. has begun commercial production of its new zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell car, called the FCX Clarity.
GM, Ford Look to Euro Divisions for Small Cars
Spiegel Online reports here: With fuel prices at over $4 a gallon, sales of gas-guzzling American SUVs and trucks are tanking. Now Ford and General Motors are looking to their European divisions for more efficient, smaller cars that can be quickly produced for the suddenly fuel-efficiency conscious American market.
Utility finds foes to renewable energy line plan
AP reports here at Yahoo News: SAN DIEGO - It seems like an idea any environmentalist would embrace: Build one of the world's largest solar power operations in the Southern California desert and surround it with plants that run on wind and underground heat.
Podcast: Better living through green chemistry
Podcast available here at CNET News.com: The new iPhone and an editor's dilemma; the new Netflix Player flies off the shelves; and MIT predicts which technologies will jump-start the economy.
G8 finance chiefs say global warming demands urgent action
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: OSAKA - World finance chiefs Saturday said urgent action was needed to battle global warming, calling for funds to provide green technology to developing nations to help them reduce emissions.
China biggest CO2 emitter last year: Dutch agency
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: THE HAGUE - China's carbon dioxide emissions in 2007 were about 14 percent higher than the United States and accounted for two-thirds of the global rise, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) said Friday.
Bluefin tuna may die out if fishing is not restricted
Reuters reports here: EU fisheries regulators have banned trawling for bluefin tuna from next week in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean to stop overfishing of a species that is approaching stock collapse.
Climate talks progress too slow
BBC News reports here: Progress towards developing a global strategy to cut emissions is too slow, according to environmental group WWF.
Australian leader, in Japan, stands firm against whaling
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: TOKYO - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stood firm Wednesday against Japan's whaling, saying he would consider legal action, but shrugged off charges that he had ignored relations with the longtime ally.
No answers yet to mass dolphin stranding
CNN reports here: LONDON, England - Initial post-mortem examinations on some of the 26 dolphins found dead in southwestern England this week fail to explain why the animals swam ashore in Britain's biggest mass stranding of marine animals for nearly 30 years, scientists said Thursday.
The Rise of Indian Wind Power
Spiegel Online reports here: Indian businessman Tulsi Tanti has built one of the world's largest wind turbine companies in an incredibly short amount of time. Now that he has bought a German company, however, his popularity may be on the wane.
Kenyan lions 'face extinction within years'
AP reports here at CNN: Conservationists raised the alarm Thursday that lions in Kenya's Amboseli National Park face extinction within a few years unless action is taken to help them.
US moves to plug loophole for slaughter of whales
AFP reports here at Google News: WASHINGTON — The United States has called for a review of international law to regulate the killing of whales for scientific research in an apparent bid to plug a loophole exploited by Japan, which is accused of slaughtering the creatures.
Toyota vows plug-in hybrid by 2010
AP reports here at CNN: TOKYO, Japan - Toyota is introducing a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the U.S. and Europe by 2010, under a widespread green strategy outlined Wednesday.
Fast fall of Mediterranean sharks
BBC News reports here: Sharks in the Mediterranean Sea have undergone a massive decline over the last two centuries, scientists have discovered from historical records.
Greens Blast Merkel over Emissions Compromise
Spiegel Online reports here: Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy came to a compromise agreement on Monday over how much CO2 cars in Europe will be allowed to emit in the future. Environmentalists in Germany, though, say Merkel has caved in to industry.
Scientists warn G8 of climate peril to food
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: PARIS - Scientists from Group of Eight countries and the five biggest emerging nations urged next month's G8 summit to ratchet up action against global warming, warning that climate change threatened food and water supplies.
The Toyota Prius is the most fuel efficient car available in the U.S. in 2008
From Wikipedia: The Toyota Prius is a hybrid electric midsize car developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the 2008 Prius is the most fuel efficient car sold in the U.S.
Japan to cut CO2 by 60-80 percent
AP reports here at Yahoo News: TOKYO - Japan will cut its greenhouse gas emissions 60-80 percent by 2050 and can match or better European reduction levels over the next 12 years, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced Monday.
Please dont destroy our forests!
Please dont destroy our forests!
Natural lab shows sea's acid path
Scientists study conditions at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, BBC News reports here: Natural carbon dioxide vents on the sea floor are showing scientists how carbon emissions will affect marine life.