Clipmarks | zephyr1's 'climate change' clips

Climate Change Leads to Lawsuits

Wed, 30 May 2007 01:53:58 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

CHICAGO, May 25 (UPI) -- A new book says concern about global warming is causing U.S. corporations and law practices to taken on more litigation.

While Congress has not adopted any laws that explicitly require the control of greenhouse gases, lawsuits have been brought all over the country concerning the applicability of the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and other statutes, the American Bar Association said Friday in a release.

The ABA said the widespread assumption that mandatory federal regulation is inevitable is already affecting many corporate practices.

The ABA's new book, "Global Climate Change and U.S. Law," is an account of federal, state and local laws and litigation that are rapidly developing around climate change.

The association said "the book addresses the international and national frameworks of climate change law, including clean air regulation, civil remedies and the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on many domestic actions."

Tags: climate change, lawsuits, greenhouse gasses.clean air act

US and Germany split on Climate Change

Tue, 29 May 2007 00:08:08 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.ft.com

The US and Germany will make one last attempt at drafting a joint position on climate change and preventing tensions over the issue spiralling into a diplomatic row ahead of the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations’ summit next week.

The US, by contrast, thinks global warming should be fought through the deployment of new technologies and by encouraging the use of renewable energy. The White House said on Monday: “We expect to be talking to the Germans and our other G8 partners on the agenda between now and the start of the summit on climate change and the other agenda items – especially including the important poverty-reduction priorities. This level of negotiation is no different than the lead up to any G8 gathering.”

Germany holds both the G8 and European Union presidencies. It has pushed for the world’s richest nations to make a binding pledge on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mirroring a decision adopted by the EU’s 27 members earlier this year.

Tags: climate change, g8

Emissions trading hot topic at APEC

Mon, 28 May 2007 19:49:21 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.peakoiloz.com

AUSTRALIA will press members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum to consider working towards an emissions trading scheme, at a meeting of APEC energy ministers in Darwin this week.

The wording of the move will be broad in the context of the ministers’ talks on energy sustainability and the environment, allowing for the wide divergence of views among the 21 APEC member countries.

It will be an important recognition that APEC cannot stand aside from the growing world concern over climate change.

The meeting’s host, federal resources minister Ian Macfarlane, has made it clear a formal emissions trading scheme is not being discussed or even proposed but that the APEC ministers will be taking the first steps towards a unified view of how climate change might be handled.

A business forum to be held today ahead of the formal ministerial meeting will concentrate on the question of high energy prices and climate change.

Tags: emissions, trading, sustainability, environment, climate change

Candidates on Global Warming

Mon, 28 May 2007 14:24:50 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.cfr.org

The debate on global warming reached a new intensity as the presidential campaign season got underway. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first part of an assessment report in February 2007 that said human activity is “very likely” accountable for global warming and immediate action to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions is necessary. A fourth part of the report, released in May 2007, said the rise in global carbon emissions would need to cease by 2015 to stabilize global temperatures. Democratic candidates seized on the reports as evidence of a need for federal action on carbon emissions. Most Republican candidates, excepting Sen. John McCain, have been wary of embracing federally mandated controls on emissions.

Tags: presidential candidates, climate change

How Will Climate Change Affect Artic Predators?

Mon, 28 May 2007 14:11:13 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: zephyr01.blogspot.com

Science Daily — As part of the International Polar Year (IPY), four projects from the University of Tromsø have received funding from the Research Council of Norway (NFR) to start research which can contribute to a wider understanding of climate change in the Arctic.

One of these project concerns the reduction in the population of several Arctic predators, including the Arctic fox, which is now classified as an endangered species.

The project is headed by Professor Nigel Yoccoz in collaboration with Professor Rolf Anker Ims. They are interested in the full effects of climate change on the Arctic ecosystems.

“We will collaborate with several researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute and the University of Moscow,” says Professor Yoccoz. “This project has funding of NOK 9 million, which enables collaboration with Russian PhD students.”

Tags: climate, artic, predators

A Gloomy Mars Warms Up

Sun, 27 May 2007 19:12:25 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Science Daily — For the past 30 years, NASA scientists have been using high-tech satellite equipment to study features on the face of Mars. It appears a slight change in the planet’s surface luster has caused its temperature to rise.

To determine the extent of surface changes on Mars, scientists took images from the Viking (launched 1975) and Mars Global Surveyor (1996) satellite missions and mapped them into a climate model developed at NASA Ames Research Center. They discovered that a wind-whipped, dusty surface has a measurable effect on the amount of sunlight that is reflected by the planet. The results of this research show that an increase in darkened surface areas may account for a one degree Fahrenheit rise in the surface air temperature of the planet.

Research indicates that as the dark areas on Mars expand and darken over time, its albedo decreases, and its surface air temperature rise

Tags: mars, nasa, space, satellite, climate

Climate Monitoring Station : Moon based Obervatories Proposed

Sat, 26 May 2007 17:28:00 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Science Daily — Poets may see "a face of plaintive sweetness" or "a cheek like beryl stone" when they look at the moon, but Shaopeng Huang sees something else altogether: the ideal location for a network of observatories dedicated to studying climate change on Earth.

Using data from an Apollo 15 experiment whose original intent was thwarted by unanticipated lunar surface conditions, the University of Michigan geophysicist recently showed that surface temperatures on the near side of the moon accurately record important information about Earth's climate system.

Based on his analysis, recently published online in Advances in Space Research, Huang is calling for an international effort to develop and deploy monitoring stations on the moon for the study of terrestrial climate change.

Tags: space, climate, monitoring, observatories, moon

Deforestation impacts climate change

Fri, 25 May 2007 23:28:50 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

CAMPBELL, Australia, May 15 (UPI) -- An Australian study has determined tropical deforestation releases 1.6 billion tons of carbon into the Earth's atmosphere each year.

Pep Canadell and colleagues from the Global Carbon Project and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization found deforestation in the tropics accounts for nearly 20 percent of carbon emissions due to human activities.

"This will release an estimated 87 (billion) to 130 billion tons of carbon by 2100, which is greater than the amount of carbon that would be released by 13 years of global fossil fuel combustion," said Canadell, "so maintaining forests as carbon sinks will make a significant contribution to stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations."

He said his team's findings suggest considerable value in preserving tropical forests such as those in Indonesia and the Amazon as carbon sinks.

Tags: deforestation, climate change, fossil fuel, carbon sinks

Can climate change get worse? It has

Thu, 24 May 2007 01:13:27 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.theage.com.au

Liz Minchin, environment reporter

The world is now on track to experience more catastrophic damages from climate change than in the worst-case scenario forecast by international experts, scientists have warned.

The research, published in a prestigious US science journal, shows that between 2000 and 2004 the rate of increase in global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels was three times greater than in the 1990s.

That is faster than even the worst-case scenario modelled by the world's leading scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, published over recent months, because the updated emissions figures were not available in time to be included.

The climbing emissions mean that average global temperatures are now on track to rise by more than four degrees this century - enough to thaw vast areas of arctic permafrost and leave about 3 billion people suffering from water shortages, including in Australia.

Tags: climate change, carbon dioxide, fossil fuels

Whales In Hot Water: Global Warming's Effect On World's Largest Creatures

Wed, 23 May 2007 22:18:34 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Science Daily — Whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans) are facing increasing threats from climate change, according to a new report published by WWF and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

The report "Whales in hot water?" examines the impacts on cetaceans including:

Changes in sea temperature

Declining salinity because of the melting of ice and increased rainfall

Sea level rise

Loss of icy polar habitats

Decline of krill populations in key areas. Krill is a tiny shrimp-like marine animal that is dependent on sea ice and is the main source of food for many of the great whales.

“Whales, dolphins and porpoises have some capacity to adapt to their changing environment,” said Mark Simmonds, International Director of Science at WCDS. “But the climate is now changing at such a fast pace that it is unclear to what extent whales and dolphins will be able to adjust, and we believe many populations to be very vulnerable to predicted changes.”

Tags: whales, global warming, sea temperature

Natural Climate Cycle: Climate is Changed by many Processes

Tue, 22 May 2007 21:36:53 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.koshland-science-museum.org

Climate change may result from both natural and human causes. The importance of human causes has been increasing during the past few decades.

Causes
The major causes of climate change are described in the following sections.

CO₂ and Other Greenhouse Gas Variations
Human Activity and Greenhouse Gas
Reducing Other Greenhouse Gases
Ocean Circulation
Volcanic Eruptions
Solar Variations
Orbital Variations
Land Use Changes

Amplifiers
Factors that can amplify or reduce the effect of the causes of change are known as "feedbacks." Some of the key feedbacks are described in the following sections. These feedbacks consist of interconnected processes in which a change in one leads to a change in another, which ultimately leads to further changes in the first.

Aerosols
Clouds
Water Vapor

Ice-Reflectivity

The effects of these causes and feedbacks can be seen in the climate changes that are in Historic Climate Changes and elsewhere throughout this web exhibition.

Tags: climate change, co2, greenhouse gas, causes, amplifiers

Woodstock leads the Green Drive

Tue, 22 May 2007 17:19:38 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.thefirstpost.co.uk

Woodstock is leading us to a better world once more. This time, it is peace, love and the environment.

The Town Board has passed a resolution to reduce carbon emissions from within Woodstock to zero by the year 2017. Smoke another one?

No, they mean it. There are solar panels on the roof of the Town Hall, geo-thermal heating and a super-green system for treating sewage. "We're setting a template," says Randolph Horner. "And we're doing that with the magic of the Woodstock name."

Symbolism, the Board points out, "has a lot of value". But I'm not sure that my neighbours appreciate the irony. Woodstockers vote left but define the term 'bourgeois bohemian': you should see the Mercedes and Range Rovers parked outside the Bear Cafe on a Saturday

night, while Mrs Mason insists on spending $1,000 a year just to heat the swimming pool.

It will be market forces that save us from climate change, not peace and love and good intentions.

Tags: wodstock, green, environment, peace, carbon emissions

Africa's challenge

Wed, 16 May 2007 14:20:18 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: economist.com

Africa's challenge

Climate change may have a graver effect on Africa than any other continent, if the predictions of the most recent report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change hold true. It predicts a minumum increase in temperature of 2.5ºC by 2030, and dry areas will expand. Around 600,000 square kilometres of cultivable land may be ruined. Rising sea levels would threaten coastal infrastructure in Egypt, Senegal and the Gulf of Guinea, an important oil-producing region. Another study by the University of Pretoria estimates that $25 billion may be lost in crop failure because of rising temperatures.

Tags: climate change, coastal infrastructure, oil production

Cyclones may blast turtles to extinction

Wed, 16 May 2007 01:36:33 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

More severe tropical cyclones expected as a result of climate change may lead to the extinction of the green sea turtle in some areas within 100 years, researchers say.

The cyclones are expected to threaten how well the turtles nest and hatch eggs, placing pressure on already endangered populations, some of which are also threatened by fish trawling.

Researchers including PhD candidate David Pike, from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney, report their findings online in the journal Oecologia.

The researchers studied more than 40,000 sea turtles nests on an uninhabited, 38 kilometre stretch of beach along the Atlantic coast of Florida from 1995 to the end of 2005.

Each night during this period researchers surveyed the beach for turtles emerging to lay eggs, or for tracks of turtles that had already deposited eggs.

Tags: turtles, cyclones, extinction, endangered

Global Warming - Great Barrier Reef Coral

Fri, 11 May 2007 16:01:30 GMT

clipped by: zephyr1

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Warming
When stressed, corals expel the algae that live in their transparent outer tissues, exposing the corals’ limestone skeletons. The most common cause of this bleaching is abnormally high ocean temperatures. Other culprits: inflows of fresh water, high ultraviolet radiation, and changes in salinity.

Bleached coral isn’t necessarily dead coral, though, and it often regains its healthy color when conditions return to normal. But prolonged bleaching can lead to coral death—one more way global warming and periodic climate shifts such as El Niño can change the face of the Earth.

Tags: oceanography, global warming, coral, great barrier reef