ApocaDocuments (9) matching "climate impacts" from this week
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Sun, Dec 20, 2009
from China Daily:
China committed to emission cut: Wen
No matter what the outcome of the UN climate change conference is, China will remain committed to achieving and even exceeding the emission reduction targets it has said for itself, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday.
"We will honour our word with real action," Wen told 119 heads of state and government attending the UN climate change conference, or COP15.
Before the conference began, China announced that it would reduce its carbon intensity emission per unit of GDP ... by 40 and 45 percent by 2020, taking 2005 as the base year...
Stressing that this is a voluntary move taken by China, Wen said: "We have not attached any condition to the target, nor have we linked it to the target of any other country." ...
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But when, Wen ... when?
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Sun, Dec 20, 2009
from New Scientist:
Sceptical climate researcher won't divulge key program
A physicist whose work is often highlighted by climate-change sceptics is refusing to provide the software he used to other climate researchers attempting to replicate his results.
Nicola Scafetta, a physicist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has published a series of papers over the past few years that suggest the sun played a much bigger role in warming over the 20th century than is generally accepted. In particular, one 2006 paper he co-authored concluded that: "The sun might have contributed approximately 50 per cent of the observed global warming since 1900" (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2006GL027142).
This paper has been widely cited by those seeking to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on the cause of climate change, including US senator James Inhofe. Scafetta has also contributed to a book that claimed that "carbon dioxide probably is not the driving factor behind climate change". ...
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Maybe the software is a just a little soft in the head.
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Fri, Dec 18, 2009
from Scientific American:
IEA: Energy Revolution Required to Combat Climate Change
COPENHAGEN—Revolutionizing the energy industry to achieve a target concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of no more than 450 parts per million (ppm) would require building 17 nuclear power plants a year between now and 2030; 17,000 wind turbines a year; or two hydropower dams on the scale of Three Gorges Dam in Chin, according to the International Energy Agency. Such an effort would require an investment of $10.5 trillion during the next 20 years but would ultimately yield savings of $8.6 trillion, the IEA estimated.
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Let's not forget to factor in a massive plague and the colonization of Mars!
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Thu, Dec 17, 2009
from The Daily Climate:
Cities pushing nations toward deeper cuts
Mayors of some of the world's largest cities flexed their muscle at the United Nations climate talks Wednesday, warning that "billions of people" are prepared to cut emissions far beyond whatever agreement world leaders may ink this week....The discussion came a day after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for a UN climate summit for cities and regions.
"We at the local level have too much to lose," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. "We will go further, and we will make it safe for (politicians) to go further. We will push the envelope." Nickels and mayors of Delhi, Mexico City, Johannesburg, Melbourne – representing some 45 million people total – said they were pushing forward with ambitious climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, even as their national leaders remained stuck on those very points.
They had no choice, said Melbourne Mayor Robert Doyle. Earlier this year the worst wildfires in Australia's history grazed the outskirts of his city, killing more than 75 people. Experts attributed the exceptionally fierce blaze to drought conditions that scientists predict will become increasingly common as emissions increase. ...
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It would appear it's time for "world leaders" to start FOLLOWING.
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Wed, Dec 16, 2009
from New York Times:
Climate Talks Near Deal to Save Forests
COPENHAGEN -- Negotiators have all but completed a sweeping deal that would compensate countries for preserving forests, and in some cases, other natural landscapes like peat soils, swamps and fields that play a crucial role in curbing climate change. Environmental groups have long advocated such a compensation program because forests are efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide, the primary heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. Rain forest destruction, which releases the carbon dioxide stored in trees, is estimated to account for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. The agreement for the program, if signed as expected, may turn out to be the most significant achievement to come out of the Copenhagen climate talks, providing a system through which countries can be paid for conserving disappearing natural assets based on their contribution to reducing emissions. ...
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Can I please get paid to not weed my garden?
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Wed, Dec 16, 2009
from Reuters:
U.S. cities spur bike use for climate, health
...According to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, bike use in the city has more than doubled since 2005, a trend it attributes to higher gasoline prices, growing concern over climate change, creation of bike lanes, and what it calls a "growing urban bicycle culture."
Throughout the nation, the number of people bicycling to work has increased 43 percent since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, as more cities encourage residents to recognize the benefits of using their bikes for transportation.
Among U.S. cities, Portland, Oregon showed the biggest gain, tripling its proportion of bike commuters between 2000 and 2008 to a nation-leading 6 percent. Seattle, Minneapolis and Sacramento also had relatively high rates.
Philadelphia's rate rose to 1.6 this year from 1.2 percent in 2006. ...
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Mon, Dec 14, 2009
from Associated Press:
Governments Turn to Cloud Seeding to Fight Drought
SACRAMENTO, California -- On a mountaintop clearing in the Sierra Nevada stands a tall metal platform holding a crude furnace and a box of silver iodide solution that some scientists believe could help offer relief from searing droughts.
This is a cloud-seeding machine designed to increase rainfall by spraying a chemical vapor into the clouds. Under the right conditions, it can help water droplets grow heavy, coalesce and fall to the ground.
Faced with water shortages, growing populations and the threat that climate change could make matters worse, governments around the globe have increasingly turned to cloud seeding in an attempt to wring more rain and snow from the sky. ...
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We call this feat of geoengineering the trickle-down effect!
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Mon, Dec 14, 2009
from New York Times:
In Bolivia, Water and Ice Tell of Climate Change
...The glaciers that have long provided water and electricity to this part of Bolivia are melting and disappearing, victims of global warming, most scientists say.
If the water problems are not solved, El Alto, a poor sister city of La Paz, could perhaps be the first large urban casualty of climate change. A World Bank report concluded last year that climate change would eliminate many glaciers in the Andes within 20 years, threatening the existence of nearly 100 million people.
For the nearly 200 nations trying to hammer out an international climate accord in Copenhagen, the question of how to address the needs of dozens of countries like Bolivia is a central focus of the negotiations and a major obstacle to a treaty. ...
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If only the obstacle could melt like the glaciers.
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Mon, Dec 14, 2009
from Agence France-Presse:
'Monster' iceberg shedding hundreds of offshoots
An island-sized iceberg is breaking up as it drifts closer to Australia, producing hundreds of smaller slabs spread over a massive area of ocean, experts said Monday.
The 140-square-kilometre (54-square-mile) block of ice, known as B17B, was seen some 1,700 kilometres (1,054 miles) south-southwest of Australia's western coast on December 9, prompting a maritime alert for vessels in the area.
But as it has tracked further north and east the iceberg has shrunk to some 115 square kilometres -- still formidable at about twice the size of Manhattan. ...
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This iceberg is going rogue!
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