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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brought to you by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute
GAO Faults Government for Global Warming Effects on Federal Lands The report also states that the Interior Department has ignored an order signed by former secretary Bruce Babbitt requiring the department to consider climate change impacts in future decision making and planning. The Interior Department has told the GAO that current secretary Dirk Kempthorne established "a department-wide task force" to look at climate change in April and is awaiting a final report at the end of September. Click on the following links for more information:
APEC Nations Reach Preliminary Agreement on Global Warming The 21 members of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have reached preliminary agreement for a joint-statement on global warming, officials say. Experts from the Pacific Rim nations have drafted a nonbinding agreement, which now goes to APEC leaders for approval as the summit begins September 8 in Sydney. The statement urges members of APEC to reduce energy intensity—the amount of energy needed to produce economic growth—in each nation by 25 percent by the year 2030. Because the mandate is voluntary, there are no measures to enforce the agreement. "It is (up to members') discretion to follow, in accordance to their national programs," said Salman Al-Farisi, an official from Indonesia. The members also agreed that attention should focus toward the UN climate change conference in Bali this December, which will lay the groundwork for a treaty to replace Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997 to curb greenhouse gas emissions and set to expire in 2012. Click on the following links for more information: The Bush administration plans to present a proposal the week of September 10 that calls for the deadline to phase out a group of ozone-depleting chemicals to be sped up by a decade. Representatives from the 191 nations who met twenty years ago to sign the Montreal Protocol will once again meet in Montreal beginning September 15 to discuss toughening the treaty. Specifically, the United States is looking to move up the deadline for phasing out a family of chemicals called hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by ten years to 2020 for industrialized nations and 2030 for developing nations. "We believe that we can reach phaseout 10 years faster than the current agreement because the technology is now available," said Kristen A. Helmer, a spokeswoman for the White House Council of Environmental Quality. These chemicals were initially allowed as transitional chemicals to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a group of chemicals commonly used as refrigerants until it was discovered that they depleted the ozone. Scientists have since discovered that some HCFCs are more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide, causing policymakers to push for a quicker transition to chemicals with a decreased greenhouse effect. Click on the following link for more information: Government researchers reported that ice in the Arctic will likely shrink 40 percent by the year 2050 in most regions and will “almost disappear” by the end of the century. This is faster than scientists had previously predicted and will have a significant impact on species living in this region. Warmer waters could bring new predators into portions of the Arctic, scientists said, while retreating ice could endanger those animals that depend on ice, such as polar bears and walruses. This study relied mostly on historic CO2 emissions, not factoring in future CO2 emissions. "The amount of emissions we have already put out in the last 20 years will stay around for 40 to 50 years," NOAA oceanologist James Overland said. "I'm afraid to say that a lot of impacts we will see in the next 30 to 40 years are pretty much already established." The research will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Click on the following links for more information: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2915.htm
Melting Ice in the Arctic Prompts Territorial Claims As ice continues to retreat in the Arctic due to rising temperatures in the North Pole, nations bordering this region have begun navigating the newly opened waters, enhancing their underwater maps and strengthening claims to the Arctic Ocean sea bed. Four nations with claims to the Arctic—the United States, Canada, Denmark, and Russia—have had a publicized presence in this region this summer, corresponding with ice cover that has reached record-low levels this August. "The entire length of the Northwest Passage is navigable," said Trudy Wohlleben, senior ice forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service, a government agency. "This melt is unprecedented, and it’s speeding up." The sea floor has potentially vast resources of oil, natural gas, and minerals, increasing interest in this region and prompting bordering nations to explore previously ice-covered areas of the Arctic. Data on topography and geology of the sea bed are being used by nations to present their cases to the United Nations, as its Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf meets this week in closed session to consider claims.
Soil Erosion Responsible for 30 Percent of GHGs Land degradation and desertification may account for as much as about 30 percent of the world's greenhouse gas (GHG) releases, according to researcher Rattan Lal of Ohio State University. Every year, 100,000 square kilometers of land loses its vegetation and becomes degraded or turns into desert. Climate change makes this worse, as rapid evaporation and changes in precipitation intensify soil degradation, reinforcing the cycle. One reason that soils around the world are being stressed is because of the increased interest in biofuels, experts say. "Soils are under greater pressure than ever before," Campbell said in an interview. "Governments around the world are subsidizing crops to produce biofuels." Click on the following links for more information:
UK Peatlands Face Future Stress Due to Climate Change Scientists warn that climate change and soil erosion could cause peatlands in the Northern Britain to become highly unstable, potentially releasing large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. With climate predictions showing warmer summers and wetter winters for the UK region, there is a greater risk of the bogs and peatlands in this area releasing higher amounts of carbon stored in the soil. Scientists argue that preserving peatlands not only prevents additional carbon from released into the atmosphere, but that it can absorb additional carbon from the atmosphere. "If you restore and manage peatlands, you not only avoid losing stored carbon but you actually add to that store," Dr. Martin Evans, the paper’s lead author said. The paper appeared in Geomorphology. Global warming will cause the number of heat-related deaths to more than double within 50 years, according to a report funded by the National Environmental Trust, a nonprofit group. The study’s examination of twenty-one U.S. cities found that 23,160 additional heat-related deaths would occur due to global warming-induced temperature increases. The average summer season would see a doubling of heat-related deaths, going from about 908 heat-related deaths per summer to almost 1,900 by mid-century. Baltimore is expected to be the fourth hardest hit of the twenty-one cities studied. "I think this really brings home one of the real-life impacts that we are bound to see from global warming," said Brad Heavner, executive director of Environment Maryland. Heavner’s group, which helped to distribute the report and others are working to push the state of Maryland to toughen limits on GHG emissions. Click on the following links for more information: Doctors warn higher temperatures due to global warming could lead to higher rates of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University and program chair at the American Heart Association, compares the hardening of the heart's arteries to rust developing on a car. "Rust develops much more quickly at warm temperatures, and so does atherosclerosis," he said. During the European heat wave in 2003, there were an estimated 35,000 deaths above expected levels in the first two weeks of August. Experts say that much of that was due to heart problems in the elderly worsened by the extreme heat. Doctors met the week of September 2 in Vienna at the European Society of Cardiology's annual meeting, where some experts said the issue of global warming and its effect on cardiovascular disease deserved more attention. Click on the following link for more information: Quick Links * SUBSCRIBE to our newsletters and other products * ARCHIVE: Past issues of the newsletter are posted on our website under "publications" * SUPPORT EESI: This newsletter and EESI's other valuable work in energy, climate change, agriculture, transportation and smart growth are made possible through financial support from people like you. Please donate now.
Fredric Beck This EESI publication is a free, weekly electronic newsletter intended to inform interested parties, particularly the policymaker community, of the latest climate change-related news. Permission for reproduction of this newsletter is granted provided that EESI is properly acknowledged as the source. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute is a non-profit organization established in 1984 by a bipartisan, bicameral group of members of Congress to provide timely information on energy and environmental policy issues to policymakers and stakeholders and develop innovative policy solutions that set us on a cleaner, more secure and sustainable energy path. |
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