|
|
|
|
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brought to you by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute Editorial Note: EESI’s Climate Change News will not be published the week of New Years. Climate Change Already Affecting Water Supplies in the Western US The scientists, led by marine physicist Tim Barnett, say that observed changes are correlated to the climate impacts of human activity. The models "portend a crisis," said Barnett. "After the performance on the last 50 years of observations, we can put high confidence in their general predictions for the next 20 years, at least in the western United States." Since 1950, the Sierra snowpack has decreased by about 20 percent, the temperature in the Rocky Mountains has gone up 3 degrees and spring water flow in the Columbia River has decreased significantly. Projections are that by about 2040, the Colorado Rockies will be nearly barren of snow as early as April 1 each year. And a similar story will play out in the Sierra. Click on the following links for more information:
In August, Italian public health officials discovered that more than 100 people living in the northern Italian village of Castiglione Di Cervia were suffering from a tropical disease--Chikungunya, a relative of dengue fever, normally found in the Indian Ocean. The disease is spread by insects: tiger mosquitoes, who can thrive in a warming Europe. The disease causes weeks of high fever, exhaustion and excruciating bone pain. There is no known cure. The epidemic proved that tropical viruses are now able to spread in new areas, far north of their previous range. The tiger mosquito, which first arrived in Ravenna, Italy three years ago, is thriving across southern Europe and even in France and Switzerland. "This is the first case of an epidemic of a tropical disease in a developed, European country," said Roberto Bertollini, director of the World Health Organization's Program on Health and the Environment. "Climate change creates conditions that make it easier for this mosquito to survive and it opens the door to diseases that didn't exist here previously. This is a real issue. Now, today." Click on the following links for more information: Ribbon Seal of the Bering Sea Losing Icy Habitat On December 20, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a scientific petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect the ribbon seal under the federal Endangered Species Act due to threats from global warming. “The Arctic is in a crisis state from global warming,” said Shaye Wolf, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity and lead author of the petition. “An entire ecosystem is rapidly melting away and the ribbon seal is poised to become the first victim of our failure to address global warming.” The ribbon seal is dependent on Arctic sea ice for survival. During the late winter through early summer, ribbon seals rely on the edge of the sea ice in the Bering and Okhotsk Seas off Alaska and Russia as safe habitat for giving birth and as a nursery for their pups. But this winter sea-ice habitat is rapidly disappearing. If current ice-loss trends from global warming continue, the Center says the ribbon seal faces likely extinction by the end of the century. The ribbon seal’s winter sea-ice habitat is projected to decline 40 percent by mid-century under recent greenhouse gas emissions trends. Any remaining sea ice will be much thinner and unlikely to last long enough for the ribbon seals to finish rearing their pups, leading to widespread pup mortality. Click on the following links for more information: Saharan Dust Has Chilling Effect on North Atlantic NASA satellites have provided evidence that the chilling effect of dust blowing off of the Saharan desert was responsible for one-third of the drop in North Atlantic sea surface temperatures between June 2005 and 2006, possibly contributing to the difference in hurricane activity between the two seasons. Heat from warm ocean surfaces is known to fuel hurricanes, leading to stronger and more frequent storms. During the hurricane season of 2006, however, sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic remained relatively cool and the season saw only five hurricanes, compared to 15 hurricanes in 2005 when the ocean surface was warmer. NASA researchers showed that airborne Saharan dust over the Atlantic was likely responsible for much of the temperature drop, effectively blocking sunlight from reaching the ocean's surface. According to their research dust accounted for 30 to 40 percent of the drop in sea surface temperature between June 2005 and 2006, as reported in the December issue of the American Geophysical Union's Geophysical Research Letters. The finding provides the first quantitative estimate of dust's role in cooling the entire North Atlantic and brings attention to dust as a potentially important influence on hurricane activities. Click on the following links for more information: Iowans Want Energy Conservation before New Coal Plants According to a public opinion poll commissioned by Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, Iowa Farmers Union and Plains Justice, four out of five Iowans believe energy conservation and fuel efficiency should be the focus of state efforts to meet electricity demand before new coal-burning power plants are built. The majority that supports the "conservation/energy efficiency first" approach includes 69 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Independents, the survey found. Two thirds of likely Iowa caucus goers and 65 percent of all state residents favor a "one-year-long statewide dialogue in Iowa involving state officials, citizens, unions and utility company regulators to help shape the energy future of Iowa during which current coal-fired power plant plans would be frozen to allow for the most comprehensive discussion." The survey results are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 adults conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation December 7 to 11. Click on the following links for more information: Japan Seeks Mexico's Backing to Fight Global Warming The Japanese government has asked Mexico to support its 'Cool Earth 50' initiative that seeks to extend the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012 on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, Mexican environment secretary, said Japan's proposal outlines a strategy for a 50 percent reduction in worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The proposal includes a long-term plan to develop innovative technologies and bring about low-carbon economies. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the initiative in May to help Japan take the lead in international efforts to come up with a post-Kyoto Protocol plan to combat global warming when it hosts the Group of Eight summit in July 2008. Abe's proposal to get a broader agreement to cut the emissions includes Japan extending financial aid to developing countries, such as China, to help them balance their industrial development policies, and the need to cut emissions. UK Ministers Ordered to Assess Climate Cost of all Decisions UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decided that ministers must in future take account of the true economic cost of climate change damage. Ministers have been instructed to factor into their calculations a "carbon price" when making all policy and investment decisions covering transport, construction, housing, planning and energy. That price - which will increase annually - is intended to frame all day-to-day policy and investment decisions for the next 30 years. The "shadow price for carbon", representing the cost to society of the environmental damage, has already been agreed for every year up to 2050 by government economists. It will be set at £25.50 ($50) a carbon tonne for 2007, rising annually to £59.60 ($119) a tonne by 2050. In theory the carbon price will create a bias against roads and carbon-emitting coal stations and make new "zero carbon" building regulations appear more economic. The price is intended to take into account the full global costs of the damage carbon causes over the whole of its time in the atmosphere. Click on the following links for more information: Events January 16, 2008 ABA Renewables Teleconference The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), in collaboration with the American Bar Association's (ABA) Renewable Energy Resources Committee will host a teleconference entitled "Emerging Capital Sources for Renewables." The event takes place on Wednesday, January 16 from 12:00-1:30 pm ET. There is a $25.00 fee to participate. For more information see: www.acore.org/renewableenergyinfo Quick Links 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. |
|||
Printer-friendly version