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UN Climate Talks Conclude in Bonn On April 8, talks wrapped up at the 11-day round of negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany, with the top UN climate official saying wealthy nations need to commit to more aggressive targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2020. “More ambition is clearly needed on the part of industrialized countries if we are to get a robust response to climate change,” UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said. The meeting was the first of at least three rounds this year tasked with resolving differences and creating solutions for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, set to expire in 2012. At the conference, Saudi Arabia and other members of Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) argued that a restriction on fossil fuels would be disruptive to their economies and are looking to receive assistance to transition to alternative forms of energy. “It's a matter of survival for us, also. So we are among the most vulnerable countries, economically,” said Mohammad Al Sabban, an adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry for Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Representatives from the Obama Administration participated in the talks for the first time in Bonn. Jonathan Pershing, U.S. deputy special envoy for climate change, said, “We promise in June to come back with a much more detailed set of policies,” but suggested emissions targets and spending figures may take longer, adding, “Those numbers will be determined by Congress.” President Barack Obama has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, while a House draft bill proposes a 20 percent reduction by 2020 based on 2005 levels. Harald Dovland, chair of the Ad-hoc Working Group (AWG), noted that many other industrialized nations are looking to the United States to set its limits before committing to firm targets. “The other industrialized countries. . . are very, very nervous in coming forward with concrete numbers without knowing what the U.S. will come forward with,” he said. For additional information see:
Arctic Ice Becoming Thinner and Less Extensive On April 6, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) released satellite data showing that since studies began 30 years ago, the current ice in the ocean surrounding the Arctic is thinner than it has ever been and is the fifth lowest maximum ice extent on record. The researchers found that the maximum sea ice extent for 2008 and 2009 was 278,000 square miles less than the average extent between 1979 and 2000, leading to the six lowest maximums in the past six years. Ice thickness offers an additional view to understanding the state of the Arctic, NSIDC scientist Walt Meier said. “Thickness is important, especially in the winter, because it is the best overall indicator of the health of the ice cover,” he said. “As the ice cover in the Arctic grows thinner, it grows more vulnerable to melting in the summer.” An analysis of the thickness reveals that thin ice made up more than 70 percent of the total cover this winter, compared to 40 to 50 percent in the 1980s, and that older thick ice only accounted for 10 percent of the total, whereas it made up 30 to 40 percent of the Arctic ice cover in the 1980s. At a meeting of international ministers gathered to address issues facing Earth's polar regions, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Antarctic Consultative Meeting and the Arctic Council that the Obama Administration will press hard for climate change action, especially with regard to emissions that are short-lived in the atmosphere. “We know that short-lived carbon forcers like methane, black carbon and tropospheric ozone contribute significantly to the warming of the Arctic,” she said. “And because they are short-lived, they also give us an opportunity to make rapid progress if we work to limit them.” Brooks Yeager, executive vice president for policy at the advocacy group Clean Air-Cool Planet, said such efforts could address some of the immediate effects scientists have detected at the poles. “We might be able to buy time for the Arctic system while we're solving the global problem,” he said. For additional information see:
Arctic Could Lose Most Ice in 30 Years On April 3, Geophysical Research Letters published a study predicting that the summer minimum sea ice in the Arctic could be “nearly sea ice free” by the year 2037. Previous predictions were made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) using 23 global climate models, but those findings estimated that such a loss of Arctic sea ice would not occur until the end of the 21st century. Authors of the more recent study, Muyin Wang from the University of Washington and James Overland from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), used six of the IPCC models that appeared best suited for making projections based on their accuracy in predicting the outcome of the past several years because, as Wang said, “If a model can't do today's conditions well, how can you trust its future predictions?” The six models show that when the extent of ice at the end of summer drops to 4.6 million square kilometers, a rapid decline in sea ice takes place and could result in only 1 million square kilometers remaining in 32 years or less. “In recent years the combination of unusual warm temperatures from natural causes and the global warming signal have worked together to provide an earlier summer sea-ice loss than was predicted when scientists considered the effects from human-caused carbon dioxide alone,” said Overland. The scientists did not predict the area to become totally ice free, but noted the open water could lure shippers and mineral extractors, and also “raises the question of ecosystem upheaval.”
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Science Chief Discusses Climate Strategy On April 8, in an interview with The Washington Post, the top White House science adviser revealed that the Obama administration might agree to auction only a portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions allowances under a national cap-and-trade system. In reference to a 100 percent auction of allowances, John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said, “Whether you get to start with that or get there over a period of time is something that's being discussed.” This would be a break from Obama’s presidential campaign stance, which was to use a 100 percent auction to create market incentives for companies to reduce GHG emissions. The new position is an effort to gain enough support in Congress to pass a cap-and-trade bill, officials said. Joseph Aldy, special assistant to the President for energy and the environment, said, “The road to success is 60 votes [in the Senate], and so we want to make sure that we're able to address as many members' needs as possible to try to get there.” For additional information see:
Ice Bridge Ruptures in Antarctic On April 4, a satellite picture by the European Space Agency (ESA) showed the last major ice bridge connecting Antarctica’s Wilkins Ice Shelf to land had snapped at its narrowest point. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) said the loss of the bridge could “now allow ocean currents to wash away far more of the shelf,” which has already lost 694 square miles, or 14 percent of its size, over the past 12 months. In the past 50 years, temperatures had risen by 2.5°C in this area, six times the global average, and the Wilkins Ice Shelf has been retreating since the 1990s. Christian Lambrechts, of UNEP's Division of Early Warning and Assessment, said, “Although the Wilkins ice bridge collapse will have no direct consequence on sea level rise, it might have an indirect impact, as the decay of the ice shelf will reduce the stability of the glaciers that are feeding it.” For additional information see:
Obama Pledges U.S. Lead on Climate Change On April 5, President Obama told a crowd gathered in Prague, Czech Republic that the United States is now ready to lead the world on combating climate change. His only public speech ahead of a European Union (EU) – U.S. summit, Obama said, “Together we must confront climate change by ending the world's dependency on fossil fuels by tapping the power from the sources of energy like the wind and the sun and calling upon all nations to do their part. . . . And I pledge to you that in this global effort the United States is now ready to lead.” Several European leaders supported Obama’s position as a step forward for international climate negotiations. “We have welcomed very positive changes the U.S. is making. . . . Only together can we convince others in our common efforts to fight climate change,” said EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, and added, “Let's build on this.” For additional information see:
Aviation Industry Propose Emissions Trading to be Included in UN Climate Treaty On April 6, the Aviation Global Deal Group proposed a worldwide limit on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for all airlines at the talks organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this week in Bonn, Germany. The proposal is an effort to include the airline industry in the UNFCCC talks, which culminate in Copenhagen at the end of the year. The Aviation Group consists of a coalition of companies, including Air France/KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, airport operator BAA, and The Climate Group. Mark Kebner, Policy Director of the Climate Group, said, “If airlines don't propose something credible environmentally but also that works well for them economically, then they will get saddled with some other option.” Their recommendation, which is the first ever made by the group to UN climate officials, is to cap every carrier’s GHG output and to base emissions levels on a company’s annual fuel purchases. Kebner said the group would conduct a deeper analysis to ascertain what the cap should be, and how best to integrate the scheme into the carbon market. In regards to including aviation in a global climate treaty, UNFCCC Executive Director Yvo de Boer said, “Not a lot of progress has been made. . . . It’s very hard to say if aviation will be included.” For additional information see:
Insurers Moving Slowly on Climate Risks In a related story, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has issued a survey for major insurance companies to complete by May 2010. The survey is meant to raise awareness for climate change within the industry and will specifically address an array of topics, from how insurance companies are lowering their own emissions to what computer modeling they're using to assess climate-related risk. Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario said a better understanding of climate change risks “will mean higher premiums, possibly, depending on new risks.” But he added that some of the changes “will create new opportunities for possibly better rates.” Ario is the chair of the NAIC's Climate Change and Global Warming Task Force, which spearheaded the survey. For additional information see:
Climate Change to Spur Rapid Shifts in Wildfire Hotspots On April 8, the journal PLoS ONE published a study predicting that climate change will cause major shifts in global fire patterns. The researchers used thermal-infrared sensor data obtained over a 20-year period in the first attempt to quantitatively model the potential increases and decreases in fire activity attributed to climate change. Author Max Moritz of UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources said, “What is startling in these findings is the relatively rapid rate at which we're likely to see very broad-scale changes in fire activity for large parts of the planet.” The authors note that a change in fire patterns could have major adverse consequences for ecosystems which are dependent on more natural cycles. Altered rainfall patterns, heat waves, and prolonged drought could contribute to extensive shifts in fire activity in the near term. Results from the study show that from 2010 to 2039, hotspots of fire intensity could form in parts of the Western United States and the Tibetan Plateau, while decreases in fire activity could be experienced in other regions such as Northeast China and Central Africa. “We are not necessarily integrating fire into most of our climate change studies in as rigorous a way as we could and in fact, we don't even have a fire chapter in the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report] – and I think that these are directions that we could go to more comprehensively include fire as an agent of change in altered climates,” Moritz said. For additional information see:
Other Headlines U.S. Power Plant Carbon Emissions Fell in 2008
Events May 14, 2009 12th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency EXPO + Forum
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Amy Sauer 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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