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August 25, 2014
MIT Researchers Predict UN Climate Talks Will Fall Short of Necessary Carbon Emissions Cuts
On August 18, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a report entitled “Expectations for a New Climate Agreement.” The report predicted that the most likely United Nations (UN) climate treaty to come out of the upcoming 2015 Conference of the Parties (COP) negotiations is unlikely to stop the world from warming more than 2 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels, an internationally agreed upon target. While international efforts can decelerate the global warming trend, the report stated, “Our results also show that these efforts will not put the globe on a path consistent with commonly stated long-term climate goals.” This report was operates on the assumption that the new UN treaty for climate change will be based on voluntary efforts from countries, consistent with the 2009 Copenhagen agreement. MIT researchers Henry Jacoby and Henry Chen developed a computer model to conduct their analysis, and talked to many people engaged and familiar with the negotiations “to formulate judgments regarding the efforts nations will be willing to pledge by 2015.” The report was written in the hope it would help effect a better global outcome by “stimulating timely and open discussion of potential national actions and their consequences.”
For more information see:
Inside Climate News, Study
New Jersey Announces New Website for Mapping Sea Level Rise
On August 17, a new website with interactive maps that reflect climate change impacts in New Jersey was announced by Rutgers scientists and data managers. Jennifer Rovito, a Rutgers geographic data specialist, said, “We heard from a number of people who are doing community-based work that they're interested in certain assets or certain infrastructure within their communities. They wanted a kind of a one-stop-shop that they could find all of that information as opposed to going to multiple different websites." The website, NJADAPT.org, also includes “story maps,” which are videos that show how the specific effects of climate change influence the state. For example, one story map states that if sea level rises three feet, $1.9 billion worth of residential lands would be flooded. Richard Moss, senior scientist at the Joint Global Change Research Institute in College Park, Maryland, thought highly of this mapping site, and said “There is an awful lot of scientific information that's out there, what we need more now of is people to get involved and to express what their views are. Do we want to take on these risks or do we think we should just ignore them?"
NBC Philadelphia, Site
Illinois Commerce Commission Holds Hearings on Cutting Carbon Emissions
On August 18, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) began a series of formal hearings to discuss options for the state’s compliance with proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits on carbon emissions from existing power plants. The Commission has said it will consider, along with other options, working together with other states to implement a regional compliance plan. Under the EPA proposal, each state is given an individualized emissions reductions goal. Illinois has a proposed target of 33 percent below its 2012 carbon emissions levels. “[These sessions will help] find a compliance pathway that makes the most sense for Illinois,” said Doug Scott, ICC Chairman. At the first hearing in Chicago, ICC staff heard from diverse stakeholders, including the EPA, the Great Plains Institute, TransCanada Pipeline, and America’s Natural Gas Association. Other hearings will take place in September and October. The final EPA regulation is expected next year.
Houston Chronicle, Policy Agenda
Australian Party Leader Clive Palmer Announces Climate Convention
On August 18, Clive Palmer, the leader of the Palmer United party of Australia, proposed plans for hosting a “world climate change convention” at his Sunshine Coast resort on November 17, the day after the G20 meeting at Brisbane and two weeks before a United Nations climate change conference in Lima, Peru. Mr. Palmer said, “We’ve got to keep Australia’s position on the ETS (Emissions Trade Scheme) alive and keep public debate going on it. . . We’re also hoping that we can establish momentum internationally with some of the major people who’ll be coming here for it so that we can come up with a global emissions trading scheme.” He stated his hope that his climate convention will help countries understand each others’ plans on climate change and, as he said, “move in unison together.” So far, Mr. Palmer has not provided details about the attendees of his event. He explained, “Over the coming weeks and months we’ll be making announcements of the world leaders who will be coming to attend this conference just after the G20. That’s an exciting thing for the Sunshine Coast.”
The Guardian, News (Australia), The Australian
Asian Development Bank Says Climate Change Could Shrink GDP of South Asian Countries by 2100
On August 19, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) published an analysis stating that climate change is having a growing negative impact on the gross domestic product (GDP) of South Asian countries. The report, based on the prediction that average global temperature will rise by 4.6 degrees Celsius if no efforts are taken to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, concluded that South Asian annual GDP could be 1.8 percent lower by 2050, and 8.8 percent lower by 2100. Within South Asia, Bangladesh and Nepal could lose more than 2 percent of their annual GDP by 2050, and India could lose 1.8 percent. These losses, according to the report, are mainly from vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, energy, health, water and ecosystems. Bindu Lohani, ADB vice president for sustainable development, said, “South Asia’s economy is under serious threat and the lives and livelihoods of millions of South Asians inhabiting the region’s many mountains, deltas, and atolls are on a knife edge.” In addition, the report’s analysis showed if the global community cooperates to prevent the global average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees, South Asia will lose only 1.3 percent of annual GDP by 2050 and 2.5 percent by 2100. Lohani said, “Countries must respond individually and collectively to cope with rising sea levels, disrupted water, food, and energy supply and increased disease.”
Responding to Climate Change, Report
Kellogg to Set Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets for Supply Chains
On August 13, international food company Kellogg announced new goals for its global supply chain, especially farmers, to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In its climate policy update, Kellogg said, “We recognize that upstream agriculture emissions are the single largest source of emissions in our value chain and will focus our efforts on achieving agricultural emissions reductions.” This new initiative will decrease Kellogg’s environmental impact by working closely with growers, suppliers and partners to measure and announce greenhouse gas emissions and targets for reductions; reduce emissions at plants; and create a climate change adaptation policy that encompasses its entire supply chain. Kellogg’s initiative was created largely through the work of the Behind the Brands campaign, organized by Oxfam International with the purpose of giving customers more oversight over companies’ operations. Oxfam spokeswoman Monique van Zijl said, “Climate change is putting hundreds of millions of people at risk of hunger and threatening everything from coffee and cereal to wine and chocolate . . . Kellogg is joining a growing list of companies that are putting the weight of their brands behind climate action.” Two weeks ago, General Mills, a competitor of Kellogg’s, made a similar announcement.
Reuters, International Business Times, Press Release, General Mills
Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project Announces Youth Video Competition
On August 15, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project launched a campaign to increase awareness of climate change among youth. The campaign, called “Why? Why Not?”, focuses on encouraging young people between 13 and 21 years old to be advocates on climate change. This campaign is organized by eight creative agencies owned by WPP, the largest group for communications services in the world. The campaign is organized as a video competition: children and young adults participate by submitting short videos of them asking world leaders “why” or “why not” questions related to climate change and the environment. Jon Steel, WPP group planning director, explained, “Our aim is to frame the problem in a simple, personal way, and to convince people that we cannot leave this to future generations to solve.” Through the competition, participants who submitted the six best videos will go to the United Nations Climate Summit on September 23 to ask their questions face to face with world leaders. Andrew Dowling, managing director at WPP agency GPY&R, said, “We want people of all ages to continue to ask these questions of their elected representatives to help highlight the problem in the current approach to climate change, and advocate the future solutions we should be sanctioning now.”
Adweek, New York Times, POPSOP, Climate Reality Project
Last Month Was Fourth Warmest July on Record
On August 18, the National Climate Data Center (NCDC), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), published the global analysis of average temperature for July 2014. Last month was the fourth warmest July on record at 0.64 Celsius (1.15 Fahrenheit) above the average temperature of the 20th century. However, the situation varies place to place, as the Midwest, Indiana and Arkansas experienced the lowest July temperatures in 120 years, while Norway experienced the warmest July on record since 1900. Meanwhile, globally, the average land-based temperature last month was the tenth warmest on record, while the ocean temperature tied July 2009 for warmest on-record. In addition, NCDC mentioned in the report that the average surface temperature of the world from January to July of 2014 ranked third warmest on record for those seven months.
Climate Central, National Climate Data Center
Study Shows Glacial Melt Increasingly Due to Human Emissions
On August 15, researchers announced that global warming from anthropogenic sources has become increasingly responsible for glacial retreat in recent decades, according to a publication in Science this week. The study found that glaciers can take decades to centuries to respond to variations in climate, and so only about 25 percent of global glacial melt over the last century and a half can be linked to anthropogenic emissions. However, since 1991 anthropogenic emissions have been responsible for almost 70 percent of glacial melt. As the world’s glaciers adjust to a warmer climate, they are likely to be locked into accelerated ice loss in the coming century. Shrinking glaciers are a major contributor to sea-level rise, which threatens coastal communities and infrastructure through flooding and increased vulnerability to storm surges. “The need for fast action is critical,” said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. “Delaying short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) mitigation by even 25 years will decrease the impact of CO2 and SLCP mitigation, and will make it difficult if not impossible to keep warming below 2 degrees C by the end of the century.”
Study, IGSD Primer on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, IGSD Summary
Ice Loss from Greenland and Antarctica Accelerating
On August 20, The Cryosphere journal published a new study finding the volume of ice loss in West Antarctica over the last three years was three times greater than ice loss from 2003 to 2009; in Greenland, recent ice loss was 2.5 times greater than earlier in the 2000s. Study authors estimated the current total volume loss from both ice sheets to be 507 cubic kilometers a year. “The contribution of both ice sheets together to sea level rise has doubled since 2009,” commented Angela Humbert, study author and scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. “To us, that’s an incredible number.” The scientists arrived at their conclusions by comparing data from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat satellite from the period from January 2011 to January 2014 against data from the U.S. National Atmospheric and Aeronautics Administration (NASA) IceSat satellite from 2003 to 2009.
BBC, Study
Headlines
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1. Bloomberg Interviews Show Many Republicans Privately Agree US Should Take Action on Climate Change
2. Hydropower Does Not Receive Renewable Energy Credit Under EPA Clean Power Plan
3. Tom Steyer Next Gen Campaign Ads Support Pro-Climate Action Politicians Are Controversial
4. Five Things Wikileaks Revealed About International Action on Climate Change
5. Louisville, Fastest Warming City in the US, Faces Further Losses of Tree Cover
6. Estimating the Climate Benefits of Bikesharing Proves Complicated
From September 8 to September 11, the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), an EESI Associate, will hold its 2014 Annual Meeting at the Hilton DeSoto in Savannah, Georgia. This year’s meeting will focus on the ongoing changes in the way energy is produced and consumed in the United States. It will also cover the challenges and opportunities states will encounter under the Clean Power Plan, risk assessment in energy systems, and how to improve resilience. Visit http://annualmeeting.naseo.org/ for more information and to register.
On August 28, DC Envirorun, in partnership with DC Ecowomen, will hold a talk with Jenny Frankel-Reed, USAID Senior Climate Change Specialist, at Bar Louie in Washington, DC. At 6 pm, there will be an optional four mile run; the talk will start at 7 pm.
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity