Climate Change News – October 13,
2006
Brought to you by the
Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Carol Werner, Executive Director
California
Water Supply Threatened by Climate, Growth and Urbanization
In
a major story, the Modesto Bee discusses a series of
interrelated factors that in California, including climate
change, rapid growth and increasing urbanization, are likely to
reduce the supply of clean surface and underground water,
dramatically in some cases. As competition for water increases,
rising temperatures and more intense droughts and flood events
from climate change will occur. For California, which relies on
water from the Sierra snowpack to irrigate its crops, the
impacts may be significant.
The
Modesto Bee reports, "Experts say rising
temperatures will reduce snowpack in the northern and central
Sierra mountain range. Consequently, more rain and less snow
will fall. What snowpack remains, will melt earlier. Under one
scenario, even if greenhouse gas emissions are lowered, the
Sierra snowpack still would be reduced from 30-60 percent. Under
a worse-case scenario, as much as 90 percent of the Sierra
snowpack could be permanently lost between 2070 and 2090."
Michael
Hanemann, director of the California Climate Change Center at
the University of California at Berkeley, said
"Economically, it is the change in temperature that is
especially significant for California." Parry Klassen,
chairman of the East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition, said
"The reason we can grow almonds and peaches, is we have
cold winters. The trees need to go to sleep; we call it
'chilling hours.' If global warming makes our winters too warm,
the trees won't get enough chilling time." Klassen says
higher winter temperatures could wipe out peaches and almonds in
the valley, hurting the valley and state economies.
Wes
Monier, strategic issues and planning manager at the Turlock
Irrigation District, said losing 90 percent of the Sierra
snowpack would render today's dam and reservoir system virtually
useless. During the 1977 drought, the Sierra snowpack was
reduced by 60-83 percent over the previous year. Hanemann said,
"The changes—earlier spring, earlier snowmelt—are
already under way... The (adverse) impacts on our water supply
will begin to be seen within the next 20 to 30 years."
Former Modesto Mayor Carol Whiteside said political leaders need
to begin exploring "what if" scenarios that consider
all possible consequences and contingencies.
Worldwide Glacial Melt Has Accelerated Sharply
A report in the October 4 issue of Geophysical
Research Letters finds that the world's glaciers and ice
caps are now in terminal decline because of global warming. Dr.
Georg Kaser, lead author of the report and a glaciologist at the
University of Innsbruck, Austria, said "The glaciers are
going to melt and melt until they are all gone. There are not
any glaciers getting bigger any more." The research team
combined different sets of measurements that used stakes and
holes drilled into the ice to record the change in mass of more
than 300 glaciers since the 1940s.
As reported by the Guardian,
the report reveals that the rate of melting across the world has
sharply accelerated in recent years, placing even previously
stable glaciers in jeopardy. The loss of glaciers in South
America and Asia will threaten the water supplies of millions of
people within a few decades, the experts warn.
Dr. Kaser said that "99.99
percent of all glaciers" are now shrinking, and that,
"Late 20th century glacier wastage is essentially a
response to post-1970 global warming.... There is very, very
strong evidence that this is down to human-caused changes in the
atmosphere." In particular, Andean glaciers are melting so
fast that some are expected to disappear within 15-25 years (see
Climate
Change News 9.1.06). Significant glacial recession
would deny major cities water supplies and put populations and
food supplies at risk in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela,
Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia. Other countries are noticing the
effects. Studies show snow and ice cover in the eastern
Himalayas has shrunk by about 30 percent since the 1970s.
Alaskan Coastal Village Threatened by Further Erosion as
It Plans Move
About 600 people, mostly Inupiaq,
live on a thin barrier island, which is about 125 miles north of
the closest Alaskan city, Nome. The Alaskan coastal village of
Shishmaref in the island has been threatened by destruction from
global warming as the permafrost soil and sea ice melt around
it, allowing storms to rapidly erode it shores. With the erosion
continuing, plans progress to move the village to the Alaskan
mainland. As reported by Agence France Press (AFP),
battering waves have destroyed boats, fish reserves and storage
buildings once well away from the water's threat, said an
official overseeing the village's move. A house collapsed and
about 20 households had to move away from the shore.
Plans to move the village began as
early as 2002, and another five years is expected to pass before
the actual move will begin. However, the seas and storms
continue to encroach. As recently as September 12, a $3 million
sea wall protecting another coastal village was damaged by a
storm on the very day it was to be dedicated.
Village Transportation Planner Tony
Weyiouanna estimated the move would cost $160-200 million, and
that more money would be needed to build a new village. The
Inupiaq have lived on the island for 4,000 years, he said.
"We are coastal people. The sea is our main diet".
Beyond the monetary cost, there are
significant challenges to the villages' culture. Luci Eningowuk,
chairwoman of the Shishmaref Erosion Relocation Coalition said,
"Consolidation with another community is not acceptable
(because) dissemination of our community is the annihilation....
We are a community tied together by family, common goals,
values, and traditions. We are different from our neighbors....
Every year we agonize that the next storm will be the one that
wipes us out."
Millions in Asia/Pacific Region Threatened by Rising
Sea-Levels
On October 11, Australia's top scientific body, the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO),
released a 93 page report entitled "Climate Change in the
Asia/Pacific Region" which finds that more than 150 million
people in the Asia-Pacific region would be displaced by rising
sea levels by 2050. The report states global warming in the Asia
Pacific region could cause sea levels to rise by up to 16 cm
(six inches) by 2030 and up to 50 cm (19 inches) by 2070. Rising
temperatures would also result in increased rainfall during the
summer monsoon season in Asia and could cause more intense
tropical storms, inundating low-lying coastal villages.
This has prompted leading aid agencies to call for an urgent
review of Australia's immigration program, warning that millions
of people in the Asia-Pacific region will be left homeless by
climate change in the next 40 years. World Vision chief
executive, Reverend Tim Costello said, "Climate change is
emerging as a significant threat to political stability and
security in the region. The Australian Government cannot hope to
win a war on terror in the Asia-Pacific region if it isn't
prepared also to wage a war against global warming."
As reported by the Canberra
Times, the report warns that climate change impacts on
human security in a region—where 60 per cent of the world's
population lives—could be "sufficiently severe" to
induce or contribute to violence and armed conflict threatening
national and regional security.
US Insurance Companies Urged to Address Climate
Change
A study released October 9 by
insurer Allianz Group and the World Wildlife Fund finds that
American insurance carriers have been slow to recognize Earth's
changing climate and develop new forecasting tools to predict
the risks and potential economic losses arising from increased
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report, entitled
"Climate Change and Insurance: An Agenda for Action in the
United States," examines the latest scientific findings
about climate change, including the impacts of forest fires,
storms and floods, and the potential impact on the insurance
industry and its customers.
As reported by the Sacramento
Bee, institutional investor groups are pushing for improved
disclosure. This week, for example, the influential California
Public Employees' Retirement System and eight other large
investors began sending letters to chief executives of the
Standard & Poor's 500 companies to embrace international
climate risk disclosure guidelines.
Carter Roberts, President and CEO of
WWF-US, said "Global warming is the greatest environmental
threat facing the world, and the people and animals that inhabit
it.... The cost of doing nothing carries a price tag none of us
can afford.... The insurance industry has a vested interest in
stepping up to the plate and being a part of the solution.
Allianz has been a leader on this issue and we hope that the
entire industry makes climate change a top priority.”
Investor Groups Urge More
Company Action On Climate Change
On October 11, investors
representing trillions of dollars in assets urged companies to
take more account of the long-term risks of global warming.
Fourteen groups, including leading pension funds in the United
States, such as the California Public Employees Retirement
System, other major pension funds in Britain and Australia, the
U.N. Environment Programme's Finance Initiative and other
specialist organizations, offered guidelines on issues such as
monitoring corporate emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) or
factoring in risks such as heatwaves or rising seas. The Global
Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure provides specific guidance
to companies regarding the information they provide to investors
on the financial risks posed by climate change.
"Climate change presents a
series of material business risks and opportunities which
investors must take into account," said Peter Scales,
chairman of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change
that coordinates European investors with assets of more than 2
trillion euros. "More investors than ever recognize that
climate change is a serious business issue and are demanding
better disclosure," said Mindy Lubber, President of Ceres
that directs the U.S. Investor Network on Climate Risk with $3
trillion in assets.
Click on the following links for the
full news stories: Reuters and
Ceres
Chair of PG&E Corp. Calls for National GHG
Legislation
On October 5, Peter Darbee,
chairman, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Gas
& Electric's parent company, PG&E Corp. said
California's AB 32, signed into law by California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, was a good first step to addressing climate
change, and called for similar measures to be enacted on a
national level.
Darbee said, "Our preference
has always been that legislation would optimally be applied at
the federal level. We haven't gotten the progress that we've
really needed ... and therefore California moved ahead under
Gov. Schwarzenegger's leadership.... The probability of
legislation at the national level approaches 100 percent within
the next five years. The opportunity is there for the Bush
administration to step up, just as Gov. Schwarzenegger did. But
if he doesn't, I believe that the administration subsequent to
him will put that legislation in place."
As reported by Reuters, Darbee said
he personally believed the most effective way to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases would be to tax them, but given
the political unpalatability of such a move, said a
cap-and-trade system would be a viable alternative.
Click on the following link for the
full news story: Reuters
European Commission Warns Member Nations not Submitting
Carbon Plans
Eight nations--Austria, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and
Spain--have failed to submit their "National Allocation
Plans" to the European Commission detailing on how they
plan to cut carbon emissions. On October 12, the Commission sent
a written warning demanding an explanation, and set a two-month
deadline before it would begin legal action.
A European Commission spokeswoman
said, "If the governments do not respond, or do not respond
sufficiently, then we send out a second letter that will tell
them that if they do not respond immediately then we will take
them to the Court of European Justice.... We are going to be
very severe with member states who are not submitting on
time."
Click on the following link for the
full news story: BBC
EESI Briefings
DVD’s
Available: Copies of DVD's
are available of EESI's recent climate
briefings: "Agriculture
and Climate Change: Threats and Opportunities," May
24, 2005; "What
Does Climate Change Mean for the Arctic? How is Alaska Being
Affected?,"
March 15, 2005; "Perspectives
on Climate Change: Business Initiatives to Reduce Greenhouse Gas
Emissions," November
18, 2004; “State
and Local Government Climate Change Efforts,” September
28, 2004; “Climate
Change Post 2100,” September 21, 2004; “Abrupt
Climate Change,” September 15, 2004; and
“Discussing Climate Change: A Multi-faceted View of
the Climate Stewardship Act,” June 3, 2004.
The discs are $20
ea. (incl. shipping/handling) plus tax 5.75%
(DC residents only). Click on the following link to order
a DVD: EESI
Climate Change DVD's
Events
October 18, 2006
Using RECs for Compliance or Voluntary
Trading
The American Bar Association's (ABA) Renewable Energy Resources
Committee will host a teleconference with a panel of experts who
will discuss current and potential future uses of renewable
energy credits (RECs) and the potential for those uses to
conflict with other attribute trading programs and policy
objectives. The event takes place on Wednesday, October 18 from
12:00-1:30 pm ET. There is a $20 charge for this event.
Click on the following link for more information: ABA
October 20, 2006
Hurricanes and Global Warming
The American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) Environmental
Science Seminar Series will hold a Congressional briefing to
discuss whether climate change is impacting, or is expected to
impact, hurricanes. The briefing will be held on Friday, October
20 from 12 noon - 2:00 pm in Room 428-A of the Russell Senate
Office Building in Washington DC. Click on the following link
for more information: AMS
website, or contact Dr. Anthony Socci at (202)
737-9006, ext. 412 or socci@ametsoc.org.
September 30 – October 25, 2006
Free Showings of Gore
Climate Documentary
Greater Washington
Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL)—a non-profit initiative
that helps congregations, religious institutions and others in
the Washington, D.C. area—is offering free screenings of
Former Vice President Al Gore’s climate change documentary
film, An Inconvenient Truth. The screenings are at churches
and synagogues throughout the Washington metropolitan area
from September 30 through October 25. Click the following link
for locations and times: GWIPL
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