Tiempo Climate Newswatch
Week ending September 5th 2010
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Featured sites
The United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification website provides information, news and resources concerning action to protect the world's drylands from further deterioration and degradation.
The Corner House website makes available a series of thought-provoking reports and presentations, published by themselves and by and other organizations, on climate issues.
News of weather events and climate affairs from around the African continent.
And finally,
Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo discusses her work Melting Men, a series of installations that has been adopted as climate change art.
About the Cyberlibrary
The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary is a co-production of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development. It is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Tiempo Climate Newswatch is a weekly on-line magazine with news, features and comment on global warming, climate change, sea-level rise and development issues. The news stories carried by Newswatch are updated weekly. Comment, features, interviews and other sections of the magazine are updated on a weekly to monthly basis.
The Tiempo Climate Portal is a listing of selected websites covering climate and development and related issues.
The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary is maintained and edited by Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich. The cartoons are created by Lawrence Moore. The site was developed by Mike Salmon and Mick Kelly.
While every effort is made to ensure that information on this site, and on other sites that are referenced here, is accurate, no liability for loss or damage resulting from use of this information can be accepted.
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World Water Week takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, from September 5th. This year's theme is water quality. |
As it is looking increasingly unlikely that the United States Senate will pass a climate bill this year, environmentalists are gearing up to defend the plans by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit greenhouse gas emissions from major polluters. "Obviously, the chances are slim that we'll see a comprehensive bill this year - but regardless, the regulations that EPA will be considering next year can achieve some pretty substantial global warming pollution reductions on their own," said Nathan Willcox of Environment America.
According to Sara Chieffo from the League of Conservation Voters, the fight will be two-fold: "One is fighting off legislative attacks to hamstring, weaken or delay EPA's ability to move forward with reductions from our nations' largest emitters" and the second is "pushing EPA to be ambitious on the direct greenhouse gas rules." Democrat senator Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia intends to seek a vote on a bill that would stop the agency from regulating stationary source emissions for two years. Others are expected to try to block climate rules through riders to appropriations bills or other legislation.
More information |
Related news |
Researchers from the United Kingdom, China and Denmark have concluded that, even if all but the most far-reaching emissions control measures, such as geo-engineering, are implemented, global sea level will rise by 30-70cm this century. The team used 300 years of tide gauge measurements to reconstruct how sea level responded in the past to changes in the amount of heat reaching the Earth from the Sun, the cooling effects of volcanic eruptions and past human activities. This information was then used to model sea level under geo-engineering schemes and other emissions control scenarios over the present century.
"Natural sea-level variations caused by extreme events such as severe volcanic eruptions... were generally much smaller than those caused by anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions or predicted under effective geo-engineering schemes," said Svetlana Jevrejeva of the National Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom. Injections of sulfur dioxide particles into the upper atmosphere on the scale of a major volcanic eruption every 18 months would delay sea-level rise by 40 to 80 years. The researchers caution that such an approach would be costly and also risky. "We simply do not know how the Earth system would deal with such large-scale geo-engineering action," commented Jevrejeva.
More information |
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A new analysis of observational data for the Antarctic coupled with climate modelling suggests that the recent trend towards increasing Antarctic sea ice could be the result of regional warming. "We just want to understand this paradox," said Jiping Liu of Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States. "For the past 30 years, the Arctic sea ice has been decreasing while Antarctic sea ice has been increasing. We've been trying to explain this."
The proposed explanation is that higher sea surface temperatures have strengthened the hydrological cycle above the Southern Ocean, with increased evaporation towards the equator resulting in greater precipitation, mostly snow, close to Antarctica. Snow stabilizes the upper ocean, insulating it from the heat stored below, as well as reflecting heat away from the ice surface. The additional precipitation also lowers the salinity of the surface water, slowing ice melt. There may come a point, though, the researchers warn, when the temperature rise is such that rainfall rather than snowfall dominates, leading to decreasing Antarctic sea ice.
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Breaking news
- Drought hits Russian food prices
- 800,000 cut off by Pakistan floods
- Engineering the skies
- China to increase hydropower capacity by 50 per cent by 2015
- Limiting ocean acidification
The Gaunt View
© 2010 Lawrence Moore
Sound and vision
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The Greening the Blue cartoon shows Flip and Norma doing their best to be more sustainable at work, resulting in some practical - and some less practical - solutions. |
Audio and video on demand
Weblogs
More interactive discussion...
Comment
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"The biggest challenge is not how to reduce deforestation, but how to finance the reduction." |
In Seeing REDD in the Amazon, Virgilio Viana argues that REDD in the Amazon is a win for people, trees and climate.
In Adaptation by Ribbon Cutting, Robert Kay argues that a desire for grand ceremonies must not be allowed to skew decisions regarding approaches to adaptation.
In The Challenge for the Climate Action Network, Astrid Westerlind Wigström tasks the Network with becoming more responsive to developing country interests at international negotiations.
On the Web
- Rodney Tiffen questions media coverage of the Climategate affair
- Marion Tanguy discusses Norway's ecological mindset and investment in environmentally friendly technologies
- Rajendra Pachauri argues that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change plays a vital role in the climate debate
Features
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Leone Limalevu (left), Bill Aalbersberg, Patrina Dumaru and Tony Weir suggest some general lessons for community-based adaptation projects in a small developing country. |
James Waters argues the importance of ecosystems and ecosystem services for poor urban communities likely to be affected by climate change.
George Kasali describes key factors that make Zambia’s health sector vulnerable to climate change, focusing on malaria and the impacts of floods and droughts.
Short reports
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The Copenhagen climate summit exposed serious rifts within the international community. Mick Kelly (left) and Sarah Granich report on the summit's outcome and its aftermath. |
Abhishek Shrestha reports on the role of Nepalese youth in climate change activities.
The Association for Development of Environment and People in Transition - Nepal presents a status paper prepared for the Copenhagen climate summit in December 2010.
Interview
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"We shouldn't rely heavily on politicians because, at the end of the day, as individuals we have the power to take action and make a difference. By relying too much on politicians we will end up getting more and more frustrated." |
In a Newswatch interview, Erana Walker talks of her expectations of the Copenhagen climate summit and about her experience of climate action at the community level.
Recent e-publications
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Heliosthana: a Mediterranean Sustainable Energy Country, from WWF and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, is a how-to guide for a safe clean energy future, based around the virtual Mediterranean nation of Heliosthana. Published May 2010 |
Sick Water?, from the United Nations, identifies the threats to human and ecological health of ineffective waterwater management and presents opportunities, where appropriate policy and management responses can trigger employment, support livelihoods, boost public and ecosystem health and contribute to more intelligent water management. Published March 2010
Growing Together in a Changing Climate, from the United Nations, contains information on some of the many climate change initiatives - projects, campaigns, educational tools, websites and publications - produced by the United Nations and young people, independently or in partnership. Published December 2009
Current climate
Monthly climate indicators |
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Global surface air temperature courtesy of the
Hadley Centre Previous year's charts: 2009, 2008, 2007 |
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Current emergencies |
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General links |
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El Niño-Southern Oscillation Phenomenon (ENSO) |
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Tropical storms |
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Food security |
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Other events |
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The Final Word
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"The capital costs of solar devices remain considerable, particularly to the poor. And government subsidies for energy produced from non-renewable sources - intended ostensibly to keep prices affordable - have too often also distorted the market in the interests of conventional energy suppliers. All this means that the spread of solar energy, particularly to the rural communities that stand to benefit most from it, is far slower than it should be." |
In Solar Power for the Poor, David Dickson argues that, as technological obstacles to the efficient use of solar energy diminish, economic and political challenges remain to its widespread adoption by the poor.
Bright Ideas
A prize-winning nation-wide biogas programme takes Vietnam's human and animal waste and turns it into clean, renewable energy, improving smallholders' quality of life
Schools for Intelligent Energy Use builds a bridge between intermediate vocational schools and civil societies to increase involvement in the field of energy saving and renewable energy
HANGER 4 LIFE produces a stylish range of ecofriendly, carbon-neutral adjustable garment hangers
Toronto Zoo is deploying green roof technology, solar hot water heating and solar and geothermal energy and plans to use dung from elephants and other large animals in a biogas plant
The Tokyo Electric Taxi Project is trialling battery-switch technology that could provide the optimum solution for electric vehicle fleets
The Far Eastern Group has built the EcoARK, a three-story exhibition hall, using 1.5 million plastic bottles (video)
SmartTrips visits different Portland neighborhoods every year with activities aimed at reducing drive-alone trips and increasing biking, walking and public transit use.
Zipcar provides flexible car sharing, by the hour or by the day and in many cities
Hydrogen-powered buses are carrying passengers on the streets of Reykjavik, Iceland (video)
The Esprimo P7000 Series of desktop computers from Fujitsu supports 0-Watt technology
Progressive Lighting and Energy Solutions makes companies green, one light bulb at a time
Ghent, Belgium, has declared Thursday a Veggie Day, promoting a meat-free, climate-friendly diet for one day of the week
Tiempo Climate Newswatch
Updated: August 29th 2010