Tiempo Climate NewswatchWeek ending May 18th 2008 |
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Action point
Jim Salinger describes his priority for action on global warming. You can play the low bandwidth or the high bandwidth version Featured sitesThe World Ocean Observatory provides a place of exchange for ocean information, education and public discourse about the future of the ocean and its implication for human survival. AdaptNet is a community of adaptation specialists, sharing the latest information on adaptation strategies, measures, tools, research and analysis, and highlighting best practice and implementation. The network focuses on cities in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, but nested within the global network of cities. In the Morning of a Day provides activists and event organizers with an opportunity to announce and promote their events and actions about global warming. connect2earth provides a space for everyone to tell the world, using video, photos or text, why they care about the environment and why it should be protected. And finally,Internuncio tells personal stories from Bangladesh of people already experiencing the social implications of climate change. About NewswatchTiempo Climate Newswatch is a weekly on-line magazine with news, features and comment on global warming, climate change, sea-level rise and development issues. It is edited by Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich and maintained by Mick Kelly and Mike Salmon. The cartoons are created by Lawrence Moore. 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. Newswatch automatically scans a number of news sites once an hour, searching for a set of keyphrases. The raw news feed can be accessed in standard or PDA format. Part of the Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary, Tiempo Climate Newswatch is hosted by the Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia. The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary is a co-production of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development, sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. 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. |
Tropical cyclone Nargis struck the coast of Myanmar on Saturday May 3rd. The storm made landfall in the Irrawaddy delta, leaving 5,000 square kilometres under water and tens of thousands of people dead or missing. "The information that we're receiving indicates that there may well be over 100,000 deaths in the [Irrawaddy river] delta area," warned Shari Villarosa at the United States embassy in Myanmar. The government of Myanmar was heavily criticized for delays in allowing foreign assistance into the country and for ignoring warnings of the storm's imminent arrival. "Forty-eight hours before [tropical cyclone] Nargis struck, we indicated its point of crossing (landfall), its severity and all related issues to Myanmarese agencies," said B P Yadav of the Indian Meteorological Department. Environmental destruction may have exacerbated the impact. The increase in population in the coastal area led to "encroachment into the mangrove forests, which used to serve as a buffer between the rising tide, between big waves and storms and the residential area," reported Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Whether or not climate change is leading to more severe storms remains open to debate. "It's only in the long term that you get the perspective that lets you say whether an extreme event is part of a wider trend," said Hervé Le Treut of the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique in Paris.
Creating a market for carbon as a tool to tackle the climate problem has been vehemently attacked by leaders of the world's indigenous peoples. "It's a new way to make money," charged Jihan Gearon of the Indigenous Environmental Network. "It has nothing to do with environmental concerns or indigenous peoples' rights." The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues focused on climate change during its seventh session, held at the end of April. The Forum recommended that the international community take serious measures to mitigate climate change, as the survival of the traditional ways of life of indigenous peoples depended in large part on the success of those efforts. It stressed that indigenous peoples’ traditional livelihoods and ecological knowledge can significantly contribute to appropriate and sustainable mitigation and adaptation measures. According to a new report from the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington DC, the World Bank's role in carbon markets is "dangerously counterproductive." "The World Bank is "playing both sides of the climate crisis," concludes Janet Redman, main author of the report. "It is making money off of causing the climate crisis and then turning around and claiming to solve it," she says. Instead of encouraging clean energy investors, the Bank is lending much of its financial support to the fossil fuel industry. According to the World Bank, the global carbon market grew to US$64 billion in 2007, more than twice the value in 2006, although there was a leveling off of transactions under the Clean Development Mechanism.
"Increases in food prices are not the consequence of food shortages, it's the consequence of human greed that is putting at risk the lives of millions of men, women and children," according to Jay Naidoo, chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa. "There are companies that are making super profits on this issue," he said. He called on the international community to take concerted action to control surging food prices. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations agency responsible for efforts to promote food security, has been criticized for its handling of the world food crisis. Abdoulaye Wade, president of Senegal, described the FAO as a "bottomless pit of money, largely spent on its own functioning, with very little effective operations on the ground." Jeffrey Sachs, United Nations economic adviser, holds the European Union (EU) and United States' policy on biofuels as partly responsible for the surge in food prices. "The United States programme has a larger impact, but neither of them makes much sense in terms of environmental effects, energy balance or food policy," he said. "I would advocate reconsideration of both," he added. According to Olivier De Schutter, special rapporteur to the United Nations, on the right to food, "the ambitious objectives for the production of biofuels that have been set by the United States and the European Union are irresponsible." He has called for a freeze on all investment in the sector. Stavros Dimas, EU environment commissioner, accepts that "the effects on the environment may not be all that beneficial, especially in the case of low-productivity biofuels." The EU is formulating new rules on biofuel development that will take account of environmental and social concerns. "It's a question of making sure that the correct biofuels are being promoted... we have to be vigilant," commented Christophe Bouvier, European regional director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Breaking news
The Gaunt View
© 2008 Lawrence Moore Science and developmentSound and vision
On the WebHigh bandwidth may be required Video on demand
Undercurrents is an award-winning production company mostly working with video makers and communities who have been marginalized or overlooked by TV broadcasters. It has made available Bike 2 Oz WeblogsHave your sayYou are invited to take part in the EcoRes Forum on Environmental (In)Justice: Sources, Symptoms, and Solutions. The Forum will be held April 11th to 24th 2008. More interactive discussion... Comment
In Adaptation to Climate Change - Where Do We Go from Bali?, Sven Harmeling considers the next steps in meeting the challenge of adaptation. In A Reason for Optimism, Gary Yohe discusses a significant change in attitude towards climate risk on the part of the international community. In National Adaptation Programmes of Action: Priorities and Policies, Bubu Pateh Jallow and Thomas Downing describe five challenges faced by the National Adaptation Programme of Action teams and by the international climate policy community. On the Web
Features
Christoph Holtwisch analyses the current development of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, contrasting the Partnership with the traditional climate regime. Mozaharul Alam describes the next steps needed under the National Adaptation Programmes of Action process in the Asia and Pacific region. Short reports
The latest round of the climate negotiations took place in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007. Newswatch editors Sarah Granich and Mick Kelly report. Effective progress is being made in developing the self-sufficiency of meteorological services in Pacific Islands through assistance from New Zealand and other international development partners. Penehuro Lefale from the Meteorological Service of New Zealand reports. Interview
In a Newswatch interview, Rob Allan discusses new work aimed at extending the instrumental climate record that should benefit the scientific community, policy makers and everyday users of climate information. Recent e-publications
Building Biodiversity Business, from Shell and IUCN, argues that there is a need to develop new business models and market mechanisms for biodiversity conservation and to persuade the public and policy makers that biodiversity (or component ecosystem services) can be conserved on a commercial basis. Published March 2008 The UNEP Year Book 2008 examines the emergence and influence of economic mechanisms and market-driven approaches for addressing environmental degradation. Published February 2008 Current climate
The Final Word
In Climate Change and Cities, David Satterthwaite explains why urban areas are central to adaptation and mitigation agendas. |
Bright Ideas
Over 90 percent of waste materials generated during construction of the eco-friendly Del Sur Ranch House were diverted from landfills
New Belgium's brew kettle is up to 70 per cent more efficient than standard brew kettles because it only heats thin sheets of wort
The Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan presents a community-based strategy for coming down from the oil peak
The Efficiencity virtual world shows how decentralized energy production leads to lower emissions, more secure supply and reduced bills Climate Savers corporations are partnering with WWF to establish ambitious targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions voluntarily
Energy collected from an asphalt road and parking lot heats an apartment building in Avenhorn, The Netherlands (further information from Ooms Avenhorn Holding BV, 0.3Mb download)
The Carbon Coalition Against Global Warming believes that farmers can increase soil carbon by fostering plant species with significant root biomass
Sherwood Energy Village is a community-led project that has re-developed Ollerton Colliery as a sustainable industrial park
The durability of the Ford Escape Hybrid drive train is being tested on the streets of New York
Two thousand morning glory seedlings planted around the outer wall of the contemporary art museum in Kanazawa City, Japan, significantly reduced electricity consumption
MV Beluga SkySails is the first cargo vessel worldwide to use the innovative SkySails auxiliary propulsion system (watch video) SFGreasecycle collects waste vegetable oil from San Francisco restaurants for free and recycles it into biodiesel Tiempo Climate Newswatch
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