EPA Releases Report on Climate Change and Health

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a report that discusses the potential impacts of climate change on human health, human welfare, and communities in the U.S. The report, entitled "Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems," also identifies adaptation strategies to help respond to the challenges of a changing climate and identifies near- and long-term research goals for addressing data and knowledge gaps.

The report discusses the challenges and potential effects of climate change, including unusual or unexpected weather, and how some individuals and communities may be disproportionately affected by climate change, including the elderly, the poor, children, and people with chronic medical conditions. However, the U.S. has well-developed public health infrastructures and environmental programs that protect our air and water, which can help minimize the impacts.

The Global Change Research Program in EPA's Office of Research and Development led the development of this report. It is one of 21 synthesis and assessment products commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.

The peer-reviewed report is the most up-to-date synthesis and assessment of scientific literature on the impact of global change on human health, welfare and settlements in the United States. It was developed following the guidelines developed by the CCSP.

The CCSP was established in 2002 to provide the Nation with science-based knowledge to manage the risks and opportunities of change in the climate and related environmental systems. The program is responsible for coordinating and integrating the research of 13 federal agencies on climate and global change.

See the Source:

Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems
The Office of Research and Development's Global Change Research Program The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP)

EPA Publishes Annual National Greenhouse Gas Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the national greenhouse gas inventory, which finds that overall emissions during 2006 decreased by 1.1 percent from the previous year. The report, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006, is the latest in an annual set of reports that the United States submits to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.

“Each year since 1993, EPA’s experts have built a comprehensive inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions,” said Robert Meyers principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office Air and Radiation. “Our understanding of emission sources is paramount to combating climate change.”

Total emissions of the six main greenhouse gases in 2006 were equivalent to 7,054.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. The report indicates that overall emissions have grown by 14.7 percent from 1990 to 2006, while the U.S. economy has grown by 59 percent over the same period.

The decrease in emissions in 2006 was due primarily to a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions associated with fuel and electricity consumption. The following factors were primary contributors to this decrease:
· compared to 2005, 2006 had warmer winter conditions, which decreased consumption of heating fuels, as well as cooler summer conditions, which reduced demand for electricity;
· restraint on fuel consumption caused by rising fuel prices, primarily in the transportation sector; and
· increased use of natural gas and renewables in the electric power sector.

EPA prepares the annual report in collaboration with experts from multiple federal agencies and after gathering comments from a broad range of stakeholders across the country.

The inventory tracks annual greenhouse gas emissions at the national level and presents historical emissions from 1990 to 2006. The inventory also calculates carbon dioxide emissions that are removed from the atmosphere by “sinks,” e.g., through the uptake of carbon by forests, vegetation and soils.

See the Source:

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report

climate change

Climate Security Act Passes Senate Committee

Late on Wednesday, December 5th, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 (S. 2191), considered a major step forward in slowing and hopefully reversing the global warming effect of green house gas emissions.

The bill calls for a cut of GHG emissions, such as carbon dioxide, by as much as 63% by 2050 (or 19% below 2005 levels).

Emission limits would affect virtually all market segments, incorporating pollution permits based on EU’s carbon-trading program. The limits may also result in possible cuts in energy use.

But Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for the American Council for Capital Formation, Dr. Margo Thorning who testified before the committee on Nov. 8th, warns “A major stumbling block to the U.S.’s meeting the targets set forth in American’s Climate Security Act of 2007 (S. 2191) is projected increases in covered emissions and population growth over the next several decades. Sharp cutbacks in U.S. energy use would be necessary to close the 55 percent gap in 2030 between projected emissions and the S. 2191 target.”

See the Source:
GovTrack.us
ACCF
The New York Times

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Censoring Climage Change

The Boston Globe reported on Monday that the US Senate is getting only half the facts when it comes to climate change. According to the Globe, Julie Gerberdings, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addressed the Senate on Oct. 23 concerning the health impact of global warming.

The original report was 12 pages in length and included the following statements:
- "the public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed"
- Northern USA "will likely bear the brunt of increases in ground-level ozone and associated airborne pollutants"
- "Populations in Midwestern and Northeastern cities are expected to experience more heat-related illnesses as heat waves increase in frequency, severity, and duration"

Unfortunately, the 12-page report was edited by the White House down to 6 pages, cutting this important information. Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) believes the censored statements are in alignment with a report release earlier this year by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and should be presented to the Senate.

See the Source:

Boston Globe

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global-warming

In the News: Global Warming Update

- The Western Climate Initiative led by California’s Gov. Schwarzenegger has laid the foundation to cut greenhouse emissions by 15 percent by 2020 to decrease the effects of global warming. The collective is made up of six Western states (Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Utah) and two Canadian provinces (Manitoba and British Columbia). They have agreed to design a market-base program similar to cap-and-trade, with a deadline of August 2008 to present the plan. The Bush administration has opposed such mandatory cuts, favoring a voluntary approach.

- The Bush administration has been called on the carpet by a federal court for failure to issue global warming assessment reports. District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong ruled that the administration was in violation of a 1990 law and must issue a research plan by March 1, 2008. Federal law mandates an updated plan every three years. The last plan was issued in 2003. In addition, national assessment reports are required every four years. The last such report was issued in 2000 by the Clinton administration.

See the Source:
Reuters
ABC News

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Air Pollution News Bites: 08-02-07

- A recent study estimates that demand for air pollution control products in China will increase by 18 percent each year through 2010. The increase is attributed to the Chinese government’s plan to increase the purchase of air pollution control technology and new legislation concerning strict environmental protection regulations. Products in demand by China include: electrostatic precipitators, baghouse systems, particulate filters, and catalysts.

- A new analysis studying atmospheric “brown clouds” hovering over Asia, have concluded that the buildup of greenhouse gases mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels, is a major contributor to the melting of tropical glaciers such as those found in the Himalayans. Researchers found that combining the heating effect of greenhouse gases and the elements found in brown clouds, such as soot, heightens the effect of global warming.

"The conventional thinking is that brown clouds have masked as much as 50 percent of global warming by greenhouse gases through so-called global dimming," said atmospheric chemist V. Ramanathan. "While this is true globally, this study reveals that over southern and eastern Asia, the soot particles in the brown clouds are in fact amplifying the atmospheric warming trend caused by greenhouse gases by as much as 50 percent."

He went on to state, "It is likely that in curbing greenhouse gases we can tackle the twin challenges of climate change and brown clouds, and in doing so, reap wider benefits--from reduced air pollution to improved agricultural yields."

See the Source:
MarketWire
National Science Foundation

Find out:
How to reduce particulate pollution by using diesel particulate filters

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WHO: The Best and Worst Countries on Environment

A recent report by WHO put together data from 192 countries to determine the health and environmental risk to its citizens. The study looked at air and water pollution, farming practices, noise pollution, climate change, the ecosystem, UV radiation and hazards involved with the workplace.

Here’s what they found:

- Worst countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Mali and Afghanistan

- Best countries: Iceland, Israel, Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Britain and the US

- In 23 countries, 10 percent of deaths are blamed on unsafe water and indoor air pollution

- Low income countries suffer more than high income countries, losing 20 times more healthy years per person each year.

- All countries are affected by environmental health factors.

See the Source:
WHO Country-by Country Profiles

environment
climate change

China: Death by Air Pollution

Recent news on China’s devastating air pollution levels has garnered world attention. Here’s a run down on the facts from various news source:

• A World Bank report release at a Beijing conference in March, suggests 400,000 Chinese die every year due to outdoor air pollution. Reportedly Chinese officials tried to have these statistics removed from the report. The government denies they tried to cover-up the numbers.



• Two thirds of the electricity generated in China comes from coal-fired power plants, with the country holding 13 percent of the world’s reserves of coal. With coal being the top producer of greenhouse gas emissions, China is now producing more CO2 emissions than the United States, establishing itself as the No. 1 GHG producer in the world.



• An average of two coal-fired power plants a week are being built in China. Almost all of them are being built with out-dated equipment and no emissions control technology. Chinese utilities believe that using emissions control technology will decrease their power plant’s energy output. Because of this, they are resistant to retrofitting their plants with new technology.



• There is an ever increasing consensus from world scientists that China’s economic growth and the resulting greenhouse emissions will push our environment pass the tipping point of no return.



• China’s emissions from coal-fired power plants are increasing at an annual rate that is double the total emissions growth of all industrialized economies combined.



• China’s environmental agency is blaming public unrest and riots on anger stemming from pollution, with an increasing number of demonstrations taking place over power plant emissions and air pollution.


See the Source:
Council on Foreign Relations
Guardian Unlimited
San Francisco Chronicler

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global-warming

EPA's New Go Green! Newsletter

The EPA has launched a monthly “green” tips newsletter to help US consumers make a difference. The newsletter is free and will be sent to you by email after registering at http://service.govdelivery.com/service/subscribe.html?code=USAEPA_298.

Go Green! offers "what you can do" information on activities and events that can make a difference in shifting to a “green culture”.

The newsletter will include information on such issues as how to calculate individual energy use, upcoming environmental activities and observances and recent news reports from EPA.

The July issue includes the following:

• July is UV Safety month.


• Be Prepared - Early Hurricane Preparations Can Save Lives and Property.


• New tools to help "Good Samaritans" clean up mine waste, restore watersheds, improve fisheries.


• Buy Energy Star products - A Big Part of the Climate Change Solution.


• Calculate how individual energy use contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution

See the Source:
Go Green! Monthly Newsletter
Go Green! July Issue

environment
climate change

Dangerous Increase in Hot Days for the Mediterranean

Researchers at Purdue University researcher projects a 200 percent to 500 percent increase in the number of dangerously hot days in the Mediterranean by the end of the 21st century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continues, with France projected to have the most increase in high-temp extremes.

The study also showed a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions could reduce projected dangerous hot days by up to 50 percent.

"Rare events today, like the 2003 heat wave in Europe, will become much more common as greenhouse gas concentrations increase," said Noah Diffenbaugh, the Purdue assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who led the study. "The frequency at which that scale of event occurs at high greenhouse gas concentrations is staggering. Rare events become the norm, and the extreme events of the future are unprecedented in their severity."

A 2003 heat wave led to 15,000 deaths in France and almost 3,000 in Italy. The researchers found that global warming causes summer temperatures to dramatically exceed the range that was correlated with the increased number of deaths.

"The thresholds of the 2003 event are substantially exceeded in the future in both of our research scenarios," said Diffenbaugh. "This research is about understanding the response to different emissions levels. We find that decreases in greenhouse gas emissions greatly reduce the impact, but we see negative effects even with reduced emissions. Technological and behavioral changes that are made now will have a big influence on what actually happens in the future."

Extremely high temperatures could also affect the region’s economy, including metropolitan areas such as Rome, Paris and Barcelona. The study covered the entire Mediterranean area, which includes 21 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Major cities covered in the study include: Prague, Zurich, Bucharest, Athens, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Algiers and Casablanca.

The researchers found that this warming and reduced precipitation contribute to a preferential warming of the hottest days of the year. "We found that the hottest days of the year, or the 'hot tail,' warm more than the typical summer days warm," Diffenbaugh said.

"One might expect that an average warming of four degrees would equate to each day warming by four degrees, but in fact the hottest days warm quite a bit more."

This is due, in large part, to a surface moisture feedback. The surface gets dryer as it gets hotter and the dry soil leads to less moisture in the area and less evaporative cooling. The locations of intensified warming on hottest days of the year matched the locations where surface drying occurred, Diffenbaugh said.
"The hottest temperatures we are used to experiencing will become the normal temperatures of the summer, and the hot periods will be magnified," Diffenbaugh said. "Take Paris: If we look at the temperatures that occurred there during the heat wave in 2003, when 15,000 people died, those temperatures are exceeded a couple dozen times every year in the future projection. That means that severe heat waves, such as those rare events that have occurred in the past couple of years, are likely to become far more common."

Related Web sites:
Purdue Climate Change Research Center: http://www.purdue.edu/climate
Diffenbaugh Research Group: http://www.purdue.edu/eas/earthsystem/

See the Source:
Newswise

climate change
global-warming

Is Global Warming Real? NASA Chief Questions Validity

A top NASA administrator, Michael Griffin, commented on a recent NPR broadcast that global warming is “a problem we must wrestle with,” yet it is arrogant to believe that the climate we are experiencing today is the best we could have and that “we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn’t change.”

The Director of the Science and Public Policy Institute added “many rationalist scientists agree with him, clearly demonstrating there is no scientific consensus on man-made, catastrophic global warming.”

Other scientists from around the world also came to Griffin’s defense. Dr. Walter Starck, an Australian marine scientist commented, “Griffin makes an important distinction between the scientific findings of climate change and dramatic predictions of catastrophic consequences accompanied by policy demands. The former can be evaluated by its evidence, but; the latter rest only on assertions and claims to authority. Alternate predictions of benefits from projected changes have been proposed with comparable authority and plausibility. For example, unless one chooses to define the Little Ice Age as ‘normal’ and ‘optimal’ the net effect of any warming has only been beneficial and any anthropogenic contribution very small indeed. Dramatic predictions of imminent disaster have a near perfect record of failure. Griffin’s note of caution in the escalating concern over climate change deserves sober consideration.”

However NASA scientist, James Hansen, was sharply critical of Griffin’s statements.

See the Source:
E-Wire

climate change
global-warming

Tulsa Becomes 500th City to Sign U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement

On May 15th, Tulsa, Oklahoma signed-on as the 500th city to voluntarily commit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 to 7% below 1990 levels, by signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Globally, cities produce as much as 78 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. As of today, there are 514 cities who have signed the agreement, accounting for 20 percent of the U.S. population or 65 million Americans in 50 states.

The Mayors Climate Protection Agreement came into being when Seattle’s Mayor, Greg Nickels decided cities should take the lead in adhering to the goals of the Kyoto Protocol, even though the Federal Government refused to ratify the international treaty, taking action against climate change and global warming.

“The real leaders on global warming solutions in our country are to be found in the city halls, not in Washington, DC,” explained Glen Brand, Cool Cities Campaign Director for the Sierra Club. “Mayors like Seattle's Greg Nickels, Salt Lake City's Rocky Anderson, and Minneapolis' R.T. Rybak are showing that clean energy solutions are feasible, cost-effective and politically popular. It’s time for our leaders in Washington to follow the extraordinary lead of over 500 cities.”

See the source:
Stopglobalwarming.org
Seattle.Gov - US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement

Governor Richardson Challenges Bush Response to Global Warming

Richardson to unveil a bold new energy plan which will revolutionize America's fight against global warming and for energy independence at speech to the New American Foundation on Thursday, May 17th in Washington, DC

SANTA FE, NM – May 15, 2007 -- Governor Bill Richardson today challenged President Bush's response to the Supreme Court ruling requiring federal agencies to regulate vehicle emissions.

"The 'debate' on global warming is over and the Supreme Court has ordered this administration to stop dragging its feet and act," stated Governor Richardson. "My state joined twelve other states to challenge the Bush Administration to enforce the Clean Air Act and fought them all the way to the Supreme Court--and won. President Bush's decision to drag out the vehicle emission rulemaking process over the next two years rebuffs the Supreme Court's ruling and rejects the reality and urgency of global warming.

"This is a timid action, when America and the world needs bold action. My approach to solving our energy and global warming problem is market-based. I would use the engine of the market to drive bold and quick innovation. Our top priorities need to be focusing on a sharp reduction in oil demand, creating dramatic energy efficiencies, reducing greenhouse gases and restoring America as a leader in technology and science."

As Energy Secretary, he pushed for aggressive energy efficiency standards, conservation in the midst of the California electricity crisis, a national renewable portfolio standard, and development of alternative vehicles.

As Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson has initiated mandates requiring utilities to meet renewable energy requirements, supported generous solar tax incentives, eliminated sales taxes on hybrid vehicles, and set aggressive targets to reduce global warming pollution. New Mexico is on track to exceed the Kyoto Protocols and has become the Clean Energy State.

"Our next President must sharply reduce American demand for fossil fuels that add to greenhouse gas concentrations," said Richardson. "By doing so, the U.S. will reclaim its ability to participate in - and lead - international agreements to slow, stop, and reverse climate change trends. The United States cannot lead the world, and will not have the support of the world's people, unless it gets its energy addiction under control, and joins the world effort to take real steps reducing global warming pollution.

"We have no choice, but to make a change and fast. At peak, we now import 65% of our oil. We send about $300 billion in petrodollars to foreign countries every year. Our economy is half as energy-efficient as Japan's or Western Europe's. With 5% of the world's population, we account for 25% of global warming pollution.

In a speech to the New American Foundation Thursday morning at 10:00 am at the Washington Hilton, Monroe Room, 1919 Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC Governor Richardson will unveil his comprehensive plan for energy and reducing global warming. The Governor's aggressive proposals directly address critical issues facing the United States- vehicle fuel efficiency, fuels made from renewable resources, green building standards, greenhouse gas emissions, and shifting the economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

"Baby steps and incremental measures won't work. We need to act boldly, and act now. We need a "man-on-the-moon effort"- a strong national commitment to get it done," said Richardson. "President Kennedy exhorted the nation to put a man on the moon within ten years, not 20 or 30. The nation responded to that call. We can do the same with energy and global warming.

"So what we need today is a ten-year plan to reduce our dependence on oil by 50%, and a ten-year plan to reduce our global warming pollution by at least 20%. As President, I will implement a bold plan that meets these goals and ushers in a new era of energy independence and security for the United States."

See the Source:
Nhpols.com – Campaigns & Elections

climate change
global-warming
current issues

Today’s Air News: From Squirrel to Obama

What’s new in the fight against air pollution?
- Squirrel: Have Air Pollution Monitor, Will Travel
- GM Going Green
- Obama Bam-Bams Global Climate Change

Squirrel: Have Air Pollution Monitor, Will Travel
Introducing Squirrel, a cool techie Bluetooth gizmo being developed by the University of California San Diego and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. This wireless personal pollution monitor will allow users to measure air pollution levels at ground level, make informed decisions on exposure to pollutants, and is small enough to take with you for readings-on-the-go. Right now, the Squirrel prototype monitors carbon monoxide and ozone, but future capabilities will allow measurements of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. Plus other measurement extras will be added such as temperature, barometric pressure and humidity.

GM Going Green
Breaking news! GM just joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), calling for a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gases. The first car manufacturer to join the coalition, the news is not only stirring up climate change, but also the political climate. The group is composed of environmental leaders and high-level corporate partners. With the addition of GM, the USCAP now counts 22 companies as part of its roster, including utilities, chemical production and manufacturing.

The group’s mission:
- cut greenhouse gas emissions 60-80 percent
- create business incentives
- act swiftly and thoughtfully

Obama Bam-Bams Global Climate Change
Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama introduced his new climate action plan during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club to reduce dependence on foreign oil, while fighting the causes of global climate change. Obama’s goal is to cut oil consumption by 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, take 50 million cars’ worth of pollution off the road, save over $50 billion at the gas pump, while helping the auto industry save jobs and regain its standing in the world – all by 2020.

The Obama Plan has 3 key points:
- Setting fuel economy standards for an annual savings of 20 billion gallons of gasoline.
- Helping consumers with tax credits who buy hybrids.
- Helping manufacturers to manufacturer fuel-efficient vehicles by helping with the health care costs of retirees and offering tax incentives for retooling plants.

See the Source:
medGadget
Environmental Defense
BusinessWire

Find out:
More on emissions control technology to reduce air pollution when you visit CleanAIR Systems

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climate change
current issues

More from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The third volume of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report was release on May 4th, entitled “Mitigation of Climate Change.” The report offers options for short-term and long-term strategies to stabilize factors contributing to climate change.

The report covers six areas:
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends
• Mitigation in the short and medium term, across different economic sectors (until 2030)
• Mitigation in the long-term (beyond 2030)
• Policies, measures and instruments to mitigate climate change
• Sustainable development and climate change mitigation
• Gaps in knowledge

According to the report summary, greenhouse gas emissions have grown since pre-industrial times, with the biggest increase of 70% was between 1970 and 2004. The largest increase can be seen in the area of energy supply with an increase of 145%.

To read the complete report along with suggestions on how changes can be made, visit: http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM040507.pdf

See the Source:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

climate change
environment
global-warming

Monitoring Global Warming

The Christian Science Monitor has launched a new website focusing on the causes and effects of global warming and its impact on climate change. Offering original content, the Monitor intends the website to become a key resource for distributing the latest scientific research in the field of climate change, as well as offering to the general public suggestions on how to make a difference in preventing global warming.

"Our website, in particular, improves the way that the Monitor can help readers understand a subject that for many years has been a source of confusion and contention, but is now recognized as an issue that demands attention from everyone," said Monitor Editor Richard Bergenheim. "We want to help people understand what steps can be taken to mitigate effects of global warming and how we can adapt to climate change."

"This new approach to covering topics such as global warming is just the first in what we hope will be a series of in-depth reports on issues that affect us all as global citizens," added Monitor Managing Publisher Jonathan Wells.

The new website also offers a free weekly e-newsletter and will soon include multi-media resources such as slide shows and video.

See the Source:
The Christian Science Monitor – Global Warming

climate change
global-warming

Where Have All the “Wheaties” Gone?

A recent study published in Environmental Research Letters, reports climate change has already had an affect on global food production with the reduction of cereal grain yields. Examining the years from 1981 to 2002, it is estimated that global warming reduced the production of wheat, corn and barley by 40 million metric tons per year.

“Global Scale Climate-Crop Yield Relationships and the Impacts of Recent Warming” is the first report to study the present day effect of climate change on food production, which could be the impetus to drive food prices, food security and future decisions on land use.

See the Source:
Global Scale Climate-Crop Yield Relationships and the Impacts of Recent Warming

global-warming
climate change

Chill Out with the Campus Climate Challenge

The National Wildlife Federation’s national competition, Chill Out, inspires colleges and universities to make a “cool” difference when it comes to global warming by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Eight winning schools were announced on April 18th for developing innovative projects that other colleges should emulate.

“The projects implemented by the Chill Out winners go well beyond the minimum 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions scientists urge by 2030, putting them well on the pathway toward climate neutrality before mid-Century,” says Julian Keniry, Director of Campus and Community Leadership for the National Wildlife Federation. “These schools, and many of the over 100 schools which entered the Chill Out competition, are modeling exactly what the science says should be done.”

Together the eight winning schools saved a combined $5 million annually and 40 million pounds of CO2, which would have normally been emitted into the atmosphere if the campus projects had not been put into place.

See the Source:
Chill Out competition

climate change
global-warming

Students Recognized for Contributing To Healthier Environment

The EPA will recognize 50 young people from around the country on Saturday at the President's Environmental Youth Awards (PEYA) for their contributions in promoting environmental awareness and community involvement in such issues as recycling, energy efficiency, climate change and water conservation. Young people from all 50 states and the US territories are invited to participate. Winners were selected from among applicants to EPA's 10 regional offices. Regional EPA panels judge projects on environmental needs, accomplishment of goals, long-term environmental benefits and positive impact on local communities.

See the Source:
EPA – President’s Environmental Youth Awards

Congo Clearing Contributing to Climate Change

A new report released by Greenpeace exposes that international logging companies operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are causing social chaos and wreaking environmental havoc. “Carving up the Congo,” presented in four sections, uncovers endemic corruption in the DRC’s logging sector at a time when key decisions that will determine the future of these forests are about to be made.

The Congo rainforest is the world’s second largest tropical forest after the Amazon and one of the planet’s essential defenses against global climate change. Global emissions from tropical deforestation alone contribute up to 25% of total annual human-induced CO2 emissions.

The DRC rainforest contains 8% of global carbon stores. It is estimated that forest clearance in the DRC will release up to 34.4 billion tons of CO2 by 2050.

"It’s crunch time for the DRC’s rainforests. The international logging industry operating in the country is out of control. Unless the World Bank helps the DRC to stop the sell off of these rainforests, they’ll soon be under the chainsaws," said Greenpeace International Africa Forest Campaign Co-ordinator, Stephan van Praet.

In spite of a national moratorium on logging titles since 2002, 100 logging contracts covering 15 million hectares of rainforest have been issued to the logging industry, an area five times the size of Belgium. 40 million people depend on the DRC’s rainforest. Few benefit from logging. The World Bank admits that in the last three years, none of the forest area taxes paid by companies have reached forest communities.

Greenpeace is calling for the cancellation of all logging titles issued since May 2002 and for the moratorium on new logging titles to be extended and enforced until the logging sector is cleaned up and controlled and a land-use plan that includes the participation of local communities is fully in place.

The complete report is available on the Greenpeace website.

See the Source:
Greenpeace International: Greenpeace exposes that logging in the Congo rainforest is out of control

Be Green, Make Money

Environmental Defense has released a new paper entitled: What Business Can Do: Successful Strategies for Cutting Carbon and Making Money. The report offers real-world ideas to fight climate change, and at the same time make money by saving on energy costs. Presented in eight sections, strategies are detailed as they relate to their industry segments.

The sections are:
- Electric utilities: Tap the power of renewable sources
- Petroleum refiners: Manage energy smarter
- Chemical manufacturers: Reduce fuel use
- Computer and electronics industry: Save water and energy
- Pulp and paper industry: Ramp up efficiencies
- Textile industry: Use energy smarter
- Transportation: Boost fuel economy
- Retail and commercial operations: Smarter energy
- Agriculture and farm businesses: Making carbon work for you
- All industries: Energy Efficiency saves energy and money

The report concludes businesses will see a reward in dollars saved by making wise choices and “tweaking” energy use. The environment also benefits when energy is conserved, with less greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere, thereby lowering the factors involved in global warming and climate change.

See the Source:
Environmental Defense

Bush Administration Establishes Program to Reduce Foreign Oil Dependency, Greenhouse Gases

Washington, D.C. – April 10, 2007 -- In step with the Bush Administration’s call to increase the supply of alternative and renewable fuels nationwide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today established the nation’s first comprehensive Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

At a press conference today, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, joined by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Nicole Nason, discussed the RFS program, increasing the use of alternative fuels and modernizing CAFÉ standards for cars.

“The Renewable Fuel Standard offers the American people a hat trick – it protects the environment, strengthens our energy security, and supports America’s farmers,” said EPA Administrator Johnson. “Today, we’re taking an important first step toward meeting President Bush’s “20 in 10” goal of jumping off the treadmill of foreign oil dependency.”

"Increasing the use of renewable and alternative fuels to power our nation's vehicles will help meet the President's Twenty in Ten goal of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent in ten years," Secretary Bodman said. "The Administration's sustained commitment to technology investment will bring a variety of alternative fuel sources to market and further reduce our nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy."

“While we must look at increasing the availability of renewable and alternative fuels, we must also continue to improve the fuel efficiency of our passenger cars and light trucks,” said Nicole R. Nason, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “As a part of the President’s “20 in 10” energy security plan, we need Congress to give the Secretary of Transportation the authority to reform the current passenger car fuel economy standard.”

Authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the RFS program requires that the equivalent of at least 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel be blended into motor vehicle fuel sold in the U.S. by 2012. The program is estimated to cut petroleum use by up to 3.9 billion gallons and cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 13.1 million metric tons by 2012 -- the equivalent of preventing the emissions of 2.3 million cars. The RFS is an important first step toward meeting President Bush’s call on our nation to reduce gasoline use by 20-percent within 10 years by growing our renewable and alternative fuel use to 35 billion gallons by the year 2017.

The RFS program will promote the use of fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, which are largely produced from American crops. The program will create new markets for farm products, increase energy security, and promote the development of advanced technologies that will help make renewable fuel cost-competitive with conventional gasoline. In particular, the RFS program establishes special incentives for producing and using fuels produced from cellulosic biomass, such as switchgrass and woodchips.

The RFS program requires major American refiners, blenders, and importers to use a minimum volume of renewable fuel each year between 2007 and 2012. The minimum level or “standard” which is determined as a percentage of the total volume of fuel a company produces or imports, will increase every year. For 2007, 4.02 percent of all the fuel sold or dispensed to U.S. motorists will have to come from renewable sources, roughly 4.7 billion gallons.

The RFS program is based on a trading system that provides a flexible means for industry to comply with the annual standard by allowing renewable fuels to be used where they are most economical. Various renewable fuels can be used to meet the requirements of the program. While the RFS program establishes that a minimum amount of renewable fuel be used in the United States, more fuel can be used if producers and blenders choose to do so.

The RFS brings the nation closer to President Bush’s Twenty in Ten goal to reduce gasoline consumption 20 percent in ten years. To achieve this goal, the Bush Administration’s Alternative Fuel Standard (AFS) proposal builds on the RFS and requires use of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017 - nearly five times the RFS target of 2012. The AFS proposal will displace 15 percent of projected annual gasoline use in 2017 through the use of fuels, including corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, methanol, butanol, hydrogen, and other alternative fuels. The Twenty in Ten plan also calls for reforming and modernizing CAFÉ standards to increase the fuel economy of cars. This will reduce projected annual gasoline use by up to 8.5 billion gallons, a further 5 percent reduction that will bring the total reduction in projected annual gasoline use to 20 percent. President Bush has called on Congress to act on these proposals by the start of the summer driving season this year.

See the Source:
EPA Renewable Fuels

Time's Running Out for Planet Earth

The IPCC delivered its second report on Thursday in Brussels entitled “Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability,” offering a somber projection for the future of Earth if action to abate global warming is delayed.

One author of the report, Kevin Hennessy, a researcher from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research says the study, “clearly shows that human activities are already affecting some natural systems. That’s a very new finding.”

In blunt terms the report states, “Unmitigated climate change would, in the long term, be likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to adapt.”

A global temperatures rise of 1.5 – 2.5 degrees will have a devastating impact on the environment and human existence. Between 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species addressed in the study are at risk of extinction. Mankind can expect an increase in severity and frequency of heatwaves, droughts, storms and other severe weather patterns, resulting in widespread malnutrition, water shortages, and diseases, as well as a lost of land mass.

Dr. Bryson, CSIRO Climate Program Director, says “climate change is real and the time to act is short. Adaptation to climate change is as important as the mitigation of greenhouse gases.”

Another researcher, Professor Terry Hughes adds, “we have a narrow window of opportunity – no more than 20 years to achieve decisive cuts in greenhouse gases – to protect coral reefs from massive degradation.”

Other warnings from the report include:
- water shortages in Africa, with an increased risk of hunger
- glaciers melting in the Himalayas will increase flooding, rock avalanches and disrupt water resources
- flooding in the Asian river deltas will lead to a rise in temperature and changing rainfall patterns, resulting in an increase of hunger in developing countries
- small island states will experience a rise in sea level, threatening communities and water supplies
- developed nations (such as US and Australia) face drought, fires and rising sea-levels that will impact coastal properties

The report recommends several strategies to deal with climate change, cut greenhouse gases and cope with changing technology, infrastructure and land use.

See the Source:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Sydney Morning Herald

IPCC to Release Second Report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will be releasing “Climate Change 2007” Assessment Report from Working Group II on Friday, April 6th, presenting the second of four reports on the latest scientific, environmental and socio-economic analysis on climate change.

The Report offers the following segments:

ASSESSMENT OF OBSERVED CHANGES
-Assessment of Observed Changes and Responses in Natural and Managed Systems

ASSESSMENT OF FUTURE IMPACTS AND ADAPTATION: SYSTEMS AND SECTORS
- New Assessment Methodologies and the Characterization of Future Conditions
- Fresh Water Resources and their Management
- Ecosystems, their Properties, Goods and Services
- Food, Fibre and Forest Products
- Coastal Systems and Low-lying Areas
- Industry, Settlement, and Society
- Human Health

ASSESSMENT OF FUTURE IMPACTS AND ADAPTATION: REGIONS
-Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Latin America, North America, Polar Regions, Small Island

ASSESSMENT OF RESPONSES TO IMPACTS
- Assessment of Adaptation Practices, Options, Constraints and Capacity
- Inter-relationships between Adaptation and Mitigation
- Assessing Key Vulnerabilities and the Risk from Climate Change
- Perspectives on Climate Change and Sustainability

See the Source:
Outline Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

Science Politicization: Report by GAP Analyzes Government Interference and Distortion of Environmental Information

After a year-long investigation, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) has released a detailed report on the political interference of information presented by scientist about environmental issues. The report, entitled “Redacting the Science of Climate Change,” demonstrates how current governmental policies and practices have restricted the flow of scientific information generated from publicly-funded climate change research.

Findings illustrate objectionable and possible illegal restrictions on the communication of scientific information to the media, including delaying, monitoring, screening and denying interviews. Other questionable actions include the delay, denial and inappropriate editing of press releases issued by media-scientists.

The report also offers examples of government interference with scientists’ communications to Congress and the public.

GAP Staff Attorney, Tarek Maassarani states “The government has failed to provide any justifications for these increasingly restrictive policies and practices, which seem to kick in whenever there is politically-inconvenient science.”

Massarani will be testifying on March 28 to the Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee concerning the findings of the report. The hearing is entitled “Shaping the Message, Distorting the Science: Media Strategies to Influence Public Policy.”

The report draws the conclusion that due to restrictive practices in the dissemination of scientific information, the media has been negatively affected in their ability to report objectively on environmental issues, as well as public officials hindered in their capacity to respond with appropriate policies, and the public to fully understand environmental concerns.

See the Source:
GAP Report Details Climate Science Politicization
Redacting the Science of Climate Change

Global Warming Forecasts Creation, Loss of Climate Zones

by Jill Sakai

A new global warming study predicts that many current climate zones will vanish entirely by the year 2100, replaced by climates unknown in today's world.

Global climate models for the next century forecast the complete disappearance of several existing climates currently found in tropical highlands and regions near the poles, while large swaths of the tropics and subtropics may develop new climates unlike anything seen today. Driven by worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, the climate modeling study uses average summer and winter temperatures and precipitation levels to map the differences between climate zones today and in the year 2100 and anticipates large climate changes worldwide.

The work, by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wyoming, appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of March 26.

As world leaders and scientists push to develop sound strategies to understand and cope with global changes, predictive studies like this one reveal both the importance and difficulty of such a task. Primary author and UW-Madison geographer Jack Williams likens today's environmental analysts to 15th-century European mapmakers confronted with the New World, struggling to chart unknown territory.

"We want to identify the regions of the world where climate change will result in climates unlike any today," Williams says. "These are the areas beyond our map."

The most severely affected parts of the world span both heavily populated regions, including the southeastern United States, southeastern Asia and parts of Africa, and known hotspots of biodiversity, such as the Amazonian rainforest and African and South American mountain ranges. The changes predicted by the new study anticipate dramatic ecological shifts, with unknown but probably extensive effects on large segments of the Earth's population.

"All policy and management strategies are based on current conditions," Williams says, adding that regions with the largest changes are where these strategies and models are most likely to fail. "How do you make predictions for these areas of the unknown?"

Using models that translate carbon dioxide emission levels into climate change, Williams and his colleagues foresee the appearance of novel climate zones on up to 39 percent of the world's land surface area by 2100, if current rates of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions continue. Under the same conditions, the models predict the global disappearance of up to 48 percent of current land climates. Even if emission rates slow due to mitigation strategies, the models predict both climate loss and formation, each on up to 20 percent of world land area.

The underlying effect is clear, Williams says, noting, "More carbon dioxide in the air means more risk of entirely new climates or climates disappearing."

In general, the models show that existing climate zones will shift toward higher latitudes and higher elevations, squeezing out the climates at the extremes — tropical mountaintops and the poles — and leaving room for unfamiliar climes around the equator.

"This work helps highlight the significance of changes in the tropics," complementing the extensive attention already focused on the Arctic, says co-author John Kutzbach, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW-Madison. "There has been so much emphasis on high latitudes because the absolute temperature changes are larger."

However, Kutzbach explains, normal seasonal fluctuations in temperature and rainfall are smaller in the tropics, and even "small absolute changes may be large relative to normal variability."

The patterns of change foreshadow significant impacts on ecosystems and conservation. "There is a close correspondence between disappearing climates and areas of biodiversity," says Williams, which could increase risk of extinction in the affected areas.

Physical restrictions on species may also amplify the effects of local climate changes. The more relevant question, Williams says, becomes not just whether a given climate still exists, but "will a species be able to keep up with its climatic zone? Most species can't migrate around the world."

For the researchers, one of the most poignant aspects of the work is in what it doesn't tell them — the uncertainty. At this point, Williams says, "we don't know which bad things will happen or which good things will happen — we just don't know. We are in for some ecological surprises."

The work was conducted in collaboration with Stephen Jackson at the University of Wyoming and was funded by the National Science Foundation.

See the Source:
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rep. Waxman Introduces the Science-Based “Safe Climate Act”

Washington, DC – March 20, 2007 -- Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman, together with over 125 House colleagues, introduced the “Safe Climate Act of 2007.” The legislation is based on what scientists have concluded the United States must do to avoid dangerous, irreversible warming of the planet and would significantly reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases.

“We must act now to protect our children and grandchildren from disastrous global warming,” said Rep. Waxman. “My legislation reflects what the science says we need to do to prevent dire changes to the climate system, and there is a growing consensus in the states and among American workers, industry leaders, small businesses, religious groups, and others that these levels are what we need to achieve.”

Scientists have concluded that the planet faces a grave risk of irreversible and devastating global warming if global temperatures increase by more than 3.6°F. To protect against these catastrophic impacts, the Safe Climate Act sets greenhouse gas emissions targets that aim to keep temperatures below the danger point. The level of emissions is frozen in 2010, gradually reduced by 2% each year through 2020, and then reduced by 5% each year through 2050.

The Safe Climate Act achieves these targets through a flexible economy-wide cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions, along with measures to advance technology and reduce emissions through renewable energy, energy efficiency, and cleaner cars.

According to Rep. Waxman, “In effect, the Safe Climate Act sets the targets and then unleashes market forces and American ingenuity to solve the climate problem.”

Rep. Waxman is the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The legislation and supporting materials are available online at: http://www.henrywaxman.house.gov/.

See the Source:
Representative Henry Waxman – Safe Climate Act of 2007

Statistical Analysis Debunks Climate Change Naysayers

Despite the fact that the hundreds of scientists and reviewers on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced February 2nd in Paris that global warming is "very likely" caused by human activity, governments and other policy-makers may still justify inaction because of naysayers like Danish weather scientist Henrik Svensmark, who maintains that global climate change can be attributed to the proportion of cosmic rays in our atmosphere, and atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer, who asserts that “The whole question of anthropogenic, or human-caused, global warming is central to setting any policy of climate mitigation and therefore warrants closer examination.”

“These arguments are moot,” says Peter Tsigaris, an economist at Thompson Rivers University, in Kamloops, BC, Canada. He continues: “The important question is the cost of these opinions being wrong relative to the cost of the IPCC report being wrong in its assessment.”

In a thought-provoking statistical analysis, Tsigaris has concluded that whether or not climate change can be wholly attributed to human factors, it makes strong economic and environmental sense to take action as though it is human-caused, and mitigate the effects of global warming beyond taking measures to adopt.

He arrived at this conclusion as a result of creating the solution for a question he posed to his statistics students.

Tsigaris asked, “A claim is made that global warming is caused by humans. Set up the null and alternative hypothesis for this claim. As a scientist, you want to test that the above claim is true beyond a reasonable doubt. Discuss in terms of the type I and type II errors that are associated with the claim, and discuss the implications of the errors in terms of their associated costs.”

The null hypothesis, considered true unless the evidence brought forward throws serious doubt on it, is that global warming is not caused by human activities; the alternative hypothesis is the claim that it is. In the analogy of our justice system, a person on trial is assumed to be innocent, the null, until the evidence indicates that (s)he is guilty, the alternative, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Now for the interesting part. “As a scientist, in order to reject the null and thus accept the alternative, there has to be evidence that goes beyond a reasonable doubt. In statistical terms, the observed test statistics from the evidence pass beyond a reasonable doubt,” explains Tsigaris.

If the scientist rejects the null, based on strong evidence in favour of the rejection, there is still a small chance of making a type I error. In the same way, acceptance of the null might be the wrong decision. The latter decision would be associated with a type II error.

“A Type I error implies that you have accepted that global warming is caused by humans when in fact it is not, while a Type II error implies the opposite,” he says.

“As one of my statistics students, Robert Guercio, wrote in his exam booklet, ‘The cost of a type I error would mean spending a great amount of money and time focusing on how we can stop humans from causing global warming when humans are not the problem, but the cost of a type II error would mean spending a great deal of money and time on finding what is causing global warming and then continue to work on some factor of global warming, but not focusing on the real factor, humans.”

It’s not just a lesson in numbers, explains Tsigaris, who cautions that the cost of a type II error, stating that global climate change is not human-caused when in fact it is, could be as high as humankind destroying itself. "As Lovelock points out in his Gaia theory, earth is self regulating and will look after itself," he adds.“It is obvious that a type II error, being unaware that global warming is caused by humans and maintaining our current living styles, is much more serious than a type I error which argues that humans are the cause when they are not, in terms of the costs,” he says.

“Rising sea levels, temperature and precipitation caused by human lifestyles will have an impact on our health, agriculture, forestry, water, coastal areas, as well as on other species and natural areas,” he says, adding that “this analysis also confirms the Stern Review on The Economics of Climate Change which suggests that the cost of taking action today is way less than the cost of continuing the current path we have chosen.”

“The cost of changing behaviour and taking action now is estimated at one percent of global GDP and this can be seen as an investment from a long-term perspective: investing in cleaner technologies and also putting a price tag on the use of our atmosphere. If we delay as we would do if we accepted that climate change is not human-caused when this conclusion was false, we would be faced with a huge cost,” warns Tsigaris.

The recent 2007 IPCC report concluded that global warming was very likely (90%) to have been caused by humans. The Stern Review states that “the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting” and estimates that “if we don’t act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, now and forever. If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more. In contrast, the costs of action – reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year."

See the Source:
Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

US and Japan Consider Co-Benefits of Domestic and Global Environmental Programs

Washington, D.C. -- March 8, 2007 -- EPA and the Japanese Ministry of Environment (MOEJ) held a Washington workshop this week to expand their efforts on climate change and sustainable development in developing countries.

"Climate change knows no borders. The U.S. and Japan play vital roles in global economic progress as well as global environmental protection'' said Bill Wehrum, EPA acting assistant administrator for Air and Radiation. "In line with the Bush Administration's commitment to engage in extensive international efforts on climate change, America is working with Japan and other international partners to exchange innovative strategies for simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution."

This week's workshop is the third EPA-Japan meeting in the past twelve months focused on co-benefits in the transportation, agriculture, energy, and waste sectors in developing countries. Co-benefits are the additional results of policies that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants; such additional benefits include energy efficiency and security, improved public health, and enhanced quality of life. EPA is working with Japan to explore how a co-benefits approach can be used to support climate-friendly policymaking in developing countries.

Co-benefits are a very important concept which can realize both sustainable development and greenhouse gas mitigation in developing countries," said Deputy-Director General of the Global Environment Bureau of MOEJ, Mr. Ryutaro Yatsu. "Through the US-Japan collaborative plan, we would like to pursue co-benefits with developing countries."

EPA and MOEJ held the two-day workshop on March 5-6 at the World Resources Institute (WRI), a globally-recognized organization on the issues of climate change and sustainable development. Attending were representatives of EPA's Integrated Environmental Strategies (IES) Program, a recognized leader in co-benefits analysis, with current programs in China, India, South Korea, and Mexico. By sharing its approach and methodological tools, IES helps developing countries develop sound environmental policy- making.

At the workshop, participants explored outcomes of capacity-building programs, lessons learned from climate-related programs and efforts, new directions for research and analysis, opportunities to promote new co-benefits, and priorities for future action on co-benefits. EPA and MOEJ intend to formalize a plan for future collaboration through a Statement of Intent

The U.S.-Japan partnership supports the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which promotes projects and programs to protect the environment, improve public health, and enhance economic growth. EPA also plays a critical role in the success of the international Methane to Markets Partnership, of which Japan and the US are charter members.

See the Source:
IES Program
Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate
Methane to Markets Partnership

Climate Change is Top Priority of London Plan Review

London – March 5, 2007 -- Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced that his London Plan Review will set radical new objectives for planners and developers that will require new developments to connect to “decentralized” local energy supplies and achieve the highest standards of sustainable building design. The Review also doubles the carbon emission reductions that developments must achieve through onsite renewable energy from 10% to 20%.

The London Plan Review also proposes to set carbon dioxide reduction targets – a 20 per cent reduction by 2015 and a long-term target of a 60 per cent reduction by 2050. This is the first time that statutory carbon reduction targets have been set for London.

The Mayor is proposing a series of new development, transport and energy policies all with the aim of making London an exemplary and sustainable world city, adapting to inevitable climate change and reducing future carbon emissions.

These new policies are published in a document entitled Draft Further Alterations to the London Plan which the Mayor is publishing today for consultation with the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority functional bodies, before a formal public consultation stage this autumn.

The Mayor said:'London should lead the way in showing the world how one of its greatest cities is planning to meet the challenges of climate change. We have already succeeded through the London Plan in introducing a target of 10% carbon reductions through on-site renewable energy generation and I would like to congratulate those developers and planners who have responded positively to this challenge. In more and more cases we are meeting – and sometimes exceeding - the existing policy requirements but we still need to do much more.'

'The new policies I am publishing today set tough but deliverable targets for reducing our carbon emissions. We must move our cities away from relying on inefficient centralized heat and power generation, and stop constructing buildings that waste heat and electricity. In London we want to see the widespread use of decentralized energy, the highest standards of green building design and renewable energy incorporated wherever we can.'

'In London I am proposing a challenging new target for our developers and planners.’

The Draft Further Alterations to the London Plan also sets out a series of complementary policies to achieve carbon dioxide reductions and the Mayor will be working with boroughs and other agencies to:
- ensure that development is located, designed and built for the climate that it will experience over its intended lifetime and is capable of adapting to new uses.
- increase the cost effectiveness, and provide incentives to use the technologies which will help address climate change.
- procure and use building materials more responsibly.
- manage flood risk through policies on the location, design and construction of development, and management of surface run-off including rainwater harvesting.
- minimize overheating and the ‘heat island’ effect, for example by encouraging green roofs and walls and designs which reduce solar gain.
- minimize the movement of waste including the introduction of new targets for composting and recycling the different waste streams and giving preference to technologies which produce renewable hydrogen over incineration.

Last week the Mayor published Supplementary Planning Guidance on Sustainable Design and Construction to guide developers and planners on how to use the existing policies to best effect in addressing the consequences of climate change.

Other key proposed alterations to the London Plan, also published today, include:
- Support for the already published proposals to increase housing provision across London.
- Measures to make more effective use of existing and already planned transport capacity.
- Provision for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and associated regeneration of large parts of East London.

A clearer geographic framework for coordinating the strategic policies of a range of pan London agencies and integrating these with local action at the sub regional level.

Action to make London a more livable and socially inclusive city such as the East London Green Grid, improvements to safety and security, and increased play provision.

Refinement of some of the economic policies to support London’s global business area, the Central Activities Zone, and help rejuvenate the economies elsewhere in the city.

A more focused approach to town centers and retailing including the particular need to develop the capacity of the West End as a global shopping and leisure destination.

“Decentralized energy” involves using combined heat, power and cooling systems and renewable energy, as the most efficient way to supply heat and power to domestic and commercial buildings. Typical decentralized energy systems are over 85% efficient, compared with average centralized power generation which wastes two thirds of energy input and is the single biggest source of carbon emissions.

In working towards a long term reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of 60 per cent by 2050 he has set the following minimum targets for London (against a 1990 base):
- 15 per cent by 2010
- 20 per cent by 2015
- 25 per cent by 2020
- 30 per cent by 2025

These targets are practicable providing all stakeholders, including government, work together.

Existing commercial and domestic buildings contribute approximately 73 per cent of carbon emissions in London. The Mayor recognizes the cost implications of these new technologies and will support measures to drive down costs such as stimulating their supply chains.

Most changes to the London Plan are minor amendments to clarify points or to take account of new information. Most of the proposed significant policy changes reflect issues raised in the Mayor’s Statement of Intent published in December 2005. In substantive terms it is the group of new policies associated with climate change in Chapter 4A which represent the most significant Further Alterations.

The Further Alterations to the London Plan are the result of a focused review based on the Mayor’s Statement of Intent to review the plan. Factors which this took into account included:
- a duty to keep the London Plan under review
- responding to new evidence
- taking into account the results of the Sub Regional Development Framework Process
- extending the plan period from 2016 to 2025 and
- taking account of national legislation and policy in the recent planning system reforms.

See the Source:
London Government

Find out:
How energy emissions can be made cleaner using low-temp selective catalytic reduction

Pollution from China and India Affecting World’s Weather

Severe pollution from the Far East is almost certainly affecting the weather near you, says a Texas A&M University researcher who has studied the problem and has published a landmark paper on the topic in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Renyi Zhang, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M and lead author of the paper, says the study is the first of its kind that provides indisputable evidence that man-made pollution is adversely affecting the storm track over the Pacific Ocean, a major weather event in the northern hemisphere during winter. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

Zhang says the culprit is easy to detect: pollution from industrial and power plants in China and India. Both countries have seen huge increases in their economies, which mean more large factories and power plants to sustain such growth. All of these emit immense quantities of pollution – much of it soot and sulfate aerosols – into the atmosphere, which is carried by the prevailing winds over the Pacific Ocean and eventually worldwide.

Using satellite imagery and computer models, Zhang says that in roughly the last 20 years or so, the amount of deep convective clouds in this area increased from 20 to 50 percent, suggesting an intensified storm track in the Pacific.

This pollution directly affects our weather,” he explains.

During the past few decades, there has been a dramatic increase in atmospheric aerosols – mostly sulfate and soot from coal burning – especially in China and India,” he explains.

“We compared these deep convective clouds from the 10-year period of 1984-1994 to the period from 1994-2005 and discovered these storms have risen anywhere from 20 to as high as 50 percent.”

“It is a direct link from large-scale storm systems to anthropogenic (human-made) pollution.”

Zhang says the problem is especially worse during the winter months.

Because of various climate conditions, the northern Pacific Ocean is more susceptible to the aerosol effect in winter. Aerosols can affect the droplets in clouds and can actually change the dynamics of the clouds themselves, Zhang adds.

The Pacific storm track carries these polluted particles to the west coasts of Canada and the United States, across America and eventually, most of the world, Zhang notes.

“The Pacific storm track can impact weather all over the globe,” he says.

“The general air flow is from west to east, but there is also some serious concern that the Polar Regions could be affected by this pollution. That could have potentially catastrophic results.”

Soot, in the form of black carbon, can collect on ice packs and attract more heat from the sun, meaning a potential acceleration of melting of the polar ice caps, he believes.

“It possibly means the polar ice caps could melt quicker than we had believed, which of course, results in rising sea level rates,” he adds.

The pollution from the storm tracks could also signify wild weather changes, he believes.

“You might have more storms, and these storms might be more severe than usual,” he says.

“Or it could lead to the opposite – severe droughts in other areas. The Pacific storm track plays a crucial role in our weather, and there is no doubt at all that human activity is changing the world’s weather.”

See the Source:
Texas A&M University

Launch of "Principles on Climate Leadership" in San Francisco

San Francisco – March 1, 2007 -- The United Nations Global Compact, the City of San Francisco, the Bay Area Council and a wide array of Bay Area businesses today launched a unique partnership designed to provide meaningful actions that businesses and cities around the world can take to combat global warming.

The initiative - the Principles on Climate Leadership - will give Bay Area businesses a strategic framework to address climate change as well as a forum to share best practices to reduce greenhouse gasses in both large and small companies. In addition, the initiative will create a model for climate action in the commercial and public sectors that the UN Global Compact will seek to place in companies and cities around the world.

More the 20 companies from a variety of sectors, including Gap Inc., Gensler, Google, PG&E and Shaklee, officially endorsed the Principles and, in relation, announced the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) at a special event in San Francisco - the city that gave birth to the United Nations with the signing of the UN Charter in 1945. More than 100 leaders from business, government and civil society attended the event, which was presided over by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

"Voluntary initiatives such as the BC3 and the Principles on Climate Leadership will be crucial in bringing about progressive and robust action on the global climate crisis", said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. "At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that voluntary action cannot be a substitute for effective regulation - rather, it informs and complements regulation".

"Local actions can have a positive effect on the entire planet," observed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "The Bay Area is fortunate to have a visionary business community that is willing to get out in front of a daunting issue like global warming, and we are honored that the United Nations Global Compact will be working to bring this message to other communities and companies around the world."

BC3 member companies pledge to address greenhouse emissions throughout their operations and corporate cultures, and agree to follow the five Principles on Climate Leadership: Internal Implementation, Community Leadership, Advocacy and Dialogue, Collective Action, Transparency and Disclosure.

"The Bay Area Council has been an environmental leader for decades, but this may be one of our most ambitious projects ever," said Jim Wunderman, President of the Bay Area Council, the area's largest business association. "We, and our business community members, are proud to help focus the region's entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity on an issue so critical to our economic future."

The United Nations Global Compact will showcase the BC3 initiative and the core Principles on Climate Leadership at its Leaders Summit on 5-6 July 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland - an event that is expected to draw nearly 1000 business and government leaders as well as representatives of civil society from around the world. Addressing climate change will be a priority topic at the Leaders Summit.

See the Source:
United Nations Global Compact

Science Panel Outlines Roadmap for Reducing Risks from Climate Change

NEW YORK, NY--February 27, 2007--The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, released today “Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable, ” the final report of the Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The report, prepared as input for the upcoming meeting of the UN’s Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), outlines a roadmap for preventing unmanageable climate changes and adapting to the degree of change that can no longer be avoided.

Two years in the making, the report was written by a panel of eminent scientists from around the world. The panel was co-chaired by Dr. Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. The expert team was invited by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Secretariat to the CSD, to make recommendations on key mitigation and adaptation needs. This year’s 15th Session of the CSD is reviewing national and international efforts on energy and climate change.

“Two starkly different futures diverge from this time forward,” the report cautions. “Society’s current path leads to increasingly serious climate-change impacts… The other path … will reduce dangerous emissions, create economic opportunity, help to reduce global poverty, reduce degradation and carbon emissions from ecosystems, and contribute to sustainability. Humanity must act collectively and urgently to change course through leadership at all levels of society. There is no more time for delay.”

“This report defines the seriousness and urgency that must characterize global efforts to respond to the unfolding and far-reaching challenge of climate change. Confronting Climate Change makes clear that we must start immediately to stabilize and then substantially reverse the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation. “The international community should be grateful that this remarkable panel of scientific all-stars from around the world has provided a roadmap for mitigating and adapting to climate change. And they have told us that there is tremendous economic opportunity in doing so.”

“Our report makes clear that the challenge before us is to reduce the risk of climate change resulting in intolerable global impacts,” said Peter H. Raven, Past President of Sigma Xi, Presidential Medal of Science recipient and preeminent biodiversity expert. “Our recommendations are designed to help the international community get on a path to stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and managing the impacts of climate change. Unlike many reports from scientists, this report gives very clear recommendations for what the international community and nations themselves must do to mitigate and adapt to climate change. These steps will contribute to achievement of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals; failing to do so will make those goals much harder, if not impossible to reach.”

“It is still possible to avoid an unmanageable degree of climate change, but the time for action is now,” said John Holdren, the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy, Harvard University, Director of the Woods Hole Research Center, and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “The global-average surface temperature has already risen about 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels and is projected to rise another 2-4°C by 2100 if CO2 emissions and concentrations grow according to mid-range projections. Prudence dictates limiting the average temperature increase to no more than 2-2.5°C above the pre-industrial level, and our report offers clear recommendations for achieving that goal.”

“The world is experiencing climate disruption now and the increases in droughts, floods, and sea level rise that will occur in the coming decades will cause enormous human suffering and economic losses. The poorest are likely the most vulnerable. We imperil our children’s and grandchildren’s future if we fail to improve society’s capacity to adapt to a changing climate,” said Rosina Bierbaum, former Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “We can manage water better, bolster disaster preparedness, increase surveillance for emerging diseases, make cities more resilient, move vulnerable populations and prepare for environmental refugees, design more drought-tolerant crops, use natural resources more sustainably, and enhance local capacity to cope with a suite of expected changes.”

The report covers an overview of the science of climate change; the importance of avoiding the risk of major impacts of climate change; options for mitigation; and steps that can be taken to prepare to adapt to anticipated climate change.Among the report’s key findings are:

• Exceeding global average temperature increases above 2-2.5°C above the 1750 pre-industrial level would entail “sharply increasing risk of intolerable impacts.”

To avoid exceeding the 2-2.5° C limit will require stabilizing atmospheric concentrations at the equivalent of no more than 450-500 ppm of CO2 (compared to about 380 ppm CO2-equivalent today). That in turn requires that global CO2 emissions peak no later than 2015 to 2020 at not much above their current level and decline by 2100 to about a third of that value.

A two-pronged strategy is needed: avoid the unmanageable (mitigation) and manage the unavoidable (adaptation).

• The technology exists to seize significant opportunities around the globe to reduce emissions and provide other economic, environmental and social benefits, including meeting the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. To do so, policy makers must immediately act by:
• Improving efficiency in the transportation sector through measures such as vehicle efficiency standards, fuel taxes, and registration fees/rebates that favor purchase of efficient and alternative fuel vehicles.
• Improving design and efficiency of commercial and residential buildings through building codes, standards for equipment and appliances, incentives for property developers and landlords to build and manage properties efficiently, and financing for energy-efficiency investments.
• Expanding the use of biofuels through energy portfolio standards and incentives to growers and consumers.
• Beginning immediately, designing and deploying only coal power-plant types that can be affordably retrofitted to capture and sequester CO2.
• Climate change and impacts from it are already being experienced, and there will be more even if mitigation efforts are successful. Societies must do more to adapt to ongoing and unavoidable changes in the Earth’s climate system by:
• Improving preparedness/response strategies and management of natural resources to cope with future climatic conditions that will be fundamentally different than those experienced for the last 100 years.
• Addressing the adaptation needs of the poorest and most vulnerable nations, which will bear the brunt of climate change impacts.
• Planning and building climate resilient cities.
• Strengthening international, national, and regional institutions to cope with weather-related disasters and an increasing number of climate change refugees.
• The international community, through the UN and related multilateral institutions, can play a crucial role in advancing action to manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable by:
• Helping developing countries and countries with economies in transition to finance and deploy energy efficient and new energy technologies.
• Accelerating negotiations to develop a new international framework for addressing climate change and sustainable development.
• Educating all about the opportunities to adopt mitigation and adaptation measures.

About Sigma XiSigma Xi
The Scientific Research Society is an international honor society for research scientists and engineers, with more than 500 chapters and 60,000 members in North America and around the world. The society sponsors a number of programs that promote science and engineering and also publishes American Scientist magazine. Sigma Xi’s administrative offices are in Research Triangle Park, N.C. http://www.sigmaxi.org/

About the UN Foundation
The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems and also works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. The UN Foundation is a public charity. http://www.unfoundation.org/

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Confronting Climate Change:
Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable

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How CleanAIR Systems is making a difference in reducing harmful emissions of fine particulate matter and NOx

Citizen Scientists Rise to Climate Change Challenge

Earthwatch offers worldwide response to IPCC report on global warming threat

Earthwatch Institute, Maynard, MA, 5 February 2007—On February 2, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its latest report, leaving little doubt that human activities are driving climate change. While the report offers no solutions yet, Earthwatch Institute provides many alternatives for people who want to help understand and mitigate the impact of global warming on ecosystems and communities around the world.

"If people are indeed part of the problem, they can also be part of the solution," said Ed Wilson, President and CEO of Earthwatch. The international environmental volunteer organization supports scientific field research on the world's most pressing issues including global warming. "Climate change is one of Earthwatch's key research priorities, providing volunteers with many opportunities to take action and make a difference through their participation."

The IPCC report stated that there is 90 percent certainty that the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are responsible for observed changes in climate. The report specified that rises in global temperatures could be as high as 6.4 degrees Centigrade by 2100, with the most likely range being between between 1.8 degrees and 4.0 degrees. The warming will result in rising sea levels, as much as 59 centimeters, and an increase in the intensity of hurricanes.

Parts 2 and 3 of the IPCC report, due to be released in March and April, will deal more directly with the impacts of climate change and how humans might mitigate these impacts. In the mean time, many global citizens are actively volunteering with Earthwatch scientists to understand glacial melt in Iceland and Alaska or the impact temperature increase has on rainforests.

In the next five years, Earthwatch will support $40 million in climate change research, education, and engagement programs involving 100,000 volunteers. These programs promote practical and integrated solutions to climate change impacts, from restoring ecosystems to supporting regional economic development.

"Earthwatch provides a vital opportunity for scientists from many disciplines to work towards an understanding of how global climate change impacts upon our environment and its delicate ecosystems," said Dr. James Crabbe of the University of Bedfordshire. Crabbe, principal investigator of Earthwatch-supported research on coral reefs in Jamaica and Belize, was awarded the Aviva/Earthwatch Award for Climate Change Research last October.

Already, Earthwatch volunteers are assisting in research on climate change impacts in the Canadian Arctic, Australian rainforest, the western Atlantic Ocean, and the forests of Ecuador, Costa Rica, and the United States. Teams in Samburu, Kenya are mapping water resources subject to variability from global warming, and teams in Madagascar are identifying how rare lemurs are vulnerable to changing climates.

"It is through the hard work of Earthwatch volunteers that we are beginning to fit together the pieces of this ecological jigsaw puzzle," said Dr. Rob Thomas (Cardiff University), principal investigator of Earthwatch's Storm Petrels over Portugal project. "By providing hard facts and thorough case studies that illustrate the biological effects of climate change, our hope is that environmental policy makers will be better able to develop appropriate responses to promote the survival of marine biodiversity in the face of climate change."

See Earthwatch's Climate Change Statement.
Learn about the impacts of climate change in our local lecture series.
Read what four Earthwatch-supported scientists say about how humans can mitigate the impact of global warming on ecosystems: Feeling the Heat.

Find out what Dr. Suzanne Jenkins, Earthwatch North Queensland field director, is doing about climate change after participating in a training with Al Gore: Earthwatch Australia Meets Al Gore.

Earthwatch Institute is a global volunteer organization that supports scientific field research by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. Earthwatch's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.

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Earthwatch Institute

NERAM Launches Plan to Fight Air Pollution

WATERLOO, Ont. -- February 7, 2007 -- A University of Waterloo-based research network says scientific evidence of the effects of air pollution on human health and the environment is clear enough to support global efforts to continue reducing outdoor levels.

The Network for Risk Assessment and Management (NERAM) has developed with international experts a 12-point plan -- parts of which have been adopted in Europe -- to fight air pollution and improve public health. The plan, a policy guidance document on air quality management for local, regional and national policy-makers, is the result of a five-year NERAM colloquium series.

"It is now universally recognized that poor air quality has adverse impacts on human health and research confirms that residents in Southern Ontario and other parts of Canada are exposed to levels of air pollutants associated with morbidity and mortality," says UW professor emeritus John Shortreed, executive director of both NERAM and UW's Institute for Risk Research.

"The University of Waterloo has done five years of work in translating research from around the world for use in policies to improve health. We are ready to battle the No. 1 environmental killer -- air pollution."

The plan reflects the latest thinking of policy-makers and health researchers from around the world. The fifth and final colloquium was held in October in Vancouver.

Research shows that both short-term and long-term exposures to particulate matter and other air pollutants are statistically associated with serious human health effects, including premature death, heart-and breathing-related hospital admissions and emergency room visits, together with a worsening of asthma conditions.

"Scientific evidence of the effects of air pollutant exposure on human health and on the environment is strong enough to justify global efforts to continue to reduce outdoor concentrations, even in locations that meet air pollutant standards," Shortreed says.

He adds that Europe and Britain are already implementing the interim policies proposed by the NERAM colloquium series held in Rome in 2003 and in Mexico in 2005 to deal with hot spots, such as high traffic areas in cities like Toronto.

"They are using an innovative approach to regulations that actually allow some locations to exceed air quality standards, while imposing area-wide reductions that have many more health benefits -- the result is more health outcomes for existing regulatory resources."

Shortreed says that air pollution typically causes a white, yellow or brown haze that reduces visual range, affecting people's ability to enjoy their surroundings. In places like Hong Kong, for instance, the impaired visibility caused by haze or smog is used as a means to show the public the link between high air pollution concentrations and increased health costs.

Topics covered in the NERAM document include air quality and human health, emission inventories, air quality management approaches and evidence of effectiveness, as well as challenges and opportunities in air quality management.

The plan includes the following strategic policy directions for air quality management:
1. Communication of health effects is key to increasing public awareness and demand for air quality management policies.
2. Increase awareness of linkages between air quality and climate change.
3. Cross-sectoral policies in energy, environment, climate, transport, agriculture and health.
4. Exposure reduction and continuous improvement policies are important extensions to ambient air quality standards.
5. Reducing exposure to combustion-generated particles should be a priority, such fossil fuels and biomass.
6. Evidence is sufficient to justify policies to reduce traffic exposures.
7. Prioritize pollutants and sources based on the potential for exposure.
8. Policies focused on improving visibility may gain greater support than those focused solely on health.
9. International harmonization of measurements and metrics, emission inventories, modelling tools, assessment of health effects literature and health-related guidelines.
10. More research on toxicity-determining characteristics of particulate matter and more evaluation of local, regional and global policies.

Shortreed says there are many epidemiological (human population) studies carried out in North America and Europe that have demonstrated statistically significant ties between ambient levels of particulate matter and other air pollutants and a variety of human health problems, including death and hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

NERAM has already started a regional initiative in the Greater Toronto Area along with Pollution Probe to apply some of the research results in order to tackle the thousands of premature deaths every year in Ontario.

The main goal of NERAM is to integrate the scientific knowledge and expertise that exists across many diverse disciplines in Canada, thereby providing a comprehensive approach to environmental risk assessment and risk management. As a result, there will be more effective and efficient environmental protection practices.

See the Source:
Network for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management

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How to reduce toxic particulate matter from diesel emissions by retrofitting engines with the CleanAIR PERMIT Filter

New Evidence That Global Warming Fuels Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes

Atmospheric scientists have uncovered fresh evidence to support the hotly debated theory that global warming has contributed to the emergence of stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.

The unsettling trend is confined to the Atlantic, however, and does not hold up in any of the world's other oceans, researchers have also found.

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported the finding in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The work should help resolve some of the controversy that has swirled around two prominent studies that drew connections last year between global warming and the onset of increasingly intense hurricanes.

"The debate is not about scientific methods, but instead centers around the quality of hurricane data," says lead author James Kossin, a research scientist at UW-Madison's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies. "So we thought, 'Lets take the first step toward resolving this debate.'"

The inconsistent nature of hurricane data has been a sore spot within the hurricane research community for decades. Before the advent of weather satellites, scientists were forced to rely on scattered ship reports and sailor logs to stay abreast of storm conditions. The advent of weather satellites during the 1960s dramatically improved the situation, but the technology has changed so rapidly that newer satellite records are barely consistent with older ones.

Kossin and his colleagues realized they needed to smooth out the data before exploring any interplay between warmer temperatures and hurricane activity. Working with an existing NCDC archive that holds global satellite information for the years 1983 through 2005, the researchers evened out the numbers by essentially simplifying newer satellite information to align it with older records.

"This new dataset is unlike anything that's been done before," says Kossin. "It's going to serve a purpose as being the only globally consistent dataset around. The caveat of course, is that it only goes back to 1983."

Even so, it's a good start. Once the NCDC researchers recalibrated the hurricane figures, Kossin took a fresh look at how the new numbers on hurricane strength correlate with records on warming ocean temperatures, a side effect of global warming.

What he found both supported and contradicted previous findings. "The data says that the Atlantic has been trending upwards in hurricane intensity quite a bit," says Kossin. "But the trends appear to be inflated or spurious everywhere else, meaning that we still can't make any global statements."

Sea-surface temperatures may be one reason why greenhouse gases are exacting a unique toll on the Atlantic Ocean, says Kossin. Hurricanes need temperatures of around 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) to gather steam. On average, the Atlantic's surface is slightly colder than that but other oceans, such as the Western Pacific, are naturally much warmer.

"The average conditions in the Atlantic at any given time are just on the cusp of what it takes for a hurricane to form," says Kossin. “So it might be that imposing only a small (man-made) change in conditions, creates a much better chance of having a hurricane."

The Atlantic is also unique in that all the physical variables that converge to form hurricanes - including wind speeds, wind directions and temperatures - mysteriously feed off each other in ways that only make conditions more ripe for a storm. But scientists don't really understand why, Kossin adds.

"While we can see a correlation between global warming and hurricane strength, we still need to understand exactly why the Atlantic is reacting to warmer temperatures in this way, and that is much more difficult to do," says Kossin. "We need to be creating models and simulations to understand what is really happening here. From here on, that is what we should be thinking about."

The work was funded by the National Science Foundation. Co-authors Daniel Vimont, a UW-Madison atmospheric scientist, Ken Knapp, a scientist at the NCDC, and Richard Murnane, a scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, also contributed to the study.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison

Governor Bill Richardson Leads Regional Climate Change Initiative

(Santa Fe, NM) – Governor Bill Richardson today joined the Governors of Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington to announce the formation of the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative to implement a joint strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

At the annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association, Governors Janet Napolitano, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Richardson, Ted Kulongoski and Chris Gregoire signed the agreement that directs their respective states to, within the next six months, develop a regional target for reducing greenhouse gases. During the next 18 months, they will devise a market-based program, such as a load-based cap and trade program to reach the target. The five states also have agreed to participate in a multi-state registry to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions in their region.

“With this agreement, states are once again taking the lead on combating global climate change – while Washington, D.C. sits on its hands,” said New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. “This historic agreement signals our commitment to tackling the problem head-on at the regional level and building on efforts in our individual states.”

The Western Regional Climate Action Initiative builds on existing greenhouse gas reduction efforts in the individual states as well as two existing regional efforts. In 2003, California, Oregon and Washington created the West Coast Global Warming Initiative, and in 2006, Arizona and New Mexico launched the Southwest Climate Change Initiative.

During the Richardson Administration, New Mexico has been a national leader on combating global climate change. These efforts have included becoming the first state in the nation to join the Chicago Climate Exchange and the first major oil and gas producing state to tackle climate change comprehensively.

Governor Bill Richardson also recently signed an executive order that directs state agencies to follow many of the recommendations of his Climate Change Advisory Group, which produced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 267 million metric tons.

The Governor’s executive order creates a state government implementation team tasked with ensuring policies from the order are carried out. Those policies include:
• Creating a market-based greenhouse gas emissions registry and reduction program
• Advancing carbon capture and sequestration technology
• Promoting the use of manure from the dairy industry in power generation
• Developing an education and outreach program on green buildings for private sector builders
• Creating new procurement rules that ensure state government offices have energy efficient appliances
• Mandating that state vehicles use mainly clean, renewable fuels
• Proposing a one-time tax credit of up to 40 percent for the purchase, construction or retrofitting of alternative fuel filling stations.

Governor Richardson has also endorsed seeking regulations to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions of new cars and trucks sold in New Mexico and more than quadrupling New Mexico’s renewable energy use by mandating that 15 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2015 and 20 percent by 2020.

In spring 2005, Governor Richardson issued an executive order establishing greenhouse gas emission reduction goals for New Mexico. These goals are 2000 levels by 2012, 10 percent below 2000 levels by 2020 and 75 percent below 2000 levels by 2050. New Mexico, along with Arizona and California, is among a growing number of states to create climate change advisory groups.

Western states have suffered from prolonged drought, decreased snowfall, increased and earlier snowmelt, and more severe and devastating forest and rangeland fires in recent years as a result of changes in the climate. The just-released Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that the Western United States will be especially affected by increased temperatures and climatic changes resulting from the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

See the Source:
Governor’s Office State of New Mexico

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About CleanAIR Systems, a New Mexico company working to reduce emissions of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides.

An Inconvenient Truth Wins at the Oscars

Former Vice President, Al Gore turned a power-point presentation about global warming into an award-winning documentary. On Sunday, February 25th, An Inconvenient Truth won an Oscar for Best Documentary Film.

Gore’s thank you speech was short and to the point: "My fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started with the possible will to act. That's a renewable resource. Let's renew it."

And backstage he added: "It is the overriding world challenge of our time," Gore said. "I really hope the decision by the academy to honor the work by director Davis Guggenheim and these producers will convince people who did not go see it before to see the movie and learn about the climate crisis and become a part of the solution."

See the Source:
FOX News

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How CleanAIR Systems is developing products to virtually eliminate NOx, a key precursor to smog, from power plant emissions.

EU Agreed to Binding Cuts in Carbon Emissions

Feb. 20 -- European countries have approved a binding accord to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020. The environmental ministers are also pressing for a global reduction in CO2 emissions of 30 percent.

According to Germany’s Environmental Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, a 40 percent cut in carbon emissions may be attainable by Germany.

The cuts were met with mixed reaction by environmental groups who want EU countries to enforce a more stringent 30 percent reduction.

Mahi Sideridou of Greenpeace said: "We happily welcome the 30 per cent emission cut proposed for the EU and for developed countries for 2020. Ministers have listened to the science and made a leap forward in addressing the climate crisis. But to then suggest a meager 20 per cent unilateral EU emissions cut, while admitting this is inadequate and that a 30 per cent cut will be necessary is a bizarre discrepancy."

David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, said: "The unilateral commitment to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 - the first of its kind - shows we're willing to take concrete action on an issue that citizens care about.

"Action in the EU alone is not enough. Our commitment to a 30 per cent cut in emissions as part of a global agreement strengthens the EU's ability to lead the debate at the G8 and UN climate change talks and to secure an ambitious outcome."

See the Source:

The Independent

Emissions Trading Allows Companies to Purchase Additional Allowances from the Market

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets announced the addition of GHG Emissions Credit Trading to their offering.

Greenhouse Gases Emissions Trading is emerging as a key instrument in the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The rationale behind emission trading is to ensure that the emission reductions take place where the cost of the reduction is lowest thus lowering the overall costs of combating climate change.

Emissions trading is particularly suited to the emissions of greenhouse gases, the gases responsible for global warming, which have the same effect wherever they are emitted. This allows the Government to regulate the amount of emissions produced in aggregate by setting the overall cap for the scheme but gives companies the flexibility of determining how and where the emissions reductions will be achieved. By allowing participants the flexibility to trade allowances the overall emissions reductions are achieved in the most cost-effective way possible.

Participating companies are allocated allowances, each allowance representing a ton of the relevant emission, in this case carbon dioxide equivalent. Emissions trading allows companies to emit in excess of their allocation of allowances by purchasing allowances from the market. Similarly, a company that emits less than its allocation of allowances can sell its surplus allowances. In contrast to regulation which imposes emission limit values on particular facilities, emissions trading gives companies the flexibility to meet emission reduction targets according to their own strategy; for example by reducing emissions on site or by buying allowances from other companies who have excess allowances. The environmental outcome is not affected because the amount of allowances allocated is fixed.

The case for a tradable entitlements system is based on the advantages that it would offer over other politically feasible alternatives. In the short term, it offers the possibility of reaching the environmental goals at a lower cost than would be possible if each country were limited to reduction options within its own borders. Making it easier to reach the goals may encourage more countries to sign the Protocol and would probably increase compliance with those goals. Because it separates the issue of who pays for control from who implements control, it facilitates trans-boundary cost- sharing, an item of particular importance to both the developing countries and the transition economies of Eastern Europe.

This 150+-page report on GHG Emissions Credit Trading covers all the practical details of emission trading. Covering the basics of the industry to understanding the industry in-depth, the report looks at monitoring issues, issues with the Kyoto Protocol, the various emission-trading projects, and much more. It is a complete guide to GHG Emissions Credit Trading.

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Research and Markets

Al Gore Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

The Associated Press announced this morning that former Vice President, Al Gore has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at increasing the world’s awareness of global warming. Conservative member of Norway’s parliament Boerge Brende, and Heidi Sorensen, of the Socialist Left Party have nominated Al Gore and Canadian Inuit Sheila Watt-Cloutier, suggesting that they share the prize for their efforts in environmental awareness.

"A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference,” stated Brende, also a former minister of environment. "Al Gore, like no other, has put climate change on the agenda. Gore uses his position to get politicians to understand.”

"This is clearly, absolutely, one of the important efforts to achieve conflict prevention. Climate change can lead to enormous flows of refugees on a scale the world has never seen before. Fighting climate change is immensely important work for global peace," Heidi Sorensen told a reporter from Norway’s Afterposten.

During his term as vice president, Gore pressed for environmental changes through climate measures such as the Kyoto Treaty. After leaving office, he produced the Oscar-nominated documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, furthering global awareness on the effects of climate change and impending disaster.

A decision as to the recipient will be announced in October, with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded on December 10.

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CNN
Afterposten

Global Warming Brings Us Closer to Doomsday

Today the Doomsday Clock was moved 2 minutes closer to midnight, from 11:53 to 11:55, partially due to climate change as a result of global warming.

"There's a realization that we are changing our climate for the worse," said cosmologist and mathematician, Stephen Hawking. "That would have catastrophic effects. Although the threat is not as dire as that of nuclear weapons right now, in the long term we are looking at a serious threat."

See source:
CBS News

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How NOx emissions effect global warming.