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Kids For A Cool Climate
| Climate Change News 2008 |
Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up
Ice at the North Pole melted at an unprecedented rate last week, with leading scientists warning that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2013. Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic. As a result, scientists say that the disappearance of sea ice at the North Pole could exceed last year's record loss. More than a million square kilometres melted over the summer of 2007 as global warming tightened its grip on the Arctic. But such destruction could now be matched, or even topped, this year.
Climate change: Prepare for global temperature rise of 4C, warns top scientist
The UK should take active steps to prepare for dangerous climate change of perhaps 4C according to one of the government's chief scientific advisers. According to the government's 2006 Stern review on the economics of climate change, between 7 million and 300 million more people would be affected by coastal flooding each year, there would be a 30-50% reduction in water availability in Southern Africa and the Mediterranean, agricultural yields would decline 15 to 35% in Africa and 20 to 50% of animal and plant species would face extinction.
In the UK, the most significant impact would be rising sea levels and inland flooding. Climate modellers also predict there would be an increase in heavy rainfall events in winter and drier summers.
The climate change clock is ticking
The UK is in denial about its real carbon emissions, suggests a report from the Stockholm Environment Institute. The academics conclude that if "outsourced" emissions produced in countries like China on goods which are imported into the UK are included in our total carbon footprint, this country's total greenhouse gas emissions are 49% higher than currently reported. So we should think twice when blaming the Chinese for emitting the CO2 that is required in the manufacture of our fridges and televisions.
A much greater concern is that all the politics is in danger of obscuring the increasingly drastic nature of the climate change threat. According to Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation, the world has only got 100 months left if we are to have a reasonably high chance of staving off runaway global warming.
In just 100 months' time, if we are lucky, and based on a quite conservative estimate, we could reach a tipping point for the beginnings of runaway climate change. That said, among people working on global warming, there are countless models, scenarios, and different iterations of all those models and scenarios. So, let us be clear from the outset about exactly what we mean.
The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere today, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, is the highest it has been for the past 650,000 years. In the space of just 250 years, as a result of the coal-fired Industrial Revolution, and changes to land use such as the growth of cities and the felling of forests, we have released, cumulatively, more than 1,800bn tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Currently, approximately 1,000 tonnes of CO2 are released into the Earth's atmosphere every second, due to human activity. Greenhouse gases trap incoming solar radiation, warming the atmosphere. When these gases accumulate beyond a certain level - often termed a "tipping point" - global warming will accelerate, potentially beyond control.
Environment: Climate activists occupy proposed site for coal-fired power station
Climate change activists yesterday occupied the proposed site for Britain's first coal-fired power station in 30 years, claiming the development will cause huge damage to the environment if it goes ahead. More than 150 protesters descended on the site near the village of Kingsnorth in Kent ahead of next week's Camp for Climate Action, which is expected to attract thousands of environmentalists. Activist Connor O'Brien said: "The purpose of the climate change camp is to target those businesses and companies who are involved in bringing about destructive climate change. This is the first of six coal-fired power stations being planned in the UK and if they go ahead the impact on the environment will be catastrophic."
Cheap way to 'split water' could lead to abundant clean fuel
Scientists have found an inexpensive way to produce hydrogen from water, a discovery that could lead to a plentiful source of environmentally friendly fuel to power homes and cars. The technique, which mimics the way photosynthesis works in plants, also provides a highly efficient way to store energy, potentially paving the way to making solar power more economically viable.
'Oil from algae' promises climate friendly fuel
A liquid fuel made from plants that is chemically identical to crude oil but which does not contribute to climate change when it is burned or, unlike other biofuels, need agricultural land to produce sounds too good to be true. But a company in San Diego claims to have developed exactly that – a sustainable version of oil it calls "green crude". Sapphire Energy uses single-celled organisms such as algae to produce a chemical mixture from which it is possible to extract fuels for cars or airplanes. When it is burned, the fuel only releases into the air the carbon dioxide absorbed by the algae during its growth, making the whole process carbon neutral.
Cartoonists use humour to tackle climate change
John Green of the Ken Sprague Fund says: "Cartoons can reach parts that other arguments can't. We have been inundated with doom-laden predictions and scientific facts on the inevitability of global warming, but here we can exorcise our fears. Powerful, uncompromising and uncomfortable images bring home to us what it will really mean - not a Costa del Sol on the Welsh coast and palm trees in the garden, but desertification, hunger and poverty."
Ten ways schools can reduce carbon emissions
The Sustainable Development Commission's new report on the carbon footprint of English schools recommends that, with decisive action and good support from central, regional and local government, schools could halve their carbon footprint by 2020. This footprint currently stands at 9.4m tonnes of greenhouse gases every year, from heat and power in school buildings, pupil and staff travel, waste management, and the supply chain activities of companies providing goods and services to schools.
British schools to join carbon trading scheme
Schools are to join airlines, power stations and supermarkets in trading carbon, under British government plans to tackle global warming to be announced on Wednesday. The scheme, due to start in 2010, will run alongside the European Emissions Trading Scheme, which already includes the largest polluters such as cement makers. The EETS will be expanded to include airlines from 2012. The school emissions will join those from fire fighters, leisure centres, town halls and other public sector buildings as counting towards the total carbon footprint of local authorities participating in the scheme. The schools will not trade carbon directly – that will be the responsibility of the local authority.
Glaciers in Peru are melting so quickly that by 2015 almost all of them may have disappeared. This is not just a problem for Peru but for the whole Andean Community of Nations, including Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. These countries generate around 73% of their electricity from hydro energy. Ironically, this renewable source of energy risks disappearing because of melting glaciers caused by climate change.
One third of reef-building corals face extinction, study shows
Almost one third of all the coral species that build reefs could be heading for extinction, according to a new comprehensive study published today, which showed that the double assault of climate change and human exploitation could wipe out 231 species of the atoll-building polyps.
G8 climate deal is empty promise, says UK government economist
The government's own carbon reduction agency has attacked the climate plan agreed at the G8 summit as not doing "a single thing" to reduce emissions, and accused leaders - including the UK prime minister, Gordon Brown - of "an abrogation of responsibility".
A deal on climate change - but then the backlash
A new global deal on climate change heralded by G8 leaders as a significant step forward yesterday ran into trouble within hours as developing nations including China and India rejected it because they believe the commitments are not strong enough.
And the greenest university is ... Gloucestershire
Universities are today ranked on how green they are - and the new universities come out top. Gloucestershire University takes first place, with Plymouth University in second, in the "green league" compiled by student campaigners People & Planet. Languishing at the bottom is the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, while Trinity College Carmarthen is in the second-worst spot.
The green league table, in its second year, judges universities on their environmental policies, their number of environmental staff, environmental audits, whether they have been granted fairtrade status, how much waste they recycle, their carbon emissions, water usage and energy sources.
Burning biofuels may be worse than coal and oil, say experts
Using biofuels made from corn, sugar cane and soy could have a greater environmental impact than burning fossil fuels, according to experts. Although the fuels themselves emit fewer greenhouse gases, they all have higher costs in terms of biodiversity loss and destruction of farmland.
But the new fuels have attracted controversy. "Regardless of how effective sugar cane is for producing ethanol, its benefits quickly diminish if carbon-rich tropical forests are being razed to make the sugar cane fields, thereby causing vast greenhouse-gas emission increases," Jörn Scharlemann and William Laurance, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, write in Science today.
A useful explanation of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme.
Campaign aims to recycle Christmas 100m cards
The annual Christmas card recycling scheme, launched by the Woodland Trust and Recycle Now, is aiming to collect 100m cards and raise enough money from them to plant 24,000 trees.
Trees absorbing less CO2 as world warms, study finds
The ability of forests to soak up man-made carbon dioxide is weakening, according to an analysis of two decades of data from more than 30 sites in the frozen north.
The results may partly explain recent studies suggesting that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected. If higher temperatures mean less carbon is soaked up by plants and microbes, global warming will accelerate.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel peace prize with Al Gore, has concluded that humanity has eight years left to prevent the worst effects of global warming.
Giant sail technology could make shipping greener
The Beluga Skysail's maiden voyage will use a 160 sq metre kite which is expected to cut fuel consumption by 10-15%, but in time it will be fitted with much larger kites, possibly saving 30-35% on fuel.
