EU-DIGEST

Labels: EU, Global warming, Weather

Ontario and Quebec, the two provinces with the most ambitious plans to reduce greenhouse gases, say they are disappointed with Ottawa's position, but confident it will be forced into improved targets over the next five days of critical talks toward a global climate change deal.

There may be hell to pay from the two giants of the federation, plus British Columbia and Manitoba, if that doesn't happen.

Labels: Canada, Global warming

There are 50 "water houses" in Cees' neighborhood along the Maas, the country's first large-scale effort to build floating homes. The Dutch are a commercially ambitious people, but planners are signaling concerns about expanding development in natural areas that are needed to hold excess water. The idea is to give water space before it takes it. Floating homes allow for commercial development without displacing flood plains. Cees' house will only float perhaps once every five years, during infrequent, but imminent, flooding. There are 36 of these "amphibious houses" along the Maas, and 14 others that float all the time.

Netherlands Looks to Float Itself Out of Harm's Way - NYTimes.com - by Evan Lehmann

Labels: EU, Global warming, Housing

How are we to relate the evidence of our own senses to what we are told is happening, when the one in no way supports the other? Here we have the central difficulty that our society faces in dealing with the potentially catastrophic threat of the warming climate: it takes place in the future. Unique is a much overused word, but climate change is unique in the long history of grave human vicissitudes – war, disease, starvation, societal collapse – for a simple reason: in this case only, the future is known. Nobody knew the Thirty Years' War was coming, or the Irish potato famine. Nobody in Europe foresaw the Black Death before 1348. But we know what will happen with the global climate in the course of the 21st century if we carry on as we are – at least, it is known in so far as it is predicted through supercomputer programs of the world's climate, and the effect on that of pouring out an inexorably increasing amount of the trace gases that retain the sun's heat in the atmosphere, principally carbon dioxide (CO2) from industry, transport and the cutting down of forests.

Let it be said at once: every government in the world – from the US to China, from Norway to Brazil, from Ireland to Indonesia – accepts those predictions, in so far as they assert that an unremitting increase of CO2 in the atmosphere will cause an inexorable rise in global temperatures. You may think commentator X or blogger Y has a point when they opine that this global warming business is all hugely exaggerated, all so much hot air, driven by scientists seeking research funding, but it's worth remembering that no government now thinks that, anywhere. By the end of 2007, not even the US administration of President George W Bush, for so long the climate sceptic supreme, thought that. Are the governments the ones out of step?

Labels: Copenhagen Climate Summit, EU, Global warming

CO2 in the atmosphere could be as much as 25% higher than previously supposed say Norwegian Researchers

According to researchers at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, the environment is unable to take up as much CO2 as before, which will lead to much quicker climate change. The climate change simulation model used by the Bjerknes Centre will form the basis for the next report by the International Panel on Climate Change, which will be published in 2013.

Labels: Global warming, Norway

Russia uncertain about climate plan

During the summit, the G8 industrialized nations and the nine most important emerging powers agreed that developed countries as a whole should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent but the declaration was promptly undermined when Russia said such a target was unattainable and unacceptable. Obama said, however, that he did not expect an instant meeting of minds. 'And while we don't expect to solve the problem in one meeting, or one summit. I believe we have made important strides forward,' he said. 'I don't think I have to emphasise that climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. The science is clear and conclusive and impacts can no longer be ignored. 'Ice sheets are melting. Sea levels are rising. Our oceans are becoming more acidic, and we've already seen its effects on weather patterns, our food and water sources, our health and our habitats,' he said.

Labels: G8, Global warming, Greenhouse warming, Russia

Global Warming: Firestorms and Deep Freeze: Climate Change May Bring Both - by Scott Thill

Deniers of catastrophic climate change have been clinging to extreme rainstorms and snowstorms, such as those recently witnessed in the U.K. or American East Coast, like life rafts off the Titanic. They still argue that such record-breaking deep freezes disprove global warming. But they're desperately seeking semantics, while the rest of the world is waking up to reality. Which is this: Catastrophic climate change will feature as much ice as fire. It probably already has.

"Scientifically, it would not be correct to make the statement that the current weather in Australia, the U.K. and U.S. are examples of climate change," explains Jian Liu, chief of the Division of Environment Policy Implementation's climate change adaptation unit at the United Nations Environmental Program. "Rather, these are extreme climate events; whereas climate change is something that can only be observed by looking at the average conditions over long periods of time. But while the general average trend is one of a warming climate, this does not mean that extreme cold events or snowstorms will not take place.

Labels: Global warming

World potable water drying up

Sustained economic growth, human security and political stability over the next two decades depend on how water is managed, warned the World Economic Forum in a report urging governments and businesses to address consistent under-charging, waste and overuse of water. Referring to a UN-sponsored 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the report underlines that 70 of the world's major rivers, including the Colorado, Ganges, Jordan, Nile and Tigris-Euphrates, are "near [their] maximum extraction levels to supply water for irrigation systems and for reservoirs".Many of the "regional water bubbles" are already bursting in parts of China, the Middle East, the southwestern US and India, and "more will follow", with serious consequences for regional economic and political stability, the report continues. Climate change further adds to the urgent need to manage water efficiently, the report notes. In many parts of the world, glaciers act as "water banks". For example, melting glaciers in the Himalayas and Tibet alone will cause serious water supply problems for more than two billion people, it predicts.

Labels: EU, Global warming, Water, World Economy

Clinton picks climate envoy, in another break with Bush

In a sharp break from former president George W. Bush's approach to global warming, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has picked a special envoy for climate change, the State Department said Monday. Coming less than a week after Clinton assumed her job, the position signalled to US allies how urgently President Barack Obama's administration takes the threat posed by climate change after Bush played it down. During her Senate confirmation hearing on January 13, Clinton said that Obama would lead "a global and coordinated response" toward combating climate change. Climate change is "an unambiguous security threat," she said.

Note EU-Digest: Another step in the right direction by the Obama Administration.

Labels: Barack Obama, Climate Change, Global warming, Hillary Clinton, US

Snow blankets London for Global Warming debate • by Andrew Orlowski

Snow fell as the House of Commons debated Global Warming yesterday - the first October fall in the metropolis since 1922. The Mother of Parliaments was discussing the Mother of All Bills for the last time, in a marathon six hour session. In order to combat a projected two degree centigrade rise in global temperature, the Climate Change Bill pledges the UK to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The bill was receiving a third reading, which means both the last chance for both democratic scrutiny and consent.

Labels: Britain, EU, Global warming

Tornado causes damage in Netherlands

A tornado raced through the north-east Dutch province of Groningen, Dutch media reported early on Monday. The tornado struck the villages of Lutjegast, Sebaldeburen and Doezum on Sunday night. Cars were lifted in the air and small boats were tossed hundreds of metres across the water. Many farms were severely damaged.The tornado was categorized as an F1, Reinout van den Born, a meteorologist affiliated with the Dutch meteorological institute Meteoconsult told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Monday.The tornado in Groningen had a wind speed of around 100 to 120 kph.

Labels: EU, Global warming, Netherlands, Tornado

Study shows Climate change forces plants to higher ground

Researchers from AgroParisTech in France said the shift to higher altitudes is even larger for those plant species restricted to mountain habitats. "If all of these species moved in the same way, this is interesting to see and to analyze and it was significant enough to be considered a movement in relation to climate warming," said lead researcher Jonathan Lenoir in an interview podcast by Science.

Labels: EU, France, Global warming

Global Warmin: Climate Change Is Bad News for U.S. Agriculture - by Eli Kintisch

A landmark review of over 1000 papers documenting ecological change in the United States has found that a shifting climate is affecting agriculture, biodiversity, and land and water resources from the mountains of Alaska to the sands of Death Valley. Among the findings of the report, released yesterday: Forest fires are becoming more frequent and numerous, streams are warming, and the Mountain West is seeing much less snow. More changes may be coming, especially for U.S. farmers and ranchers. "The West and Southwest are likely to become drier, while the eastern United States is likely to experience increased rainfall," says the report, which was put out by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, coordinated by the White House. "We risk losing iconic charismatic megaflora such as saguaro cactus and joshua trees," co-author Steven Archer of the University of Arizona, Tucson, said at a press conference.

Labels: EU, Global warming, US

Don't burn food: biofuels standards needed now

Each day, 820 million people in the developing world do not have enough food to eat1. Food prices around the world are shooting up, sparking food riots from Mexico2 to Morocco3. And the World Food Program warned last week that rapidly rising costs are endangering emergency food supplies for the world's worst-off. How are the wealthiest countries responding? They're burning food. Specifically, they're using more and more biofuels--alcohol made from plant products, used in place of petrol to fuel cars. Biofuels are billed as a way to slow down climate change. But in reality, because so much land is being cleared to grow them, most biofuels today are causing more global warming emissions than they prevent, even as they push the price of corn, wheat, and other foods out of reach for millions of people.Not all biofuels are bad--but without tough global standards, the biofuels boom will further undermine food security and worsen global warming.

It's time to move: this Friday through Saturday, the twenty countries with the biggest economies, responsible for more than 75% of the world's carbon emissions, will meet in Chiba, Japan to begin the G8's climate change discussions.

Before the summit, it is time to raise a global cry for change on biofuels: go to: http://www.avaaz.org/en/biofuel_standards_now/9.php?cl=60268287
A call for change before this week's summit won't end the food crisis, or stop global warming. But it's a critical first step. By confronting false solutions and demanding real ones, we can show our leaders that we want to do the right thing, not the easy thing.

Labels: Biofuels, EU, G8, Global warming, Japan, US

Finland's prime minister urges global warming action in Washington visit

Finland's prime minister Matti Vanhanen on Monday urged the United States to step up action in reducing global warming and expressed hopes that the next U.S. president would make the issue a priority. Vanhanen, who plans to meet senior U.S. officials including Vice President Dick Cheney Tuesday, praised the U.S. engagement in recent international negotiations to reach a new climate change agreement. But he implied that he would like to see more commitment from Washington to international cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Labels: EU, Finland, Global warming, US

World Action against Global warming: Court upholds California bid to slash auto emissions - by Matt Naumann and Frank Davies

In a major environmental victory for California and 16 other states, a federal court in Fresno on Wednesday upheld a bid to slash auto emissions to combat global warming, a move fiercely opposed by automakers and the Bush administration. The fight now shifts to Washington.

Labels: Global warming

The language of science, like that of the United Nations, is by nature cautious and measured. That makes the dire tone of the just-released final report from the fourth assessment of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a network of thousands of international scientists, all the more striking. Global warming is "unequivocal." Climate change will bring "abrupt and irreversible changes." The report, a synthesis for politicians culled from three other IPCC panels convened throughout the year, read like what it is: a final warning to humanity. "Today the world's scientists have spoken clearly, and with one voice," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who attended the publication of the report in Valencia, Spain. Climate change "is the defining challenge of our age."

Labels: Global warming, Terrorism, United Nations

EU project to determine the role of atmospheric fine particles in climate change

An international team of aerosol and cloud scientists from 25 countries is ready to start measuring the fine particles found in our atmosphere from many locations around the world. Following its first year developing state-of-the-art aerosol measuring equipment, the Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions (EUCAARI) project is now ready to embark on its quest to investigate the role that aerosols play in climate change.

The project team has also established a global network of measuring stations in Brazil, South Africa, China and India. These will cover measurement areas that are geographically important for the monitoring of air pollution. For example, the Brazilian station is located in the rainforest region, and the South African station in the savannah area.

The stations will start operating from the beginning of 2008. The results of the four-year EUCAARI project launched in January 2007 will feed into global climate and policy ending. The total budget of EUCAARI, currently the largest aerosol project in Europe, is €15 million, €10 million of which is covered by the European Union under its Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). One of the partners in the project, the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Helsinki, will host the first annual meeting of the project from 19 to 22 November.

Labels: Cordis, EU, Global warming

Conference releases summary for action on climate change

Delegates from more than 140 countries agreed Friday on an environmental "instant guide" for policy makers, stating more forcefully than ever that climate change had begun and that it threatened to alter the planet irreversibly. The document summarizes the scientific consensus on human-induced climate change. It will be distributed to delegates at a crucial meeting in Indonesia next month that is intended to begin a political process on international cooperation to control global warming.

In a startling and much-debated conclusion, the document warns that human activity risks causing "abrupt or irreversible changes" on Earth, including the widespread extinction of species and a dramatic rise in sea levels before the end of this century.

Labels: Global warming, Spain

The Netherlands: How to fight a rising sea - by Peter N.Spotts

The Dutch enjoy a hard-earned reputation for building river dikes and sea barriers. Over centuries, they have transformed a flood-prone river delta into a wealthy nation roughly twice the size of New Jersey. If scientific projections for global warming are right, however, that success will be sorely tested. Globally, sea levels may rise up to a foot during the early part of this century, and up to nearly three feet by century's end. This would bring higher tidal surges from the more-intense coastal storms that scientists also project, along with the risk of more frequent and more severe river floods from intense rainfall inland.

The Dutch government plans to spend €2.2 billion ($3.2 billion) to make changes to its rivers to control floods. Meanwhile, along the coast, the big worry is not about any average increase in sea level, which scientists project to rise here between 35 and 85 cm (14 to 33 inches) by 2100. Instead, the biggest concern is the change in storm-surge patterns that will ride atop that rise, says Pier Vellinga, who heads the climate program at Wageningen University. Globally, some 21 percent of the world's 6.6 billion people live within 20 miles of a seacoast – and nearly 40 percent within 60 miles, says Robert Nich­­olls, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southampton in England. Seacoast populations who face the greatest risk from floods, storms, and sea-level rise live on river deltas, says the UN-sponsored Inter­governmental Panel on Climate Change.

Labels: EU, Global warming, Netherlands

Global Warming and Agriculture: Impact Estimates by Country -- by William R. Cline

Unabated global warming will reduce global agricultural capacity at least modestly by late in this century, contrary to some estimates that it will benefit global agriculture over that period. The damages will be the most severe and begin the soonest where they can least be afforded: in the developing countries. The losses will be much larger if carbon fertilization1 benefits fail to materialize, especially if water scarcity limits irrigation.

Temperatures in developing countries, which are predominantly located in lower latitudes, are already closer to or beyond thresholds at which further warming will reduce rather than increase agricultural capacity, and these countries tend to have less capacity to adapt. Moreover, agriculture accounts for a much larger share of GDP in developing countries than in industrial countries, so a given percentage loss in agricultural potential would impose a larger income loss in a developing country than in an industrial country. This study starkly confirms the asymmetry between potentially severe agricultural damages in many poor countries and milder effects in rich countries. A small amount of warming through, say, the next two or three decades might benefit global agriculture (with some countries gaining more than others). But it would be a serious mistake to do nothing about global warming on grounds that some studies have estimated global agricultural gains rather than losses for the first few degrees of warming.

Labels: Agriculture, Global warming

Record High Temperatures in Europe in April

The month of April was so warm and so dry across Western Europe that it rewrote the weather record books in country after country, national weather services said today, as hot air masses from Africa and the effects of a changing climate combined to drive up temperatures and drive away rain.

April 2007 was the eighth consecutive month of higher-than-normal temperatures in Germany, and the 13th straight month of unusually warm conditions in France.

Labels: Europe, Global warming

Europe's summerlike spring raising spirits, and anxieties - by James Kanter

Café owners with outdoor terraces are among those who have been taking advantage of unseasonably warm weather across many parts of Western Europe. Evelyne Nataf, 56, whose restaurant serves crepes, has been earning several hundred extra euros at lunchtime by squeezing tables and chairs into a sunny alcove.

"I've never seen such good weather so early," said Nataf, who barely had time to pause to chat while hurriedly setting tables Thursday morning. The conditions "probably are a bad thing for the planet, but they're definitely a good thing for us," she said.

Labels: Economy, EU, Global warming

Cheney Still Pressing for Iran War, If Not Removed - by Jeffrey Steinberg

If there was any doubt that Vice President Dick Cheney still presides over a powerful war party faction inside the Bush White House that is committed to engineering a military confrontation with Iran, Tuesday's meeting of the President's key foreign and national security advisors proved the point.

If Vice President Cheney has his way, the United States will be in a shooting war with Iran—a war that the U.S. military and intelligence establishment strongly oppose, and that powerful voices within the British Establishment are also now attacking as dangerous folly.

Labels: Cheney, Global warming, Iran, USA

Netherlands plan to divert the Rhine

Dutch planning agency proposed diverting part of the Rhine River to an inland lake far from its normal outlet before channeling it to the North Sea.

"Two-thirds of the Netherlands population lives on land below sea level, which accounts for half the country. But experts believe the dunes, dikes and dams that form a barrier to the sea will be strong enough to meet a global warming-induced rise of up to about one meter (yard) with only minor adjustments."

Labels: Global warming, Netherlands, Rhine River