Climate Change News
Air pollution: Forecasters hope for cleaner air on Friday
3 April 2014 Last updated at 22:15
The view of Dover Castle in Kent was obscured by pollution
Forecasters have suggested pollution over parts of the UK could be blown away by "clean Atlantic air" on Friday. BBC Weather's Peter Gibbs said the pollution had "peaked" and "should go down quite rapidly" in the coming days. Government data showed London and south-east England had the maximum pollution level of 10 on Thursday. The BBC's Rebecca Morelle said there had been a "horrible" mix of dust blown from the Sahara Desert, industrial pollution from Europe and UK pollution.
Pollution levels in eastern England reached nine on Thursday, with north-west England, Yorkshire, the Humber, the Midlands and south Wales also affected. But the BBC's Peter Gibbs said south to south-westerly winds on Friday should bring the UK "cleaner Atlantic air". He said the wind would be "starting to swing around" by 08:00 BST and would continue "picking up the pollution and shoving it away out into the North Sea" for most of the day.
The 10-point scale for measuring air quality is used by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), with level one meaning a "low" risk of air pollution and 10 meaning "very high". Levels are determined by the concentration of five pollutants in the air - ozone, sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and two types of particulate matter.
Asthma risk
High levels of air pollution are usually reached about five times a year. Defra advised people with lung and heart conditions to avoid strenuous outdoor activity while pollution levels remained high. It also said people suffering symptoms of pollution - including sore eyes, coughs and sore throats - should cut down the amount they do outside,
Kay Boycott, chief executive of Asthma UK, said two-thirds of the UK's 5.4 million people with asthma "find that air pollution makes their asthma worse" and were at "increased risk of an attack". The charity said asthma attacks were brought on by different triggers in different people, but urged anyone with the condition to be vigilant and follow basic safety tips in the coming days. In February, the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to reduce levels of NO2 air pollution. Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates said "thousands" of people in UK were likely to "die prematurely" this year unless the government took urgent action. "Ministers, local authorities and the London mayor must get much tougher on the causes of air pollution - especially traffic fumes," she said.
Health effects
Those with existing lung and heart conditions may find symptoms worsen They should avoid doing too much, especially outdoors Healthy people may experience minor symptoms such as a sore throat or a tickly cough They should avoid strenuous activity in order to reduce such symptoms What will pollution do to us?
Pea-soup' past
David Shukman Science editor, BBC News
This pollution spell is nothing compared to the "pea-soup" fogs that blighted British cities until the 1960s. Our air has become cleaner over the past century but at the same time we have learned how even low levels of pollution can pose a long list of health risks. And although this episode is severe, it is not exceptional. The Saharan dust makes it more visible than normal but breaches of international guidelines are fairly routine. Last year one monitoring site in central London recorded 21 separate days when nitrogen dioxide soared above World Health Organisation limits. One key pollution measure is of tiny particles called PM10, measured by the cubic metre over 24 hours. Today a few sites in England are enduring levels of about 100. Last month Paris saw PM10 reach twice that amount. And pity the people of Urumqi in the far west of China. When I was there last November, the air was so bad the airport closed. Today's PM10 level? An eye-watering 710.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26863228
Forecasters have suggested pollution over parts of the UK could be blown away by "clean Atlantic air" on Friday. BBC Weather's Peter Gibbs said the pollution had "peaked" and "should go down quite rapidly" in the coming days. Government data showed London and south-east England had the maximum pollution level of 10 on Thursday. The BBC's Rebecca Morelle said there had been a "horrible" mix of dust blown from the Sahara Desert, industrial pollution from Europe and UK pollution.
Pollution levels in eastern England reached nine on Thursday, with north-west England, Yorkshire, the Humber, the Midlands and south Wales also affected. But the BBC's Peter Gibbs said south to south-westerly winds on Friday should bring the UK "cleaner Atlantic air". He said the wind would be "starting to swing around" by 08:00 BST and would continue "picking up the pollution and shoving it away out into the North Sea" for most of the day.
The 10-point scale for measuring air quality is used by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), with level one meaning a "low" risk of air pollution and 10 meaning "very high". Levels are determined by the concentration of five pollutants in the air - ozone, sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and two types of particulate matter.
Asthma risk
High levels of air pollution are usually reached about five times a year. Defra advised people with lung and heart conditions to avoid strenuous outdoor activity while pollution levels remained high. It also said people suffering symptoms of pollution - including sore eyes, coughs and sore throats - should cut down the amount they do outside,
Kay Boycott, chief executive of Asthma UK, said two-thirds of the UK's 5.4 million people with asthma "find that air pollution makes their asthma worse" and were at "increased risk of an attack". The charity said asthma attacks were brought on by different triggers in different people, but urged anyone with the condition to be vigilant and follow basic safety tips in the coming days. In February, the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to reduce levels of NO2 air pollution. Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates said "thousands" of people in UK were likely to "die prematurely" this year unless the government took urgent action. "Ministers, local authorities and the London mayor must get much tougher on the causes of air pollution - especially traffic fumes," she said.
Health effects
Those with existing lung and heart conditions may find symptoms worsen They should avoid doing too much, especially outdoors Healthy people may experience minor symptoms such as a sore throat or a tickly cough They should avoid strenuous activity in order to reduce such symptoms What will pollution do to us?
Pea-soup' past
David Shukman Science editor, BBC News
This pollution spell is nothing compared to the "pea-soup" fogs that blighted British cities until the 1960s. Our air has become cleaner over the past century but at the same time we have learned how even low levels of pollution can pose a long list of health risks. And although this episode is severe, it is not exceptional. The Saharan dust makes it more visible than normal but breaches of international guidelines are fairly routine. Last year one monitoring site in central London recorded 21 separate days when nitrogen dioxide soared above World Health Organisation limits. One key pollution measure is of tiny particles called PM10, measured by the cubic metre over 24 hours. Today a few sites in England are enduring levels of about 100. Last month Paris saw PM10 reach twice that amount. And pity the people of Urumqi in the far west of China. When I was there last November, the air was so bad the airport closed. Today's PM10 level? An eye-watering 710.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26863228
Breathing problems as smog blanketed parts of England
Sci/Tech April 03, 2014
Sci/Tech April 03, 2014
Photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Dust particles and pollution from cars hangs over London, seen from Greenwich, as people suffering the effects of high levels of pollution – including sore eyes, coughs and sore throats – should cut down the amount of activity they take outside, experts have warned. The advice, from Public Health England (PHE), Asthma UK and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), comes after a warning that people in parts of England should be braced for the highest level of air pollution recorded by Defra.
LONDON (AP) — Schools closed their playgrounds and ambulance staff reported a surge in breathing problems as smog blanketed parts of England for a second day on Thursday. Environmentalists criticized Prime Minister David Cameron after he described the haze — a mix of local pollution, European emissions and Sahara sand — as "a naturally occurring weather phenomenon." As air pollution hit the top level of 10 in London and the southeast Thursday, Green Party European lawmaker Keith Taylor said Cameron's "flippant response to this invisible killer is utterly disgraceful."
Some schools kept children inside, while the London Ambulance Service said it was seeing a higher-than-normal number of calls from people with breathing difficulties, asthma and heart problems. Forecasters said the pollution should be swept away Friday by fresh winds from the Atlantic. The World Health Organization says air pollution kills about 7 million people a year globally, with more than half of the deaths due to fumes from indoor stoves. Gary Fuller, an air-quality expert at King's College London, said Britain's recent smog had caught public attention partly because it could be seen. Motorists awoke earlier this week to find their cars covered in red dust from a storm in the Sahara desert. "Normally air pollution is sort of invisible," he said. Fuller said air pollution in London and other European cities had improved little over the past decade, even though new cars are cleaner than older ones. He said that had been offset by an increase in the number of more polluting diesel vehicles.
"'Dieselization' is much discussed in air-pollution terms," Fuller said. "It is not having a favorable effect."
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2757252-residents-wheeze-england-hit-2nd-day-smog.html#.1258-stage-set5-2
Dust particles and pollution from cars hangs over London, seen from Greenwich, as people suffering the effects of high levels of pollution – including sore eyes, coughs and sore throats – should cut down the amount of activity they take outside, experts have warned. The advice, from Public Health England (PHE), Asthma UK and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), comes after a warning that people in parts of England should be braced for the highest level of air pollution recorded by Defra.
LONDON (AP) — Schools closed their playgrounds and ambulance staff reported a surge in breathing problems as smog blanketed parts of England for a second day on Thursday. Environmentalists criticized Prime Minister David Cameron after he described the haze — a mix of local pollution, European emissions and Sahara sand — as "a naturally occurring weather phenomenon." As air pollution hit the top level of 10 in London and the southeast Thursday, Green Party European lawmaker Keith Taylor said Cameron's "flippant response to this invisible killer is utterly disgraceful."
Some schools kept children inside, while the London Ambulance Service said it was seeing a higher-than-normal number of calls from people with breathing difficulties, asthma and heart problems. Forecasters said the pollution should be swept away Friday by fresh winds from the Atlantic. The World Health Organization says air pollution kills about 7 million people a year globally, with more than half of the deaths due to fumes from indoor stoves. Gary Fuller, an air-quality expert at King's College London, said Britain's recent smog had caught public attention partly because it could be seen. Motorists awoke earlier this week to find their cars covered in red dust from a storm in the Sahara desert. "Normally air pollution is sort of invisible," he said. Fuller said air pollution in London and other European cities had improved little over the past decade, even though new cars are cleaner than older ones. He said that had been offset by an increase in the number of more polluting diesel vehicles.
"'Dieselization' is much discussed in air-pollution terms," Fuller said. "It is not having a favorable effect."
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2757252-residents-wheeze-england-hit-2nd-day-smog.html#.1258-stage-set5-2
UN chief on Greenland climate change visit
Sci/Tech March 26, 2014
Photo: APDenmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning- Schmidt, second left, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, center, are welcomed by Greenland's Environment Minister Kim Kielsen, right, Tuesday, March 25. 2014 in Ilulissat in Greenland. The visit takes place in preparation for the U.N. Climate Summit on September this year in New York.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Global warming must not be forgotten, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday after visiting Greenland to get an up-close look at the consequences of climate problems. "You can't argue with nature. We need to act now," Ban said in Uummannaq, a town of 1,200 people north of the Arctic Circle. "The problem doesn't go away by being silent." Ban spoke after meeting with residents and taking a dogsled ride under deep blue skies outside Uummannaq, the first of two towns in Greenland he will visit to prepare for a climate summit in New York in September.
For the sled ride, Ban, his wife and his hosts — Greenland Premier Aleqa Hammond and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt — wore traditional sealskin outfit to keep warm as temperatures reached -24 degree Celsius (11.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
Local lawmaker Sakio Fleischer said Ban was visiting "to see the effects of climate change." Fleischer said the fjord near the town only freezes for four months a year now instead of six months like it used to. Ban is also scheduled to see a glacier carrying ice from Greenland's ice sheet, which scientists say has been losing mass over the past two decades, adding to the rise in sea levels.
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2739942-un-chief-greenland-climate-change-visit.html#.1258-stage-set5-2
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Global warming must not be forgotten, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday after visiting Greenland to get an up-close look at the consequences of climate problems. "You can't argue with nature. We need to act now," Ban said in Uummannaq, a town of 1,200 people north of the Arctic Circle. "The problem doesn't go away by being silent." Ban spoke after meeting with residents and taking a dogsled ride under deep blue skies outside Uummannaq, the first of two towns in Greenland he will visit to prepare for a climate summit in New York in September.
For the sled ride, Ban, his wife and his hosts — Greenland Premier Aleqa Hammond and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt — wore traditional sealskin outfit to keep warm as temperatures reached -24 degree Celsius (11.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
Local lawmaker Sakio Fleischer said Ban was visiting "to see the effects of climate change." Fleischer said the fjord near the town only freezes for four months a year now instead of six months like it used to. Ban is also scheduled to see a glacier carrying ice from Greenland's ice sheet, which scientists say has been losing mass over the past two decades, adding to the rise in sea levels.
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2739942-un-chief-greenland-climate-change-visit.html#.1258-stage-set5-2
Clean household energy can save people’s lives
March 2014
Air pollution in and outside of people’s homes is the world’s largest single environmental health risk. In India, major sources of air pollution in the home are tobacco smoke and the smoke from the use of solid fuels with inefficient and leaky cook stoves.
Millions of women in rural India spend several hours every day cooking meals on smoky ovens or open fires within their homes. Because cooking chores most often fall to women, they and the young children around them are the first victims of smoke-related acute and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. According to WHO estimates, in 2012 there were close to 1.7 million premature deaths attributed to household air pollution from cooking in the South East Asia region with India shouldering the biggest burden. Most of these premature deaths were due to noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children.
Health impact on women and children. Many women do not realize that the smoke emitted from the traditional clay or brick stoves called chulhas is putting their and their family members’ lives in danger. The solid fuels they use in these ovens include a mix of wood, coal, crop residue and cow-dung. Their smoke contains many dangerous pollutants such as fine particulate matter and carbon monoxide.
“Having an open fire in your kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour,” says Dr Kirk Smith, a Professor of Global Environmental Health from the University of California at Berkeley, who began to measure the air pollution exposure from cooking over open biomass cook stoves already in the 1970s. “Unfortunately, we have not made a lot of progress in the past decades and household air pollution is still the largest single health risk factor for Indian women and girls.”
An estimated 700 million people in India still rely on solid fuels and traditional cook stoves for domestic cooking despite their negative impact on peoples’ health. This figure has remained relatively constant over the last three decades despite efforts to improve access to cleaner energy sources such as gas and electricity also in rural areas.
“Most of the initial initiatives to improve cook stoves promoted in the 1980s and 1990s in India were focused on enhancing stove energy efficiency and not necessarily on reducing emissions or exposure to smoke. But evidence from an increasing number of studies in India is paving the way for health-centric interventions,” explains Prof. Kalpana Balakrishnan from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai.
New WHO guidelines on health impacts of household cookingFor over a decade, WHO has been monitoring the use of solid fuels for cooking and related death and disease burden. The Organization is working with countries to raise awareness and build capacity to address the health impacts of indoor air pollution. WHO is also contributing to global initiatives for improving energy access like the United Nations Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.
“We are currently completing new indoor air quality guidelines for household fuel combustion,” says Dr Carlos Dora from the WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. “These guidelines will provide decision makers in countries and other partners with technical recommendations regarding fuels, cook stoves and household energy technologies with the best performance for protecting health.”
The new WHO guidelines will not only focus on the health impacts of household cooking in both developed and developing countries but also include recommendations on other home energy needs, including heating and lighting. They are expected to globally increase the use of clean household fuels and technologies that can protect the health of all family members.
India has already started revising the national standards for cook stoves under the leadership of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. New stoves need to be tested, and have to give proof that they are less polluting and more efficient than existing traditional and improved models. The promotion of the best available fuels and technologies can make an enormous public health impact – particularly for women and children.
http://www.who.int/features/2014/clean-household-energy/en/
http://www.se4all.org/2014/03/26/energy-momentum-africa/
http://community.cleancookstoves.org/home
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WHO: Pollution kills 7 million people every year
March 25, 2014
Photo: AP Children wearing masks walk home after school in Beijing, China. Air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year according to a new report from the World Health Organization published Tuesday, March 25, 2014. The agency said air pollution triggers about 1 in 8 deaths and has now become the single biggest environmental health risk, ahead of other dangers like second-hand smoke.
LONDON (AP) — Air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year, with more than half of the fatalities due to fumes from indoor stoves, according to a new report from the World Health Organization published Tuesday. The agency said air pollution is the cause of about one in eight deaths and has now become the single biggest environmental health risk. "We all have to breathe, which makes pollution very hard to avoid," said Frank Kelly, director of the environmental research group at King's College London, who was not part of the WHO report. One of the main risks of pollution is that tiny particles can get deep into the lungs, causing irritation. Scientists also suspect air pollution may be to blame for inflammation in the heart, leading to chronic problems or a heart attack.
WHO estimated that there were about 4.3 million deaths in 2012 caused by indoor air pollution, mostly people cooking inside using wood and coal stoves in Asia. WHO said there were about 3.7 million deaths from outdoor air pollution in 2012, of which nearly 90 percent were in developing countries.
But WHO noted that many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Due to this overlap, mortality attributed to the two sources cannot simply added together, hence WHO said it lowered the total estimate from around 8 million to 7 million deaths in 2012.
LONDON (AP) — Air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year, with more than half of the fatalities due to fumes from indoor stoves, according to a new report from the World Health Organization published Tuesday. The agency said air pollution is the cause of about one in eight deaths and has now become the single biggest environmental health risk. "We all have to breathe, which makes pollution very hard to avoid," said Frank Kelly, director of the environmental research group at King's College London, who was not part of the WHO report. One of the main risks of pollution is that tiny particles can get deep into the lungs, causing irritation. Scientists also suspect air pollution may be to blame for inflammation in the heart, leading to chronic problems or a heart attack.
WHO estimated that there were about 4.3 million deaths in 2012 caused by indoor air pollution, mostly people cooking inside using wood and coal stoves in Asia. WHO said there were about 3.7 million deaths from outdoor air pollution in 2012, of which nearly 90 percent were in developing countries.
But WHO noted that many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Due to this overlap, mortality attributed to the two sources cannot simply added together, hence WHO said it lowered the total estimate from around 8 million to 7 million deaths in 2012.
Photo: AP Two joggers wearing protective masks run past a police officer controlling a vehicle on the Concorde square in Paris.
The new estimates are more than double previous figures and based mostly on modeling. The increase is partly due to better information about the health effects of pollution and improved detection methods. Last year, WHO's cancer agency classified air pollution as a carcinogen, linking dirty air to lung and bladder cancer. WHO's report noted women had higher levels of exposure than men in developing countries. "Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves," Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General for family, women and children's health, said in a statement. Other experts said more research was needed to identify the deadliest components of pollution in order to target control measures more effectively. "We don't know if dust from the Sahara is as bad as diesel fuel or burning coal," said Majid Ezzati, chair in global environmental health at Imperial College London. Kelly said it was mostly up to governments to curb pollution levels, through measures like legislation, moving power stations away from big cities and providing cheap alternatives to indoor wood and coal stoves.
He said people could also reduce their individual exposure to choking fumes by avoiding traveling at rush hour or by taking smaller roads. Despite the increasing use of face masks in heavily polluted cities such as Beijing and Tokyo, Kelly said there was little evidence that they work.
"The real problem is that wearing masks sends out the message we can live with polluted air," he said. "We need to change our way of life entirely to reduce pollution."
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/health/2735726-who-pollution-kills-7-people-year.html#.1258-stage-set5-5
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/
The new estimates are more than double previous figures and based mostly on modeling. The increase is partly due to better information about the health effects of pollution and improved detection methods. Last year, WHO's cancer agency classified air pollution as a carcinogen, linking dirty air to lung and bladder cancer. WHO's report noted women had higher levels of exposure than men in developing countries. "Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves," Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General for family, women and children's health, said in a statement. Other experts said more research was needed to identify the deadliest components of pollution in order to target control measures more effectively. "We don't know if dust from the Sahara is as bad as diesel fuel or burning coal," said Majid Ezzati, chair in global environmental health at Imperial College London. Kelly said it was mostly up to governments to curb pollution levels, through measures like legislation, moving power stations away from big cities and providing cheap alternatives to indoor wood and coal stoves.
He said people could also reduce their individual exposure to choking fumes by avoiding traveling at rush hour or by taking smaller roads. Despite the increasing use of face masks in heavily polluted cities such as Beijing and Tokyo, Kelly said there was little evidence that they work.
"The real problem is that wearing masks sends out the message we can live with polluted air," he said. "We need to change our way of life entirely to reduce pollution."
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/health/2735726-who-pollution-kills-7-people-year.html#.1258-stage-set5-5
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/
Paris Skies Turn Yellow
March 14, 2014
Photo: AP The Eiffel Tower, is barely seen through the smog from Paris, Friday, March 14, 2014. Air pollution that has turned Paris skies a murky yellow is giving a break to millions of French travelers ó all public transportation in the Paris region and two other cities is free for the next three days. Nearly three-quarters of France is under alert in what the European Environment Agency says is the worst air pollution since 2007.
The belt of smog stretched for hundreds of miles, from France's Atlantic coast to Belgium and well into Germany. It was the worst air pollution France has seen since 2007, the European Environment Agency said.
Nearly all of France was under some sort of pollution alert Friday, with levels in the Parisian region surpassing some of those in the world's most notoriously polluted cities, including Beijing and Delhi.
To combat the smog, public transit around Paris and in two other cities was free Friday through Sunday. Elsewhere in France and in Belgium's southern Wallonia area, the free ride was only for Friday. The smog is particularly severe here because France has an unusually high number of diesel vehicles, whose nitrogen oxide fumes mix with ammonia from springtime fertilizers and form particulate ammonium nitrate. Pollutants from the burning of dead leaves and wood contribute as well.
The belt of smog stretched for hundreds of miles, from France's Atlantic coast to Belgium and well into Germany. It was the worst air pollution France has seen since 2007, the European Environment Agency said.
Nearly all of France was under some sort of pollution alert Friday, with levels in the Parisian region surpassing some of those in the world's most notoriously polluted cities, including Beijing and Delhi.
To combat the smog, public transit around Paris and in two other cities was free Friday through Sunday. Elsewhere in France and in Belgium's southern Wallonia area, the free ride was only for Friday. The smog is particularly severe here because France has an unusually high number of diesel vehicles, whose nitrogen oxide fumes mix with ammonia from springtime fertilizers and form particulate ammonium nitrate. Pollutants from the burning of dead leaves and wood contribute as well.
Photo: AP A layer of smog covers the city of Brussels on Friday March 14, 2014. The INRIX traffic scorecard rated Belgium as the most congested country in the world with the Belgian cities of Antwerp and Brussels the most congested. The INRIX Traffic Scorecard provides a comprehensive analysis of the state of traffic congestion across the world. With more than 300,000 cars entering Brussels everyday and an average of 85,4 hours of traffic jams per car per year, road traffic is one of the main sources of air pollution in Brussels. As a result of the Smog alert maximum speed on the motorway has been cut to 90km/h (55mph).
One environmental group complained earlier this week, denouncing the "inertia of the government," saying it was putting lives in danger. There's no question that pollution can be an immediate health hazard, especially for the very young and old and for anyone with respiratory or cardiac disorders, said European Environment Agency air quality manager Valentin Foltescu.
"Some people will, unfortunately, die," Foltescu said. "There is a high correlation of pollution of this kind and mortality." Speed limits dropped in France and Belgium and electronic billboards in Paris dispensed advice and emergency information.
But the website that keeps up-to-the-minute figures on the Paris region's air quality slowed to a crawl and asked visitors to follow it on Twitter or Facebook rather than crash the site. Foltescu said if everyone follows the government's advice "you will see an instant difference." If not, he added, the pollution would last about as long as the region's unseasonably warm and sunny weather.
Associated Press writers Kristen Grieshaber in Berlin and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.
Follow Lori Hinnant at: https://twitter.com/lhinnant
http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2714142-free-rides-to-combat-pollution-france-belgium.html#.1258-stage-hero1-10
One environmental group complained earlier this week, denouncing the "inertia of the government," saying it was putting lives in danger. There's no question that pollution can be an immediate health hazard, especially for the very young and old and for anyone with respiratory or cardiac disorders, said European Environment Agency air quality manager Valentin Foltescu.
"Some people will, unfortunately, die," Foltescu said. "There is a high correlation of pollution of this kind and mortality." Speed limits dropped in France and Belgium and electronic billboards in Paris dispensed advice and emergency information.
But the website that keeps up-to-the-minute figures on the Paris region's air quality slowed to a crawl and asked visitors to follow it on Twitter or Facebook rather than crash the site. Foltescu said if everyone follows the government's advice "you will see an instant difference." If not, he added, the pollution would last about as long as the region's unseasonably warm and sunny weather.
Associated Press writers Kristen Grieshaber in Berlin and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.
Follow Lori Hinnant at: https://twitter.com/lhinnant
http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2714142-free-rides-to-combat-pollution-france-belgium.html#.1258-stage-hero1-10
World's Largest Solar Bridge Complete in London
by Lori Zimmer, 01/23/14
by Lori Zimmer, 01/23/14
At long last, the world’s largest solar bridge at London’s Blackfriars station is finally complete. Solarcentury and England’s Network Rail partnered to cover the bridge with 4,400 photovoltaic panels. Formerly an energy hog, the bridge now provides Blackfriars station with half of the energy it requires to operate.
The Blackfriars solar bridge stretches across the River Thames, transporting thousands of commuters every day from South London out of one of the busiest stations in the city. The station already accommodates electric trains, which make public transportation even more green, but with the new solar bridge that took five years to complete is expected to make the station even more sustainable. First Capital Connect, which runs Blackfriars, estimates that the 4,400 photovoltaic panels will divert 511 tonnes of carbon emissions each year, drastically reducing the station’s carbon footprint.
The Blackfriars solar bridge stretches across the River Thames, transporting thousands of commuters every day from South London out of one of the busiest stations in the city. The station already accommodates electric trains, which make public transportation even more green, but with the new solar bridge that took five years to complete is expected to make the station even more sustainable. First Capital Connect, which runs Blackfriars, estimates that the 4,400 photovoltaic panels will divert 511 tonnes of carbon emissions each year, drastically reducing the station’s carbon footprint.
Aside from providing renewable energy to the station, the Blackfriars bridge will also serve as a symbol of London’s quest to be a more sustainable city. The photovoltaic panels can be seen from both sides of the river, inviting tourists and locals to think about renewable energy. Solarcentury designed the bridge to incorporate the photovoltaic panels every step of the way, making a point that renewable energy is not an after thought. Instead, it comprises a crucial element of the design.
http://inhabitat.com/worlds-largest-solar-bridge-complete-in-london/
http://inhabitat.com/worlds-largest-solar-bridge-complete-in-london/
BY NEWSIN INFRASTRUCTURE · RAIL NEWS · RAIL PROJECTS · TECHNOLOGY — 24 JAN, 2014
The installation of 4,400 solar panels has been completed on the roof of Blackfriars station, marking another milestone in the delivery of the £6.5 billion Thameslink Programme.
Described by Network Rail as the world’s largest solar bridge, Blackfriars’ new photovoltaic panels, which were installed by Solarcentury, will provide half of the station’s energy, cutting its carbon emissions by more than 500 tonnes a year.
Blackfriars has undergone a major renovation as part of the Thameslink Programme, with work now completed on new platforms, redeveloping the Underground station and creating a new south bank entrance.
Simon Kirby, managing director of Network Rail Infrastructure Projects, said: “The dramatic transformation of Blackfriars station from a small and cramped station to a modern landmark is typical of how we are enhancing one of Europe’s busiest rail routes – using smart, sustainable technology to reduce the cost of running the railway at the same time as giving passengers the longer, more frequent trains that are so desperately needed.”
http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/01/24/worlds-largest-solar-bridge-completed-in-london/
The installation of 4,400 solar panels has been completed on the roof of Blackfriars station, marking another milestone in the delivery of the £6.5 billion Thameslink Programme.
Described by Network Rail as the world’s largest solar bridge, Blackfriars’ new photovoltaic panels, which were installed by Solarcentury, will provide half of the station’s energy, cutting its carbon emissions by more than 500 tonnes a year.
Blackfriars has undergone a major renovation as part of the Thameslink Programme, with work now completed on new platforms, redeveloping the Underground station and creating a new south bank entrance.
Simon Kirby, managing director of Network Rail Infrastructure Projects, said: “The dramatic transformation of Blackfriars station from a small and cramped station to a modern landmark is typical of how we are enhancing one of Europe’s busiest rail routes – using smart, sustainable technology to reduce the cost of running the railway at the same time as giving passengers the longer, more frequent trains that are so desperately needed.”
http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/01/24/worlds-largest-solar-bridge-completed-in-london/
EU relaxes renewables target, reaps criticism
January 22, 2014
January 22, 2014
Protestors from Friends of the Earth hold up cards during a demonstration outside EU headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a framework for climate and energy policies beyond 2020 and up to 2030
BRUSSELS (AP) Associated Press
The European Union on Wednesday shied away from more ambitious renewable energy goals as the bloc's sluggish economy appeared to dent its zeal in the global fight against climate change. To the dismay of Germany, environmentalists and others, the European Commission stepped back from proposing tougher binding renewable energy targets for each of the 28 member nations. Instead, it seeks the introduction of a less ambitious pan-European goal of renewable energy consumption reaching 27 percent by 2030.
There are fears the EU, long a trendsetter in climate change policies, might make it easier for the U.S., China and developing economies to dodge tougher action. The proposal by the Commission, the bloc's executive arm, will shape the EU's energy and climate action policies over the coming years, but it still needs approval from EU governments and the European Parliament over the coming year.
On greenhouse gas emissions, the commission called for a reduction of 40 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels instead of its existing binding target that calls for a 20 percent reduction by 2020. Overall though, Europe's financial crisis and protracted recession from which it is only slowly emerging has subdued its appetite for tough climate action.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso defended the package as the right balance between fighting climate change and making sure Europe won't fall behind economically. "Climate action is central for the future of our planet, while a truly European energy policy is key for our competitiveness," Barroso said. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has vowed to replace nuclear power with renewable energy sources by 2022. Berlin had urged the commission beforehand to stick to binding national targets for energy generated from water, biomass, solar and wind instead of watering it down by introducing a pan-European goal.
Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said without the previous binding targets, Europe would never have made the progress it has. "We should continue consistently along this road," Gabriel said. But many poorer EU nations had pushed the commission in the other direction as they face higher energy prices, just as those are falling in competing economies like the U.S. "When gas prices in the European Union are three or four times as high as in the United States, then this is a competitive disadvantage we can't accept," Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said. The commission's proposal also includes facilitating shale gas exploration, or fracking. The technology is still in infancy in Europe amid fears of the environmental and drinking water pollution it might cause. Currently, the EU's greenhouse gas emissions are down by 18 percent compared to 1990, while the bloc's economic output grew by 45 percent in the same time. "It is possible to have growth while reducing emissions," Barroso said. But Britain and Germany said the EU must be prepared to go even further than its 40 percent reduction target if a new international treaty can be struck next year to limit global warming. "Britain has been clear that Europe must be ready to adopt a 50 percent target if the rest of the world is prepared to sign an ambitious global climate deal in 2015," said Edward Davey, secretary of state for energy and climate change.
Renewable energies currently contribute 12.7 percent to the bloc's final energy consumption — including electricity, heating and mobility — compared to about 9.5 percent in the U.S. The EU's current 2020 target for a share of 20 percent includes binding goals for each nation, varying in ambition according to where they stand.
Some countries like Germany and Spain already get more than 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, meaning the new Europe-wide target could make it easier for some countries to scale back renewable energy efforts and meet their greenhouse gas reduction commitments by increased use of nuclear power instead.
Climate activists lambasted the EU for falling behind on some of its ambitious goals. "The January sales are on and it looks like Europe's dirty energy companies have bagged a bargain," Greenpeace EU managing director Mahi Sideridou said.
The Climate Action Network, a coalition of more than 120 non-governmental organizations, also criticized the emission reduction targets as too timid. Europe's business lobby, in turn, welcomed the package for acknowledging the challenge of high energy prices. It did call for international coordination.
Markus Beyrer, head of the Business Europe group, called on EU leaders "to make sure that Europe will not be once again a lone front-runner without followers."
Associated Press reporters Jon Fahey in New York and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed reporting.
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2590402-eu-relaxes-renewables-target-reaps-criticism.html#.2590482-stage-related1-3
At Davos, push for clean energy as climate weapon
January 22, 2014
The European Union on Wednesday shied away from more ambitious renewable energy goals as the bloc's sluggish economy appeared to dent its zeal in the global fight against climate change. To the dismay of Germany, environmentalists and others, the European Commission stepped back from proposing tougher binding renewable energy targets for each of the 28 member nations. Instead, it seeks the introduction of a less ambitious pan-European goal of renewable energy consumption reaching 27 percent by 2030.
There are fears the EU, long a trendsetter in climate change policies, might make it easier for the U.S., China and developing economies to dodge tougher action. The proposal by the Commission, the bloc's executive arm, will shape the EU's energy and climate action policies over the coming years, but it still needs approval from EU governments and the European Parliament over the coming year.
On greenhouse gas emissions, the commission called for a reduction of 40 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels instead of its existing binding target that calls for a 20 percent reduction by 2020. Overall though, Europe's financial crisis and protracted recession from which it is only slowly emerging has subdued its appetite for tough climate action.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso defended the package as the right balance between fighting climate change and making sure Europe won't fall behind economically. "Climate action is central for the future of our planet, while a truly European energy policy is key for our competitiveness," Barroso said. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has vowed to replace nuclear power with renewable energy sources by 2022. Berlin had urged the commission beforehand to stick to binding national targets for energy generated from water, biomass, solar and wind instead of watering it down by introducing a pan-European goal.
Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said without the previous binding targets, Europe would never have made the progress it has. "We should continue consistently along this road," Gabriel said. But many poorer EU nations had pushed the commission in the other direction as they face higher energy prices, just as those are falling in competing economies like the U.S. "When gas prices in the European Union are three or four times as high as in the United States, then this is a competitive disadvantage we can't accept," Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said. The commission's proposal also includes facilitating shale gas exploration, or fracking. The technology is still in infancy in Europe amid fears of the environmental and drinking water pollution it might cause. Currently, the EU's greenhouse gas emissions are down by 18 percent compared to 1990, while the bloc's economic output grew by 45 percent in the same time. "It is possible to have growth while reducing emissions," Barroso said. But Britain and Germany said the EU must be prepared to go even further than its 40 percent reduction target if a new international treaty can be struck next year to limit global warming. "Britain has been clear that Europe must be ready to adopt a 50 percent target if the rest of the world is prepared to sign an ambitious global climate deal in 2015," said Edward Davey, secretary of state for energy and climate change.
Renewable energies currently contribute 12.7 percent to the bloc's final energy consumption — including electricity, heating and mobility — compared to about 9.5 percent in the U.S. The EU's current 2020 target for a share of 20 percent includes binding goals for each nation, varying in ambition according to where they stand.
Some countries like Germany and Spain already get more than 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, meaning the new Europe-wide target could make it easier for some countries to scale back renewable energy efforts and meet their greenhouse gas reduction commitments by increased use of nuclear power instead.
Climate activists lambasted the EU for falling behind on some of its ambitious goals. "The January sales are on and it looks like Europe's dirty energy companies have bagged a bargain," Greenpeace EU managing director Mahi Sideridou said.
The Climate Action Network, a coalition of more than 120 non-governmental organizations, also criticized the emission reduction targets as too timid. Europe's business lobby, in turn, welcomed the package for acknowledging the challenge of high energy prices. It did call for international coordination.
Markus Beyrer, head of the Business Europe group, called on EU leaders "to make sure that Europe will not be once again a lone front-runner without followers."
Associated Press reporters Jon Fahey in New York and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed reporting.
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2590402-eu-relaxes-renewables-target-reaps-criticism.html#.2590482-stage-related1-3
At Davos, push for clean energy as climate weapon
January 22, 2014
U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014, the opening day of the World Economic Forum where world's financial and political elite will meet in the upcoming days
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Leaders gathered in the Swiss ski resort of Davos are pushing for nations worldwide to shift to cleaner energy sources as the best way to contain global warming and re-energize the global economy.
U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres, reflecting the top billing that climate change has in Davos this year, said the world economy is at risk unless a binding deal is agreed in Paris in 2015 to lower heat-trapping carbon emissions from coal and oil.
"It is important that we get the treaty because the signal to the markets, the signal to the global economy, needs to be stronger than it is right now," she said in an Associated Press interview on Wednesday.
Nations emerged from climate talks in Poland in November with a vague road map on how to prepare for a global climate pact to stabilize warming at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), a level countries hope will avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Figueres says she sees "momentum growing toward this" as countries like China reduce coal use to clear polluted skies and Indonesia plants more trees to protect water resources, seeing that it's in their national interest to develop more sustainably.
Scientists say man-made climate change is likely to worsen starvation, poverty, lack of water, flooding, heat waves, droughts and diseases, raising the specter of more conflict and war, unless drastic action is taken to lower emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and gas from their current trajectories.
The global economy may continue to grow, scientists say, but if the global temperature reaches about 3 degrees F warmer than now, it could lead to worldwide economic losses between 0.2 and 2.0 percent of income.
A World Economic Forum report says the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change is one of the top 10 risks facing the world in 2014. The Davos forum this year also emphasizes inequality by income, gender and access to resources.
South Korea's President Park Geun-hye said climate change is a problem that will take creativity to overcome. "Climate change and environmental challenges are global in nature. As such the world must act as one in tackling them," she said.
Disputes between countries over who should bear the burden of cutting industrial emissions have long been a barrier to action, though many argue the benefits of cleaner energy outweigh the costs of conversion.
Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said he couldn't say whether his country would sign on to a treaty at this point. Developing economies can't be asked to shoulder most of the burden, he told reporters in Davos, and the enormous amount of financial support that rich industrialized nations promised in aid for adapting to a warmer world "is simply not forthcoming."
Al Gore was the headliner at a private session on how leaders can help prevent — and better communicate — catastrophic effects on public health, anti-poverty efforts, clean water and energy supplies from a rise in global temperatures above 4 degrees F.
"The climate conversation has to be won by those who are willing to speak up," he told them. "It is a race against time, but we are going to win." The World Wildlife Fund, known as WWF, is among groups calling on governments to commit to action.
"There's a rising recognition that we simply have to find a way to break through," Jim Leape, director general of Geneva-based WWF International, told AP. "The big governments each need to renew their commitment."
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2590482-davos-push-clean-energy-climate-weapon.html#.1258-stage-set5-4
U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres, reflecting the top billing that climate change has in Davos this year, said the world economy is at risk unless a binding deal is agreed in Paris in 2015 to lower heat-trapping carbon emissions from coal and oil.
"It is important that we get the treaty because the signal to the markets, the signal to the global economy, needs to be stronger than it is right now," she said in an Associated Press interview on Wednesday.
Nations emerged from climate talks in Poland in November with a vague road map on how to prepare for a global climate pact to stabilize warming at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), a level countries hope will avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Figueres says she sees "momentum growing toward this" as countries like China reduce coal use to clear polluted skies and Indonesia plants more trees to protect water resources, seeing that it's in their national interest to develop more sustainably.
Scientists say man-made climate change is likely to worsen starvation, poverty, lack of water, flooding, heat waves, droughts and diseases, raising the specter of more conflict and war, unless drastic action is taken to lower emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and gas from their current trajectories.
The global economy may continue to grow, scientists say, but if the global temperature reaches about 3 degrees F warmer than now, it could lead to worldwide economic losses between 0.2 and 2.0 percent of income.
A World Economic Forum report says the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change is one of the top 10 risks facing the world in 2014. The Davos forum this year also emphasizes inequality by income, gender and access to resources.
South Korea's President Park Geun-hye said climate change is a problem that will take creativity to overcome. "Climate change and environmental challenges are global in nature. As such the world must act as one in tackling them," she said.
Disputes between countries over who should bear the burden of cutting industrial emissions have long been a barrier to action, though many argue the benefits of cleaner energy outweigh the costs of conversion.
Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said he couldn't say whether his country would sign on to a treaty at this point. Developing economies can't be asked to shoulder most of the burden, he told reporters in Davos, and the enormous amount of financial support that rich industrialized nations promised in aid for adapting to a warmer world "is simply not forthcoming."
Al Gore was the headliner at a private session on how leaders can help prevent — and better communicate — catastrophic effects on public health, anti-poverty efforts, clean water and energy supplies from a rise in global temperatures above 4 degrees F.
"The climate conversation has to be won by those who are willing to speak up," he told them. "It is a race against time, but we are going to win." The World Wildlife Fund, known as WWF, is among groups calling on governments to commit to action.
"There's a rising recognition that we simply have to find a way to break through," Jim Leape, director general of Geneva-based WWF International, told AP. "The big governments each need to renew their commitment."
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2590482-davos-push-clean-energy-climate-weapon.html#.1258-stage-set5-4
EU makes carbon pollution more expensive
January 08, 2014
January 08, 2014
That bituminous coal and lignite together contributed 45.5 percent of Germany’s gross energy output in 2013, up from 44 percent the previous year.
BRUSSELS
It will become more expensive for businesses in the European Union to burn fossil fuels this year after the 28-country bloc decided Wednesday to beef up its carbon trading system.
The agreement ended a year of bickering over how to amend what is Europe's prime tool in the fight against climate change and the world's biggest emission trading system. Under the cap-and-trade scheme, companies pay per ton of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere, with the pollution certificates traded on the market. The EU now decided to postpone the sale of 900 million additional carbon allowances — a move that will tighten supply and likely drive up prices of carbon allowances by 10 to 15 percent, according to analysts.
The tightening of the market is set to take effect this spring, EU Commission spokesman Isaac Valero said. European business lobbies vigorously opposed beefing up the carbon market, saying it would raise energy prices and broader operating costs, undermining companies' competitiveness. Environmentalists, in turn, urged the EU to push ahead.
The 28-nation EU, the world's largest economy, introduced the system in 2005 to encourage industries to reduce emissions and invest in greener technologies. Companies can trade these certificates, providing an incentive to cut emissions. Over time, the number of allowances will be lowered, cutting the overall emissions in the EU.
However, the system ran into problems when the prices for licenses dropped amid lower-than-expected demand because of Europe's stalling economy. The low price, which is currently just below 5 euros ($6.8) per ton, reduces companies' incentives to invest in new, less-polluting technology.
EU climate chief Connie Hedegaard lauded the agreement for "stabilizing the carbon market in the coming years" and vowed to press for a more fundamental overhaul of the system down the road to make it yet more efficient.
The Commission, the bloc's executive arm, first proposed the tightening of the carbon allowances, but the measure was shot down in April in the European Parliament amid heavy lobbying from Europe's industry and business lobbies.
Another vote months later, however, approved the measure, which was subsequently cleared by EU governments. In the U.S., President Barack Obama's efforts to pass a cap-and-trade bill at the federal level failed on Capitol Hill due to bipartisan opposition.
California, however, has introduced a cap-and-trade program similar to the EU's. The scheme sets a limit on the amount of carbon that can be released annually from the state's biggest industrial polluters, with permits being auctioned off and the cap declining over time.
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2560280-eu-carbon-pollution-expensive.html#.1258-stage-set5-2
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
BRUSSELS
It will become more expensive for businesses in the European Union to burn fossil fuels this year after the 28-country bloc decided Wednesday to beef up its carbon trading system.
The agreement ended a year of bickering over how to amend what is Europe's prime tool in the fight against climate change and the world's biggest emission trading system. Under the cap-and-trade scheme, companies pay per ton of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere, with the pollution certificates traded on the market. The EU now decided to postpone the sale of 900 million additional carbon allowances — a move that will tighten supply and likely drive up prices of carbon allowances by 10 to 15 percent, according to analysts.
The tightening of the market is set to take effect this spring, EU Commission spokesman Isaac Valero said. European business lobbies vigorously opposed beefing up the carbon market, saying it would raise energy prices and broader operating costs, undermining companies' competitiveness. Environmentalists, in turn, urged the EU to push ahead.
The 28-nation EU, the world's largest economy, introduced the system in 2005 to encourage industries to reduce emissions and invest in greener technologies. Companies can trade these certificates, providing an incentive to cut emissions. Over time, the number of allowances will be lowered, cutting the overall emissions in the EU.
However, the system ran into problems when the prices for licenses dropped amid lower-than-expected demand because of Europe's stalling economy. The low price, which is currently just below 5 euros ($6.8) per ton, reduces companies' incentives to invest in new, less-polluting technology.
EU climate chief Connie Hedegaard lauded the agreement for "stabilizing the carbon market in the coming years" and vowed to press for a more fundamental overhaul of the system down the road to make it yet more efficient.
The Commission, the bloc's executive arm, first proposed the tightening of the carbon allowances, but the measure was shot down in April in the European Parliament amid heavy lobbying from Europe's industry and business lobbies.
Another vote months later, however, approved the measure, which was subsequently cleared by EU governments. In the U.S., President Barack Obama's efforts to pass a cap-and-trade bill at the federal level failed on Capitol Hill due to bipartisan opposition.
California, however, has introduced a cap-and-trade program similar to the EU's. The scheme sets a limit on the amount of carbon that can be released annually from the state's biggest industrial polluters, with permits being auctioned off and the cap declining over time.
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2560280-eu-carbon-pollution-expensive.html#.1258-stage-set5-2
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
Modest deal breaks deadlock at UN climate talks
WARSAW, Poland November 23, 2013
WARSAW, Poland November 23, 2013
Delegates attend the closing session of the 19th conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2013. The talks intended to lay foundations for the new climate deal in 2015 were scheduled to end Friday, but it became apparent during the day that the fine tuning would go well into Saturday.
Avoiding a last-minute breakdown, annual U.N. climate talks limped forward Saturday with a modest set of decisions meant to pave the way for a new pact to fight global warming.
More than 190 countries agreed in Warsaw to start preparing "contributions" for the new deal, which is supposed to be adopted in 2015. That term was adopted after China and India objected to the word "commitments" in a standoff with the U.S. and other developed countries.
The fast-growing economies say they are still developing countries and shouldn't have to take on as strict commitments to cut carbon emissions as industrialized nations. "In the nick of time, negotiators in Warsaw delivered just enough to keep things moving," said Jennifer Morgan, of the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank.
The conference also advanced a program to reduce deforestation and established a "loss and damage" mechanism to help island states and other vulnerable countries under threat from rising seas, extreme weather and other climate impacts.
The wording was vague enough to make rich countries feel comfortable that they weren't going to be held liable for climate catastrophes in the developing world. U.S. and other rich countries also resisted demands to put down firm commitments on how they plan to fulfill a pledge to scale up climate financing to developing countries to $100 billion by 2020.
That money is meant to help developing countries transition to cleaner energy sources and adapt to shifts in climate that can affect agriculture, human health and economies in general. "I think we had a good outcome in the end. It was quite a tough negotiation," U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said.
The U.N. climate talks were launched two decades ago after scientists warned that humans were warming the planet by pumping CO2 and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels. So far they've failed to reduce those emissions.
More than 190 countries agreed in Warsaw to start preparing "contributions" for the new deal, which is supposed to be adopted in 2015. That term was adopted after China and India objected to the word "commitments" in a standoff with the U.S. and other developed countries.
The fast-growing economies say they are still developing countries and shouldn't have to take on as strict commitments to cut carbon emissions as industrialized nations. "In the nick of time, negotiators in Warsaw delivered just enough to keep things moving," said Jennifer Morgan, of the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank.
The conference also advanced a program to reduce deforestation and established a "loss and damage" mechanism to help island states and other vulnerable countries under threat from rising seas, extreme weather and other climate impacts.
The wording was vague enough to make rich countries feel comfortable that they weren't going to be held liable for climate catastrophes in the developing world. U.S. and other rich countries also resisted demands to put down firm commitments on how they plan to fulfill a pledge to scale up climate financing to developing countries to $100 billion by 2020.
That money is meant to help developing countries transition to cleaner energy sources and adapt to shifts in climate that can affect agriculture, human health and economies in general. "I think we had a good outcome in the end. It was quite a tough negotiation," U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said.
The U.N. climate talks were launched two decades ago after scientists warned that humans were warming the planet by pumping CO2 and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels. So far they've failed to reduce those emissions.
Young girls protest in front of the Polish Ministry of Economy in Warsaw, Monday Nov. 18, 2013 where a Coal Industry meeting is taking place in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Nov. 18, 2013. The U.N.'s chief climate diplomat on Monday urged the coal industry to diversify toward cleaner energy sources and leave most of the world's remaining coal reserves in the ground. On the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference, Christiana Figueres told dozens of CEOs of coal companies meeting at Poland's Economy Ministry that their industry needs to change radically to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists say are warming the planet.
Historically, most emissions have come from the industrialized nations, but the developing world is catching up fast, driven by rapid growth in major countries including India, Brazil and China — the world's top carbon polluter.
Though China has invested heavily in renewable sources it's reluctant to promise emissions cuts internationally because it still gets almost 70 percent of its energy from coal, which produces the highest emissions of all fuels.
The talks were paralyzed for hours Saturday until China and India dropped demands for a reference to an article in the 1992 U.N. convention on climate change that says only developed countries are required to make commitments to cut emissions.
Western countries want to get rid of that "firewall" in the new climate deal, which countries have agreed should be applicable to all. "In my understanding the firewall exists and it will continue to exist," Indian Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said, indicating the issue is far from resolved.
The Warsaw conference called on parties to announce their offers to rein in or cut emissions by the first quarter of 2015 if they are "in a position to do so." But it gave little detail on what kind of information should go into those offers.
"Unfortunately, they failed to agree on what process and criteria they would use to evaluate the adequacy and fairness of each other's proposed actions," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
It also remains unclear what legal form the agreement should take. Environmental activists, many of whom walked out of the talks in protest on Thursday, called the conference a failure for failing to deliver strong commitments to address climate change, and pointed to Typhoon Haiyan's devastation in the Philippines as a sign of urgency.
A single typhoon or hurricane cannot be conclusively linked to climate change but rising sea levels can make storm surges stronger. "Negotiators in Warsaw should have used this meeting to take a big and critical step towards global, just action on climate change. That didn't happen," said Samantha Smith, a climate activist at the World Wildlife Fund. "This has placed the negotiations towards a global agreement in 2015 at risk."
Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2477456-modest-deal-breaks-deadlock-un-climate-talks.html#.2479826-stage-related1-4
Karl Ritter can be reached at www.twitter.com/karl_ritter
Climate talks drag on without clarity on targets
WARSAW, Poland November 22, 2013
WARSAW, Poland November 22, 2013
Climate activists protest acting in the role world leaders who search for a way , in front of the U.N. climate change conference at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland on Friday, Nov. 22, 2013. They act as : French President Francois Hollande, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel., from left to right.
A draft text presented on the last scheduled day of the two-week conference in Warsaw gave only vague direction on when countries should present their targets for restricting carbon emissions. That's a key element of the deal that's supposed to be adopted in Paris in 2015. Despite a push by the European Union and the U.S. for a clear timeline for announcing targets, the draft text said only that commitments should be presented "well in advance" of the Paris summit. U.S. climate
envoy Todd Stern called for "stronger language" to drive the work forward.
The EU wants to present its target in 2014 and the U.S. is aiming for early 2015 to leave time for a review process before the Paris conference. But some countries, including China, the world's biggest carbon polluter, have been reluctant to set a deadline.
"We should talk, and we should deliver and announce during the process of negotiations," Chinese delegate Liu Zhenmin told reporters. "I don't know when. I cannot say a timeframe." He suggested that China shouldn't be expected to make emissions cuts on the same level as industrialized countries, which built their economies with fossil fuels. The EU and the U.S. want to get rid of the rich-poor division that has guided the talks in the past, saying China's rapid economic growth means it no longer can compare itself with poorer developing countries.
"This is not the time to go backward and reinstall walls we have been trying to tear down," European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told reporters. Venezuelan negotiator Claudia Salerno, a spokeswoman for a group of "like-minded" developing countries, including China and India, accused Hedegaard of starting a "blame game" through the media.
"We are shocked by the brazen attack against our group by Connie Hedegaard of the European Commission. It is incredible that she has chosen to accuse our group" of blocking the process, Salerno said in a statement.
envoy Todd Stern called for "stronger language" to drive the work forward.
The EU wants to present its target in 2014 and the U.S. is aiming for early 2015 to leave time for a review process before the Paris conference. But some countries, including China, the world's biggest carbon polluter, have been reluctant to set a deadline.
"We should talk, and we should deliver and announce during the process of negotiations," Chinese delegate Liu Zhenmin told reporters. "I don't know when. I cannot say a timeframe." He suggested that China shouldn't be expected to make emissions cuts on the same level as industrialized countries, which built their economies with fossil fuels. The EU and the U.S. want to get rid of the rich-poor division that has guided the talks in the past, saying China's rapid economic growth means it no longer can compare itself with poorer developing countries.
"This is not the time to go backward and reinstall walls we have been trying to tear down," European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told reporters. Venezuelan negotiator Claudia Salerno, a spokeswoman for a group of "like-minded" developing countries, including China and India, accused Hedegaard of starting a "blame game" through the media.
"We are shocked by the brazen attack against our group by Connie Hedegaard of the European Commission. It is incredible that she has chosen to accuse our group" of blocking the process, Salerno said in a statement.
Artificial leaves with description reading "each leaf absorbs CO2" hang at a tree in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, Nov. 22, 2013. The U.N. climate change conference that is to lay the groundwork for a new pact to prevent global warming, is scheduled to close Friday.
The U.N. climate talks were launched in 1992 after scientists warned that humans were warming the planet by pumping CO2 and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels. Though governments agree global emissions need to come down, they've been unable to agree on how to divide those cuts.
In Warsaw, negotiators were trying to lay the foundation of a 2015 deal that would take effect five years later, but were bogged down by recurring disputes over who needs to do what, when and how. Deputy Environment Minister Beata Jaczewska of host nation Poland, predicted a "sleepless night" ahead. "But we are still hoping to close the meeting as soon as possible," she said.
Countries made progress on advancing a program to reduce deforestation in developing countries, an important source of emissions because trees absorb carbon dioxide. Disputes persisted on climate financing. Rich countries have promised to help developing nations make their economies greener and to adapt to rising sea levels, desertification and other climate impacts.
Island nations that fear being submerged as the seas rise also demanded a new "loss and damage mechanism" to deal with weather disasters made worse by climate change. Developed countries resisted that proposal, fearing they would be held liable for damage caused by extreme weather events.
Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.Karl Ritter can be reached at https://twitter.com/Karl_Ritter
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2475860-climate-talks-drag-without-clarity-targets.html#.2479826-stage-related1-2
In Warsaw, negotiators were trying to lay the foundation of a 2015 deal that would take effect five years later, but were bogged down by recurring disputes over who needs to do what, when and how. Deputy Environment Minister Beata Jaczewska of host nation Poland, predicted a "sleepless night" ahead. "But we are still hoping to close the meeting as soon as possible," she said.
Countries made progress on advancing a program to reduce deforestation in developing countries, an important source of emissions because trees absorb carbon dioxide. Disputes persisted on climate financing. Rich countries have promised to help developing nations make their economies greener and to adapt to rising sea levels, desertification and other climate impacts.
Island nations that fear being submerged as the seas rise also demanded a new "loss and damage mechanism" to deal with weather disasters made worse by climate change. Developed countries resisted that proposal, fearing they would be held liable for damage caused by extreme weather events.
Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.Karl Ritter can be reached at https://twitter.com/Karl_Ritter
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2475860-climate-talks-drag-without-clarity-targets.html#.2479826-stage-related1-2
Activists March in Warsaw Against Climate Change
WARSAW, Poland November 16, 2013
WARSAW, Poland November 16, 2013
Hundreds of climate activists braved cold winds Sunday to march through Warsaw to campaign against global warming.
The march was held alongside a two-week U.N. conference that is to prepare the groundwork for a new climate deal expected in 2015. Singing and dancing, protesters walked past the National Stadium, the venue for the talks.
The march was organized by Poland's small Green Party and gathered activists from Europe. It was heavily escorted by police to ensure security.
The main banner called for "Social Justice and Positive Energy for Everyone."
German activists with the Friends of the Earth organization were rolled a giant globe. Greenpeace members carried pictures of the 30 people arrested in Russia following their protest in the Arctic and demanded their release.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/activists-march-warsaw-climate-change-20911078
The march was held alongside a two-week U.N. conference that is to prepare the groundwork for a new climate deal expected in 2015. Singing and dancing, protesters walked past the National Stadium, the venue for the talks.
The march was organized by Poland's small Green Party and gathered activists from Europe. It was heavily escorted by police to ensure security.
The main banner called for "Social Justice and Positive Energy for Everyone."
German activists with the Friends of the Earth organization were rolled a giant globe. Greenpeace members carried pictures of the 30 people arrested in Russia following their protest in the Arctic and demanded their release.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/activists-march-warsaw-climate-change-20911078
South Africa to join global march against climate change
Friday 15 November 2013 07:43
Friday 15 November 2013 07:43
Locals take part in a march in Durban, against climate change ahead of South Africa hosting global climate talks in Durban.
Civil society organisations, environmental activists and concerned citizens will march against climate change in Johannesburg on Saturday. The worldwide protests coincide with the 19th Conference of the Parties in Warsaw where several thousand representatives from a wide range of domestic and international organisations are pushing for the political commitment to sustainable development and the prevention of catastrophic climate change. The day will commence with a drumming session highlighting an urgent need for environmental justice while other stunts will point out the risks of pollution and environmental degradation. Similar actions are planned across the world urging governments and political leaders to take meaningful steps in preventing catastrophic climate change. Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, Senior Programme Coordinator, Makoma Lekalakala says, “We have been campaigning for clean, affordable and sustainable energy solutions for years. The findings of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5th Assessment support our claim for immediate action by the South African government. ” Lekalakala says, “Sustainable and just energy solutions are available, but instead of using them, the South African government and big businesses fuel our country's addiction to coal and willingly destroy our livelihoods for the greed of a few.”
The march will start at the Peter Roos Park and end at the Anglo American Headquarters.
http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/ea6ecd0041d53b708369af1c2eddf908/SA-to-join-global-march-against-climate-change
Turmoil at climate talks as blame game heats up
WARSAW, Poland November 16, 2013
Civil society organisations, environmental activists and concerned citizens will march against climate change in Johannesburg on Saturday. The worldwide protests coincide with the 19th Conference of the Parties in Warsaw where several thousand representatives from a wide range of domestic and international organisations are pushing for the political commitment to sustainable development and the prevention of catastrophic climate change. The day will commence with a drumming session highlighting an urgent need for environmental justice while other stunts will point out the risks of pollution and environmental degradation. Similar actions are planned across the world urging governments and political leaders to take meaningful steps in preventing catastrophic climate change. Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, Senior Programme Coordinator, Makoma Lekalakala says, “We have been campaigning for clean, affordable and sustainable energy solutions for years. The findings of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5th Assessment support our claim for immediate action by the South African government. ” Lekalakala says, “Sustainable and just energy solutions are available, but instead of using them, the South African government and big businesses fuel our country's addiction to coal and willingly destroy our livelihoods for the greed of a few.”
The march will start at the Peter Roos Park and end at the Anglo American Headquarters.
http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/ea6ecd0041d53b708369af1c2eddf908/SA-to-join-global-march-against-climate-change
Turmoil at climate talks as blame game heats up
WARSAW, Poland November 16, 2013
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, right, and Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres, left, talk during a meeting with the Ghana Bamboo Bike.
Rich and poor nations are struggling with a yawning rift at the U.N. climate talks as developing countries look for new ways to make developed countries accept responsibility for global warming — and pay for it. With two days left, there was commotion in the Warsaw talks Wednesday after negotiators for developing nations said they walked out of a late-night meeting on compensation for the impact of global warming. "We do not see a clear commitment of developed parties to reach an agreement," said Rene Orellana, head of Bolivia's delegation. U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern downplayed the dispute, saying American negotiators who had attended the meeting were surprised to hear of a walk-out."The meeting ended with everyone leaving," Stern told reporters. Contrasting views on what's been said and done in closed discussions is not unusual in the slow-moving U.N. effort to curb global warming, which has often been held back by mistrust between rich and poor countries. The talks in Warsaw on a new global climate deal in 2015 have been going on since Nov. 11. The question of who's to blame for global warming is central for developing countries, who say they should receive financial support from rich nations to make their economies greener, adapt to climate shifts and cover the costs of unavoidable damage caused by warming temperatures. Also, they say the fact that rich nations, historically speaking, have released the biggest amounts of heat-trapping CO2 by burning fossil fuels for more than 200 years means they need to take the lead in reducing current emissions.
In Warsaw, developing nations are coming up with fresh ways to make their point. Brazil has proposed creating a formula to calculate historical blame. "They must know how much they are actually responsible ... for the essential problem of climate change," Brazilian negotiator Raphael Azeredo said.Developed nations blocked that proposal, however, saying the world should look at current and future emissions when dividing up the responsibility for global warming. China, considered a developing nation at these talks, overtook the U.S. to become the world's biggest carbon polluter in the last decade, and developing countries as a whole now have higher emissions than the developed world. To focus only on past emissions "seems to us as very partial and not very accurate," Stern, the U.S. envoy, said. The U.S. wants to get rid of the U.N.'s current division between developed and developing nations. Stern noted that a 2007 study showed that by 2020, the all-time emissions of developing countries will exceed those of the developed world, due to emissions growth in large emerging economies like China and India. Those countries are trying to develop in a cleaner way but say it's unfair to expect them to abstain from the dirty fuels that built Western economies into powerhouses with high living standards. Finding a way to share the burden of emissions cuts in an equitable manner is one of the top challenges for the climate negotiators, whose overall goal is to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F) since preindustrial times.
Scientists say the global average temperature has already risen by 0.8 C (1.4 F), resulting in melting glaciers, rising sea levels and other climate impacts. The point of measuring the responsibility for these climate changes is to establish benchmarks to measure against when countries present their national emissions proposals for the new global agreement, explained Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocacy group. "How do you evaluate the proposals against each other? If, as I assume, we fall short, who needs to do more and why?" Meyer said. The Warsaw conference is supposed to lay the foundation for a 2015 climate agreement, but it was unclear Wednesday whether countries would be able to agree on basic stepping stones, including a timeline for when commitments should be presented. Climate finance is also divisive issue, with rich countries being urged to step up their financial support to help developing countries transfer to clean energy sources and adapt to climate change. A key dispute in Warsaw revolves around a proposed "loss and damage" mechanism that developing countries say is needed to help them cope with climate disasters that cannot be avoided. They have pointed to the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Single storms cannot be conclusively linked to climate change but rising sea levels can make them more destructive. The U.S. and other rich countries say "loss and damage" is related to climate adaptation and doesn't need to be dealt with as a separate issue. It was those talks that developing countries said they walked out of early Wednesday.
The government of Poland, which has been criticized at the talks for hosting a coal summit at the same time, stirred things up further Wednesday by replacing Environment Minister Marcin Korolec, who is presiding over the climate conference. Korolec told reporters the move would not affect his duties as conference president. Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2471022-turmoil-climate-talks-blame-game-heats-up.html#.2463408-stage-related1-3
U.N. climate talks: Four countries behaving badly
18 Nov 2013 12:45 PM
Rich and poor nations are struggling with a yawning rift at the U.N. climate talks as developing countries look for new ways to make developed countries accept responsibility for global warming — and pay for it. With two days left, there was commotion in the Warsaw talks Wednesday after negotiators for developing nations said they walked out of a late-night meeting on compensation for the impact of global warming. "We do not see a clear commitment of developed parties to reach an agreement," said Rene Orellana, head of Bolivia's delegation. U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern downplayed the dispute, saying American negotiators who had attended the meeting were surprised to hear of a walk-out."The meeting ended with everyone leaving," Stern told reporters. Contrasting views on what's been said and done in closed discussions is not unusual in the slow-moving U.N. effort to curb global warming, which has often been held back by mistrust between rich and poor countries. The talks in Warsaw on a new global climate deal in 2015 have been going on since Nov. 11. The question of who's to blame for global warming is central for developing countries, who say they should receive financial support from rich nations to make their economies greener, adapt to climate shifts and cover the costs of unavoidable damage caused by warming temperatures. Also, they say the fact that rich nations, historically speaking, have released the biggest amounts of heat-trapping CO2 by burning fossil fuels for more than 200 years means they need to take the lead in reducing current emissions.
In Warsaw, developing nations are coming up with fresh ways to make their point. Brazil has proposed creating a formula to calculate historical blame. "They must know how much they are actually responsible ... for the essential problem of climate change," Brazilian negotiator Raphael Azeredo said.Developed nations blocked that proposal, however, saying the world should look at current and future emissions when dividing up the responsibility for global warming. China, considered a developing nation at these talks, overtook the U.S. to become the world's biggest carbon polluter in the last decade, and developing countries as a whole now have higher emissions than the developed world. To focus only on past emissions "seems to us as very partial and not very accurate," Stern, the U.S. envoy, said. The U.S. wants to get rid of the U.N.'s current division between developed and developing nations. Stern noted that a 2007 study showed that by 2020, the all-time emissions of developing countries will exceed those of the developed world, due to emissions growth in large emerging economies like China and India. Those countries are trying to develop in a cleaner way but say it's unfair to expect them to abstain from the dirty fuels that built Western economies into powerhouses with high living standards. Finding a way to share the burden of emissions cuts in an equitable manner is one of the top challenges for the climate negotiators, whose overall goal is to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F) since preindustrial times.
Scientists say the global average temperature has already risen by 0.8 C (1.4 F), resulting in melting glaciers, rising sea levels and other climate impacts. The point of measuring the responsibility for these climate changes is to establish benchmarks to measure against when countries present their national emissions proposals for the new global agreement, explained Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocacy group. "How do you evaluate the proposals against each other? If, as I assume, we fall short, who needs to do more and why?" Meyer said. The Warsaw conference is supposed to lay the foundation for a 2015 climate agreement, but it was unclear Wednesday whether countries would be able to agree on basic stepping stones, including a timeline for when commitments should be presented. Climate finance is also divisive issue, with rich countries being urged to step up their financial support to help developing countries transfer to clean energy sources and adapt to climate change. A key dispute in Warsaw revolves around a proposed "loss and damage" mechanism that developing countries say is needed to help them cope with climate disasters that cannot be avoided. They have pointed to the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Single storms cannot be conclusively linked to climate change but rising sea levels can make them more destructive. The U.S. and other rich countries say "loss and damage" is related to climate adaptation and doesn't need to be dealt with as a separate issue. It was those talks that developing countries said they walked out of early Wednesday.
The government of Poland, which has been criticized at the talks for hosting a coal summit at the same time, stirred things up further Wednesday by replacing Environment Minister Marcin Korolec, who is presiding over the climate conference. Korolec told reporters the move would not affect his duties as conference president. Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.
http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/news/2471022-turmoil-climate-talks-blame-game-heats-up.html#.2463408-stage-related1-3
U.N. climate talks: Four countries behaving badly
18 Nov 2013 12:45 PM
Climate activists are not happy with Japan, Poland, Australia, and Canada.
There have been more disappointments than encouraging signs at the U.N. climate talks in Warsaw, Poland, which have just passed the halfway mark. They’re intended to lay the groundwork for a new global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, but it’s not going well so far. Rich countries are not outlining how they will fund the planned $100-billion-a-year Green Climate Fund. Discussions involving agriculture have been taken off the table, even though farming reforms could substantially reduce global carbon emissions. And nobody can agree on how best to protect carbon-soaking forests. But of the 190 countries that have sent delegates to Warsaw, four in particular have been the target of international anger over recent announcements, acts of obstructionism, and failure to commit to protect the world from global warming.
Japan
Japan is the fifth biggest greenhouse gas polluter, but it had committed to reducing its carbon emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Then Fukushima melted down and the country switched from a nuclear-powered diet to a fossil-fueled one. Now the country’s leaders are pointing to that tragedy as they walk away from their climate-change goals. Japan’s new goal? Emissions in 2020 that are 3.5 percent below 2005 levels. Which is even worse than it sounds. That means a 3.1 percent emissions increase from 1990 to 2020. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said the previous goal, which had been set by a government that is now in opposition, “was totally unfounded and wasn’t feasible.”
Poland
Poland is hosting this round of climate negotiations in its capital, but just because it’s welcomed a huge congregation of climate negotiators to a football stadium doesn’t mean the country is ready to begin acting like a responsible global citizen.
Poland expects to rely on climate-changing coal – the worst of the fossil fuels — for most of its electricity for the next 50 years. The country may soon spend billions of dollars doubling the size of one of its biggest coal-fired plants, and new coal plants are planned. As if that weren’t bad enough, the country is also hosting a major international coal summit this week. Many climate activists feel the timing of that summit is a deliberate affront to everything that the climate negotiators are working toward.
“Coal is still the basic source of energy in many countries in the world,” Polish official Beata Jaczewska told Reuters when asked about the World Coal Association meetings being held today and tomorrow. “A transition period is needed.”
Australia
Australia has morphed quickly from a global leader in the fight against climate change to an international pariah. Climate-denying Prime Minister Tony Abbott has jubilantly pursued two agendas related to global warming since taking office two months ago: ending climate action and undermining research and development. (Isn’t it interesting how climate deniers so often hate science?) Abbott has moved to axe the country’s carbon tax. He is cutting $409 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. He intends to dismantle a program designed to invest $9.4 billion in clean energy. And he is hacking away at the staff of the country’s preeminent research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. For the first time since 1997, Australia is not being represented at international climate talks by any federal ministers. Abbott has decided that his ministers are all needed back home to help convince a hostile senate to repeal the country’s carbon tax. Bureaucrats make up the country’s entire climate delegation, and those bureaucrats have not arrived bearing any gifts. There is widespread confusion over what Australia’s delegation actually wants, with routine briefings for journalists and diplomats canceled. Abbott has ruled out making any new commitments to fight global warming through these talks. He bizarrely insists the country will somehow meet its longstanding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas pollution 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020 — “We have made one commitment and one commitment only, which is to reduce our emissions by 5 percent,” he said – but he continues to dismantle efforts to curb emissions. Scientists, the bane of spinmeisters like Abbott, are calling bullshit. Climate Action Tracker, which tracks and analyzes countries’ climate pledges, is projecting a 12 percent rise in Australia’s emissions by 2020 under Abbott’s policies.
Canada
Canada and Australia have a lot in common — they are both Western powers rich in mineral resources that they’re only too happy to plunder. And while much of the world jeers the climate developments down under, Canada, which last year abandoned its own efforts to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, has taken the unusual step of cheering them.
“Canada applauds the decision by prime minister Abbott to introduce legislation to repeal Australia’s carbon tax,” Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said in a statement. “The Australian prime minister’s decision will be noticed around the world and sends an important message.” And the love affair between the countries is not just idle pillow talk. During a recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, Australia and Canada joined forces and refused to contribute any funds to a program that would help small and poor countries cope with climate change. Meanwhile, more than 100 protests were held in Canada over the weekend by those who want more action on climate change. And an estimated 60,000 protestors fighting for the same cause turned out in Australian streets. There seems to be a severe disconnect here. John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: [email protected].
http://grist.org/news/u-n-climate-talks-four-countries-behaving-badly/
The 25 Most Polluted Places On Earth
POSTED BY DAVID PEGG ON MAY 2, 2012
There are many ways you can classify pollution. It can be chemical, radioactive, or simply the presence of improperly disposed waste products. While some places, like Mexico City, have a very obvious problem with their heavy smog, do not be misled. The much more serene looking Lake Karachay in Russia would have you dead within an hour of sitting on its banks due to heavy radioactive contamination. So, whether the pollution is visible or not, take note because these are the 25 most polluted places on Earth.
http://list25.com/the-25-most-polluted-places-on-earth/
Solar boat reaches Paris after crossing Atlantic
By GREG KELLER September 10, 2013 12:09 PM
http://list25.com/the-25-most-polluted-places-on-earth/
Solar boat reaches Paris after crossing Atlantic
By GREG KELLER September 10, 2013 12:09 PM
The world's largest solar-powered boat has docked on the banks of the Seine River, its final port of call after a three-month voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to study how the Gulf Stream and climate change could influence each other.
The 102-foot-long (31-meter-long) Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran looks like one of Darth Vader's TIE Fighters turned on its side. Starting from Miami in June, University of Geneva scientists sailed up the eastern seaboard of the Unites States, then across the Atlantic, taking water and air measurements that should allow them to better understand the complex interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere.
The scientists focused on aerosols, fine particles emitted at the ocean's surface that can influence climate, said Martin Beniston the expedition's chief climatologist and head of the University of Geneva's Institute for Environmental Sciences.
"Our first surprise when we started looking at the data is the quantity of the aerosols that are actually injected into the atmosphere by the ocean, which means we might have underestimated the climatic role of the oceans via aerosols," Beniston said.
The $20 million PlanetSolar's deck is covered with photovoltaic panels that charge a gigantic lithium ion battery. The vessel can last on battery power for up to four days if there's no sun. PlanetSolar garnered attention last year when it completed a nearly two-year circumnavigation of the globe, the first round-the-world voyage by a solar-powered boat.
http://news.yahoo.com/solar-boat-reaches-paris-crossing-atlantic-150131046.html
The 102-foot-long (31-meter-long) Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran looks like one of Darth Vader's TIE Fighters turned on its side. Starting from Miami in June, University of Geneva scientists sailed up the eastern seaboard of the Unites States, then across the Atlantic, taking water and air measurements that should allow them to better understand the complex interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere.
The scientists focused on aerosols, fine particles emitted at the ocean's surface that can influence climate, said Martin Beniston the expedition's chief climatologist and head of the University of Geneva's Institute for Environmental Sciences.
"Our first surprise when we started looking at the data is the quantity of the aerosols that are actually injected into the atmosphere by the ocean, which means we might have underestimated the climatic role of the oceans via aerosols," Beniston said.
The $20 million PlanetSolar's deck is covered with photovoltaic panels that charge a gigantic lithium ion battery. The vessel can last on battery power for up to four days if there's no sun. PlanetSolar garnered attention last year when it completed a nearly two-year circumnavigation of the globe, the first round-the-world voyage by a solar-powered boat.
http://news.yahoo.com/solar-boat-reaches-paris-crossing-atlantic-150131046.html
The Solar Impulse Project
A solar-powered plane has completed a successful flight across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as part of preparations for a journey around the world. The Solar Impulse aircraft is scheduled to begin a voyage around the world in 2015, after attempting a coast-to-coast flight of the US later this year. Following the test flight in California, a post on the project's website said: "What an incredible day, Solar Impulse high above the Golden Gate Bridge, gently hovering over the architectural masterpiece for all to see. "We've been talking about this exploit for weeks, but seeing the first shots of the solar bird above San Francisco goes beyond what we had imagined: spectacular!" The plane is powered by around 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover huge wings and charge its batteries, allowing it to fly day and night without jet fuel. It has the wing span of a commercial airplane but the weight of an average family car, making it vulnerable to bad weather. Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and his partner, pilot Andre Borschberg, have been working on the Solar Impulse project since 2003. Their ultimate aim of circling the globe follows other test flights, including one lasting 24 hours and a transcontinental flight between Europe and Africa.
The objective of Solar Impulse is to promote renewable energies and to demonstrate to people how today’s technologies can provide renewable forms of energy. If this is within reach in a demanding domain such as aviation, it can also be done in day-to-day life.
Since its historical 26 hours non stop flight and with the flight from Switzerland to Morocco, Solar Impulse has demonstrated that a solar-powered airplane can fly day and night using no fuel. The next challenge is to fly round the world in 2014 in a new aircraft, currently being built.
Since its historical 26 hours non stop flight and with the flight from Switzerland to Morocco, Solar Impulse has demonstrated that a solar-powered airplane can fly day and night using no fuel. The next challenge is to fly round the world in 2014 in a new aircraft, currently being built.
Cambridge University reveals new World Solar Challenge car
The only UK entry for the World Solar Challenge 2013, has revealed its new solar car design, which hopes will give it one of the best chances in a decade for a Cambridge University’s Eco Racing (CUER) team, which first entered the challenge in 2009, announced late last year that it was to radically overhaul the design of its solar car, in a bid to get ahead of the competition.
The new vehicle-called Resolution-is unveiled today at Millbrook as the team continues testing the new model, ahead of the start of the competition on October 6, 2013.
Starting in Darwin, around 40 teams for universities and colleges around the world take part each year, powering their cars using solar power generated on-board, with the goal to reach Adelaide first.
Team Manager Keno Mario-Ghae, a second year engineering student at Girton College explains: “The margin between first and second place in the 2011 race was just 30 minutes. The narrowly beaten Dutch team are national heroes that previously won the race four times in succession, so we are not underestimating the strength of the competition”.victory in the gruelling 3,000 km (1,864 mile) race across Australia.
The world's first electricity producing solar-powered family car
Presented by the solar team eindhoven (STE) of TU/e as the world's first solar-powered family car, 'stella', the 'energy positive' vehicle provides accommodation for four people, fully accessible trunk space an intuitive steering system and has a range of 600 kilometers. Equipped with photo-voltaic panels, the roof-mounted solar cells can generate more electricity on average than it consumes. Meaning that with the surplus of electricity it produces, the excess can be returned to the power grid. by combining aerodynamic design with lightweight materials like carbon and aluminum. The concept boasts a stream-lined silhouette for an extremely fuel-efficient ride. In addition the stella' features LED strip applications and touchscreen display that transforms all existing superfluous buttons and knobs for an interactive cockpit experience, intuitive driving is enabled with an expanding and contracting steering wheel that warns the user if they are driving too fast or too slow.
The 'stella' will participate in the cruiser class for the world solar challenge 2013, a 3,000 km long race across the Australian outback from october 6 - 13 2013, that will place emphasis on the practical and user-friendly application to solar cars rather than on speed.
World Solar Challenge: Crash ends Cambridge University race hopes
6 October 2013 Last updated at 15:21
The only British team to qualify for a solar car race in Australia has been forced to pull out after its vehicle crashed just days before the start.
The Cambridge University Eco Racing car, Resolution, was expected to take part in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, but crashed on Tuesday.
The team hoped to fix it before the start, but withdrew on Saturday. In a statement, the team said: "We have not been able to reassure ourselves of the safety of our solar drivers." Resolution was one of 28 vehicles entered in the Challenger category of the 1,860-mile (3,000km), seven-day race from Darwin to Adelaide which started earlier. Built by a 60-strong team of students at the university's engineering department, the car weighs 265lb (120kg) and is designed to run at an average speed of 50mph (80km/h).During testing prior to the race, the team wrote on their blog: "The first three hours of testing went exactly as planned.
"Unfortunately, we also did one unplanned test, of the structural integrity of the chassis. We had an accident." The vehicle rolled on its side, skidded along the road and slipped down an embankment. The driver walked away unhurt as the roll cage and chassis stood up to the impact. However, the team said: "[The] solar cells on the side of the door... do not take kindly to being sanded by 50m of rough tarmac."Large portions of the side panel cells are now scattered in a thin, very expensive layer over the surface of [the road]." The team added the car was "only designed to withstand one such impact - and as such needs to be repaired to be fit for purpose". Members were unable to make the repairs in time for the start of the race.
A message on their website said: "The team is very disappointed but we are confident that we have made the right decision."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-24419452
6 October 2013 Last updated at 15:21
The only British team to qualify for a solar car race in Australia has been forced to pull out after its vehicle crashed just days before the start.
The Cambridge University Eco Racing car, Resolution, was expected to take part in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, but crashed on Tuesday.
The team hoped to fix it before the start, but withdrew on Saturday. In a statement, the team said: "We have not been able to reassure ourselves of the safety of our solar drivers." Resolution was one of 28 vehicles entered in the Challenger category of the 1,860-mile (3,000km), seven-day race from Darwin to Adelaide which started earlier. Built by a 60-strong team of students at the university's engineering department, the car weighs 265lb (120kg) and is designed to run at an average speed of 50mph (80km/h).During testing prior to the race, the team wrote on their blog: "The first three hours of testing went exactly as planned.
"Unfortunately, we also did one unplanned test, of the structural integrity of the chassis. We had an accident." The vehicle rolled on its side, skidded along the road and slipped down an embankment. The driver walked away unhurt as the roll cage and chassis stood up to the impact. However, the team said: "[The] solar cells on the side of the door... do not take kindly to being sanded by 50m of rough tarmac."Large portions of the side panel cells are now scattered in a thin, very expensive layer over the surface of [the road]." The team added the car was "only designed to withstand one such impact - and as such needs to be repaired to be fit for purpose". Members were unable to make the repairs in time for the start of the race.
A message on their website said: "The team is very disappointed but we are confident that we have made the right decision."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-24419452
Dutch team powers to World Solar Challenge win
By Clare Rawlinson
Updated Fri 11 Oct 2013, 7:07am AEDT
The Dutch have taken out the World Solar Challenge, with their solar powered car crossing the finish line more 100 kilometres ahead of closest rival Japan.
There were jubilant scenes as the Dutch team, Nuon and its car Nuna7, travelled to the centre of Adelaide for the trophy presentation after completing the 3,000 kilometre road journey from Darwin. It marked the fifth win in the event for the team, which has now competed seven times.
Coach Wobbo Ockles says it is a wonderful feeling. "The biggest pleasure you can get in your life," he said.
Both Nuon and its main rival, veteran Japanese team Tokai, had to battle cloudy skies and rain nearing the finish. But while Tokai was stuck on the side of the road with a flat battery, Nuon had more power because it had been harnessing energy in extra solar collector panels the team used while the car was stationary.
The strategy was within the race guidelines. Still, team Nuon say the conditions were much worse than expected. "We were really afraid things could go wrong in the end," one member said.
Nuna7 managed an average speed of 90.71 kilometres per hour and it took just over 33 hours to complete the 3,000 kilometre trip from Darwin.
Eventually, Tokai crept into Adelaide early this afternoon at a speed of just 30 kilometres per hour. Tokai's Hosam Bukhary says they are still glad to have been runners up. "We had so much pressure. Our battery was about to end and we stopped, we had to charge," he said. "We were afraid we were going to come third or fourth but fortunately we could come second - of course we would like to come first but Nuon was really strong."
The remaining almost 40 cars, including Australian teams Arrow and Swift, will not arrive until at least Friday thanks to the cloud cover that has slowed them down.
Police said four people were in a support vehicle which rolled in the far north of SA on Thursday afternoon. The accident was on the Stuart Highway, about 60 kilometres south of Coober Pedy. All four escaped without serious injury.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-10/dutch-team-nuon-winds-world-solar-challenge-adelaide-finish/5014254
The current cycle of global warming is changing the rhythms of climate that all living things have come to rely upon. What will we do to slow this warming?
How will we cope with the changes we've already set into motion? While we struggle to figure it all out, the face of the Earth as we know it—coasts, forests, farms, and snowcapped mountains—hangs in the balance.
What Causes Global Warming? Scientists have spent decades figuring out what is causing global warming. They've looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence climate. But the amount and pattern of warming that's been measured can't be explained by these factors alone. The only way to explain the pattern is to include the effect of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by humans.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-causes
How will we cope with the changes we've already set into motion? While we struggle to figure it all out, the face of the Earth as we know it—coasts, forests, farms, and snowcapped mountains—hangs in the balance.
What Causes Global Warming? Scientists have spent decades figuring out what is causing global warming. They've looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence climate. But the amount and pattern of warming that's been measured can't be explained by these factors alone. The only way to explain the pattern is to include the effect of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by humans.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-causes
Photograph by Joel Sartore
The Inuit, a group of indigenous people living in the Arctic, are finding their land and cultures rapidly changing as climate change deepens its grip. As ice declines, so does the number of days available for Inuit to hunt for animals such as seals and walrus. Shifting winds are also reshaping ice formations used as landmarks for generations, making navigation more difficult. But, as Theo Ikummaq of Canada's Nunavut Province said, "We have lived in this region for centuries and we will continue to. As the climate changes, we will adapt."
The Inuit, a group of indigenous people living in the Arctic, are finding their land and cultures rapidly changing as climate change deepens its grip. As ice declines, so does the number of days available for Inuit to hunt for animals such as seals and walrus. Shifting winds are also reshaping ice formations used as landmarks for generations, making navigation more difficult. But, as Theo Ikummaq of Canada's Nunavut Province said, "We have lived in this region for centuries and we will continue to. As the climate changes, we will adapt."
Impacts on Africa
Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate variability and change because of multiple existing stresses and low adaptive capacity. Existing stresses include poverty, political conflicts, and ecosystem degradation.
By 2050, between 350 million and 600 million people are projected to experience increased water stress due to climate change.
Climate variability and change is projected to severely compromise agricultural production, including access to food, in many African countries and regions.
Toward the end of the 21st century, projected sea level rise will likely affect low-lying coastal areas with large populations.
Climate variability and change can negatively impact human health. In many African countries, other factors already threaten human health. For example, malaria threatens health in southern Africa and the East African highlands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_effects_of_global_warming
Global warming exacerbates African conflict Africa is arguably the most vulnerable continent to the impacts of global warming, despite being the least responsible for the pollution causing it. By the year 2080, East Africa’s temperature is predicted to rise 5.4 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit, one and a half times more than the projected average for the rest of the world.Droughts, flooding, famine, species extinction, and conflicts all made worse by global warming in East Africa.
http://globalwarming.markey.house.gov/impactzones/eastafrica.html
Unleashing the power of women farmers in Ethiopia
On International Women’s Day, a thousand women – mostly farmers – gathered in Ziway in central Ethiopia to celebrate the power and potential of women food producers. One of the women at the event was a farmer called Bedria Hussein:
Bedria shows me the small piece of land behind her house where she and her husband farm. It’s about 400m2. At first I’m disappointed – I wanted to see a farm and I’m being shown a garden. But as I look and listen I realise that although the land is small, she really is a farmer. Farming is how Bedria, a mother of two daughters, supports herself and her family. More than that, it has transformed her life and is enabling her and her husband to progress and have greater dreams for the future.
http://www.oxfamblogs.org/eastafrica/?cat=5
John Vidal
The Observer, Saturday 13 April 2013 21.00 BST
When the Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, it was in protest at heavy-handed treatment and harassment in the province where he lived. But a host of new studies suggest that a major factor in the subsequent uprisings, which became known as the Arab spring, was food insecurity.
Drought, rocketing bread prices, food and water shortages have all blighted parts of the Middle East. Analysts at the Centre for American Progress in Washington say a combination of food shortages and other environmental factors exacerbated the already tense politics of the region. As the Observer reports today, an as-yet unpublished US government study indicates that the world needs to prepare for much more of the same, as food prices spiral and longstanding agricultural practices are disrupted by climate change.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/13/climate-change-threat-food-supplies
The Observer, Saturday 13 April 2013 21.00 BST
When the Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, it was in protest at heavy-handed treatment and harassment in the province where he lived. But a host of new studies suggest that a major factor in the subsequent uprisings, which became known as the Arab spring, was food insecurity.
Drought, rocketing bread prices, food and water shortages have all blighted parts of the Middle East. Analysts at the Centre for American Progress in Washington say a combination of food shortages and other environmental factors exacerbated the already tense politics of the region. As the Observer reports today, an as-yet unpublished US government study indicates that the world needs to prepare for much more of the same, as food prices spiral and longstanding agricultural practices are disrupted by climate change.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/13/climate-change-threat-food-supplies