Climate Change News pt.7
NASA Releases Detailed Global Climate Change Projections
June 9, 2015
NASA has released data showing how temperature and rainfall patterns worldwide may change through the year 2100 because of growing concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere.The dataset, which is available to the public, shows projected changes worldwide on a regional level in response to different scenarios of increasing carbon dioxide simulated by 21 climate models. The high-resolution data, which can be viewed on a daily timescale at the scale of individual cities and towns, will help scientists and planners conduct climate risk assessments to better understand local and global effects of hazards, such as severe drought, floods, heat waves and losses in agriculture productivity.
“NASA is in the business of taking what we’ve learned about our planet from space and creating new products that help us all safeguard our future,” said Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist. “With this new global dataset, people around the world have a valuable new tool to use in planning how to cope with a warming planet.”The new dataset is the latest product from the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), a big-data research platform within the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Center at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. In 2013, NEX released similar climate projection data for the continental United States that is being used to quantify climate risks to the nation’s agriculture, forests, rivers and cities."This is a fundamental dataset for climate research and assessment with a wide range of applications,” said Ramakrishna Nemani, NEX project scientist at Ames. “NASA continues to produce valuable community-based data products on the NEX platform to promote scientific collaboration, knowledge sharing, and research and development."This NASA dataset integrates actual measurements from around the world with data from climate simulations created by the international Fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. These climate simulations used the best physical models of the climate system available to provide forecasts of what the global climate might look like under two different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios: a “business as usual” scenario based on current trends and an “extreme case” with a significant increase in emissions.
The NASA climate projections provide a detailed view of future temperature and precipitation patterns around the world at a 15.5 mile (25 kilometer) resolution, covering the time period from 1950 to 2100. The 11-terabyte dataset provides daily estimates of maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation over the entire globe.NEX is a collaboration and analytical platform that combines state-of-the-art supercomputing, Earth system modeling, workflow management and NASA remote-sensing data. Through NEX, users can explore and analyze large Earth science data sets, run and share modeling algorithms and workflows, collaborate on new or existing projects and exchange workflows and results within and among other science communities.NEX data and analysis tools are available to the public through the OpenNEX project on Amazon Web Services. OpenNEX is a partnership between NASA and Amazon, Inc., to enhance public access to climate data, and support planning to increase climate resilience in the U.S. and internationally. OpenNEX is an extension of the NASA Earth Exchange in a public cloud-computing environment.
Additional information about the new NASA climate projection dataset is available here. Download the dataset here.
OpenNEX information and training materials are available here.
Source: By Steve Cole, NASA Headquarters, and Darryl Waller, NASA’s Ames Research Center
www.nanowerk.com/news2/green/newsid=40406.php
“NASA is in the business of taking what we’ve learned about our planet from space and creating new products that help us all safeguard our future,” said Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist. “With this new global dataset, people around the world have a valuable new tool to use in planning how to cope with a warming planet.”The new dataset is the latest product from the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), a big-data research platform within the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Center at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. In 2013, NEX released similar climate projection data for the continental United States that is being used to quantify climate risks to the nation’s agriculture, forests, rivers and cities."This is a fundamental dataset for climate research and assessment with a wide range of applications,” said Ramakrishna Nemani, NEX project scientist at Ames. “NASA continues to produce valuable community-based data products on the NEX platform to promote scientific collaboration, knowledge sharing, and research and development."This NASA dataset integrates actual measurements from around the world with data from climate simulations created by the international Fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. These climate simulations used the best physical models of the climate system available to provide forecasts of what the global climate might look like under two different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios: a “business as usual” scenario based on current trends and an “extreme case” with a significant increase in emissions.
The NASA climate projections provide a detailed view of future temperature and precipitation patterns around the world at a 15.5 mile (25 kilometer) resolution, covering the time period from 1950 to 2100. The 11-terabyte dataset provides daily estimates of maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation over the entire globe.NEX is a collaboration and analytical platform that combines state-of-the-art supercomputing, Earth system modeling, workflow management and NASA remote-sensing data. Through NEX, users can explore and analyze large Earth science data sets, run and share modeling algorithms and workflows, collaborate on new or existing projects and exchange workflows and results within and among other science communities.NEX data and analysis tools are available to the public through the OpenNEX project on Amazon Web Services. OpenNEX is a partnership between NASA and Amazon, Inc., to enhance public access to climate data, and support planning to increase climate resilience in the U.S. and internationally. OpenNEX is an extension of the NASA Earth Exchange in a public cloud-computing environment.
Additional information about the new NASA climate projection dataset is available here. Download the dataset here.
OpenNEX information and training materials are available here.
Source: By Steve Cole, NASA Headquarters, and Darryl Waller, NASA’s Ames Research Center
www.nanowerk.com/news2/green/newsid=40406.php
The Health Benefits of Fighting Climate Change
MAY 21, 2015
LIMA – Governments often see climate change as too costly to address. In fact, it is too costly to ignore. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO), for example, has linked the prevention of disastrous climate change to “immediate health benefits and health cost savings” from the reduction of air pollution. The statistics are grim. Air pollution caused more than seven million premature deaths one in eight globally in 2012, compared to nearly six million premature deaths from tobacco.
One of the biggest causes of harm are the fine particles called PM2.5, with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. They wreak havoc by traveling deep into the lungs, contributing to inflammation, cancer, and respiratory infection, or by passing into the bloodstream, where they can trigger changes in blood vessels that cause heart attacks and strokes. The combustion of diesel and coal are among the main causes of air pollution, with 3.7 million deaths attributed to outdoor fumes and 4.3 million resulting from poorly ventilated homes. Motorized transport now accounts for half of premature deaths from ambient particulate matter in the 34 OECD countries. Coal-fired power is also the main source of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change, which causes about 150,000 premature deaths annually and threatens pervasive risks this century and beyond.
To be sure, the coal industry has helped billions of people escape poverty, not least in China, where coal-fired power has underpinned the nearly 700% growth in per capita income since 1990. But human health is at greater risk in countries that burn more coal. Research for the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate last year calculated that particulate matter alone caused 1.23 million premature deaths in China – the world’s top coal-consuming economy in 2010. Estimates for 2012 suggest that 88% of air-pollution-related deaths occur in low- to middle-income countries, representing 82% of the world’s population. The Western Pacific and Southeast Asian regions bear the burden of 1.67 million and 936,000 deaths, respectively.
But pollution is worsening and taking lives in high-income countries as well. For example, PM2.5 reduces life expectancy across the European Union by eight months and, together with ozone, was responsible for 430,000 premature deaths in the EU’s 28 member states in 2011. In Britain, more than six decades after the Great Smog of 1952, PM2.5 pollution levels still persistently exceed WHO guidelines. The health costs of air pollution in the EU are up to €940 billion annually. The WHO recently carried out a review of the evidence on the health effects of air pollution, and found that the range of such effects is broader and occur at lower concentrations than previously thought.
In addition to the well-known effects of air pollution on the lungs and heart, new evidence points to its detrimental impact on children’s development, including in utero. Some studies even link air pollution to diabetes, a major chronic disease and health challenge in Indonesia, China, and Western countries. Despite the overwhelming evidence of health risks, many countries routinely ignore air-quality standards as well as the emissions monitoring needed for effective regional cooperation – mainly owing to governments’ fear of their economic impact. Economic models used by advisers to shape development strategy – and touted by lobbyists to influence decisions on major infrastructure projects exclude the human cost of air pollution and the long-term benefits of measures to reduce it.
Any solutions to the problems posed by air pollution will require not only new economic models, but also integrated measures by local, national, and international governments. Cutting emissions from urban transport, for example, will involve city mayors, local planners, and national policymakers working together to induce compact development. Fortunately, government support for effective action is growing. Air pollution is at the top of China’s domestic agenda, following the choking smog dubbed “airpocalypse” that engulfed its major cities in January 2013 and Chai Jing’s recent documentary (and social-media phenomenon) “Under the Dome,” which exposed the catastrophic health impacts of air pollution. Indeed, China’s government has closed some of the country’s dirtiest power plants, resulting in a drop in coal consumption last year for the first time since 1998.
A recent draft resolution on air pollution and health for the World Health Assembly (the WHO’s governing body) suggests that countries should “underscore” a link between air pollution and climate change. Countries should adopt the WHO air-quality guidelines and highlight additional opportunities for greener urban planning, cleaner energy, more efficient buildings, and safer walking and cycling. A formal acknowledgement by governments of the immediate health-related benefits of cutting carbon-dioxide emissions can tip the scales toward greater progress on climate change, air pollution, and human health simultaneously. Policymakers everywhere should recognize the economic opportunities and the political benefits that such an outcome promises to deliver.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/climate-change-actions-health-benefits-by-patricia-garcia-and-peter-van-den-hazel-2015-05
One of the biggest causes of harm are the fine particles called PM2.5, with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. They wreak havoc by traveling deep into the lungs, contributing to inflammation, cancer, and respiratory infection, or by passing into the bloodstream, where they can trigger changes in blood vessels that cause heart attacks and strokes. The combustion of diesel and coal are among the main causes of air pollution, with 3.7 million deaths attributed to outdoor fumes and 4.3 million resulting from poorly ventilated homes. Motorized transport now accounts for half of premature deaths from ambient particulate matter in the 34 OECD countries. Coal-fired power is also the main source of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change, which causes about 150,000 premature deaths annually and threatens pervasive risks this century and beyond.
To be sure, the coal industry has helped billions of people escape poverty, not least in China, where coal-fired power has underpinned the nearly 700% growth in per capita income since 1990. But human health is at greater risk in countries that burn more coal. Research for the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate last year calculated that particulate matter alone caused 1.23 million premature deaths in China – the world’s top coal-consuming economy in 2010. Estimates for 2012 suggest that 88% of air-pollution-related deaths occur in low- to middle-income countries, representing 82% of the world’s population. The Western Pacific and Southeast Asian regions bear the burden of 1.67 million and 936,000 deaths, respectively.
But pollution is worsening and taking lives in high-income countries as well. For example, PM2.5 reduces life expectancy across the European Union by eight months and, together with ozone, was responsible for 430,000 premature deaths in the EU’s 28 member states in 2011. In Britain, more than six decades after the Great Smog of 1952, PM2.5 pollution levels still persistently exceed WHO guidelines. The health costs of air pollution in the EU are up to €940 billion annually. The WHO recently carried out a review of the evidence on the health effects of air pollution, and found that the range of such effects is broader and occur at lower concentrations than previously thought.
In addition to the well-known effects of air pollution on the lungs and heart, new evidence points to its detrimental impact on children’s development, including in utero. Some studies even link air pollution to diabetes, a major chronic disease and health challenge in Indonesia, China, and Western countries. Despite the overwhelming evidence of health risks, many countries routinely ignore air-quality standards as well as the emissions monitoring needed for effective regional cooperation – mainly owing to governments’ fear of their economic impact. Economic models used by advisers to shape development strategy – and touted by lobbyists to influence decisions on major infrastructure projects exclude the human cost of air pollution and the long-term benefits of measures to reduce it.
Any solutions to the problems posed by air pollution will require not only new economic models, but also integrated measures by local, national, and international governments. Cutting emissions from urban transport, for example, will involve city mayors, local planners, and national policymakers working together to induce compact development. Fortunately, government support for effective action is growing. Air pollution is at the top of China’s domestic agenda, following the choking smog dubbed “airpocalypse” that engulfed its major cities in January 2013 and Chai Jing’s recent documentary (and social-media phenomenon) “Under the Dome,” which exposed the catastrophic health impacts of air pollution. Indeed, China’s government has closed some of the country’s dirtiest power plants, resulting in a drop in coal consumption last year for the first time since 1998.
A recent draft resolution on air pollution and health for the World Health Assembly (the WHO’s governing body) suggests that countries should “underscore” a link between air pollution and climate change. Countries should adopt the WHO air-quality guidelines and highlight additional opportunities for greener urban planning, cleaner energy, more efficient buildings, and safer walking and cycling. A formal acknowledgement by governments of the immediate health-related benefits of cutting carbon-dioxide emissions can tip the scales toward greater progress on climate change, air pollution, and human health simultaneously. Policymakers everywhere should recognize the economic opportunities and the political benefits that such an outcome promises to deliver.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/climate-change-actions-health-benefits-by-patricia-garcia-and-peter-van-den-hazel-2015-05
UNDP: Nepal - A lesson in the risks climate change poses to disaster-prone countries
Date:30 Apr 2015 By Daniel Buckley
As relief assistance rushes to Nepal after the earthquake, those efforts are being hampered by a number of factors. Weak existing infrastructure means many critical roads have been damaged. Remote mountain villages perched on hillsides require helicopters to distribute aid. Inadequate communications networks complicate the ability to understand and prioritise where relief is most needed.
These are manmade factors. However, there are also climate-related factors that complicate search and rescue operations, impede convoys loaded with food, water and medical supplies, and exacerbate already difficult conditions for the displaced population. As a Least Developed Country, Nepal suffers through the worst impacts of climate change – droughts, floods, and food insecurity – despite bearing little responsibility for the carbon emissions now affecting our climate.
As a UNDP climate change policy specialist based in New York, I was on mission to Kathmandu when the earthquake struck. My mission was to design a project to enable Nepal to access increased climate finance. With such funding, Nepal could better adapt to climate impacts in vulnerable sectors of the economy while putting the country on a low-carbon development path that encourages sustainable livelihoods. I came to design a climate change project; now I am getting an education in disaster response, and the risks climate change poses to disaster-prone countries.
It is clear to me that responses to climate change must be risk-informed. This devastating tragedy in Nepal has made the development-climate-disaster nexus crystal clear. The early monsoon this year has soaked people forced out of homes damaged by the earthquake. This increases the likelihood of the spread of contagious diseases in public spaces where many now take shelter. When I first arrived in Nepal, many remarked on the unusually early rains. A growing body of evidence* suggests climate change affects the monsoon’s arrival and intensity. Nepal must now prepare for monsoons that may come too early or too late. Erratic rainfall patterns and amounts may bring above-normal quantities of precipitation that cause deadly floods, endangering lives and crops. Decreased rains in water-stressed regions may force migration to already crowded cities and increase food insecurity. These are impacts that affect Nepal’s ability to recover from disasters, erasing development gains and increasing vulnerability.
UNDP is on the ground with early recovery efforts but long-term planning, policy measures and capacity building are needed. It is clear that policy makers and the private sector must take disaster risk into account, or we may dedicate precious resources for climate change interventions that could be wiped out in a single afternoon, just like last Saturday in Nepal.
Daniel Buckley is a Climate Change Policy and Finance Analyst with the UNDP Sustainable Development Group.
Follow Daniel on Twitter: @ClimateCFO
www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/news
These are manmade factors. However, there are also climate-related factors that complicate search and rescue operations, impede convoys loaded with food, water and medical supplies, and exacerbate already difficult conditions for the displaced population. As a Least Developed Country, Nepal suffers through the worst impacts of climate change – droughts, floods, and food insecurity – despite bearing little responsibility for the carbon emissions now affecting our climate.
As a UNDP climate change policy specialist based in New York, I was on mission to Kathmandu when the earthquake struck. My mission was to design a project to enable Nepal to access increased climate finance. With such funding, Nepal could better adapt to climate impacts in vulnerable sectors of the economy while putting the country on a low-carbon development path that encourages sustainable livelihoods. I came to design a climate change project; now I am getting an education in disaster response, and the risks climate change poses to disaster-prone countries.
It is clear to me that responses to climate change must be risk-informed. This devastating tragedy in Nepal has made the development-climate-disaster nexus crystal clear. The early monsoon this year has soaked people forced out of homes damaged by the earthquake. This increases the likelihood of the spread of contagious diseases in public spaces where many now take shelter. When I first arrived in Nepal, many remarked on the unusually early rains. A growing body of evidence* suggests climate change affects the monsoon’s arrival and intensity. Nepal must now prepare for monsoons that may come too early or too late. Erratic rainfall patterns and amounts may bring above-normal quantities of precipitation that cause deadly floods, endangering lives and crops. Decreased rains in water-stressed regions may force migration to already crowded cities and increase food insecurity. These are impacts that affect Nepal’s ability to recover from disasters, erasing development gains and increasing vulnerability.
UNDP is on the ground with early recovery efforts but long-term planning, policy measures and capacity building are needed. It is clear that policy makers and the private sector must take disaster risk into account, or we may dedicate precious resources for climate change interventions that could be wiped out in a single afternoon, just like last Saturday in Nepal.
Daniel Buckley is a Climate Change Policy and Finance Analyst with the UNDP Sustainable Development Group.
Follow Daniel on Twitter: @ClimateCFO
www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/news
Is 2015 The Year Soil Becomes Climate Change’s Hottest Topic?
BY NATASHA GEILING POSTED ON APRIL 29, 2015 AT 8:00 AM
Last week, 650 people from 80 countries gathered in Germany for a week-long discussion about an increasingly important topic in climate change: soil. Dubbed Global Soil Week by the Global Soil Forum an international body dedicated to achieving responsible land use and soil management the conference brought together scientists and environmental advocates from all over the world who hoped to translate scientific research about soil into tangible policies for its management.
2015 is shaping up to be a big year for soil in addition to being Global Soil Week’s third year running, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has declared it the International Year of Soil. José Graziano da Silva, director of the FAO,
has called soil a “nearly forgotten resource,” and has implemented more than 120 soil-related projects around the world to mark the International Year of Soil. Farming First, a global agriculture coalition with more than 150 support organizations,
has also called for soil health to be a top priority in the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals.
So why is soil so important?
“If you look at the global carbon created in nature under land-based systems, soil and trees are the two dominant reservoirs where carbon is,” Rattan Lal, director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University, told ThinkProgress. Soils and the microbes that live within them store three times as much carbon as is in the atmosphere, and four and a half times as much as in all plants and animals. “If the soil carbon reserve is not managed properly,” Lal said,
“it can easily overwhelm the atmosphere.”
Climate change can stimulate the release of carbon from soil in a few different ways. Normally, carbon is bonded to minerals
in the soil, which helps keep carbon locked in the soil and out of the atmosphere. A recent report by scientists at Oregon State University, however, found that when chemicals emitted by plant roots interact with minerals in soil, it can cause carbon to break free. This exposes the carbon to decomposition by microbes in the soil, which pass it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. As the climate warms, the scientists found, more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will stimulate the growth of plants, which will in turn stimulate the production of the root compounds that breakdown carbon and soil minerals.
“We thought for many many years if you just increase plant productivity, soil carbon will just go up,” Kate Lajtha, professor of biogeochemistry at Oregon State University, told ThinkProgress. “What more and more models are seeing now is that the opposite is true.”
The microbes that break down stored carbon are also likely to become more active in a warmer world, according to a
2014 study published in Nature. The study looked at microbes in 22 different kinds of soil from along a climatic gradient, testing samples of soil from the Arctic to the Amazon. They found that as temperature increased, the respiratory activity of the microbes in the soil also increased, releasing more carbon dioxide and that effect was most pronounced in northern soils, which tend to store more carbon than soils at other latitudes. Soil isn’t just useful for storing carbon it also grows 95 percent
of the food we eat, according to the FAO. But even beyond climate change, agriculture is the number one cause of soil disruption. “What we’re seeing is probably the biggest drivers aren’t going to be those direct effects of climate,” Lajtha said. “Really, the big driver of soil carbon change is what humans are doing to the soil, and a lot of that is agriculture.”
The UN estimates that nearly a third of the world’s soil is degraded in sub-Saharan Africa, that figure is closer to two-thirds. Degraded soils are less effective for growing crops, threatening food security in places where most of the population lives off of subsistence farming. According to the Montpellier Panel an international group working to support national and regional agricultural development and food security priorities in sub-Saharan Africa soil degradation costs sub-Saharan Africa $68 billion per year. If soil degradation continues at its current rate, the UN estimates that all of the world’s topsoil could be
gone in 60 years.
Topsoil, Lajtha says, is where most soil carbon is stored it’s where decomposed plant matter and plant roots are deposited
so losing topsoil means losing a huge amount of carbon currently stored in the soil. But soil degradation isn’t irreversible.
“If we manage the soil properly, we can reverse the degradation and some of that carbon that we lost can be put back,”
Lal said. Conservation practices like no-till agriculture can help minimize soil degradation, according to Lal. Other practices like planting cover crops in the winter season or continously applying compost to soil can also help boost soil’s ability to retain carbon. “In some ways, it’s as simple as a disrupted soil loses carbon and intact soil with vegetation retains carbon,”
Lajtha said.
But conservation practices aren’t widely adopted yet in Ohio, according to Lal, cover crop use and no-till agriculture is practiced on just one-third of the cropland. Worldwide, such conservation practices account for only 10 percent of cropland.
For some farmers, switching to no-till agriculture means replacing seed drills, which can cost upwards of $100,000.
“Even though the community as a whole benefits, there might be a reduction in yield that is prohibitive to farmers that adopt it,” Lal said, noting that the adoption rate of no-till agriculture has been almost zero in places like Africa and Southeast Asia.
“We have a long way to go,” he said. Scientists have also seen promise in the practice of agroforestry combining trees with cropland or livestock systems. Elizabeth Teague, senior associate for environmental performance at Root Capital, an investing fund that works with small agribusinesses in Africa and Latin America, have seen a slew of benefits associated with agroforestry, mostly with coffee and cocoa crops.
“Trees can help enrich the soil, and if done properly you can help avoid erosion, which is a big problem in coffee producing environments,” Teague told ThinkProgress. “Many studies have also shown that the agroforestry system can help mitigate climate change by helping with carbon sequestration. compared to other type of cropping systems, the trees are sequestering carbon and increasing above and below ground carbon stocks.” Like no-till and cover crops, however, certain barriers still exist between small-hold farmers in developing countries and agroforestry. Planting trees alongside crops requires a certain level of finesse plant too many trees and the crops won’t thrive; plant too few, and the environment suffers.
“Farmers have to figure out what this sweet spot is where they are maintaining a diverse, robust agroforestry system that also allows them to have a commercially viable farm,” Teague said. “For small farmers without education, resources, and technical assistance, that can be very difficult.” To Lal, who contributed to the Montpelier Panel’s 2014 report on soil restoration, agriculture might be the problem but it can also be the solution. “Most of the time the perception is that agriculture is a big time problem,” he said. “Yes, agriculture done improperly can definitely be a problem, but agriculture done in a proper way is an important solution to environmental issues including climate change, water issues, and biodiversity.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/29/3652020/global-soil-week-forum-recap
2015 is shaping up to be a big year for soil in addition to being Global Soil Week’s third year running, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has declared it the International Year of Soil. José Graziano da Silva, director of the FAO,
has called soil a “nearly forgotten resource,” and has implemented more than 120 soil-related projects around the world to mark the International Year of Soil. Farming First, a global agriculture coalition with more than 150 support organizations,
has also called for soil health to be a top priority in the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals.
So why is soil so important?
“If you look at the global carbon created in nature under land-based systems, soil and trees are the two dominant reservoirs where carbon is,” Rattan Lal, director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University, told ThinkProgress. Soils and the microbes that live within them store three times as much carbon as is in the atmosphere, and four and a half times as much as in all plants and animals. “If the soil carbon reserve is not managed properly,” Lal said,
“it can easily overwhelm the atmosphere.”
Climate change can stimulate the release of carbon from soil in a few different ways. Normally, carbon is bonded to minerals
in the soil, which helps keep carbon locked in the soil and out of the atmosphere. A recent report by scientists at Oregon State University, however, found that when chemicals emitted by plant roots interact with minerals in soil, it can cause carbon to break free. This exposes the carbon to decomposition by microbes in the soil, which pass it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. As the climate warms, the scientists found, more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will stimulate the growth of plants, which will in turn stimulate the production of the root compounds that breakdown carbon and soil minerals.
“We thought for many many years if you just increase plant productivity, soil carbon will just go up,” Kate Lajtha, professor of biogeochemistry at Oregon State University, told ThinkProgress. “What more and more models are seeing now is that the opposite is true.”
The microbes that break down stored carbon are also likely to become more active in a warmer world, according to a
2014 study published in Nature. The study looked at microbes in 22 different kinds of soil from along a climatic gradient, testing samples of soil from the Arctic to the Amazon. They found that as temperature increased, the respiratory activity of the microbes in the soil also increased, releasing more carbon dioxide and that effect was most pronounced in northern soils, which tend to store more carbon than soils at other latitudes. Soil isn’t just useful for storing carbon it also grows 95 percent
of the food we eat, according to the FAO. But even beyond climate change, agriculture is the number one cause of soil disruption. “What we’re seeing is probably the biggest drivers aren’t going to be those direct effects of climate,” Lajtha said. “Really, the big driver of soil carbon change is what humans are doing to the soil, and a lot of that is agriculture.”
The UN estimates that nearly a third of the world’s soil is degraded in sub-Saharan Africa, that figure is closer to two-thirds. Degraded soils are less effective for growing crops, threatening food security in places where most of the population lives off of subsistence farming. According to the Montpellier Panel an international group working to support national and regional agricultural development and food security priorities in sub-Saharan Africa soil degradation costs sub-Saharan Africa $68 billion per year. If soil degradation continues at its current rate, the UN estimates that all of the world’s topsoil could be
gone in 60 years.
Topsoil, Lajtha says, is where most soil carbon is stored it’s where decomposed plant matter and plant roots are deposited
so losing topsoil means losing a huge amount of carbon currently stored in the soil. But soil degradation isn’t irreversible.
“If we manage the soil properly, we can reverse the degradation and some of that carbon that we lost can be put back,”
Lal said. Conservation practices like no-till agriculture can help minimize soil degradation, according to Lal. Other practices like planting cover crops in the winter season or continously applying compost to soil can also help boost soil’s ability to retain carbon. “In some ways, it’s as simple as a disrupted soil loses carbon and intact soil with vegetation retains carbon,”
Lajtha said.
But conservation practices aren’t widely adopted yet in Ohio, according to Lal, cover crop use and no-till agriculture is practiced on just one-third of the cropland. Worldwide, such conservation practices account for only 10 percent of cropland.
For some farmers, switching to no-till agriculture means replacing seed drills, which can cost upwards of $100,000.
“Even though the community as a whole benefits, there might be a reduction in yield that is prohibitive to farmers that adopt it,” Lal said, noting that the adoption rate of no-till agriculture has been almost zero in places like Africa and Southeast Asia.
“We have a long way to go,” he said. Scientists have also seen promise in the practice of agroforestry combining trees with cropland or livestock systems. Elizabeth Teague, senior associate for environmental performance at Root Capital, an investing fund that works with small agribusinesses in Africa and Latin America, have seen a slew of benefits associated with agroforestry, mostly with coffee and cocoa crops.
“Trees can help enrich the soil, and if done properly you can help avoid erosion, which is a big problem in coffee producing environments,” Teague told ThinkProgress. “Many studies have also shown that the agroforestry system can help mitigate climate change by helping with carbon sequestration. compared to other type of cropping systems, the trees are sequestering carbon and increasing above and below ground carbon stocks.” Like no-till and cover crops, however, certain barriers still exist between small-hold farmers in developing countries and agroforestry. Planting trees alongside crops requires a certain level of finesse plant too many trees and the crops won’t thrive; plant too few, and the environment suffers.
“Farmers have to figure out what this sweet spot is where they are maintaining a diverse, robust agroforestry system that also allows them to have a commercially viable farm,” Teague said. “For small farmers without education, resources, and technical assistance, that can be very difficult.” To Lal, who contributed to the Montpelier Panel’s 2014 report on soil restoration, agriculture might be the problem but it can also be the solution. “Most of the time the perception is that agriculture is a big time problem,” he said. “Yes, agriculture done improperly can definitely be a problem, but agriculture done in a proper way is an important solution to environmental issues including climate change, water issues, and biodiversity.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/29/3652020/global-soil-week-forum-recap
The untold – and terrifying – story behind the earthquake that devastated Nepal last Saturday morning begins with something that sounds quite benign. It's the ebb and flow of rainwater in the great river deltas of India and Bangladesh, and the pressure that puts on the grinding plates that make up the surface of the planet.
Recently discovered, that causal factor is seen by a growing body of scientists as further proof that climate change can affect the underlying structure of the Earth. Because of this understanding, a series of life-threatening "extreme geological events" – earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis – is predicted by a group of eminent geologists and geophysicists including University College London's Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards. "Climate change may play a critical role in triggering certain faults in certain places where they could kill a hell of a lot of people," says Professor McGuire. Some of his colleagues suspect the process may already have started. It sounds like a pitch for a Hollywood apocalypse-fest – indeed the movie 2012 featured the Earth's crust collapsing after a rapid heating of the Earth's core. The mechanism here is rather more mundane, though potentially no less devastating.
Evidence from the end of the last Ice Age has already shown that the planet's uneasy web of seismic faults – cracks in the crust like the one that runs along the Himalayas – are very sensitive to the small pressure changes brought by change in the climate. And a sensitive volcano or seismic faultline is a very dangerous one. The disappearing ice, sea-level rise and floods already forecast for the 21st century are inevitable as the earth warms and weather patterns change – and they will shift the weight on the planet. Professor McGuire calls this process "waking the giant" – something that can be done with just a few gigatonnes of water in the right – or wrong – place. "These stress or strain variations – just the pressure of a handshake in geological terms – are perfectly capable of triggering a quake if that fault is ready to go," he tells Newsweek.
Any schoolchild geographer knows the underlying cause of earthquakes like that in Nepal: it is the uneasy grinding of the continent-sized plates that float over the Earth's molten core. This process that went into overdrive when the ice sheets started withdrawing 20,000 years ago, destablising the "mantle". The latest event in that endless process came just before midday local time on the 25 April, when the section that holds up India slipped under the Eurasian plate. The effects were immediate and horrific – buildings collapsed over the region, leaving nearly 4,000 dead and many more injured. As Newsweek went to press, huge aftershocks were causing more chaos.
But the quake was widely predicted. The Himalayas themselves are the collateral damage of the endless shoving match between the two parts of the Asian continent. Earthquakes in Nepal have been charted for at least 700 years, and this one was an almost exact repeat of a 1934 event that killed 16,000 people in Nepal and northern India. Mahatma Gandhi, after visiting the stricken communities, said it was a providential punishment on Indians for failing to do away with the caste system.
What neither Gandhi nor 1930s scientists knew was that the rain that fills the huge rivers that rise in the Himalayas and run down to the Sea of Bengal is a crucial part of this process. Dr Pierre Bettinelli was the scientist who in 2007 first showed how this vast flush of rainwater, second only to that of the Amazon basin, affects earthquakes in the Himalayas. He spoke toNewsweek from a base in the Algerian desert where he is researching the effects of oil-well drilling – another man-made cause of earthquake. "Imagine a piece of wood on water – that's the Indian plate – push down on it with your foot and you create compression, disturbance, in the water beside it. That you see in the increased number of seismic events at the edge of the plate." With this insight – which has been generally accepted by scientists in the field – Bettinelli explained the seasonal differences in occurrence of earthquakes in the Himalayas. Quite simply, the coming and going of the weight of the monsoon rains was causing energy to build up at the edge of the plate.
"This effect could certainly have made the Nepal earthquake come sooner," says Professor Roland Burgmann, of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Meanwhile, of course, climate change has been shown to be causing enormous and disturbing changes in the size and shape of the South Asian monsoon, while human tampering has played a part in floods. UCL's Professor Bill McGuire has few doubts that recently discovered effects like this warn of catastrophe. In a recent book, Waking the Giant: How a Changing Climate Triggers Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes, he ponders the effects of the 100m rise of sea-levels that's threatened should all the remaining ice on the planet melt. That clearly makes the 150 gigatonnes of extra water that collects in Bangladesh after a heavy monsoon season, tilting the Indian plate, no more than a literal drop in the ocean.
"Across the world," McGuire writes, "as sea levels climb remorselessly, the load-related bending of the crust around the margins of the ocean basins might – in time – act to sufficiently 'unclamp' coastal faults such as California's San Andreas, allowing them to move more easily; at the same time acting to squeeze magma out of susceptible volcanoes that are primed and ready to blow." Of course, that may be some centuries or even millennia away. Even the worst-case scenarios predicted for the 21st century imagine sea-level rises of no more than five metres. But already McGuire and colleagues have seen the effects of quite small sea-level rise on one of Alaska's faults. "There's a volcano in Alaska, Pavlov, that only erupts during the autumn and winter. The 10cm or 15cm rise in sea level during the winter months, when low pressure comes over, is enough to bend the crust and squeeze magma out. That's an example of how tiny a change you need," he said.
Meanwhile, geologists modelling the effect of retreating ice sheets in the northern hemisphere predict more volcanic activity as pressure is released on fault lines. McGuire points to three eruptions in five years in Iceland – "You can't say that's statistical proof but … it makes you think." For Europeans and North Americans, these volcanoes are far off. But the collapse of coastal ones would be likely to trigger tsunamis, causing devastation all around the North Atlantic. Some of McGuire's colleagues believe he overstates the earthquake risk of sea-level rise and changing rainfall. There is just not enough data yet to prove the hypothesis, says Professor Burgmann. But he is convinced Maguire is right when he talks about volcanic eruptions.
"Ice unloading at the end of the ice ages produced a flurry of volcanic eruptions. That makes sense to me – it's very true that if you take pressure off a magmatic system that can activate eruptions. There's solid evidence of that in Iceland."
What can we do? McGuire thinks there's little, other than mapping the "coiled spring" that is the world's seismic faults with an eye to where climate and sea-level change may trigger events. Then, you can only prepare people for the earth's grumblings, from California to the Canary Islands to Nepal. "There are geological systems all around the planet with unstable volcanoes that are susceptible: when it comes to risk, I'm afraid there's a very, very long list."
http://europe.newsweek.com/nepal-earthquake-could-have-been-manmade-disaster-climate-change-brings
Recently discovered, that causal factor is seen by a growing body of scientists as further proof that climate change can affect the underlying structure of the Earth. Because of this understanding, a series of life-threatening "extreme geological events" – earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis – is predicted by a group of eminent geologists and geophysicists including University College London's Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards. "Climate change may play a critical role in triggering certain faults in certain places where they could kill a hell of a lot of people," says Professor McGuire. Some of his colleagues suspect the process may already have started. It sounds like a pitch for a Hollywood apocalypse-fest – indeed the movie 2012 featured the Earth's crust collapsing after a rapid heating of the Earth's core. The mechanism here is rather more mundane, though potentially no less devastating.
Evidence from the end of the last Ice Age has already shown that the planet's uneasy web of seismic faults – cracks in the crust like the one that runs along the Himalayas – are very sensitive to the small pressure changes brought by change in the climate. And a sensitive volcano or seismic faultline is a very dangerous one. The disappearing ice, sea-level rise and floods already forecast for the 21st century are inevitable as the earth warms and weather patterns change – and they will shift the weight on the planet. Professor McGuire calls this process "waking the giant" – something that can be done with just a few gigatonnes of water in the right – or wrong – place. "These stress or strain variations – just the pressure of a handshake in geological terms – are perfectly capable of triggering a quake if that fault is ready to go," he tells Newsweek.
Any schoolchild geographer knows the underlying cause of earthquakes like that in Nepal: it is the uneasy grinding of the continent-sized plates that float over the Earth's molten core. This process that went into overdrive when the ice sheets started withdrawing 20,000 years ago, destablising the "mantle". The latest event in that endless process came just before midday local time on the 25 April, when the section that holds up India slipped under the Eurasian plate. The effects were immediate and horrific – buildings collapsed over the region, leaving nearly 4,000 dead and many more injured. As Newsweek went to press, huge aftershocks were causing more chaos.
But the quake was widely predicted. The Himalayas themselves are the collateral damage of the endless shoving match between the two parts of the Asian continent. Earthquakes in Nepal have been charted for at least 700 years, and this one was an almost exact repeat of a 1934 event that killed 16,000 people in Nepal and northern India. Mahatma Gandhi, after visiting the stricken communities, said it was a providential punishment on Indians for failing to do away with the caste system.
What neither Gandhi nor 1930s scientists knew was that the rain that fills the huge rivers that rise in the Himalayas and run down to the Sea of Bengal is a crucial part of this process. Dr Pierre Bettinelli was the scientist who in 2007 first showed how this vast flush of rainwater, second only to that of the Amazon basin, affects earthquakes in the Himalayas. He spoke toNewsweek from a base in the Algerian desert where he is researching the effects of oil-well drilling – another man-made cause of earthquake. "Imagine a piece of wood on water – that's the Indian plate – push down on it with your foot and you create compression, disturbance, in the water beside it. That you see in the increased number of seismic events at the edge of the plate." With this insight – which has been generally accepted by scientists in the field – Bettinelli explained the seasonal differences in occurrence of earthquakes in the Himalayas. Quite simply, the coming and going of the weight of the monsoon rains was causing energy to build up at the edge of the plate.
"This effect could certainly have made the Nepal earthquake come sooner," says Professor Roland Burgmann, of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Meanwhile, of course, climate change has been shown to be causing enormous and disturbing changes in the size and shape of the South Asian monsoon, while human tampering has played a part in floods. UCL's Professor Bill McGuire has few doubts that recently discovered effects like this warn of catastrophe. In a recent book, Waking the Giant: How a Changing Climate Triggers Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes, he ponders the effects of the 100m rise of sea-levels that's threatened should all the remaining ice on the planet melt. That clearly makes the 150 gigatonnes of extra water that collects in Bangladesh after a heavy monsoon season, tilting the Indian plate, no more than a literal drop in the ocean.
"Across the world," McGuire writes, "as sea levels climb remorselessly, the load-related bending of the crust around the margins of the ocean basins might – in time – act to sufficiently 'unclamp' coastal faults such as California's San Andreas, allowing them to move more easily; at the same time acting to squeeze magma out of susceptible volcanoes that are primed and ready to blow." Of course, that may be some centuries or even millennia away. Even the worst-case scenarios predicted for the 21st century imagine sea-level rises of no more than five metres. But already McGuire and colleagues have seen the effects of quite small sea-level rise on one of Alaska's faults. "There's a volcano in Alaska, Pavlov, that only erupts during the autumn and winter. The 10cm or 15cm rise in sea level during the winter months, when low pressure comes over, is enough to bend the crust and squeeze magma out. That's an example of how tiny a change you need," he said.
Meanwhile, geologists modelling the effect of retreating ice sheets in the northern hemisphere predict more volcanic activity as pressure is released on fault lines. McGuire points to three eruptions in five years in Iceland – "You can't say that's statistical proof but … it makes you think." For Europeans and North Americans, these volcanoes are far off. But the collapse of coastal ones would be likely to trigger tsunamis, causing devastation all around the North Atlantic. Some of McGuire's colleagues believe he overstates the earthquake risk of sea-level rise and changing rainfall. There is just not enough data yet to prove the hypothesis, says Professor Burgmann. But he is convinced Maguire is right when he talks about volcanic eruptions.
"Ice unloading at the end of the ice ages produced a flurry of volcanic eruptions. That makes sense to me – it's very true that if you take pressure off a magmatic system that can activate eruptions. There's solid evidence of that in Iceland."
What can we do? McGuire thinks there's little, other than mapping the "coiled spring" that is the world's seismic faults with an eye to where climate and sea-level change may trigger events. Then, you can only prepare people for the earth's grumblings, from California to the Canary Islands to Nepal. "There are geological systems all around the planet with unstable volcanoes that are susceptible: when it comes to risk, I'm afraid there's a very, very long list."
http://europe.newsweek.com/nepal-earthquake-could-have-been-manmade-disaster-climate-change-brings
Nitrogen fingerprints point to warmer world
April 23, 2015
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have developed a way to more accurately forecast nitrogen’s effects on the climate cycle. Incorporating this method shows the planet may be headed for a warmer future than was previously thought, according to research published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.
According to the researchers, models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change until now have not provided realistic predictions of nitrogen emissions from the land to the air and water. Of the 12 climate models used by the IPCC, only one included nitrogen, and that model was not tracing nitrogen correctly.
“Our benchmarking methods will provide a way for all the models to include nitrogen, to communicate with each other, and to reduce their overall uncertainty,” said lead author Benjamin Houlton, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. “Including this information will likely reveal that the climate system is more sensitive than we anticipate, and it likely will be a warmer world than we think.” Tracing nitrogen’s journeyThe scientists identified the isotopic “fingerprints” of nitrogen, tracing its journey to model how nitrogen moves through ecosystems and how it escapes to the air or water. The benchmarking technique is now being put into global models used by the IPCC.
Nitrogen is a critical component of climate change. It determines how much carbon dioxide emissions natural ecosystems can absorb, and it directly warms the climate as nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. It occurs naturally in the air and water and also enters the environment through man-made agricultural fertilizers. The benchmarking technique Houlton and his colleagues developed will help examine the fate of nitrogen fertilizers in the environment as well as the climate impacts of nitrogen.
“Nitrogen is a challenge facing humanity,” Houlton said. “It’s becoming too much of a good thing. We will hear more and more about nitrogen’s impact on human health and the environment in the future, but developing a more sophisticated scientific understanding of the nitrogen cycle is essential to provide policymakers, stakeholders and the public better information to make decisions.” The study’s co-authors include former UC Davis postdoctoral students Alison Marklein and Edith Bai. It received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=11207
According to the researchers, models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change until now have not provided realistic predictions of nitrogen emissions from the land to the air and water. Of the 12 climate models used by the IPCC, only one included nitrogen, and that model was not tracing nitrogen correctly.
“Our benchmarking methods will provide a way for all the models to include nitrogen, to communicate with each other, and to reduce their overall uncertainty,” said lead author Benjamin Houlton, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. “Including this information will likely reveal that the climate system is more sensitive than we anticipate, and it likely will be a warmer world than we think.” Tracing nitrogen’s journeyThe scientists identified the isotopic “fingerprints” of nitrogen, tracing its journey to model how nitrogen moves through ecosystems and how it escapes to the air or water. The benchmarking technique is now being put into global models used by the IPCC.
Nitrogen is a critical component of climate change. It determines how much carbon dioxide emissions natural ecosystems can absorb, and it directly warms the climate as nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. It occurs naturally in the air and water and also enters the environment through man-made agricultural fertilizers. The benchmarking technique Houlton and his colleagues developed will help examine the fate of nitrogen fertilizers in the environment as well as the climate impacts of nitrogen.
“Nitrogen is a challenge facing humanity,” Houlton said. “It’s becoming too much of a good thing. We will hear more and more about nitrogen’s impact on human health and the environment in the future, but developing a more sophisticated scientific understanding of the nitrogen cycle is essential to provide policymakers, stakeholders and the public better information to make decisions.” The study’s co-authors include former UC Davis postdoctoral students Alison Marklein and Edith Bai. It received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=11207
UAE urges nations to unite and act to ensure global water security
12/04/2015 05:52:02 PM
ABU DHABI, 12th April 2015 (WAM) --- Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 7th World Water Forum in the Republic of Korea, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Chairman of Masdar, called on nations to unite and commit to tangible actions aimed at addressing water scarcity challenges and ensuring global water security.
In his keynote speech, Al Jaber urged delegates to align efforts and harness their collective knowledge to devise innovative solutions and transform the way water is produced, preserved and consumed. The opening ceremony, attended by HH Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Chairman of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, included 500 government dignitaries and business leaders from 170 international delegations. Also speaking at the opening ceremony was HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan, Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Janos Ader, President of Hungary, Abdelilah Benkirane, Prime Minister of Morocco, Mulatu Teshome, President of Ethiopia, Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD.
In his opening remarks, Al Jaber said: "Tackling water security is a global challenge that will require a global response. The UAE is ready to work with you in our shared responsibility to exchange ideas, drive commercial solutions and forge a pathway toward global water security. "As a rapidly growing nation in an arid desert climate, the UAE is determined to move from water scarcity to water security. As such, our leadership has set an ambitious target to reduce our water footprint by 20 per cent, by 2030. A calculated and strategic goal we are committed to achieve through a mix of conservation practices, innovative technology solutions, policies, and partnerships with the global community."
Al Jaber emphasised innovation’s role as a catalyst for multi-industry solutions to the water scarcity challenges faced by arid regions across the world. "We are determined to transform energy intensive desalination technology and make it more sustainable," he said. "Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted sustainability and renewable energy company, has taken a visionary approach to addressing the water-energy nexus and has launched an ambitious programme to improve desalination efficiency and develop advanced desalination technology capable of being powered with sustainable, clean energy."
Held under the theme of ‘Water for our Future,’ the 7th World Water forum is being held in Daegu and Gyenongbuk, South Korea and over the next five days it is expected to attract over 30,000 attendees from government leaders to scientific experts, spanning public and private sectors, academia and industry. It will serve as a key platform to drive international discussions on global water challenges and explore conclusive outcomes for tackling water security issues. During the forum, the United Arab Emirates will showcase its adoption of innovative technologies as a means to ensure a water secure future and to address the inter-connected challenges of the energy-water nexus. A high-level UAE delegation, organised by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, is addressing how the UAE is innovating to advance water security. In addition to the pioneering renewable energy powered desalination pilot project, spearheaded by Masdar, the UAE is highlighting its efficient wastewater collection and conveyance systems and its advanced hydroponics techniques.
The UAE delegation to the 7th World Water Forum includes representatives from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment and Water, Federal Electricity and Water Authority, Executive Affairs Authority, National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Regulation and Supervision Bureau, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and the United Arab Emirates University. The World Water Forum, the largest water related conference in the world, has been held triennially since 1997 in cooperation with the public, private sectors, academia, and industries. The forum was first launched in an effort to facilitate international discussions on global water challenges. In 2015, the World Water Forum will take place in Daegu & Gyeongbuk of Korea.
The UAE delegation to the 7th World Water Forum is coordinated by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, and comprised of representatives from 15 companies and government entities operating in the water sector including delegates from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment & Water, Federal Electricity & Water Authority, Executive Affairs Authority, National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority, Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, Regulation and Supervision Bureau, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, and the United Arab Emirates University.
The UAE delegation will share the nation’s pioneering approach to achieving water security and showcase leading innovative technology set to combat water scarcity.
www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395279173594
In his keynote speech, Al Jaber urged delegates to align efforts and harness their collective knowledge to devise innovative solutions and transform the way water is produced, preserved and consumed. The opening ceremony, attended by HH Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Chairman of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, included 500 government dignitaries and business leaders from 170 international delegations. Also speaking at the opening ceremony was HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan, Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Janos Ader, President of Hungary, Abdelilah Benkirane, Prime Minister of Morocco, Mulatu Teshome, President of Ethiopia, Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD.
In his opening remarks, Al Jaber said: "Tackling water security is a global challenge that will require a global response. The UAE is ready to work with you in our shared responsibility to exchange ideas, drive commercial solutions and forge a pathway toward global water security. "As a rapidly growing nation in an arid desert climate, the UAE is determined to move from water scarcity to water security. As such, our leadership has set an ambitious target to reduce our water footprint by 20 per cent, by 2030. A calculated and strategic goal we are committed to achieve through a mix of conservation practices, innovative technology solutions, policies, and partnerships with the global community."
Al Jaber emphasised innovation’s role as a catalyst for multi-industry solutions to the water scarcity challenges faced by arid regions across the world. "We are determined to transform energy intensive desalination technology and make it more sustainable," he said. "Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted sustainability and renewable energy company, has taken a visionary approach to addressing the water-energy nexus and has launched an ambitious programme to improve desalination efficiency and develop advanced desalination technology capable of being powered with sustainable, clean energy."
Held under the theme of ‘Water for our Future,’ the 7th World Water forum is being held in Daegu and Gyenongbuk, South Korea and over the next five days it is expected to attract over 30,000 attendees from government leaders to scientific experts, spanning public and private sectors, academia and industry. It will serve as a key platform to drive international discussions on global water challenges and explore conclusive outcomes for tackling water security issues. During the forum, the United Arab Emirates will showcase its adoption of innovative technologies as a means to ensure a water secure future and to address the inter-connected challenges of the energy-water nexus. A high-level UAE delegation, organised by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, is addressing how the UAE is innovating to advance water security. In addition to the pioneering renewable energy powered desalination pilot project, spearheaded by Masdar, the UAE is highlighting its efficient wastewater collection and conveyance systems and its advanced hydroponics techniques.
The UAE delegation to the 7th World Water Forum includes representatives from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment and Water, Federal Electricity and Water Authority, Executive Affairs Authority, National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Regulation and Supervision Bureau, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and the United Arab Emirates University. The World Water Forum, the largest water related conference in the world, has been held triennially since 1997 in cooperation with the public, private sectors, academia, and industries. The forum was first launched in an effort to facilitate international discussions on global water challenges. In 2015, the World Water Forum will take place in Daegu & Gyeongbuk of Korea.
The UAE delegation to the 7th World Water Forum is coordinated by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, and comprised of representatives from 15 companies and government entities operating in the water sector including delegates from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment & Water, Federal Electricity & Water Authority, Executive Affairs Authority, National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority, Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, Regulation and Supervision Bureau, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, and the United Arab Emirates University.
The UAE delegation will share the nation’s pioneering approach to achieving water security and showcase leading innovative technology set to combat water scarcity.
www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395279173594
Nanofiltration and the Water Crisis
Adam Alonzi April 7th, 2015
Adam Alonzi April 7th, 2015
The approaching water crisis will be solved by devices made possible by nanotechnology.
Since its conception concerns have been raised about nanotechnology's potentially deleterious impact on the environment, but at this point it looks as though it will do more good than harm. From water remediation to solar cells to pollutant monitoring, nanotechnology, as I wrote in a recent blog entry, presents humanity with a "bevy of Black Swans." The world's fresh water supply is dwindling. Nanotech devices can empower governments and individuals around the world to use otherwise untapped sources through desalination and reclamation.
Zhang calls the scale of groundwater pollution "enormous" and the complexity "seemingly intractable." Of the hundreds of thousands of sites in the United States identified by environmental agencies over the last three decades less than one third have been restored. Old mining areas, factories, landfills and dumping grounds continue to increase. As well as obvious undesirables like pathogens and heavy metals, more modern toxins, like endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals, must also be removed. While infrastructure improvements are necessary and inevitable in many places, nanotech research will accelerate, and be expedited by, the decentralization of water treatment.
Nanofiltration involves using membranes with tiny pores (1-10 NM across) to remove specific molecules from a solution. Among other applications they are used to separate whey from the other constituents of milk and antibiotics from salty waste products. The major advantage they have over their competitors is the amount of pressure needed to pass liquid through them. Carbon nanotube membranes can remove an assortment of contaminants and aluminum based nanostructures are good at dismantling negatively charged baddies like viruses and bacteria, as well as some organic and inorganic compounds. Biomagnetite removes chlorinated organic molecules, silver slays bacteria and titanium dioxide, which is already used in a variety of consumer and industrial products, can break down organic compounds.
Dr. Sujoy Das assembled a silica-silver nanocomposite via biosynthesis. In other words, its production is cheap and green. The proteins covering the nanoparticles prevent them from leaching into the water. They also function as both reducing and protective agents for the silver nanoparticles. The nanocomposite removes dyes and microorganisms quickly. Moreover, the material can be reused several times.The LifeSaver bottle, invented shortly after hurricane Katrina, removes objects larger than 15 nanometers and works well for up to 1,500 gallons. It does not take out salt or some metals, however. This is unfortunate as in many regions the ocean is the only option.
Yet desalination is costly. It requires approximately 12 times the electricity needed to prepare fresh water for consumption. There is also the large initial investment of 200 million dollars or more to build a plant. Although for a glass of water 3 kilowatt hours is not bad at all, desalination is unfeasible on a large scale. Perforene, a graphene nanomembrane developed by Lockheed-Martin, was originally touted as being 100 times more efficient than other methods, but this estimate was later lowered to 20%. Thus, the enthusiasm was massively excessive and woefully premature. Yet this should not discourage. Every boom, or potential boom industry, has its share of exaggerated but stock boosting announcements, and does not mitigate the promise held by the technology in question.
Graphene, a hydrophobic material almost synonymous with nanotech, creates ultrafine capillaries through which water can pass. The pores can be extremely selective and the water can pass through them as easily as through a coffee filter, thus eliminating the need for energy-intensive high pressure systems. However, as Dr. Cohen cautions, a membrane that is five hundred times more permeable than its predecessor will not translate into proportional savings. Dr. Nair, one of the researchers working with this material says it "is as fast and as precise as one could possibly hope for such narrow capillaries. Now we want to control the graphene mesh size and reduce it below nine Angstroms to filter out even the smallest salts like in seawater. Our work shows that it is possible."
Baines, Lawrence. "The Fight for Water." Project-Based Writing in Science. SensePublishers, 2014. 81-89.
Cohen-Tanugi, David, and Jeffrey C. Grossman. "Water desalination across nanoporous graphene." Nano letters 12.7 (2012): 3602-3608.
Inderscience Publishers. "Nanotechnology for water purification." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 July 2010. .
R. K. Joshi, P. Carbone, F. C. Wang, V. G. Kravets, Y. Su, I. V. Grigorieva, H. A. Wu, A. K. "Precise and Ultrafast Molecular Sieving through Graphene Oxide Membranes" Geim and R. R. Nair, Science, 2014.
Qu, Xiaolei, Pedro JJ Alvarez, and Qilin Li. "Applications of nanotechnology in water and wastewater treatment." water research 47.12 (2013): 3931-3946.
www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=966
Since its conception concerns have been raised about nanotechnology's potentially deleterious impact on the environment, but at this point it looks as though it will do more good than harm. From water remediation to solar cells to pollutant monitoring, nanotechnology, as I wrote in a recent blog entry, presents humanity with a "bevy of Black Swans." The world's fresh water supply is dwindling. Nanotech devices can empower governments and individuals around the world to use otherwise untapped sources through desalination and reclamation.
Zhang calls the scale of groundwater pollution "enormous" and the complexity "seemingly intractable." Of the hundreds of thousands of sites in the United States identified by environmental agencies over the last three decades less than one third have been restored. Old mining areas, factories, landfills and dumping grounds continue to increase. As well as obvious undesirables like pathogens and heavy metals, more modern toxins, like endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals, must also be removed. While infrastructure improvements are necessary and inevitable in many places, nanotech research will accelerate, and be expedited by, the decentralization of water treatment.
Nanofiltration involves using membranes with tiny pores (1-10 NM across) to remove specific molecules from a solution. Among other applications they are used to separate whey from the other constituents of milk and antibiotics from salty waste products. The major advantage they have over their competitors is the amount of pressure needed to pass liquid through them. Carbon nanotube membranes can remove an assortment of contaminants and aluminum based nanostructures are good at dismantling negatively charged baddies like viruses and bacteria, as well as some organic and inorganic compounds. Biomagnetite removes chlorinated organic molecules, silver slays bacteria and titanium dioxide, which is already used in a variety of consumer and industrial products, can break down organic compounds.
Dr. Sujoy Das assembled a silica-silver nanocomposite via biosynthesis. In other words, its production is cheap and green. The proteins covering the nanoparticles prevent them from leaching into the water. They also function as both reducing and protective agents for the silver nanoparticles. The nanocomposite removes dyes and microorganisms quickly. Moreover, the material can be reused several times.The LifeSaver bottle, invented shortly after hurricane Katrina, removes objects larger than 15 nanometers and works well for up to 1,500 gallons. It does not take out salt or some metals, however. This is unfortunate as in many regions the ocean is the only option.
Yet desalination is costly. It requires approximately 12 times the electricity needed to prepare fresh water for consumption. There is also the large initial investment of 200 million dollars or more to build a plant. Although for a glass of water 3 kilowatt hours is not bad at all, desalination is unfeasible on a large scale. Perforene, a graphene nanomembrane developed by Lockheed-Martin, was originally touted as being 100 times more efficient than other methods, but this estimate was later lowered to 20%. Thus, the enthusiasm was massively excessive and woefully premature. Yet this should not discourage. Every boom, or potential boom industry, has its share of exaggerated but stock boosting announcements, and does not mitigate the promise held by the technology in question.
Graphene, a hydrophobic material almost synonymous with nanotech, creates ultrafine capillaries through which water can pass. The pores can be extremely selective and the water can pass through them as easily as through a coffee filter, thus eliminating the need for energy-intensive high pressure systems. However, as Dr. Cohen cautions, a membrane that is five hundred times more permeable than its predecessor will not translate into proportional savings. Dr. Nair, one of the researchers working with this material says it "is as fast and as precise as one could possibly hope for such narrow capillaries. Now we want to control the graphene mesh size and reduce it below nine Angstroms to filter out even the smallest salts like in seawater. Our work shows that it is possible."
Baines, Lawrence. "The Fight for Water." Project-Based Writing in Science. SensePublishers, 2014. 81-89.
Cohen-Tanugi, David, and Jeffrey C. Grossman. "Water desalination across nanoporous graphene." Nano letters 12.7 (2012): 3602-3608.
Inderscience Publishers. "Nanotechnology for water purification." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 July 2010. .
R. K. Joshi, P. Carbone, F. C. Wang, V. G. Kravets, Y. Su, I. V. Grigorieva, H. A. Wu, A. K. "Precise and Ultrafast Molecular Sieving through Graphene Oxide Membranes" Geim and R. R. Nair, Science, 2014.
Qu, Xiaolei, Pedro JJ Alvarez, and Qilin Li. "Applications of nanotechnology in water and wastewater treatment." water research 47.12 (2013): 3931-3946.
www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=966
Earth Day 2015
2015 - Earth Day’s 45th anniversary - could be the most exciting year in environmental history. The year in which economic growth and sustainability join hands. The year in which world leaders finally pass a binding climate change treaty. The year in which citizens and organizations divest from fossil fuels and put their money into renewable energy solutions. These are tough issues but we know what’s at stake is the future of our planet and the survival of life on earth. On Earth Day we need you to take a stand so that together, we can show the world a new direction. It’s our turn to lead. So our world leaders can follow by example.
In 2015, let's redefine what progress looks like. It’s Our Turn to Lead.
Sustainable Development
One billion people still live on less than $1.25 per day. One of the biggest controversies over a treaty has been the issue that developing countries don’t want to give up economic growth no matter the environmental cost, since the US and other
developed countries got to pollute their way to the top. Those most affected by climate change are low-income or marginalized populations. The Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, for example - one of the poorest places on Earth was the first country to declare its land uninhabitable due to sea level rise from climate change, and has asked for help in evacuating its population. Even more people will fall into poverty and food will become more scarce if we don’t stop our misuse of the planet.
Eradicating global poverty is possible, but only in a world where all countries commit to a low carbon future. We've got the technology. All we need is the will. Sustainability can be the answer to development, the only answer.
Grassroots Making a Difference
Over 400,000 people came together this past September in NYC for the biggest climate march of all time. Their call for action from the city streets reverberated around the world. They rallied for their leaders to recognize the catastrophic implications of climate change. Their call did not fall on deaf ears. As Obama said in his speech at the NYC Climate Summit that week, “We cannot pretend we cannot hear them. We must answer their call.” Let’s make 2015 the year when our world leaders pay attention and answer our call.
Time for a Treaty
Over the past 20 years, there have been a series of failed attempts to create an effective international treaty on climate change mitigation. In 1997, the first major international agreement was passed, The Kyoto Protocol. The US one of the top polluters didn’t ratify. Since then, many Summits and many efforts to come to agreement Rio, Copenhagen have ended in a flop.
But Paris must be it! Governmental, business, and non-profit leaders must come to an agreement that will cut our emissions and limit our warming to 2°C.
Let’s make 2015 the year when our lead-ers pass an historic binding, global climate treaty.
www.earthday.org/earthday2015page2
In 2015, let's redefine what progress looks like. It’s Our Turn to Lead.
Sustainable Development
One billion people still live on less than $1.25 per day. One of the biggest controversies over a treaty has been the issue that developing countries don’t want to give up economic growth no matter the environmental cost, since the US and other
developed countries got to pollute their way to the top. Those most affected by climate change are low-income or marginalized populations. The Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, for example - one of the poorest places on Earth was the first country to declare its land uninhabitable due to sea level rise from climate change, and has asked for help in evacuating its population. Even more people will fall into poverty and food will become more scarce if we don’t stop our misuse of the planet.
Eradicating global poverty is possible, but only in a world where all countries commit to a low carbon future. We've got the technology. All we need is the will. Sustainability can be the answer to development, the only answer.
Grassroots Making a Difference
Over 400,000 people came together this past September in NYC for the biggest climate march of all time. Their call for action from the city streets reverberated around the world. They rallied for their leaders to recognize the catastrophic implications of climate change. Their call did not fall on deaf ears. As Obama said in his speech at the NYC Climate Summit that week, “We cannot pretend we cannot hear them. We must answer their call.” Let’s make 2015 the year when our world leaders pay attention and answer our call.
Time for a Treaty
Over the past 20 years, there have been a series of failed attempts to create an effective international treaty on climate change mitigation. In 1997, the first major international agreement was passed, The Kyoto Protocol. The US one of the top polluters didn’t ratify. Since then, many Summits and many efforts to come to agreement Rio, Copenhagen have ended in a flop.
But Paris must be it! Governmental, business, and non-profit leaders must come to an agreement that will cut our emissions and limit our warming to 2°C.
Let’s make 2015 the year when our lead-ers pass an historic binding, global climate treaty.
www.earthday.org/earthday2015page2
Obama’s Strategy on Climate Change, Part of Global Deal, Is Revealed
By CORAL DAVENPORT MARCH 31, 2015
WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday introduced President Obama’s blueprint for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by nearly a third over the next decade.
Mr. Obama’s plan, part of a formal written submission to the United Nations ahead of efforts to forge a global climate change accord in Paris in December, detailed the United States’ part of an ambitious joint pledge made by Mr. Obama and President Xi Jinping of China in November. The United States and China are the world’s two largest greenhouse gas polluters. Mr. Obama said the United States would cut its emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025, while Mr. Xi said that China’s emissions would drop after 2030.
Mr. Obama’s new blueprint brings together several domestic initiatives that were already in the works, including freezing construction of new coal-fired power plants, increasing the fuel economy of vehicles and plugging methane leaks from oil and gas production. It is meant to describe how the United States will lead by example and meet its pledge for cutting emissions.
But the plan’s reliance on executive authority is an acknowledgement that any proposal to pass climate change legislation would be blocked by the Republican-controlled Congress.
At the heart of the plan are ambitious but politically contentious Environmental Protection Agency regulations meant to drastically cut planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s cars and coal-fired power plants. The plan also relies on a speedy timetable, which assumes that Mr. Obama’s administration will issue and begin enacting all such regulations before he leaves office. “We can achieve this goal using laws that are already on the books, and it will be in place by the time the president leaves office,” said Brian C. Deese, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser on climate change.
But the plan has also intensified opposition from Republican lawmakers who object to Mr. Obama’s effort to build a climate change legacy. Republicans have called the rules a “war on coal” and an abuse of executive authority. Nearly every potential Republican presidential candidate has criticized Mr. Obama’s climate change agenda. The issue is expected to be important in 2016 political campaigns, with Republican candidates vowing to undo Mr. Obama’s E.P.A. regulations. Republican leaders immediately savaged the plan Tuesday and announced their intent to weaken or undo it — and, by extension, to block the international efforts to reach a climate accord in Paris.
“Even if the job-killing and likely illegal Clean Power Plan were fully implemented, the United States could not meet the targets laid out in this proposed new plan,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader and Republican from Kentucky, who has been a vocal critic of the president’s plan. “Considering that two-thirds of the U.S. federal government hasn’t even signed off on the Clean Power Plan and 13 states have already pledged to fight it,” Mr. McConnell continued, “our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal.” Environmental groups praised the plan, particularly the president’s effort to work around Congress.
“The United States’ proposal shows that it is ready to lead by example on the climate crisis,” said Jennifer Morgan, an expert on international climate negotiations at the World Resources Institute, a Washington research organization. The research of Ms. Morgan’s group has concluded that the United States can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions under existing federal authority. However, environmental groups also said far deeper cuts are necessary beyond 2025 to stave off the most devastating effects of climate change. “In fact the U.S. must do more than just deliver on this pledge — the 28 percent domestic target can and must be a floor, not a ceiling,” said Lou Leonard, vice president for climate change policy with the conservation group World Wildlife Fund.
Republicans also adamantly oppose Mr. Obama’s efforts to reach the United Nations accord in Paris. To bypass the Senate — which would have to ratify United States involvement in a foreign treaty — Secretary of State John Kerry and other diplomatic officials are working closely with their foreign counterparts to ensure that the Paris deal does not legally qualify as a treaty.
Senator Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, has put together legislation intended to nullify Mr. Obama’s international climate change agreements. Republican leaders may try to add that as an amendment to must-pass legislation, like a critical spending measure later this year, to force the hands of Mr. Obama and other Democrats.
“Just as we witnessed throughout recent negotiations with Iran and during the previous climate agreement with China, President Obama and his administration act as if Congress has no role in these discussions. That’s just flat-out wrong,” Mr. Blunt said in a written statement. “We will not stand by and allow the president to unilaterally enact bad energy policies that hurt our nation’s poorest families and young people the most,” he added. “I’ll continue working with my colleagues to ensure Americans’ voices are heard.” Todd D. Stern, the State Department’s chief envoy on climate change, is telling other countries that the elements of Mr. Obama’s plan will stay in place despite Republican opposition. “Undoing the kind of regulation we’re putting in place is very tough,” he said.
However, the rules have already come under legal assault. Republicans intend to stress to other nations that the regulations could still fall to legal challenges. There is also growing concern that most other countries have yet to submit similar plans. At a United Nations accord signed in Lima, Peru, in December, countries agreed to submit their plans to one of the organization’s websites by the end of March. Climate policy experts said keeping to that timetable was important, so that each government prepared and analyzed its own domestic climate change plans and those of other nations.
But as of Tuesday, only the European Union, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland had done so. Most of the rest of the world’s major polluters — including China, India, Brazil and Russia — are not expected to submit plans until at least June, and some expect delays until at least October. The longer countries wait to submit their plans, experts say, the harder it could be to achieve a substantial agreement in December.
www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/us/obama-to-offer-major-blueprint-on-climate-change
Mr. Obama’s plan, part of a formal written submission to the United Nations ahead of efforts to forge a global climate change accord in Paris in December, detailed the United States’ part of an ambitious joint pledge made by Mr. Obama and President Xi Jinping of China in November. The United States and China are the world’s two largest greenhouse gas polluters. Mr. Obama said the United States would cut its emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025, while Mr. Xi said that China’s emissions would drop after 2030.
Mr. Obama’s new blueprint brings together several domestic initiatives that were already in the works, including freezing construction of new coal-fired power plants, increasing the fuel economy of vehicles and plugging methane leaks from oil and gas production. It is meant to describe how the United States will lead by example and meet its pledge for cutting emissions.
But the plan’s reliance on executive authority is an acknowledgement that any proposal to pass climate change legislation would be blocked by the Republican-controlled Congress.
At the heart of the plan are ambitious but politically contentious Environmental Protection Agency regulations meant to drastically cut planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s cars and coal-fired power plants. The plan also relies on a speedy timetable, which assumes that Mr. Obama’s administration will issue and begin enacting all such regulations before he leaves office. “We can achieve this goal using laws that are already on the books, and it will be in place by the time the president leaves office,” said Brian C. Deese, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser on climate change.
But the plan has also intensified opposition from Republican lawmakers who object to Mr. Obama’s effort to build a climate change legacy. Republicans have called the rules a “war on coal” and an abuse of executive authority. Nearly every potential Republican presidential candidate has criticized Mr. Obama’s climate change agenda. The issue is expected to be important in 2016 political campaigns, with Republican candidates vowing to undo Mr. Obama’s E.P.A. regulations. Republican leaders immediately savaged the plan Tuesday and announced their intent to weaken or undo it — and, by extension, to block the international efforts to reach a climate accord in Paris.
“Even if the job-killing and likely illegal Clean Power Plan were fully implemented, the United States could not meet the targets laid out in this proposed new plan,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader and Republican from Kentucky, who has been a vocal critic of the president’s plan. “Considering that two-thirds of the U.S. federal government hasn’t even signed off on the Clean Power Plan and 13 states have already pledged to fight it,” Mr. McConnell continued, “our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal.” Environmental groups praised the plan, particularly the president’s effort to work around Congress.
“The United States’ proposal shows that it is ready to lead by example on the climate crisis,” said Jennifer Morgan, an expert on international climate negotiations at the World Resources Institute, a Washington research organization. The research of Ms. Morgan’s group has concluded that the United States can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions under existing federal authority. However, environmental groups also said far deeper cuts are necessary beyond 2025 to stave off the most devastating effects of climate change. “In fact the U.S. must do more than just deliver on this pledge — the 28 percent domestic target can and must be a floor, not a ceiling,” said Lou Leonard, vice president for climate change policy with the conservation group World Wildlife Fund.
Republicans also adamantly oppose Mr. Obama’s efforts to reach the United Nations accord in Paris. To bypass the Senate — which would have to ratify United States involvement in a foreign treaty — Secretary of State John Kerry and other diplomatic officials are working closely with their foreign counterparts to ensure that the Paris deal does not legally qualify as a treaty.
Senator Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, has put together legislation intended to nullify Mr. Obama’s international climate change agreements. Republican leaders may try to add that as an amendment to must-pass legislation, like a critical spending measure later this year, to force the hands of Mr. Obama and other Democrats.
“Just as we witnessed throughout recent negotiations with Iran and during the previous climate agreement with China, President Obama and his administration act as if Congress has no role in these discussions. That’s just flat-out wrong,” Mr. Blunt said in a written statement. “We will not stand by and allow the president to unilaterally enact bad energy policies that hurt our nation’s poorest families and young people the most,” he added. “I’ll continue working with my colleagues to ensure Americans’ voices are heard.” Todd D. Stern, the State Department’s chief envoy on climate change, is telling other countries that the elements of Mr. Obama’s plan will stay in place despite Republican opposition. “Undoing the kind of regulation we’re putting in place is very tough,” he said.
However, the rules have already come under legal assault. Republicans intend to stress to other nations that the regulations could still fall to legal challenges. There is also growing concern that most other countries have yet to submit similar plans. At a United Nations accord signed in Lima, Peru, in December, countries agreed to submit their plans to one of the organization’s websites by the end of March. Climate policy experts said keeping to that timetable was important, so that each government prepared and analyzed its own domestic climate change plans and those of other nations.
But as of Tuesday, only the European Union, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland had done so. Most of the rest of the world’s major polluters — including China, India, Brazil and Russia — are not expected to submit plans until at least June, and some expect delays until at least October. The longer countries wait to submit their plans, experts say, the harder it could be to achieve a substantial agreement in December.
www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/us/obama-to-offer-major-blueprint-on-climate-change
Obama Climate Change Order Will Require Federal Government To Slash Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions
March 19 2015 10:02 AM EDT
March 19 2015 10:02 AM EDT
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to sign an executive order Thursday requiring the federal government to slash its greenhouse gas emissions. In this 2012 file photo, the president delivers remarks at the Copper Mountain Solar Project in Boulder City, Nevada. Reuters
President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Thursday requiring the federal government to slash its greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate its use of renewable energy sources, the White House told reporters. The mandate marks Obama’s latest effort to confront the challenge of climate change during his final two years in office.
Obama's order will direct the government to curb its emissions by 40 percent over the next decade, compared with 2008 levels, the Associated Press reported. The White House said the move could save U.S. taxpayers up to $18 billion in avoided electricity costs. About 30 percent of the government's energy consumption must come from renewable supplies such as solar and wind power.
While federal buildings and vehicles account for a relatively small slice of total U.S. emissions, the initiative is designed in part to pressure major companies to follow the president’s lead. After signing the order, Obama will meet with federal suppliers -- including General Electric Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation and Honeywell International Inc. -- to discuss their voluntary corporate emissions targets, the White House said. Obama will also visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s headquarters and tour the building’s rooftop solar panels.
The emissions effort comes on the day Obama is meeting with Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. The leaders are expected to discuss American and British efforts toward holding back, eliminating and reversing climate change, among other topics. Obama has made reducing emissions and adapting to the effects of climate change a top priority of his second term -- despite opposition from congressional Republicans. In his first administration, efforts to push a cap-and-trade bill and national clean energy standard through Congress resoundingly failed. So Obama has shifted to using his expansive presidential authority to make progress on climate policy.
Last June, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations requiring states to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. The proposal aims to achieve as much as a 30 percent reduction from 2005 levels in heat-trapping gases by 2030. In January, the Obama administration unveiled a plan to cut emissions of methane -- a dangerous greenhouse gas -- from U.S. oil and gas operations. The White House says it aims to cut emissions to 45 percent below 2012 levels within 10 years -- the first target of its kind in the nation.
The steps are part of Obama’s broad strategy to push leaders in other countries to adopt aggressive climate policies. The U.S. and nearly 200 countries this year are developing individual strategies for reducing their respective emissions. The plans will help to shape a global emissions treaty that leaders could sign at a United Nations climate conference in Paris this December.
www.ibtimes.com/obama-climate-change-order-will-require-federal-government-slash-its-greenhouse-gas
Obama's order will direct the government to curb its emissions by 40 percent over the next decade, compared with 2008 levels, the Associated Press reported. The White House said the move could save U.S. taxpayers up to $18 billion in avoided electricity costs. About 30 percent of the government's energy consumption must come from renewable supplies such as solar and wind power.
While federal buildings and vehicles account for a relatively small slice of total U.S. emissions, the initiative is designed in part to pressure major companies to follow the president’s lead. After signing the order, Obama will meet with federal suppliers -- including General Electric Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation and Honeywell International Inc. -- to discuss their voluntary corporate emissions targets, the White House said. Obama will also visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s headquarters and tour the building’s rooftop solar panels.
The emissions effort comes on the day Obama is meeting with Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. The leaders are expected to discuss American and British efforts toward holding back, eliminating and reversing climate change, among other topics. Obama has made reducing emissions and adapting to the effects of climate change a top priority of his second term -- despite opposition from congressional Republicans. In his first administration, efforts to push a cap-and-trade bill and national clean energy standard through Congress resoundingly failed. So Obama has shifted to using his expansive presidential authority to make progress on climate policy.
Last June, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations requiring states to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. The proposal aims to achieve as much as a 30 percent reduction from 2005 levels in heat-trapping gases by 2030. In January, the Obama administration unveiled a plan to cut emissions of methane -- a dangerous greenhouse gas -- from U.S. oil and gas operations. The White House says it aims to cut emissions to 45 percent below 2012 levels within 10 years -- the first target of its kind in the nation.
The steps are part of Obama’s broad strategy to push leaders in other countries to adopt aggressive climate policies. The U.S. and nearly 200 countries this year are developing individual strategies for reducing their respective emissions. The plans will help to shape a global emissions treaty that leaders could sign at a United Nations climate conference in Paris this December.
www.ibtimes.com/obama-climate-change-order-will-require-federal-government-slash-its-greenhouse-gas