Climate Change News part.9
Power being restored after Storm Imogen hits England and Wales
9 February 2016
9 February 2016
More than a thousand properties remain without power after Storm Imogen brought heavy rain and strong winds.
South-west England and south and mid-Wales bore the brunt, with rail and ferry services disrupted and some schools closed.
Waves of up to 19.1m (63ft) were measured off the Cornish coast, and winds of 70-80mph felt in many areas.
An RSPCA inspector is missing after trying to rescue dozens of sea birds at Porthchapel Beach near Penzance
Although the eye of the storm passed on Monday night, high tides and large waves are expected to continue along the south coast of England on Tuesday, forecasters warned.
'Phenomenal'Winds of more than 80mph were recorded in many areas, including 81mph on the Isles of Scilly, 84mph in Pembrey Sands, Carmarthenshire, and 96mph at The Needles, off the Isle of Wight. The Met Office said "phenomenal" sea conditions were also measured at several points offshore. Defined as waves of more than 14m (46ft), it is the highest level on the World Meteorological Scale. More than 40 Environment Agency flood warnings are in place, meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required. These include several put in place by Natural Resources Wales. There are also more than 140 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible and to be prepared.
In other developments:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35516741
South-west England and south and mid-Wales bore the brunt, with rail and ferry services disrupted and some schools closed.
Waves of up to 19.1m (63ft) were measured off the Cornish coast, and winds of 70-80mph felt in many areas.
An RSPCA inspector is missing after trying to rescue dozens of sea birds at Porthchapel Beach near Penzance
Although the eye of the storm passed on Monday night, high tides and large waves are expected to continue along the south coast of England on Tuesday, forecasters warned.
'Phenomenal'Winds of more than 80mph were recorded in many areas, including 81mph on the Isles of Scilly, 84mph in Pembrey Sands, Carmarthenshire, and 96mph at The Needles, off the Isle of Wight. The Met Office said "phenomenal" sea conditions were also measured at several points offshore. Defined as waves of more than 14m (46ft), it is the highest level on the World Meteorological Scale. More than 40 Environment Agency flood warnings are in place, meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required. These include several put in place by Natural Resources Wales. There are also more than 140 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible and to be prepared.
In other developments:
- At one point, about 19,000 homes were without power on Monday, but the majority have now been reconnected. Most of those still cut off are in Devon and Cornwall
- Two young children were badly injured when part of a garden wall was brought down on top of them as they walked to school in Worcestershire
- A special bridge to help dormice safely cross the Church Village by-pass near Pontypridd collapsed and hit the windscreen of a car, causing traffic congestion
- There was disruption to a number of train lines, including the cancellation of all services in and out of Cornwall after a tree fell across the tracks near Bodmin
- A number of schools in Cornwall were closed because of power cuts and storm damage
- Several parts of Bridgend town centre were shut because of falling roof tiles
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35516741
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Climate Change and Vector-Borne Diseases
Last updated: February 2, 2016
Aedes mosquito
Climate change creates new uncertainties about the spread of diseases such as the Zika virus, dengue fever, malaria, and Lyme disease. These illnesses are transmitted by insects known as vectors, including mosquitoes, ticks, and flies.
By altering conditions--local temperatures, rainfall and population movements--that determine the spread of the pathogens, global warming makes the transmission of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) unpredictable and difficult to control. When it comes to vector-borne diseases like Zika, climate change is a threat multiplier. Rising global temperatures can lengthen the season and increase the geographic range of disease-carrying insects. As temperatures warm, mosquitoes and other
warm-weather vectors can move into higher altitudes and new regions farther from the equator. Increased rainfall, flooding and humidity creates more viable areas for vector breeding and allows breeding to occur more quickly, as eggs hatch faster in hotter climates. Human migration exposes people to viruses they are not immune to. As populations migrate in response to climate change, they bring disease to new regions and urban areas. Infectious diseases spread more quickly in overcrowded urban areas.
“Climate change could be the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.”
-The Lancet, "Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change," 2009
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that rising global temperatures, as well as altered precipitation and humidity linked to climate change, could significantly alter vector-borne diseases and their effect on human populations--making epidemics more difficult to predict and control. The changes in vector-borne diseases would likely occur as both short-term epidemics and long-term gradual changes in disease trends. The IPCC reported that vector-borne diseases are some of the best-studied diseases associated with climate change, due to their widespread occurrence and sensitivity to climatic factors.
While the direction of change is difficult to predict, there is mounting evidence that Aedes mosquitoes are mostly expanding their range, and vector-borne diseases such as Dengue are expanding along with this. While there is less research on Zika, it operates through the same vectors. The extant evidence suggests increased risk through the uncertainty introduced by climate change.
Vector-Borne Diseases (VBDs)
Vector-borne diseases are caused by pathogens and are most commonly transmitted to people through the bites of insects. The WHO reports that there are more than 1 billion cases and more than 1 million deaths from vector-borne diseases annually. Vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and yellow fever account for more than 17 percent of all infectious diseases. Vector-borne diseases overwhelmingly and disproportionately impact people living in tropical and subtropical developing countries, though warmer temperatures, migration, travel, and trade could spread these diseases to more temperate climates.
According to the WHO, there are three key components that determine the occurrence of VBDs:
Temperature, precipitation, humidity, and other climatic factors affect the reproduction, development, behavior, and population dynamics of insects, pathogens, and people.
“Warmer temperatures lengthen mosquito season and increase the geographic range where mosquitoes can survive.
Mild winters are less likely to kill off insects including mosquitos. In these ways, climate change could help enable the spread of the Aedes albopictus and the Zika virus in North America." -Assistant Professor Erin Mordecai, Stanford University Biology Department.
Insect vectors have several physical traits that help them take advantage of climate impacts like flooding, increased precipitation, and warmer weather. Body Temperature: Insects cannot regulate their body temperature and are dependent on external warmth to survive. Rising temperatures may cause vector range patterns to shift, increasing the risk to new populations. For example, dengue fever, chikungunya and West Nile virus are emerging in areas where they were previously unknown and there is mounting evidence that this is due, in part, to increasing temperatures, along with other factors, such as increasing global travel and trade. Breeding: Humidity and water is crucial for vector breeding, so more insects can hatch in areas with standing water and high precipitation. Pathogen Incubation: The incubation period of pathogens within vectors is also temperature-dependent, and becomes shorter in warmer conditions.
Vector-borne disease cycles are complex because of constantly changing interactions between pathogen, insects, and people. Changes in climate make these interactions less predictable, multiplying the threat of the disease. Climate change is one of many factors that impact the incidence of vector-borne diseases in humans. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine reports that predicting the impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases requires long-term studies that look at “other agents of global change, such as increased trade and travel, demographic shifts, civil unrest, changes in land use, [and] water availability,” many of which intersect heavily with climate change.
Zika virus is a tropical disease spread by Aedes mosquitoes, which also carry yellow and dengue fever. A recent boom in reported cases across South and Central America has erupted into a pandemic. The virus, which can be transmitted from mother to fetus throughout pregnancy, has been linked to an increase in birth defects, miscarriages, and deaths in newborns in Brazil, especially a condition known as microcephaly, in which the brain does not fully develop and babies are born with abnormally small heads. Health officials in El Salvador, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, and Jamaica recommended in January of 2016 that women delay pregnancy until the rate of transmission is down. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued warnings to pregnant women traveling to countries where the Zika virus transmission is occurring.
It is unclear whether the Zika virus will gain a foothold in North America, but CDC claims that “because the Aedes species mosquitoes… are found throughout the world, it is likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries.” The southern U.S. is especially vulnerable because of its warm and humid climate, and is already home to Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
http://climatenexus.org/learn/societal-impacts/climate-change-and-vector-borne-diseases
By altering conditions--local temperatures, rainfall and population movements--that determine the spread of the pathogens, global warming makes the transmission of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) unpredictable and difficult to control. When it comes to vector-borne diseases like Zika, climate change is a threat multiplier. Rising global temperatures can lengthen the season and increase the geographic range of disease-carrying insects. As temperatures warm, mosquitoes and other
warm-weather vectors can move into higher altitudes and new regions farther from the equator. Increased rainfall, flooding and humidity creates more viable areas for vector breeding and allows breeding to occur more quickly, as eggs hatch faster in hotter climates. Human migration exposes people to viruses they are not immune to. As populations migrate in response to climate change, they bring disease to new regions and urban areas. Infectious diseases spread more quickly in overcrowded urban areas.
“Climate change could be the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.”
-The Lancet, "Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change," 2009
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that rising global temperatures, as well as altered precipitation and humidity linked to climate change, could significantly alter vector-borne diseases and their effect on human populations--making epidemics more difficult to predict and control. The changes in vector-borne diseases would likely occur as both short-term epidemics and long-term gradual changes in disease trends. The IPCC reported that vector-borne diseases are some of the best-studied diseases associated with climate change, due to their widespread occurrence and sensitivity to climatic factors.
While the direction of change is difficult to predict, there is mounting evidence that Aedes mosquitoes are mostly expanding their range, and vector-borne diseases such as Dengue are expanding along with this. While there is less research on Zika, it operates through the same vectors. The extant evidence suggests increased risk through the uncertainty introduced by climate change.
Vector-Borne Diseases (VBDs)
Vector-borne diseases are caused by pathogens and are most commonly transmitted to people through the bites of insects. The WHO reports that there are more than 1 billion cases and more than 1 million deaths from vector-borne diseases annually. Vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and yellow fever account for more than 17 percent of all infectious diseases. Vector-borne diseases overwhelmingly and disproportionately impact people living in tropical and subtropical developing countries, though warmer temperatures, migration, travel, and trade could spread these diseases to more temperate climates.
According to the WHO, there are three key components that determine the occurrence of VBDs:
- The abundance of vectors and hosts;
- The local prevalence of disease-causing parasites and pathogens;
- The behavior and resilience of the human population to the disease.
Temperature, precipitation, humidity, and other climatic factors affect the reproduction, development, behavior, and population dynamics of insects, pathogens, and people.
“Warmer temperatures lengthen mosquito season and increase the geographic range where mosquitoes can survive.
Mild winters are less likely to kill off insects including mosquitos. In these ways, climate change could help enable the spread of the Aedes albopictus and the Zika virus in North America." -Assistant Professor Erin Mordecai, Stanford University Biology Department.
Insect vectors have several physical traits that help them take advantage of climate impacts like flooding, increased precipitation, and warmer weather. Body Temperature: Insects cannot regulate their body temperature and are dependent on external warmth to survive. Rising temperatures may cause vector range patterns to shift, increasing the risk to new populations. For example, dengue fever, chikungunya and West Nile virus are emerging in areas where they were previously unknown and there is mounting evidence that this is due, in part, to increasing temperatures, along with other factors, such as increasing global travel and trade. Breeding: Humidity and water is crucial for vector breeding, so more insects can hatch in areas with standing water and high precipitation. Pathogen Incubation: The incubation period of pathogens within vectors is also temperature-dependent, and becomes shorter in warmer conditions.
Vector-borne disease cycles are complex because of constantly changing interactions between pathogen, insects, and people. Changes in climate make these interactions less predictable, multiplying the threat of the disease. Climate change is one of many factors that impact the incidence of vector-borne diseases in humans. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine reports that predicting the impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases requires long-term studies that look at “other agents of global change, such as increased trade and travel, demographic shifts, civil unrest, changes in land use, [and] water availability,” many of which intersect heavily with climate change.
Zika virus is a tropical disease spread by Aedes mosquitoes, which also carry yellow and dengue fever. A recent boom in reported cases across South and Central America has erupted into a pandemic. The virus, which can be transmitted from mother to fetus throughout pregnancy, has been linked to an increase in birth defects, miscarriages, and deaths in newborns in Brazil, especially a condition known as microcephaly, in which the brain does not fully develop and babies are born with abnormally small heads. Health officials in El Salvador, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, and Jamaica recommended in January of 2016 that women delay pregnancy until the rate of transmission is down. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued warnings to pregnant women traveling to countries where the Zika virus transmission is occurring.
It is unclear whether the Zika virus will gain a foothold in North America, but CDC claims that “because the Aedes species mosquitoes… are found throughout the world, it is likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries.” The southern U.S. is especially vulnerable because of its warm and humid climate, and is already home to Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
http://climatenexus.org/learn/societal-impacts/climate-change-and-vector-borne-diseases
Colourful nacreous clouds spark aurora borealis reports
2 February 2016 Highlands & Islands
2 February 2016 Highlands & Islands
Brightly coloured clouds that form in Earth's lower stratosphere appear to have been mistaken for another phenomenon. Lancaster University's AuroraWatch UK said it had received reports of sights of the aurora borealis. But, because conditions have not been right for the aurora, the organisation suspects people have been seeing nacreous clouds. The clouds have been visible in the past few days over parts of the UK. BBC Scotland weather presenter Christopher Blanchett said the effects of storms Gertrude and Henry may have heightened the chances of seeing the clouds. He said: "Iridescent nacreous clouds are as captivating as they are rare.
"These eye-catching rainbow coloured clouds form in the Earth's stratosphere at around 70,000ft, way above where other clouds are normally found and in much colder air, around -78C. "Usually it is far too dry at this height for clouds to form, but during the polar winter the temperature can drop low enough to promote the cloud's development. "Here in Scotland, the recent storms have probably helped too, with strong winds driving moisture up into the stratosphere. "Their colour comes from ice crystals refracting the sun's rays to give the rainbow effect." He added: "They're most vivid before dawn and after sunset, as they're in sunlight longer due to their altitude. They're sometimes referred to as 'mother of pearl' clouds or otherwise known as polar stratospheric clouds."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35470260
"These eye-catching rainbow coloured clouds form in the Earth's stratosphere at around 70,000ft, way above where other clouds are normally found and in much colder air, around -78C. "Usually it is far too dry at this height for clouds to form, but during the polar winter the temperature can drop low enough to promote the cloud's development. "Here in Scotland, the recent storms have probably helped too, with strong winds driving moisture up into the stratosphere. "Their colour comes from ice crystals refracting the sun's rays to give the rainbow effect." He added: "They're most vivid before dawn and after sunset, as they're in sunlight longer due to their altitude. They're sometimes referred to as 'mother of pearl' clouds or otherwise known as polar stratospheric clouds."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35470260
As food emergency intensifies in drought-hit Ethiopia, UN appeals for more resources
26 January 2016
Despite the well-coordinated response already under way to offset the impacts of an El Niño-induced drought in Ethiopia,
the United Nations humanitarian wing has warned that the scale of the developing emergency exceeds resources and that more funding is urgently needed to ensure food distribution and child protection amid ongoing malnutrition and water shortages. “Resources currently in-hand do not guarantee a full relief food basket for beneficiaries,” said the latest weekly update on Ethiopia compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It also added that “without additional resources, the food sector projects a full pipeline break in a couple of months.” $1.2 billion is needed for food relief to 10.2 million people. However, the current appeal is only funded by one third. Given the lead times necessary for the procurement of relief items, the Government and its international partners have called for early action to this slow onset natural disaster.
Fragmentation of delivery is of critical priority as it has negative implications for nutrition and health, and the beneficiaries have to travel more than twice to the food distribution point within short period. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is helping deliver food to 2 million people and has started using the humanitarian supplies from the Port of Berbera in Somaliland. Further, the allocation-dispatch-distribution is being finalized in about 4 weeks and the geographic and programmatic priorities for the first quarter of 2016 have also been completed by OCHA’s inter-cluster group and its country team.
Child protection is another concern due to drought, as poor families are taking negative coping mechanisms such as child marriage. As such, Child Protection Rapid Assessments (CPRA) validation and drought response planning workshops are being held at national and regional levels. However, financial requirements are also expected to expedite this exercise.
The El Niño global climactic event has wreaked havoc on Ethiopia’s summer rains, says OCHA. This comes on the heels of failed spring rains, and has driven food insecurity, malnutrition and water shortages in affected areas of the country.
The current El Niño pattern, being the strongest ever recorded, has caused severe drought in the Horn of Africa nation, resulting in crop reduction by 50 to 90 per cent and leaving some 10.2 million people food insecure.
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53095#.Vq7BqhhxK00
the United Nations humanitarian wing has warned that the scale of the developing emergency exceeds resources and that more funding is urgently needed to ensure food distribution and child protection amid ongoing malnutrition and water shortages. “Resources currently in-hand do not guarantee a full relief food basket for beneficiaries,” said the latest weekly update on Ethiopia compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It also added that “without additional resources, the food sector projects a full pipeline break in a couple of months.” $1.2 billion is needed for food relief to 10.2 million people. However, the current appeal is only funded by one third. Given the lead times necessary for the procurement of relief items, the Government and its international partners have called for early action to this slow onset natural disaster.
Fragmentation of delivery is of critical priority as it has negative implications for nutrition and health, and the beneficiaries have to travel more than twice to the food distribution point within short period. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is helping deliver food to 2 million people and has started using the humanitarian supplies from the Port of Berbera in Somaliland. Further, the allocation-dispatch-distribution is being finalized in about 4 weeks and the geographic and programmatic priorities for the first quarter of 2016 have also been completed by OCHA’s inter-cluster group and its country team.
Child protection is another concern due to drought, as poor families are taking negative coping mechanisms such as child marriage. As such, Child Protection Rapid Assessments (CPRA) validation and drought response planning workshops are being held at national and regional levels. However, financial requirements are also expected to expedite this exercise.
The El Niño global climactic event has wreaked havoc on Ethiopia’s summer rains, says OCHA. This comes on the heels of failed spring rains, and has driven food insecurity, malnutrition and water shortages in affected areas of the country.
The current El Niño pattern, being the strongest ever recorded, has caused severe drought in the Horn of Africa nation, resulting in crop reduction by 50 to 90 per cent and leaving some 10.2 million people food insecure.
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53095#.Vq7BqhhxK00
As global elite gather at the World Economic Forum1, moving to counter climate change competes with economic fears
It is the first major meeting of politicians and business leaders since 195 nations struck a landmark deal to limit carbon emissions in Paris in December. Thousands of luminaries have come to a Swiss ski resort to unpack the opportunities and challenges of the future. ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution’ is the theme meant to guide high-powered panel sessions. Among talk of robotics, 3D printing and nanotechnology, the Paris agreement should merit mention. It aims to radically shrink the usage of fossil fuels, which the world consumes for 87% of its energy. Innovation is crucial to neutralise carbon emissions in the next half-century.
As the forum nears its end, here’s what we conclude.
1. Market turmoil dominates
A global selloff of stocks has crowded out much discussion of a new global warming pact at the World Economic Forum. Markets have plunged more than US$4 trillion in value since 1 January – the worst start in yearly trading since the 2009 financial crisis – on weak Chinese growth and low oil prices. Opinion is divided on the impact of cheap crude on climate plans. Benchmark prices of $30 a barrel are “very detrimental for any [clean energy] policy”, according to Total chief Patrick Pouyanne. But analysts Climate Home asked are not worried.
2. Climate action is the smaller conversation
A climate change-induced disaster was named the greatest threat to the global economy in 2016, in a WEF survey ahead of the event, but that wasn’t fully borne out in discussions. Cutting carbon is an “issue for mainstream business, but of course not everyone is paying attention,” says Paul Simpson at UK-based CDP. How to revive the reeling oil sector is the core issue – not reacting to low-carbon regulations signalled by Paris. Nigel Topping at We Mean Business sees a more “workman-like mood” on tackling climate change compared to previous years. “It’s less a call to action, and more a how do we do it”, he says.
3. People are fatigued after 2015’s bumper year
Last year saw the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai framework to lessen natural disaster risks and the Paris climate agreement. It was a year of unprecedented preparation and focused diplomacy. That was inevitably going to fall back, says Yvo de Boer, the UN’s former climate chief between 2006-10. “In a way it is very understandable. People want to take a break from climate having invested so heavily in the Paris process.”
4. But businesses are pressing on
The media may be fixated on frothy markets, but business leaders are looking forward to implementing Paris’ conclusions. Cities, regions and corporates are ready to hold governments to their commitments, says Sandrine Dixson-Decleve of the Prince of Wales Corporate Leaders Group. Sessions showed intent to ramp up finance for environmentally-friendly investments. Even the head of America’s largest private employer, Walmart, said taking climate responsibility was good for business.
5. Oil and gas companies, not so much
Five European giants including BP and Total may have backed Paris’ 2C target and supported carbon pricing. Ten joined the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (including Saudi Aramco and Pemex) last year too. What isn’t clear is their strategies to meet the rhetoric, says CDP’s Simpson. It’s even worse from US companies, who have shown a “vacuum of leadership” at Davos. But Topping says we are seeing the “beginnings” of the industry’s acknowledgement of a transition to a low-carbon world. Shareholder pressure will make not having a plan for 2C impossible.
6. The low carbon transition might not be orderly
Sustainable business groups are “struggling” to win the battle that you can act on climate and not risk economic growth, said Helen Mountford of the New Climate Economy Initiative. Volatile commodity prices bolster the case to invest in less risky renewable energy ventures, and costs are tumbling. Start preparing early for an “orderly transition”, HSBC Group chief executive Stuart Gulliver urged fossil fuel companies. What could be dangerous to financial stability is some “binary moment where everybody effectively abandons the oil and gas and mining companies. It’s certainly not workable for a lot of the emerging economies,” he said.
7. Financial regulators are on the case
Michael Bloomberg named a crack team to get companies revealing their climate risks. Top executives from Brazilian bank Bradesco, commodities giant Unilever, French insurer Axa and the Singapore Exchange join the initiative. It follows Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s warning last year that global warming could hit financial stability. He’s “not exactly a Greenpeace member,” said UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, “coming out quite clearly and saying wake up.”
8. Investors are circling an opened-up Arctic
A council of investors, businesses and independent experts launched the Arctic Investment Protocol, a WEF initiative to target responsible investment in the polar region. As ice caps melt to open up untold resources, the group estimates $1 trillion is needed in infrastructure. It somewhat vaguely talks about “balancing economic benefits with environmental and climate goals” – but if members like Statoil think that legitimises oil drilling, Greenpeace has other ideas.
www.climatechangenews.com/2016/01/22/climate-takeaways-from-davos
It is the first major meeting of politicians and business leaders since 195 nations struck a landmark deal to limit carbon emissions in Paris in December. Thousands of luminaries have come to a Swiss ski resort to unpack the opportunities and challenges of the future. ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution’ is the theme meant to guide high-powered panel sessions. Among talk of robotics, 3D printing and nanotechnology, the Paris agreement should merit mention. It aims to radically shrink the usage of fossil fuels, which the world consumes for 87% of its energy. Innovation is crucial to neutralise carbon emissions in the next half-century.
As the forum nears its end, here’s what we conclude.
1. Market turmoil dominates
A global selloff of stocks has crowded out much discussion of a new global warming pact at the World Economic Forum. Markets have plunged more than US$4 trillion in value since 1 January – the worst start in yearly trading since the 2009 financial crisis – on weak Chinese growth and low oil prices. Opinion is divided on the impact of cheap crude on climate plans. Benchmark prices of $30 a barrel are “very detrimental for any [clean energy] policy”, according to Total chief Patrick Pouyanne. But analysts Climate Home asked are not worried.
2. Climate action is the smaller conversation
A climate change-induced disaster was named the greatest threat to the global economy in 2016, in a WEF survey ahead of the event, but that wasn’t fully borne out in discussions. Cutting carbon is an “issue for mainstream business, but of course not everyone is paying attention,” says Paul Simpson at UK-based CDP. How to revive the reeling oil sector is the core issue – not reacting to low-carbon regulations signalled by Paris. Nigel Topping at We Mean Business sees a more “workman-like mood” on tackling climate change compared to previous years. “It’s less a call to action, and more a how do we do it”, he says.
3. People are fatigued after 2015’s bumper year
Last year saw the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai framework to lessen natural disaster risks and the Paris climate agreement. It was a year of unprecedented preparation and focused diplomacy. That was inevitably going to fall back, says Yvo de Boer, the UN’s former climate chief between 2006-10. “In a way it is very understandable. People want to take a break from climate having invested so heavily in the Paris process.”
4. But businesses are pressing on
The media may be fixated on frothy markets, but business leaders are looking forward to implementing Paris’ conclusions. Cities, regions and corporates are ready to hold governments to their commitments, says Sandrine Dixson-Decleve of the Prince of Wales Corporate Leaders Group. Sessions showed intent to ramp up finance for environmentally-friendly investments. Even the head of America’s largest private employer, Walmart, said taking climate responsibility was good for business.
5. Oil and gas companies, not so much
Five European giants including BP and Total may have backed Paris’ 2C target and supported carbon pricing. Ten joined the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (including Saudi Aramco and Pemex) last year too. What isn’t clear is their strategies to meet the rhetoric, says CDP’s Simpson. It’s even worse from US companies, who have shown a “vacuum of leadership” at Davos. But Topping says we are seeing the “beginnings” of the industry’s acknowledgement of a transition to a low-carbon world. Shareholder pressure will make not having a plan for 2C impossible.
6. The low carbon transition might not be orderly
Sustainable business groups are “struggling” to win the battle that you can act on climate and not risk economic growth, said Helen Mountford of the New Climate Economy Initiative. Volatile commodity prices bolster the case to invest in less risky renewable energy ventures, and costs are tumbling. Start preparing early for an “orderly transition”, HSBC Group chief executive Stuart Gulliver urged fossil fuel companies. What could be dangerous to financial stability is some “binary moment where everybody effectively abandons the oil and gas and mining companies. It’s certainly not workable for a lot of the emerging economies,” he said.
7. Financial regulators are on the case
Michael Bloomberg named a crack team to get companies revealing their climate risks. Top executives from Brazilian bank Bradesco, commodities giant Unilever, French insurer Axa and the Singapore Exchange join the initiative. It follows Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s warning last year that global warming could hit financial stability. He’s “not exactly a Greenpeace member,” said UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, “coming out quite clearly and saying wake up.”
8. Investors are circling an opened-up Arctic
A council of investors, businesses and independent experts launched the Arctic Investment Protocol, a WEF initiative to target responsible investment in the polar region. As ice caps melt to open up untold resources, the group estimates $1 trillion is needed in infrastructure. It somewhat vaguely talks about “balancing economic benefits with environmental and climate goals” – but if members like Statoil think that legitimises oil drilling, Greenpeace has other ideas.
www.climatechangenews.com/2016/01/22/climate-takeaways-from-davos
Ethiopian drought is "code red" for newborns and their mothers: NGO
REUTERS | 25 January, 2016 13:12
REUTERS | 25 January, 2016 13:12
Some 350,000 babies are expected to be born by August into severe food shortages in Ethiopia's worst drought in 50 years, the charity Save the Children said, urging leaders to raise the alarm at the African Union summit this week.
One-tenth of Ethiopians - about 10.2 million people - cannot feed themselves because their crops and animals have died despite strong economic growth and development gains over the last decade. "Giving birth in a desperate situation where there are already serious food shortages, and where livestock have died en masse taking away a vital source of nutrition for breastfeeding mothers, is extremely dangerous for both newborns and their mothers," said Save the Children's country director John Graham. Pregnant and lactating mothers who are malnourished are less likely to deliver safely and will struggle to feed their underweight newborns, he said in a statement.
"This is a code red emergency and it needs to be treated like one, yet I have never seen such a small response to a drought of this magnitude from the UN (United Nations) or the international community." About a quarter of the $1.4 billion needed to respond to the crisis has been pledged, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, but most of these contributions have not yet been paid. Africa's second most populous nation has been hit by two consecutive failed rains, most recently due to the El Nino weather phenomenon - a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific that is causing hunger around the globe. "The scale of the drought in Ethiopia is like nothing I've seen before in the 19 years that I've lived in this country," Graham said. More than 2.5 million children are expected to drop out of school due to the drought this year, the charity said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is among world leaders expected at the African Union summit, which opened last week and culminates in a heads of state assembly on Saturday and Sunday.
www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2016/01/25/Ethiopian-drought-is-code-red-for-newborns-and-their-mothers-NGO
One-tenth of Ethiopians - about 10.2 million people - cannot feed themselves because their crops and animals have died despite strong economic growth and development gains over the last decade. "Giving birth in a desperate situation where there are already serious food shortages, and where livestock have died en masse taking away a vital source of nutrition for breastfeeding mothers, is extremely dangerous for both newborns and their mothers," said Save the Children's country director John Graham. Pregnant and lactating mothers who are malnourished are less likely to deliver safely and will struggle to feed their underweight newborns, he said in a statement.
"This is a code red emergency and it needs to be treated like one, yet I have never seen such a small response to a drought of this magnitude from the UN (United Nations) or the international community." About a quarter of the $1.4 billion needed to respond to the crisis has been pledged, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, but most of these contributions have not yet been paid. Africa's second most populous nation has been hit by two consecutive failed rains, most recently due to the El Nino weather phenomenon - a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific that is causing hunger around the globe. "The scale of the drought in Ethiopia is like nothing I've seen before in the 19 years that I've lived in this country," Graham said. More than 2.5 million children are expected to drop out of school due to the drought this year, the charity said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is among world leaders expected at the African Union summit, which opened last week and culminates in a heads of state assembly on Saturday and Sunday.
www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2016/01/25/Ethiopian-drought-is-code-red-for-newborns-and-their-mothers-NGO
Experts say inaction on climate change is top global risk for the next decade
This entry posted by Celine Charveriat (@MCcharveriat), Director of Advocacy and Campaigns, and Tim Gore (@tim_e_gore), Head of Policy for Food, Land and Climate Change, on 15 January 2016.
For the first time, the flagship Global Risk Report of the World Economic Forum has found that insufficient action on climate change is the greatest threat to societal stability the world faces. Whilst large-scale migration is identified as the most likely risk for the next 18 months, the top risks of highest concern for the next ten years are (in this order) water crises,
failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation, extreme weather events and food crises. The timing could not be better.
The report is essential reading for anyone – including those attending this year's gathering in Davos – that hoped the adoption of an historic global climate agreement in Paris last December would mean that world leaders can tick climate change off of their to-do lists for the next years. The Paris conference sealed a landmark deal, but unless and until its commitments are implemented in full – and surpassed – the risk of climate chaos only grows.
The report echoes the warnings Oxfam has been sounding in recent years that runaway climate change is at the center of a web of global food and water insecurity, with ripple effects that touch us all, whether through extreme food price hikes or mass migration flows. As the report states, “without food, people have only three options. They riot, they emigrate, or they die.”For evidence, leaders need look no further than the unfolding emergency spurred by the current super-charged El Niño weather pattern. Countries needing international assistance include Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Madagascar, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Papua New Guinea and many Pacific Islands. This is one of the strongest El Niñosever recorded with impacts on a huge global scale. Tens of millions of people are facing hunger, water shortages, and disease
as droughts and floods exacerbated by the El Niño effect have devastated harvests and livelihoods. In Ethiopia alone,
10.2 million people require international assistance, and this is on top of the 8 million people that will be supported in 2016 by the national food safety net program.
Warming seas could double the frequency of the most powerful El Niños, and as global warming creates more and more sea-surface temperature ‘hot spots’ in the world’s oceans, and wind systems change as a result, extreme weather and greater climate disruption may be what a ‘normal’ future looks like without hugely scaled-up climate action. The response to this crisis is the first test of the resolve of those who signed the Paris deal last month. After all, the new agreement establishes a global goal on adaptation, recognising that dealing with the effects of climate change is a global challenge faced by all, and “strongly urges developed countries to scale-up their level of financial support... significantly increasing adaptation finance from current levels” by 2020. Urgent life-saving resources are needed now to respond to this El Niño crisis, particularly
in Ethiopia, including the delivery of food or financial support, ensuring access to clean water and sanitation and treating malnutrition. Elsewhere, where there is not yet a crisis but the situation is alarming and deteriorating, urgent action is needed to build resilience to protect lives and livelihoods, such as rehabilitating water points, developing new water sources, improving weather information for farmers and providing training on alternative means of making a living.
Alongside this emergency response, we need to support communities to become more resilient to the changing climate and address inequality and other structural causes of food insecurity. Investing in adaptation and resilience is not cheap, but it will save much greater costs and loss of life down the line. Investing in interventions and programs that contribute to the building of resilience of households and communities consistently outweigh the costs, yielding gains ranging from $2.3 to $13.2 for every dollar invested. Yet in many ways, money for adaptation is the unfinished business of Paris. Quantified targets to scale-up adaptation funding were on the table, but didn't make it into the final text. While the nature and scale of the global challenge in moving away from fossil fuels is increasingly understood and accepted by governments and private sector actors alike, few have yet to really grasp what adapting the world to the climate change we can no longer avoid means. As Oxfam highlighted in 2014, the world's food system is woefully unprepared for the risks climate change pose as highlighted in the WEF report.
By the time the new Paris agreement enters into force from 2020, we anticipate that adaptation and resilience will be the major issues of contention in the UN climate negotiations. Private sector actors that are now starting to make bold commitments on mitigation, we predict will by then be making them on adaptation in their operations and supply chains. Stranded assets will not only be an issue for the fossil fuel industry, but any sector that has failed to adapt to the changing climate. This year's Global Risk Report only confirms our view that addressing climate risk, and especially its impacts on food, water and migration, will be at the top of the political agenda for years to come.
https://blogs.oxfam.org/en/blogs/16-01-15-experts-say-inaction-climate-change-top-global-risk-next-decade
For the first time, the flagship Global Risk Report of the World Economic Forum has found that insufficient action on climate change is the greatest threat to societal stability the world faces. Whilst large-scale migration is identified as the most likely risk for the next 18 months, the top risks of highest concern for the next ten years are (in this order) water crises,
failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation, extreme weather events and food crises. The timing could not be better.
The report is essential reading for anyone – including those attending this year's gathering in Davos – that hoped the adoption of an historic global climate agreement in Paris last December would mean that world leaders can tick climate change off of their to-do lists for the next years. The Paris conference sealed a landmark deal, but unless and until its commitments are implemented in full – and surpassed – the risk of climate chaos only grows.
The report echoes the warnings Oxfam has been sounding in recent years that runaway climate change is at the center of a web of global food and water insecurity, with ripple effects that touch us all, whether through extreme food price hikes or mass migration flows. As the report states, “without food, people have only three options. They riot, they emigrate, or they die.”For evidence, leaders need look no further than the unfolding emergency spurred by the current super-charged El Niño weather pattern. Countries needing international assistance include Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Madagascar, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Papua New Guinea and many Pacific Islands. This is one of the strongest El Niñosever recorded with impacts on a huge global scale. Tens of millions of people are facing hunger, water shortages, and disease
as droughts and floods exacerbated by the El Niño effect have devastated harvests and livelihoods. In Ethiopia alone,
10.2 million people require international assistance, and this is on top of the 8 million people that will be supported in 2016 by the national food safety net program.
Warming seas could double the frequency of the most powerful El Niños, and as global warming creates more and more sea-surface temperature ‘hot spots’ in the world’s oceans, and wind systems change as a result, extreme weather and greater climate disruption may be what a ‘normal’ future looks like without hugely scaled-up climate action. The response to this crisis is the first test of the resolve of those who signed the Paris deal last month. After all, the new agreement establishes a global goal on adaptation, recognising that dealing with the effects of climate change is a global challenge faced by all, and “strongly urges developed countries to scale-up their level of financial support... significantly increasing adaptation finance from current levels” by 2020. Urgent life-saving resources are needed now to respond to this El Niño crisis, particularly
in Ethiopia, including the delivery of food or financial support, ensuring access to clean water and sanitation and treating malnutrition. Elsewhere, where there is not yet a crisis but the situation is alarming and deteriorating, urgent action is needed to build resilience to protect lives and livelihoods, such as rehabilitating water points, developing new water sources, improving weather information for farmers and providing training on alternative means of making a living.
Alongside this emergency response, we need to support communities to become more resilient to the changing climate and address inequality and other structural causes of food insecurity. Investing in adaptation and resilience is not cheap, but it will save much greater costs and loss of life down the line. Investing in interventions and programs that contribute to the building of resilience of households and communities consistently outweigh the costs, yielding gains ranging from $2.3 to $13.2 for every dollar invested. Yet in many ways, money for adaptation is the unfinished business of Paris. Quantified targets to scale-up adaptation funding were on the table, but didn't make it into the final text. While the nature and scale of the global challenge in moving away from fossil fuels is increasingly understood and accepted by governments and private sector actors alike, few have yet to really grasp what adapting the world to the climate change we can no longer avoid means. As Oxfam highlighted in 2014, the world's food system is woefully unprepared for the risks climate change pose as highlighted in the WEF report.
By the time the new Paris agreement enters into force from 2020, we anticipate that adaptation and resilience will be the major issues of contention in the UN climate negotiations. Private sector actors that are now starting to make bold commitments on mitigation, we predict will by then be making them on adaptation in their operations and supply chains. Stranded assets will not only be an issue for the fossil fuel industry, but any sector that has failed to adapt to the changing climate. This year's Global Risk Report only confirms our view that addressing climate risk, and especially its impacts on food, water and migration, will be at the top of the political agenda for years to come.
https://blogs.oxfam.org/en/blogs/16-01-15-experts-say-inaction-climate-change-top-global-risk-next-decade
Record El Nino, climate change drive extreme weather
December 28, 2015 by Marlowe Hood
December 28, 2015 by Marlowe Hood
Deadly extreme weather on at least five continents is driven in large part by a record-breaking El Nino, but climate change is a likely booster too, experts said Monday. The 2015-16 El Nino, they added, is the strongest ever measured. "It is probably the most powerful in the last 100 years," said Jerome Lecou, a climate expert at the French weather service Meteo France, noting that accurate measurements have only existed since the mid-20th century. Flooding and mudslides unleashed by torrential rains have killed at least 10 people and driven more than 150,000 from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay in recent days. In central and southwestern United States—where temperatures in Texas are forecast to drop from a balmy 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) Saturday to zero (32 F) on Monday—clashing weather fronts have given rise to snow-packed blizzards, freezing rain and a spate of tornadoes that have claimed at least 43 lives.
Across the Pacific, meanwhile, wildfires in Australia fanned by high temperatures and super-dry conditions have engulfed more than 100 homes outside Melbourne, with hundreds more threatened. Across south and southeast Asia, monsoon rains essential for life-sustaining crops have been limited, while drought in eastern Africa means millions will require food aid, especially in Ethiopia, according to Oxfam. "The role of El Nino on much of what we are seeing around the planet is obvious," said Herve Le Treut, a climate scientist and director of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute, which is a federation of French research centres. El Ninos, which emerge every four to seven years on average and run from October through January, are triggered by a shift in trade winds across the Pacific around the equator.
Multiplier effect
Warmer surface water that normally accumulates in the eastern Pacific moves to the west, leading to heavier rainfall along the west coast of the Americas and drier-than-usual conditions in Australasia and southeast Asia. This year's El Nino is the most powerful ever measured, surpassing the one in 1997-98, both in terms of ocean surface temperature—up by more than 3C (5.4F)—and the surface area affected, said Lecou. As was true in 1998, this year's super El Nino will have contributed to making 2015 the warmest on record, worldwide. But the reverse may also be true, with climate change boosting the power of cyclical El Nino events. "If you add the background global warming to natural weather phenomena, there's a tendency to break records left and right," Le Treut told AFP.
"This naturally occurring El Nino and human-induced climate change may interact and modify each other in ways which we have never before experienced," Michel Jarraud, head of the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva, noted last month.
But the multiplier effect of climate change on extreme weather events—while predicted by climate models—is very difficult to establish on a case-by-case basis, scientists caution. The tornadoes, for example, that ripped across populated stretches of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis in Texas cannot be directly linked to global warming, even if generally warmer conditions may favour their occurence. Likewise the heavy rains and flooding that have devastated parts of northern England, where the government dispatched hundreds of soldiers for emergency assistance."Milder winters favour rainfall, such as what we are seeing in England," said French researcher Jean Jouzel, former vice chair of the UN's top panel of climate scientists.
But such extremes could still fall within the boundaries of natural cycles, independent of climate change, he added.
This year's El Nino is credited with the largest number—nine, in total—of major Pacific hurricanes in a single season, along with the single most powerful hurricane ever recorded. Patricia, packing 320-kilometre (200-mile) per hour winds, was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it struck Mexico in October.
http://phys.org/news/2015-12-el-nino-climate-extreme-weather
Across the Pacific, meanwhile, wildfires in Australia fanned by high temperatures and super-dry conditions have engulfed more than 100 homes outside Melbourne, with hundreds more threatened. Across south and southeast Asia, monsoon rains essential for life-sustaining crops have been limited, while drought in eastern Africa means millions will require food aid, especially in Ethiopia, according to Oxfam. "The role of El Nino on much of what we are seeing around the planet is obvious," said Herve Le Treut, a climate scientist and director of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute, which is a federation of French research centres. El Ninos, which emerge every four to seven years on average and run from October through January, are triggered by a shift in trade winds across the Pacific around the equator.
Multiplier effect
Warmer surface water that normally accumulates in the eastern Pacific moves to the west, leading to heavier rainfall along the west coast of the Americas and drier-than-usual conditions in Australasia and southeast Asia. This year's El Nino is the most powerful ever measured, surpassing the one in 1997-98, both in terms of ocean surface temperature—up by more than 3C (5.4F)—and the surface area affected, said Lecou. As was true in 1998, this year's super El Nino will have contributed to making 2015 the warmest on record, worldwide. But the reverse may also be true, with climate change boosting the power of cyclical El Nino events. "If you add the background global warming to natural weather phenomena, there's a tendency to break records left and right," Le Treut told AFP.
"This naturally occurring El Nino and human-induced climate change may interact and modify each other in ways which we have never before experienced," Michel Jarraud, head of the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva, noted last month.
But the multiplier effect of climate change on extreme weather events—while predicted by climate models—is very difficult to establish on a case-by-case basis, scientists caution. The tornadoes, for example, that ripped across populated stretches of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis in Texas cannot be directly linked to global warming, even if generally warmer conditions may favour their occurence. Likewise the heavy rains and flooding that have devastated parts of northern England, where the government dispatched hundreds of soldiers for emergency assistance."Milder winters favour rainfall, such as what we are seeing in England," said French researcher Jean Jouzel, former vice chair of the UN's top panel of climate scientists.
But such extremes could still fall within the boundaries of natural cycles, independent of climate change, he added.
This year's El Nino is credited with the largest number—nine, in total—of major Pacific hurricanes in a single season, along with the single most powerful hurricane ever recorded. Patricia, packing 320-kilometre (200-mile) per hour winds, was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it struck Mexico in October.
http://phys.org/news/2015-12-el-nino-climate-extreme-weather
Storm Eva: Army Sent To Cumbria Following Met Office Flood Warnings
Posted: 25/12/2015 18:42 GMT Updated: 25/12/2015 18:59 GMT By Kathryn Snowdon
The Army has deployed troops to towns across Cumbria to help secure the area's flood defences as torrential rain is expected to hit northern parts of the country tonight. Soldiers were sent to northern England on Christmas Day as the Government's emergency Cobra committee met ahead of Storm Eva, which is expected to bring winds of up to 80mph and persistent downpours. The military's assistance comes as more than 100 flood warnings were issued across England and Wales. For many across the UK, Boxing Day will be marred by torrential rain and flooding. Up to 120mm of rain is expected to fall in parts of the North West between now and Saturday, feeding already-swollen rivers in Cumbria that now threaten to burst for the fourth time this month. Met Office forecasters have issued an amber warning of rain for Cumbria and the North West lasting into Saturday night, estimating 50mm to 80mm of rain to fall on high ground and up to 120mm over exposed areas.
By mid-afternoon on Christmas Day the Environment Agency (EA) had issued 97 flood alerts across England and Wales, plus eight warnings in the North East, North West and Wales that flooding was "imminent". Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Elizabeth Truss, chaired a meeting of Cobra. In a statement following the meeting she said: "Our priority continues to be protecting lives, protecting homes and protecting businesses. "I would like to pay tribute to the tireless work of frontline staff over the last month and the resilience of those communities affected, which I have seen first hand. "This has been a very difficult time for all involved, especially people flooded out of their homes at Christmas for which I have enormous sympathy." Cumbria has experienced the wettest December since records began in 1910, with several towns and villages preparing for more flood damage. Earlier this month, the county was badly hit by Storm Desmond, which led to many people being evacuated from their homes due to the torrential flooding.
Around 85% of the country's temporary flood defences were sent to the area where a company from the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were deployed to install them. Soldiers were on the ground in Warwick Bridge, Braithwaite and Appleby while 700 EA staff were put on standby. Major Nick Higgins of the 2nd Battalion told Sky News it was "business as usual", despite many of his soldiers having to leave their families celebrating Christmas at home. "The people of Appleby and the surrounding area we have been operating in have been massively affected by these storms and it's important that we are here to help them," he said. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon applauded the unit, saying in a statement: "Even at Christmas our Armed Forces are keeping us safe." A multi-agency Strategic Coordination Group has been set up to organise precautionary and preventative measures ahead of the forecast deluge. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted his thanks to firefighters, soldiers and EA staff, who he said were "saving lives and homes".
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, whose Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency has been affected by the floods, said the EA's efforts to prevent flood damage had been "impressive". He paid tribute to the work of armed forces' personnel, emergency services and churches in helping affected communities and highlighted how many had opened their doors to stricken families. "The community spirit across Cumbria today is truly remarkable," he said in a statement.
Other precautions include the closure of floodgates in Carlisle, Keswick and Cockermouth and the EA has transported more than a mile of temporary flood barriers and more than 20 extra pumps to the north of England. Teams of workers from the agency have also been out checking and maintaining flood defences, clearing blockages in watercourses and monitoring water levels. The Met Office has issued an amber alert of rain for the county, highlighting the increased likelihood of "medium impacts" from the rain, meaning some flooding of homes, businesses and transport links is possible. Rain will spread across Wales and northern England through the course of Christmas Day, reaching southern parts of Scotland during the early hours of Boxing Day, with prolonged spells forecast for south Cumbria.
The latest deluge will come as towns and villages across the county are still clearing up the aftermath of Storm Desmond earlier this month, which left hundreds of homes and businesses under water. The Government said it had set aside £60 million in a relief fund, Truss said.Around 40 roads and bridges remain damaged and closed, and hundreds of homes have been left uninhabitable. Heavy rain could also raise the risk of localised flooding around the River Severn in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire, and the River Ouse in York, causing travel disruption. High tides are also expected, bringing with them the potential for large waves and spray along parts of the south and west coast of England.
Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said the agency will review recent events with communities to improve its response in future.
More information and help is available at www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-at-risk-of-flooding or follow @EnvAgency and #floodaware on Twitter for the latest flood updates. Traffic and travel information is available at www.cumbria.police.uk/traffic-link-map and a helpline has been opened on 0345 988 1188.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12/25/storm-eva-army-sent-cumbria-floods_n_8877602
By mid-afternoon on Christmas Day the Environment Agency (EA) had issued 97 flood alerts across England and Wales, plus eight warnings in the North East, North West and Wales that flooding was "imminent". Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Elizabeth Truss, chaired a meeting of Cobra. In a statement following the meeting she said: "Our priority continues to be protecting lives, protecting homes and protecting businesses. "I would like to pay tribute to the tireless work of frontline staff over the last month and the resilience of those communities affected, which I have seen first hand. "This has been a very difficult time for all involved, especially people flooded out of their homes at Christmas for which I have enormous sympathy." Cumbria has experienced the wettest December since records began in 1910, with several towns and villages preparing for more flood damage. Earlier this month, the county was badly hit by Storm Desmond, which led to many people being evacuated from their homes due to the torrential flooding.
Around 85% of the country's temporary flood defences were sent to the area where a company from the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were deployed to install them. Soldiers were on the ground in Warwick Bridge, Braithwaite and Appleby while 700 EA staff were put on standby. Major Nick Higgins of the 2nd Battalion told Sky News it was "business as usual", despite many of his soldiers having to leave their families celebrating Christmas at home. "The people of Appleby and the surrounding area we have been operating in have been massively affected by these storms and it's important that we are here to help them," he said. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon applauded the unit, saying in a statement: "Even at Christmas our Armed Forces are keeping us safe." A multi-agency Strategic Coordination Group has been set up to organise precautionary and preventative measures ahead of the forecast deluge. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted his thanks to firefighters, soldiers and EA staff, who he said were "saving lives and homes".
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, whose Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency has been affected by the floods, said the EA's efforts to prevent flood damage had been "impressive". He paid tribute to the work of armed forces' personnel, emergency services and churches in helping affected communities and highlighted how many had opened their doors to stricken families. "The community spirit across Cumbria today is truly remarkable," he said in a statement.
Other precautions include the closure of floodgates in Carlisle, Keswick and Cockermouth and the EA has transported more than a mile of temporary flood barriers and more than 20 extra pumps to the north of England. Teams of workers from the agency have also been out checking and maintaining flood defences, clearing blockages in watercourses and monitoring water levels. The Met Office has issued an amber alert of rain for the county, highlighting the increased likelihood of "medium impacts" from the rain, meaning some flooding of homes, businesses and transport links is possible. Rain will spread across Wales and northern England through the course of Christmas Day, reaching southern parts of Scotland during the early hours of Boxing Day, with prolonged spells forecast for south Cumbria.
The latest deluge will come as towns and villages across the county are still clearing up the aftermath of Storm Desmond earlier this month, which left hundreds of homes and businesses under water. The Government said it had set aside £60 million in a relief fund, Truss said.Around 40 roads and bridges remain damaged and closed, and hundreds of homes have been left uninhabitable. Heavy rain could also raise the risk of localised flooding around the River Severn in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire, and the River Ouse in York, causing travel disruption. High tides are also expected, bringing with them the potential for large waves and spray along parts of the south and west coast of England.
Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said the agency will review recent events with communities to improve its response in future.
More information and help is available at www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-at-risk-of-flooding or follow @EnvAgency and #floodaware on Twitter for the latest flood updates. Traffic and travel information is available at www.cumbria.police.uk/traffic-link-map and a helpline has been opened on 0345 988 1188.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12/25/storm-eva-army-sent-cumbria-floods_n_8877602
Obama just released the biggest energy efficiency rule in U.S. history
December 17, 2015 By Chris Mooney
They dribble out regularly — Energy Department rules or “standards” that require ever improving levels of energy efficiency for dishwashers, refrigerators, and much more. On Thursday, though, the Department dumped what it is describing as the “largest energy-saving standard in history” and one that “will save more energy than any other standard issued by the Department to date” — a standard governing commercial air conditioners and furnaces. These devices consume a gigantic amount of energy across America because, well, they keep us comfortable in large buildings. “It’s over 10 percent of all the commercial space energy, it covers heating and cooling for roughly half of commercial space,” said Ernest Moniz, secretary of energy, on the announcement of the regulation. Accordingly, making these devices more efficient can thus really move the needle, and the new standard, says the department, will translate into $ 167 billion in saved costs for businesses over the life of the standard, as well as 885 million tons fewer carbon dioxide emissions. (That’s just shy of a gigaton, or a billion tons.)
“The amended energy conservation standards being adopted for these equipment would result in the significant conservation of energy and be technologically feasible and economically justified,” the new rule states.
The new standard was actually produced through what Moniz calls a “consensus process” involving industry, labor groups, and environmentalists. A number praised the action Thursday. “They really came out with the most favorable ruling for all parties involved,” said Terry Johnston, vice-president and chief operating officer for Lennox International, a large maker of industrial air conditioners and other products. Johnston said that while Lennox will have to create some new products to comply with the standard, it has adequate of time to do so. “These standards are a game-changer for the commercial sector,” said Steve Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “Industry and advocates worked closely together to help produce the biggest energy savings standards in US history. These new standards will bring down the cost of doing business and improve bottom lines by letting companies invest money they used to spend on heating and cooling. This will in turn stimulate the economy, create jobs, and bring us closer to the finish line of the president’s climate goals for appliance standards.” As the quotation suggests, it’s hard to interpret this move outside of the context of the Paris agreement, struck Saturday due in significant part to high levels of U.S. engagement and diplomacy.
Now the Obama administration has come home and immediately ushered in a big move that will, over the long run, make us a lower-emitting country. What makes the rule the biggest ever, according to the Energy Department, is the total amount of energy that it saves over the lifetime of the standard, which would be 15 quads — short for a quadrillion (a one with fifteen zeros after it) British thermal units, or BTUs. A BTU is defined as “the heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.” Just to give some sense of scale – in 2012, the entire U.S. used 97 quads of energy.The Obama administration has launched new efficiency standards covering more than 40 products since taking office, and the net amount of greenhouse gases that these standards will prevent is over 2 gigatons, or billion tons, by the year 2030, according to the department. The new standard arrives in this midst and boosts the entire group significantly. “We think we’re on track to get to, or very close to, 3 gigatons of C02 cumulative up to 2030,” says Moniz. He notes that after 2030, even greater savings will kick in. In 2013 alone, the U.S. emitted 5.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide.
www.washingtonpost.com/meet-the-biggest-energy-efficiency-rule-the-u-s-has-ever-released
“The amended energy conservation standards being adopted for these equipment would result in the significant conservation of energy and be technologically feasible and economically justified,” the new rule states.
The new standard was actually produced through what Moniz calls a “consensus process” involving industry, labor groups, and environmentalists. A number praised the action Thursday. “They really came out with the most favorable ruling for all parties involved,” said Terry Johnston, vice-president and chief operating officer for Lennox International, a large maker of industrial air conditioners and other products. Johnston said that while Lennox will have to create some new products to comply with the standard, it has adequate of time to do so. “These standards are a game-changer for the commercial sector,” said Steve Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “Industry and advocates worked closely together to help produce the biggest energy savings standards in US history. These new standards will bring down the cost of doing business and improve bottom lines by letting companies invest money they used to spend on heating and cooling. This will in turn stimulate the economy, create jobs, and bring us closer to the finish line of the president’s climate goals for appliance standards.” As the quotation suggests, it’s hard to interpret this move outside of the context of the Paris agreement, struck Saturday due in significant part to high levels of U.S. engagement and diplomacy.
Now the Obama administration has come home and immediately ushered in a big move that will, over the long run, make us a lower-emitting country. What makes the rule the biggest ever, according to the Energy Department, is the total amount of energy that it saves over the lifetime of the standard, which would be 15 quads — short for a quadrillion (a one with fifteen zeros after it) British thermal units, or BTUs. A BTU is defined as “the heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.” Just to give some sense of scale – in 2012, the entire U.S. used 97 quads of energy.The Obama administration has launched new efficiency standards covering more than 40 products since taking office, and the net amount of greenhouse gases that these standards will prevent is over 2 gigatons, or billion tons, by the year 2030, according to the department. The new standard arrives in this midst and boosts the entire group significantly. “We think we’re on track to get to, or very close to, 3 gigatons of C02 cumulative up to 2030,” says Moniz. He notes that after 2030, even greater savings will kick in. In 2013 alone, the U.S. emitted 5.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide.
www.washingtonpost.com/meet-the-biggest-energy-efficiency-rule-the-u-s-has-ever-released
Global climate deal: In summary
12 December 2015 By Helen Briggs BBC News
12 December 2015 By Helen Briggs BBC News
A global climate agreement has been finalised in Paris. What has been agreed?
OverviewThe deal unites all the world's nations in a single agreement on tackling climate change for the first time in history.
Coming to a consensus among nearly 200 countries on the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions is regarded by many observers as an achievement in itself and is being hailed as "historic". The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 set emission cutting targets for a handful of developed countries, but the US pulled out and others failed to comply. However, scientists point out that the Paris accord must be stepped up if it is to have any chance of curbing dangerous climate change. Pledges thus far could see global temperatures rise by as much as 2.7C, but the agreement lays out a roadmap for speeding up progress.
What are the key elements?
What's in and what has been left out?
The goal of preventing what scientists regard as dangerous and irreversible levels of climate change - judged to be reached at around 2C of warming above pre-industrial times - is central to the agreement. The world is already nearly halfway there at almost 1C and many countries argued for a tougher target of 1.5C - including leaders of low-lying countries that face unsustainable sea levels rises in a warming world. The desire for a more ambitious goal has been kept in the agreement - with the promise to "endeavour to limit" global temperatures even more, to 1.5C. Dr Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, says the objective is "remarkable". "It is a victory for the most vulnerable countries, the small islands, the least developed countries and all those with the most to lose, who came to Paris and said they didn't want sympathy, they wanted action."
Meanwhile, for the first time, the accord lays out a longer-term plan for reaching a peak in greenhouse emissions "as soon as possible" and achieving a balance between output of man-made greenhouse gases and absorption - by forests or the oceans "by the second half of this century". "If agreed and implemented, this means bringing down greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero within a few decades. It is in line with the scientific evidence we presented," says John Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Some have described the deal as "woolly" because some of the targets were scaled down during the negotiations. "The Paris Agreement is only one step on a long road, and there are parts of it that frustrate and disappoint me, but it is progress," says Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo. "This deal alone won't dig us out the hole we're in, but it makes the sides less steep."
What about money?
Money has been a sticking point throughout the negotiations. Developing countries say they need financial and technological help to leapfrog fossil fuels and move straight to renewables. Currently they have been promised US $100bn (£67bn) a year by 2020 - not as much as many countries would like. The agreement requires rich nations to maintain a $100bn a year funding pledge beyond 2020, and to use that figure as a "floor" for further support agreed by 2025. The deal says wealthy countries should continue to provide financial support for poor nations to cope with climate change and encourages other countries to join in on a voluntary basis. Dr Ilan Kelman of UCL, London, says the lack of time scales are "worrying". "The starting point of $100bn per year is helpful, but remains under 8% of worldwide declared military spending each year."
What happens next?
Only elements of the Paris pact will be legally binding. The national pledges by countries to cut emissions are voluntary, and arguments over when to revisit the pledges - with the aim of taking tougher action - have been a stumbling block in the talks.
The pact promises to make an assessment of progress in 2018, with further reviews every five years. As analysts point out, Paris is only the beginning of a shift towards a low-carbon world, and there is much more to do. "Paris is just the starting gun for the race towards a low-carbon future," says WWF-UK Chief Executive David Nussbaum. Prof John Shepherd of the National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, says the agreement includes some welcome aspirations but few people realise how difficult it will be to achieve the goals. "Since the only mechanism remains voluntary national caps on emissions, without even any guidance on how stringent those caps would need to be, it is hard to be optimistic that these goals are likely to be achieved."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35073297
OverviewThe deal unites all the world's nations in a single agreement on tackling climate change for the first time in history.
Coming to a consensus among nearly 200 countries on the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions is regarded by many observers as an achievement in itself and is being hailed as "historic". The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 set emission cutting targets for a handful of developed countries, but the US pulled out and others failed to comply. However, scientists point out that the Paris accord must be stepped up if it is to have any chance of curbing dangerous climate change. Pledges thus far could see global temperatures rise by as much as 2.7C, but the agreement lays out a roadmap for speeding up progress.
What are the key elements?
- To keep global temperatures "well below" 2.0C (3.6F) above pre-industrial times and "endeavour to limit" them even more, to 1.5C
- To limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100
- To review each country's contribution to cutting emissions every five years so they scale up to the challenge
- For rich countries to help poorer nations by providing "climate finance" to adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.
What's in and what has been left out?
The goal of preventing what scientists regard as dangerous and irreversible levels of climate change - judged to be reached at around 2C of warming above pre-industrial times - is central to the agreement. The world is already nearly halfway there at almost 1C and many countries argued for a tougher target of 1.5C - including leaders of low-lying countries that face unsustainable sea levels rises in a warming world. The desire for a more ambitious goal has been kept in the agreement - with the promise to "endeavour to limit" global temperatures even more, to 1.5C. Dr Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, says the objective is "remarkable". "It is a victory for the most vulnerable countries, the small islands, the least developed countries and all those with the most to lose, who came to Paris and said they didn't want sympathy, they wanted action."
Meanwhile, for the first time, the accord lays out a longer-term plan for reaching a peak in greenhouse emissions "as soon as possible" and achieving a balance between output of man-made greenhouse gases and absorption - by forests or the oceans "by the second half of this century". "If agreed and implemented, this means bringing down greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero within a few decades. It is in line with the scientific evidence we presented," says John Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Some have described the deal as "woolly" because some of the targets were scaled down during the negotiations. "The Paris Agreement is only one step on a long road, and there are parts of it that frustrate and disappoint me, but it is progress," says Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo. "This deal alone won't dig us out the hole we're in, but it makes the sides less steep."
What about money?
Money has been a sticking point throughout the negotiations. Developing countries say they need financial and technological help to leapfrog fossil fuels and move straight to renewables. Currently they have been promised US $100bn (£67bn) a year by 2020 - not as much as many countries would like. The agreement requires rich nations to maintain a $100bn a year funding pledge beyond 2020, and to use that figure as a "floor" for further support agreed by 2025. The deal says wealthy countries should continue to provide financial support for poor nations to cope with climate change and encourages other countries to join in on a voluntary basis. Dr Ilan Kelman of UCL, London, says the lack of time scales are "worrying". "The starting point of $100bn per year is helpful, but remains under 8% of worldwide declared military spending each year."
What happens next?
Only elements of the Paris pact will be legally binding. The national pledges by countries to cut emissions are voluntary, and arguments over when to revisit the pledges - with the aim of taking tougher action - have been a stumbling block in the talks.
The pact promises to make an assessment of progress in 2018, with further reviews every five years. As analysts point out, Paris is only the beginning of a shift towards a low-carbon world, and there is much more to do. "Paris is just the starting gun for the race towards a low-carbon future," says WWF-UK Chief Executive David Nussbaum. Prof John Shepherd of the National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, says the agreement includes some welcome aspirations but few people realise how difficult it will be to achieve the goals. "Since the only mechanism remains voluntary national caps on emissions, without even any guidance on how stringent those caps would need to be, it is hard to be optimistic that these goals are likely to be achieved."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35073297
EU Funds to Support El Niño Relief as Food Security Declines
09 December 2015
EU - The European Union has announced a contribution of €125 million to finance emergency actions in countries affected by the extreme weather phenomenon ‘El Niño’ in Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America. The current El Niño is expected to be the strongest on record, surpassing the 1997/1998 El Niño. The support, €119 million of which comes from the European Development Fund reserves, and a further €6 million from the humanitarian budget, will contribute to the joint effort of bringing life-saving emergency assistance and increasing resilience in the affected countries. At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21), European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides said: "EU aid will help meet the urgent needs of the affected populations, but it will also support resilience efforts, making them better equipped to face natural disasters in the future. "At present, El Niño is already affecting millions of people in many vulnerable regions especially in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and is expected to continue to do so in the next months."
European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said: "We need to react now so El Nino does not undermine the efforts in poverty alleviation in many countries in the world that we have fought so hard to achieve. Today the EU is boosting its efforts to prevent a crisis that could cause instability in the longer term."
The ‘El Niño’ phenomenon is characterised by rising temperatures of surface sea water, which interact with the atmosphere and cause different extreme events, from floods to droughts. It is already affecting large regions of Africa – Central Africa, Greater Horn of Africa, and Southern Africa – with both floods and droughts. These are having consequences mainly on food security, but also on health, access to water and hygiene conditions of millions of people living in already vulnerable regions.
The worst-hit country so far is Ethiopia, reporting an increase in the number of food insecure people due to drought from
2.9 million in January 2015 to 8.2 million in October 2015.
Central America and the Caribbean region are also being severely affected, in particular Guatemala and Haiti.
More than 6 million people are estimated to be suffering from the current drought, which is considered to be the most severe in the region in more than 100 years and expected still to worsen. The lack of water has an enormous impact on crops, livestock, reservoirs and the livelihoods of a substantial proportion of the population. With about 34 million people affected worldwide, and the most virulent impact ever expected to take place, the phenomenon demands a coordinated global response.
www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/40913/eu-funds-to-support-el-nio-relief-as-food-security-declines
European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said: "We need to react now so El Nino does not undermine the efforts in poverty alleviation in many countries in the world that we have fought so hard to achieve. Today the EU is boosting its efforts to prevent a crisis that could cause instability in the longer term."
The ‘El Niño’ phenomenon is characterised by rising temperatures of surface sea water, which interact with the atmosphere and cause different extreme events, from floods to droughts. It is already affecting large regions of Africa – Central Africa, Greater Horn of Africa, and Southern Africa – with both floods and droughts. These are having consequences mainly on food security, but also on health, access to water and hygiene conditions of millions of people living in already vulnerable regions.
The worst-hit country so far is Ethiopia, reporting an increase in the number of food insecure people due to drought from
2.9 million in January 2015 to 8.2 million in October 2015.
Central America and the Caribbean region are also being severely affected, in particular Guatemala and Haiti.
More than 6 million people are estimated to be suffering from the current drought, which is considered to be the most severe in the region in more than 100 years and expected still to worsen. The lack of water has an enormous impact on crops, livestock, reservoirs and the livelihoods of a substantial proportion of the population. With about 34 million people affected worldwide, and the most virulent impact ever expected to take place, the phenomenon demands a coordinated global response.
www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/40913/eu-funds-to-support-el-nio-relief-as-food-security-declines