No Time for Delays
Al Gore Has Big Plans . By James Traub, The New York Times Magazine, May 20, 2007. "Six years after the Supreme Court declared him the loser of a presidential race that seemed his for the taking, Al Gore has attained what you can only call prophetic status; and he has done so by acting as he could not, or would not, as a candidate ? saying precisely what he believes, and saying it with clarity, passion, intellectual mastery and even, sometimes, wit. Everywhere he goes, people urge him, almost beg him, to run for the presidency. He probably won't ? though he might. ('It's complicated,' he told me, 'but it's not mysterious.') He says he thinks he'd be better at it this time than he was last time. And he probably would be: Gore really does know how to hold 6,000 people in a room. But sometimes one person is one person too much for him. Given his druthers, he'd really rather talk about complexity... The former vice president... was upstairs going over the galleys of his new book, The Assault on Reason, a learned screed on the demise of public discourse and 'the meritocracy of ideas' scheduled to appear this week... Al Gore has given a great deal of thought to why some people still don't recognize the cliff we're about to drive over. The Assault on Reason is Gore's own attempt to explain, as he put it to me, ' why our public discourse is so vulnerable to the kind of rope-a-dope strategies that Exxon Mobil and their brethren have been employing for decades now, and why logic and reason and the best evidence available and the scientific discoveries do not have more force in changing the way we all think about the reality we are now facing... Gore's great fear is that business lobbies and lawmakers will unite around some kind of compromise legislation that will demonstrate 'commitment' without actually driving up the cost, or driving down the permissible volume, of carbon emissions. And he views even the most stringent legislation as inadequate."
DiCaprio Launches 11th Hour at Cannes Film Festival . By Bob Tourtellotte, Reuters, May 19, 2007 . "As Leonardo DiCaprio tells it in film documentary The 11th Hour, launched on Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival, people are living in the last minutes of the final hour before it may be too late to do anything about global warming... Unlike An Inconvenient Truth, which focused in large part on Gore, 11th Hour, takes a scholarly look at the causes of the problem... and what people can do to stop it. The roughly 90-minute movie, which was produced and narrated by DiCaprio and directed by sisters Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, is both scary and hopeful. Acting much like a guide for audiences, DiCaprio poses questions everyday people might ask. Then, well known scientists including Stephen Hawking provide answers... 'It's ultimately us [the U.S.] as the largest democracy in the world to be the ones to set an example,' DiCaprio said, 'If we don't do it, how is the rest of the world supposed to follow?"
WWF Report: Not Time for Delays on Sustainable Energy . Press Release, World Wildlife Fund, May 15, 2007 . "Sustainable energy and technology can curb climate change and meet projected growth in demand for energy but only if key decisions are made within the next five years, according to a new WWF report. Climate Solutions: WWF's vision for 2050 concludes that sustainable technologies can meet global projected energy demand while avoiding the most dangerous impacts of climate change. But it warns that the governmental policies needed to propel this transition are not now in place, or even in prospect in most cases... 'It's not too late to save ourselves and our children from the worst ravages of climate change while still meeting the demand for energy,' said Richard Mott, Vice President for International Policy at World Wildlife Fund. 'But the report also warns that this opportunity is fleeting. Any delay and our choices become both more difficult and much more expensive'... The report identifies six key solutions: 1) Improving energy efficiency ; 2) Stopping forest loss ; 3) Accelerating the development of low-emissions technologies ; 4) Developing flexible fuels ; 5) Replacing high-carbon coal with low-carbon gas ; 6) Equipping fossil-fuel plants with carbon capture and storage technology." Read the Climate Solutions report (PDF 102 pages)
How Should Government View a Looming Catastrophe? Commentary by Mary Christina Wood, The Eugene Weekly, May 10, 2007. "Global heating is leagues beyond what civilization has ever faced before... British commentator Mark Lynas, author of High Tide, summarizes it this way: If we go on emitting greenhouse gases at anything like the current rate, most of the surface of the globe will be rendered uninhabitable within the lifetimes of most readers of this article... We have to reverse what is now still a climbing trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions and bring it down within 10 years at most, then reduce it 80 percent by 2050. You can think of these requirements as Nature's Mandate. The tipping point concept means that we are sitting on a ticking clock. If we fail to bring carbon down in the next decade, we effectively lock the doors of our heating greenhouse and throw out the keys, leaving ourselves and future generations trapped inside as disaster unfolds over the long term... Nearly every aspect of human daily living results in carbon emissions. Therefore, climate response must reach into virtually every sector of society: residential, commercial, industrial, transportation -- everything... The attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized America in a way that we desperately need today... People did not just sit by. This was a time in our nation's history when individuals, families, businesses, schools and neighborhoods were engaged together, tapping their resources, ingenuity and energy in concerted defense of the country they loved and the future they hoped to pass to their children. Generations later, how is this same country responding to the threat of climate crisis?... Instead of defending our atmosphere, our government is driving this country towards runaway greenhouse gas emissions... Global heating dwarfs any threat we have known in the history of Humankind. Giving our government political discretion to allow further damage to our atmosphere puts the future of this nation and the rest of the world in grave danger. If Americans take the lead to reframe our government's purpose as a trust duty to safeguard the commonly held atmosphere, we may soon find every other nation in the world engaged with us, not against us, in a massive, urgent defense effort to secure the systems of life on Earth for all generations to come." Mary Christina Wood is the founding director of the University of Oregon School of Law Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program. This is a transcript of her talk to Eugene City Club May 4, 2007.
The Last Chance for Change . Photographs by Paul Brown, The Guardian Unlimited website. " The pictures... are taken from Global Warning: The Last Chance for Change, a book by former Guardian environment correspondent Paul Brown. The pictures show how the world is changing and have been chosen to support Brown's explanation of how climate change is having an impact on the natural world and its inhabitants. Disappearing ice and forests, and dust storms from enlarging deserts are all serious problems for our planet. You can read an extract from his book, and find out how to get hold of a copy, here."
The U.N., The G8 and City Mayors
Deadlock at Climate Talks in Bonn Mars Hopes for Post-Kyoto Treaty in Bali this December . By Gerard Wynn, Reuters, May 18, 2007 . "Deadlock over how to bring the United States and big developing nations to the climate negotiating table frustrated U.N.-hosted talks this week [in Bonn], meant to lay the groundwork for a conference in Indonesia in December. At issue is extending and strengthening the Kyoto Protocol on global warming after 2012. Only rich countries face emissions targets under Kyoto now and the stumbling block is they want big emitting developing nations to do more next time round. Despite recent U.N. reports ringing alarm bells on global warming, the United States and Japan saw little prospect for launching formal talks to extend Kyoto at the Bali conference. 'You need all major emitters to join in, including India, China and the United States,' said Japan's chief climate negotiator, Mutsuyoshi Nishimura. 'I'm really, really pessimistic that those conditions are going to be met. I have low expectations of kicking off negotiations in Bali.'"
House Leaders Implore Bush to Reverse Course on G8 Climate Policy . By Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters, May 19, 2007 . " Democratic congressional leaders urged President George W. Bush on Friday to 'reverse course' and strengthen -- not weaken -- the U.S. stance on global warming in a declaration by the world's richest countries. Fifteen heads of committees that deal, at least tangentially, with the effects of global warming in the House of Representatives cited reports that the Bush administration wants to delete references to specific limits on global warming and the greenhouse gases that spur it from a declaration by the Group of Eight industrialized countries next month... 'Support is growing for aggressive legislation to cap global warming pollution and cut it dramatically over the coming decades,' they wrote. 'But we need an Executive Branch that engages the rest of the world to solve this problem rather than stubbornly ignoring it.'"
Mayors from Major World Cities Urge G8 to Stabilize Greenhouse Gas Levels . By Michelle Nichols, Reuters, May 17, 2007. " Mayors of some of the world's largest cities concluded a climate change summit on Thursday [in New York City] by urging the Group of Eight to commit to stabilizing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere when it meets next month. The C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group [ www.c40cities.org ] also called on the leaders of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia to take into account reports by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern. New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, Sydney, Johannesburg, Berlin and Sao Paulo are among more than 40 cities in the C40. 'We urge G8 leaders at their forthcoming summit in Heiligendamm to commit to a long-term goal for the stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations,' the C40, chaired by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, said." New York meeting was the second C40cities summit. The first summit was in London in 2005 and the next will be in Seoul, in 2009."
Clinton Foundation and C40 Cities to Announce International Initiative to Retrofit Older Buildings . By Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times, May 17, 2007. "A coalition of 16 of the world's biggest cities, five banks, one former president and companies and groups that modernize aging buildings on Wednesday pledged investments of billions of dollars to cut urban energy use and releases of heat-trapping gases linked to global warming. Under a plan developed through the William J. Clinton Foundation, participating banks would provide up to $1 billion each in loans that cities or private landlords would use to upgrade energy-hungry heating, cooling and lighting systems in older buildings. The loans and interest would be paid back with savings accrued through reduced energy costs, organizers of the initiative said at a news conference in Manhattan. Typically, such upgrades can cut energy use and costs by 20 percent to 50 percent, they said... At the news conference, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York said that investing in retrofitting existing buildings was vital because they would make up 85 percent of the buildings that will stand in New York City in 2030... Energy use in buildings accounts for about a third of global releases of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. In densely populated older cities, like New York City and London, buildings are the dominant source of the gases. The first targets under the initiative, organizers said, would be municipal buildings in the participating cities, which are Bangkok; Berlin; Chicago; Houston; Johannesburg; Karachi, Pakistan; London; Melbourne, Australia; Mexico City; Mumbai, India; New York; Rome; São Paulo, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo; and Toronto... The plan was announced at the end of a three-day meeting of mayors, business leaders and environmental experts organized by former President Bill Clinton's foundation and other partners." See New York Times video companion to this story: Clinton on Climate Change.
The 110th Congress
Climate Legislation All Comes Down to Dingell . By William L. Watts, MarketWatch, May 18, 2007. " Rep. John Dingell doesn't make a big deal of his transformation from global-warming agnostic to a driving force for legislative action to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. 'I've always felt the need to see what the facts were [and] what the science is,' Dingell, the powerful chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in an interview. 'And it appears now that the facts say something needs to be done, and we're going to do it.' Dingell says the science is largely settled on the issue of global warming. But as recently as 1998, the Michigan Democrat said it was unclear whether carbon-dioxide emissions were playing a role in climate change. He was even quoted complaining that the jackasses who were then sounding the alarm had previously been warning of a new ice age. Pressed now on what convinced him of the link, Dingell points to no Damascene revelation, but points to an accumulation of evidence... Dingell's conviction on the issue is the strongest indication yet that lawmakers on Capitol Hill are ready to tackle climate change with comprehensive legislation during the current congressional session. The elections that swept Democrats back into the majority in the House and Senate last fall also ensured that Dingell, at age 80, would return to his perch at the head of the Energy and Commerce Committee, a panel with far-reaching influence over bills that are sensitive to carbon-belching energy and industrial companies... Dingell, who is working closely with Rep. Richard Boucher of Virginia, the Democratic chairman of the panel's Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, expects to have a bill on the House floor by October."
Senate Panel OKs Bill to Boost Fuel Efficiency . By Richard Simon, The Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2007. "In a sign of congressional concern over near record-high gasoline prices and global warming, a Senate committee Tuesday approved legislation calling for the most significant increase in vehicle fuel efficiency in decades. The measure would boost the [corporate] fleetwide average fuel economy standards (CAFE) to 35 mpg by 2020, up from 25. It now goes to the Senate, where a similar measure was defeated two years ago after heavy lobbying by automakers. This time, however, the bill was being backed by a number of lawmakers who previously opposed tougher standards. And it comes when congressional Democratic leaders have pledged to pass legislation to address climate change. Cars and light trucks, including sport utility vehicles, pickups and vans, account for about one-fifth of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions... The bill's approval by the Senate Commerce Committee marked only the opening round, with lawmakers from vehicle-manufacturing states vowing to fight a measure they believe could hurt the struggling U.S. auto industry. Environmental groups also assailed the bill, contending that it contained loopholes that could lead to lower increases than promised."
Senate Compromise Paves the Way for New Auto Efficiency Standards . By Alex Kaplun, E&E Daily , May 7, 2007, subscription. "After several delays and weeks of negotiation, the Senate Commerce Committee this week marks up legislation that would boost the fuel efficiency mandate for most vehicles to 35 miles per gallon. The committee's planned markup -- scheduled for tomorrow morning -- represents the first major Senate action on corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) legislation in several years and will likely lead to the first floor vote on the program since 2002. The markup comes after the top lawmakers on the committee -- Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and ranking member Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) -- reached an agreement on CAFE that bridged the gap between their respective legislative proposals."
Market Incentives
Carbon Tax the Best Route to Curb Greenhouse Gases, Canadian Economist Says . By Martin Mittelstaedt, The Toronto Globe and Mail, May 27, 2007. " One of Canada's leading environmental economists, Mark Jaccard, thinks he knows why the government's many plans to curb global-warming gases have failed. In a paper being released Thursday by the Institute for Research on Public Policy , a non-partisan Montreal think tank, he says governments haven't been willing to impose one of the most effective measures: carbon taxes, which would place a stiff charge on dumping greenhouse-gas pollutants into the atmosphere. It's a step taken in some European countries, such as Norway, but one that the former Liberal government and the present Conservative one have rejected as politically unpalatable. Dr. Jaccard, a professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, says a carbon tax is the only practical way Canada can achieve the huge emission cuts of 50 per cent or more that the federal government says are needed by 2050 to reduce the country's contribution to climate change. 'In a market economy, if you don't have a value on the atmosphere ... a cost to use the atmosphere, you will not reduce emissions,' he said in an interview." See report: Canadian policies for deep greenhouse gas reductions (PDF 26 pages)
Indonesian Study: Carbon Tax Would Benefit Poor in Developing Countries . By Jia Hepeng, SciDev.Net, May 17, 2007. " Imposing a carbon tax to fight climate change will not hurt the poor in the developing countries, according to research announced this week (15 May). The study, conducted by Arief Anshory Yusuf of Padjadjaran University in Indonesia, was presented at the 27th biannual workshop of the Economy and Environment Programme for Southeast Asia in Beijing, China... Previous studies have suggested that by increasing energy prices, carbon taxes could harm the poor more than the rich ― as the former spend a higher proportion of their income on fuel. But the new study, based on data from Indonesia, shows that in terms of energy consumption, the impact on the rural poor would be much less than that on wealthy people in cities, as the poor use comparatively little energy. The poor could actually benefit from a carbon tax. Rising energy prices mean that small scale farmers ― who make up the majority of Indonesia's poor and use little machinery ― could compete better with large farms that rely on machinery with high energy consumptions. The study reveals that Indonesia's gross domestic product could be stunted by a carbon tax. But revenues gained from the tax could be put back into society ― by cutting taxes on commodities for example. And although a carbon tax would impact the heavy energy consuming industries, he suggests that this would not damage the economy too much, as it might encourage the use of energy efficient technologies. Yusuf said the study had 'important implications in helping developing countries design policies that encourage carbon emission reduction.'"
Market Incentives Not Enough, Report Says . By Steve Lohr, The New York Times, May 17, 2007. " Energy saving opportunities in American homes are immense with current technology, but new product standard mandates will be needed, according to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute. The research group's study... concludes that projected electricity consumption in residential buildings in the United States in 2020 could be reduced by more than a third if compact fluorescent light bulbs and an array of other high-efficiency options including water heaters, kitchen appliances, room-insulation materials and standby power were adopted across the nation... Yet market forces alone, even considerably higher energy prices, will not be enough to cause wholesale adoption of the most energy-efficient technology, the report said. 'The study makes a strong case for what economists tend to shy away from ? market intervention,' said Diana Farrell, director of the institute, the economics research arm of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. 'But this would be market intervention to correct market distortions that exist'... The report Curbing Global Energy Growth: The Energy Productivity Opportunity was presented at an energy symposium Thursday in Washington sponsored by the New America Foundation and The Climate Group."
Water Power
Massive Tidal Power Proposal Stirs Controversy in U.K. By Geoffrey Lean and Tim Webb, The London Independent, May 20, 2007. "Senior cabinet ministers are pushing for Britain to be the first nation in the world to get much of its power from the tides, as part of a massive new expansion for renewable energy. The Environment Secretary, David Miliband, Welsh Secretary Peter Hain and Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling want a giant £14bn barrage to be built across the Severn. This would generate about 5 per cent of Britain's electricity without producing any of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Their move is not meeting any serious opposition within the Cabinet but will spark off a furious row with environmental bodies, which say that the barrage would devastate the estuary's wildlife... The 10-mile barrage - which is proposed by the Severn Tidal Power Group, a consortium of six major companies - would stretch across the Severn estuary from south of Cardiff to south of Weston-super-Mare. Only one such barrage exists anywhere in the world - at La Rance, Brittany - and it is less than a 30th of the size... The Environment Agency, Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales say that the scheme would 'cause irreversible impacts' to the estuary's 'internationally important habitats' for birds and other species and its "unique ecology". The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Friends of the Earth and other environmental pressure groups also vigorously oppose the proposal, and ministers are in a tricky position because they are likely to have to protect the whole estuary under European legislation."
Scientists Say that Dams are Largest Source of Human-Caused Methane Emission . By Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona Republic, May 19, 2007. "Brazilian scientists say they have found evidence that the planet's large dams emit nearly 115 million tons of methane every year, a figure that would put the water-control structures among the top contributors of human-caused greenhouse gases. In a study released earlier this month, the scientists claim the world's 52,000 dams contribute more than 4 percent of the warming impact linked to human activities. The study even suggests that dams and reservoirs are the single largest source of human-caused methane, a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. Environmental groups have rallied against dams for years, arguing that they destroy rivers and riparian habitat and wastewater through evaporation. The claim that the structures also cause global warming is [relatively] new and is certain to be disputed by the hydropower industry as well as water supply managers... The findings would prove troublesome for Western states that rely on dams and reservoirs for a significant share of their water and power. Industry groups have already dismissed the report as an exaggeration of the truth. Dams don't seem a likely source of pollutants, but decomposing organic materials in the reservoirs produce methane."
Nuclear Power and Global Security
U.K. Prime Minister-Elect Plans Nuclear Future . Guardian Unlimited, May 20, 2007. " Gordon Brown is to face down sceptics in his party and give the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations, which will be built across the country. In a move immediately condemned by environmental organisations, the Prime Minister-elect will give the green light to the plans that will show that he is backing Tony Blair's support of the nuclear industry. Boosted by a new poll, which shows Brown pulling ahead of David Cameron [Conservative Leader and Likely Opponent in Next Year's Election] on the issue of competence to run the country, Brown will signal his support this week for a dramatic renewal of the nuclear power programme that will see the building of up to eight new stations, possibly within 15 years... A major push to harness wave power and build hundreds of new wind farms - many of which will be based offshore - are also likely."
Climate Change Puts Nuclear Energy Into Hot Water . James Kanter, The International Herald Tribune, May 20, 2007. " There is a less well-known side of nuclear power: It requires great amounts of cool water to keep reactors operating at safe temperatures. That is worrying if the rivers and reservoirs which many power plants rely on for water are hot or depleted because of steadily rising air temperatures. If temperatures soar above average this summer - let alone steadily increase in years to come, as many scientists predict - many nuclear plants could face a dilemma: Either cut output or break environmental rules, in either case hurting their reputation with customers and the public... France relies on nuclear power more than any other country and is held up by advocates of nuclear power as a model for how to generate enough cheap and reliable electricity to sell surpluses abroad while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. But global warming is exposing France to new risks. In countries like Australia, where the government is considering introducing nuclear power, and the United States, which gets about a fifth of its electricity from nuclear power, some officials and operators warn of similar pitfalls if plants are built in areas where there already are water shortages... Officials at Électricité de France have been preparing for a possible rerun of a ferocious heat wave that struck during 2003, the hottest summer on record in France, when temperatures of some rivers rose sharply and a number of reactors had to curtail output or shut down altogether. The French company operates 58 reactors - the majority on ecologically sensitive rivers like the Loire. During the extreme heat of 2003 in France, 17 nuclear reactors operated at reduced capacity or were turned off. Électricité de France was forced to buy power from neighboring countries on the open market, where demand drove the price of a megawatt hour as high as ?1,000, or $1,350. Average prices in France during summer months ordinarily are about ?95 per megawatt hour."
Global Warming Called Security Threat . [Although CCC ran this story on April 15, the significant report it refers to was not available then. Hence we are running it again with a link to the report.] By Andrew C. Revkin and Timothy Williams, The New York Times, April 15, 2007. " For the second time in a month, private consultants to the government are warning that human-driven warming of the climate poses risks to the national security of the United States. A report, scheduled to be published on Monday but distributed to some reporters yesterday, said issues usually associated with the environment ? like rising ocean levels, droughts and violent weather caused by global warming ? were also national security concerns. 'Unlike the problems that we are used to dealing with, these will come upon us extremely slowly, but come they will, and they will be grinding and inexorable,' Richard J. Truly, a retired United States Navy vice admiral and former NASA administrator, said in the report. The effects of global warming, the study said, could lead to large-scale migrations, increased border tensions, the spread of disease and conflicts over food and water. All could lead to direct involvement by the United States military. The report recommends that climate change be integrated into the nation's security strategies and says the United States 'should commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilize climate changes at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability.' The report, called National Security and The Threat of Climate Change [PDF 68 pages], was commissioned by the Center for Naval Analyses , a government-financed research group, and written by a group of retired generals and admirals called the Military Advisory Board."
Climate Trends
Manhattan-Sized Ice Island Will Be Weather Balloon of Climate Change . By Margaret Munro, CanWest News, May 20, 2007 . " A Manhattan-sized ice island off the northwest coast of Canada's Ellesmere Island could soon be on the move because of extraordinary conditions in the eastern Arctic, say ice experts... The island could soon start moving because of the remarkable ice loss occurring in the nearby Lincoln Sea at the northeastern tip of Ellesmere. The sea is losing vast amounts of ice because the Nares Strait ice bridge, which normally forms between Ellesmere Island and Baffin Island in December -- and prevents the Arctic ice from moving south, did not form this winter. The loss is also generating enormous fractures in the polar pack ice, some of them hundreds of kilometres long."
Vermont's Warmer Waters Threaten Trout . Kevin O'Connor, Times Argus, May 20, 2007. " Vermont's cold, clean rivers and streams offer some of the best wild brook trout conditions in the eastern United States. But as the state's average temperatures are increasing, its cold-water fish habitat is decreasing. While nearly 14 percent of Vermont's watershed is deemed healthy for brook trout, another 63 percent has degraded because of warmer temperatures and other changing conditions, according to a first-ever study by the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, made up of 17 state fish and wildlife agencies, five federal environmental offices and several conservation groups and schools."
Soot from Asian Darkens U.S. Skies and May Conceal Half the Warming from Greenhouse Gases . By Peter N. Spotts, The Christian Science Monitor, May 17, 2007. "Vast clouds of dust, soot, and other tiny particles called aerosols migrate over the Pacific from eastern Asia to North America. Now a team of American, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean scientists is in the midst of a two-month effort to conduct the most detailed study yet of this region's air-pollution plumes... By any measure, the Asian plumes represent some of the largest pollution events on Earth, researchers say. While air pollution also migrates from North America to Europe, and from Europe across Eurasia, those amounts pale in comparison to Asia's eastbound freight. Soot from Asia that reaches the West Coast accounts for 80 percent of the black-carbon soot in the skies over the United States, notes Veerabhadran Ramanathan, director of the Center for Clouds, Chemistry, and Climate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. More generally, natural and man-made particles in the plumes represent the single most vexing problem atmospheric scientists face as they strive to understand the handful of outside factors, or 'forcings,' that affect Earth's climate system. Aerosols, soot, and dust collectively 'are the big gorilla at the table,' Dr. Ramanathan says. These particles have a direct effect on global and regional climate by intercepting sunlight and radiating it back into space. Over the Pacific on a clear day, the plumes can cut sunlight reaching the ocean surface by 10 to 15 percent, scientists say. Globally they may be concealing as much as half the warming effect of the carbon dioxide that human industrial processes have pumped into the air since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, researchers add. Moreover, these particles have an indirect effect on climate and weather through their complex effects on cloud formation. And they represent a significant source of airborne gunk that can make it difficult for some cities in the western United States to meet air-quality standards."
Southern Oceans Absorbing Less CO2 than Expected . MSNBC, May 17, 2007. "The ability of the world's oceans to absorb carbon dioxide, thus tempering the greenhouse effect, is weakening and so more CO2 emissions will remain in the atmosphere to warm up Earth, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. Focusing on the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, the study found that that body of water is so full of carbon dioxide that it can barely absorb any more. Since 1981 the Southern Ocean has been taking up 5 to 30 percent less carbon dioxide per decade than researchers had earlier predicted, the study found. Global CO2 emissions increased by 40 percent during that time. Human activity is the main culprit, said lead researcher Corinne Le Quere, who called the finding 'very alarming.' The phenomenon wasn't expected to be apparent until 2050 or so, said Le Quere, a researcher at Britain's East Anglia University. The Southern Ocean is the single largest sink for atmospheric carbon, capturing about 15 percent of it. When carbon is in a sink ? whether it's an ocean or a forest, both of which can lock up carbon dioxide ? it stays out of the atmosphere and does not contribute to global warming."
Climate Change Threatens Ghaf Tree . By James Calderwood, Associated Press, May 17, 2007. " Twisting out of the hot sand of the Arabian Peninsula is one of nature's toughest trees. Known for its coarse bark and green canopy that provides rare shade from the sweltering sun, the ghaf tree has been a steadfast survivor in brutal desert. But climate change, groundwater overuse, excessive woodcutting and increased camel grazing are threatening the tree's existence, environmentalists say. The World Wildlife Fund and the Emirates Wildlife Society are launching a campaign to save the ghaf, hoping they can persuade the Persian Gulf country's government to declare it the national tree. [Check www.savetheghaftree.org ] The ghaf, which also grows in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, is an essential part of the fragile desert ecosystem, the groups say. Its wood can be used for fuel, its fruit provides food and its flowers and bark are said to have medicinal qualities. It's also a haven for wildlife. Birds build their nests in the tree's large canopies, and desert eagle owls, brown-necked ravens, gazelles and hares use the ghaf for shelter, while gerbils burrow between its roots, said Rashmi de Roy of the WWF's Dubai office. The tree has long survived in the harsh desert -- where temperatures soar to more than 122 degrees -- and can cope with long droughts and poor soil. To extract groundwater stored deep below the surface, the tree's roots stretch as deep as 30 yards into the soil. But environmentalists say several factors are threatening the tree, including rising global temperatures that may be making the desert too hot for the ghaf. The tree and other sparse desert vegetation also are being overgrazed by the rising number of camels in the region, and a growing human population is pumping more water, causing groundwater to fall below the reach of the ghaf's roots, activists say."
Flora and Fauna
Plants Shifting North: National Wildlife Federation Report . The Associated Press, May 19, 2007. "Imagine the Sunflower State without sunflowers. That's one of the dire predictions contained in a new report on global warming released by the National Wildlife Federation, which says the Kansas state flower could move north to other states in a few decades. Increasingly warm temperatures also could mean the end of the state tree, the eastern cottonwood, according to The Gardener's Guide to Global Warming (PDF 40 pages). 'Everything being equal, these plants won't thrive and will shift north,' said Patty Glick, the report's author and the federation's senior global warming specialist. The report paints the same dim future for state flowers in 18 states, including the magnolia in Mississippi, sagebrush in Nevada and black-eyed Susan in Maryland. Global warming threatens state trees in 17 states, according to the report. While conditions could change, the projected temperature increase also could wipe out cool-weather grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, and many fescues that cover lawns in the region, Glick and others say."
Researchers to Compile Earth's 'Book of Life' . By Tom Regan, The Christian Science Monitor, May 16, 2007 . " It will be called the "Encyclopedia of Life." And it is, as they say in Boston, wicked cool. Over the next 10 years, researchers vow to gather every scrap of information available about the planet's 1.8 million known species of animals, plants, and other organisms. And once the information is gathered, it will be available on the Internet entirely for free. This project has been initiated by five top US universities and institutions of higher learning: Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.; The Field Museum in Chicago; the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Other scientific institutes, like The Natural History Museum and Royal Botanic Garden in England, will make their vast collections of historic records available through the encyclopedia... The project is the dream of several top scientists, including renowned Harvard biologist and philosopher E.O. Wilson... In a speech he gave after receiving this year's Technology, Entertainment and Design award (watch it at: here), he asked people around the world to help make the encyclopedia a reality... The site will be modeled after Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia. According to Science Daily, each species will have a 'Wikipedia-style Web page detailing each organism's genome, geographic distribution, phylogenetic position, habitat, and ecological relationships.' The project coordinators will open scanning centers around the world (they already exist in Boston, London, and Washington, D.C.), where researchers will scan tens of millions of pages of research, clean up the data, and prepare it for the publication on the Internet. Like Wikipedia, the project will also be 'open source.' So birders, amateur naturalists, school children, and others will be able to contribute to the project in a special section. Unlike Wikipedia, however, all the articles in the main section will be reviewed and approved by scientists before they are published... The John D. and Catherine T. MacÂArthur Foundation will support the Encyclopedia of Life with a $10 million grant, while the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has agreed to give $2.5 million. A condition of both of these gifts, however, is that the project become self-sustaining financially (but free to users). You can visit the EncycloÂpedia of Life at: www.eol.org."
Commentary
A Movement That Demonstrates a Pliable, Resonant and Generous Side of Humanity . By Paul Hawken, Orion Magazine, May 7, 2007. "I have given nearly one thousand talks about the environment in the past fifteen years, and after every speech a smaller crowd gathered to talk, ask questions, and exchange business cards. The people offering their cards were working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. They were from the nonprofit and nongovernmental world, also known as civil society. They looked after rivers and bays, educated consumers about sustainable agriculture, retrofitted houses with solar panels, lobbied state legislatures about pollution, fought against corporate-weighted trade policies, worked to green inner cities, or taught children about the environment. Quite simply, they were trying to safeguard nature and ensure justice... I now believe there are over one million organizations [in the world] working toward ecological sustainability and social justice. Maybe two. By conventional definition, this is not a movement. Movements have leaders and ideologies. You join movements, study tracts, and identify yourself with a group. You read the biography of the founder(s) or listen to them perorate on tape or in person. Movements have followers, but this movement doesn't work that way. It is dispersed, inchoate, and fiercely independent. There is no manifesto or doctrine, no authority to check with. I sought a name for it, but there isn't one... The movement has three basic roots: the environmental and social justice movements, and indigenous cultures' resistance to globalization?all of which are intertwining. It arises spontaneously from different economic sectors, cultures, regions, and cohorts, resulting in a global, classless, diverse, and embedded movement, spreading worldwide without exception. In a world grown too complex for constrictive ideologies, the very word movement may be too small, for it is the largest coming together of citizens in history... This is the first time in history that a large social movement is not bound together by an 'ism.' What binds it together is ideas, not ideologies. This unnamed movement's big contribution is the absence of one big idea; in its stead it offers thousands of practical and useful ideas. In place of isms are processes, concerns, and compassion. The movement demonstrates a pliable, resonant, and generous side of humanity... And I believe it will prevail... It will soon suffuse and permeate most institutions. But before then, it will change a sufficient number of people so as to begin the reversal of centuries of frenzied self-destruction." Paul Hawken is an entrepreneur and social activist living in California. His article in this issue is adapted from Blessed Unrest, to be published by Viking Press and used by permission.
The World of Katrinas . Commentary by Desmond Tutu, The Guardian Unlimited, May 5, 2007. "Where climate change has occurred in the industrialised world, the effects have so far been relatively benign. With the exception of events such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the inhabitants of North America and Europe have felt just a gentle caress from the winds of change... The melting of the snows on the peak of Kilimanjaro is a warning of the changes taking place in Africa. Across this beautiful but vulnerable continent, people are already feeling the change in the weather. But rain or drought, the result is the same: more hunger and more misery for millions of people living on the margins of global society... In the past 10 years, 2.6 billion people have suffered from natural disasters. That is more than a third of the global population - most of them in the developing world. The human impact is obvious, but what is not so apparent is the extent to which climatic events can undo the developmental gains put in place over decades. Droughts and floods destroy lives, but they also destroy schools, economies and opportunity... Our friends [in the developed world] should think about this the next time they reach for the thermostat switch. They should realize that while the problems of the Mozambican farmer might seem far away, it may not be long before their troubles wash up on their shores." Desmond Tutu is a former archbishop of Cape Town and a Nobel peace laureate.
