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Book it, we’re toast: The Fate of the Species

Sat, 2012-05-26 10:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Michael D. Lemonick

reneweconomy.com.au - Climate Central - May 22, 2012

If you grew up in the 1950’s and early 60’s, you probably remember the faint air of existential angst that lingered constantly in the background. With the creation of atomic weapons, and the booming stockpiles of missile-mounted bombs in the arsenals of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., it seemed perfectly plausible that an all-out nuclear war could wipe out a significant fraction of the world’s population — the first time in history that humanity was capable of such destruction.

But as Fred Guterl says in a sobering, important and highly readable new book, those were really the good old days. The nuclear threat has receded, he acknowledges in The Fate of the Species: Why the human race may cause its own extinction and how we can stop it (Bloomsbury: $25), but warns that “the success of Homo sapiens has created new and terrifying risks that didn’t exist a few decades ago.”

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Arctic Melt Releasing Ancient Methane

Tue, 2012-05-22 21:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Many of the sites were bubbling methane that has been stored for millennia

BBC News - by Richard Black - May 20, 2012

Scientists have identified thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane that has been stored for many millennia is bubbling into the atmosphere.

The methane has been trapped by ice, but is able to escape as the ice melts.

Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the researchers say this ancient gas could have a significant impact on climate change.

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after CO2 and levels are rising after a few years of stability.

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Nature Geoscience - Geologic methane seeps along boundaries of Arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers

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Climate Change, Disaster Risk, and the Urban Poor - Cities Building Resilience for a Changing World

Sun, 2012-05-20 17:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

scribd.com/WorldBankPublications - April 2012

Poor people living in slums are at particularly high risk from the impacts of climate change and natural hazards. They live on the most vulnerable lands within cities, typically areas that are deemed undesirable by others and are thus affordable. Residents are exposed to the impacts of landslides, sea-level rise, flooding, and other hazards.

Exposure to risk is exacerbated by overcrowded living conditions, lack of adequate infrastructure and services, unsafe housing, inadequate nutrition, and poor health. These conditions can turn a natural hazard or change in climate into a disaster, and result in the loss of basic services, damage or destruction to homes, loss of livelihoods, malnutrition, disease, disability, and loss of life.

This study analyzes the key challenges facing the urban poor given the risks associated with climate change and disasters, particularly with regard to the delivery of basic services, and identifies strategies and financing opportunities for addressing these risks.

Several key findings emerge from the study and provide guidance for addressing risk:

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Australians Told Sweeping Economic, Societal Changes Needed to Cope with Severe Weather

Fri, 2012-04-27 22:55 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - April 27, 2012

The Australian government’s Productivity Commission has just released its much-anticipated report, titled Barriers to Effective Climate Change Adaptation (a 305 page .PDF report). The report calls for sweeping changes across the Australian economy, including ditching property taxes which discourage people from moving out of areas prone to extreme weather events.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the commission, accepting that some degree of climate change is now inevitable, says that Australia will need to adapt. This means removing obstacles in the areas of taxation, local government, disaster relief, planning and building rules, and emergency management.

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Rapid Climate Change Threatens Asia’s Rice Bowl

Sun, 2012-04-22 23:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Rice production in Asia is threaten by rapid climate change. Photo: T. Sunderland (CIFOR)

Researchers Focus on Innovations to Adapt Agriculture to Wild Swings in Climate Extremes, as Vividly Manifested by Southeast Asia’s Catastrophic Flood-drought Cycles

Bangkok (12 April 2012)—As Asia’s monsoon season begins, leading climate specialists and agricultural scientists warned today that rapid climate change and its potential to intensify droughts and floods could threaten Asia’s rice production and pose a significant threat to millions of people across the region.

“Climate change endangers crop and livestock yields and the health of fisheries and forests at the very same time that surging populations worldwide are placing new demands on food production,” said Bruce Campbell of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). “These clashing trends challenge us to transform our agriculture systems so they can sustainably deliver the food required to meet our nutritional needs and support economic development, despite rapidly shifting growing conditions.”

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Planet Under Pressure 2012 - State of the Planet Declaration

Wed, 2012-04-04 01:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Nguyen Huu Ninh

International scientific community issues first
“State of the Planet Declaration”

Recognizing the complexity and urgency of current challenges, researchers propose a new vision for science for global sustainability at major international conference.

Scientists today issued the first “State of the Planet” declaration* at a major gathering of experts on global environmental and social issues in advance of the major UN Summit Rio+20 in June.

The declaration opens: “Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well‐being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk.” It states that consensus is growing that we have driven the planet into a new epoch, the Anthropocene, where many planetary‐scale processes are dominated by human activities. It concludes society must not delay taking urgent and large‐scale action.

“This is a declaration to our globally interconnected society,“ said Dr Lidia Brito, director of science policy, natural sciences, UNESCO, and conference co‐chair.

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Clinton Sees ‘Goldmines’ in Methane Emission Curbs to Fight Climate Change

Mon, 2012-04-02 23:21 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Alexander Ragir and Joao Oliveira - bloomberg.com - June 1, 2011

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton urged cities and the World Bank to work on curbing methane emissions from landfills and charcoal, saying those steps first would buy time in the fight against global warming.

Politicians may need years to work out a way to limit the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels, and it would cheaper and quicker to focus on other gases first, Clinton said at the C40 meeting of mayors from the world’s largest cities in Sao Paulo today. Methane has 25 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide, also known as CO2.

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Carbon Map Infographic: A New Way to See the Earth Move

Sat, 2012-03-31 23:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                              (CLICK ON THE MAP IMAGE BELOW TO GO TO THE INTERACTIVE MAP)

      

by Simon Rogers - guardian.co.uk - March 29, 2012

How can you map the world to show global data in an immediately clear way? How can you show two datasets at once to see how they compare? Kiln, a partnership of Guardian writer Duncan Clark and developer Robin Houston has come up with this beautiful new take on the globe. Watch the animated intro or click on the topics and see the map move before your eyes. Adding shading lets you compare two datasets to see how they relate – so you can see clearly how poorest countries have the fastest growing populations but the lowest emissions

• The map works best in newest versions of Chrome, Firefox or Safari
• Who made this graphic? Duncan Clark and Robin Houston
• Where can I find it? carbonmap.org

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Special Report - Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX)

Thu, 2012-03-29 23:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

28 March 2012

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) on 28 March. The report assesses the evidence that climate change has led to changes in climate extremes and the extent to which policies to avoid, prepare for, respond to and recover from the risks of disaster can reduce the impact of such events. Please click here for an IPCC press release on the report, and here for the report itself.

http://www.ipcc.ch/news_and_events/news.shtml#.T3UOlfXh98F

Special Report - Overview

http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/

Special Report - Press Release (4 page .PDF file)

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Global Warming Presents Historic Disaster Risk, Report Says

Thu, 2012-03-29 21:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

      

Mumbai is among the densely populated cities that scientists say is at great risk. (Photo: Getty Images)

by Seth Borenstein - Associated Press - yahoo.com - March 28, 2012

WASHINGTON — Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts, and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists said in a new report issued Wednesday.

The greatest threat from extreme weather is to highly populated, poor regions of the world, the report warns, but no corner of the globe — from Mumbai to Miami — is immune. The document by a Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists forecasts stronger tropical cyclones and more frequent heat waves, deluges, and droughts.

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