Historical weather data loses significance

Climate change has made historical weather data an inaccurate guide to fisheries, forestry, transport and tourism, as well as efforts to fight diseases such as malaria. "The past is no longer a good indicator of the future," says Michel Jarraud, director-general of the World Meteorological Organization according to Reuters. "This traditional knowledge is no longer adapted. It's exactly because your grandfather did this that you shouldn't do it, because the context has changed... this is something completely new - to make decisions not on facts or statistics about the past, but on the probabilities for the future," he says. Next week, about 1,500 policy-makers, researchers and corporate leaders will meet at the third World Climate Conference. The overarching theme of the conference is "Climate prediction and information for decision-making".

Every second Copenhagener will ride a bike in 2015

In Copenhagen, one in three citizens commute by bicycle to work or school every day. However, the goal is even higher, city officials say. The conference city has just announced its vision to become the world's best city for cyclists, and the Danish capital will inspire even more Copenhageners to use their bikes. In 2015 at least half the population of the city will cycle to work or their place of education every day, predictions say. "For people here, going on a bicycle is a bit like brushing your teeth, you don't think much about it!" says Andreas Rohl, who is in charge of the city's cycling program. According to the BBC, the city has worked consistently to improve conditions for cyclists. "We are very focused on the safety. Since the mid-1990s, we have reduced the risk of having an accident when you travel by bike by 65 percent. The health effect of going on a bicycle is seven times higher than the actual risk of going on a bike," Andreas Rohl tells BBC.

Chinese Vice Health Minister to Fight SARS in South

To prevent a winter return of the deadly SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus, a senior Chinese health official will visit southern Guangdong province this month to map out measures such as banning civet cat from menus, a newspaper said this week.
Initiatives to be hammered out by Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde and provincial officials would include banning restaurants from cooking and serving high-risk animals such as civet cats, said Hong Kong's pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po.
Chinese health experts have concluded that the civet cat, considered a delicacy in the south, was a primary source of last year's SARS epidemic.
Thousands of civets were killed in Guangdong province in January because of fears they may carry a form of the virus that can jump to humans.
Guangdong would be the focus of Wang's move, and the measures for civet cats there would not be extended to the whole country, the newspaper said.
The civet is a small carnivorous mammal found in Asia and Africa. The brown, furry creature with a catlike body, long tail, and weasel-like face has long been coveted by those who believe its tender flesh will improve their health and complexion.
SARS emerged in Guangdong in November 2002 and was soon spread by travelers. The disease eventually killed some 800 people around the world and infected about 8,000, some two-thirds of them in China, and dealt a severe blow to several Asian economies.
A top Chinese health official warned of the increased risk of infectious diseases such as SARS and bird flu jumping across the border to Hong Kong in 2005 as more Chinese travel to the southern city for work and play.
Speaking after a two-day meeting with health officials from Hong Kong and Maçau, Chinese Vice Minister for Health Huang Jiefu stressed the need for surveillance and sharing of information sharing to control the spread of infectious diseases.

Could Catching Swine Flu Be Good For You?

When word came in April that an entirely new, highly infectious disease--swine flu--was spreading beyond Mexico, this was the most paranoid city in the world. Land at the airport with a fever and runny nose, and you'd risk being quarantined for a week, just in case you'd brought the new disease with you.
People in this city, scarred by the SARS epidemic, still shudder when they hear someone cough. For Hong Kongers, the sound brings back memories of the scary time when the city nearly shut down and residents feared death from a new mystery disease. Schools were closed. When people left their homes--which wasn't often--many wore medical masks to reduce their exposure to anyone who might be sick

Fast-forward. If you catch the flu in Hong Kong today--or in most places--you won't be rushed to the isolation ward just in case it proves to be the new swine flu. You'll be told to go home and rest and not cough on anyone. "Everyone has finally realized that this is going to spread," said Dr. Anthony Mounts, a flu specialist at the World Health Organization.
What a change.
That's because SARS and swine flu are proving such opposites. Both are new diseases, which means that none of the 6 billion people on the planet had immunity to them when they came on the scene. The World Health Organization feared that if they developed into full-blown pandemics and raced around the world, millions would die, defenseless against new strains.

Nature Conservancy launches climate change research site

The Nature Conservancy plans to put its Dugout Ranch to work -- as a laboratory for understanding how climate change is affecting Utah and for solutions on easing its impacts.
The new Canyonlands Research Center would shift its focus from the discussion of whether climate change is a problem to more practical considerations: How can ranchers, water districts and other natural resource managers best cope with the changes under way -- changes that affect everything from forests, streams and range?
"We've got to act now," said Barry Baker, a climate scientist for the environmental group's Utah chapter. Baker will head up the center. "There's still time to develop land and water management strategies that will enable us to adapt and possibly delay the negative impacts of climate change and protect Utah's communities and natural resources."
The conservation group's latest project in Utah came to light Thursday, as its national office released a new analysis suggesting that Utah will be among the states to see the most dramatic temperature increases because of climate change.
The group's new "Climate Wizard" says that, with the most dramatic emissions increases projected by climate models, Utah's annual average temperature would increase 9.4 degrees over the next 100 years. Only eight other states would see greater temperature increases, says the analysis, conducted in conjunction with the University of Washington and University of Southern Mississippi.

The new center at the Dugout Ranch, the first of its kind in Utah, will eventually include a building that will focus on education and practical research. Kennecott Utah Copper and Kennecott Land Co. have chipped in $210,000 for the project.
The Nature Conservancy acquired the ranch in 1997. It includes 5,200 acres of private land and 300,000 acres of public grazing allotments, including 42 miles of cottonwood and willow riparian areas valuable to wildlife and rare wildflowers.
The center will make use of several critical tools for addressing climate change, including its location on an important monsoonal boundary, a database of climate data for past years and a partnership with rancher Heidi Redd. Other partners include the U.S. Geological Survey, Utah State University, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Indian Creek Cattle Co.
The work already has begun, with the Nature Conservancy's Utah Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. The first-of-its-kind project in the state involves identifying and mapping plants, animals and ecological systems thought to be most vulnerable to changes in climate
"Land managers are eager for science-based data about how to help Utah's species adapt to climate change," said Baker. "This study could provide our first meaningful local answers."
David Nimkin, director of the Salt Lake City office of the National Parks and Conservation Association, noted that U.S. Sens. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and John McCain, R-Ariz., toured Rocky Mountain National Park last week and agreed that climate change is already having an impact. Nimkin applauded the Nature Conservancy for using the new center to find practical solutions.
"We have so many data points and the research is so overwhelming," he said. "What does that mean on the ground?" is one of the questions the center can help answer for those who manage national parks and other natural resources.

Washington state must lead on solutions to climate change

IN her Aug. 7 op-ed, "Cap-and-trade schemes could hurt families and send jobs overseas," state Rep. Shelly Short argues that the cap-and-trade approach is simply another tax with no substantial benefits. And she suggests that efforts to address global warming jeopardize our sovereignty. She could not be more wrong.

Quite literally, greenhouse-gas emissions threaten to render our planet unlivable. Climate change deniers prefer to ignore or minimize the role humans play, or suggest that we cannot afford to alter our condition, or that someone else, somewhere else in the world, should deal with the issue.

There is no avoiding the need to respond to the changes that already hurt both our economy and the natural resources on which we all depend.

Placing a price on carbon, which is the intent of a cap-and-trade system, is one way to ensure that we create an incentive for innovations and alternatives to reduce CO2 emissions.

The time could not be better for embracing innovation. Here's why:

The economy: Last year, Washington state consumers spent more than $16 billion on out-of-state petroleum and coal products. That is a massive amount of money sent to other economies — and a missed opportunity to spur renewable energy creation and production locally. Let's export these products, not buy them from California and China. We can choose to adapt by developing the clean-energy sector of the future. Our state's Clean Energy Leadership Council will help us identify the best options for re-powering our economy and creating new business and job opportunities.

This last legislative session I introduced the governor's cap-and-trade legislation to drive and reward this innovation. This measure didn't pass locally, but the governor did issue a Climate Change Executive Order to keep this issue at the forefront. As many people in our state had recommended, cap-and-trade is now being debated at the federal level, and a proposal would set equal standards for business in all states as well as set an example for other nations to follow.

While we recognize the current national legislation is a great step, the U.S. Senate can improve it by redressing the imbalance that remains between provisions in the bill that largely favor businesses and their high-income shareholders — and effectively represent corporate welfare — and provisions that truly provide relief to typical households. In the current House version, low- and moderate-income consumers would be hit harder by these increased costs because they spend a bigger share of their income on necessities like energy than wealthier households do.

The environment: By capping-greenhouse gas emissions, we are attempting to stabilize the Earth's climate. This is a long-term challenge that is vital to our future. The costs of climate disruption — flooding, forest fires, and droughts — are already choking our economy and will only get worse. A recent University of Oregon study indicates unmitigated climate change will cost almost $4 billion per year for Washington by 2020, or about $1,250 per household per year in added expenses.

Natural resources: Natural resources and the energy we consume daily are not limitless. Energy should be viewed as one of the crucial "quality of life" components for our state and its economy. There are enormous opportunities to make homes, farms, and industry more energy efficient, and create savings and investment opportunities along the way.

The consequences of business as usual: Rep. Short offers no new solutions to the challenge that confronts us. Regrettably, she fails to see the economic opportunity for our state in embracing the innovation that can help Washington prosper in a changing world.

It's past time we live up to our hard-earned reputation for leadership by reinvesting in our own future, delivering jobs and doing our part to stabilize the Earth's climate

Obama Faces Uphill Climate-Change Battle

An overly ambitious agenda may reduce the chances of Senate action on climate change in 2009.
The House of Representatives in June narrowly passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, sponsored by Democrats Henry Waxman of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts. The bill marked the first time that either chamber of Congress had successfully pushed through legislation to limit U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. President Barack Obama wants to push a similar bill through the Senate to bolster his international credibility ahead of the Copenhagen climate conference in December but faces an uphill battle.
House ACES legislation. ACES would establish:
--a gradually tightening cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, designed to cut emissions by 83% below 2005 levels by 2050 (17% below 2005 levels in 2020);
--a renewable energy standard for electric utilities (to require given percentages generation from wind and solar energy);
--funding for carbon capture and storage demonstration plants; and
--additional funding for advanced vehicle technology and battery research.