Climate change is not only about rising temperatures. It may alter the geology of the Earth dramatically, scientists say.
Earthquakes, avalanches and volcanic eruptions may increase, when our Earth faces a warmer future. According to a report by international groups of researchers to be presented at a London conference next week, the impact of climate change is rather dramatic.
”Not only are the oceans and atmosphere conspiring against us, bringing baking temperatures, more powerful storms and floods, but the crust beneath our feet seems likely to join in too,” says Professor Bill McGuire, Director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London. McGuire is one of the organizers of the Climate Forcing of Geological Hazards conference, which will open on September 15.
Melting glaciers will set off avalanches, floods and mud flows in the Alps and other mountain ranges, and disappearing Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets threaten to let loose underwater landslides, triggering tsunamis, the Guardian reports.
”Global warming is not just a matter of warmer weather, more floods or stronger hurricanes. It is a wake-up call to Terra Firma,” McGuire says, according to the Guardian.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Green tax on tourism to help finance Maldives climate plan
Budget constraints and lack of funding from foreign investors have prevented the vulnerable island state from moving forward with its ambitous plans to become carbon neutral within a decade.
The president of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed said Monday he plans a $3-a-day green tax for all tourists at its popular island resorts to help pay for the country's ambitious goals in fighting climate change.
Budget constraints have so far kept the government from moving forward with its plan to become carbon neutral, as it awaits foreign investors willing to pay for green development projects.
The country's tourism ministry says the Maldives had 683,012 tourist arrivals in 2008.
Since taking office last year, Mohammed Nasheed has emerged as an important voice on the impact of climate change amid fears that within a century, rising ocean levels could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago. Its islands average 7 feet (2.13 meters) above sea level, making the Maldives the lowest-lying nation on Earth.
Nasheed has announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He also has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.
The president of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed said Monday he plans a $3-a-day green tax for all tourists at its popular island resorts to help pay for the country's ambitious goals in fighting climate change.
Budget constraints have so far kept the government from moving forward with its plan to become carbon neutral, as it awaits foreign investors willing to pay for green development projects.
The country's tourism ministry says the Maldives had 683,012 tourist arrivals in 2008.
Since taking office last year, Mohammed Nasheed has emerged as an important voice on the impact of climate change amid fears that within a century, rising ocean levels could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago. Its islands average 7 feet (2.13 meters) above sea level, making the Maldives the lowest-lying nation on Earth.
Nasheed has announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He also has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Finance ministers' report puts pressure on major developing countries
Ahead of the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, USA, by the end of this month, ministers of finance from the world’s largest economies are meeting in London today. According to The Times of India, an overview paper from the G-20 secretariat has “ignored India’s submissions and demanded that (India) impose carbon taxation and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.”
The daily quotes an anonymous “senior Indian official”:
“Despite strong opposition from key developing countries, including India, the G-20 secretariat has sent this overview which more or less mimics the base papers we had rejected as not representative of the views and concerns of all G-20 member countries.”
The G-20 climate change finance report under preparation, originates from the Major Economies Forum (MEF) held in Italy in the beginning of July this year. Here India signed a statement which calls for global warming to be kept below 2 degrees C compared to pre-industrial levels. India has since insisted that MEF discussions are informal and do not relate to the formal discussions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its conference to be held in Copenhagen this December
The daily quotes an anonymous “senior Indian official”:
“Despite strong opposition from key developing countries, including India, the G-20 secretariat has sent this overview which more or less mimics the base papers we had rejected as not representative of the views and concerns of all G-20 member countries.”
The G-20 climate change finance report under preparation, originates from the Major Economies Forum (MEF) held in Italy in the beginning of July this year. Here India signed a statement which calls for global warming to be kept below 2 degrees C compared to pre-industrial levels. India has since insisted that MEF discussions are informal and do not relate to the formal discussions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its conference to be held in Copenhagen this December
The scene is set for a US-China deal
President Barack Obama's journey to Beijing this November will be the perfect occasion for a bilateral agreement on climate change
This November, just one month before the crucial UN conference in Copenhagen, the US and China are likely to strike a deal on climate change.
“I’d place higher odds on the ability of the United States and China to reach an agreement than I would on us passing legislation or on having Copenhagen agreed,” US Senator Maria Cantwell says according to Reuters. She is currently in Beijing to discuss clean energy and intellectual property issues.
According to Maria Cantwell, President Barack Obama’s planned visit to Beijing this November will be the ideal setting for signing a bilateral deal:
“If you are producing 40 percent of emissions – which is what China and the United States are together – what a legacy, and what a great relationship you could create by saying that’s what these two great countries stepped up to do.”
This November, just one month before the crucial UN conference in Copenhagen, the US and China are likely to strike a deal on climate change.
“I’d place higher odds on the ability of the United States and China to reach an agreement than I would on us passing legislation or on having Copenhagen agreed,” US Senator Maria Cantwell says according to Reuters. She is currently in Beijing to discuss clean energy and intellectual property issues.
According to Maria Cantwell, President Barack Obama’s planned visit to Beijing this November will be the ideal setting for signing a bilateral deal:
“If you are producing 40 percent of emissions – which is what China and the United States are together – what a legacy, and what a great relationship you could create by saying that’s what these two great countries stepped up to do.”
Africa threatens to veto climate deal
If needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent,” said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who will represent the African Union at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.
Africa will veto any global climate change agreement that does not meet its demand for money from rich nations to cut the impact of global warming on the continent, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Thursday."We will use our numbers to delegitimize any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position," Meles told a conference of climate change experts in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, according to Reuters."If needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent."Meles did not specify how much money Africa would be looking for at December’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen. However, some experts have said the continent should ask for up to $200 billion a year.Africa contributes little to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming but is expected to be the hardest hit by the drought and flooding cycle that is already affecting parts of the continent.Last month, ten African leaders held talks at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa and agreed on a common stance ahead of the Copenhagen talks."Africa will field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union," said Meles, a former rebel leader who has been chosen to represent the union in Copenhagen
Africa will veto any global climate change agreement that does not meet its demand for money from rich nations to cut the impact of global warming on the continent, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Thursday."We will use our numbers to delegitimize any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position," Meles told a conference of climate change experts in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, according to Reuters."If needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent."Meles did not specify how much money Africa would be looking for at December’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen. However, some experts have said the continent should ask for up to $200 billion a year.Africa contributes little to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming but is expected to be the hardest hit by the drought and flooding cycle that is already affecting parts of the continent.Last month, ten African leaders held talks at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa and agreed on a common stance ahead of the Copenhagen talks."Africa will field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union," said Meles, a former rebel leader who has been chosen to represent the union in Copenhagen
Even Rainwater would be Regulated Under the CWRA
The American Farm Bureau Federation today said S. 787, the Clean Water Restoration Act, leaves no water unregulated in the United States and could even impact standing water from rain in a dry area. The organization signed onto a letter on behalf of the Water Advocacy Coalition to Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) asking them to oppose the legislation.“S. 787 would remove any bounds from the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction, so that the regulatory reach of the act would extend to all water — anywhere from farm ponds, to storm water retention basins, to roadside ditches, to desert washes, to streets and gutters, even to a puddle of rainwater,” stated the letter. “For the first time in the 36-year history of the act, activities that have no impact on actual rivers and lakes would be subject to full federal regulation.”
According to AFBF, by applying the Clean Water Act to “all interstate and intrastate waters,” farmers and ranchers would be significantly impacted due to the number of normal farming activities that would be subject to citizen-suit provisions of the Clean Water Act, which could lead to outright regulation.
“Not only would many activities not previously regulated require federal permits, those permits would be subject to challenge in federal court, delaying or halting these activities to the detriment of our economy,” stated the letter.
AFBF also believes that by deleting the term “navigable” as a condition for regulation under the Clean Water Act, it would allow for an extraordinary expansion of federal jurisdiction, giving the federal government the right to exert inordinate control over private property, while opening the door for activists to sue landowners whose activities they don’t like.
The coalition letter signed by AFBF stated that the group supports the protection of U.S. navigable waters, as well as rivers and streams that flow to navigable waters. All of these are already protected under the Clean Water Act today.
According to AFBF, by applying the Clean Water Act to “all interstate and intrastate waters,” farmers and ranchers would be significantly impacted due to the number of normal farming activities that would be subject to citizen-suit provisions of the Clean Water Act, which could lead to outright regulation.
“Not only would many activities not previously regulated require federal permits, those permits would be subject to challenge in federal court, delaying or halting these activities to the detriment of our economy,” stated the letter.
AFBF also believes that by deleting the term “navigable” as a condition for regulation under the Clean Water Act, it would allow for an extraordinary expansion of federal jurisdiction, giving the federal government the right to exert inordinate control over private property, while opening the door for activists to sue landowners whose activities they don’t like.
The coalition letter signed by AFBF stated that the group supports the protection of U.S. navigable waters, as well as rivers and streams that flow to navigable waters. All of these are already protected under the Clean Water Act today.
Green Portland rejects EPA clean water measure
The city of Portland is perhaps the finest ambassador for the Environmental Protection Agency. Nestled in the idyllic Willamette Valley, the Rose City is the shining environmental vanguard, the poster child for sustainable growth and clean energy. So when the EPA asks Portland to take precautionary measures to guarantee safe drinking water, it’s odd that the city refuses to comply.
The federal agency’s directive to remove illness-causing bacteria seems sensible enough; but Portlanders balk at the idea, for obvious reasons: Hazardous microorganisms have yet to be found in water samples, beer-makers may suffer from the altered character (and cost) of the water, and the $350M price-tag seems a bit high, given that Portland’s water source is the cleanest in the country.Paradoxically, the “green capital” of America is now the EPA’s recalcitrant partner. The fiasco illustrates Portland’s inconsistencies: The city emphatically supports the costly initiatives it deems necessary but considers the EPA’s request outlandish.
Why? Because streetcars and net-zero buildings are so much sexier than a water-treatment facility. Evidently, Portland’s burgeoning reputation as a green mecca exempts the city from cumbersome precautions. Portland spends millions of dollars every year on highly visible projects; but according to the City Council, safe drinking water does not warrant that kind of attention.
Stephan Burklin is a research associate at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.
The federal agency’s directive to remove illness-causing bacteria seems sensible enough; but Portlanders balk at the idea, for obvious reasons: Hazardous microorganisms have yet to be found in water samples, beer-makers may suffer from the altered character (and cost) of the water, and the $350M price-tag seems a bit high, given that Portland’s water source is the cleanest in the country.Paradoxically, the “green capital” of America is now the EPA’s recalcitrant partner. The fiasco illustrates Portland’s inconsistencies: The city emphatically supports the costly initiatives it deems necessary but considers the EPA’s request outlandish.
Why? Because streetcars and net-zero buildings are so much sexier than a water-treatment facility. Evidently, Portland’s burgeoning reputation as a green mecca exempts the city from cumbersome precautions. Portland spends millions of dollars every year on highly visible projects; but according to the City Council, safe drinking water does not warrant that kind of attention.
Stephan Burklin is a research associate at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)