Other stories below: Europe Could Reconsider Climate Approach; EU Roadmap Sees Big Shift Toward Renewables; Why the World May be Running out of Clean Water; Developing World Ups Ante in “Cleantech Race.”
I have little doubt that readers without a chip on their shoulder realize that this photo (Peter Biro/IRC) is meant as a visual of the health threat the doctors warn about in the article (see comments below).
Doctor’s Warn Climate Change is “Greatest Threat to Public Health”
Medical experts have urged policy makers to take concrete steps to tackle climate change, warning that failure to do so poses an immediate, grave and escalating threat to the health and security of billions of people around the globe.
More than 100 medical and military professionals, including Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of council at the British Medical Association and Lord Michael Jay, chairman of medical relief charity Merlin, yesterday backed a statement declaring climate change the greatest current threat to public health.
The statement outlines how rising temperatures and weather instability will lead to more frequent and extreme weather events, loss of habitat and habitation, water and food shortages, the spread of diseases, ecosystem collapse, and threats to livelihood, potentially triggering mass migration and conflict within and between countries.
It also warns that humanitarian crises will impact on military resources and that the human and economic cost of climate impacts “will be enormous”.
It urges the EU to urgently adopt a 30 per cent CO2 greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 and for the United Nations to commit to restricting the global temperature rise to 2°C as agreed at the Copenhagen and Cancun Summits.
JR: In April the British Medical Journal warned that climate change “poses an immediate and grave threat, driving ill-health and increasing the risk of conflict, such that each feeds upon the other.” The UK’s Hadley Center notes that on our current one related impact, “By the 2090s close to one-fifth of the world’s population will be exposed to ozone levels well above the World Health Organization recommended safe-health level.”
Europe Could Reconsider Climate Approach
In what could herald a significant shift in policy for a region that has been in the forefront of advocating action to combat climate change, the European Union is for the first time questioning whether it should press ahead with plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions if other countries don’t follow.
In a document seen by Dow Jones Newswires, the European Commission’s energy department says the EU should consider whether the region should seek to switch its domestic energy base away from carbon emitting sources in the absence of a global climate change deal.
“If coordinated action on climate among the main global players fails to strengthen in the next few years, the question arises how far the EU should continue with an energy system transition oriented to decarbonisation,” the commission says in a draft of its Energy Roadmap 2050 document.
To be sure, the EU will stick by its end-of-decade greenhouse gas reductions goals and the paper could still change before it is published later this year. Even if it doesn’t, the document would only be the opening salvo in what would be a fiercely contested debate. Many member states are strongly committed to slashing emissions, and the climate change department within the Commission, the EU’s executive, would likely resist any attempt to water down the EU’s green credentials. There has been frequent past friction between the energy and climate change departments in Brussels.
Still, the EU has long been recognized as a global leader in the fight to slash carbon emissions and the region’s commitment to environmental goals has been a badge of honor in Brussels, especially at a time when the region is mired in a debt and economic crisis.
EU 2050 Roadmap Sees Big Shift Toward Renewables
The European Union must make a drastic shift from fossil fuels and derive more and more of its power from renewable sources, driving up electricity costs over the next two decades, according to a draft document seen by Reuters on Monday.
The 2050 energy road map to be published by the end of the year complements a 2050 low carbon road map released by the European Commission earlier this year, which seeks to chart a way to reducing carbon emissions by more than 80 percent by the middle of the century.
“Currently, Europe’s power system is based mostly on fossil fuels. This has to change,” the draft energy 2050 road map writes.
“Most scenarios suggest that electricity prices will rise to 2030, but fall thereafter,” it said.
The cost in energy-related expenditure could result in a rise to as much as 15 percent of a household’s income in 2030 and 16 percent in 2050, although this would include capital costs and transport fuel costs.
Why the World May be Running out of Clean Water
Earlier this month, officials in the South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu had to confront a pretty dire problem: they were running out of water. Due to a severe and lasting drought, water reserves in this country of 11,000 people had dwindled to just a few days’ worth. Climate change plays a role here: as sea levels rose, Tuvalu’s groundwater became increasingly saline and undrinkable, leaving the island dependent on rainwater. But now a La Niña–influenced drought has severely curtailed rainfall, leaving Tuvalu dry as a bone. “This situation is bad,” Pusinelli Laafai, Tuvalu’s permanent secretary of home affairs, told the Associated Press earlier this month. “It’s really bad.”
So far Tuvalu has been bailed out by its neighbors Australia and New Zealand, which have donated rehydration packets and desalination equipment. But the archipelago’s water woes are just beginning — and it’s far from the only part of the world facing a big dry. Other island nations like the Maldives and Kiribati will see their groundwater spoil as sea levels rise.
Developing World Ups Ante in Cleantech “Arms Race”
Last year was a turning point in the global race to develop clean technology. It marked the first time that more new wind power generating capacity was installed in developing countries than in the rich world.
China led the way, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), and now has the most wind generating capacity in the world, thanks to favourable government policies. A record capacity of 19 gigawatts was added in China last year, taking the total to more than 42GW. India also showed strong growth, in line with the government target of adding more than 10GW of new capacity by 2012, and there are industry estimates that 100GW is possible.
According to GWEC, the growth illustrates the advantages of investing in green power. “This puts an end to the assertion that wind power is a premium technology only for rich countries which cannot be deployed at scale in other markets,” it says in its annual report. “It is also testament to the inherent attractiveness of wind power for countries striving to diversify their energy mix, improve their security of supply in the face of rapidly growing demand and relieve national budgets of the burden of expensive fossil fuel imports at volatile prices.”
EPA Farm Dust Rule A ‘Myth,’ Agency Says
The EPA is trying to put to rest what it calls a “myth” that it is going to crack down on farm dust.
In letters to two senators last week, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency won’t expand its current air quality standards to include dust created by agriculture. The agency released the letters Monday.
Republicans and some farm-state Democrats have used the issue on the campaign trail, arguing that the EPA is set to penalize farmers for everyday activities. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said in a recent debate that the agency is “out of control” and was preparing to regulate dust.
The House GOP has pushed a host of measures aimed at weakening, delaying or scrapping environmental regulations in recent months, saying they view them as job killers. Similar efforts are not expected to be successful in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Obama administration officials have tried to deflect talk of a dust rule for months, to little avail. A statement released by the agency Monday said that “EPA hopes that this action finally puts an end to the myth that the agency is planning to expand regulations of farm dust.”
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
Paying people to use less energy will save money
An electricity efficiency feed-in tariff would cut demand and mean building fewer new power stations http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/18/energy-bills-save-money?CMP=twt_fd
Good one, Stephen. How do we get MSM to run with this story? Alternatively, how can this important message be communicated to the public and policymakers?
You and Joe do great work, but I’m often puzzled and saddened by the extent to which this critical information is not being disseminated.
Can Geoengineering Combat Climate Change? http://cleantechnica.com/2011/10/18/can-geoengineering-combat-climate-change/
Maldives: In a Troubled Paradise, Time Runs Out on Environmental Deadline
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097119,00.html#ixzz1b8jHz87O
http://www.grist.org/climate-policy/2011-10-17-is-centralized-climate-solution-still-possible-chat-andy-revkin
Shouldn’t that headline article be a main post!
Global cleantech 100 interactive map
Use our interactive map to get all the details on the Cleantech 100 companies
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/interactive/cleantech-100-interactive-map
The picture accompanying this post is of a Somali child. Neither climate change, nor the current drought in East Africa are primary causes of the tragic famine in Somalia. It’s unnecessarily exploitive to use this child’s picture to reinforce a climate change message.
It’s also misleading to suggest there is a meaningful climate connection to this picture of a malnourished child.
This is an absurd stretch, even for you, Keith.
First, warming of the Indian ocean has been directly linked to the Somali drought, but you wouldn’t know that as you hardly ever write about the scientific literature anymore. You just find the most tortured excuses to attacked those of us who do. You devote far, far more posts to attacking those who try to articulate the science than to those who spread disinformation.
Second, global warming makes droughts worse by heating up the ground, a major contributor to recent aridity, according to the recent scientific literature, which again you hardly write about.
Third, the photo is uncaptioned, so you’ll have to invent your own hypothetical caption to make this absurd charge of yours stick.
Fourth, you are in no position to make any statements about what this image does or doesn’t mean. In fact, as you well know, this blog has published many, many posts documenting the case that one of global warming’s biggest impacts will be in causing crop failure, high food prices, and malnutrition. Many experts believe this has already begun. It is certainly going to get worse and is probably going to hit Africa the hardest, according to the literature, which again, you hardly ever write about.
Fifth, it is you who are asserting that this photo suggests “there is a meaningful climate connection to this picture of a malnourished child.” I have little doubt that observers without a chip on their shoulder would think that this photo was simply meant as visual of the health threat the doctors warn about in the article.
From the video in #13 we learn that we have now every 2 years a drought, when in the past this was every 10 years.
Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, is overrun by the number of people seeking food as a result of famine and drought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtU0iP3a6fA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=pZ8nGTdTmkQ
Coffee chains urged to improve takeaway cup recycling
Consumer group says retailers’ use of mixed materials recycling is confusing customers and leading to more landfill
Caffe Nero and Starbucks takeaway cups. An estimated 2.5bn takeaway cups are thrown away each year in the UK. Photograph: David Levene/David Sillitoe
Coffee shops are failing to make it easy for customers to recycle the estimated 2.5bn takeaway cups thrown away each year in the UK, a consumer group warned on Tuesday.
The investigation by Which? found that consumers were confused by retailers’ use of “mixed materials”, which make recycling a headache, and urged providers to take more environmental responsibility.
More than half of the 2,471 people surveyed who buy takeaway drinks admitted that they dispose of their paper cups in the general waste bin, the research revealed.
While disposable cups are made predominantly of cardboard (about 95% by weight), they also contain about 5% polyethylene in the form of a thin coating inside the cup. David Powlson, an expert in paper recycling and principal at Poyry Management Consulting, said: “This is great for keeping your coffee warm and the cup from going soggy, but not so great when you come to realise that most UK paper mills are unable to process paper mixed with other materials.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/18/coffee-cup-takeaway-recycling?CMP=twt_gu
Study suggests pricing carbon from ground to consumer
To measure a country’s greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels, it makes sense to consider the whole carbon supply chain, from oil well or coal mine to a consumer’s shelf, scientists reported today.
Currently, putting a price on climate-warming carbon dioxide generated by oil, coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels typically takes place where the fuel is burned.
However, this may not be the most effective way to calculate carbon emissions’ cost, the researchers wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Carbon dioxide generated by human activities such as coal-fired power plants and factories and petroleum-powered vehicles contributes to the heat-trapping greenhouse effect that spurs climate change. To counter this effect, some policy makers advocate putting a price on carbon emissions to curb consumption.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20121673-54/study-suggests-pricing-carbon-from-ground-to-consumer/
Climate Change Opening Up Russia’s Frozen North
http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2011/10/18/346336/climate-change-opening-up-russias-frozen-north/
Businesses becoming more involved in climate talks
The emergence of the low-carbon economy has witnessed business entities actively participating in climate change negotiations, and South African businesses have slowly caught up with the realities of getting involved, University of South Africa’s Professor Godwell Nhamo said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Institute for Global Dialogue climate change conference in Pretoria, he said business, which would probably carry much of the burden in the transitioning to a low-carbon economy through a new climate deal, were slowly becoming “genuine” in their approach to climate change.
However, Nhamo also alluded to some businesses being skeptical and “hunting for opportunities” rather than moving towards a collective solution to the challenges resulting from negative impacts of climate change.
Overall business would try to influence negotiations for a favourable position that would sustains operations.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/businesses-becoming-more-involved-in-climate-talks-2011-10-18
Climate Change and Food Security: Out of the Mouths of Babes
Climate change skeptics would have you believe that global warming is an abstract theory, a dispute between scientists with differing interpretations of computer models, temperature data and ice measurements. So when the conversation turns to real people facing real hardship on the frontlines of climate change, it’s no surprise that they redirect the conversation back to the abstract.
Take a look at the 171 arguments of climate skeptics compiled by Skeptical Science. You can count on the number of fingers it takes to make a peace sign the arguments about the immediate directly observable impacts of climate change (and one of these is about polar bears).
Today is World Food Day, a perfect moment to reflect on what the very real impacts of climate change mean for those who suffer from hunger and malnutrition. It comes at a time when millions of people are struggling to survive in East Africa where the worst drought in 60 years is devastating millions of lives and livelihoods.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-rigg/climate-change-and-food-s_b_1014091.html
S.Africa to place emission caps on top polluters
South Africa plans to place limits for carbon emissions on top polluters who may face penalties if they do not conform to the new regulations, a climate policy paper showed on Tuesday.
Africa’s biggest economy wants to cut CO2 emissions by 34 percent over the next decade but has little flexibility to make fast changes with major employers among the top polluters and its cash-strapped power sector almost fully reliant on coal.
Already, the state has introduced an electricity generation levy, a motor vehicle emissions tax and a levy on incandescent light bulbs to prompt consumers towards a greener future.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/18/safrica-climate-idUSL5E7LI11120111018
Compare the action of this little country to nations which are responsible for the Co2 elephant in the room.
This was from the 12th but slipped by me and I didn’t see it mentioned. Since it concerns a primary denier channel in the US and world I’m posting it here.
Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/12/wall-street-journal-andrew-langhoff?newsfeed=true
Basically Journal Management in Europe was buying copies of the WSJ covertly to boost its sales numbers so it could demand higher advertising fees.
Required reading:
Use the right word
http://www.grist.org/list/2011-10-18-how-to-translate-climate-science-in-to-average-joe-ese
The Russians had a conference -
Climate change opens trade, commerce opportunities in far north
This summer, one of the warmest on record in the Arctic, a tanker set a speed record by crossing the Arctic Ocean in 6 1/2 days, carrying a cargo of natural gas condensate. The previous record was eight days.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – Climate change opens trade commerce opportunities in far north
Link -
http://newsminer.com/bookmark/16077873-Climate-change-opens-trade-commerce-opportunities-in-far-north
In 2009, the first two international commercial cargo vessels traveled north of Russia between Europe and Asia. This year so far, 18 ships have made the now mostly ice-free crossing.
How well are medicos trusted in the USA? Might be a way of getting through to some if they hear the AMA saying the same things as their British counterparts, but only if they are seen as a trusted source, ME
More and more desal (for those who can afford it).
Obama knocks Perry on climate change
By Ben Geman – 09/26/11 08:49 AM ET
President Obama on Sunday attacked GOP White House hopeful Rick Perry over the Texas governor’s rejection of mainstream climate science. http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/183783-obama-knocks-perry-on-climate-change