Climate Change Media
Forests and Climate are in the news
New research brings focus back to forests, vegetation in climate debate http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/15/new-research-brings-focus-back-to-forests-vegetation-in-climate-debate/
Study casts doubt on forest carbon capture plans
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-14/tree-planting-carbon-offset/2794426
Climate change media to 13 July 2011
A weekly service of the Climate Centre, Melbourne
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THIS WEEK…
NOTE: In response to a number of requests, I will now try and include a short overview with each weekly summary. – David
THIS week it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the carbon package coverage, but I have kept it down to a dull roar. Thankfully some attention is now being given to the Abbott package, including an analysis from the Australia Institute. And Al Gore launches a new project.
AS THE polar north moves towards the summer melt, Arctic sea-ice is tracking at a record low level. The easy-to-read daily-updated satellite image can be found at:
http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_stddev_timeseries.png and
http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/seaice/extent/AMSRE_Sea_Ice_Extent.png
Also significant is research showing a loss in efficiency of the ocean’s carbon uptake.
BUT the most compelling news came from the 4 Degrees or more: Australia in a hot world conference held in Melbourne, which I was fortunate to attend. The opening address was from Prof John Schellnuber, director of Germany’s Potsdam Institute. Rhetorically he asked: “What is the difference between 2 degrees and 4 degrees?” His answer was concise: “The difference is human civilisation”. It is a real step forward that the dreadful realities of a 4-degree world got their first substantial public airing in Australia.
PICKS OF THE WEEK •••••••
••••••• Arctic Death Spiral – Second Lowest June Sea Ice Extent, Lowest June Volume
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/07/08/262576/arctic-death-spiral-sea-ice-volume
Joe Romm, Climate Progress, 8 June 2011
The National Snow and Ice Data Center’s reported this week: Arctic sea ice extent for June 2011 was the second lowest in the satellite data record since 1979, continuing the trend of declining summer ice cover.
AND
Arctic ice melting fast
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3263256.htm
ABC AM, 7 August 2011
Climate scientists are keeping a close eye on the northern summer as the Arctic sea ice melts at a faster rate than ever before. Two-thousand and seven saw Arctic sea ice shrink to a record low level but this year it’s on track to be even worse.
••••••• The real cost of direct action: An analysis of the Coalition’s Direct Action Plan
https://www.tai.org.au/index.php?q=node%2F19&pubid=878&act=display
Richard Denniss and Matt Grudnoff, Australia Institute, July 12, 2011
This analysis finds that the Coalition’s Direct Action Plan will cost far more than is budgeted for and is unlikely to find sufficient greenhouse gas reduction projects in order to reach the Coalition’s emissions reduction target.
••••••• Why are fossil fuel assets Triple-A rated?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/12/fossil-fuels-coal
James Murray, BusinessGreen/Guardian, 12 July 2011
Report suggests valuation of top 200 listed fossil fuel firms is based on ’unburnable’ carbon assets
AND
Why high-carbon investment could be the next sub-prime crisis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/12/high-carbon-investment
Ben Caldecott, Guardian, 12 July 2011
Over-exposure to fossil fuel investments could have even more severe implications than those of the financial crisis
••••••• Al Gore returns with new climate campaign
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/12/al-gore-climate-change
Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian, 12 July 2011
Climate Reality Project aims to expose reality of global warming crisis and kicks off with a 24-hour live streamed event
4 DEGREES CONFERENCE————–
On course to suffer global warming of four degrees
Paddy Manning, Sydney Morning Herald, July 9, 2011
There is only one way to frame the weekend’s carbon tax announcement: a start. Assume Australia hits its very soft target, cutting annual greenhouse gas emissions five per cent by 2020 – and the rest of the world does everything they’ve promised – we are on course to suffer global warming of 4 degrees or more by the end of the century
The end of the world is nigh? It’s just a matter of degrees, says one expert
http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-end-of-the-world-is-nigh-its-just-a-matter-of-degrees-says-one-expert-20110712-1hcad.html
Jo Chandler, The Age, July 13, 2011
Drawing on forecasts of a 4-degree warmer world within a lifetime, Professor Hans Joachin Schellnhuber – one of the world’s most cited and outspoken climate scientists – opened a Melbourne University conference yesterday by painting a bleak picture of an unrecognisable Australia, circa 2100.
A carbon price label is all-important: Schellnhuber
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3268037.htm
ABC Lateline, 12 July 2011
Leading climate change expert Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber says progress will be much easier now Australia has put a price signal on carbon emissions.
Tougher targets and more focus on renewables would make the lucky country a true leader in tackling climate change.
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, The Age, July 12, 2011
Australia is a lucky country. Blessed by sunshine, precious minerals and many other resources, it has prospered. As a global presence, the country punches above its weight on many issues, science included. Germans, when asked which country they would choose to emigrate to, say Australia.
Australia at plus 4°C: Not so hot
http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/australia-plus-4-c-not-so-hot
Sophie Vorrath, Climate Spectator, 14 July 2011
Of all the players in Australia’s climate policy debate, farmers might have the right to feel among the most maligned.
Australia faces prospect of being unable to feed itself
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/un-climate-conference/australia-faces-prospect-of-being-unable-to-feed-itself-20110713-1hdyn.htm
Jo Chandler, The Age, July 14, 2011
As the politics of a carbon tax continue to inflame public debate, leading climate scientists gathered in Melbourne yesterday to present their latest projections for Australia if greenhouse emissions continue on their present path.
CARBON PRICE PACKAGE————–
At a glance…
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/10/carbon-tax-gillards-clean-energy-future-at-a-glance
Key points of the carbon price package
Is Australia’s Proposed Carbon Tax Strong Enough to Do Any Good?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2083303,00.html
Marina Kamenev, Time, 15 July 2011
In August 2010, when Julia Gillard was campaigning in the national election, she made a promise: “There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead,” she said to an Australian television channel.
Good start, but only the beginning of decarbonising the economy
Jo Chandler, SMH, July 11, 2011
Turning around emissions growth this decade and then cutting greenhouse pollution by 80 per cent by 2050 – the target announced by the Gillard government yesterday – would put Australia on the trajectory the world needs to take to avoid the catastrophic consequences of four degrees warming this century, leading climate scientists said yesterday.
Cutting to the chase on emissions
http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/cutting-chase-emissions
Giles Parkinson, Climate Spectator, 11 July 2011
One of the biggest imperatives of Labor’s carbon pricing policy package has been to make the government as small a target as possible. That’s not easy when you’re seeking to transform the economy with the biggest structural change in a generation.
A soft start on carbon
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/contributors/a-soft-start-on-carbon-20110710-1h8w3.html
Robyn Eckersley and Peter Christoff, The Age, July 11, 2011
Our modest carbon tax is a welcome development, but it is long overdue.
Public transport – collateral damage of our new carbon price
http://theconversation.edu.au/public-transport-collateral-damage-of-our-new-carbon-price-2181
John Stanley, The Conversation, 11 July 2011
Transport accounts for 14% of Australia’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has one of the fastest emission growth rates. Cutting our national emissions might, therefore, be expected to shine a blowtorch on transport fuels, right?
Carbon price a historic step forward, but political compromise triumphs over scientific necessity
http://climatecodered.blogspot.com/2011/07/carbon-price-historic-step-forward-but.html
Carbon price: Academics’ view
http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/carbon-price-academics-view
What the Greens say
ENERGY&INNOVATION————–
France Becomes First Nation To Ban Fracking
http://www.care2.com/causes/france-becomes-first-nation-to-ban-fracking.html
Gina-Marie Cheeseman, Care2, July 6, 2011
France became the first nation to ban the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking in drilling for natural gas and oil on June 30 when French senators voted to ban the practice.
Solar PV price drop mirrors price path of high-tech consumer goods
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/07/06/261550/solar-pv-system-cost-reductions
Stephen Lacey, Climate Progress, July 6, 2011
Clean energy professionals often complain that solar PV receives too much attention compared to other sectors like solar hot water, geothermal and biomass. I’m sympathetic to that sentiment. But I also think the attention is deserved.
Green energy investment hits record global high
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14030849
Mark Kinverr, BBC News, 7 July 2011
Global investment in renewable energy sources grew by 32% during 2010 to reach a record level of US$211bn (£132bn), a UN study has reported.
When it comes to dishing the dirt, Hazelwood’s up there with the worst
Adam Morton., The Age, July 11, 2011
Hazelwood is often described by environmentalists as Australia’s “dirtiest” power generator. This is arguable – its owner, International Power-GDF Suez says other power stations emit more – but in terms of emissions per unit of power generated it sits at or near the top of tree.
Australian solar’s race to the edge
http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/australian-solars-race-edge
Warwick Johnston, Climate Spectator, 13 July 2011
The Australian solar industry is poised to break through the one gigawatt mark. That makes it a major solar nation, but the industry is about to fall off a cliff.
Green Jobs Reach 2.7 Million: The “Clean Economy” Starts Delivering on its Promise of High-Wage Jobs, Brookings finds
Stephen Lacey, Climate Progress, July 13, 2011
Numerous reports have shown solid growth in the “clean economy” over the years. But what we’re seeing now is that the clean economy is just, well, a normal part of the overall economy — albeit one with higher wages and more value-added.
SCIENCE&IMPACTS————–
Climate Change Reducing Ocean’s Carbon Dioxide Uptake
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/07/12/267277/climate-change-reducing-oceans-carbon-dioxide-uptake
Joe Romm, Climate Progress, 12 July 2011
We now know that as the ocean warms up, its ability to act as a carbon “sink” is diminishing. We are seeing a dangerous, amplifying carbon-cycle feedback.
AND
Ocean carbon sinks feeling the heat
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/07/11/atlantic.ocean.carbon.warming/
“Worst food crisis of 21stC” driven by “Worst drought in 60 yrs” in East Africa as CC makes less rain “chronic problem”
Climate Progress, 5 July 2011
“This is the worst food crisis of the 21st Century and we are seriously concerned that large numbers of lives could soon be lost.” That’s from Jane Cocking, Oxfam’s Humanitarian Director, who along with the Save The Children organization, is calling for $144 million in aid to malnourished East Africans.
Researchers push the boundary with high carbon emission scenarios
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/iop-rpt063011.php
Eureka Alert, 4 July 2011
US and Swiss researchers have, for the first time, modeled a climate system with extremely high carbon emissions in an attempt to test the boundaries of the current computer simulation programs that inform us.
Is black carbon affecting the Asian monsoon?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14047815
Navin Singh Khadka, BBC News, 8 July 2011
Uncertainties surrounding the timing of the monsoon in recent years are causing anxiety in South Asia. While the debate continues over the role of climate change, scientists have also been looking at the possible role of soot and urban smog pollution in disrupting this weather system.
Italy’s elite are dismayed by vanishing beaches
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/10/italy-beaches-erosion-climate-change
Tom Kington, The Observer, 10 July 2011
Sand is trucked in to build up a coastline suffering erosion from storms, rising sea levels and development.
Drought Spreads Pain From Florida to Arizona
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/us/12drought.html
Kim Severson and Kirk Johnson, NYT, 11 July 2011
The heat and the drought are so bad in this southwest corner of Georgia that hogs can barely eat. Corn, a lucrative crop with a notorious thirst, is burning up in fields. Cotton plants are too weak to punch through soil so dry it might as well be pavement.
Is Sea-Level Rise Accelerating?
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2011/07/is-sea-level-rise-accelerating/
Real Climate, 12 July 2011
A few months ago a paper by Jim Houston and Bob Dean in the Journal of Coastal Research (JCR) cast doubt on whether global sea level rise has accelerated over the past century or so. As things go these days, ‘climate sceptics’ websites immediately heralded this as a “bombshell”. A rebuttal by myself and Martin Vermeer has now been published in JCR.
