Climate Change News - August 13, 2012

Statistical Study Quantifies Link between Massive Heat Waves, Global Warming

A new study looked at three recent heat waves and corresponding droughts – the 2011 Texas-Oklahoma drought, the 2010 heat wave in Russia and the Middle East, and the 2003 European heat wave – and found that the likelihood of these events occurring increased dramatically because of global warming. The study, published August 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, concludes that the odds of such temperature extremes occurring during the period from 1950 to 1980 was 300 to 1, but now the probability is closer to 10 to 1. “We now know that the chances these extreme weather events would have happened naturally – without climate change – is negligible,” said lead author James Hansen, a prominent climate change scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The study was completed before this summer’s record-breaking drought, but Hansen said in the Washington Post that he believes an analysis would show this heat wave is also due to climate change.

For additional information see: Associated Press , Bloomberg Businessweek

Congressman Proposes Carbon Tax Legislation

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced a bill on August 2 that would tax companies for their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and use 25 percent of the revenue to help reduce the budget deficit and the remainder to offset any price increases to consumers. The Managed Carbon Price Act of 2012 (H.R. 6338) would direct the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to publish a five-year carbon emissions price schedule and issue permits for one-quarter ton of CO2-equivalent emissions. "Businesses want this kind of predictability, consumers need to be protected, and we need to step up and address our climate and fiscal issues," said Rep. McDermott.

For additional information see: Reuters , Press Release

Carbon Emissions from Canada’s Tar Sands Expected to Increase

On August 8, Environment Canada released its annual emissions trends and expectations, projecting emission levels of 720 megatonnes by the year 2020. This would amount to a three percent reduction from 2005 emission levels, less than the 17 percent reduction target Canada committed itself to during the 2009 Copenhagen Accord. Nearly 25 megatonnes of the projected reductions stem from changes in forestry and land use, previously not part of emissions reduction calculations, but now included following the 2011 international climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa. Carbon pricing mechanisms in British Columbia and soon Quebec are expected to further decrease emissions by 2020, but CO2 emissions in Alberta are expected to rise. Alberta constituted 34 percent of Canada’s CO2 emissions in 2010, largely from the extraction of oil from tar sands, and by 2020 is expected to account for 40 percent of the country’s emissions. Total emissions in the Alberta province are expected to increase 23 percent from 2005 in 2020.

For additional information see: CBC , Calgary Herald , Environment Canada Press Release

Australia Looks to Land Management Changes to Store Carbon

The Australian government is planning on compensating farmers to change land-use practices in order to sequester carbon. The government plans on paying $8 to $10 Australian Dollars ($8.50-$10.60 U.S. Dollars) per tonne of carbon stored for 25 years. Australia hopes to satisfy 60 percent of their greenhouse gas reductions by changing agricultural methods and tilling practices and by introducing charcoal to the earth; though it remains unclear how the amount of carbon stored in the soil will be measured, or what will happen to the carbon after the expiration of the 25-year contracts. Martijn Wilder, a partner in the Baker and McKenzie law firm, said that by incentivizing temporary carbon reductions the government was ''either banking on the idea that in 25 years the problem will have gone away or that by then they will have come up with a better answer.”

For additional information see: Syndey Morning Herald

Drought Emphasizes India’s Vulnerability to Climate Change

Because of a late-arriving monsoon, India is suffering its second drought in four years. Rainfall across the nation is down an average of 20 percent, but in India’s northern agricultural regions the drought is much worse. "We know that the rainfall in August will not be able to fill the gap, and the problem is getting really serious," said Harjeet Singh, an international climate justice coordinator at ActionAid. "The impacts on the ground in terms of food security are yet to be seen. Unless the government prepares, it could be really tragic." Low precipitation levels are also reducing India’s ability to generate hydroelectric power, which contributed to last week’s blackouts that left over 600 million people without power. "With climate change, wetter regions may get wetter; dry ones may become drier," said Andrew Robertson, a scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University. "With the monsoon season, some rainfall may be distributed less evenly. We may see larger extremes, more intensity. That's what the models suggest.”

For additional information see: E&E News

Beverage Companies Preparing for Climate Change through Conservation Efforts

Many soft drink giants, including Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper, are investing millions in efforts to improve water quality and quantity around the globe. According to Thomas Lyon, a professor at the University of Michigan who researches connections between industry and the environment, these companies have realized that climate change will dramatically impact the global water supplies on which their businesses rely. “At the heart of it is their bottom line,” Lyon said. “Water is a finite resource and they desperately realize that it could become a major problem.” About ten years ago, these companies focused on using water more efficiently in their production processes, but now their efforts have spread to cleaning up rivers and protecting watersheds that their facilities rely on. The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has invested $1.1 million to preserve Texas grasslands that help filter groundwater used by their bottling plants. Coca-Cola has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to protect several high-profile rivers, such as the Danube in Europe and the Yangtze in Asia. Laura Huffman, director of the Nature Conservancy in Texas, said, “If there’s no fresh water, there’s no business. It is their number one infrastructure concern.”

For additional information see: Washington Post

Climate Change Altering Way of Life in Alaskan Villages

Melting permafrost, receding Arctic ice and more severe storms are threatening the way of life of many Alaskan villages. Point Hope, a coastal village north of the Arctic Circle, is struggling to cope with these changes. “So much of our culture is being washed away in the ocean,” said Point Hope Mayor Steve Oomittuk. “We live this cycle of life, which we know because it’s been passed from generation to generation. We see that cycle breaking.” Native Inuits, like Oomittuk, have stored whale meat in ice cellars under their houses for thousands of years, but melting permafrost is causing these cellars to disintegrate. Villagers rely on hunting and fishing for a substantial portion of their diet, but receding sea ice is making it much more difficult to hunt seals than in years past. The biggest threat, however, comes from soil erosion as the Alaskan soil heats up and begins to thaw. The town of Kotzebue constructed a $34 million sea wall, primarily funded by the federal government, to protect its beach from rising seas and erosion, but many villages have given up and are trying to relocate to higher ground. The U.S. Department of the Interior is launching an effort to evaluate the environmental, social and economic impact of climate change on the Arctic infrastructure.

For additional information see: Washington Post

Farmers, Ranchers Look to New Breeds to Resist Climate Change

As a record-breaking drought continues across much of the United States, many of the nation’s food producers are breeding a new generation of drought-resistant plants and animals to guard against the changing climate. Many ranchers are breeding their North American cattle with African and Indian stock that have developed a natural tolerance to heat and drought. Farmers are working on new corn varieties that have larger root systems to soak up more water when rainfall is scarce. The current drought has left half of the nation’s corn crop in poor or very poor condition, but the damage could be worse without the advancements in crop science of the last 40 years. "This year's just terrible, but 20 years ago these crops would have been completely burned up," said Clay Scott, a farmer in Ulysses, Kansas. "This year we're going to grow a decent crop even with drought."

For additional information see: Associated Press

Shellfish Vulnerable to Ocean Acidification

A study published in the journal Global Change Biology, finds that ocean acidification is impacting the ability of crustaceans to produce shells, which could leave them exposed to predators. The study analyzed clams, sea snails, lamp shells and sea urchins at 12 sites from the North Pole to the South Pole. “The results suggest that increased acidity is affecting the size and weight of shells and skeletons, and the trend is widespread across marine species,” said study co-authors from the British Antarctic Survey in a written statement. The ocean is a major sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) (see August 6 issue). Dissolved CO2 forms carbonic acid which inhibits the formation of calcium carbonate-based shells and skeletons, a phenomenon especially pronounced in cold water. "Where it gets colder and the calcium carbonate is harder to get out of the seawater the animals have thinner skeletons ... we think that the polar regions, and especially Antarctica, are likely to be the first places where animals reach these critical problems for making skeletons," said Professor Lloyd Peck of the British Antarctic Survey. Historically, animals have adapted by forming lighter skeletons, and according to study co-author Dr. Sue-Ann Watson of James Cook University, “Given enough time and a slow enough rate of change, evolution may again help these animals survive in our acidifying oceans.”

For additional information see: Sydney Morning Herald , Science Daily

Climate Change Impacting Coffee Production

Research shows that for every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit that temperatures increase, Colombian coffee growers must shift their plantations 550 feet higher to find cooler temperatures. In Ethiopia, the six degree Fahrenheit warming over the last 50 years has forced many growers to either purchase land at higher elevations or switch to more heat-tolerant crops. Compounding the production problems is the increase of the coffee berry borer, an insect that devastates coffee fields. The berry borer thrives under warmer conditions, becoming 8.5 percent more infectious for every 1.8 degree Fahrenheit of warming.

For additional information see: News Observer

Severe Drought May Become the New Normal in American West

A study published on July 29 in Nature Geoscience has found that, in the coming century, the climate in western North America will be similar to conditions during the long-term drought that hit the area from 2000 to 2004. The study warns that conditions will be closer to the "wet end" of a drier hydroclimate during the latter half of the 21st century. "Climatic extremes such as this will cause more large-scale droughts and forest mortality, and the ability of vegetation to sequester carbon is going to decline," said co-author Beverly Law, a professor of global change biology and terrestrial systems science at Oregon State University. The 2000 to 2004 drought, the worst in 800 years, severely reduced carbon absorption in western forests, and the area’s ability to sequester carbon will decrease even further in the future, according to the study.

For additional information see: Environmental News Network