Climate Change News - September 30, 2013

IPCC Releases 2013 Climate Change Assessment

On September 27, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published Working Group I’s (WRI) Summary for Policy Makers (SPM), a document that assesses climate change science, with the full WRI report being released the week of September 30 – October 4. As the scientific intergovernmental group responsible for publishing information relevant to the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the IPCC reports are considered to be the global benchmark in climate change understanding. The SPM reflects the work of 209 climate scientists, with input from thousands of additional government officials and experts, and draws on 9,200 peer-reviewed studies and publications regarding climate change. Additionally, the SPM was approved line-by-line by 195 governments at the U.N. last week. Two additional sections of the report, Working Group II (WRII) and Working Group III (WRIII), will be published at a later date. WRI is primarily concerned with the physical science of climate change and contains detailed information on projections and changes to the atmosphere, lithosphere, oceans and the poles due to climate change. Later portions of the report (WRII and WRIII) will contain information on climate change impacts, adaptation, vulnerability, and mitigation. IPCC is now 95 percent certain that humans are the source of the rapidly warming of the planet since 1950, the highest consensus ever reached amongst scientists, experts and governments on climate change. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry responded to the report’s release stating, “Once again, the science grows clearer, the case grows more compelling, and the costs of inaction grow beyond anything that anyone with conscience [. . .] should be willing to even contemplate. The science itself [is] demanding action from all of us."

For additional information see: IPCC WRI Summary for Policy Makers , IPCC Factsheet , The Guardian , The Washington Post , The New York Times

State Dept Releases 2014 Climate Action Report

On September 26, the U.S. Department of State released the 2014 Climate Action Report, containing the quadrennial National Communication and a new Biennial Report. The National Communication provides data on U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and projected emissions under current federal climate change policies, while the new Biennial Report outlines how the United States will reach the goal of reducing GHG emissions by 17 percent by 2020, as part of the U.S. commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Planned domestic actions to combat climate change discussed in the report include new CO2 regulations for the electricity sector, energy efficiency programs and reductions in methane and HFC emissions. The report also discusses climate resilience and potential impacts to the United States. Senator Robert Menendez (D - NJ), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, commented on the significance of the report, stating, “[it] shows that we are reducing emissions and have a plan in place to meet our commitments going forward. This puts us in a position of strength to keep the pressure on other nations to follow suit.”

For additional information see: State Department Press Release , USA Today

French President Hollande Introduces Carbon Tax, Urges European Union to Follow Suit

On September 20, French President Francois Hollande delivered an inaugural speech at the second annual Environmental Conference in Paris. Hollande was elected on a platform of substantial energy reforms that included divesting in nuclear power, and halving energy use in France by the year 2050. To achieve these goals, his administration has supported energy efficiency programs and the building of a transportation infrastructure that can support electric vehicles. In his remarks, he stated that France should cut fossil fuel use 30 percent by the year 2030, in order to meet year 2050 goals that will alleviate climate change. At the conference, Hollande unveiled plans for a carbon tax that will be introduced in the 2014 budget, intended to stimulate markets for wind and solar. Hollande also called for the European Union to levy a carbon tax and to increase CO2 reduction targets to 40 percent by the year 2030, relative to 1990 levels. The current reduction target is set at 20 percent. France would be joining Britain in levying a carbon tax: both countries have been able to meet ambitious emission reduction targets to-date because of a large nuclear energy portfolio.

For additional information see: Bloomberg , Reuters

Closed Australian Climate Commission Relaunched as Community-Funded Climate Council

On September 20, newly elected Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government closed the Australian Climate Commission. An independent group of scientists tasked with providing unbiased research on climate change, the Climate Commission was established in 2011 by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The former chief commissioner of the Climate Commission, Tim Flannery, professor and Chair of the Department of Panasonic Environmental Sustainability at Macquarie University, defended the Commission, commenting that the group remained non-partisan, and “developed a reputation as a reliable apolitical source of facts on all aspects of climate change.”  The Liberal Party has stated that the duties of the Commission will now be held by the Environment Department. Flannery announced on September 23 that the Climate Commission had been relaunched as the Climate Council, a community-funded organization.  Environmental groups asserted that a publicly-funded climate body was still essential in order to provide impartial reporting to the government, but Flannery reiterated the critical need to have an independent voice on climate change immediately, stating “I believe that Australians have a right to know - a right to authoritative, independent and accurate information on climate change.”

For additional information see: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Article 1 , Article 2 , The Guardian

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon Heads Multinational Climate-Economics Study

Seven countries have commissioned a study led by former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon to examine the economics of climate change. The $9 million year-long research study will collect data from five continents to analyze the potential economic benefits and costs of cutting carbon pollution. “We have talked about emissions – this time, we will try to talk about profits,” said Felipe Calderon. “The idea is that we can present an economic case.” Britain, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Sweden, South Korea and Norway are sponsoring the research, which will look at the ways extreme weather from climate change and greenhouse gas emission cuts have affected companies and governments across the world. Results will be released in September 2014, shortly before a United Nations climate change conference.

For additional information see: Bloomberg , ABC News

2013 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Extent Reaches Sixth Lowest on Record

On September 20, the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder announced that the Arctic sea ice has reached its annual minimum extent. According to analysis of satellite data by NSIDC and NASA, the Arctic sea ice shrunk to 1.97 million square miles (5.10 million square kilometers) on September 13 this year, a recovery from the record low 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square kilometers) minimum last September. "There is always a tendency to have an uptick after an extreme low,” said Walt Meier, glaciologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. The Arctic ice cap melts and grows in response to seasonal sunlight and temperature changes. According to NASA, the 1.8 to 4.5 degree F (1 to 2.5 degree C) lower than average Arctic temperature this year led to the late start of the melt season and overall less melt. Meanwhile, NASA observed a 50 percent decrease in thickness of the remaining Arctic sea ice cover, which is more prone to melt the next season.

For additional information see: NSIDC , NASA , New York Times

Study Finds Children Are Most Vulnerable to Climate Change

On September 23, a report issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) found that more than 600 million children live in the most climate-vulnerable regions of the world. These children are subject to heat waves, natural disasters, disease, and food crises as climate change progresses. Presently, 88 percent of the global burden of disease due to climate change occurs in children under the age of five. Furthermore, changing climates mean rising food insecurity, "The IPCC estimate that there will be 30 million more malnourished children as a result of climate change by 2050." The report notes that the negative impacts of climate change, as projected for the years 2030 and 2050, are most relevant to the children being born now, "A child born in 2012 will be 18 in 2030 and 38 in 2050.” Despite being most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, children are frequently not mentioned in the debate. The UNICEF report urges that children be included in the formation of a climate action plan through consultation mechanisms. Additionally, the report recommends more funding for action and adaptation programs, increased efforts toward low carbon development, climate change treaties, and strict emission reduction targets.

For additional information see: UNICEF Report , Think Progress

Climate Change Causing World Hunger Rates to Increase

On September 22, Oxfam released a paper discussing the connection between climate change and rising world hunger. The 4 degree Celsius warming that is predicted by mid-century under “business as usual” emission scenarios will lead to a cascade of events that will impact food security. Increases in extreme weather such as droughts and floods will lead to crop loss, damage food distribution systems as well as affect water supplies. Additionally, farmers in poorer nations will be largely unable to cope with changing precipitation patterns and temperatures. These events can result in depleted food stores, food scarcity and unstable food prices. Oxfam predicts that by 2050, the percentage of global population at risk for hunger may reach as high as 20 percent. They also predict that the price of food staples could double in the next 20 years, unless serious cuts to current greenhouse gas emissions levels are achieved in the near term. The worst effects to food security will be felt by developing nations in tropical and subtropical regions, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Oxfam predicts that crop yields in those areas may fall as much as 20 percent in the next 40 years. Warming has already threatened the gains made in the global fight against hunger in the last decade, with Oxfam emphasizing that “a hot world is a hungry world.”

For additional information see: Bloomberg , Oxfam Report

Renewable Energy Cheapest When Factoring in Climate Change

On September 13, a study published in Springer's Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences found that renewable energy is the cheapest source of power for Americans, once the costs of fossil fuel power plants are factored in. The research also discovered that it is less expensive to retrofit existing power plants to produce renewable energy than to keep the current plants producing fossil fuel power. The study's conclusions were based in part on the "social cost of carbon," a metric various government agencies released that puts the price of the effects of releasing 1 metric ton of carbon pollution at $33. Coal-burning power plants are the source of 40 percent of U.S. carbon emissions. "Burning coal is a very costly way to make electricity," explained study co-author Laurie Johnson, chief economist of the Climate and Clean Air Program at Natural Resources Defense Council. "Transitioning to cleaner energy won't just help protect us and our children and grandchildren from climate change, it's also good economics."

For additional information see: PV Magazine , EE News , Study

Combating Climate Change Would Save Millions of Lives

On September 22, a report published in Nature Climate Change stated that transitioning to clean energy to combat climate change would save millions of lives by decreasing air pollution. By the year 2030, 300,000-700,000 premature deaths from air pollution could be averted – a number that would climb to 1.3 million by the year 2050, and 1.4-3 million by the year 2100. “It is pretty striking that you can make an argument purely on health grounds to control climate change,” said lead author Jason West, researcher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The researchers calculated that based on society’s value of human life, the average marginal co-benefits of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would be $50-$380 per ton of CO2. Those numbers reveal that the cost of continuing to burn polluting fossil fuels is greater than the cost of switching to clean energy. “Air pollution benefits are local, tangible and near term, with air quality improving within weeks. That strengthens the argument for taking immediate action,” explained Jason West.

For additional information see: New Scientist , The Guardian , Study

Study Finds Higher Severe Storm Risk Due to Global Warming

On September 20, a study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates an increase in potential severe weather days over the next century. The study, led by Noah Diffenbaugh and Martin Scherer of Stanford and Robert Trapp of Purdue University, used a group of complex physics-based climate models to examine how atmosphere reacts to global warming. It finds that rising temperature contributes to atmospheric conditions that favor severe weather, including storms and tornadoes, thus increasing the risk of damage caused. "We’re seeing that global warming produces more days with . . . severe thunderstorms," Diffenbaugh said. The research predicts a 40 percent increase of severe weather in springtime over the eastern U.S., and an overall 25 to 30 percent increase in annual occurrence. The most significant increase, about 2.4 additional storm days per the Spring season, is predicted to occur across areas of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.

For additional information see: Stanford , New York Times , Study

Oct 16 Webinar: 40th Anniversary of the Oil Embargo

Join EESI Executive Director Carol Werner, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Scott Sklar, and other expert speakers for an October 16 webinar on the 40th anniversary of the oil embargo and its significance. Forty years ago, the Oil Embargo evidenced how dependent the United States was on foreign energy sources. It is imperative that we, as a nation, learn from the past and continue to expand, diversify and invest in our energy supply portfolio. The webinar will demonstrate the advances made since 1973, and highlight how renewables and energy efficiency are the competitive, economical and sustainable global building block for the 21st century. Wednesday October 16 - 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Eastern

To register, click here.
Please note that there is a $45.00 administrative fee to participate ($30.00 for ACORE members).