2004 the Fourth Warmest Year Globally

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has determined that 2004 was the fourth warmest year since accurate records commenced in 1861. The last 10 years (1995-2004), with the exception of 1996, are among the warmest 10 years on record.

Droughts swept Africa, India and Australia and contributed to record forest fires in Alaska. The global mean surface temperature in 2004 is expected to reach 0.44 degrees celsius above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14 degrees, with October the warmest October ever recorded.

"The series of warm years is continuing," Soobasschandra Chacowry, a director at the WMO, told journalists.

USA continues to obstruct Climate talks

Another round of Climate talks have ended in Buenos Aires, with the USA continuing to obstruct talks. Greenpeace expressed disappointment at the outcome of the climate talks in Buenos Aires, and anger at the USA and Saudi Arabia for their deliberate tactics of obstruction and delay. The agreement means that discussions on future greenhouse gas cuts will not progress substantially during the coming year and will not ensure that countries most at risk from climate impacts get the assistance they need from the industrialised world.

Greenpeace spokeperson, Steve Sawyer said "We hope that everyone has taken note of the bullying and blocking tactics of the USA at these negotiations. As a result we have a deal that barely keeps the process moving. This agreement ensures that there will not be the kind of progress we need on negotiations of future emissions cuts during the next twelve months, and the adaptation package is far from adequate."

CSIRO warns: Australia to get hotter, wetter, with more extreme weather

Recent research by CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology scientists puts forward that climate change is a reality in Australia and is set to make the Australian climate much warmer, wetter, with more extreme weather events. While average rain across the continent has increased over the last 50 years, certain areas such as south west Australian and parts of Eastern Australia may actually be much drier.

Average temperatures are set to rise, with the possibility that some inland towns may become inhabitable. Bush fires, droughts, storms and flooding will have increasing impact on social and economic infrastructure. The overwhelming consensus amoung scientists is that such climate change has been brought about through global warming caused to a large extent by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide produced by humans.

* Predictions for Victoria
* Climate hots up in NSW for Premier Carr
* Increase in extreme rainfall
* Australia is getting wetter, while droughts continue

Escalating global species extinction crisis

Repost of World Conservation Union media release

A total of 15,589 species face extinction, reveals the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. One in three amphibians and almost half of all freshwater turtles are threatened, on top of the one in eight birds and one in four mammals known to be in jeopardy.

Bangkok , Thailand , 17 November 2004 (IUCN) – From the mighty shark to the humble frog, the world’s biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates.Halting the growing extinction crisis will be a major concern for IUCN’s 1,000 plus member organizations attending the 3 rd IUCN World Conservation Congress, which kicks off in Bangkok today.

The situation facing global biodiversity is clearly escalating and the 4,000 delegates, including representatives of the private sector, governmental and non-governmental organisations, will be outlining ways to halt this alarming trend. They will draw the attention of the international community to the fact that species loss has critical implications for human wellbeing, and that conserving biodiversity is central to managing the risks this poses to sustainable development.

Polar Regions experiencing severe climate change

The Arctic and Antarctic are experiencing severe climate change. The Arctic ice cap is melting at an unprecedented rate due to human induced global warming, according to a new study conducted by 300 scientists and elders from native communities in the arctic, released 8 November. Over the last 30 years the ice cap has shrunk 15-20 per cent. In 2003 the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, the largest in the Arctic, broke into two pieces. With the build up of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, the trend is set to accelerate with forecasts that by the summer of 2070 there maybe no ice at all.

Warming In Antarctica: cause for concern

In Antarctica the ocean food chain is crashing due to the loss of ice shelves around the Antarctic peninsula caused by climate warming. The breakup of the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002 has also released several glaciers, increasing their speed eight fold, and dumping their loads into the Weddell Sea contributing to a rising sea level, according to new research.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions cause Arctic to Melt, Sea Levels to Rise

The Arctic ice cap is melting at an unprecedented rate due to human induced global warming, according to a new study conducted by 300 scientists and elders from native communities in the arctic. Over the last 30 years the ice cap has shrunk 15-20 per cent. With the build up of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, the trend is set to accelerate with forecasts that by the summer of 2070 there maybe no ice at all.

The report said that the Arctic "is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change on Earth", Further: "Over the next 100 years climate change is expected to accelerate, contributing to major physical, ecological, social and economic changes, many of which have already begun."

Kyoto is not enough says UK Chief Scientist, while Australia sticks with the USA

The United Kingdom (UK) government's chief scientist, Sir David King, has warned that climate change is the most serious issue facing the world this century. He was speaking at a recent Greenpeace Business conference in London - "we are seeing extreme events which are attributable to global warming, at least in part, and these are having quite devastating effects." Australia and the USA are refusing to ratify the climate treaty.

"Kyoto is not enough. Kyoto is a beginning and it’s a good process. And what will be needed is once we’ve got the process up and running, it will need to be ratcheted up so that we can really bring emissions under control. The key problem, of course, is going to be moving into the second period, when we need to bring on board not only Australia and the United States, but also the big growing economies, China and India."

The Howard Government has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The USA and Australia are the only two western industrialised nations (1) who have refused to ratify the Protocol. Greenpeace Australia said that the Howard Government should commit to a target and road map to reduce greenhouse pollution by at least 60 percent by 2050 so that Australia will be protected from climate change.

A Greenpeace statement said: "Australia is the most vulnerable developed country to the impacts of climate change. Without significant reductions in our greenhouse pollution, we face more frequent and severe droughts and bushfires, annual coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, the potential loss of Australia's ski fields and serious damage to other important ecosystems such as the Wet Tropics."

According to the Greenpeace statement, opinion polls commissioned by Greenpeace and others consistently show that at least 75% of Australians want the Government to ratify Kyoto, irrespective of the US position.

"Once Kyoto is in place, the world will have to face the challenge of the at least 60% emissions reductions that scientists tell us are necessary," said Greenpeace Campaigns Manager Danny Kennedy. "In Australia, we must see mandated emissions reductions and clean energy targets to get us there."

"But first Mr Howard must respond to the weight of public opinion, the necessities of global business and increasing extreme weather by immediately ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and joining the international effort to tackle climate change, the greatest challenge of our age." said Kennedy.

On October 22 the Russian parliament approved the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (FOE Europe). Once approved by the upper house and President Vladimir Putin, the treaty will come into force as international law 90 days later.

Note 1: Croatia, Liechtenstein and Monaco (all with neglible emissions) - have not yet ratified the Kyoto Protocol, only Australia and the US have said that they will not ratify. The other three are all expected to do so. A full list of countries and their ratification status (PDF) is available.

Source:

1. Greenpeace Australia: Chief Scientist: we need immediate action on climate change
2. Greenpeace Australia: Howard leaves Australia isolated as Kyoto to become law

Global warming threatens to reverse human progress

A new report released on October 20 in London by a broad coalition of community groups says that global warming threatens to reverse human progress, and make the international targets on halving global poverty by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals, unattainable. The report, Up In Smoke, was launched by Dr R K Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), and is endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The coalition behind the report included: Action Aid International, Christian Aid, Columban Faith and Justice, IDS (Institute of Development Studies), ITDG (Intermediate Technology Development Group), IIED (International Institute for Environment and Development), Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, nef (new economics foundation), Operation Noah, Oxfam, People & Planet, RSPB, Tearfund, teri Europe, WWF, WaterAid and World Vision.

The report called on the international community to take urgent action to introduce:

* A global risk assessment of the likely costs of adaptation to climate change in poor countries
* Cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialised countries in the order of 60-80 per cent (relative to 1990 levels) by the middle of this century, far beyond the targets of the Kyoto Protocol. This is vital to stop climate change running out of control - for example by global average temperatures rising beyond 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
* Commensurate new funds and other resources made available by industrialised countries for poor country adaptation, bearing in mind that rich country subsidies to their domestic fossil fuel industries stood at $73 billion per year in the late 1990s
* Effective and efficient arrangements to respond to the increasing burden of climate-related disaster relief
* Development models based on risk reduction and incorporating community-driven coping strategies in adaptation and disaster preparedness
* Small-scale renewable energy projects promoted by governments and community groups which can help to both tackle poverty and reduce climate change if they are replicated and scaled-up. This will require political commitment and new funds from governments in all countries, and a major shift in priorities by the World Bank and other development bodies.
* Coordinated plans, from local to international levels, for relocating threatened communities with appropriate political, legal and financial resources

Download the report in full.
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_PublicationDetail.aspx?pid=196

Source: http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/news_upinsmoke.aspx

Global warming fears rise with Carbon Dioxide increase

Measurements of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is worrying climate scientists. Dr Craig Wallace from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research said "If it's the start of a real trend then this potentially is very serious indeed. The time for halting climate change actually went and passed in the late 1980s. What we can do now is hopefully slow down climate change, mitigate climate change by following the precedent set by the Kyoto Climate Agreement."

A US climate scientist, Charles Keeling, has reported that for the first time, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rose by more than two parts per million for two years running, from 2000 to 2001.

He said : "The rise in the annual rate to above two parts per million for two consecutive years is a real phenomenon."