USA: Climate Change likely to severely damage U.S. crop yields

Higher temperatures caused by the changing climate are likely to have a devastating effect on crop yields. Corn, soybeans and cotton are the largest three crops by production value in the US which will be affected by extreme heat. Above a certain threhold - 29 degrees - damaging effects have been described as 'damaging large' by a report by Agricultural Economists published in August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Related Blog: Greed, Green and Grains Blog

Walkers mark the dangers of rising sea level for Melbourne

Community and environment groups today started a 100km walk from Sorrento to Port Melbourne around Port Phillip Bay, to raise awareness about climate change and rising sea levels in Victoria and around the world. Markers were placed along the way to show where the sea level will rise to by the end of the century if efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution do not happen immediately.

Port Phillip Rising | Impacts of Rising Sea level | Flickr Photoset

Firefighters turn climate heat on Canberra

Sydney IMC: Firefighters demanded action on climate change from politicians in Canberra on November 19 while much of south eastern Australia sweltered and suffered with temperatures well above 30 degrees. Many regions were declared severe, extreme or catastrophic fire danger. The Firefighters carried a banner "Firefighters for climate change action now" demanded that the Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme be passed by the Senate.

Scientists have reported this week that the Climate Treaty is more urgent with Global carbon emissions still increasing. with Australia the worst emitter on a per capita basis. Scientists have also called for Emissions need to be slashed to save Great Barrier Reef. | Read ACTU media release | Climate Institute Media Release

USA: Medically defensible energy policy on climate: phase out Coal

A new report released November 2009 by Physicians for Social Responsibility (USA) - 'Coal's Assault on Human Health' - details the devastating impacts of coal on the human body, including respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological effects. A chapter is also devoted to coal's impact on global warming. The report makes substantial policy recommendations that detail why coal power should be phased out and replaced with renewable energy sources.

Coal-fired power plants account for more than one third of CO2 emissions in the U.S., and coal is a major contributor to the predicted health impacts of global warming. NASA Climate scientist James Hansen stated in 2008 "that these coal plants are simply not compatible with keeping a planet resembling the one in which civilisation developed. And I think there is going to be eventually pressure to in effect bulldoze those plants, so economically they just don't make sense. You are not going to be able to leave them there 50 years. It will become clear long before 50 years that we have to get rid of them."

Scientists: Climate Treaty more urgent with Global carbon emissions still increasing

The latest global assessment of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities shows emissions still rapidly increasing according to a paper published in Nature Geoscience by 31 authors from the Global Carbon Project. This increases the importance for meaningful negotiations on emission reduction targets and a legally binding international climate treaty from Copenhagen to start reducing emissions.


Le Quéré et al. 2009, Nature Geoscience; Data: CDIAC, FAO, Woods Hole Research Center 2009. From the Media Briefing by Dr Mike Raupach, 18 Nov, 2009, Australian Science Media Centre

South Australia faces catastrophic fire danger

Catastrophic Fire Danger warning has been issued for two regions in South Australia - Flinders and North-West Pastoral districts - because of predicted extreme temperatures, strong winds and low humidity. This is the first time this top classification fire warning has been used in Australia.

Fire weather warnings have been revamped following the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in February 2009 which killed 173 people. The Fire Danger warning system has been refined with the top classification being a Code Red Catastrophic Fire Danger [100+], followed by Extreme Fire Danger [75-99] and Severe Fire Danger [50-74] .

Scientists call for emissions slashed to save Great Barrier Reef

Marine and climate scientists have called for at least a 25% cut in carbon emissions from developed countries like Australia to save the Great Barrier Reef. A 25% cut in emissions would amount to peaking at less than 450ppm atmospheric CO2 and a 50/50 chance of staying below 2 degrees Centigrade. And by 2050, emissions would have to decline by up to 90 percent below 2000 levels. Even with this scenario tropical reefs may be substantially degraded.

Related: Marine Scientists report: Ocean Acidification Accelerating; Severe Damages Imminent | Coral Reefs and Ocean Biodiversity threatened by Climate Change | Climate Change: Marine Scientists Demand Action on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Report assesses climate risks of sea level rise for Australia

A new report published by the Australian Government - Climate Change Risks to Australia's Coasts povides a risk assessment of climate change and rising sea level to Austrlian coastal communities. The report shows between 157,000 to 247,600 existing residential buildings will be at risk from sea inundation by 2100, under a sea-level rise scenario of 1.1 metres.



Related: Impacts of rising sea level a wake up call on climate change | Report

Climate Activists call on Obama to stop Indonesian Deforestation

Activists from a Climate Camp in the forests of Indonesia have taken direct action locking down earrthmoving and logging equipment. The site on the Kampar Peninsula of the island of Sumatra is being logged and cleared by Asia Pacific Resources International Holding Ltd (APRIL), one of the largest pulp and paper companies in Indonesia, to make way for tree plantations, grown for pulp and paper. All the activists have been detained by Police.

Related: Climate Defenders Camp established to preserve Indonesian Rainforest Peatlands | Photoset of Direct Action | APRIL watch Blog | Pulpmill watch | REDD Indonesia | Greenpeace Climate Rescue Blog

Vulnerable Countries call for Ambitious Emissions Targets for Climate Treaty

The Climate Vulnerable Countries' Forum over 9 -10 November has just concluded meeting in the Maldives and released a statement calling for "ambitious emission reduction targets consistent with limiting global average surface warming to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and long-term stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at well below below  350 p.p.m."

The forum is composed of countries from the Caribbean, Africa, South and South-east Asia, and the Pacific - many being vulnerable to sea level rise. The low lying Maldives announced in March plans to become the world's first carbon neutral nation, and embracing 100% renewable energy instead of oil.

Representatives attended from Kiribati, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Barbados and Bhutan. Observers from several industrialised countries also attended.

Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed in opening the forum said "We are gathered here because we are the most vulnerable group of nations to climate change. Some might prefer us to suffer in silence but today we have decided to speak...we will not die quietly,"

He called on developing countries to embrace carbon neutral development. "If those with the least start doing the most, what excuse can the rich have for continuing inaction? At the moment every country arrives at [international climate] negotiations seeking to keep their own emissions as high as possible. This is the logic of the madhouse, a recipe for collective suicide. "We don't want a global suicide pact...we want a global survival pact," Nasheed stated in a press release.

Some Background: Climate Change and Development Issues for Island States (Jan 2005)

The declaration released at the end of the forum follows: