-
-
The Pollution Map of Beijing
In Beijing this summer but worried about the smog? Want to know when it's safe to go outdoors without a facemask? Richard Spencer points us to a useful tool.
The Pollution Map of Beijing (linked in Spencer's blog) is a collaborative project between the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau and CERC (Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants) and gives a day-to-day forecast of pollution levels in the capital.
Of course, the scale has to be taken slightly into context for the average user, as the blue 'good' level of pollution still fails WHO standards. Green means 'slightly polluted', which doesn't sound too bad - until you realised that it means it has failed even the government's own definition of acceptability and may effect people with 'heart or pulmonary conditions', like asthma.
Now where's my oxygen tank... In Beijing this summer but worried about the smog? Want to know when it's safe to go outdoors without a facemask? Richard Spencer po... more -
Robot submarine gliding across the Atlantic Ocean
An unmanned submersible operated by Rutgers University's Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory (COOL) is "flying" -- underwater -- from New Jersey to Spain. The remote-controlled undersea glider will travel more than 3,800 miles, and will collect key scientific information on the temperature and salinity of the Atlantic Ocean.
"The big advantage is, it's totally unmanned," according to Conrad Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which sponsors the submersible. "It's very efficient and can be used to obtain the same kind of data we gather from ships."
In general, sea gliders are Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) that use small changes in buoyancy in conjunction with wings to convert vertical motion to horizontal, and thereby propel themselves forward with very low power consumption. While not as fast as conventional AUVs with propulsion systems, gliders using buoyancy-based propulsion represent a significant increase in range and endurance compared to vehicles propelled by electric motor-driven propellers. The sea glider has a battery-powered data collection and satellite communication system. The U.S. Navy as well as NOAA have been developing such sea gliders for several years.
During its trans-Atlantic cruise the glider will periodically rise to the surface of the ocean to transmit data up to a satellite. But most of the time the COOL glider will travel at depths between 15 feet to 300 feet below the surface. The COOL researchers will share all collected oceanographic data with the Navy and other interested agencies. The lack of a propulsion system will aid in data collection, alleviating self-noise interference.
The Navy is also looking into glider-type AUVs -- which it calls UUVs for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles -- for several missions, primarily to undertake environmental measurements in areas where surface ships or aircraft (dropping sensors) cannot easily operate. And, of course, flotillas of such unmanned gliders would be much cheaper than manned research ships and craft.
The COOL-developed submersible is yellow, less than 8 feet long, and weighs about 130 pounds. Developed by Rutgers University, the craft will also provide the university with other important information, such as how long the craft’s batteries will last and systems reliability. Larger and more capable AUV/UUVs are being developed by the Navy under the auspices of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command’s systems center in San Diego and the Office of Naval Research.
According to the 2000 Program Guide to the U.S. Navy, the highest priority missions for Navy UUVs, presumably including gliders, are intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; mine countermeasures (i.e., locating and mapping mines); and anti-submarine warfare. Sea gliders could be very useful in collecting environmental information for ASW operations. An unmanned submersible operated by Rutgers University's Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory (COOL) is "flying" -- underwater -- from... more -
Plankton turns Atlantic into huge carbon sink
Researchers have discovered that a seasonal bloom of ocean plankton fertilised by the mouth of the Amazon river are pulling in far more CO2 than previously thought. The plankton bloom removes an estimated 20 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year, not much compared to the amount emitted by human activity, but still a significant number. Oceanographers emphasise, however that "the value of this work is not so much in figuring out how we can use it to humankind's advantage, but in figuring out that the major rivers of the world may be helping to balance the CO2 inventory of the planet in ways we haven't realised before." Researchers have discovered that a seasonal bloom of ocean plankton fertilised by the mouth of the Amazon river are pulling in far mor... more
-
Drought threatens drinking water for a million Australians
Up to a million people in Australia could face a shortage of drinking water if the country's drought continues, a report on the state of the nation's largest river system revealed Sunday.
The report said the situation was critical in the Murray-Darling system, which provides water to Australia's "food bowl", a vast expanse of land almost twice as big as France that runs down the continent's east coast.
"We are in real trouble in the Murray-Darling basin," Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told Channel Nine television.
"We've had very low inflows, we've had a very dry June and the focus absolutely has to be critical human needs, that is the needs of the million-plus people who rely on the basin for drinking water.
"It just reminds us, yet again, the way in which this country, Australia, is particularly vulnerable to climate change."
Australia is in the grip of the worst drought in a century, which has stretched for more than seven years in some areas and has forced restrictions on water usage in the country''s major cities.
The report said the Murray-Darling system, accounting for more than 40 percent of the gross value of Australia's agricultural production, should provide enough drinking water for 2008-09.
But the report from senior federal and state government officials warned there could be problems supplying drinking water after that if rains did not come.
"If inflows are less and losses greater than expected, further contingency measures may be required to be implemented to secure critical human needs," it said.
The Murray-Darling Basin, which stretches from Queensland in the north, through New South Wales to Victoria in the south and South Australia, is the country's key food growing area.
A report by the nation's top scientists this month said Australia was in for a tenfold increase in heat waves as climate change pushes temperatures up.
It found exceptionally hot years, which used to occur once every 22 years, would occur every one or two years, virtually making drought a permanent part of the Australian landscape. Up to a million people in Australia could face a shortage of drinking water if the country's drought continues, a report on the state ... more -
Global warming song
Creature singing about global warming.
-
Tropical storm kills 14 in Taiwan
"A tropical storm lashed Taiwan on Friday, killing at least seven people, an emergency official told CNN.
Another six were hurt and six more were missing, according to the official at the island's Central Response Center.
The missing included a husband and wife who were swept away by fast-rising creek water, officials said.
Tropical Storm Kalmaegi dumped heavy rain on central and southern Taiwan, causing problems in places such as Taichung, a city in central Taiwan.
The eye of the storm left Taiwan on Friday, but storm clouds lingered, and forecasters warned of heavy rain and the possibility of mudslides in central and southern regions of the island, particularly in mountainous areas.
Flooding was reported in many low-lying areas, particularly in southern Taiwan, according to the island's Central News Agency. It published a photo of knee-deep water on a highway in Kaohsiung County. Flood waters rose to the height of two stories in one city, officials said.
Officials said that water was cut off from more than 650,000 households because of flooding in Tainan county, also in southern Taiwan, The Associated Press reported.
Forecasters expect the storm to hit coastal areas of southeastern China late Friday, prompting authorities to plan for possible flooding in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
Boats and ships from those provinces have been ordered back to port, the agency said."
-CNN.com "A tropical storm lashed Taiwan on Friday, killing at least seven people, an emergency official told CNN. ... more -
EPA Climate Report, devastating..
Climate change puts US way of life at risk
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under fire for apparently discounting the impact of climate change, on Thursday said global warming poses real risk to human health and the American way of life.
Risks include more heat-related deaths, more heart and lung diseases due to increased ozone and health problems related to hurricanes, extreme precipitation and wildfires, the agency said in a new report.
The study comes on the heels after an off the cuff remark from President George W. Bush at a G8 summit last week, where he ended a private meeting with the quip, "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter," before punching the air.
The EPA doesn't agree.
"Climate change poses real risk to human health and the human systems that support our way of life in the United States," the agency's Joel Scheraga said in a telephone briefing.
The report does not specify how many people in the United States could die due to climate change, because that number can be changed by taking action, Scheraga said.
"We are not saying in this report that more people will die in the future due to climate change," he said. "What we are saying is that there's an increased risk of deaths due to heat waves in the future as the climate changes.
"We have an opportunity to anticipate these increased risks ... and to due to prepare for the future in order to mitigate these risks."
Limited to climate change impacts in the United States, the report found a likely increase in food and water-borne germs as the world warms and habitat ranges expand for some disease-causing organisms.
Also, the inequities now found in the U.S. health care system are likely to be exacerbated by global warming: "Many of the expected health effects are likely to fall disproportionately on the poor, the elderly, the disabled and the uninsured."
Global warming is expected to affect water supplies across the country, with reduced water flow in rivers, lower groundwater levels and more salt creeping into coastal rivers and groundwater, the report said.
People who live along the coasts will face the consequences of rising sea levels and severe weather events while city dwellers can expect higher energy demand to cool buildings -- though the demand for heat will probably decline.
The report covers much of the same substance as an EPA document released on Monday that found global warming endangers human health. This document was part of the agency's response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that found the EPA had the power to regulate climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions if it was found that they hurt human health.
However, the agency has indicated no action is likely before the Bush administration leaves office next January.
Stephen Johnson, head of the environmental agency, has been called to testify on July 30 before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on alleged White House interference with the agency. Researchers have repeatedly complained of White House censorship of environmental science.
Climate change puts US way of life at risk ... more -
India home to nearly half the world's hungry
According to the World Food Program, India is home to nearly half the world's hungry - a staggering 350 million malnourished people. Though various schemes such as food subsidies and restrictions to keep rice produced in India within the country are working, they are so far only just keeping tensions under control. Futher threats from bad weather are also adding to rice farmers' problems. According to the World Food Program, India is home to nearly half the world's hungry - a staggering 350 million malnourished people. ... more
-
Don't despair; we can save the planet
A thought-provoking article about how emerging and developed nations could work together to combat climate change, looking into the problems of denyal and political short-termism and existing strategies that could be worked on. A thought-provoking article about how emerging and developed nations could work together to combat climate change, looking into the pr... more
-
Should we move species to save them?
The relocation of endangered species in order to save them from extinction has long been a thorny and almost taboo issue amongst conservationists, since it can have dramatic effects of both the ecosystem of the species' home environment and the one it's moved to. But lately this view is being challenged by conservationists who argue that with increased threats to growing species from climate change and loss of habitats, relocation, or 'assisted migration', is the only option to keep these species alive. It's a delicate balance, and one that must be weighed very carefully.
So do we save as many species as possible at the risk of other habitats, or may we have to.. (to put it rather brutally) cut our losses..? The relocation of endangered species in order to save them from extinction has long been a thorny and almost taboo issue amongst conse... more -
Texas approves massive new wind power project
Texas officials gave preliminary approval Thursday to the nation's largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to bring wind energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.
"We will add more wind than the 14 states following Texas combined," said PUC Commissioner Paul Hudson. "I think that's a very extraordinary achievement. Some think we haven't gone far enough, some think we've pushed too far."
Environmentalist and consumer groups called the move a critical expansion of the "renewable energy superhighway," predicting it will spur wind energy projects, create jobs, reduce energy costs and reduce pollution.
Texas already generates about 5,000 megawatts of wind power, more than any other state. The new plan would add transmission lines to boost capacity to about 18,000 megawatts.
Lead the way Texas!!!
Texas officials gave preliminary approval Thursday to the nation's largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars wor... more -
Rain-free Olympics... Or Else.
So the China Daily's reported a decreasing chance of rain during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, not that that's ever been a great concern since if it *does* look like rain, the government has instituted a plan B - to "artificially change the weather for the Olympics"... So the China Daily's reported a decreasing chance of rain during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, not that that's ever been a gre... more
-
The post-oil energy economies of the future - by Gordon Brown
Great speech although all the major UK TV networks ignored it...
-
US: Climate change too complex for action
THE Bush administration has made clear it is postponing any regulatory action on greenhouse gas emissions believed to be responsible for global warning, citing "the complexity and magnitude" of the issue.
The decision follows last year's ruling by the US Supreme Court, which said that the Environmental Protection Agency must devise ways to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act.
But the EPA said in a 588-page report released yesterday that given "the complexity and magnitude of the question", there were doubts whether "greenhouse gases could be effectively controlled under the Clean Air Act".
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said that rather than attempt to forge a consensus "on matters of great complexity, controversy, and active legislative debate," he had decided to publish the views of other agencies and to seek comment on them during a 120-day review period.
The delay, observers indicate, means that any substantive regulatory action will be almost certainly left to the next administration.
"One point is clear: the potential regulation of greenhouse gases under any portion of the Clean Air Act could result in an unprecedented expansion of EPA authority that would have a profound effect on virtually every sector of the economy and touch every household in the land," Mr Johnson wrote.
In a political blow to President George W Bush, the Supreme Court ruled in April 2007 that the EPA must consider greenhouse gases as pollutants and deal with them.
The ruling came in response to legal action undertaken by Massachusetts and a dozen other states and environmental groups that went to court to determine whether the agency had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emissions.
The Bush administration has fiercely opposed any imposition of binding emissions limits on the nation's industry and has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.
Environmentalists have alleged that since President Bush came to office in 2001, his administration has ignored and tried to hide looming evidence of global warming and the key role of human activity in climate change.
At a hearing in November 2006, Massachusetts argued that it risked losing more than 4.5 metres of land all along its coastline if the sea level should rise by 30 centimetres.
But the Bush administration, backed by nine states and several auto manufacturers, urged the court not to intervene, arguing that if the situation was so dire it could not be solved by a simple legal decision.
It further argued that reducing emissions from new US motor vehicles would have only a minor effect on global climate change.
While the court's decision is unlikely to change US policy, it has ramifications on several other ongoing issues, such as the agency's refusal to regulate emissions from electricity plants which produce some 40 per cent of US carbon dioxide emissions. Motor vehicles are responsible for just 20 per cent.
The EPA's decision to again delay action has sparked sharp criticism from congressional Democrats.
"The Bush administration decision today to effectively reject regulation of global warming pollution under the Clean Air Act creates a clear and present danger to the American people," said Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
"Despite the Supreme Court's finding that EPA was ducking its responsibility under the law to control global warming emissions, the Bush administration continues to block all action," she added.
... more -
Antarctic ice shelf 'hanging by thread': European scientists
New evidence has emerged that a large plate of floating ice shelf attached to Antarctica is breaking up, in a troubling sign of global warming, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday.
Images taken by its Envisat remote-sensing satellite show that Wilkins Ice Shelf is "hanging by its last thread" to Charcot Island, one of the plate's key anchors to the Antarctic peninsula, ESA said in a press release.
"Since the connection to the island... helps stabilise the ice shelf, it is likely the breakup of the bridge will put the remainder of the ice shelf at risk," it said.
Wilkins Ice Shelf had been stable for most of the last century, covering around 16,000 square kilometres (6,000 square miles), or about the size of Northern Ireland, before it began to retreat in the 1990s.
Since then several large areas have broken away, and two big breakoffs this year left only a narrow ice bridge about 2.7 kilometres (1.7 miles) wide to connect the shelf to Charcot and nearby Latady Island.
The latest images, taken by Envisat's radar, say fractures have now opened up in this bridge and adjacent areas of the plate are disintegrating, creating large icebergs.
Scientists are puzzled and concerned by the event, ESA added.
The Antarctic peninsula -- the tongue of land that juts northward from the white continent towards South America -- has had one of the highest rates of warming anywhere in the world in recent decades.
But this latest stage of the breakup occurred during the Southern Hemisphere's winter, when atmospheric temperatures are at their lowest.
One idea is that warmer water from the Southern Ocean is reaching the underside of the ice shelf and thinning it rapidly from underneath.
"Wilkins Ice Shelf is the most recent in a long, and growing, list of ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula that are responding to the rapid warming that has occurred in this area over the last fifty years," researcher David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said.
"Current events are showing that we were being too conservative, when we made the prediction in the early 1990s that Wilkins Ice Shelf would be lost within 30 years. The truth is, it is going more quickly than we guessed."
In the past three decades, six Antarctic ice shelves have collapsed completely -- Prince Gustav Channel, Larsen Inlet, Larsen A, Larsen B, Wordie, Muller and the Jones Ice Shelf.
New evidence has emerged that a large plate of floating ice shelf attached to Antarctica is breaking up, in a troubling sign of global... more -
Mount Shasta glaciers growing, despite warming
MOUNT SHASTA, Calif. - Global warming is shrinking glaciers all over the world, but the seven tongues of ice creeping down Mount Shasta's flanks are a rare exception: They are the only long-established glaciers in the lower 48 states that are growing.
Reaching more than 14,000 feet above sea level, Mount Shasta is one of the state's tallest peaks, dominating the landscape of high plains and conifer forests in far Northern California. Nearby Indian tribes referred to its glaciers as the footsteps made by the creator when he descended to Earth. Hikers flock to Shasta every summer to scale them.
With glaciers retreating in the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere in the Cascades, those on Mount Shasta — a volcanic peak at the southern end of the Cascade range — are actually benefiting from changing weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean.
MOUNT SHASTA, Calif. - Global warming is shrinking glaciers all over the world, but the seven tongues of ice creeping down Mount Shast... more -
John Lennon Used to Help Fight Global Warming
With the G8 summit in Japan, thousands of candles were lit in the city of Saitama on Monday, July 7, 2008 in an effort to raise awareness about global warming. Check out the photos. With the G8 summit in Japan, thousands of candles were lit in the city of Saitama on Monday, July 7, 2008 in an effort to raise awaren... more
-
World leaders fail environment
Not that the commitments of leaders of the world's most powerful democracies mean much anyway -- look at Kyoto -- they can't even manage to pretend to be planning real changes for the environment. Instead of owning the utter failure of their leadership on this matter over the last decade they divert attention by pointing fingers at others.
... more -
Ruthless drought in West Timor puts children in crisis
REMOTE WEST TIMOR (CNN) -- Maria's labored breath echoes within the walls of her family's mud hut. Her tiny, bony hands open and close in slow claw-like motions.
She's 15 months old, but weighs just 10 pounds -- one of countless children under the age of 5 facing severe malnutrition in Indonesia's West Timor. A typical infant weighs about 24 pounds at 15 months.
"Maria sleeps most of the time. Sometimes she cries but not often," her 25-year-old mother Adolphina Fao says softly.V
Maria is fighting to live, wasting away in her remote village where aid officials say climate change has brought on a severe drought in recent years. It's nearly impossible for residents to live off the land like they have for generations.
"It's hard to feed her," her mother says. "Some are good days, some are bad. Sometimes she eats a whole plate, sometimes nothing."
As Fao speaks, she spoons glutinous rice into Maria's tiny mouth. The baby spits out most of it.
Aid officials say Maria is one example of a chronic crisis that has been worsening in West Timor, the Indonesian portion of the island of Timor that is home to about 1.5 million people.
According to a joint survey by aid groups Church World Service, Helen Keller International and CARE, more than 50 percent of children under 5 in West Timor are suffering from malnutrition. In some areas it's as high as 70 percent -- a higher percentage than areas of Africa.
Of those, nearly 1 in every 10 children suffer from acute malnutrition, meaning they are near death, according to organizers. The study also found that 61 percent of the children suffer from stunted growth.
"Stunting is the result of extended periods of inadequate food intake, poor dietary quality, increased morbidity or a combination of these factors," the study says. "This finding indicates that the diet has been very poor quality for a very long time." REMOTE WEST TIMOR (CNN) -- Maria's labored breath echoes within the walls of her family's mud hut. Her tiny, bony hands open and clos... more -
Climate change may cut South Africa corn crop sharply
Climate change could cut South Africa's maize crop by 20 percent within 15 to 20 years as the west of the country dries out while the east is afflicted with increasingly severe storms, its environment minister said on Sunday.
Climate change could cut South Africa's maize crop by 20 percent within 15 to 20 years as the west of the country dries out while the ... more
-
related topics
Climate
Contributors (499)
Climate
