June 17, 2009

News summaries

Climate catastrophe getting closer, warn scientists
The world faces a growing risk of "abrupt and irreversible climatic
shifts" as fallout from global warming hits faster than expected,
according to research by international scientists released Thursday.
There is also new evidence that the planet itself has begun to
contribute to global warming through fall out from human activity. Huge
stores of gases such as methane -- an even more powerful greenhouse gas
than carbon dioxide -- trapped for millennia in the Arctic permafrost
may be starting to leak into the atmosphere, speeding up the warming
process. "Rapid, sustained, and effective mitigation ... is required to
avoid 'dangerous climate change' regardless of how it is defined," it
said. AFP

Senate passes cash for clunkers program
Program gives consumers with cars that get less than 18 miles per
gallon the ability to turn them in for a $3,500 or $4,500 cash voucher.
Although many people believe that the program is designed to reduce
global warming emissions through the eradication of gas guzzling cars,
its true purpose is to help out struggling automakers and car dealers
with new car sales. A person who receives a credit as part of the
program cannot buy a used car with the monies. Reuters

How 'unequivocal warming' will change Americans' lives
Hotter temperatures, an increase in heavy downpours, and rising sea
levels are among the effects of "unequivocal" warming, concludes the
report by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Winters are now
shorter and warmer than they were 30 years ago, with the largest
temperature rise -- more than 7 degrees Fahrenheit -- observed in the
Midwest and northern Great Plains. The changes are already affecting
human health, agriculture, coastal areas, transportation and water
supplies. And climate change will intensify over the next century even
with significant action to limit greenhouse gas emissions from human
activities. The New York Times

Expansive energy bill advances in Congress
A Senate energy bill was voted out of committee yesterday, but not
before losing the support of two Democrats and a dozen leading
environmental organizations. The Washington Post

UN warns of 'megadisasters' linked to climate change
The United Nations on Tuesday raised the prospect of "megadisasters"
affecting millions of people in some of the world's biggest cities
unless more is done to heed the threat of climate change. "We are going
to see more disasters and more intense disasters as a result of climate
change," UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John
Holmes said. AFP

Collapse in ancient biodiversity: Warming the culprit?
The researchers were surprised to find that a likely candidate
responsible for the loss of plant life was a small rise in the
greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which caused Earth's temperature to
rise. Global warming has long been considered as the culprit for
extinctions--the surprise is that much less carbon dioxide gas in the
atmosphere may be needed to drive an ecosystem beyond its tipping point
than previously thought. National Science Foundation

Warming braked less than expected by haze
Scientific estimates of light-reflecting airborne particles had
underestimated a fast build-up of black airborne soot, which has the
opposite effect by soaking up heat. "The black carbon, or soot, emissions
have increased fastest," said Gunnar Myhre of the Center for International
Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo (Cicero) of the report in
Friday's edition of the journal Science...The direct aerosol effect may
have contributed to a cooling in the mid 20th century and may have
masked a considerable degree of current global warming," he wrote. That
could potentially lead "to more rapid warming in the future owing to
stricter controls on aerosol emissions." Reuters

7 American species threatened by warming
As the world continues to warm while nations battle it out over how to
handle the problem, the fate of seven American species of plants and
animals hangs in the balance. The Environmental Defense Fund has
highlighted these ‘ambassador species’ which will likely not survive
global warming, in the hopes that they will spur people to act. There
are, of course, thousands – perhaps millions – of species across the
world threatened by global warming. There are many more species here in
America that are threatened. But these seven species will probably
disappear within our lifetime if we don’t do something about it. Earth First

Want to see Northwest impacts? Just look around
"We are the alpha and the omega of global warming," said Rep. Jay
Inslee, D-Wash., who helped write a flawed -- but needed -- bill to
change national energy policy. It's pending in the House. Global
warming is shrinking the winter snowpack. A smaller snowpack means
reduction in the runoff that sustains our river flows, makes the desert
bloom, allows salmon to reach and return from the ocean, and powers the
world's greatest hydroelectric system. The consequences don't end when
our rivers reach salt water. Seattle Post Intelligencer

Greenpeace parody of newspaper spotlights climate
The spoof edition was an effort to draw attention to climate change
as European Union leaders gathered to discuss the issue in Brussels.
The New York Times