Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The Twentieth Session of the Subsidiary Bodies to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change took place in Bonn, Germany, 16-25th June 2004. Lengthy discussions on good practice guidance for land use, land use change and forestry ended with some commentators suggesting that the result may encourage Russia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

At an in-session workshop on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, southern speakers stressed the need to take account of local knowledge in facilitating adaptation. Anthony Nyong of the University of Jos, Nigeria, said that local stakeholders’ views must be considered if successful adaptation measures are to be developed. Ahsan Ahmed, of the Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad Centre for Water and Environment emphasized the importance of field-level discussions on indigenous solutions.

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Malaysia has complained that Indonesian forest fires threaten its tourist industry, demanding that the Indonesian government crack down on fires started for land clearance.

Smoke generated by hundreds of fires on Sumatra has grounded local flights and is affecting cities in nearby Malaysia where schools may be closed because of the health risk. "During the dry season, local farmers usually clear land using the slash and burn method. It's a tradition and it is hard to stop. We can only hope for rain," said Transtoto Handadhari for the Ministry of Forestry. Current conditions are the worst since the region-wide haze of 1997/98.

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Rapid urbanization is increasing southeastern China's warming rate at a much faster rate than other regions, according to a new report. "These results are further evidence of the human impact on climate," said Liming Zhou, researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The mean temperature over southeastern China has risen by 0.05 degrees Celsius a decade since 1979, with nighttime low temperatures rising at a greater rate than daytime highs. "Human-induced changes in land use... may have changed climate as much as greenhouse gases over some particular regions of the land," says Liming Zhou. To improve accuracy, the study blended conventional station observations with model-based data, satellite records and census information.

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