Tiempo Climate Newswatch

"It's one thing to say that underground is a great place to store carbon dioxide, but it's another thing to be able to prove it as we have done," says Ben Rostron from the University of Alberta. The $28 million International Energy Agency Weyburn CO₂ Monitoring and Storage Project is safely burying the gas and reducing emissions to the atmosphere.

The gas is being stored in a partially-depleted oil reservoir in Saskatchewan. It is compressed in the United States, transferred by pipeline to the Weyburn field in Saskatchewan and then injected into the reservoir. More than 1.9 billion cubic metres have been buried to date. There is considerable international interest in whether or not carbon sequestration can play a significant part in limiting the rise in atmospheric concentrations.

More information

• Science Daily
• The Weyburn Monitoring Project

Climate can change rapidly in response to centuries of environmental abuse, according to Macquarie University researchers studying the effects of land clearance.

Modelling the effects of land clearance in Australia since European settlement began, the team found that the results reflected rainfall changes observed over recent decades. "It scared the hell out of us," said Andy Pitman. With forest clearance, moist winds from the Indian Ocean are no longer being slowed down. This reduces turbulence and rainfall. "Without the tree cover, the water in the atmosphere flows across the landscape and is deposited elsewhere. Our results suggest, and observations indicate, that it's falling farther inland."

More information

• Sydney Morning Herald

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.

More information

• Linkages - daily reports
• Earth Negotiations Bulletin - Adaptation Workshop
• Theme sites