Featured sites
The Blue Carbon
Portal brings together the latest knowledge and
resources on the role of oceans as carbon sinks.
WalkIt provides
walking routes between user-defined points in selected
British cities, with an estimate of the carbon
savings.
Joto
Afrika is a series of printed briefings and online
resources about adapting to climate change in sub-Saharan
Africa.
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The industrialized nations have shown
"significant progress" in working out new
policies and rules and the 2012 Kyoto targets remain
within reach, according to the Secretariat of the United
Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The announcement, based on information filed early
this year, marked the first anniversary of the date
the Kyoto
Protocol came into force. Overall emissions from
the industrialized nations fell from 18.4 billion
tonnes of carbon dioxide in 1990 to 17.3 billion
tonnes in 2003.
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The Kyoto nations were "on their way to lower
their emission levels by at least 3.5 per cent below
1990 levels" by the 2008-12 target period,
according to
Richard Kinley, acting head of the UNFCCC. With
extra measures, Kinley considers that the Kyoto
nations could reach the overall target of at least a
5 per cent cut below 1990 levels. But they would have
to "sustain or even intensify their
efforts," he continued. "More is
needed." The UNFCCC Secretariat reckons that the
Clean Development Mechanism could cut 800 million
tonnes of emissions by 2012, according to Christine
Zumkeller, coordinator of the UNFCCC
Project-based Mechanisms.
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Plants are losing less water as atmospheric
carbon dioxide levels rise, and this means that more
moisture is left in the soil, according to a recent
investigation. The finding may explain why river flow
around the world is increasing, although there has
been little overall change in rainfall amounts.
Nicola Gedney, from the Joint
Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Research in the
United Kingdom, led the team that conducted the
study. She says that the research "answers a key
question about what is driving the changes in the
global water cycle." "Carbon dioxide is not
only a greenhouse gas, it can also affect the
world's water directly through plant
life."
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The effect occurs as high levels of carbon dioxide
in the air mean that the plant functions more
efficiently. As a result, the
stomata, the tiny openings through which plants
take in the carbon that supports growth, remain open
for less time and less water is "breathed"
out. Modelling the process world-wide, the first time
this has been attempted, Gedney concludes that
"climate change on its own would have slightly
reduced run-off, whereas the carbon dioxide effect on
plants would have increased global run-off by about 5
per cent." The combined effect matches the
change in flow that has been observed in reality.
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Scientists meeting in Winnipeg, Canada, to
discuss the
Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study have warned
that climate change is seriously affecting the
physical environment of the Arctic and the lives of
the
Inuit communities.
David Barber, of the
University of Manitoba, warns that the polar sea
ice is melting at a rate of about 74,000 square
kilometres a year and this has been the case for the
past 30 years. "This is a very significant
result, and it's not some sort of trend
that's going to shift back the other way,"
he said.
Louis Fortier, from the Université Laval in
Quebec City, says that the Inuit are already
experiencing the negative effects of climate change
and sea-level rise as ice is lost, shorelines erode
and food sources disappear.
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The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
has announced that it is opening the formal process to
list polar bears as "threatened" due to the
impact of global warming. The move occurs in response
to a
lawsuit filed by three conservation groups.
"These animals need protection now," warned
Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense
Council. "Everything in their lives depends
on the ice sheet, and that ice sheet is disappearing
at an unprecedented rate. If current pollution levels
continue we simply will not recognize the Arctic
anymore."
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Bright Ideas
General Electric plans to
cut solar installation costs by half
Project 90 by 2030 supports South African school
children and managers reduce their carbon footprint
through its Club programme
Bath & North East Somerset Council in the United
Kingdom has installed
smart LED carriageway lighting that automatically
adjusts to light and traffic levels
The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and the American Public Gardens
Association are mounting an
educational exhibit at Longwood Gardens
showing the link between temperature and planting
zones
The energy-efficient
Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel is powered by
renewable and sustainable sources, including integrated
solar photovoltaics and guest-powered
bicycles
El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, plans to
generate 80 per cent of its energy from renewable
sources
The green roof on the
Remarkables Primary School in New Zealand reduces
stormwater runoff, provides insulation and doubles as an
outdoor classroom
The
Weather Info for All project aims to roll out up to
five thousand automatic weather observation stations
throughout Africa
SolSource
turns its own waste heat into electricity or stores it in
thermal fabrics, harnessing the sun's energy for
cooking and electricity for low-income
families
The
Wave House uses vegetation for its architectural and
environmental qualities, and especially in terms of
thermal insulation
The Mbale
compost-processing plant in Uganda produces cheaper
fertilizer and reduces greenhouse gas
emissions
At Casa Grande,
Frito-Lay has reduced energy consumption by nearly a
fifth since 2006 by, amongst other things, installing a
heat recovery system to preheat cooking oil
More Bright
Ideas...
Tiempo Climate Newswatch
Updated: April 12th 2013 |
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