Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The science academies of 12 nations have urged political leaders not to neglect climate change during energy security talks at the G8 Summit in July 2006. They cite climate change, sharply rising and fluctuating oil and gas prices, providing fuels to the developing world, inefficient and wasteful use of energy, and a geographical mismatch between energy sources and users as "very serious difficulties related to sustainability and security of energy." "If energy sustainability and security fail, the primary human development goals cannot be achieved," they conclude.

The academies warn that climate change considerations could get lost as nations concentrate on securing energy supplies. "One year on from the UK Gleneagles Summit, where the G8 committed to taking action on climate change, this crucial issue must not be allowed to fall by the wayside," said Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society. "The G8 must demonstrate that this was a serious pledge by integrating climate concerns with their discussions regarding security of supply."

More information

• ENS
• Reuters

• Press release, Royal Society
• Download Statement, Joint Science Academies

William Bradshaw and Christina Holzapfel at the University of Oregon in Eugene in the United States report that some species of animals are adopting new patterns of behaviour to cope with global warming as rapid climate changes over the past several decades lead to heritable, genetic changes. "Over the past 40 years, animal species have been extending their range toward the poles and populations have been migrating, developing or reproducing earlier," according to Bradshaw. Red squirrels in Canada are reproducing earlier in the year and German blackcap birds are arriving earlier at nesting sites.

Bradshaw attributes the adaptation to phenotypic plasticity, the ability of animals to modify their behaviour, morphology or physiology as their environment changes. "Small animals with short life cycles and large population sizes will probably adapt to longer growing seasons and be able to persist," said Bradshaw. "However, populations of many large animals with longer life cycles and smaller population sizes will experience a decline in population size or be replaced by more southern species." Though behavioural adaptation to changes in season onset and duration are occurring, the researchers found no evidence of genetic changes, such as increased heat tolerance, directly related to higher seasonal temperatures rather than season length.

More information

• National Geographic
• Earth Times

• Live Science
• Inside Oregon

More than 200 green energy projects have been approved under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) since late 2004, and 600 more are in the pipeline, according to the Climate Change Secretariat. By 2012, the CDM could generate one billion tonnes of emissions reductions. This "corresponds to the present (annual) emissions of Spain and the United Kingdom combined," says the Secretariat.

There is concern, though, about the lop-sided development of the programme. "Whilst the mechanism is seeing exponential growth, the growth is still too unevenly distributed," according to Richard Kinley, Secretariat head. There have been few projects in Africa, for example. To date, The Netherlands, Britain and Japan have been the leading investors in the CDM.

More information

• Reuters
• Press release, UNFCCC

• On the Web: Clean Development Mechanism