Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Twenty nations from the industrialized and developing worlds met in Monterrey, Mexico, last week to discuss joint action on climate change. The G8 Plus Five Climate Change Dialogue is a result of the 2005 G8 summit. There was broad agreement amongst the participants on the need to limit future emissions of greenhouse gases. "Time is running out, and the size of the challenge is enormous," warned Mexican Environment Minister José Luis Luege. "The meeting has dramatized the need for comprehensive global action. The message about the need for early action is very strong," reported British Environment Secretary David Miliband.

Welcoming the consensus, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the meeting "is a very important indicator of the desire of the world now to come together and deal with the issue of energy and the environment and how we make sure there is sustainable growth in the future. And the fact that you have got a dialogue now that involves America and India and China, as well as the European countries, is obviously very important for the future." Despite this optimism, progress is occurring in fits and starts. The World Bank described its new framework for investment in clean technology for developing countries but reported delays with the US$20 billion investment programme. The United States has reservations about aspects of the plan.

Ozone loss over Antarctica reached a new record this year, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). "Such significant ozone loss requires very low temperatures in the stratosphere combined with sunlight. This year’s extreme loss of ozone can be explained by the temperatures above Antarctica reaching the lowest recorded in the area since 1979," reported ESA scientist Claus Zehner. The record-breaking nature of the 2006 hole is confirmed by data reported by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The thinner layer "will lead to more ultraviolet radiation on the ground," said Geir Braathen, WMO ozone expert.

Measurements from the ESA Envisat satellite show an ozone mass deficit (total ozone loss) over Antarctica of close to 40 million metric tons this year. The previous record loss occurred in 2000. The ozone hole has been the largest in surface area and in depth this year, with both records broken simultaneously. The WMO and the United Nations Environment Programme reported earlier this year the latest ozone recovery forecasts, which suggest that the ozone layer might return to pre-1980 levels by 2049 over much of Europe, North America, Asia, Australasia, Latin America and Africa. Over Antarctica, ozone recovery could be delayed until 2065.

Rising pollution is having serious health, economic and environmental impacts on the world's oceans, according to a new study from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "An estimated 80 per cent of marine pollution originates from the land and this could rise significantly by 2050 if, as expected, coastal populations double in just over 40 years time and action to combat pollution is not accelerated," said UNEP head Achim Steiner. "We have a long way to go politically, technically and financially if we are to hand over healthy and productive seas and oceans to the next generation."

The report identifies sewage as a major problem, in part because little progress has been made in this area. In many developing countries, it estimates, more then 80 per cent of sewage entering the coastal zone is untreated. "We perhaps in the 20th century thought we could use the oceans as our sewage treatment plants," said Steiner. "This sewage is not just something that goes into the sea and the sea does it for us anymore." The cost to remedy this problem would be at least US$56 billion. Marine litter, resource over-use and habitat destruction are also cited as serious impacts. Other areas in need of "urgent attention" include the impact of dams, new streams of chemicals and the state of wetlands. Efforts are needed to improve monitoring on continents such as Africa where data "remains fragmented and woefully low."