Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Micronesia has continued to lead the drive to phase down the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montréal Protocol treaty on protection of the ozone layer. HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases as well as ozone depleters. Speaking at a meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montréal Protocol in Geneva, Switzerland, Micronesia's negotiator Tony Oposa argued that, rather than waiting for action on HFCs under the climate treaty, action should be taken now under the Montreal Protocol. "Who do you call if a house is burning and the fire truck is far away – with the firefighters arguing over what to do – and a volunteer brigade is already at the scene, ready and able to put out the fire?" he said.

According to Guus Velders of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, phasing down HFCs could result in avoidance of over 200 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions by the year 2050. "This would be a major victory for the world, and especially for vulnerable nations like Micronesia that need fast, near-term climate mitigation to survive," commented Durwood Zaelke of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. "Opportunities for progress under the climate negotiations this year are uncertain, but we know the ozone treaty is ready to deliver. The Parties have the chance to solve a big part of the climate change problem by taking action to phase down HFCs this year, virtually eliminating one of the six greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol."

A four-year drought in Syria's rural areas is forcing local inhabitants to migrate to the cities. The World Food Programme (WFP) is delivering more than 2,900 tonnes of food rations to the provinces of Al-Hasakeh, Al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. "The situation is really bad" in northeast Syria, said Selly Muzammil of the WFP. Wheat is going to be imported for the third consecutive year.

African nations have the most precarious water supplies in the world, according to a survey by the British consultancy Maplecroft. Somalia, Mauritania and Sudan head the "water security risk index". "With climate change there is going to be a greater strain on limited water resources in many nations," the study's author Anna Moss commented. Pakistan and Egypt are also amongst the most vulnerable countries and are already experiencing internal and cross-border tensions due to limited water resources. "This should send a signal to investors who will need to develop water conservation and security strategies and be mindful of their water-use impacts on local communities," said Maplecroft head Alyson Warhurst.

Oscar Schofield from Rutgers' Cool Ocean Observation Laboratory in the United States and a group of American and British scientists, writing in Science, have called for improved ocean observing in the Antarctic, particularly around the Western Antarctic Peninsula.

The Western Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing rapid climate change, with close to 90 per cent of the peninsula's glaciers in retreat and the ice season shortened by 90 days. Schofield and his colleagues propose a "nested, multi-platform" approach, which would involve data collection from ships, satellites, drifting sensors, submersible robots and sensors mounted on animals such as seals and whales. The data would provide information on the heat budget for the atmosphere and ocean, interaction between the deep ocean and shelf waters and effects on local marine climate, ice and ecology. The role of feedback in amplifying polar climate trends would be an important topic for further research.