Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The Arctic coastline is eroding at a rate of 0.5m a year on average as the protection afforded by sea ice is lost, according to a new report from an international consortium of over thirty scientists. The rate of change is particularly marked in the Laptev, East Siberian and Beaufort Seas where, in recent years, erosion rates have reached more than eight metres a year in some areas. "Every single element of the North is going to be affected, right from the engineering side to how the Inuit interact with their environment," commented contributor Wayne Pollard from McGill University in Canada.

New data show that melting glaciers and ice caps on Canadian Arctic islands are contributing more to changing sea levels than had been thought. Over the period 2004 to 2009, the Canadian Archipelago lost 363 cubic kilometres of water, adding one millimetre to the height of the worlds oceans. "This is a region that we previously didn't think was contributing to sea-level rise," said lead author Alex Gardner of the University of Michigan in the United States. "Now we realise that outside of Antarctica and Greenland, it was the largest contributor for the years 2007 through 2009," he continued. Cautioning that the period of analysis was too short to define a long-term trend, he did warn that it was a big response to a small change in climate. "If the warming continues and we start to see similar responses in other glaciated regions, I would say it's worrisome," he concluded.

The United Nations General Assembly debated a holistic approach to sustainable development on International Mother Earth Day, April 22nd. In her opening remarks, Asha-Rose Migiro, deputy secretary-general, said that it was essential to revise accounting methods and embrace a low-carbon, resource-efficient, pro-poor economic model. "We neither factor in the benefits of ecosystems, nor the costs of their destruction," she said. "A country can cut its forests and deplete its fisheries, and yet it shows only as a positive gain in GDP, ignoring the corresponding decline in assets. We count arms sales on the plus side of the ledger, and spend many billions of dollars a year to subsidize coal, gas and oil – with little impact on the lives of the poor," she observed.

"Capitalism's mistake is not having fully incorporated nature as part of capital," observed Bolivian representative Pablo Solón, arguing that a price must be placed on the services that plants, animals and ecosystems provide to humanity. He called for recognition of the rights of all parts of the earth's systems, not just the human part. "To think that only humans should enjoy privileges while other living things are simply objects is the worst mistake humanity has ever made," he said. Solón also called for an end to artificial manipulation of the earth's climate, saying that nature could not be subjected to the "whims of the laboratory."

Who you are and where you live can make a big difference in the impact of carbon-reduction activities, according to a study by Chris Jones and Daniel Kammen of the University of California Berkeley, in the United States. "Everyone has a unique carbon footprint," said Jones. "There is no one-size-fits-all set of actions that people should take." The researchers assessed the carbon footprints of several thousand fictitious households across the United States, finding that the opportunities for emissions reduction varied according to household characteristics.

Comparing an upper-income couple living in San Francisco, California, and a middle-income family with three children in St Louis, Missouri, for example, both households contributed a similar amount of greenhouse gases each year, but the sources of the gases varied. Electricity and food were the main sources of emissions in the St Louis household, compared to motor vehicles and air travel for the couple in San Francisco. "Our primary message is simple: If you are concerned about reducing your carbon footprint, or the carbon footprint of others through policy, it is important to focus on the actions that lead to the greatest reductions," said Kammen. The researchers have made available an online tool to help those living in the United States assess their most effective course of action.