Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Progress was made at the latest climate treaty negotiations in Panama in preparing decisions for the forthcoming climate summit in Durban that will help developing countries adapt to climate change and access clean energy technologies, reported Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "It also made clear progress on how efforts to limit emissions by developing countries will be matched with necessary support from developed countries in a transparent way," she said.

Nevertheless, doubts remain that developed nations will commit to the level of finance necessary to assist the developing world. There are, as yet, no financial pledges beyond the fast-start period of 2010-2012. "Agreement on long-term finance must be at the foundation of the deal in Durban," warned Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, chair of the African Group. "We have demonstrated good faith in discussing new responsibilities for developing countries, we expect good faith from our partners in discussions on how to implement their existing finance commitments." Despite progress on technical issues in Panama, few expect that any binding emissions agreement will be reached in Durban, though Figueres considers that the summit could lay the groundwork for a future pact. "Governments are really committed to starting a process toward that and that includes the United States and China," she said. "How they will get there, with what speed they will be able to get there, that still remains to be seen," she added.

A major hole in the ozone layer opened up over the Arctic this northern spring, for the first time rivalling ozone loss over the Antarctic in the mid-1980s. Particularly low ozone values were recorded for around 27 days in March and early April 2011, over an area roughly five times the area of Germany or California. Scientists from 19 institutions in nine countries contributed to the assessment, which was based on satellite data.

During the 2010/11 winter, conditions in the stratosphere were unusually conducive to ozone destruction by ozone-destroying pollutants. "Day-to-day temperatures in the 2010-11 Arctic winter did not reach lower values than in previous cold Arctic winters. The difference from previous winters is that temperatures were low enough to produce ozone-destroying forms of chlorine for a much longer time," reported study leader Gloria Manney from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States. "This implies that if winter Arctic stratospheric temperatures drop just slightly in the future, for example as a result of climate change, then severe Arctic ozone loss may occur more frequently," she warned.

The public has been given another opportunity to view the on-going transformation of the Staten Island landfill in New York, in the United States, into a 2200-acre park. This year's Sneak Peak offered three miles of walking paths, over two miles of biking trails, kayak tours, public artworks and performances and a full craft market. "This is the biggest recycling project imaginable," said park administrator Eloise Hirsh. "We're telegraphing the kinds of things we'll do in the future with the events."

Freshkills Park, a "reminder of wastefulness, excess and environmental neglect" that will take 25 years to be completed, will feature composting toilets and other ways of capturing water for use in irrigation. Native grass and wildflower seeds will be sown and goats will graze on invasive plant species. Methane gas will be harvested from the decomposing waste. "In some ways, it's to make amends for the fact that this formerly beautiful wetlands was turned into a garbage dump for the better part of five decades," said parks commissioner Adrian Benepe. "It's also the responsible thing to do."