Copenhagen & Kyoto News

Eco-farming can double food output by poor: U.N.

Alexandra Heeney — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:08:53 -0400

any farmers in developing nations can double food production within a decade by shifting to ecological agriculture from use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a U.N. report showed on Tuesday. Insect-trapping plants in Kenya and Bangladesh's use of ducks to eat weeds in rice paddies are among examples of steps taken to increase food for a world population that the United Nations says will be 7 billion this year and 9 billion by 2050. "Agriculture is at a crossroads," according to the study by Olivier de Schutter, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food, in a drive to depress record food prices and avoid the costly oil-dependent model of industrial farming. [

See the Reuters story.]

Bill to stop EPA on climate passes House panel.

Alexandra Heeney — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400

A bill to stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas rules passed a first step in the Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday. The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee passed the bill by voice vote that would block the EPA from regulating big carbon dioxide polluters such as oil refineries and power plants. The measure will next be sent to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee. It faces an uphill battle as officials in the Obama administration have said the president would veto the measure. [

See the Reuters story.]

Melting ice sheets fuelling sea-level rise, warns NASA.

Alexandra Heeney — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Melting ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland could overtake mountain glaciers as the main contributors to rising sea levels, US scientists say. A study lasting nearly 20 years has revealed that huge amounts of melted ice are pouring into the oceans. This extra volume of water is probably surpassing that from mountain glaciers and ice caps, which have also been disappearing over the same period of time. Eric Rignot, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and the University of California at Irvine, said: "That ice sheets will dominate future sea level rise is not surprising – they hold a lot more ice mass than mountain glaciers. "What is surprising is this increased contribution by the ice sheets is already happening. "If present trends continue, sea level is likely to be significantly higher than levels projected by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007. Our study helps to reduce uncertainties in near-term projections of sea level rise." [

See the Independent story.]

Climate change, biofuels threaten food security-FAO.

Alexandra Heeney — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 19:28:27 -0400

Climate change bringing floods and drought, growing biofuel demand and national policies to protect domestic markets could drive up global food prices and threaten long-term food security, the United Nations said. High and volatile food prices are a growing global concern, partly fuelling the protests that toppled the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt this year. The aftershocks have been seen across North Africa and the Middle East from Algeria to Yemen. Periods of price volatility are not new to agriculture, but recent price shocks triggered by extreme weather and increasing use of grains to produce energy have caused great concern, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation said. [

See the Reuters story.]

Increased air traffic may be a factor in climate change.

Alexandra Heeney — Sat, 5 Mar 2011 22:33:55 -0400

Wispy white jet contrails are a familiar sight, a sign of today’s considerable air traffic, and to some people, a visible reminder of environmental threat. The trails — formed when moisture condenses around aircraft engine exhaust — create cirrus clouds that block solar energy from above and trap heat below. They may be contributing to warming of the Earth’s surface temperature, NASA studies show. “There is absolutely an effect,” said David Mrofka, a climate change lecturer at the University of California-Riverside. “It’s going to cool things in the daytime and warm things at night.” Scientists are studying contrails’ impact on everything from climate change to crops. Contrails occur in clusters because of favorable atmospheric conditions — temperatures below minus 40 degrees and high humidity at 30,000 feet altitude, said Andrew Carleton, a climate science professor at Penn State University in University Park, Pa. [

See the Chicago Sun Times story.]

Why the BBC's 'impartial' stance on climate science is irresponsible.

Alexandra Heeney — Sat, 5 Mar 2011 22:32:48 -0400

A bizarre performance by former TV presenter Johnny Ball on Wednesday's edition of The Daily Politics show has once again highlighted the BBC's unsuccessful struggle to balance accuracy and impartiality when it comes to climate change. During his short studio slot at the end of the programme, Ball harangued the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, and the former chancellor Alistair Darling about both energy policy and the way in which climate change is presented in a GCSE chemistry textbook. Presumably, Ball was invited on the political programme because of the recent highly publicised, but unsubstantiated, allegations that his "sceptical" views on climate change have made him the target of a smear campaign. Apart from his rant at the politicians, the former Think of a Number presenter also provided a blogpost and short video to promote his views, including his claim that "only 4% of the carbon dioxide that goes into the atmosphere is put there by man" [

See the Guardian UK story.]

Water, CO2 the priorities for China's 5-year plan.

Alexandra Heeney — Sat, 5 Mar 2011 22:31:48 -0400

Tackling environmental problems from carbon emissions to water pollution will be a key focus of a new five-year plan that China will launch during its annual parliament session starting on Saturday. The plan for 2011-2015 will include new directives aimed at reversing the damage done by 30 years of untrammeled growth, and it will also aim to give a fillip to clean and renewable energy. The challenges were put in stark focus in an essay by environment minister Zhou Shengxian on Monday. "The depletion, deterioration and exhaustion of resources and the deterioration of the environment have become serious bottlenecks constraining economic and social development," he wrote. China, the world's biggest source of climate change-inducing greenhouse gases, will put the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions at the top of its agenda. [

See the Reuters story.]

U.N. climate talks seen missing aid plan deadline.

Alexandra Heeney — Thu, 3 Mar 2011 15:36:48 -0400

A plan by almost 200 countries to step up efforts to fight climate change is set to miss a March deadline for starting work on a green fund to help developing nations, delegates said on Wednesday. Groups of Asian, and Latin American and Caribbean countries have yet to decide who will gain early influence in designing the "Green Climate Fund" by attending 40-nation U.N.-led talks due in Mexico City on March 14 and 15. The fund, under which aid flows are meant to reach $100 billion a year by 2020, was agreed by governments in December as part of a deal that the United Nations said reignited "a beacon of hope" for tackling global warming. John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, who represents the Latin American and Caribbean group where 14 countries are vying for seven seats in the fund planning committee, said it looked unlikely the matter could be resolved by mid-month. [

See the Reuters story.]

Extreme winter weather linked to climate change.

Alexandra Heeney — Thu, 3 Mar 2011 15:35:42 -0400

This winter's heavy snowfalls and other extreme storms could well be related to increased moisture in the air due to global climate change, a panel of scientists said on Tuesday. This extra moisture is likely to bring on extraordinary flooding with the onset of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, as deep snowpack melts and expected heavy rains add to seasonal run-off, the scientists said in a telephone briefing. As the planet warms up, more water from the oceans is evaporated into the atmosphere, said Todd Sanford, a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. At the same time, because the atmosphere is warmer, it can hold onto more of the moisture that it takes in. Intense storms are often the result when the atmosphere reaches its saturation point, Sanford said. This year, a series of heavy storms over the U.S. Midwest to the Northeast have dropped up to 400 percent of average snows in some locations, said Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at Weather Underground. [

See the Reuters story.]

U.N.: work on climate pacts to start next month.

Alexandra Heeney — Thu, 3 Mar 2011 15:34:39 -0400

Work on implementing recent climate agreements, including a new green fund, will start next month despite wrangling over the future of the Kyoto Protocol, a top U.N. official said on Thursday. Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. climate change secretariat, said the Green Climate Fund as well as the work agenda for this year's U.N. climate talks will be discussed at a ministerial meeting hosted by Mexico in March. Uncertainty has been growing over the future of the Kyoto Protocol, the first legally binding treaty to cut greenhouse gases, with Japan, Russia and Canada insisting they will not extend emission cuts. Although most governments including developing nations support an extension, the three holdouts want all top emitters, notably China and the United States, to agree a new treaty beyond 2012, when Kyoto's first period ends. Figueres, in Japan for an informal meeting of climate envoys from about 30 governments, shrugged off the possibility that the main U.N. climate forum of all countries in Bangkok in April will be overshadowed by disagreements about Kyoto. [

See the Reuters story.]