West Antarctic Ice Sheet warming twice earlier estimate

A new analysis of temperature records indicates that the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet is warming nearly twice as fast as previously thought.

US researchers say they found the first evidence of warming during the southern hemisphere’s summer months.

They are worried that the increased melting of ice as a result of warmer temperatures could contribute to sea-level rise.

The study has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The scientists compiled data from records kept at Byrd station, established by the US in the mid-1950s and located towards the centre of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS).

Previously scientists were unable to draw any conclusions from the Byrd data as the records were incomplete.

The new work used a computer model of the atmosphere and a numerical analysis method to fill in the missing observations.

The results indicate an increase of 2.4C in average annual temperature between 1958 and 2010.

“What we’re seeing is one of the strongest warming signals on Earth,” says Andrew Monaghan, a co-author and scientist at the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to determine that there’s warming going on during the summer season.” he added.

Top to bottom

It might be natural to expect that summers even in Antarctica would be warmer than other times of the year. But the region is so cold, it is extremely rare for temperatures to get above freezing.

According to co-author Prof David Bromwich from Ohio State University, this is a critical threshold.

“The fact that temperatures are rising in the summer means there’s a prospect of WAIS not only being melted from the bottom as we know it is today, but in future it looks probable that it will be melting from the top as well,” he said.

Previous research published in Nature indicated that the WAIS is being warmed by the ocean, but this new work suggests that the atmosphere is playing a role as well. More

 

 

Caribbean Islands Find Economic Advantages in Sustainable Energy

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Dec 13 2012 (IPS) - With the exception of oil rich Trinidad and Tobago, most, if not all, other Caribbean islands are extremely vulnerable when it comes to the high costs of imported fuels that are easily disrupted by natural disasters and other phenomena.

 

Barbados, for example, has spent an estimated four million dollars on oil imports in 2011, equal to six percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). This amount has had a direct negative impact on direct production costs and the overall competitiveness of the Barbadian economy.

 

The island’s prime minister, Freundel Stuart, however, pointed out that “although many small island developing states are energy deficient in conventional energy, limitless potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency resides in our countries”.

 

Stuart said that the fundamental issue is how small island developing states (SIDS), which have “inherent structural problems and limited resources”, can “convert this renewable energy potential into a tangible product that is accessible, affordable and adaptable”.

 

Barbados has been actively promoting sustainable energy practices both on the supply side, mainly using renewable energy sources, and on the demand side, encouraging energy efficiency and energy conservation, in an effort to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, enhance energy security and stability, improve the economy’s competitiveness and achieve greater environmental sustainability.

 

Barbardos has more than 40,000 solar water heaters that save the country nearly 13 million U.S. dollars every year. “We are using the country’s success in this industry as a platform for renewable energy development,” Stuart said.

 

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) observed its second annual CARICOM Energy Week from Nov. 11-17 under the theme of “sustainable energy powering a green economy”. The Energy Week was established in 2011 to provide a platform for increased awareness about energy matters, especially given the critical importance of energy to economic developmenHour Grows Late to Act on Climate Change, Caribbean Warns

 

This year, the Community focused on building awareness about energy conservation and efficiency, as well as the development of renewable energy. It also focused on the necessity of a cleaner, greener energy outlook to mitigate the effects of climate change.

 

Currently, the Caribbean region depends heavily on imported petroleum and petroleum products, to the tune of 9 billion U.S. dollars per year over the last few years.

 

Stuart’s Antigua counterpart, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, told IPS that energy in all its various forms is essential to all forms of economic and social development. Energy Week provided an opportunity to reflect on the uses of energy in Antigua and Barbuda and develop strategies for promoting its efficient and sustainable use.

 

“As a small island state, Antigua and Barbuda is also among the countries most vulnerable to global climate change resulting from the use of fossil fuels, and therefore must lead by example in promoting sustainable uses of energy resources, including through energy conservation and energy efficiency,” he said. More

 

Doha summit launches climate damage aid

THINGS took an interesting twist at the latest UN climate summit held in Doha, Qatar, over the past two weeks when nations began talks over paying for the damage caused by climate change.

Who Pays

Delegates were split over a deal under which rich nations would pay when poor ones suffered the consequences of global warming. Developing countries demanded future compensation and developed ones - particularly the US - were unsurprisingly reluctant to agree.

The talks ended with yet another agreement to agree, but many are calling this small victory a significant step forward. The deal offers a distant promise of climate aid. But first, science will have to catch up with politics.

All countries will suffer as a result of climate change, even if humanity slashes its emissions and stops temperatures rising more than 2 °C above pre-industrial levels - the stated goal of the UN negotiations. At current rates, a 3 or 4 °C rise is likely this century.

As a consequence, deserts will spread and lethal heatwaves will become more frequent. Changes in rainfall will bring droughts, floods and storms, andrising seas will swamp low-lying areas, obliterating valuable territory.

So far, climate negotiations have taken a two-pronged approach to the problem. On the one hand, they have sought to create incentives or imperatives to cut emissions. On the other, they have established funds to help poor nations pay for "adaptation" measures, such as sea walls and irrigation systems, to help fend off the unavoidable consequences.

That, according to some, leaves a third element missing. Some consequences cannot easily be kept at bay. Countries will suffer food shortages and more frequent and more severe storm surges. On 28 November, the charities ActionAid, CARE International and WWF released a report arguing that rich countries should compensate poor ones for such damages. Doing so is a moral obligation and must be part of any treaty on climate change, says Niklas Höhne of renewable energy consultancy Ecofys in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

In Doha, a coalition including China, the Alliance of Small Island States and the G77 group of developing countries proposed a scheme that would decide when countries had suffered climate damages, and compensate them for their loss. The idea gained momentum after typhoon Bopha struck the Philippines last week. That country's negotiator Naderev Saño broke down in tears during a speech. "As we sit here, every single hour, even as we vacillate and procrastinate here, we are suffering."

Developed nations balked at the prospect of being held accountable for the consequences of emissions. Early versions of the text included the word "compensation" but they objected that it implied blame. In the end, they agreed to create "arrangements [...] to address loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change".

The deal poses a fundamental challenge to climate science, because it is difficult to work out whether trends and events are caused by greenhouse gases or would have happened anyway. "We can't say that an individual event was caused by climate change," says Nigel Arnell of the University of Reading, UK. "What we can do is say that the chance of it happening was greater."

Computer models can be made to replicate the decades preceding a natural disaster with and without humanity's impact. If the odds turn out to be different with and without greenhouse gas emissions, it suggests that emissions were at least partially to blame. In this way, studies led by Myles Allen at the University of Oxford have shown that the 2003 European heatwave and 2011 Texas drought were both made more likely by human emissions.

The costs of such extreme events is relatively straightforward to calculate. But "attribution" science is in its infancy. Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, speculates that superstorm Sandy would not have flooded the New York subways without climate change, but says it is not possible to prove that.

On the other hand, we can link slow processes like rising global temperatures or sea level rise to emissions. For this reason, many people think we should focus first on compensating people harmed by these processes - Pacific islands whose shorelines are gradually disappearing underwater for instance - and worry about extreme weather events once the science has caught up. The trouble is, unlike the damage caused by a hurricane, it is difficult to work out how much these slow processes cost. According to Arnell, the problem may prove unworkable. More

 

How Many More Sandy's Will It Take

Ambassador Ronny Jumeau, leader of the Seychelles delegation, speaks out as the 18th UN Climate Summit in Doha threatens a disappointing end.

Website Launched on Climate Change Weather Impacts in the Caribbean

29 November 2012: The Caribbean Weather Impacts Group (CARIWIG), a project funded by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and implemented in partnership with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCC), has officially launched a website devoted to the project.

CARIWIG seeks to: provide unbiased, locally-relevant information on modelling weather impacts of climate change in the Caribbean over different time horizons (short-term, 2030s, or 2080s); train technical staff in its national, regional and intergovernmental stakeholder organizations about the use of such data; and develop related support networks within the region.

A central feature of the project will be a web-based service providing locally-relevant weather projections information based on the best available observed data for the region and outputs from adaptation of leading weather-generator models from the UK's Environment Agency Rainfall and Weather Impacts Generator (EARWIG) and Climate Impacts Programme 09 (UKCIP09) climate scenario systems. The new web service will provide inputs for climate impact studies and training programmes concerning the Caribbean, as well as inform management decisions and policy development regarding specific potential hazards and impacts of climate change.

CARIWIG also will: promote exchange visits to specialist institutions in order to build capacity within the Caribbean on climate-compatible development; foster climate change research within the region; and exchange research findings and best practice among stakeholder institutions.

The inaugural stakeholder consultation for the project will be held from 6-7 February 2013, in Kingston, Jamaica, to discuss how CARIWIG can best serve the three sectors identified as priorities for the project, namely, water, agriculture and coastal resources.

In addition to CCCCC, CARIWIG's implementing partners include the University of West Indies (UWI), the UK's University of East Anglia and Cuba's Institute of Meteorology. [CARIWIG Project Website]

 

Website Launched on Climate Change Weather Impacts in the Caribbean

29 November 2012: The Caribbean Weather Impacts Group (CARIWIG), a project funded by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and implemented in partnership with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCC), has officially launched a website devoted to the project.

CARIWIG seeks to: provide unbiased, locally-relevant information on modelling weather impacts of climate change in the Caribbean over different time horizons (short-term, 2030s, or 2080s); train technical staff in its national, regional and intergovernmental stakeholder organizations about the use of such data; and develop related support networks within the region.

A central feature of the project will be a web-based service providing locally-relevant weather projections information based on the best available observed data for the region and outputs from adaptation of leading weather-generator models from the UK's Environment Agency Rainfall and Weather Impacts Generator (EARWIG) and Climate Impacts Programme 09 (UKCIP09) climate scenario systems. The new web service will provide inputs for climate impact studies and training programmes concerning the Caribbean, as well as inform management decisions and policy development regarding specific potential hazards and impacts of climate change.

CARIWIG also will: promote exchange visits to specialist institutions in order to build capacity within the Caribbean on climate-compatible development; foster climate change research within the region; and exchange research findings and best practice among stakeholder institutions.

The inaugural stakeholder consultation for the project will be held from 6-7 February 2013, in Kingston, Jamaica, to discuss how CARIWIG can best serve the three sectors identified as priorities for the project, namely, water, agriculture and coastal resources.

In addition to CCCCC, CARIWIG's implementing partners include the University of West Indies (UWI), the UK's University of East Anglia and Cuba's Institute of Meteorology. [CARIWIG Project Website]

 

UNGA Second Committee Approves Two Resolutions on SIDS

28 November 2012: On 28 November 2012, the UN General Assembly's (UNGA) Second Committee approved draft resolutions on “Follow-up to and implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States” (A/C.2/67/L.40 ) and on the “International Year of Small Island Developing States" (A/C.2/67/L.42).

The first text reaffirms States' commitment to addressing the vulnerability of small island developing States (SIDS), through the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) and the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation (MSI), while deciding to convene the third International Conference on SIDS in 2014, hosted by the Government of Samoa. According to the draft, the Conference should seek renewed political and financial commitments to SIDS, and it will identify their priorities for sustainable development, partnerships, and the post-2015 development agenda.

In 2013, regional preparatory meetings for the Conference will take place in each of the three SIDS regions, along with an interregional preparatory meeting to develop inputs to the Conference. The draft invites the UNGA President to convene the first meeting of the preparatory committee in early 2014. The modalities and format of the Conference will be discussed during the UNGA's 68th session, and the contributions of all relevant stakeholders, international donors, and civil society in the preparations are welcomed.

The second text approved by the Committee would declare 2014 to be the International Year of SIDS. States would invite the Secretary-General and relevant UN agencies to facilitate the implementation of this Year. Costs of all implementation activities will be met with voluntary contributions, and a report of the Secretary-General on the evaluation and financial details of the Year is requested during UNGA 70. Member States and stakeholders are encouraged to promote action at all levels of government in 2014 to address the sustainable development of SIDS. [Publications: Draft Resolution A/C.2/67/L.40] [Publication: Draft Resolution A/C.2/67/L.42] [Meeting Summary]