Our Perpetual Ocean

This is an animation of ocean surface currents from June 2005 to December 2007 from NASA satellites. Watch how bigger currents like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio in the Pacific carry warm waters across thousands of miles at speeds greater than four miles per hour (six kilometers per hour); how coastal currents like the Agulhas in the Southern Hemisphere move equatorial waters toward Earth's poles; and how thousands of other ocean currents are confined to particular regions and form slow-moving, circular pools called eddies. Credit: NASA/SVS
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The swirling flows of tens of thousands of ocean currents were captured in this scientific visualization created by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

"There is also a 20-minute long tour, which shows these global surface currents in more detail," says Horace Mitchell, the lead of the visualization studio. "We also released a three-minute version on our NASA Visualization Explorer iPad app."

Both the 20-minute and 3-minute versions are available in high definition here: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3827

The visualization covers the period June 2005 to December 2007 and is based on a synthesis of a numerical model with observational data, created by a NASA project called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, or ECCO for short. ECCO is a joint project between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. ECCO uses advanced mathematical tools to combine observations with the MIT numerical ocean model to obtain realistic descriptions of how ocean circulation evolves over time.

These model-data syntheses are among the largest computations of their kind ever undertaken. They are made possible by high-end computing resources provided by NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

ECCO model-data syntheses are being used to quantify the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle, to understand the recent evolution of the polar oceans, to monitor time-evolving heat, water, and chemical exchanges within and between different components of the Earth system, and for many other science applications.

In the particular model-data synthesis used for this visualization, only the larger, ocean basin-wide scales have been adjusted to fit observations. Smaller-scale ocean currents are free to evolve on their own according to the computer model's equations. Due to the limited resolution of this particular model, only the larger eddies are represented, and tend to look more 'perfect' than they are in real life. Despite these model limitations, the visualization offers a realistic study in both the order and the chaos of the circulating waters that populate Earth's ocean.

Data used by the ECCO project include: sea surface height from NASA's Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1, and Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite altimeters; gravity from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission; surface wind stress from NASA's QuikScat mission; sea surface temperature from the NASA/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS; sea ice concentration and velocity data from passive microwave radiometers; and temperature and salinity profiles from shipborne casts, moorings and the international Argo ocean observation system. More

 

A Man Leaves His Island

Recently a news story about a man seeking asylum in New Zealand as a climate change refugee made headlines all over the world.

His original appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal of New Zealand was dismissed in June 2013 because, according to the tribunal, he is not a considered a refugee under the terms laid out in the international Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. He is now asking the New Zealand High Court to let him appeal this case.

Mangroves planted on Kiribati to prevent erosion.

“There’s no future for us when we go back to Kiribati,” Ioane Teitiota told the appeal tribunal, adding that a return to his tiny Pacific atoll would pose a risk to his children’s health, according to Reuters.

The relationship between climate change and migration is complicated. And pointing to climate change as the main factor affecting the living conditions on small island states is difficult.

People such as inhabitants on small island states, in many cases find themselves caught between wrongs of the past and the future consequences of these wrongs, explains Ilan Kelman, Reader in Risk, Resilience and Global Health at University College London.

Kelman points out that many island states are still struggling with the effects of colonialism, post-colonialism, modernism, forced relocation efforts and misguided aid, as well as the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from the rich countries of the world.

His story

No matter how the New Zealand High Court concludes on Mr. Teitiotas’ appeal, his story is also a story about the nation of Kiribati, as an icon for other islands regarding the challenges they face concerning overpopulation, resource management, poverty, sea level rise and climate change.

The following text is adapted from the official decision from the Immigration and Protection Tribunal of New Zealand.

Ioane Teitiota was born in the 1970s on an islet situated three days journey by boat, or two hours by plane, north of Tarawa, the main island and capital of Kiribati.

As is common in the Kiribati island group, his home island is a low-lying atoll with houses built on coral debris which has accreted over time. When in his early teens, he was sent to school on a nearby island.

Republic of Kiribati

In 2002, Teitiota married his wife and moved in with her family in another village situated on Tarawa. He lived there with his wife’s family in a traditionally constructed dwelling which had been built on coral, which had accreted on a sea wall built some years previously. The dwelling was situated on ground level and had electricity. Water was obtained from a well and from supplies provided by the Government. There were no sewerage facilities.

Over time, the villages on Tarawa in which Teitiota resided became overcrowded. People travelled to Tarawa from outlying islands because this was where most government services such as the main hospital were located. Land was purchased from existing landholders or acquired through kinship ties to Tarawa.

As the villages became overcrowded, tensions were generated and there were often physical fights in which people were injured, and on occasion, killed. When this happened, the police intervened, taking the injured to the hospital and arresting those responsible.

Life generally became progressively more insecure on Tarawa as a result of sea level rise. From the late 1990s onwards, Tarawa suffered significant amounts of coastal erosion during high tides. Also the land surface was regularly flooded and land could be submerged up to knee-deep during king tides. Transportation was affected as the main causeway separating north and south Tarawa was often flooded.

This caused significant hardship for Teitiota, his wife and family as well as other inhabitants on Tarawa. The wells upon which they depended for water became salty. Salt water was deposited onto the ground destroying crops. Crops were difficult to grow and the land was stripped of vegetation in many places.

The Government’s supplies of water are coming under pressure through overpopulation and because people can increasingly no longer rely on well water for an alternative source. The sea wall in front of the Teitiota’s parents-in-law’s house was often damaged and required constant repair. The family existed largely by subsistence fishing and agriculture. One of the appellant’s brothers-in-law works at a local government port agency and provides cash income for the whole family as best as he is able. However, life is generally becoming more difficult. More

 

Science team identifies tipping point in climate change: 2047

If you’ve been wondering when global warming will show up on your doorstep, Camilo Mora has an answer for you.

Dr. Mora, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, leads a team that has tackled the challenging question of when the climate will shift entirely beyond what could be considered natural.

Their result: The turning point arrives in 2047 as a worldwide average if fossil fuel consumption continues unabated; as late as 2069 if carbon emissions are curbed. Broken down by city the numbers are a bit more revealing. In Montreal, for example, the new normal will arrive a year sooner. For Toronto it’s 2049 and for Vancouver not until 2056. But the real spotlight of Dr. Mora’s study is what happens in the tropics, where profound changes could be entrenched within little more than a decade.

“By looking at timing we’ve come up with an entirely new set of implications on climate change,” Dr. Mora said.

Dr. Mora is not a climate scientist but an expert in dealing with huge amounts of data to pull out hidden information – a skill he honed over six years at Dalhousie University in Halifax, working with the likes of the late Ransom Myers. It was Dr. Myers’ number crunching skills that turned the plight of the world’s fish stock into headline news in 2003.

Ten years later, Dr. Mora is following in his mentor’s footsteps with a study that seems certain to grab attention.

“I want to let the numbers do the talking,” he said.

Climate scientists have long expressed high confidence that the planet is warming as a result of the heat trapping action of greenhouse gasses. The latest assessment from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts that confidence at 95 per cent. Where scientists have been less confident is on the timing of the change. Different models show the global temperatures rising at different rates and the hundreds of scientists behind the IPCC assessment can’t say which model will turn out to be the best predictor of what actually happens over the course of this century.

Starting with an idea that came out of a course he was teaching last spring, Dr. Mora decided to address the gap with some nuts and bolts analysis.

His team combined data from all 39 currently available global climate models and went back nearly 150 years to see what the range of normal climate variability was over that time period.

“We looked at the minimum and maximum values that occurred in that 150-year window and that’s how we set our bounds of recent historical variability,” said Ryan Longman, a doctoral student who worked on the analysis, published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Then the team tracked the combined predictions of the models forward at different points on the globe to watch how soon the predictions drifted completely out of their normal range. Once the coldest year at any given location was consistently warmer than the hottest year prior to 2005 the team considered the climate to have changed completely. The dates when this happens are different for different locations and they depend on the emissions scenario.

“I think this analysis is valuable and sheds new light on impacts,” said Jane Lubchenco, the former administrator of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in an e-mail.

Dr. Lubchenco, who was not involved in the study, stepped down earlier this year to return to academic research at Oregon State University. She said “no one has gone to the immense effort they did to really look critically at the data from so many places and over the entire period of time for which records are reliable.”

The key result of the finding, Dr. Mora said, is that tropical locations will leave the range of normal climate variability much sooner because they typically experience a narrow range of temperature and precipitation levels. That’s a worry Dr. Mora said, because species there are not well adapted to living outside those ranges. Similarly, cities and nations found along Earth’s equator are among the poorest and least equipped to deal with the health and environmental burden of climate change.

“Today when people talk about climate change the images that come to mind are melting ice and polar bears,” Dr. Mora said. “People might infer from this that the tropics will be less affected.”

Instead, he said, the new analysis showed that species and ecosystems in the tropics would soon be experiencing “unprecedented climate stress.” The trend also goes for marine ecosystems where the study shows that ocean acidification has already departed from the normal range with a disastrous outlook for coral reefs.

Ken Caldeira, an expert in global ecology at the Carnegie Institution in Stanford added that while the timing and global breakdown from Dr. Mora’s analysis represent solid science, what matters more is the response.

“Whether an ecosystem goes a decade or two earlier or later doesn’t really matter that much,” Dr. Caldeira said. “We must stop using the atmosphere as a waste dump for our greenhouse-gas pollution. Everything else is nuance.” More

 

Passing the National Conservation Law

Passing the National Conservation Law, enhancing our Marine Parks, adopting a Climate Change Policy and updating CITES legislation - discussed in the Premier’s speech yesterday: The long-awaited National Conservation Bill will be brought to this honourable House before the end of this year.

This important legislation has the support of my caucus, and we have ensured that the Department of Environment, or DoE, will be in a position to support this legislation once it is passed. The draft Bill being presented is substantially the 2009 version prepared by the former PPM administration, updated to address concerns raised by the past UDP administration and independent Members. While Government plans to allow Members of the House and the public significantly more time than the required 21 days to review the draft Bill, we do not anticipate significant amendments, and we look forward to unanimous support for this seminal legislation.

The Government also is committed to continuing the consultation on proposals to enhance our current system of marine parks. DOE research shows that, while the marine parks are providing some protection, a confluence of factors has caused serious changes to our reefs, and the current protections therefore are no longer enough. These factors include population increase (resident and tourist), overfishing, coastal development, invasive species, disease of coral and other marine organisms, and climate change. The future for our marine resources is bleak without decisive and timely corrective action.

An appropriately configured and enhanced system of marine parks is the best tool available for actively managing our marine resources in order to achieve fisheries sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem resilience, in the face of the existing and emerging threats. Further, we recognise the importance of addressing climate change. We acknowledge the sobering message of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a summary of which was released on Friday, 27 September: Climate change is real, it is caused by human actions, and it continues unabated.

Cayman simply cannot afford to ignore the conclusions of this worldwide committee of eminent scientists, as the implications for the continued rise in sea levels will have severe consequences for future generations if left unchecked. The Government therefore intends to adopt the draft climate policy, produced in 2011 by a multidisciplinary public/private sector initiative led by the DoE, and to begin urgent work on an implementation plan. And lastly, in an effort to honour our commitments made under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna,

Government will take all necessary steps to bring into force the updated, local CITES-implementing legislation – the Endangered Species Trade and Transport Law – which was passed by this honourable House in 2004. Madam Speaker, we must do all that we can to protect the environment on all three Islands to ensure that we preserve paradise for future generations of residents and tourists alike. Just as we are protecting our flora and fauna, we are making moves to improve the infrastructure to make our visitors’ stays more comfortable and accommodating. (Photo: www.theprogressives.ky)

 

ECLAC Launches Database on Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Zones

2 October 2013: The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) launched an interactive, web-based database aimed at helping Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries in planning coastal management and preventive measures to adapt to the effects of climate change on their coastal zones.

The database was launched on 2 October 2013 during the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Ibero-American Network of Climate Change Offices being held at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

The database was developed as part of a multi-year project, titled 'Effects of Climate Change on the Coast of Latin America and the Caribbean,' which is being implemented by ECLAC in cooperation with Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and the University of Cantabria. This project has produced several reports since 2012, examining the vulnerability of the LAC coastline to projected climate change impacts.

The database provides data on LAC coastal dynamics, climate variability, coastal vulnerability and exposure to climate change, current impact and a projection of predictable risks in the future. Outputs of projected impacts are geo-referenced, with details available for blocks of coastline 5 kilometers (km) wide and 30 km long. Among the variables taken into account by the database are annual sea level rise, changes in wave heights, shifts in wind direction, and erosion and changes in sediment dynamics. The database and associated tools are targeted to LAC planners and policymakers with the aim of improving territorial planning in coastal zones and estimated engineering requirements, as well as to put into place appropriate environmental impact procedures. [ECLAC Press Release] [IISD RS Story on ECLAC Report on LAC Coastal Vulnerability to Climate Change] [Publication: Database web viewer]

read more: http://larc.iisd.org/news/eclac-launches-database-on-climate-change-adaptation-in-coastal-zones/

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MPs pass cruise ship casino law

Visiting cruise ships are set to be allowed to keep their casinos open when in port after MPs passed the Cruise Ship (Casino) Act 2013 early this morning.

The concession — allowing on-board casinos to operate between 9pm and 5am — would ensure Bermuda remained competitive as a cruise destination, according to Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell.

He said such a move would economically benefit both the cruise companies, which would increase their on-board revenue, and the Island, which would collect licence fees.

Presenting the Act for its second reading yesterday afternoon, Mr Crockwell said the ships would have to be in port for one night or more to qualify for permission.

“The use of the casino is to be limited to passengers on board the ship only. No local residents or visitors to the ship will be allowed to participate in casino activities.”

He said the key concern for many would be the impact on local retailers, restaurateurs and entertainers, but he believed it would be “minimal”.

Mr Crockwell said: “Our research has indicated that the majority of visiting cruise passengers return to their ship by 9pm and, by this time, most of our retail shops are closed.

“However, and I want to emphasise the word however, if the destination provides good products that include good entertainment and amenities that goes beyond the traditional offerings, the passenger will stay ashore to take in the local experience and spend money.

“Not all cruise passengers purchase their tickets at a discounted price. Many of the passengers are well-heeled and high-income earners and these new ships have one and two bedroom suites with butler services on their upper decks that have a price point comparable to high-end resorts.

“These high net income passengers choose to cruise because of the product and service that is offered and similarly they will patronise local businesses if we have the products on offer that they desire.

“Therefore, the impact to local businesses will be minimal and our Ministry will closely monitor and analyse the impact to this segment of our local businesses and enterprise.”

The Minister said smaller ships capable of berthing in Hamilton and St George’s, with a passenger capacity not exceeding 2,000, would not be charged a licence fee.

“In our discussions with the operators of these smaller, and often older ships, they have shared with us that they are at a competitive disadvantage,” he said. “Not charging them a permit fee will assist in placing them in a more competitive position.”

Mr Crockwell reiterated a commitment to hold a referendum on gaming in Bermuda before the next Budget but said the issue of cruise ship casino opening was a “separate and distinct matter”. More

 

High-Level Event Raises Visibility of 2014 SIDS Conference

26 September 2013: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN General Assembly (UNGA) President John Ashe met with 11 Heads of State and Government at a high-level breakfast on 26 September 2013, in New York, US.

The gathering aimed at raising the profile of the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which will convene in Apia, Samoa, from 1-4 September 2014.

The theme of the conference, 'The Sustainable Development of SIDS through genuine and durable partnerships,' not only applies to SIDS but also to “the effective delivery of all our broader development goals, which will require empowered partnerships based upon mutual trust, equality, respect and accountability,” said Ashe in his remarks. He said partnerships can play a key role in addressing issues of importance to SIDS, including climate change, energy, oceans and seas, waste management, sustainable tourism, environmental audits and indicator systems, and stakeholder engagement. Ashe said he will devote "considerable time and personal commitment to the success of the SIDS 2014 Conference, in particular to facilitate the identification of practical, strategic and concrete partnerships." He concluded that while SIDS have long been associated with vulnerability, "they are not helpless or hopeless."

In his address, Ban encouraged the use of both traditional forms of communication and new media to raise the Conference's profile and to call attention to the issues facing SIDS. He said much has changed since the first SIDS conference in Barbados in 1994, that climate change is now a "household term," and the "communications revolution" has provided many more tools for raising awareness. In 2014, "every participant can use social media to tell the story."

Other speakers at the breakfast included Prime Minister of Samoa Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, EU President Joao Manuel Barroso, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, and Secretary-General of the Conference and UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo.

The breakfast took place on the sidelines of the 68th UN General Assembly (UNGA). [Third International SIDS Conference Website] [Remarks of UN Secretary-General] [Remarks of PGA] [UN Press Release]

read more: http://sids-l.iisd.org/news/high-level-event-raises-visibility-of-2014-sids-conference/

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Threatened by rising seas, small island nations appeal for more aid at UN

25 September 2013 – On the front line of damage wrought by climate change, threatened with extinction from rising seas, leaders of some of the world’s small island States took to the podium at the United Nations General Assembly today to call urgently for greater international support to mitigate the perils.

Winston Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister /
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Antigua and Barbuda

“Disastrously off course,” “profound disappointment” and “moral failure” were some of the terms used by heads of Small Island Developing States, known as SIDS, to depict their situation as the 68th General Assembly prepares to draw up long-term development plans for the decades after the end in 2015 of the current cycle of the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“The corresponding actions to address the unique and special circumstances of SIDS by the international community has been lacking,” the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Winston Baldwin Spencer, told the Assembly’s annual General Debate, summing up the almost two decades since the Barbados Programme of Action was adopted by at a UN conference on the sustainable development of SIDS in 1994.

“It is a recognized fact, but it is worth repeating that small island States contribute the least to the causes of climate change, yet we suffer the most from its effects. Small island States have expressed our profound disappointment at the lack of tangible action,” he said referring to efforts in UN climate change talks to protect SIDS and other vulnerable countries.

“Developed countries should shoulder their moral, ethical and historical responsibilities for emitting the levels of anthropogenic greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It is those actions which have now put the planet in jeopardy and compromised the well-being of present and future generations,” the Caribbean leader stressed.

Noting uneven progress in achieving the MDGs, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, who is also chairperson of Conference of Heady of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), warned that current approaches will not advance the MDG agenda by 2015 or ensure sustainable development in the post-2015 context.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
of Trinidad and Tobago,

“SIDS have made significantly less progress in the area of development, than other vulnerable groups of countries. In some cases SIDS are on the frontlines of experiencing a reversal of many of the gains that have been achieved,” she said.

“Indeed in the preparations for our participation in that upcoming discourse (on the Post-2015 Development Agenda), the recognition of the vulnerabilities of small island developing States is one of the guidelines that CARICOM will apply when considering its commitments to the overall Agenda.”

From the other side of the planet, Kiribati President Anote Tong, stressing the “real and existential threat” his low-lying Pacific nation faces from rising seas, called for immediate international action to mitigate climate change and rising sea levels.

“We are disastrously off course. The scientists tell us that calamity awaits – and not just for those of us on low-lying islands,” he said. “What we are experiencing now on these low-lying atolls is an early warning of what will happen further down the line. No one will be spared. We cannot continue to abuse our planet in this way. For the future we want for our children and grandchildren, we need leadership.

“We need commitment. And we need action ....now,” he declared, noting that while Kiribati is taking adaptation measures to remain habitable for as long as possible, it is also looking to improve its people’s skills to a level where they can compete for jobs in the international labour market with dignity if the rising ocean forces them to migrate.

“All those countries with the ability to do so must contribute to the prevention of this calamity, or be forever judged by history.” More

 

Tool predicts sea-level rise on Pacific islands

HONOLULU (AP) - People concerned about how rising sea levels will affect communities in Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands have a new tool to help them plan ahead.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Hawaii at Manoa worked together to incorporate these Pacific island areas into a national web-mapping tool that enables people to picture what rising sea levels will do to coastal areas.

The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer overlays high-resolution aerial images on top of elevation data.

This allows users to see what higher sea levels would do to landmarks and critical infrastructure. It also shows what populations would be vulnerable to rising sea levels.

University of Hawaii Professor Chip Fletcher says it fills an important gap for Hawaii planners and managers. More

 

Jakarta will be underwater by 2030: National Council on Climate Change

The National Council on Climate Change (DNPI) predicts that half of Jakarta will be under water by 2030 due to global warming.

DNPI executive chairman Rachmat Witoelar said on Thursday that global warming could cause sea levels to increase significantly.

"If we allow this situation to continue, then by around 2030, half of Jakarta, specifically areas such as Ancol, will be under water," he said in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Rachmat said that certain measures had to be taken in order to contain and anticipate the impacts of climate change.

He said big cities such as Jakarta contributed significantly to environmental damage, caused by garbage, air pollution from vehicles, tree-cutting activities and decline in open green spaces due to land conversion.

"Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi has asked people to become more aware of environmental problems and climate change because all these issues will negatively impact people's health," said Rachmat.

He added that people had to increase awareness on the need to protect themselves from the impact of global warming by keeping the environment green, maintaining cleanliness, and reducing air pollution.

Rachmat said that the government through the DNPI has continued to tackle the multiple impacts of climate change.

Recently, the DNPI launched a book titled "Climate Change and Challenges of the Nation's Civilization".

Rachmat said Indonesia has discussed efforts on how to improve the global environment, which was also related to the state of domestic environment.

"Indonesia ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Aug.23, 1994. As an active UN member country, Indonesia has played an active role in tackling environment crisis," he said. More

 

Caribbean water sector managers to benefit from CCORAL

September 16th 2013 A new initiative by the Caribbean Climate Change Centre (5Cs), the UK-based Climate Development and Knowledge Network (CDKN) and the Global Water Partnership – Caribbean is focusing minds on climate risk in the water sector.

In July, the 5Cs launched an innovative online tool to help governments and businesses to assess the climate-related risks of different investment options. The Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation tool (CCORAL) is a decision support tool that aims to encourage climate resilient choices. In this region of small island states that are vulnerable to sea level rise, droughts and increasingly frequent, intense storms, the tool couldn’t have come at a better time.

CCORAL is intended to embed a risk management ethic in decision-making processes across the Caribbean region. When it was launched, it received a rare endorsement by the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri. Now, a new project will fine-tune CCORAL’s online support system for the specific use of managers in the water sector

Most Caribbean countries are vulnerable to water scarcity and drought. One of the contributing factors to vulnerability is climate change, which will trigger significant changes in temperature and precipitation. Average rainfall is expected to decrease by 7% in 2050, and salt water intrusion will arise as a result of increased sea levels. This water scarcity will impact agriculture, tourism and public health.

The Centre, together with the Global Water Partnership Caribbean are working with government agencies and businesses in the water sector to understand how the CCORAL tool could help them. They are currently consulting with a range of regional organisations (such as international financial institutions, NGOs and universities), national agencies (government departments, water utilities) and businesses (water utilities, consultants, major industrial and commercial water users). They are exploring the following key questions:

What are the priority water services which would benefit from more climate resilient decision making? (for example; water resources allocation, water supply, agricultural / industrial / commercial / tourism / energy)

What water information, planning, operational or legal and regulatory activities would benefit from increased consideration of climate variability and risk? (for example; water supply planning, hydrological modelling, risk assessment, water system regulation, operational procedures)

Which organisations and specific capacities would benefit from being involved in the development and application of the CCORAL-Water tools? (for example; strategic water planners in governmental departments, consultants engaged in technical services for water planners, investment planners in water utilities, regulatory agencies for water)

If this project is successful, it will lead to improved climate risk management in water sector planning and management activities, which in turn will lead to improved levels of service for water users in the Caribbean.

The CCORAL-Water project is being developed in consultation with water managers in five countries: Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Suriname. The CCORAL-Water tool itself will be applicable and available to all Caribbean countries through the CCORAL online system, hosted by the 5Cs, from March 2014. Watch this space for progress with CCORAL – Water! More

This article was written by CDKN’s Pati Leon and was first posted at CDKN Global.

 

OTEC pilot plant built in Okinawa Prefecture

This month, Japanese engineering companies IHI Plant Construction Corporation, Xenesys Incorporated and Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced their collaboration in building a 50kW OTEC demonstration plant in the waters of Kumejima Island, located in the very south of Japan and part of the Okinawa Islands.

Kumejima Island

The OTEC plant will be integrated in the Okinawa Prefecture Deep Seawater Research Center, which is the largest of four deep seawater pumping systems in Japan. The companies aim to have the OTEC plant up and running in March 2013.

Regarding the roles in this project: Xenesys will design and manufacture the power generation unit and the heat exchangers; Yokogawa will design, manufacture and do the engineering of the monitoring and control system for the generation unit and the electronics for the interconnected power schemes; and IHI will develop and construct the entire facility.

Kumejima Island deep seawater research station

Okinawa Research Center is active in deep seawater utilization for over 10 years. The center established several deep seawater projects, including local area cooling services, water desalination, aquaculture and agriculture. Next year the OTEC demonstration plant will be added and connected to the deep seawater infrastructure. The OTEC plant will be used for practical testing and optimization of the output. It is an important step in the commercialization following the 30kW demonstration unit at Saga University in Saga, Japan.

The current capacity of the Okinawa Research Center is about 13,000 tons of seawater per day, pumped up from a depth of 612 meter where the water is between 6 and 8°C. The temperature of the surface seawater is around 26°C annual average, providing stable production possibilities.

Regarding future scale-ups, Xenesys estimated that it is possible to increase the intake of deep seawater to 100,000 tons per day and install 1.25MW OTEC power capacity. This would supply 10,600 MWh of electricity per year, which accounts for 10% of Kumejima’s total annual consumption.The island of Kumejima, which entered into a Sister City Relationship with the county of Hawaii last year, aims to become a self-sustaining community and model for other small islands in the Okinawa Prefecture. More

September 2013 This plant is now operational and is producing hydrogen. Editor

 

OTEC pilot plant to be built in Okinawa Prefecture

This month, Japanese engineering companies IHI Plant Construction Corporation, Xenesys Incorporated and Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced their collaboration in building a 50kW OTEC demonstration plant in the waters of Kumejima Island, located in the very south of Japan and part of the Okinawa Islands.

Kumejima Island

The OTEC plant will be integrated in the Okinawa Prefecture Deep Seawater Research Center, which is the largest of four deep seawater pumping systems in Japan. The companies aim to have the OTEC plant up and running in March 2013.

Regarding the roles in this project: Xenesys will design and manufacture the power generation unit and the heat exchangers; Yokogawa will design, manufacture and do the engineering of the monitoring and control system for the generation unit and the electronics for the interconnected power schemes; and IHI will develop and construct the entire facility.

Kumejima Island deep seawater research station

Okinawa Research Center is active in deep seawater utilization for over 10 years. The center established several deep seawater projects, including local area cooling services, water desalination, aquaculture and agriculture. Next year the OTEC demonstration plant will be added and connected to the deep seawater infrastructure. The OTEC plant will be used for practical testing and optimization of the output. It is an important step in the commercialization following the 30kW demonstration unit at Saga University in Saga, Japan.

The current capacity of the Okinawa Research Center is about 13,000 tons of seawater per day, pumped up from a depth of 612 meter where the water is between 6 and 8°C. The temperature of the surface seawater is around 26°C annual average, providing stable production possibilities.

Regarding future scale-ups, Xenesys estimated that it is possible to increase the intake of deep seawater to 100,000 tons per day and install 1.25MW OTEC power capacity. This would supply 10,600 MWh of electricity per year, which accounts for 10% of Kumejima’s total annual consumption.The island of Kumejima, which entered into a Sister City Relationship with the county of Hawaii last year, aims to become a self-sustaining community and model for other small islands in the Okinawa Prefecture. More

 

Angola: Head of State appoints Ecocide Convention Work Team

The Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos Wednesday in Luanda ordered the setting up of a Work Team to study and draft proposals for incorporation in the country’s legal system of the Ecocide Convention, Angop learned from an official source.

Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos

Ecocide is defined as the destruction or degradation of various ecosystems in a certain territory, through human action or others, putting at stake the full development of the resources by the population.

The United Nations has decided to discuss, approve and promote among the member states an International Convention against the Ecocide, aiming to protect the earth and its living species against the evil and hold legally accountable the institutions, organisms, organisations and their leaders found responsible for the phenomenon.

Internally, the Executive is required to set up national mechanisms of combat against the ecocide, promotion of the enforcement of the law and regulation of the cooperation with the international organisms and organisations involved in the protection of the environment, its technical assistance and exchange of information.

The just appointed Work Team is coordinated by the minister of Environment and includes representatives of the ministries of Energy and Water, Interior, Oil and National Defence.

According to the source, The Work Team is expected to conduct a deep study on the Ecocide Convention draft, by analysing the impact the phenomenon might have on the country’s legal system.

It is also the Work Team’s duty to create a legal framework for the country’s economic development, promote and facilitate international cooperation and provide technical assistance to prevent the ecocide, the source said.

The body is also tasked with arranging and promoting inter-sectoral programmes of information, publicity and social awareness, through environmental education campaigns and identifying and protecting the communities based in threatened areas. More

 

Angola: Head of State appoints Ecocide Convention Work Team

The Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos Wednesday in Luanda ordered the setting up of a Work Team to study and draft proposals for incorporation in the country’s legal system of the Ecocide Convention, Angop learned from an official source.

Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos

Ecocide is defined as the destruction or degradation of various ecosystems in a certain territory, through human action or others, putting at stake the full development of the resources by the population.

The United Nations has decided to discuss, approve and promote among the member states an International Convention against the Ecocide, aiming to protect the earth and its living species against the evil and hold legally accountable the institutions, organisms, organisations and their leaders found responsible for the phenomenon.

Internally, the Executive is required to set up national mechanisms of combat against the ecocide, promotion of the enforcement of the law and regulation of the cooperation with the international organisms and organisations involved in the protection of the environment, its technical assistance and exchange of information.

The just appointed Work Team is coordinated by the minister of Environment and includes representatives of the ministries of Energy and Water, Interior, Oil and National Defence.

According to the source, The Work Team is expected to conduct a deep study on the Ecocide Convention draft, by analysing the impact the phenomenon might have on the country’s legal system.

It is also the Work Team’s duty to create a legal framework for the country’s economic development, promote and facilitate international cooperation and provide technical assistance to prevent the ecocide, the source said.

The body is also tasked with arranging and promoting inter-sectoral programmes of information, publicity and social awareness, through environmental education campaigns and identifying and protecting the communities based in threatened areas. More

 

Pacific leaders adopt 'Majuro declaration' on climate change

Leaders of 13 Pacific Island countries acutely vulnerable to rising sea levels have released a statement calling for 'urgent action' to address climate change.

The 12-page document says governments in the region are committed to demonstrating 'climate leadership' and calls on countries to list 'specific' pledges to reduce pollution.

The 'Majuro Declaration', also signed by Australia and New Zealand, will be presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in New York later this month.

"The responsibility of all to act falls to every government, every company, every organization and every person with the capacity to do so, both individually and collectively," it says.

The declaration was issued at this year's Pacific Island Forum meeting in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro, which was briefly submerged by high tides in June this year.

At the request of the organisers EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard, UK Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire and representatives from the USA and China also attended the summit.

The text underlines the intense frustration among leaders of small island states at the sluggish progress at the UN in cutting global greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists warn carbon dioxide levels need to peak this decade to avoid temperatures rising 2°C above pre industrial levels, which is considered to be a threshold of 'dangerous climate change'.

The UN's forthcoming IPCC climate science report is expected to warn that sea levels could rise between 29 and 82cm (11.4 to 32.3 inches) before 2100, levels which threaten the existence of some Pacific states.

In a statement Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak said he hoped the declaration could be a "game changer" in driving talks on a global emissions reduction deal forward.

"We've had a strong meeting of minds here on the urgency of the problem, but the real work begins now," he said.

"We need the rest of the world to follow the Pacific's lead. I look forward to making that case during meetings with fellow Leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York later this month." More