Showing posts with label climate change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label climate change. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Taipei350
As part of a global movement called 350.org a march has been organized to call upon the Taiwan government to do something about global warming and climate change.
The march will take place:
WHEN: Saturday the 24th of October from 4-5pm.
WHERE: South entrance of building A8 of the Mitsukoshi department store.(Less than a 5 minute walk from Taipei City Hall MRT station.)
Please take a minute to watch this video made by the organizers of Taipei350. By the way 350 ppm is the safe limit of CO2 in the air, we are already way past that number!
Learn more at:
http://350taipei.blogspot.com/
http://www.350.org/
The march will take place:
WHEN: Saturday the 24th of October from 4-5pm.
WHERE: South entrance of building A8 of the Mitsukoshi department store.(Less than a 5 minute walk from Taipei City Hall MRT station.)
Please take a minute to watch this video made by the organizers of Taipei350. By the way 350 ppm is the safe limit of CO2 in the air, we are already way past that number!
Learn more at:
http://350taipei.blogspot.com/
http://www.350.org/
Saturday, 8 August 2009
Report: California must adapt to changing climate
By SAMANTHA YOUNG, AP
Even if the world is successful in cutting carbon emissions in the future, California needs to start preparing for rising sea levels, hotter weather and other effects of climate change, a new state report recommends.
It encourages local communities to rethink future development in low-lying coastal areas, reinforce levees that protect flood-prone areas and conserve already strapped water supplies.
"We still have to adapt, no matter what we do, because of the nature of the greenhouse gases," said Tony Brunello, deputy secretary for climate change and energy at the California Natural Resources Agency, who helped prepare the report. "Those gases are still going to be in the atmosphere for the next 100 years."
The draft report to be released Monday by the California Natural Resources Agency provides the state's first comprehensive plan to work with local governments, universities and residents to deal with a changing climate. A final plan is expected to be released in the fall after the public weighs in.
The report was compiled after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed agencies in November to devise a state climate strategy. It comes three years after the Republican governor signed California's landmark global warming law requiring the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Most countries have focused on cutting greenhouse gases in the future, but researchers say those efforts will take decades to have an effect while the planet continues to warm. States have only recently begun to look at what steps they must take to minimize the damage expected from sea level rise, storm surges, droughts and water shortages because of the climate changes.
Over the last century in California, the sea level has risen by 7 inches, average temperatures have increased, spring snowmelt occurs earlier in the year, and there are hotter days and fewer cold nights.
The report warns that rising temperatures over the next few decades will lead to more heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods.
"We have to deal with those unavoidable impacts," said Suzanne Moser, a research associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz. "We can't pretend they are not going to happen and we have to prepare for that."
To minimize the potential damage from climate change, the report recommends that cities and counties offer incentives to encourage property owners in high-risk areas to relocate and limit future development in places that might be affected by flooding, coastal erosion and sea level rise. State agencies also should not plan, permit, develop or build any structure that might require protection in the future.
The report suggests the state partner with local governments and private landowners to create large reserves that protect wildlife threatened by warmer weather. Similarly, wetlands and fish corridors should be established to protect salmon and other fragile fish.
The report says farmers should be encouraged to be more efficient when watering their crops, and investments should be made to improve crop resistance to hotter temperatures.
Even if the world is successful in cutting carbon emissions in the future, California needs to start preparing for rising sea levels, hotter weather and other effects of climate change, a new state report recommends.
It encourages local communities to rethink future development in low-lying coastal areas, reinforce levees that protect flood-prone areas and conserve already strapped water supplies.
"We still have to adapt, no matter what we do, because of the nature of the greenhouse gases," said Tony Brunello, deputy secretary for climate change and energy at the California Natural Resources Agency, who helped prepare the report. "Those gases are still going to be in the atmosphere for the next 100 years."
The draft report to be released Monday by the California Natural Resources Agency provides the state's first comprehensive plan to work with local governments, universities and residents to deal with a changing climate. A final plan is expected to be released in the fall after the public weighs in.
The report was compiled after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed agencies in November to devise a state climate strategy. It comes three years after the Republican governor signed California's landmark global warming law requiring the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Most countries have focused on cutting greenhouse gases in the future, but researchers say those efforts will take decades to have an effect while the planet continues to warm. States have only recently begun to look at what steps they must take to minimize the damage expected from sea level rise, storm surges, droughts and water shortages because of the climate changes.
Over the last century in California, the sea level has risen by 7 inches, average temperatures have increased, spring snowmelt occurs earlier in the year, and there are hotter days and fewer cold nights.
The report warns that rising temperatures over the next few decades will lead to more heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods.
"We have to deal with those unavoidable impacts," said Suzanne Moser, a research associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz. "We can't pretend they are not going to happen and we have to prepare for that."
To minimize the potential damage from climate change, the report recommends that cities and counties offer incentives to encourage property owners in high-risk areas to relocate and limit future development in places that might be affected by flooding, coastal erosion and sea level rise. State agencies also should not plan, permit, develop or build any structure that might require protection in the future.
The report suggests the state partner with local governments and private landowners to create large reserves that protect wildlife threatened by warmer weather. Similarly, wetlands and fish corridors should be established to protect salmon and other fragile fish.
The report says farmers should be encouraged to be more efficient when watering their crops, and investments should be made to improve crop resistance to hotter temperatures.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by 38% in 40 years
19 Jul 2009, 1130 hrs IST, Nitin Sethi, TNN
Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by 38% in 40 years
NEW DELHI: Himalayan glaciers are going through a phase of retreat, with some glaciers in specific basins having shrunk by up to an alarming 38%
in 40 years while at the same time satellite mapping has not shown any accleration of the process even as the rate of Gangotri's shrinkage has slowed.
The overall process of shrinking is leading glaciers to fragment and, therefore, paradoxically enough, the total number of glaciers in the Himalayas is increasing. These were some of the conclusions ISRO scientists drew up during a presentation at a meeting, organised by the ministry of environment, of all institutions and experts in glaciology.
The ministry has decided to support ISRO and the department of science and technology to undertake long-term and extensive glacial surveys across the eastern and western Himalayas. Environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh told TOI, "We will institutionalize scientific studies of not only glaciers but also studies on terrestrial hydrology and agriculture as well as measurement of green house gases along with the department of science and technology and ISRO."
Scientists at the meeting recorded there is no evidence yet to claim the rate of retreat of glaciers, ranging from a few cms to couple of metres a year, has accelerated in the recent past. Scientists from the Geological Survey of India noted that the rate of recession of the Gangotri glacier has actually reduced in recent years.
The scientific community also observed that the process of retreat and advance of the glaciers was a natural process and that at present there was no evidence to prove that the current glacial recession phase is a consequence of climate change.
But scientists did express concern about the health of the glaciers pointing to the evidence of debris accumulation at the snouts in some glaciers. At present, the worst impact is seen in the Suru basin, with glaciers recorded a 38% shrinkage between 1969 and 2004. The Chandra, Bhaga, Parbati and Warwan basins are the other four recording the worst recessionary trends over the same period.
The meeting also noted that currently most of the automated weather stations are located in Jammu and Kashmir and serve the Army. These should be extended to Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in order to record data across the Himalayas.
Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by 38% in 40 years
NEW DELHI: Himalayan glaciers are going through a phase of retreat, with some glaciers in specific basins having shrunk by up to an alarming 38%
in 40 years while at the same time satellite mapping has not shown any accleration of the process even as the rate of Gangotri's shrinkage has slowed.
The overall process of shrinking is leading glaciers to fragment and, therefore, paradoxically enough, the total number of glaciers in the Himalayas is increasing. These were some of the conclusions ISRO scientists drew up during a presentation at a meeting, organised by the ministry of environment, of all institutions and experts in glaciology.
The ministry has decided to support ISRO and the department of science and technology to undertake long-term and extensive glacial surveys across the eastern and western Himalayas. Environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh told TOI, "We will institutionalize scientific studies of not only glaciers but also studies on terrestrial hydrology and agriculture as well as measurement of green house gases along with the department of science and technology and ISRO."
Scientists at the meeting recorded there is no evidence yet to claim the rate of retreat of glaciers, ranging from a few cms to couple of metres a year, has accelerated in the recent past. Scientists from the Geological Survey of India noted that the rate of recession of the Gangotri glacier has actually reduced in recent years.
The scientific community also observed that the process of retreat and advance of the glaciers was a natural process and that at present there was no evidence to prove that the current glacial recession phase is a consequence of climate change.
But scientists did express concern about the health of the glaciers pointing to the evidence of debris accumulation at the snouts in some glaciers. At present, the worst impact is seen in the Suru basin, with glaciers recorded a 38% shrinkage between 1969 and 2004. The Chandra, Bhaga, Parbati and Warwan basins are the other four recording the worst recessionary trends over the same period.
The meeting also noted that currently most of the automated weather stations are located in Jammu and Kashmir and serve the Army. These should be extended to Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in order to record data across the Himalayas.
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