Enviro Valley: November 2011

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Print Email Facebook Twitter More Global warming rate could be less than feared

High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have less of an impact on the rate of global warming than feared, a new study suggests.

The authors of the study stress that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2, which has doubled from pre-industrial standards, will have multiple serious impacts.
But more severe estimates that predict temperatures could rise up to an average of 10 degrees Celsius are unlikely, the researchers report in the journal Science.
The 2007 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report estimates that surface temperatures could rise by as much as an average of 3 degrees with a doubling of atmospheric CO2 from pre-industrial standards.
The new study suggests temperatures will rise on average 2.3 degrees under the same conditions.
"When you reconstruct sea and land surface temperatures from the peak of the last ice age 21,000 years ago - which is referred to as the Last Glacial Maximum - and compare it with climate model simulations of that period, you get a much different picture," said lead author Andreas Schmittner, from Oregon State University.
"If these palaeoclimatic constraints apply to the future, as predicted by our model, the results imply less probability of extreme climatic change than previously thought."
Scientists have long struggled to quantify climate sensitivity, or how the Earth will respond to projected increases in carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

Global scale

Associate Professor Schmittner notes that many previous studies only looked at periods spanning from 1850 to today, thus not taking into account a fully integrated palaeoclimate data on a global scale.
The researchers based their study on ice age land and ocean surface temperature obtained by examining ices cores, bore holes, seafloor sediments and other factors.
When they first looked at the palaeoclimatic data, the researchers only found very small differences in ocean temperatures then compared to now.
"Yet the planet was completely different - huge ice sheets over North America and northern Europe, more sea ice and snow, different vegetation, lower sea levels and more dust in the air," Associate Professor Schmittner said.
"It shows that even very small changes in the ocean's surface temperature can have an enormous impact elsewhere, particularly over land areas at mid to high latitudes."
He warned that continued, unabated use of fossil fuels could lead to similar warming of sea surfaces today.

Solid foundation

Professor Colin Prentice from Macquarie University says he is not surprised by the results.
Professor Prentice, who was not involved in the study, says the new paper is based on a careful compilation of data and addresses an issue that is "absolutely central".
"What it means is we can be a bit more sure about the sort of range of temperature changes that will result from the given change in the amount of fossil fuel and CO2 and other greenhouse gases," he said.
"The key point is that there has been ongoing buzz about the possibility that the climate sensitivity may be way, way higher than in mainstream climate models.
"So for very technical reasons with data just from contemporary observations and observations from the recent historical period, you just haven't got enough information to really rule out those numbers.
"What [this study] has shown is that those very high values are ruled out.
"So it means we still have a major issue about climate change, but it is much better quantified, much better pinned down."
The study was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-25/global-warming-rate-could-be-less-than-feared/3694896

The winters of 2009-10 and 2010-11 were marked extremes, a recent study from the American Geophysical Union reports. We mostly heard of the cold. More defining, but apparently not as newsworthy, our planet experienced many extreme warm spells in recent winters. The recent research examined daily wintertime temperature extremes since 1948. It also found that “warm extremes were much more severe and widespread than the cold extremes during the northern hemisphere winters of 2009-10 (which featured an extreme snowfall episode on the East Coast dubbed “snowmaggedon”) and 2010-11.”
Natural Climate variation due to North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) explains cyclical cold spells. However,…
the long-term extreme warmth trend was left unexplained,… or, rather, just as one would expect in a period of accelerating global warming.
Kristen Guirguis explains:
“We investigated the relationships between prominent natural climate modes and extreme temperatures, both warm and cold. Natural climate variability explained the cold extremes; the observed warmth was consistent with a long-term warming trend.” As Guirguss is a postdoctoral researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC-San Diego and lead author of the study, which is set to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters (a publication of the American Geophysical Union), is telling us this, one must stop to consider this as a well-informed, accurate recent analysis of our planet and it’s patterns.
But, to clarify, here’s more from a piece on Climates Progress, “Last Two Winters’ Warm Extremes More Severe Than Their Cold Snaps, Study Finds, from Scripps climate researcher Alexander Gershunov, a report co-author: “Over the last couple of years, natural variability seemed to produce the cold extremes, while the warm extremes kept trending just as one would expect in a period of accelerating global warming.”

Top Photo Credit: B.G. Johnson.
Bottom Image via Climate Progress/American Geophysical Union

Source: Planetsave (http://s.tt/14nTS)

Top Photo Credit: B.G. Johnson.
Bottom Image via Climate Progress/American Geophysical Union

Source: Planetsave (http://s.tt/14nTS)

Top Photo Credit: B.G. Johnson.
Bottom Image via Climate Progress/American Geophysical Union

Source: Planetsave (http://s.tt/14nTS)v

E. Coli Bacteria: What Doesn’t Kill Us, Makes Us Biofuel

DOE scientists make gasoline, diesel and jet biofuel with e. coli bacteria and switchgrass

That notorious killer bacteria e. coli is making renewable biofuel hand over fist for researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy. Scientists based in DOE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute have tweaked a strain of the bug to munch on tough-to-digest switchgrass like it’s sugar candy, and the result is a process that yields not one biofuel but three: renewable gasoline, diesel and jet biofuel. Hey, it’s like the Ginsu Knife of biofuels, right down to the low-low price.

More Biofuels, Less Money

Cost competitiveness really is the bottom line for biofuels, and that’s where E. coli (short for of Escherichia coli) comes in. According to Jay Keasling, the CEO of the BioEnergy Institute, the new strain of bacteria will cut costs by eliminating expensive steps that are otherwise needed to break down the tough cell walls of woody plants like switchgrass, to get at the goodies inside. In a press statement, Keasling described the e. coli-fueled process as a “one pot operation.”

E. Coli and Biofuel Crops

If you recall the corn ethanol craze that marked the end of the previous president’s administration (okay, so George W. Bush – hey, whatever happened to that guy?), you may also recall that U.S. biofuel policy at the time helped to spur a global food crisis by diverting too much corn to refineries. President Obama’s administration has focused on a biofuel policy that emphasizes non-food biomass, which places a heavy load on switchgrass and other weedy or woody grasses and plants. The downside has been the extra expense of breaking down these tougher plants, and the new strain of E. coli offers a way out.

E. Coli Biofuels – But Wait, There’s More!

The new process packs in another benefit compared to corn-based biofuel refining. Corn starch yields ethanol, which don’t replace any commonly used transportation fuel entirely. That’s why you can’t get

pure ethanol when you go to the gas station, only ethanol blends. The new strain of E. coli produces biofuel substitutes and precursor molecules that can produce gasoline as well as diesel and jet biofuel on a gallon-for-gallon basis.

How Do They Do It?

Writer Lynn Yarris at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (a partner in the BioEnergy Insititute) explains that conventional strains of E. coli bacteria can’t grow on switchgrass, so the research team engineered strains that express an enzyme enabling them to get nourishment from cellulose (the tough material in plant cell walls) and hemicelllose (a weaker substance also present in cell walls). With additional adjustments to the bacteria’s metabolic pathways, the team was able to produce the three biofuels. There is also one additional secret: the switchgrass was pretreated in a bath of molten salt to soften it up.

But Wait, There’s Green Jobs

A good chunk of the President’s biofuel policy is geared toward creating permanent green jobs in rural areas, helping small, far-flung communities achieve economic sustainability and civic stability. That’s a far cry from the temporary housing camps sprouting in the western U.S. where oil fields are booming. The oil money, apparently, is good for now but when those wells tap out, there goes the neighborhood.
Image: E.coli bacteria for biofuel courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Source: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/11/29/e-coli-bacteria-what-doesnt-kill-us-makes-us-biofuel/

Green light for national park eco-lodges

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 » 08:02pm

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2011/11/29/Green_light_for_national_park_eco-lodges_690939.html

The Queensland government has moved a step closer to allowing eco-tourism lodges in a handful of the state's most spectacular national parks.
And instead of 10-year licences, operators will be granted 20-year leases, with 20-year extension options.
Meetings are being set up between Tourism Minister Jan Jarrett, Environment Minister Vicky Darling, conservation groups and ecotourism operators to polish the fine points.
The ministers say targeted consultation will begin on granting permits to establish eco-friendly lodges in five prime destinations, after one on Moreton Island was removed from the list of six for environmental reasons.
Ms Jarratt says lodges in national parks have to be sustainable for the environment and investors.
'We sought expressions of interest to establish eco-tourism accommodation at six destinations throughout Queensland,' she said.
Operators said 10-year leases were not long enough to see a return on their investment.
'The proposed reforms would offer terms of 20 years with an additional 20-year extension option, instead of the existing 10 year option,' she said.
Ms Darling said detailed analysis of everything from environmental values, to access, transport and heritage values was carried out before one site, in Moreton Island National Park, was removed due to environmental reasons.
'Protecting the natural values and the beauty of our national parks was the number one priority,' Ms Darling said.
'This is about promoting our parks so more people can appreciate conservation while also giving our tourism industry a much-needed helping hand.'
But the Greens will be keeping a 'wary eye' on the promises.
'We establish national parks because we realise that too much human interference can degrade the health of some of our precious natural areas,' said Greens candidate for Mt Coot-tha Adam Stone.

Source:

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Mexico Seeing Worst Drought in 7 Decades

Posted on 27 November 2011 by Sarah Fobes

Mexico is suffering from the most severe drought its seen in 70 years. The drought has killed huge numbers of farm animals, has destroyed innumerable crops and worst of all – is expected to continue into 2012.
Over 70% of Mexico, including Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas have been affected by the lack of rainfall and the high temperatures. As a result, the government has cut its forecast for corn production twice this year.
Over 450,000 cattle have died since the beginning of the drought, with more expected to parish in the months to come. Dams and reservoirs in the area are at 30% to 40% of normal capacity.
The Mexican government has put aside $113 million so far to cover the numerous losses.

25% Of Farmland Highly Degraded, Global Food Production Undermined Says UN Report

Degraded dryland ecossystems put at risk the social and economic well-being of millions of people.

Global food production is being undermined by land degradation and shortages of farmland and water resources, making feeding the world’s rising population – projected to reach nine billion by 2050 – a daunting challenge, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report unveiled today.

The past five decades have witnessed a significant rise in food production, but in many places the better yields have been associated with agricultural practices that have degraded the land and water systems, according to FAO’s State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW) report.

Farming systems “face the risk of progressive breakdown of their productive capacity under a combination of excessive demographic pressure and unsustainable agriculture use and practices,” says the report.

Competition for land and water is increasing – including competition between urban and industrial users – as well as within the agricultural sector between livestock, staple crops, non-food crop, and biofuel production.

Climate change is expected to alter the patterns of temperature, precipitation and river flows upon which the world’s food production systems depend, according to the report, which also notes that the problem could be more acute in developing countries, where quality land, soil nutrients and water are least abundant.

“The SOLAW report highlights that the collective impact of these pressures and resulting agricultural transformations have put some production systems at risk of breakdown of their environmental integrity and productive capacity,” said Jacques Diouf, the FAO Director-General.

“These systems at risk may simply not be able to contribute as expected in meeting human demands by 2050. The consequences in terms of hunger and poverty are unacceptable. Remedial action needs to be taken now,” he added.

Between 1961 and 2009, the world’s cropland grew by 12 per cent, but agricultural production expanded 150 percent, thanks to a significant increase in yields of major crops, the report says.

One of the warning signs pointed out in the study is that rates of growth in agricultural production have been slowing in many areas and are currently only half of what they were at the height of the ‘Green Revolution’ – the period between the 1940s and the late 1970s when the world’s agricultural productivity rose dramatically.

Overall, the report paints a picture of a world experiencing an increasing imbalance between availability and demand for land and water resources at the local and national levels.

The report for the first time provides a global assessment of the state of the planet’s land resources.

A quarter of the land is highly degraded, while another eight per cent has moderate degradation, 36 per cent is classed as stable or slightly degraded and 10 per cent ranked as “improving.”

The rest of Earth’s land surface is either bare (around 18 per cent) or covered by inland water bodies (around two per cent).

Large parts of all the continents are experiencing land degradation, with particularly high incidence noted along the west coast of the Americas, across the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe and North Africa, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and throughout Asia.

The greatest threat is the loss of soil quality, followed by biodiversity loss and water resources depletion, the report notes.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40533&Cr=agriculture&Cr1=

Scientists sound alarm over Southern Ocean warming

By Bronwyn Herbert

Updated November 29, 2011 14:20:38

Photo: Sunset from the Aurora Australis as it sails through the Southern Ocean, January 2011. (Robert Johnson)

Map: TAS

New research shows the Southern Ocean is storing more heat than any other ocean in the world.

The study, carried out by Tasmania's Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem centre, has found that carbon dioxide levels in the Southern Ocean will be corrosive to some shellfish by 2030 if current trends continue.
Scientists say deep moving currents around Antarctica are the reason why the Southern Ocean is warming faster than other oceans.
"The Southern Ocean occupies about 22 per cent of the area of the total ocean, and yet it absorbs about 40 per cent of the carbon dioxide that's stored by the ocean and about half the heat that's stored by the ocean," climate scientist Steve Rintoul says.
Dr Rintoul says the warming extends for four kilometres, from the ocean surface to the sea floor.
He says satellite measurements show the Southern Ocean has been warming by about 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.
"One of the impacts of a warming ocean may be that the ice that flows off Antarctica into the ocean may melt more rapidly," he said.
"Once that ice reaches the ocean and is floating, if we melt it, it doesn't change the sea level because that ice is already floating, just like an ice cube in your drink, when it melts it doesn't cause the cup to overflow.

Audio: Southern Ocean warming faster than other oceans (AM)

"But what does happen is that as the ice floating around the edge of Antarctica thins and breaks up and disappears, the ice that's on the continent slides off the continent into the sea more rapidly, and that does increase sea level rise.
"In the last few years we found that some parts of Antarctica are thinning rapidly, indicating that ice is flowing off the continent into the ocean and causing an increase in sea level."
The Southern Ocean has helped absorb the Earth's excess heat and carbon dioxide.
But Dr Rintoul says as carbon dioxide dissolves, it changes the chemistry of sea water.
"As we dissolve carbon dioxide in the ocean we change the chemistry and eventually we'll cross the threshold between waters [where] the shells are stable, and waters where the sea water's actually corrosive to the shell material and starts to dissolve the shells that the animals are making," he warned.
"We used to think that threshold would be crossed in about 2050 in the Southern Ocean. We now understand that that's likely to happen a few decades earlier, perhaps as soon as 2030.
"This is important in part because animals that make these shells are important prey for bigger animals like whales."
The research is a collation of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-29/southern-ocean-waters-warming/3700532

Extreme weather to worsen with climate change: UN

Updated November 19, 2011 17:24:36

Photo: The IPCC report says extreme weather events will increase this century. (NASA)

r rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and more intense droughts are likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms, UN scientists say.In a report released in Uganda on Friday, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) urged countries to make disaster management plans to adapt to the growing risk of extreme weather linked to human-induced climate change.
The report gives differing probabilities for weather events based on future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, but the thrust is that extreme weather is likely to increase and that the likely cause is humans.
The IPCC defines "likely" as a 66-100 per cent probability, while "virtually certain" is 99-100 per cent.
"It is virtually certain that increases in the frequency and magnitude of warm daily temperature extremes ... will occur in the 21st century on the global scale," the IPCC report said.

A 1-in-20 year hottest day is likely to become a 1-in-2 year event by the end of the 21st century in most regions.
IPCC report

"It is very likely that the length, frequency and/or intensity of ... heat waves will increase," it added.
"A 1-in-20 year hottest day is likely to become a 1-in-2 year event by the end of the 21st century in most regions," under one emissions scenario.
An exception is in very high latitudes, it said. Heat waves would likely get hotter by 1-3 degrees Celsius by mid-21st century and by 2-5 degrees by late-21st century, depending on region and emissions scenario, it said.
Delegates from nearly 200 countries will meet in South Africa from November 28 for climate talks with the most likely outcome being modest steps towards a broader deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.
The IPCC report found human emissions have "likely" caused more extreme heat waves and sea surges, but is less sure about the link between man-made climate change and worse floods.
"There is evidence that some extremes have changed as a result of anthropogenic influences, including increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases," it said.

Carbon emissions up

Children swim in front of a mosque surrounded by floodwater in Bangkok

Photo: Children swim in Bangkok floodwater on October 18, 2011. (ABC: Zoe Daniel)

The risks posed by increasingly erratic weather have been highlighted by a spate of disasters in recent years, such as flooding in Thailand and Australia, droughts in east Africa and Russia and hurricanes in the Caribbean.
The United Nations, the International Energy Agency and others say global pledges to curb emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are not enough to prevent the planet heating up beyond 2 degrees Celsius, a threshold scientists say risks an unstable climate in which weather extremes are common.
Global carbon emissions rose by a record amount last year, rebounding on the heels of recession.
The report did not address this, but recommended that action is taken now to shore up the defences of vulnerable states, including early warning systems, better land use planning, restoring ecosystems that act as buffers, enforcing building codes and weather-proofing infrastructure.
"The clear message from this report is that there are a lot of smart things we can do now that reduce the risk of losses in disasters," co-author Chris Fields said.
"It is likely the frequency of heavy precipitation ... will increase in the 21st century over many areas," the report said, especially in "high latitudes and tropical regions".
There was "medium confidence" this would lead to "increases in local flooding in some regions", but this could not be determined for river floods, whose causes are complicated.
Tropical cyclones were likely to become less frequent or stay stable, but those that do form are likely to get nastier.
That, coupled with rising sea levels were a concern for small island states, the report said.

Droughts and doubts

Children starving in drought-hit Somalia

Photo: A woman holds a severely malnourished child in drought-stricken Somalia on July 15, 2011. (AFP: Stuart Price )

Droughts, perhaps the biggest worry for a world with a surging population to feed, were also expected to worsen.
The global population reached 7 billion last month and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, according to UN figures.

Today's IPCC report brings home the inescapable fact: that climate change is ... causing an escalation in impacts.
Greenpeace climate policy coordinator Maria Ryding

"There is medium confidence that droughts will intensify in the 21st century ... due to reduced precipitation and/or increased evapotranspiration," in "the Mediterranean ... central Europe, central North America, Central America and Mexico, north-east Brazil and southern Africa," the report said.
There was a high chance that landslides would be triggered by shrinking glaciers and permafrost linked to climate change.
"Today's IPCC report brings home the inescapable fact: that climate change is ... causing an escalation in impacts ... most of which are increasingly being borne by the developing world," Greenpeace climate policy coordinator Maria Ryding said.
Sceptics have questioned the models the IPCC uses to make its climate predictions, but Fields defended the science: "There are many cases in which just from observations, we've seen a change," he said.
"Climate models are only some of the tools used to make future projections. Some ... are based on projecting historical data forward or what we know about the physics of the system. Lots of observations are built-in for us to test how they work."

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-19/extreme-weather-to-worsen-with-climate-change/3681686

Climate to worsen food crises

Monday, November 28, 2011 » 02:12pm

Storms and drought that have unleashed surges in food prices that has driven tens of millions into poverty.

Storms and drought that have unleashed dangerous surges in food prices could be a 'grim foretaste' of what lies ahead when climate change bites more deeply, Oxfam says.
In a report issued at the start of the UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, the British charity pointed to spikes in wheat, corn and sorghum, triggered by extreme weather, that had driven tens of millions into poverty over the past 18 months.
'This will only get worse as climate change gathers pace and agriculture feels the heat,' Oxfam's Kelly Dent said on Monday.
'When a weather event drives local or regional price spikes, poor people often face a double shock.
'They have to cope with higher food prices at a time when extreme weather may have also killed their livestock, destroyed their home or farm.'
In 2010, a heatwave in Russia and Ukraine sparked a rise of 60 to 80 per cent in global wheat prices in three months, reaching 85 per cent in April 2011, Oxfam said.
In July 2011, the price of sorghum was 393 per cent higher in Somalia, while corn (maize) in Ethiopia and Kenya was up to 191 and 161 per cent higher respectively compared to the five-year average, reflecting the impact of drought in the Horn of Africa.
Rainstorms and typhoons in South-East Asia, meanwhile, have driven up the price of rice in Thailand and Vietnam.
In September and October, the cost of this staple was 25-30 per cent higher there than a year earlier.
In February, the World Bank estimated that 44 million people in developing economies had fallen into extreme poverty as a result of spiralling food prices.
In the November issue of its Food Price Watch report, the bank said that a global index of food prices peaked in February but had dipped by five per cent since then.
Even so, the index was still 19 per cent higher than in September 2010, although the figure varied greatly according to the country and the commodity, it said.
Oxfam said price hikes were a source of despair for the needy.
'For the poorest who spend up to 75 per cent of their income on food, price rises on this scale can have consequences as families are forced into impossible trade-offs in a desperate bid to feed themselves,' it said.
It pointed to a just-published investigation by the UN's panel of climate scientists, which said man-made global warming had already boosted heatwaves and flood-provoking rainfall and was likely to contribute to future disasters.
'More frequent and extreme weather events will compound things further, creating shortages, destabilising markets and precipitating price spikes, which will be felt on top of the structural price rises predicted by the models,' Oxfam said.
It appealed to the conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to slash greenhouse gases and activate a planned fund to help poor countries.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2011/11/28/Climate_to_worsen_food_crises_690380.html

Farmers, greens attack Murray plan

Monday, November 28, 2011 » 06:07pm

The long-awaited Murray-Darling Basin draft plan has been unveiled, only to stir up more criticism from both farmers and green groups.
And its one resolve - to deliver an extra 2750 billion litres to the vital river system each year - has been savaged for being either too high - by irrigators - or too low - by conservationists.
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) released its long-awaited draft plan on Monday to a chorus of condemnation and by the end of the day at least one threat of a High Court challenge.
It also released late figures showing that up to 1600 jobs are at risk if the basin plan goes ahead, although farmers say the impact could be much higher.
Irrigators insist the plan will fail communities by stripping jobs and flooding rural properties, lead to an increase in food prices and leave local economies on the brink.
NSW Irrigators Council chief Andrew Gregson said the draft was a 'political outcome' devoid of serious detail.
'It avoids saying who wears the pain immediately,' he told reporters in Canberra.
'It's a smoke and mirrors strategy.'
He questioned the science behind the authority's numbers, noting it had failed to set an environmental watering plan, which is meant to say where the water returns end up.
According to the draft, 2750 gigalitres (gl) will be returned to the nation's food bowl each year - billions less than the 3000 to 4000gl originally set through last year's guide - and which will be enforced by 2019.
With savings already made, only another 1468gl needs to be sourced but the authority doesn't say from where.
States have only been told they must share the burden, particularly the southern basin states.
Irrigators warn that means uncertainty for communities and are concerned about an apparent lack of detail about the socio-economic impact, specifically statistics on job or agricultural production losses.
The draft plan only noted that the economic cost would be small, although water-intensive industries such as rice and cotton growers would be the most vulnerable.
However, an additional MDBA report, released at least 10 hours after the draft and after authority boss Craig Knowles finished his main press conference, said there might be job losses of up to 1600 to 2019.
It also estimated the basin's gross regional product at $78.2 billion in 2018/19 with the basin plan - $1.1 billion less than it would be without one. Production was worth $63.8 billion in 2010/11.
Farmers queried whether that data was considered in the draft, given how late it was finalised.
But Mr Knowles insisted to media ahead of those figures that the impact on jobs and production would depend on how the basin plan was administered and whether the focus was on infrastructure spending or buybacks.
Water Minister Tony Burke maintained the draft plan met all three environmental, social and economic objectives.
But Australian Conservation Foundation ecosystems manager Paul Sinclair said the draft failed everyone, including irrigation communities, because 2750gl would not be enough to flush the salt out of the Murray mouth.
'There's no future and no jobs on a dead river,' he said.
But Mr Burke said if the amount were any higher the basin would not be able to handle the extra water.
Meanwhile, the states are also unhappy with the draft, with South Australia, which wants at least 4000gl returned to the river, leaving its options open to launch a legal challenge, while Queensland, NSW and Victoria are all claiming to be hard done by.
The draft now goes through a 20-week consultation period before the federal government presents its final legislation to the parliament in the latter half of 2012.
Mr Knowles said he was open to change and the draft was not a fait accompli.
'There are a lot of people who've got a lot of certainty about what the right answer is here ... but in the end, managing a natural landscape has to contemplate almost daily if not hourly change,' he said.
'We need to stop having the tug of war, stop pulling against each other and work together.'

Source:http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2011/11/28/Farmers_greens_attack_Murray_plan_690461.html

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Climate change effect on release of CO2 from peat far greater than assumed

Publication Date: 22/11/2011
Drought causes peat to release far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than has previously been realised.
Much of the world’s peatlands lie in regions predicted to experience increased frequency and severity of drought as a result of climate change- leading to the peat drying out and releasing vast stores of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. It’s the very wetness of the peat that has kept the air out, locking in centuries of carbon dioxide that would normally be released from the decomposing plant materials in the peat. Now scientists at Bangor University have discovered that the effect of periods of severe drought lasts far beyond the initial drought itself.
Writing in Nature Geosciences (doi 10.1038 NGEO1323), Dr Nathalie Fenner and Professor Chris Freeman of Bangor University explain how the drought causes an increase in the rate of release of CO2 for possibly as long as a decade. It was originally assumed that most of the CO2 was released from the dry peat. Now scientists realise that the release of CO2 continues, and may even increase, when the peat is re-wetted with the arrival of rain. The carbon is lost to the atmosphere as CO2 and methane and to the waters that drain peatlands as dissolved organic carbon (DOC).

Dr Nathalie Fenner“As our global climate and rainfall patterns change, our peatlands may not have sufficient opportunity to recover between these drought-induced episodes of CO2 loss,” explains the paper’s lead author, Dr Nathalie Fenner. “What we previously perceived as a ‘spike’ in the rate of carbon loss during drying out, now appears far more prolonged- with a potential peak after the initial drought period is over.”
As well as contributing further to climate change, as CO2 is one of the ‘greenhouse gasses’, the loss of carbon from the peat has other consequences. Dissolved organic carbon in the water as a result of this process, could adversely affect the quality of drinking water. Much of our drinking water comes from these upland sources. The increase of dissolved organic carbon in the water is likely to bring extra problems and expense to the water supply industry because it interferes with the treatment process.
Loss of carbon could ultimately lead to severe degradation of the peatland itself. Occurring on upland regions of the northern hemisphere, the loss of peatland could contribute to an increased frequency of lowland flooding occurrences as the peat acts as a natural ‘sponge’ for heavy rainfall. There would also be a consequent loss of habitat and species loss as well as a change in the look and feel of our uplands.
“The previous focus of research in this area has been on the drought period, and our own work identified how the release of CO2 occurs,” explains Prof Chris Freeman, who leads the Wolfson Peatland Carbon Capture Laboratory at Bangor University. “We were initially surprised at finding that the effects are so prolonged- we think what’s happening is microbial and that this activity has been triggered by the introduction of oxygen into previously waterlogged conditions. Once the water returns, conditions have changed and the microbes are further able to thrive until conditions eventually return to normal.”
The paper’s authors suggest that geo-engineering solutions may have to be considered to preserve the water table and reduce the effects of drought on upland peat.
Listen to Dr Nathalie Fenner on BangorTV here.

Source: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/full.php.en?nid=6037&tnid=0

Tragedy in Sicily: Avalanche of water and mud swept away homes

n avalanche of water and mud swept away homes during the middle of the night in Barcellona Pozzo
di Gotto, a small town near Messina in Sicily, causing several fatalities.
Torrential rains poured over Italy for hours, causing a mudslide that killed four people, including an unidentified 10 year old boy. The landslide destroyed a large number of houses and many people have been reported missing.
Search and rescue continues and the exact number of injuries and fatalities is unknown.
A second landslide was also the cause of a train derailment in Calabria, Catanzaro. Fortunately no one was killed but about 50 families have been cut off from the world.

Source: http://www.greenfudge.org/2011/11/23/tragedy-in-sicily-avalanche-of-water-and-mud-swept-away-homes/

Going green increases value of offices: study

Philip Hopkins

November 23, 2011

AUSTRALIA'S valuers have confirmed the hype - going ''green'' definitely increases the value of an office building.
The buildings worth the most are those that have the best energy rating, the Australian Property Institute found in a report it said was the first rigorous assessment of green office buildings in the nation. Buildings with low energy ratings lost value.
The study said office buildings with a five-star NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating Scheme) energy rating created a premium of 9 per cent, while three to 4½ stars delivered a 2 to 3 per cent premium in value. The Green Star rating showed a premium of 12 per cent.
NABERS measures energy and water use in existing buildings, while Green Star evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings.
The API was the lead group for the study, which was led by Richard Bowman, senior API committee member and a partner in real estate services with Ernst & Young. He headed a panel of experts representing the big estate agents and valuation firms.
The study evaluated 206 NABERS-rated office buildings and 160 non-NABERS buildings in Sydney and Canberra. Of the NABERS-rated buildings, Sydney's central business district accounted for 90, suburban Sydney 91 and Canberra 25. They included premium, A, B and C grade and 97 per cent had an area greater than 2000 square metres.
The analysis used 23 four to six-star Green Star buildings for the ''office design'' and ''office as built'' categories.
The portfolio comprised Sydney CBD (22 per cent), Sydney suburban (39 per cent) and Canberra (39 per cent) and Green Star ratings of four stars (43 per cent), five stars (48 per cent) and six stars (9 per cent).
The study was prompted by concerns about the environmental impact of the property industry. It said buildings contributed up to 23 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions, 40 per cent of energy requirements, 16 per cent of water use, 30 per cent of solid landfill waste, 40 per cent of raw materials and 71 per cent of electricity consumption.

Hole in ozone forms above Arctic

Updated October 14, 2011 11:25:00

The sun sets over Arctic ice near the 2011 Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station

Photo: Researchers measured an 80 per cent drop in ozone levels over the Arctic.

Map: Norway

A hole five times the size of California formed in the ozone layer above the Arctic in the 2010-11 northern winter, with scientists saying it was the largest on record.

Scientists say the hole is a sign that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are still damaging the stratosphere, even though their production stopped 15 years ago.
A similar hole has formed above the Antarctic every southern winter since the 1980s.
This year, for the first time on record, an ozone hole of similar scale formed above the Arctic.
Senior researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Gloria Manney has been monitoring the phenomenon.
"We started seeing in this past winter in the Arctic in February and March, that the ozone in the stratosphere was decreasing much more rapidly than it typically does," she said.

Audio: First hole forms in Arctic ozone layer (AM)

Levels of ozone over the polar regions drop every winter as the intense cold turns man-made chemical emissions in the stratosphere into a type of chlorine which destroys ozone.
The Arctic is not as cold as the Antarctic, and it does not usually get cold enough there for the ozone layer to develop as large a hole.
But Ms Manney said the last northern winter was abnormally cold.
"Usually in the Arctic in the northern hemisphere there is only just a little bit of ozone loss, because it isn't that cold for that long," she said.
"This year it was cold for longer than usual and so the chlorine was in forms that could destroy ozone, and so much more ozone was destroyed than in previous winters that we've observed."
The production of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons was phased out by 1996, but a senior research scientist with the Australian Antarctic Division, Dr Andrew Klekociuk, says it will take decades for CFCs to disappear entirely from the stratosphere.
"They take 20 or 30 years to break down and we're still seeing, I guess, the delayed effects of the controls on those gases," he said.
The researchers measured an 80 per cent drop in ozone levels over the Arctic, leading to a hole which grew as big as five times the size of California.
That is smaller than this year's Antarctic hole, but Dr Klekociuk says it is likely the hole will increase harmful UV radiation in the northern hemisphere.
"Those low ozone levels combined with sunlight produce more UV potentially at the earth's surface," he said.
"We are yet to see the results in from UV measurements in the Arctic but one would expect there to be elevated ultraviolet levels for that particular winter and early spring period."
The results of the research, led by Gloria Manney, have been published in the journal Nature.
Editor's note (October 12, 2011): The original version of this story incorrectly suggested it was the first time a hole had formed in the ozone layer above the Arctic. This is not correct; it is the first time a hole on the scale of those regularly detected in the Antarctic has been recorded over the Arctic. The story has been changed to reflect this.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-03/hole-in-ozone-forms-above-arctic/3206356

Surf clubs under threat from climate change

Anthony Stewart

Updated November 08, 2011 14:24:26

Surf clubs under threat from climate change

Photo: The report says 63 per cent of surf clubs are in zones of potential instability. (Andrew Gray: ABC TV)

Map: Seaspray 3851

A report for Surf Lifesaving Australia shows more than half of country's surf lifesaving clubs are being threatened by extreme tides and weather conditions.

The report used data from Geo-Sciences Australia and climate change modelling to assess which clubs will come under threat.
It has found that 63 per cent of surf clubs are in zones of potential instability, areas under threat from the impact of rising sea levels and changing weather conditions caused by climate change.
Surf Life Saving Australia's head of strategic development, Norm Farmer, says the report shows a great deal of work needs to done to protect clubs.
'When [you] put it on a map, look at it and start to quantify the level of activity that we have to do, the level of funding that we have to source to respond to these changes, that is the potential scary part," he said.
Across the country, a huge number of clubs are predicted to fall into the zones of potential instability. In Victoria, 84 per cent of clubs would be affected, while in South Australia and Tasmania, 89 per cent of clubs would be affected.

Adaptive strategies

Mr Farmer says the report creates a road map which will allow Surf Lifesaving Australia to start developing strategies to adapt to the issues created by climate change.
"For the last few years, we have been trying to stay up with the game and that was one of reasons we commissioned the report," he said.
"So that we can try and control the expenses as we go forward."
The initial focus of the plan outlined in the report is assessing the extent of the problems and developing programs to make surf clubs aware of the threats posed by climate change.
The report does not quantify the possible costs associated with rebuilding infrastructure or relocating clubs.

Saving clubs

Mr Farmer says concern is growing among the surf lifesaving clubs about their future.
"We have some of our clubs now that are spending millions of dollars to relocate their buildings and to have coastal vulnerability assessments undertaken," he said.
"For example, Seaspray in Victoria, Moore Park on the north coast of Queensland, Currumbin Surf Club on the Gold Coast have all been extensively exposed and may need to rebuild or relocate."
Mr Farmer says there has been over 100 years investment in surf clubs and their buildings.
"There has been funding from state, federal and local government and more importantly decades of fundraising by clubs members," he said.
"There is a significant asset base and we must look at how we protect these clubs."

Changing regulations

The report also shows changing regulations created by state and federal governments to address the issue of climate change is impacting surf clubs.
"Some clubs are in locations where, under today's regulations and thinking, they would not have been constructed," he said.
Mr Farmer says rebuilding and refurbishing may be impossible, because state and local government regulations have been modified to link development applications with sea level rise benchmarks.
"So it's not only storms that are impacting the ability of clubs to maintain their assets, it's the change in regulations," he said.

Protecting the patrols

Mr Farmer says the key reason for the report is Surf Lifesaving Australia's desire to protect the service the clubs provide for up to 200 million beach visits every year.
"If we can't be there, how can we make sure that they are safe?" he asked.
Mr Farmer says Surf Lifesaving Austral wants to ensure surf clubs remain on the beach and have started to speak with different levels of government to try and identify some initial funding to help undertake these vulnerability assessments.
"There needs to be an ongoing level of funding to ensure that we can continue to provide the safety, the services that the people of Australia have become familiar with over the last 104 years," he said.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-01/surf-clubs-under-threat-from-climate-change/3612078

Monday 21 November 2011

Bid to cut toxic run-off a win for reef

Friday, November 18, 2011 » 10:16pm

A $7.6 million plan to slash toxic run-off from farms along the central and north Queensland coast has been hailed as a win for both farmers and the Great Barrier Reef.
The state government is to fund more than 30 research and support projects to help farmers from Mackay to Cooktown cut chemical run-off and soil erosion flowing into the ocean and killing coral.
The projects are expected to boost farm profitability and will include research into how soil, fertilisers and pesticides end up in waterways and how that can be managed, Environment Minister Vicky Darling said in a statement.
A new tool that will help graziers calculate the optimum number of cattle to keep per paddock is hoped to reduce soil erosion, while research into exactly how much fertiliser is needed to maintain productivity is expected to help farmers cut toxic run-off.
The government will spend $2 million on extending its research into cane growers' losses of nitrogen fertiliser and pesticides.
'This ... demonstrates this government's commitment towards protecting the Great Barrier Reef, a Queensland icon,' Ms Darling said.
World Wildlife Fund spokesman Nick Heath said the policy announcement was 'a win-win' for the Great Barrier Reef and farm productivity.
Hundreds of reefs had lost up to 50 per cent of their coral, largely because of water pollution from farm chemicals and soil erosion, Mr Heath said.
'Today's announcement of new research funding will help speed the adoption of precision agriculture, helping farmers know just the right amount of stock or chemical to use,' he said.
The cash is part of the government's $50 million reef protection package, which is being rolled out over five years.

Source: http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2011/11/18/Bid_to_cut_toxic_run-off_a_win_for_reef_686866.html

McDonald's drops US egg supplier

Saturday, November 19, 2011 » 04:33pm

Comment on this article below

LIVE News: Watch it now

McDonald's has severed ties with one of its US egg suppliers after a video exposed shocking animal cruelty.

Most popular list not available.

» more Most Popular News

Click For Dell's latest Offers

Fast food giant McDonald's has severed ties with one of its American egg suppliers after a video exposed shocking cruelty to chickens at a farm.
The footage showed chicks having the tips of their beaks being burned off by a machine and then tossed into cages along with images of barely identifiable corpses of birds that were left to rot in cages.
It also showed unwanted chicks left to die in plastic bags, birds mangled by the bars of overcrowded cages and a chicken flapping its wings in distress as a plant worker swung the creature on a rope in a wide circle.
There are no federal laws governing the treatment of poultry on US farms and most states have sweeping exemptions for farmed animals which allow for abuses to run rampant without prosecution.
'Unfortunately, much of the abuse we documented is not only standard, it's legal,' Nathan Runkle, director of Mercy for Animals, which obtained the clandestine footage, told AFP.
'We've done over a dozen investigations at factory farms from coast to coast,' he said. 'Every time we've sent an investigator into one of these facilities they've come out with shocking evidence of abuse and neglect.'
McDonald's confirmed on Friday it had directed its supplier, Cargill, to stop sourcing eggs from Sparboe, the company at the centre of the cruelty video.
'The behaviour on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable,' McDonald's said in a statement.
'McDonald's wants to assure our customers that we demand humane treatment of animals by our suppliers. We take this responsibility - along with our customers' trust - very seriously.'
Sparboe, a family-run company, said it had launched a probe after learning of the video and has fired four workers who engaged in mistreatment of chickens.
In a message posted on a dedicated website, owner Beth Sparboe Schnell said an independent auditor from Iowa State University confirmed the company is in 'full compliance with our animal welfare policies'.
She said Sparboe Farms was the first American egg producer to have its 'science-based animal care production guideline' certified by the US Department of Agriculture.
But Runkle noted that the video shows that 'much of the mishandling type of abuse took place directly in front of and under the watch of supervisors and managers' at Sparboe facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado.
He also said the decision to drop Sparboe as a supplier also fails to provide a solution to the real problem - the use of cramped battery cages which give hens no room to walk or spread their wings, Runkle added.
Mercy for Animals said it was urging McDonald's to use its influence as the largest egg purchaser in the United States to improve industry standards and stop buying eggs from farms that use such cages.
The video was released a day after federal inspectors issued a warning letter to Sparboe citing 'serious violations' of food safety rules, including inadequate rodent control and testing for the presence of deadly Salmonella bacteria.

Source: http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2011/11/19/McDonalds_drops_US_egg_supplier_687122.html

What the carbon tax means for you

What actually is the carbon tax? Who pays it and how much will it cost? Your questions answered.
Who actually pays the carbon tax?
Roughly 500 big-emitting companies in Australia will pay for each tonne of carbon they emit. The list isn't yet fixed, but the biggest emitters include electricity wholesalers such Macquarie Generation and Delta Electricity, resources companies such as Woodside Petroleum, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, and intensive industries such as steel, aluminium, glass and paper makers.
Will that make ordinary things more expensive?
Yes, some things. The government acknowledges these costs will be passed to customers. They expect the average household's cost of living will rise $9.90 a week. This includes $3.30 in electricity, $1.50 in gas and 80 cents for food. Essentially anything made in Australia by a company that is paying the carbon tax may rise in price.
What about my car?
Car fuel won't be affected by the carbon tax.
And other transport?
Airlines will pay either the carbon price or an equivalent on their fuel. That will push up the cost of a domestic flight sector by $2 according the government, $3.50 according to Qantas.
Rail freight and shipping will be subject to an equivalent carbon price on their fuel. The cost of fuel for trucks will rise after July 2014. This may push up the price of some goods as transport companies pass on the costs.
What do I get as compensation?
The government says the average household will get $10.10 a week in extra benefits and tax breaks. These include:
Tax: The tax-free threshold will rise. Currently, taking into account a low-income tax offset, you don't start paying tax until you earn more than $16,000. In 2012, that will rise to $20,542, then to $20,979 by 2015. More than 1 million people will not have to fill out tax returns.
The bottom line is that a worker on $25,000 a year will get a tax cut of about $500 a year by 2015 and most middle income earners will get at least $300. High income earners on more than $80,000 will get nothing.
In 2015-16, there will be further tax cuts for people earning up to $80,000 with most workers getting at least $80 a year.
Pensions: Single pensioners and self-funded retirees will get up to $338 extra per year, and couples up to $510 a year, starting May or June next year.
Families: Families on Family Tax Benefit A will get up to $110 extra per child per year, starting next May or June. Those on Family Tax Benefit B will get up to $69 extra per year.
Benefits: People on allowances such as the dole will get up to $218 a year extra for singles, or $390 for couples, starting May or June next year.
Will the compensation run out?
Some of it might. Pension and benefit rises will be linked to inflation and will be permanent. But the tax cuts, while permanent, aren't calculated to keep in line with the added cost of living beyond 2020.
What the bottom line? Will I win or lose?
All low-income households will be fully compensated for the expected rise in their cost of living, the government says, and most will be better off. Two thirds of middle-income households will be fully compensated, along with about one in five high-income households.

Friday 18 November 2011

Triple threat paints grim frog future

Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians may eventually have no place to shelter, a new study predicts.

Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians may eventually have no place to shelter because of a triple threat of worsening scourges, a new study predicts.
Scientists have long known that amphibians are under attack from a killer fungus, climate change and shrinking habitat. In the study appearing online on Wednesday in the journal Nature, computer models project that in about 70 years those three threats will spread, leaving no part of the world immune from one of the problems.
Frogs seem to have the most worrisome outlook, said study lead author Christian Hof of the Biodiversity and Climate Research Center in Frankfurt.
About one-third of the world's amphibian species are known to be threatened with extinction and 159 species already have disappeared, a 2008 international study found.
'It's no fun being a frog,' said prominent biodiversity conservationist Stuart Pimm of Duke University, who was not part of Hof's study. 'They are getting it from all three different factors.'
Hof's study was the first to look at projections of the three threats by geography and see if they overlap. While they overlap some, it is not nearly as much as expected. The wide distribution of threats leaves no refuge for amphibians.
The strongest threats seem to be where the most species of amphibians live, concentrating the potential loss of diversity, said Hof and Ross Alford, an amphibian expert at James Cook University in Australia, who was not part of the research.
The biggest threats are seen, mostly from climate change, to frogs and other amphibians in tropical Africa, northern South America and the Andes Mountains, areas which Hof calls 'climate losers'. In the northern Andes, which has the largest number of frog species in the world, more than 160 frog species are at risk, he said.
Alford and other outside scientists said they thought Hof's work might be overly pessimistic. But studying the geographic distribution of amphibian threats in the future is important, they said.

Source: http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2011/11/17/Triple_threat_paints_grim_frog_future_686199.html

Tourist loses toe as thousands of flesh-eating piranhas infest popular Brazilian river beach

Thousands of flesh-eating piranhas have infested a Brazilian river beach popular with tourists, biting at least 15 unwary swimmers.
One of the bathers lost the tip of their toe during a frenzied attack.
Officials in the city of Caceres said it was the first time piranhas had been seen at Daveron beach, on the Paraguay river.
The aggressive razor-tooth fish began schooling there about two weeks ago.

Warning: Piranhas started schooling in the Daveron beach on the Paraguay river two weeks ago

Elson de Campos Pinto, 22, who was bitten on Sunday, said: 'I took a dip in the river and when I stood up, I felt pain in my foot.
'I saw that I had lost the tip of my toe. I took off running out of the river, afraid that I would be further attacked because of the blood. I'm not going back in for a long time.'
Firefighter Raul Castro de Oliveira told Globo TV's G1 website: 'People have got to be very careful. If they're bitten, they've got to get out of the water rapidly and not allow the blood to spread.'
Authorities said the beach would remain open because it is an important draw in Brazil's Pantanal region, known for its ecotourism.

More...

Each September, Caceres, in the western state of Mato Grosso, hosts what local officials bill as Brazil's biggest fishing festival, a week-long event that draws 200,000 people for fishing tournaments and concerts.
Gonzaga Junior, a spokesman for the city government, said he did not think the piranha attacks would hurt that event since it is many months away.
He said: 'Everyone knows there are piranhas in the region and have always taken the necessary precautions.

Dangerous waters: The Paraguay river in Mato Grosso, Brazil, where the piranhas attacked

'What is different this time is that they've appeared where they never appeared before.'
The city has seen far fewer people than normal use the beach because of the attacks. It was deserted on Tuesday, a national holiday in Brazil.
Officials have put up large signs warning swimmers about the piranhas, reading in blood red letters: 'Attention swimmers. Area at risk of piranha attacks. Danger!'
Local fisherman Hildegard Galeno Alves said he had recently caught a lot of piranha while operating in the area.
'I come here with my kids and I always see blood on the river banks,' he said. 'The worst is that the attacks are in shallow water, next to the bank.'
Despite making his living off the river, Mr Alves left no doubt about his feelings for the water. 'I would never even think of going in there,' he added.

Green energy pact will fuel trade growth,

Simon Mann in Honolulu

November 15, 2011

Julia Gillard is committed to lowering the tariffs on green goods such as wind-turbine parts. Photo: Reuters

ASIA-PACIFIC nations, including Australia, have put green energy initiatives at the heart of a new pact aimed at bridging gaps between their economies while bolstering trade opportunities across the region.
A pledge to cut tariffs on green goods to 5 per cent by 2015 and to make economies less energy-intensive led a range of initiatives agreed to by leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Hawaii. They also committed to a ''seamless regional economy'' by agreeing to align regulatory systems and simplify travel rules.
Citing the ''time of uncertainty'' for the global economy caused by Europe's debt crisis, the leaders said they were determined to resist pressures for greater protection, committing instead to wider co-operation.
''We recognise that further trade liberalisation is essential to achieving a sustainable global recovery in the aftermath of the global recession of 2008-09,'' they said in their communique.
The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said the commitment to lowering tariffs on green goods would open up markets to Australian-made goods such as wind-turbine parts, energy-efficient fuel cells and water-saving shower heads.
She praised APEC's agreement to collaborate on reducing energy intensity by 45 per cent by 2035, despite the non-binding nature of the target and a ''get out'' clause for developing nations, including China.
Ms Gillard said APEC, having led the world with its free-trade agenda, was now poised to set ''an example to the world on green energy and green growth''.
The forum committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, while incorporating low-emissions development strategies into APEC economies' growth plans.
Despite general satisfaction with the broader themes, the signature achievement of the two-day Honolulu meeting - the 23rd annual get-together of leaders - was a commitment by a sub-group of nine APEC nations, including Australia and the US, to form a free-trade zone ''as rapidly as possible''.
Notwithstanding obstacles, Japan, Canada and Mexico yesterday all confirmed their interest in joining the so-called Trans Pacific Partnership, which its architects hope will expand ultimately to incorporate all Pacific Rim nations, which already account for 56 per cent of the world's economic output.
The leaders' upbeat mood, however, could not conceal simmering tensions between the US and China.
The US President, Barack Obama, told reporters: ''When it comes to their economic practices, there are a range of things that [China has] done that disadvantage not just the United States but a whole host of their trading partners and countries in the region.''
China's refusal to allow its currency to appreciate and to safeguard intellectual property rights remained pressing issues.
The APEC leaders added their voice to those of the G20 in urging Europe to resolve its fiscal crisis, after the International Monetary Fund chief, Christine Lagarde, addressed the group.

Thursday 17 November 2011

APEC leaders to cut taxes on green goods

Julia Gillard walks with, from left, Dmitry Medvedev, Barack Obama and Yoshihiko Noda for the official photo at the APEC summit. Photo: AFP

Asia-Pacific leaders representing more than half of the global economy have committed to cutting tariffs on environmental goods to no more than five per cent and reducing energy intensity.

In a joint statement after a summit in Hawaii, leaders of the APEC bloc - which includes the United States and China - said they would also eliminate non-tariff barriers that impede trade in green products.

"Taking these concrete actions will help our businesses and citizens access important environmental technologies at lower costs, which in turn will facilitate their use, contributing significantly to APEC's sustainable development goals," the statement said.

Advertisement: Story continues below

APEC economies will make a list of environmental goods next year and reduce tariffs to no more than five per cent by the end of 2015, the statement said.

The statement also set an aspirational goal of reducing the bloc's energy intensity - the amount of energy used compared with the economy - by 45 per cent by 2035.

The United States made the trade in green goods such as solar and wind energy a priority for its chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, seeking a way to boost both job growth and environmental action.

But a senior Chinese official last week said that the goals set out by the US side were "too ambitious and beyond the reach of developing economies".

In an apparent nod to Chinese concerns, the statement said that APEC would cut tariffs while "taking into account economies' economic circumstances".

Action on the environment has come slowly in a number of countries, with China's carbon dioxide emissions on the rise and proposals to mandate action against climate change faltering in the US Congress.

Despite indications that climate change is already taking a toll on the planet, carbon emissions around the world posted their biggest annual jump last year, according to US government data

Pages

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Global scale

Solid foundation

More Biofuels, Less Money

E. Coli and Biofuel Crops

E. Coli Biofuels – But Wait, There’s More!

How Do They Do It?

But Wait, There’s Green Jobs

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Posted on 27 November 2011 by Sarah Fobes

Carbon emissions up

Droughts and doubts

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Philip Hopkins

Adaptive strategies

Saving clubs

Changing regulations

Protecting the patrols

Monday 21 November 2011

Friday 18 November 2011

More...

Simon Mann in Honolulu

Thursday 17 November 2011