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CORRUPTION UPDATES 148 working draft: January 14, 2008 Previous Page: Page 147 All Archives Next page: Page 149 Enviornment page #5
Grim news from the natural world Contact Us: Committeefordemocracy.org 1) The Articles linked below were Abstracted from the sources cited. After the abstract there's analysis and commentary, links to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms. Asia: Global warming continues to thaw Himalayan glaciers at frightening speed 01/10/2008 BY SHIHO TOMIOKA AND OSAFUMI SATO, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200801100063.html KATMANDU--In the Himalayas, global warming is making its presence felt in dramatic fashion. Aerial photographs taken by The Asahi Shimbun aircraft Asuka, in cooperation with Nagoya University field researchers, show that glaciers there have become thinner while lakes that hold the water of melted glaciers have rapidly expanded in the 30 years since the last photos were taken by the university. If the Himalayan glaciers continue to thaw, the banks of the expanded glacial lakes could burst, causing massive flooding in downstream areas. Communities in India and Bangladesh that depend on glaciers for their water sources could also suffer shortages as the glaciers melt. Yutaka Ageta, 64, professor emeritus of glaciology at Nagoya University, who joined the aerial shooting in 1978, said, "Compared to about 30 years ago, the entire surface size of the glacier has decreased by about 30 percent. The amount of ice lost during the period is huge. It is a matter of time before the (brown) mountain surface appears even in the upper reaches of the glacier." Meanwhile, Imja Tsho Glacial Lake, located at 5,030 m above sea level in the south of Mount Everest, has expanded to about 2 km in length and about 600 m in width. The upper part of the lake where the water hits the glacier has stretched by several hundred meters since 2002, when Nagoya University conducted a field survey. The bank at the lowest end of the glacial lake is a moraine, which is a mound of rocks, gravel and sand carried by a glacier. Such a bank is fragile though it dams up the lake water. "If the water pressure on the moraine grows as a result of the increase in the amount of the lake water or if moraine starts to flow out rapidly, the bank could burst," associate professor Fujita said. "The glaciers in the Himalayas are a sensitive sensor to measure global warming," Fujita said. He pointed at Island Peak, a 6,189-m-high mountain popular with Japanese alpinists, and said, "It looks like a totally different mountain compared to what it was 10 years ago." According to Nagoya University's survey, the snout of Chhukhung Glacier, which set back at a pace of about 5 m per year in the late 1970s, is shrinking about 20 m per year in and after the 1990s. Likewise, AX010 Glacier has shrunk at an accelerated rate--from 2.7 m per year in the 1980s to 12.5 m in and after the 1990s, losing more than 1 million tons of ice in 20 years through 1999. Fujita said that Himalayan glaciers have shrunk due to three factors: Higher temperature thaws the glaciers. Global warming changes snow into rain that melts the glaciers. The amount of snowfall has decreased. The average temperature in Nepal rose by more than 3 degrees between 1970 and 1994. In the Himalayas in the northern part of the country, the temperature rose about 2 degrees, according to a survey of the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a Katmandu-based research institute set up by eight countries around the Himalayas. Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 Arctic Sea Ice Melting Faster, a Study Finds: Climate Change has already happened, NY Times, May 1, 2007 Ice loss opens Northwest Passage, bbc, 9-14-07 Radical Increase in Artic melting, ap, December 12, 2007 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting! Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 2) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Trees absorbing less CO2 as world warms, study finds · Shorter winters weaken forest 'carbon sinks' · Data analysis reverses scientists' expectations The Guardian, Thursday January 3 2008 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment /2008/jan/03/climatechange.carbonemissions The ability of forests to soak up man-made carbon dioxide is weakening, according to an analysis of two decades of data from more than 30 sites in the frozen north. The finding published today is crucial, because it means that more of the CO2 we release will end up affecting the climate in the atmosphere rather than being safely locked away in trees or soil. The results may partly explain recent studies suggesting that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected. If higher temperatures mean less carbon is soaked up by plants and microbes, global warming will accelerate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel peace prize with Al Gore, has concluded that humanity has eight years left to prevent the worst effects of global warming. The surprise rethink concerns abundant evidence from around the world that winter is starting later and spring earlier. In northern attitudes, spring and autumn temperatures have risen by 1.1C and 0.8C respectively in the past two decades. The research could partly explain results by the Global Carbon Project, which confirmed that the rise in CO2 levels in the atmosphere is accelerating. Between 1970 and 2000 the concentration rose by about 1.5 parts per million (ppm), but since 2000 the annual rise leapt to an average of 1.9ppm - 35% higher than expected. Part of the rise is due to increased CO2 production by China, but the team said weakening carbon sinks were also to blame. Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 Scientists: Water Shortages and Drought: CLIMATE ALREADY CHANGED, NO ONE NOTICED, ap, March 12, 2007 crop failure this year, committee, 4-6-07 Climate Change Debate Hinges On Economics, wp, July 15, 2007 Climate Change Brings Grim Forecast, NY Times, September 13, 2007 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 3) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. UK species 'must move to survive' Some UK wildlife species will have to find new habitats as climate change causes temperatures to rise, the Wildlife Trusts have warned. BBC, 29 December 2007, 17:43 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/7164132.stm Animals, birds and plants will have to move north and westwards to find suitable habitats, the trusts say. Species affected will include the dormouse and some bats and butterflies. The Wildlife Trusts says that while some species are already moving, development and loss of habitat is preventing movement for others. 3b)Humans 'drive out large mammals' Almost 80% of the Earth's surface has experienced a sharp fall in the number of large mammals as a result of human activities, a study suggests. BBC, 27 December 2007 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/7161644.stm By examining records dating back to AD1500, US researchers found that at least 35% of mammals over 20kg had seen their range cut by more than half. They said urgent action was needed to protect the animals, which were being hunted or suffering habitat loss. The findings have been published in the Journal of Mammalogy. The research, carried out by a team of scientists from Princeton University and conservation group WWF-US, has been described as the first "measurement of human impacts on biodiversity based on the absence of native, large mammals". "Perhaps the most striking result of our study is that [the] 109 places that still retain the same roster of large mammals as in AD1500 are either small, intensively managed reserved or places of extremes," revealed lead author John Morrison, WWF-US's director of conservation measures. "Remote areas are either too hot, dry, wet, frozen [or] swampy to support intensive activities." What's Really Going on Here??Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 AMERICAN GREED-CONSUMPTION FUELS MANUFACTURING (POLLUTION) IN CHINA, sf chron, March 5, 2007 'Only 50 years left' for sea fish, bbc, 2 November 2006 BEES: Honey, I'm Gone, wp, June 1, 2007 huge decreases in bird populations, lat, June 14, 2007 Warming Threatens Farms in India, U.N. Official Says: Global Warming puts Billions at Risk, NY Times, August 8, 2007 Equatorial heat dominating N. Lat weather, bbc 12-4-07 Radical Increase in Artic melting, AP, 12-12-07 White House Censored Science, CSM, 12-12-07 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 4) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Global Warming "Tipping Points" Reached, Scientist Says Mason Inman in San Francisco, California for National Geographic News December 14, 2007 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071214-tipping-points.html Earth has already crossed a number of climate change "tipping points" at which today's levels of greenhouse gases will cause additional large and rapid changes, a leading climate scientist said yesterday. But it's not too late to avoid much of the damage by curbing the use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, climatologist James Hansen added during a presentation at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco. Such fuels are responsible for most of human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), which are widely believed to be driving global warming. Today's level of CO2 in the atmophere is enough to cause Arctic sea ice cover and massive ice sheets such as in Greenland to eventually melt away, said Hansen, of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City. Climate zones such as the tropics and temperate regions will continue to shift, and the oceans will become more acidic, endangering much marine life, he added. (Related: "Climate Change Pushing Tropics Farther, Faster" [December 3, 2007].) "I think in most of these cases, we have already reached the tipping point," Hansen said. "The very small warming that's happened to date is having a large effect—pretty much everywhere we look—on the ice of the planet," said Richard Alley of Pennsylvania State University in University Park. "I think the tipping point for perennial sea ice has already passed," said Josefino Comiso of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It looks like the perennial sea ice will continue to decline and there's no hope for it to recover," Comiso added yesterday at the San Francisco meeting. The CO2 tipping point for many parts of the climate is around 300 to 350 parts per million, Hansen estimated. This is below today's level of about 380 parts per million and a much more ambitious target than even the greenest governments, such as those of Germany and Britain, have announced. Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 5) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. 2007 data confirms warming trend BBC, 13 December 2007, 15:30 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/7142694.stm This year has been one of the warmest since 1850, despite the cooling influence of La Nina conditions, according to scientists. The UK's Hadley Centre and University of East Anglia conclude that globally, this year ranks as the seventh warmest. The 11 warmest years in this set have all occurred within the last 13 years. For the northern hemisphere alone, 2007 was the second warmest recorded. "The La Nina event has taken some of the heat out of what could have been an even warmer year" Phil Jones, UEA Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 6) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Warming Oceans Contributed to Record Arctic Melt Mason Inman in San Francisco, California for National Geographic News December 14, 2007 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071214-warming-arctic.html Arctic sea ice shrank drastically this summer, reaching a record low, largely because warm ocean currents ate away at the base of the ice sheet, new research says. With more global warming in store, researchers said, the prognosis is grim for the Arctic's so-called perennial sea ice, which is the ice that survives through the summer. "If this trend persists, the Arctic would be ice-free [in the summer] by 2013," said Wieslaw Maslowski of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 7) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Climate Change Spurring Dengue Rise, Experts Say Eliza Barclay in Mexico City for National Geographic News September 21, 2007 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070921-dengue-warming.html Climate change is accelerating the spread of dengue fever throughout the Americas and in tropical regions worldwide, researchers say. More rainfall in certain areas and warmer temperatures overall are providing optimal conditions for mosquitos—which spread the virus that causes dengue—to breed and expand into new territories. By 2085 climate change will put an estimated 3.5 billion people at risk of dengue fever, the United Nations's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in March. (Related news: "Dengue Fever: Growing Threat Rivals Malaria, Ebola, Experts Say" [October 18, 2006].) The upsurge in dengue, the world's most widespread vector-borne virus, is part of this wider trend. For instance, heat waves and heat-related illnesses and death, an increase in incidence of tropical diseases, and a rise in tick-borne Lyme disease are all becoming a reality, Epstein said. Dengue transmission is largely confined to tropical and subtropical regions, since freezing temperatures kill the mosquito's larvae and eggs. Dengue's burden may be most serious in the American continents, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ...in Mexico dengue cases have increased by more than 600 percent since 2001, according to Mexico's National Center for Epidemiology and Disease Control. Mexican health officials have begun to acknowledge that climate change may be a factor in the uptick of dengue cases. ...a 2006 study published by both the National Institute of Ecology and the National Institute of Public Health found an increase in the incidence of vector-transmitted diseases—such as dengue and malaria—that were associated with rising temperatures and rainfall patterns. (Related news: "Warming May Spur Extinctions, Shortages, Conflicts, World Experts Warn" [April 6, 2007].) Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 Top Scientists Warn of Water Shortages and Disease Linked to Global Warming, ap, March 12, 2007 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 8) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Carbon Dioxide Threatens Reefs, Report Says By KENNETH CHANG NYT, December 14, 2007 Carbon dioxide in the air is turning the oceans acidic, and without a reduction in emissions, coral reefs may die away by the end of the century, researchers warn in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. Carbon dioxide dissolves into ocean water, changes to carbonic acid, and carbonic acid dissolves the calcium carbonate in the skeletons of corals. Laboratory experiments have shown that corals possess some ability to adapt to warmer waters but no ability to adapt to the higher acidity. “Unless we reverse our actions very quickly, by the end of the century, reefs could be a thing of the past,” said Ken Caldeira, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution’s department of global ecology and an author of the Science paper. Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 9) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Climate change's effect on state air detailed Stanford research estimates warming's role in California pollution levels. By Chris Bowman - cbowman@sacbee.com Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, January 3, 2008 http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/v-print/story/606193.html Global warming is making breathing more hazardous for Californians than other Americans, says a pioneering Stanford University study scheduled for release today. The research is the first to estimate the health effects of air pollution attributed solely to climate change – specifically the heat-trapping or "greenhouse" effect of carbon dioxide from tailpipes and smokestacks – experts said. The findings contradict a Bush administration rationale for denying California the power to enforce its first-in-the-nation limits on cars, passenger trucks and SUVs, said Mark Jacobson, the Stanford atmospheric scientist who did the study. "The study shows carbon dioxide is causing the health impacts, it quantifies those impacts and shows California has been impacted greater than other states," Jacobson said. "They should revisit their decision." The Stanford study says carbon dioxide-induced warming causes an estimated 1,000 additional deaths and many more cases of respiratory disease every year in the United States for each 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit temperature rise in the Earth's atmosphere. At least 300 of those deaths are occurring in California cities already socked with air pollution, Jacobson said. Jacobson broke ground with computer simulations of climate and air pollution demonstrating that warming speeds ozone production much faster in areas already choked with smog and soot. With six of the most polluted cities in the United States, California will continue to bear an increasingly disproportionate share of air pollution-related deaths and illnesses as cars and factories continue to spew carbon dioxide, Jacobson said. "Increased warming due to carbon dioxide will worsen people's health in those cities at a much faster clip than elsewhere in the nation," Jacobson said, referring to Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Visalia, Fresno, Merced and Sacramento. California is the only state permitted under the federal Clean Air Act to set its own rules on auto emissions and fuels. But the state needs federal permission to enforce those regulations. On Dec. 19, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson denied California's petition to implement its greenhouse gas law on grounds that the state had failed to show the requisite "compelling and extraordinary conditions." The study is the first to isolate the warming effects of carbon dioxide, and the first to estimate the public health impact from those changes – data scientists need to advise regulators on how best to curtail greenhouse gases, said Michael Kleeman, a University of California, Davis, professor of civil and environmental engineering. Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Please limit comments or essay to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number that you are referring to. Example: (82_1.) 10) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Central, South Asia gripped by bitter cold upi, 1-9-08 http://www.newsdaily.com/TopNews/UPI-1-20080109-18160000-bc-asia-blizzards.xml KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Bitter cold and heavy snow have gripped vast areas from Iran through Central Asia to Pakistan, killing dozens of people and leaving thousands shivering. Eight people froze to death in Iran after being trapped in their cars, while tens of thousands of other motorists had to be rescued from their vehicles, the BBC reported. Many living in desert areas of Iran experienced snowfall for the first time in their lives. Frigid temperatures were also reported in Central Asian nations. In Kyrgyzstan, the government blamed the weather for the deaths of at least 50 homeless people since the start of the year. In some areas of Tajikistan, temperatures plummeted to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Electricity has already been cut to about four hours day as the country faces reduced energy exports from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the report said. In Afghanistan, five people died in an avalanche in the western province of Ghor, while eight members of a family were killed in neighboring Herat when a roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow. Heavy snow also has disrupted life in northwestern Pakistan, where seven soldiers died in an avalanche, the report said. Dozens killed in Iran blizzards bbc, Wednesday, 9 January 2008, 05:29 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/middle_east/7178192.stm At least 28 people are reported to have died in Iran's heaviest snowfall in recent years. Eight people froze to death as severe blizzards left 40,000 people stranded in their cars, authorities said. Although most have now been rescued, another 20 people are reported to have died in car crashes caused by the weather, officials said. Tehran has declared two days of national holiday, urging people to stay at home to avoid the bitter cold. The temperature has been down as low as -24 degrees Celsius, and for the first time in living memory there has been snow in the country's southern deserts. Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., January, 2008 More environment abstracts Search the Corruption Database under Environment Limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.) 11) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Storms Strike Midwest, Killing at Least 6 By CATRIN EINHORNnyt, January 9, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/ us/09tornado.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print Record-breaking temperatures in the midsection of the country gave way to rare January tornadoes and flooding on Monday and Tuesday. The storms killed at least six people, including two young children, and shattered houses and submerged roads. Tornadoes swept through Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin, which recorded its first January twister since 1967, the National Weather Service said. Winter tornadoes, in this case set off by a major system coming from the Pacific, rarely appear so far north. The twister demolished about 25 houses and damaged about 100 on Monday afternoon, said Alan Kaddatz, chief of the volunteer Wheatland Fire Department. In Indiana, torrential rain combined with about a foot of melting snow to flood the northern areas of the state, said B. J. Simpson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The authorities used trucks and boats to evacuate parts of Carroll and White Counties, moving about 450 peopel to safety because of fears of nearby dams might be overwhelmed. “We’ve never seen anything like this in January,” Tony Slocum of the state police said. “We’re expecting the water to keep rising.” The system accompanied record high temperatures on Monday. Chicago reached 65 degrees, the highest temperature ever for Jan. 7. Other records included Madison, Wis., 50; and Grand Rapids, Mich., 63. 12) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Late Rains Save Atlanta From Record for Drought By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NYT, December 31, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/us/ 31drought.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin ATLANTA (AP) — It turns out 2007 will not go down as the driest year on record for the drought-stricken Atlanta area, thanks to showers Sunday that capped four consecutive days of rain. Meteorologists had said it appeared that this year would have even less rain than in 1954, when only 31.80 inches fell. But the showers continued long enough to raise the 2007 cumulative total to 31.85 inches. “It stays intact,” Mike Leary, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said of the 1954 record. More than one-third of the Southeast is in an “exceptional” drought, the worst category. The Atlanta area, with a population of five million, is in the middle of the affected region, which includes most of Tennessee, Alabama, North and South Carolina, as well as parts of Kentucky and Virginia. National drought map 13) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Science panel finds fault with Bush climate program SF Chron, Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times Friday, September 14, 2007 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/14/MNR5S5V3N.DTL A governmentwide climate research program started five years ago by the Bush administration has clarified some scientific questions, an independent scientific panel has found. But in its report released Thursday, the panel said that the program has been plagued by delays, and that it has not devoted enough money or effort to studying the effects of climate change, or to disseminating the findings to those who would be most affected. The Climate Change Science Program, created in 2002 by President Bush to improve climate research across 13 government agencies, has also been hampered by priority shifts, the panel found. Those shifts have led to the grounding of Earth-observing satellites and the dismantling of programs to monitor environmental conditions on Earth, concluded the report, issued by the National Academies, the nation's pre-eminent scientific advisory group. the report cited more problems than successes in the government's research program. Of the $1.7 billion spent by the program on climate research each year, only about $25 million to $30 million has gone to studies of how climate change will affect human affairs, for better or worse, the report said. "Discovery science and understanding of the climate system are proceeding well, but use of that knowledge to support decision-making and to manage risks and opportunities of climate change is proceeding slowly," concluded the 15-person panel, made up mainly of scientists from universities, though scientists from BP and DuPont also were included. The panel found that program delays have been common: Only two of the program's 21 planned overarching reports on specific climate issues have been published in final form; only three more are in the final draft stage. And not enough effort has gone to into translating advances in climate science into information that is useful to local elected officials, farmers, water managers and others who may potentially be affected by shifts in climate, whatever the cause of those shifts, the panel found. One problem, the panel noted, is a lack of communication between government researchers and officials, industries or communities that could be affected, said Ramanathan, the chairman of the panel, in a telephone interview. It also stressed the risks posed by changes in government priorities that have shifted focus away from earth-observing satellites - the panel cited a long list of orbiting probes that were being cut or delayed - and ground-based monitoring projects, like efforts to track snowpack and stream flows. 14) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Federal Judge Upholds Law on Emissions in California By JOHN M. BRODER NYT, December 13, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/washington/13emissions.html?ref=science WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Sacramento on Wednesday upheld a California law regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, another in a string of legal defeats for the auto industry this year. The ruling, by Judge Anthony W. Ishii of United States District Court, affirms a 2002 California law that would effectively force automakers to raise the average fuel economy of fleets by about 30 percent by 2016. A bill pending in Congress demands a 40 percent mileage increase by 2020. The auto companies challenged the California law, which 15 other states say they intend to adopt, saying that it is technically and financially impossible to meet. They also argued that regulation of vehicle mileage is the responsibility of the federal government, not the states. Judge Ishii, though, said that California was entitled to set its own stricter standards under the Clean Air Act, if the Environmental Protection Agency grants a waiver from federal law, which it has done dozens of times in the last 35 years. California applied to the Bush administration for a waiver in December 2005. The White House has said that it will issue a decision by the end of this month. 15) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. EPA Denies California Waiver to Regulate Vehicle Global Warming Pollution Statement by Michelle Robinson, Director of the Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Vehicles Program December 19, 2007 http://www.ucsusa.org/news/commentary/epa-denies-california-waiver-0094.html WASHINGTON (December 19, 2007) - The same day the president signed a ground-breaking fuel economy bill, his administration reversed course and denied California a waiver to regulate global warming pollution from vehicles, the first time in the history of the Clean Air Act that the federal government has denied the state a waiver. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied the waiver despite clear guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court that miles-per-gallon standards and the global warming pollution standards required under the Clean Air Act are “wholly independent.” A recent Fresno, California, federal district court ruling added that “it would be the very definition of folly” to prevent the implementation of vehicle global warming emissions standards. Likewise, the EPA denied the waiver despite the fact that the Bush administration has touted the California standards as evidence that the United States is meeting its international commitments on climate change.
Under the Clean Air Act, California has the right to set higher standards for pollution reduction from automobiles, and recent court cases clarify that states have the authority and obligation to regulate vehicle global warming pollution. The Bush administration is illegally preventing California from exercising its right, under the Clean Air Act, to set pollution standards for automobiles. The following is a statement by Clean Vehicles Program Director Michelle Robinson: “In the eleventh hour of this presidency, the administration is still doing what it can to throw roadblocks in the way of progress in combating global warming. California has the legal right to set stringent pollution standards and has historically led the way for the rest of the country. But the EPA is blocking California and a dozen other states from protecting their residents. Administrator Johnson has sadly chosen politics over his responsibility to protect public health and the environment.” 16) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. California sues government for rejecting bid to curb emissions The state joins 15 others in a challenge to the EPA's position that a new federal energy bill trumps other action. By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 11:04 AM PST, January 2, 2008 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-epa3jan03,0,6039527.story?coll=la-home-local California and 15 other states filed suit against the federal government today for denying them the right to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks, a major cause of global warming. The lawsuit, filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, challenges the Environmental Protection Agency's Dec. 19 decision to deny California a waiver to pass its own tailpipe rules, which is permitted under the 1970 Clean Air Act. When it comes to air pollution, the act allows states to follow California rules or federal rules, so long as the federal government grants California a waiver. In the last three decades, the federal government has approved about 50 waivers, but in this case, EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson contended that energy legislation passed last month by Congress increases vehicle fuel efficiency so much as to render the waiver unnecessary. In a statement today, California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, called Johnson's denial letter "shocking in its incoherence and utter failure to provide legal justification for the administrator's unprecedented action. The EPA has done nothing at the national level to curb greenhouse gases." New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo echoed Brown's sentiments, calling the EPA denial "shameful." Global warming, he said "will have devastating impacts on our environment, health and economy if it continues to go unchecked." Nationwide, cars generate about 20% percent of carbon dioxide emissions, but in California, which has banned coal-fired power plants, the proportion is higher -- about 30%. The 15 states joining California in today's suit: Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. 17) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Appeal Dropped in New Forest Rules By AP Published: January 9, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/us/09brfs-APPEALDROPPE_BRF.html?ref=todayspaper The Bush administration has dropped its appeal of a 2007 court decision that overturned new management rules for 191 million acres of national forests. Opponents to the rules had argued that they weakened protection for wildlife and the environment to the benefit of the timber industry. The Justice Department notified the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit this week that it was withdrawing its appeal, saying the other parties, including the timber industry, would do likewise. Last March, a federal district court in California found that the United States Forest Service had bypassed required environmental reviews and provisions under the Endangered Species Act in its overhaul of the management rules, including changes in logging limits, for its national forests. 18) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Europe Takes Africa’s Fish, and Boatloads of Migrants Follow By SHARON LAFRANIERE nyt, January 14, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/ world/africa/14fishing.html?pagewanted=print KAYAR, Senegal — Ale Nodye, the son and grandson of fishermen in this northern Senegalese village, said that for the past six years he netted barely enough fish to buy fuel for his boat. So he jumped at the chance for a new beginning. He volunteered to captain a wooden canoe full of 87 Africans to the Canary Islands in the hopes of making their way illegally to Europe. The 2006 voyage ended badly. He and his passengers were arrested and deported. His cousin died on a similar mission not long afterward. Many scientists agree. A vast flotilla of industrial trawlers from the European Union, China, Russia and elsewhere, together with an abundance of local boats, have so thoroughly scoured northwest Africa’s ocean floor that major fish populations are collapsing. That has crippled coastal economies and added to the surge of illegal migrants who brave the high seas in wooden pirogues hoping to reach Europe. While reasons for immigration are as varied as fish species, Europe’s lure has clearly intensified as northwest Africa’s fish population has dwindled. Last year roughly 31,000 Africans tried to reach the Canary Islands, a prime transit point to Europe, in more than 900 boats. About 6,000 died or disappeared, according to one estimate cited by the United Nations. The region’s governments bear much of the blame for their fisheries’ decline. Many have allowed a desire for money from foreign fleets to override concern about the long-term health of their fisheries. Illegal fishermen are notoriously common; efforts to control fishing, rare. “As Europe has sought to manage its fisheries and to limit its fishing, what we’ve done is to export the overfishing problem elsewhere, particularly to Africa,” said Steve Trent, executive director of the Environmental Justice Foundation, a London-based research group. Overfishing is hardly limited to African waters. Worldwide, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 75 percent of fish stocks are overfished or fished to their maximum. But in a poor region like northwest Africa, the consequences are particularly stark. The coastal stock of bottom-dwelling fish is just a quarter of what it was 25 years ago, studies show. Already, scientists say, the sea’s ecological balance has shifted as species lower on the food chain replace some above them. In Mauritania, lobsters vanished years ago. The catch of octopus — now the most valuable species — is four-fifths of what it should be if it were not overexploited. A 2002 report by the European Commission found that the most marketable fish species off the coast of Senegal were close to collapse — essentially sliding toward extinction. “The sea is being emptied,” said Moctar Ba, a consultant who once led scientific research programs for Mauritania and West Africa. In a region where at least 200,000 people depend on the sea for their livelihoods, local investments in fishing industries are drying up with the fish stocks.
'Only 50 years left' for sea fish, bbc, 2 November 2006 19) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. The climate threat to Japanese rice By Chris Hogg BBC News, Tokyo, 12, 29, 07 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7148662.stm In Japan government scientists are trying to find ways to reduce the impact of global warming on the country's rice crop. There are fears that the extremes of temperature that some researchers are predicting could affect both the yield and the quality of rice, a staple of the Japanese diet. Flowering grain crops like maize, wheat and rice are particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature. Rice is believed to have been cultivated in Japan for more than 2,500 years. Although people are eating less than they used to, on average each person here still eats more than a kilogramme a week. Japan is getting warmer. In the last decade or so the country's annual average temperature has been between 0.2 and one degree higher than the average recorded in the last 30 years of the 20th Century. Research being carried out by Japanese government scientists suggests that if this trend continues, rice yields and quality could suffer. "Global warming can affect rice in many ways," says Toshihiro Hasagawa, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences near Tokyo. "The plant itself can be very sensitive to temperature at any time of the growth stages. But the most devastating effect can be seen in the late stage of the rice growth." The pollination stage for rice can last as little as an hour. That is why extremes of heat can do such damage. Experiments carried out in controlled conditions in laboratories suggest that if it is warmer than 36C pollination fails. 20) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Green ships in deadly duel with whalers A perilous three-way hunt is under way in the icy Southern Ocean as rival eco-warriors pursue a Japanese fleet Robin McKie, science editor The Observer, Sunday January 13 2008 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/ jan/13/whaling.antarctica?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront A deadly game of marine chess began in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica yesterday after environmentalists closed in on a Japanese fleet that has been sent to kill 1,000 whales. After a 10-day search, contact with the Japanese fleet was made at 2.30am yesterday when the Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza, picked up the Japanese ships' distinctive echoes on its radar. 'We are now chasing the fleet's mother ship, the Nisshin Maru, at about 15 knots,' Greenpeace's Sara Holden told The Observer from the Esperanza. 'In turn, we are being followed by one of the fleet's catcher vessels. The weather is clear at present, but we have run into banks of fog, and of course there are icebergs in these waters.' The Esperanza's crew has pledged to harry the Japanese fleet and block any attempts to harpoon the minke and fin whales it has been sent to catch for what they claim is 'scientific research'. The cat-and-mouse chase in the Southern Ocean has been further confused because a separate group of activists, who have promised to ram ships trying to catch whales, is also closing in on the whalers, raising fears that the battle between the Japanese fleet and green groups - now in its third year - could lead to loss of life this time. 'We are not down here to protest,' said Paul Watson, of the militant group Sea Shepherd International. 'We are here to stop them.' Last year Watson's ship, Steve Irwin, named after the Australian conservationist, collided with a Japanese whaling vessel, although no serious damage was done to either craft. The Japanese have branded Watson an 'eco-terrorist'. However, Greenpeace has refused to co-operate with Sea Shepherd or give away the co-ordinates of the Japanese fleet, despite pleas by Watson that the two groups should join together to fight the whalers. 'We have always pledged to take a non-violent approach to saving the whale,' said Holden. 'We are not going to compromise on those ideals and we are not going to help people who have said they will use violence. We are here to save the whale, not put the lives of whalers at risk.' Watson yesterday promised that his spies within Greenpeace would soon provide him with the location of the Japanese fleet. 'We have our sources in Greenpeace. There are quite a few disgruntled Greenpeacers who are opposed to its policy of non-cooperation. They are being very helpful.' Last night there were still no signs that Sea Shepherd was close to the Japanese. Esperanza is carrying 35 Greenpeace activists, four inflatable boats and a large amount of fuel, enough to maintain its pursuit for several weeks, it is claimed. 'The Japanese cannot hunt whales while they are running from us, so if we keep up our pursuit we can stop them killing whales for as long as our fuel lasts,' added Holden. 'Morale is very good on board. Things are very upbeat now that we are after the Japanese fleet.' 21) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Land loss threatens food safety By Wu Jiao (China Daily) Updated: 2007-12-26 06:54 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-12/26/content_6348004.htm The country needs at least 120 million hectares of arable land to grow 700 million tons of grains required to feed its people, he said. But industrial wastes, expanding deserts and salinization have left 6 million hectares non-cultivable. What's more, only 40 percent of the country's 133 million hectares of farmlands have proper irrigation facilities and weather conditions for growing crops, Xu said. Illegal acquisition of arable land by grassroots governments poses another threat, he said. The country is caught between limited supply of and an unending hunger for land; hence it can meet only half of its annual demand for land needed for industrial construction and infrastructure development. "Given the growing population and fast industrialization and urbanization, illegal land acquisition will probably continue," Xu said. The government's minimum requirement for stable arable land is 120 million hectares, and the availability of only 121.8 million hectares makes it a "very demanding task to achieve the goal" because of variable factors such as droughts and floods, he said. Quality arable land, which accounts for only a third of the total, is found mainly in the southeastern parts of the country. But again the demand for industrial and commercial land in that region is very high. Per capita arable land in six provinces and municipalities, including Guangdong and Fujian, and Beijing, has already dropped to below 0.016 hectares, which according to the UN is the minimum needed for food safety. 22) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. Parasites in Fish Farms Threaten Salmon, Researchers Say By CORNELIA DEAN NYT, December 13, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/science/13cnd-salmon.html Parasites that breed in fish farms kill so many juvenile wild salmon that they threaten the survival of fish populations in some rivers and streams, Canadian researchers are reporting. The researchers studied pink salmon in an area north of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. But they said their findings, and earlier studies of the effects of farm-borne parasites on wild salmon, are so damning that they challenge the practice of net-pen aquaculture over all. In these farms, fish grow in anchored underwater cages that function as feedlots. The parasitic sea lice prey on juvenile wild salmon when they swim past these fish pens on their way from inland rivers to the ocean. The researchers, from the University of Alberta and elsewhere, are reporting their findings in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. The researchers concede their calculations show juvenile salmon death rates from sea lice infestation can range widely, but said they were typically about 80 percent. At that rate, they calculated that some local populations will be effectively extinct in four salmon generations — about eight years. “If nothing changes, we are going to lose these fish,” said Martin Krkosek, a fisheries ecologist at the University of Alberta who led the work. Ray Hilborn, a fisheries biologist from the University of Washington who was not involved in the study but is familiar with its findings, called the data persuasive and said they raise “serious concerns about proposed aquaculture for other species such as cod, halibut and sablefish.” Sea lice normally occur in the open ocean, where they bite fish and feed on them, creating open lesions that can interfere with the fishes’ osmotic balance with seawater. In nature, juvenile salmon do not ordinarily encounter them until they are large enough to survive a modest infestation. But the parasites proliferate in fish pens, which are typically placed in near-shore areas juvenile fish must traverse on their way to sea. The authors of the new report said their findings show action should be taken quickly. It might take 10 salmon generations to accumulate large sets of data on the effects of farm-related parasite infestations, they said in their report, and that “greatly exceeds the predicted time to extinction.” Previous page: Page 147 Next page: Page 149 Contact Us: Committeefordemocracy.org Today's Headlines
The Global Warming Future Is Now 1] Himalayan glaciers in full retreat 2] Eight years? Man has already irrevockably changed earth's seasons 3] Warming driving species north 3b] Humans bad for animals 4] Hansen: Past the tipping point 5] 2007 one of warmest on record 6] oceans warming, sea ice melting 7] Dengue, tropical diseases spreading 8] Global warming threatening corals 9] Global warming accelerates smog formation Freak Weather around the World 10] Iran, afghanistan, and pakistan: snow in the deserts 11] Freak tropical storm, tornadoes, hit mid west 12] Atlanta gets a short break: rain The Power of Political Bribery 13] Bush climate program drags its feet, has climate research satellites stripped 14] Fed judge upholds ca auto emissions rules 15] And Bush bats them down: EPA rejects ca waiver. (Big Oil vs. democracy. We Lose, again.) 16] Ca sues EPA for emissions waiver 17] Political thieves busted trying to steal our last forests: New forest "rules" withdrawn Food Shortages, and more coming 18] World fish stocks collaspe: africa feeling it first 19] Rice yeilds very sensitive to warming 20] Greenpeace and sea shepard on jap whalers in antartic waters 21] China at minimum arable land for food safety 22] Fish farms threaten salmon with extinction |