Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
September 27th 2011. Earth Overshoot Day. We are now operating in overdraft in our use of the natural world.
Date added: 27 September, 2011
From an ecological standpoint, we have effectively spent our annual salary, with a quarter of the year still to go. Global Footprint Network’s preliminary 2011 calculations show we're using resources at a rate it would take between 1.2 and 1.5 planets to sustainably support. If we carry on the course estimated by moderate UN projections for increasing population and consumption, by well before 2050 we will need the capacity of two Earths to meet our level of demand.
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Cambridge Econometrics study shows the UK missing carbon targets for years, while aviation emissions grow
Date added: 21 September, 2011
The Cambridge Econometrics website contains a lot of detail about anticipated future UK carbon emissions. The previous CO2 reduction goal - a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions between 1990 and 2010 - has been decisively missed despite the recession. On current policies the UK is set to miss the carbon budget targets narrowly in the first two budget periods but by a wider margin in the 2018-22 and especially the 2023-27 periods. Aviation emissions continue to grow in each budget period.
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Globally June the 7th hottest and May the 10th hottest on record
Date added: 10 August, 2011
NOAA figures show that globally the combined land and ocean temperature in June
was the 7th warmest on record, and in May it was the 10th warmest. There are no
El Nino or La Nina conditions at present. La Niña ended during May 2011. The
first half of 2011 (January–June) was the 11th warmest on record for the combined
global land and ocean surface temperature.
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Carbon offsets near record low, worst performing commodity
Date added: 6 August, 2011
Carbon offsets have neared all-time lows. A worsening global economic outlook has dented prices for emissions permits which
depend on a robust economy belching greenhouse gases into the air. Carbon offsets have fared uniquely badly because a UN climate panel continues
to print new offsets, regardless of a widening glut in emissions permits in the
main demand market, the European Union's carbon market. The financial crisis has left a global oversupply.
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Russia may lose 30% of permafrost by 2050 – releasing immense amounts of methane
Date added: 1 August, 2011
Russia's vast permafrost areas (over 60% of Russia) may shrink by 30% by 2050
due to global warming. "In the next 25 to 30 years, the area of permafrost in Russia may shrink by 10-18
percent," the head of the ministry's disaster monitoring department Andrei Bolov
told the RIA Novosti news agency. This thawing will set off another problem because of the release of huge amounts of methane
currently trapped in the frozen soil.
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Arctic sea cover lowest ever for July and shrinking at record pace
Date added: 21 July, 2011
Sea ice in the Arctic is melting at a record pace this year, suggesting warming at the north pole is
speeding up and a largely ice-free Arctic can be expected in summer months within
30 years. The area of the Arctic ocean partly covered in ice is now, mid July, about 8.5m
sq kilometres – lower than the previous record low set in 2007 – according to
US satellite monitoreing. New data also shows that the thickness of Arctic ice this year is the lowest on record.
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Shipping becomes first industry with global climate standard
Date added: 20 July, 2011
Shipping has become the first industry to agree a global CO2reduction strategy.
This month’s vote at the IMO approved the establishment of an Energy Efficiency
Design Index for new ships built after 2013. Though welcome, this cannot be seen
as a solution on its own, especially as the EEDI will take many years to be truly
effective. After 2013 ships will have to meet a minimum level of energy efficiency and these will
strengthen over time.
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Australia’s carbon-reduction scheme – Airlines predict fares will rise
Date added: 10 July, 2011
The Australian government has unveiled ambitious plans to tackle climate change,
taxing CO2 emissions from the country's worst polluters. From July next year
500 companies would pay $23 (£15) a tonne for their CO2 emissions in the largest
emissions trading scheme outside Europe. Airlines are complaining they will pay
the tax indirectly through a rise in an existing aviation fuel excise, though
fuel for international flights will be excluded.
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Climate change will increase threat of war, Chris Huhne to warn
Date added: 7 July, 2011
Climate change will lead to an increased threat of wars, violence and military
action against the UK, and risks reversing the progress of civilisation, according
to the energy and climate secretary Chris Huhne, in his strongest warning yet
that the lack of progress on greenhouse gas emission cuts would damage the UK's
national interests. Climate change is a threat multiplier. It will make unstable states more unstable,
poor nations poorer, conflict more likely.
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Lobby fury as MEPs trash CO2 emissions cut – EU to stick with 20% cut, not 30%, by 2020
Date added: 6 July, 2011
A lobbying row has broken out as the European Parliament decisively rejected
increasing the EU's 2020 CO2 emissions reduction target from 20% to 30%, on 1990
levels. The Parliament voted down a draft resolution after it was watered down by an
amendment. It appears the vote was distorted by undemocratic lobbyists with heavy lobbying from industry (BusinessEurope and Eurofer). The vote, postponed from last month, saw a majority of 347-258 against.
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