 Latest News
Danger for the world's coral reefs
Recent research has shown that the world’s coral reefs could dissolve away by the end of the century as oceans become more acidic, as a result of global warming. This was explained by Dr Silverman at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego last week.
Reef building corals are highly sensitive to acidity and temperature of the seawater in which they grow and scientists predict when the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reaches twice its pre-industrial level (560ppm), the reefs will stop growing and start disintegrating. Increased acid levels will prevent the corals from extracting minerals from the seawater to build their hard skeletons.
Coral depend on algae to survive, helping to provide its vibrant colour and providing the reef with energy to survive. Dr Simon Donner also explained at the meeting that increased ocean temperature will make reefs more susceptible to bleaching as a result of the loss of algae in the oceans. The breakdown of this association will mean the reef will turn white and will be deprived of energy, ultimately causing it to die. 30 years ago bleaching was rare, however is common in today’s oceans. In 2006, bleaching occurred in the world’s largest coral reef system in the world – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Scientists say even if we froze all of our emissions today, the planet still has warming left in it and would therefore still make bleaching dangerously frequent.
More Information
Could Windpower Revive the British manufacturing Industry?
With UK unemployment still standing at 2.5 million, there is a real potential for the push towards renewable energy development to create thousands of jobs in the most deprived areas.
Even with the economy showing the first signs of recovery, we can’t let this opportunity pass us by. With the green light being given to developers to begin planning a massive expansion of wind power in the North Sea, there is huge potential to generate new jobs and income domestically.
Prominent political figures have highlighted that regenerating disused shipyards in order to support the expansion of the UKs installed capacity of wind energy can create green jobs in some of the more deprived areas of our country.
Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has outlined and initiative to convert old shipyards into turbine production centre’s, by providing a £400m redevelopment fund. Hull, Middleborough, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow would then be able to bid for funding to become one of the new ports that the coming expansion of offshore wind will need. It is estimated that this could lead to the creation of 57,000 jobs in areas that have been hit hard by the recent economic downturn.
The major economic opportunities we have in regards to combating climate change are often overlooked. In the run up to the Copenhagen climate change conference the majority of the discussions were about the dangerous impacts of rising global temperatures, but very little thought was given to the huge potential for wind power to reinvigorate the British manufacturing sector. This is most apparent at the new Mabey Bridge turbine construction facility in Wales which promises to create 240 skilled jobs.
One country which more than understands the potential of wind energy manufacturing is China, where funding for its transition to a low carbon economy stands at $500bn – more than half of the UK’s total budget. They have already overtaken the US in the number of new turbines being built and with an unwritten rule that at least 70% of installed turbines must be sourced from Chinese manufacturers guarantees’ that China stay at the forefront of the wind energy industry.
While it is important to highlight the enormous potential, it is up to the government to create a demand for turbines. It is no secret that planning approvals for windfarms are few and far between with only one in four applications being passed at the first opportunity.
Major Emitters Pledge To Cut Emissions
One month after the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, the UN has received formal pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions from 55 out of 194 countries ahead of the deadline for the Copenhagen Accord, which was the end of January. This included the major emitters, United States and China, which account for nearly 80% of global emissions from energy use. This can be seen as a major improvement compared to just 12 months ago as there now appears to be world-wide recognition that cutting emissions and having a low carbon economy is the right way to do things and the Copenhagen Accord will support the world in achieving this.
However warnings have suggested that levels of cuts which have been promised so far will not be sufficient to meet the Copenhagen Accord targets of limiting the rise in global temperatures by 2˚C above pre-industrial levels. Yvo de Boen (Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) said that "Greater ambition was required to meet the scale of the challenge", however "pledges are signals of willingness to move negotiations towards a successful conclusion".
There were little surprises as most pledges that were received, reiterate previous commitments. For example the US restates Barak Obama’s pledge to cut carbon emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. At present legislation is bogged down in Senate, however if passed targets include 30% reduction by 2025, 42% by 2030 and 83% by 2050.
Likewise, China reiterated their intention to reduce carbon emissions by 40-45% by 2020 compared to 2005 levels and the EU have stated that they will reduce emissions by 30%, but only if other major emitters make comparable reductions. Here in the UK, Ed Miliband (Energy and Climate Change Secretary) said that "we would continue to push for bold cuts in emissions" as well as a "legally binding climate change treaty under the UN".
The Impact of Global Temperature Rise
The end of the Copenhagen Climate Summit did not give the anticipated results that the world was hoping for. World leaders failed to reach a global agreement that would replace the Kyoto Protocol and help tackle climate change. As a result from Copenhagen’s failure, no specific measurements that would oblige the world’s governments to take immediate action on climate change, were announced. Despite this failure, the scientific case for keeping temperature rises to no more than 2oC was recognized by the majority of the countries.
The UK Met Office recently published a map illustrating the consequences of allowing the temperature to rise 2oC above pre-industrial levels, based on a similar map that the UK government and Met Office published in October 2009. Using scientific data the Met Office created a second map showing the impacts of climate change if a 4oC global rise of temperature occurred. These two maps illustrate the great importance of all countries acting together in order to limit the global rise of temperature to no more than 2oC.
As experts point out, limiting the temperature rise to 2oC won’t eliminate the impacts of climate change but it will significantly reduce them. A clear example is the average sea level rise which could reach 80cm if the global temperature rose by 4oC, whereas for a 2oC temperature rise average sea levels would be approximately 40cm.
A huge global effort is required, to suppress the CO2 emissions and prevent temperatures raising above the critical level of 2oC. The world is going to anticipate the next effort from the world’s leaders to reach a climate agreement, but until then, everyone must act within their powers to prevent a catastrophic temperature increase.
The Met Office maps could be found on:
The impact of a global temperature rise of 2 °C (pfd file)
The impact of a global temperature rise of 4 °C (interactive map, requires Flash)
Source: Met Office, www.metoffice.gov.uk
Unusually cold or hot?
The answer to that would depend on where in the world you are at the moment. With temperatures in some areas in the UK colder than the Arctic at -22C, whilst other places in the northern hemisphere are seeing weather that’s unseasonably warm.
The Met Office's Barry Gromett said December and January's cold weather was "within the bounds of natural variability" within a global trend of rising temperatures - in which 2009 is set to be the fifth warmest year on record. Despite temperatures in December which were half the average for that month in the UK, the country experienced another warm year which was 0.6C above the long term average.
"Climate change is likely to give us milder and wetter winters - that's the general theme, but there's always opportunities within that to have colder years."
It is not currently "universally cold" across the northern hemisphere, and while Siberia, the UK and parts of the US were very cold, other areas including Alaska, Canada and the Mediterranean were warmer than usual.
Increasing global temperatures are still a major concern even in colder than usual weather conditions. It becomes ever more important to use and develop cleaner, green technologies to replace traditional fuel sources that are dramatically contributing to Climate Change.
EUROPE UNITES TO BUILD SUPERGRID
The governments of the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, theNetherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden and Ireland are looking to formally draw upplans to create a renewables ‘supergrid’.
It would connect turbines in England and those off thewind-lashed north coast of Scotland with Germany's vast arrays of solar panels,and join the power of waves crashing on to the Belgian and Danish coasts withthe hydro-electric dams nestled in Norway's fjords.
"We recognise that the North Sea has huge resources, weare exploiting those in the UK quite intensively at the moment," said theUK's Energy and Climate Change Minister, Lord Hunt.
The network, made up of thousands of kilometres of highlyefficient undersea cables that could cost up to €30bn (£26.5bn), would solveone of the biggest criticisms faced by renewable power – that unpredictableweather means it is unreliable.
With a renewables supergrid, electricity can be suppliedacross the continent from wherever the wind is blowing, the sun is shining orthe waves are crashing.
Renewable energy is much more decentralised and is oftenbuilt in inhospitable places, far from cities. A supergrid in the North Seawould enable a secure and reliable energy supply from renewables by balancingpower across the continent.
Connected to Norway's many hydro-electric power stations, itcould act as a giant 30GW battery for Europe's clean energy, storingelectricity when demand is low and be a major step towards a continent-widesupergrid that could link into the vast potential of solar power farms in NorthAfrica.
"The North Sea grid would be the backbone of the futureEuropean electricity supergrid," states Justin Wilkes of the European WindEnergy Association (EWEA). This supergrid, which has support from scientists atthe commission's Institute for Energy (IE), and political backing from both theFrench president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Gordon Brown, would link huge solarfarms in southern Europe – producing electricity either through photovoltaiccells, or by concentrating the sun's heat to boil water and drive turbines –with marine, geothermal and wind projects elsewhere on the continent.Scientists at the IE have estimated it would require the capture of just 0.3%of the light falling on the Sahara and the deserts of the Middle East to meetall Europe's energy needs.
By autumn, the nine governments involved hope tohave a plan to begin building a high-voltage direct current network within thenext decade. It will be an important step in achieving the European Union'spledge that, by 2020, 20% of its energy will come from renewable sources.
Acidifying Oceans
Acidification of the oceans poses a major threat to marine life, humanity’s food supply, and is a "powerful incentive" to cut carbon emissions.
Ocean chemistry is changing because water absorbs extra carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air; some believe this impact of rising CO2 could be as significant as climate change, though it is rarely discussed at UN climate conventions.
The science has come to prominence only within the last five or six years, but Mr Benn, a prominent UK scientist states that "we know that the increasing concentration CO2 [in the air] is making the oceans more acidic". "It affects marine life, it affects coral, and that in turn could affect the amount of fish in the sea – and a billion people in the word depend on fish for their principal source of protein."
Targets are currently being discussed and endorsed, however stabilising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 or their equivalent to around 450 parts per million (ppm) would prove lethal to much of the world’s coral.
"Unlike global warming, which can manifest itself in nuanced, complex ways, the science of ocean acidification is unambiguous," said Andrew Dickson, a Scripps professor of marine chemistry. "The chemical reactions that take place as increasing amounts of carbon dioxide are introduced to seawater have been established for nearly a century."
This acidification is likely to affect the ability for organisms including molluscs, coral and plankton to form "hard parts" or calcium carbonate. A 2007 study showed that rates of coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef had fallen by 14% since 1990.
Scientists are pushing for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to include ocean acidification during its next major assessment of the Earth’s climate, scheduled for release in 2013.
Copenhagen Climate Summit
From 7th – 18th December the world’s attention will be on Copenhagen where the United Nations Climate Conference is taking place. Environmental ministers and officials from 192 countries are going to discuss and aim to agree the successor to the Kyoto protocol, which runs out in 2012, in a global effort to tackle climate change.
The key issues that are going to be addressed at the Copenhagen summit are:
(1) How much do the industrialized countries need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by?
(2) How much do the major developing countries such as China and India need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by?
(3) How are the developing countries going to be financed in order to act on climate change?
There is a great need from the Copenhagen summit to agree to specific targets on carbon emissions, in order to significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and attempt to limit global warming and its impacts.
Climate change is a global problem and in order to tackle it the whole world needs to be onboard. Key countries, with large contributions to the world’s share of emissions such as the US and China, will play a significant role in the success of the summit.
In the Danish capital, the world has a unique chance to reach an agreement that will open the way for radical measures that the world’s climate demands.
EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET MAY BE LOSING MASS
According to the analysis of data from a gravity-measuring satellite (Grace) the East Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass for the last three years. The giant East Antarctic sheet, unlike the west side,was thought to be stable; the scientists involved say they are surprised with the findings.
Other scientists say ice loss could not yet be pinned on climate change, and uncertainties in the data are large. The Grace satellite has previously shown that the smaller West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are losing mass. These two bodies of ice contain enough water to raise sea levels by about six to seven metres (20ft) each if they melted completely.
It is thought that the melting of the East Antarctic sheet would raise sea levels by more than 50-60metres. Scientists have generally discounted the possibility of this happening because the region is so cold.
The Grace measurements suggest there was no net ice loss between 2002 and 2006.
But since then, East Antarctica has been losing 57 billion tonnes (Gt) per year. "Nevertheless, it awakens us to the fact that the East Antarctic sheet is more dynamic than we thought, and we do need to pay attention to it because its potential for sea level rise is so much greater than in West Antarctica or Greenland."
Dr Chen said that one of his team was currently conducting airborne surveys of one of the regions where mass loss had been detected, hoping to shed some light on the mechanisms involved.
Click here for further information.
DAVIDSTOW SUCCESS
Community Windpower Ltd is delighted and proud to announce that Davidstow Community Windfarm, near Camelford in North Cornwall has been approved by Cornwall Council.
Members of the Strategic Planning Committee last night voted to approve the planning application for the 20 turbine windfarm which will stand within Davidstow Woods and farmland to the south. The windfarm was originally submitted in July 2008 and following months of consultation and determination, Cornwall Council took a positive step forwards in the fight to tackle climate change and promote Cornwall as a leader in sustainability. This decision is in line with the recent Cornwall Council commitment to the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change which commits Cornwall to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the impacts of climate change.
Rob Fryer, Projects Director for Community Windpower Ltd said "This is a fantastic decision and we are delighted that Cornwall Councilors have taken a positive stand to support renewable energy in the region. Davidstow Community Windfarm will be a significant boost to reaching the 2010 renewable energy target set for the county".
Development of Davidstow Community Windfarm will bring the creation of seven jobs, initial investment of £54million to construct the windfarm and a further £1.5million of local investment every year for the lifetime of the windfarm.
The approval of Davidstow Community Windfarm will reinforce Cornwall’s long tradition of utilizing its natural resources and leaves a positive legacy for future generations, maintain Cornwall’s established position at the forefront of the battle against climate change.
Press Statement
 Back
|
