Category: Climate chaos

Studies showing Arctic sea ice was melting faster than before removed one of the main reasons advanced by global warming sceptics, Associated Press reported on Wednesday, 13 September.

Coherent picture occurring: Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, said of the two National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) studies: "I hate to say we told you so – but we told you so. We’re starting to see a much more coherent and firm picture occurring."

Fence-sitter five years ago: Serreze said only five years ago he was "a fence-sitter" on the issue of whether man-made global warming was happening and a threat, but he said recent evidence in the Arctic had convinced him.

Record shrinking of summer sea ice in 2005: He said summer sea ice had also dramatically melted and shrunk over the years, setting a record low last year. This year’s measurements were not as bad, but would be close to the record.

Large mass of water inside ice patch: Serreze said that equally disturbing as the summer sea ice melt was a large mass of water – melted sea ice – in the interior of a giant patch of ice north of Alaska.

Water about the size of Maryland: He said it was called a polynya, and while these showed up from time to time, this one was large –about the size of the state of Maryland – and in an unexpected place.

“Never seen anything like this before”: "I for one, after having studied this for 20 years, have never seen anything like this before," he said.

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 14 September, 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Erisk Net, 18/9/2006

Environmentalists contend that shrinking polar ice due to global warming may lead to the disappearance of polar bears before the end of the century, according to an article in The Australian (14/6/2006, p.8).

Petition for polar bear protection: In February 2005, the Centre for Biological Diversity of Joshua Tree, California, Petitioned the Federal Government to list polar bears as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Bears resort to cannabalism: Cannibalism demonstrates the effect on bears, lead author of the petition, Kassic Siegal, said. "It shows in a really graphic way how severe the problem of global warming is for polar bears." Researchers discovered the first kill in January 2004. A male bear had pounced on a den, killed a female and dragged it 75m away, where it ate part of the carcass. Females are about half the size of males.

Killer bear forces way in: "In the face of the den’s outer wall were deep impressions of where the predatory bear had pounded its forepaws to collapse the den roof, just as polar bears collapse the snow over ringed seal lairs," the paper said. f/t/l

Study soon in print: The predation study was published in an online version of the journal Polar Biology on April 27 and Dr Steven Amstrup of the US Geological Survey Alaska Science Centre said print publication would follow.

The Australian, 14/6/2006, p. 8

Source: Erisk Net  

The new conservative government in Canada has cut spending on addressing climate change and labelled its existing targets as "unrealistic". This decision was announced at the same time as a new report outlined ways in which the government could acheive its existing targets using bioenergy. … more 

<Reference: Digest of latest
news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 22 February
2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn Germany. Phone: (49-228)
815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int.
http://www.unfccc.int

Erisk Net, 24/2/2006

Tremendous growth: “The carbon market is going very well. We’ve
seen tremendous growth this year,” said Henrik Hasselknippe, senior
analyst at Point Carbon, a firm that monitored the fast-growing
business in carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution.

Worth $US 40.2 billion a year by 2010: Trading in CO2 was one of
the world’s fastest-growing markets – and according to Point Carbon’s
estimates, would be worth as much as 34 billion euros ($US40.2 billion)
a year by the end of this decade.

Trading was 800 million tonnes in 2005: In 2004, the global
volume of trade in CO2 was 94 million tonnes. In 2005, it rose to 800
million tonnes. In January 2006 alone, the figure was more than 262
million tonnes for spot trading among European players alone.

Price up from $US9 a tonne to $US31 a tonne in past year: A year
ago, a tonne of CO2 sold for 7-8 euros ($US8-9) on the spot market.
Last Friday, a tonne was changing hands at more than 26 euros ($US31) –
a huge profit for anyone who had the foresight to buy futures before
the Kyoto Protocol took effect.

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate
Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change
Control (UNFCCC). 15 February 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153
Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999.
Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Reference: Media Release of Ian Macfarlane, Minister for Industry,
Tourism and Resources, 1 February 2006. Contact: Kirsty Boazman, 02
6277 7580, 0412 171 444. Email: kirsty.boazman@industry.gov.au

http://www.industry.gov.au

Erisk Net, 2/2/2006