Archive for the 'Climate Change' Category
Engineers indispensable to our prosperity in a changing climate
April 20th, 2012 by University of Leicester
Professor Julia King (left), Vice-Chancellor of Aston University, keynote speaker at the Engineering Professors' Council's annual congress at the University of Leicester on April 17 with Congress organiser Professor Helen Atkinson, head of Mechanics and Materials Group in the University of Leicester's Engineering Department (click image to expand - image courtesy of University of Leicester)
Professor Julia King, Vice-Chancellor of Aston University, gave the keynote lecture at the Engineering Professors’ Council‘s annual congress at the University of Leicester on 17 April 2012.
She explained that the UK’s task of reducing emissions will contribute to a surge in engineering jobs through ‘green growth’
Her lecture, “Climate Change, Green Growth, Opportunities for Engineering and Manufacturing” examined how the UK Government’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 will create new opportunities for engineering research and development. Continue reading
Consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions reporting
April 18th, 2012 by WWF
WWF has said that reporting of consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions should sit alongside, but certainly not replace, the existing approach to measuring emissions.
Dr Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK, commenting on the Energy and Climate Change Committee’s report on Consumption-based emissions reporting said that the UK has “a huge responsibility to show leadership” on the issue, arguing that it is “not credible for the UK to claim progress towards a sustainable, green economy” unless the impacts of both UK territorial and consumption emissions were addressed together.
(click on report cover to download)
Need green agenda for progressive economy & competitive advantage
April 18th, 2012 by KPMG
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg visited KMPG offices recently to launch his ‘green growth‘ initiative.
Mr. Clegg made it clear that he regards ‘green’ as a source of competitive advantage. It is not a handicap or an extra cost that will hold us back. Green technology properly embraced can help both businesses to make and consumers to save money. There are a number of government initiatives under way to help make that happen, with a particular focus on consumer households of modest means.
Mr Clegg referred to the importance of “natural capital”. He will be representing the UK at the Rio+20 summit in the summer where, he said, he will be “pushing for greater global protections for our natural assets.” This is a really important area. We have heard recently, for example, about the danger to bees and the cost to farmers if they have to pollinate their crops without them. Continue reading
Many major UK businesses not prepared for climate change
March 29th, 2012 by DEFRA
(click on cover to download report)
Less than half of major UK companies have plans in place to protect them from climate change even though over 80% of businesses say climate change is a substantial risk to them, new research commissioned by Defra has found.
Environment Minister Lord Taylor has today called on investors and shareholders to keep the pressure on their business interests to prepare for climate change so they can achieve long-term growth.
The research, carried out on behalf of Defra by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), found that while 80% of FTSE 100 companies surveyed identified substantial risks to their business from climate change, only 46% said they have included adaptation plans in their business strategies. Continue reading
The Climate Change hoax
March 29th, 2012 by Andrew J. Gunther and James J. McCarthy
Dr. Andrew J. Gunther is Executive Director of the Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration in Oakland, California.
James J. McCarthy is Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard University.
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We are scientists who agree with critics such as US Senator James Inhofe, Republican from Oklahoma, that there is a climate change “hoax” being perpetrated on the American people.
We just don’t agree on what the hoax is and who is being fooled.
Senator Inhofe and his associates want us to believe that the science of climate change is the contrived “hoax.”
Their claims cannot withstand even the most cursory scrutiny.
Does this “hoax” date back to 1896, when Nobel Laureate Svante Arrhenius presented his findings that human activities releasing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere could change Earth’s climate? Continue reading
Climate change causing increasing number of extreme weather events
March 25th, 2012 by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
The past decade has been one of unprecedented weather extremes. Scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany argue that the high incidence of extremes is not merely accidental.
From the many single events a pattern emerges. At least for extreme rainfall and heat waves the link with human-caused global warming is clear, the scientists show in a new analysis of scientific evidence in the journal Nature Climate Change. Less clear is the link between warming and storms, despite the observed increase in the intensity of hurricanes.
In 2011 alone, the US was hit by 14 extreme weather events which caused damages exceeding one billion dollars each – in several states the months of January to October were the wettest ever recorded.
New EU on-line tool to help adapt to climate change
March 25th, 2012 by European Commission
The European Climate Adaptation Platform (CLIMATE-ADAPT), an interactive web-based tool on adaptation to climate change, went online on the 23 March 2012 at the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen.
Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, joined Ida Auken, Denmark’s Minister for the Environment, and the EEA’s Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade for the launch.
The European Climate Adaptation Platform is a publicly accessible web-based platform designed to support policy-makers at EU, national, regional and local levels in the development of climate change adaptation measures and policies. Adaptation means anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate action to prevent or minimise the damage they can cause. Continue reading
WMO reports that last decade saw climate changing more rapidly
March 24th, 2012 by World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization’s Annual Statement on the Status of the Global Climate said that 2011 was the 11th warmest since records began in 1850.
It confirmed preliminary findings that 2011 was the warmest year on record with a La Niña, which has a cooling influence.
Globally-averaged temperatures in 2011 were estimated to be 0.40° Centigrade above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14°C.
Precipitation extremes, many of them associated with one of the strongest La Niña events of the last 60 years, had major impacts on the world.
Significant flooding occurred on all continents, whilst major droughts affected parts of east Africa and North America.
Arctic sea ice extent fell to near record-low levels. Continue reading
Renewable energy use not reducing fossil energy use by same amount
March 23rd, 2012 by University of Oregon
Technology alone won’t help the world turn away from fossil fuel-based energy sources, says University of Oregon sociologist Richard York.
In the paper, Do alternative energy sources displace fossil fuels? published in the journal Nature Climate Change, York argues for a shift in political and economic policies to embrace the concept that continued growth in energy consumption is not sustainable.
Many nations, including the United States, are actively pursuing technological advances to reduce the use of fossil fuels to potentially mitigate human contributions to climate-change.
The approach of the International Panel on Climate Change assumes alternative energy sources — nuclear, wind and hydro — will equally displace fossil fuel consumption. This approach, York argues, ignores “the complexity of human behaviour.” Continue reading
Planet under Pressure Conference on-line from 26 to 29 March 2012
March 23rd, 2012 by Events
(click image to go to Planet under Pressure 2012 website)
While 2,500 specialists gather in London from the Planet under Press Conference from 26 to 29 March 2012 to present the latest scientific knowledge on the state of the planet and potential solutions for a sustainable world, science centers and museums worldwide will hold 150 public events relating to the Planet Under Pressure conference and the Rio+20 Summit in June.
Events will take place in North and South America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe and will give the public a snapshot of the state of the planet and scientific concern in advance of the UN Rio+20 Summit.
What’s more, via live web streaming, email and twitter, participants will be able to follow the conference live from all over the world and can interact with the speakers in London in real time. Continue reading
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