International Climate Change News from http://climatechangecdn.blogspot.com

Obama to regulate 'pollutant' CO2

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:39:28 -0700

'Disproportionate impacts'

In 2007, the Supreme Court instructed the agency to review the evidence on climate change with a view to reconsidering its stance on the possible threats of climate change.

In the endangerment finding, the EPA now cites a number of impacts that it believes may impact significantly on US citizens, including:

* an increased risk of droughts and floods
* sea level rise
* more intense storms and heatwaves
* harm to water supplies, agriculture and wildlife

Ms Jackson concluded that these impacts would fall disproportionately on people who were poor or in ill health, and on indigenous groups.

The EPA quoted a 2007 report by a group of retired generals and admirals who said that climate change presented "national security challenges" for the US.

Environmental groups said this was the latest sign that the Obama administration is taking a very different line on climate change from its predecessor.

"This reclaims the US role on the international stage as a leader," said Phyllis Cuttino, director of the US global warming programme at the Pew Environment Group in Washington DC.

"The EPA's next step will probably be to grant the 'California waiver', which would allow states to restrict tailpipe emissions, and that we expect to happen very soon," she told BBC News.

Under the Bush administration, the agency denied California the right to set targets for vehicle efficiency, for which it needed a waiver from federal law.

At least 15 states plan to follow California's lead.

The EPA's decision now goes out to public consultation. The agency says it will "conduct an appropriate process and consider stakeholder input" before imposing restrictions on any part of the economy.

The endangerment finding also empowers the EPA to regulate the other five greenhouse gases included in the Kyoto Protocol - methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride.

Tags: ClimateChangeNewsInt

Posted by: dentarthurdent

G20 forgets the environment: Monbiot

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:46:00 -0700

Climate breakdown, peak oil and resource depletion will all dwarf the current financial crisis, in both financial and humanitarian terms. But, just as they did with the banks, the G20 leaders appear to have decided to deal with these problems only when they have to - in other words, when it's too late. They persuade themselves that getting the economy back to where it was - infinite growth on a finite planet - can somehow be reconciled with the pledge "to address the threat of irreversible climate change".

Next time this magical thinking fails, there'll be no chance of a bail-out.

Tags: ClimateChangeNewsInt

Posted by: dentarthurdent

World leaders say green thinking can help global economy

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:37:45 -0800

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

"We must decide to put a price on carbon," said Al Gore, the former US vice president, adding that President Barack Obama would play a positive role in combating climate change. "He is pushing hard for dramatic and bold moves in the right direction," said Gore, noting that the House of Representatives had passed a stimulus bill, "the largest component of which is a green stimulus." "We must appreciate the magnitude of change in United State's leadership," said Gore.

Tags: ClimateChangeNewsInt

Posted by: dentarthurdent

Water conservation is storing up health problems - environment - 29 January 2009 - New Scientist

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:35:43 -0800

Just cover your rain barrel or reservoir with a bug screen! As for lead, test your tap water, and use a filter if you need to.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Doing your bit to conserve water supplies could be detrimental to your health, new research suggests. In Australia, water-restrictions in response to drought have forced people to collect rain in tanks, but this has been predicted to boost the spread of the mosquitoes that carry dengue fever. Meanwhile in the US, efforts to limit the use of household water mean that water is stagnating in pipes, allowing bacteria to multiply and possibly leading to lead poisoning, according to a recent report.

Tags: ClimateChangeNewsInt

Posted by: dentarthurdent

Parched: Australia faces collapse as climate change kicks in

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:16:54 -0800

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Leaves are falling off trees in the height of summer, railway tracks are buckling, and people are retiring to their beds with deep-frozen hot-water bottles, as much of Australia swelters in its worst-ever heatwave. On Friday, Melbourne thermometers topped 43C (109.4F) on a third successive day for the first time on record, while even normally mild Tasmania suffered its second-hottest day in a row, as temperatures reached 42.2C. Two days before, Adelaide hit a staggering 45.6C. After a weekend respite, more records are expected to be broken this week. Ministers are blaming the heat – which follows a record drought – on global warming. Experts worry that Australia, which emits more carbon dioxide per head than any nation on earth, may also be the first to implode under the impact of climate change. At times last week it seemed as if that was happening already. Chaos ruled in Melbourne on Friday after an electricity substation exploded, shutting down the city's entire train service, trapping people in lifts, and blocking roads as traffic lights failed. Half a million homes and businesses were blacked out, and patients were turned away from hospitals. More than 20 people have died from the heat, mainly in Adelaide. Trees in Melbourne's parks are dropping leaves to survive, and residents at one of the city's nursing homes have started putting their clothes in the freezer. "All of this is consistent with climate change, and with what scientists told us would happen," said climate change minister Penny Wong. Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, is regarded as highly vulnerable. A study by the country's blue-chip Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation identified its ecosystems as "potentially the most fragile" on earth in the face of the threat.

Tags: ClimateChangeNewsInt

Posted by: dentarthurdent