Haroon Siddique and agencies
Guardian Unlimited
Hurricane Felix today made landfall in north-eastern Nicaragua as a category 5 storm with the potential to cause catastrophic damage.
Felix, which had previously been downgraded to category 4, had peak winds of 155mph as it hit land. It marked the first time in recorded history that two maximum-rated storms had come ashore in the same season.
Ahead of the hurricane's arrival, ten of thousands of people on the Miskito coast, which straddles the Honduras-Nicaragua border, took refuge in shelters. Felix was expected to rake northern Honduras before slamming into southern Belize tomorrow and cutting across northern Guatemala and southern Mexico.
Up to 40,000 Hondurans were evacuated to shelters but some 15,000 people were unable to find transportation and were forced to ride out the storm in their homes.
"They couldn't be evacuated because there is no fuel to take them to safe areas," said Carolina Echeverria, an official in the Honduran town of Cabo Gracias a Dios.
Hundreds of tourists were flown to the Honduran mainland from beach and diving resorts on the Bay Islands, and police reported long lines at supermarkets and gas stations in coastal cities as residents stocked up on food, water and fuel.
A Chinook helicopter yesterday evacuated 19 US citizens from Roatan, including tourists and members of a US taskforce visiting the island.
Emergency workers sailed thousands of Miskito Indians out of sparsely populated coastal areas near the border amid fears that their community could be devastated by Hurricane Felix.
The Miskitos formed a British protectorate until the 19th century. Some 35,000 live in Honduras, and more than 100,000 in Nicaragua.
The US national hurricane centre in Miami said Felix could dump up to 30cm of rain in isolated parts of northern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua, possibly bringing flash floods and mudslides.
The hurricane, the second of the Atlantic season after Hurricane Dean, prompted fears of a repeat of 1998, when Hurricane Mitch killed some 10,000 people in Central America.
The Honduras civil protection head, Marco Burgos, said: "We are faced with a very serious threat to lives and property. The most important thing is that people pay heed to the call for evacuation so that we don't have to count bodies later."
The World Food Program said its food stocks in the region could feed 600,000 people for a month.
Meanwhile, off Mexico's Pacific coast, tropical storm Henriette reached hurricane strength on a path to hit the resort-studded tip of the Baja California peninsula today.
Dean, the first storm of the Atlantic season, killed 27 people in the Caribbean and Mexico last month.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
Faster Change Means Bigger Problems
From: Center for International Climate and Environmental Research
OSLO, NORWAY — The debate about what constitutes "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate" has almost exclusively focused on how much the temperature can be allowed to increase. But we have perhaps just as much reason to be concerned about how quickly these changes take place.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aims to avoid what is called "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".
However, there is no guarantee that the level of climate change - how much the temperature increases in the future - is the only thing we should be worried about. How quickly the changes take place can also mean a lot for how serious the consequences will be. This was already acknowledged when the UNFCCC was signed in 1992. It says that we must stabilize the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere within a time period that allows ecosystems to adapt and economic development to continue, and that ensures that food production will not be threatened. This focus on rate of change has, however, not been reflected to any noticeable degree among either scientists or politicians.
There are a few studies that focus on the consequences of the rate of climate change. Most of these are ecological studies. They leave no doubt that the expected rate of change during this century will exceed the ability of many animals and plants to migrate or adapt. Leemans and Eickhout (2004) found that adaptive capacity decreases rapidly with an increasing rate of climate change. Their study finds that five percent of all ecosystems cannot adapt more quickly than 0.1 °C per decade over time. Forests will be among the ecosystems to experience problems first because their ability to migrate to stay within the climate zone they are adapted to is limited. If the rate is 0.3 °C per decade, 15 percent of ecosystems will not be able to adapt. If the rate should exceed 0.4 °C per decade, all ecosystems will be quickly destroyed, opportunistic species will dominate, and the breakdown of biological material will lead to even greater emissions of CO2. This will in turn increase the rate of warming.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average temperature today is increasing by 0.2 °C per decade.
There is also a risk that rapid climate change will increase the likelihood of large and irreversible changes, such as a weakening of the Gulf Stream and melting of the Greenland ice sheets. Rapid change also increases the risk of triggering positive feedback mechanisms that will increase the rate and level of temperature change still more.
We know far less about the consequences of rate of temperature increase than we do about the level. Nevertheless, we know enough to say that if we are to avoid dangerous climate change, then we should also be concerned about how quickly it occurs. This can have important implications for which climate measures we should implement. If we set a long-term climate goal - such as 2 °C - there will be many different emissions paths we could take to reach this goal. But these emissions paths can differ to a relatively large degree with respect to how quickly the changes will take place - especially over the next few decades.
Focusing on the rate of climate change can imply that we should concentrate more on the short-lived greenhouse gases - such as methane and tropospheric ozone - and particles with a warming effect, such as soot (black carbon). It can also imply a greater focus on the medium-term (the next few decades), since the fastest changes could occur around that time.
OSLO, NORWAY — The debate about what constitutes "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate" has almost exclusively focused on how much the temperature can be allowed to increase. But we have perhaps just as much reason to be concerned about how quickly these changes take place.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aims to avoid what is called "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".
However, there is no guarantee that the level of climate change - how much the temperature increases in the future - is the only thing we should be worried about. How quickly the changes take place can also mean a lot for how serious the consequences will be. This was already acknowledged when the UNFCCC was signed in 1992. It says that we must stabilize the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere within a time period that allows ecosystems to adapt and economic development to continue, and that ensures that food production will not be threatened. This focus on rate of change has, however, not been reflected to any noticeable degree among either scientists or politicians.
There are a few studies that focus on the consequences of the rate of climate change. Most of these are ecological studies. They leave no doubt that the expected rate of change during this century will exceed the ability of many animals and plants to migrate or adapt. Leemans and Eickhout (2004) found that adaptive capacity decreases rapidly with an increasing rate of climate change. Their study finds that five percent of all ecosystems cannot adapt more quickly than 0.1 °C per decade over time. Forests will be among the ecosystems to experience problems first because their ability to migrate to stay within the climate zone they are adapted to is limited. If the rate is 0.3 °C per decade, 15 percent of ecosystems will not be able to adapt. If the rate should exceed 0.4 °C per decade, all ecosystems will be quickly destroyed, opportunistic species will dominate, and the breakdown of biological material will lead to even greater emissions of CO2. This will in turn increase the rate of warming.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average temperature today is increasing by 0.2 °C per decade.
There is also a risk that rapid climate change will increase the likelihood of large and irreversible changes, such as a weakening of the Gulf Stream and melting of the Greenland ice sheets. Rapid change also increases the risk of triggering positive feedback mechanisms that will increase the rate and level of temperature change still more.
We know far less about the consequences of rate of temperature increase than we do about the level. Nevertheless, we know enough to say that if we are to avoid dangerous climate change, then we should also be concerned about how quickly it occurs. This can have important implications for which climate measures we should implement. If we set a long-term climate goal - such as 2 °C - there will be many different emissions paths we could take to reach this goal. But these emissions paths can differ to a relatively large degree with respect to how quickly the changes will take place - especially over the next few decades.
Focusing on the rate of climate change can imply that we should concentrate more on the short-lived greenhouse gases - such as methane and tropospheric ozone - and particles with a warming effect, such as soot (black carbon). It can also imply a greater focus on the medium-term (the next few decades), since the fastest changes could occur around that time.
Dutch Build Towering Wind Turbines Out At Sea
From: Alexandra Hudson, Reuters
Published September 3, 2007
IJMUIDEN, Netherlands - There is no shortage of wind in the densely-populated Netherlands but there is a shortage of space and in a nation which likes its houses small and its gardens cosy, opposition to wind farms is immense.
That is why a new Dutch wind farm is being built so far out to sea it is barely visible on the horizon, reducing the visual impact of its 60 turbines to virtually nil whilst at the same time harnessing higher offshore wind speeds.
Offshore wind farms are likely to appear more and more frequently off European coastlines as governments seek to increase their use of renewable energy without angering their citizens by placing giant turbines on their doorsteps.
The 383 million euro ($522.3 million) Q7 wind park development, 14 miles from the Dutch North Sea coast, is the farthest offshore wind park anywhere in the world, and its developers Econcern and Eneco Energie say a further five to 10 such wind parks will likely follow in the next few years.
"Q7 will contribute enough electricity for 125,000 households, but it is also a learning process. We are learning how to build these wind farms, how to organize the supply chain, and how to manage and operate them," said Bernard van Hemert, one of the wind farm's engineering directors.
"Most campaigns against turbines are based around the noise and the visual impact, and these have been reduced by going offshore. It is more expensive to do it here than to do it on land, but we have all agreed we don't have enough space on land," said van Hemert.
Blessed with shallow sandy soils around their coastline, Dutch engineers say the foundations for the turbines can be hammered 82 feet into the ground in just a matter of hours, although there are myriad other challenges.
The proportions are breathtaking. The turbines extend about 320 feet from the ocean, with three sharp narrow blades, each 130 feet long.
It is hoped that when they start rotating in early 2008 they will cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 225,000 tonnes, helping the Dutch to meet a target of 20 percent renewable energy use by 2020.
TRICKY LOGISTICS
The turbines are so massive they can only be transported by sea and there is just one factory in Europe which can weld and construct the 15-foot-diametre piles, which must be first driven into the sea to form the base of the turbines, van Hemert explains.
"It is a huge logistical operation which requires lots of space. There are only a few crane vessels which can handle those huge structures and hammer them down."
"But bringing up the cables is the most challenging for all offshore wind projects."
Expert divers are helping to fit the electrics.
Developers have also had to ensure that the wind park is well away from busy shipping channels.
"Studies in the United Kingdom have shown that there can be some radio interference but in the situation we have here it is completely safe and there is no risk of confusion or reduced visibility for vessels."
Jim Mollet, chairman of a Dutch group campaigning against wind energy acknowledges off-shore wind farms have some benefits over land-based wind turbines.
"They can be a better solution. But the problem is people tend to believe they are an entire solution. We think the vast sums spent on wind farms would be better spent on research and innovation in other energy sources."
Wind farms cannot generate the sheer amounts of energy the continent requires with cost or space efficiency, he added.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
Published September 3, 2007
IJMUIDEN, Netherlands - There is no shortage of wind in the densely-populated Netherlands but there is a shortage of space and in a nation which likes its houses small and its gardens cosy, opposition to wind farms is immense.
That is why a new Dutch wind farm is being built so far out to sea it is barely visible on the horizon, reducing the visual impact of its 60 turbines to virtually nil whilst at the same time harnessing higher offshore wind speeds.
Offshore wind farms are likely to appear more and more frequently off European coastlines as governments seek to increase their use of renewable energy without angering their citizens by placing giant turbines on their doorsteps.
The 383 million euro ($522.3 million) Q7 wind park development, 14 miles from the Dutch North Sea coast, is the farthest offshore wind park anywhere in the world, and its developers Econcern and Eneco Energie say a further five to 10 such wind parks will likely follow in the next few years.
"Q7 will contribute enough electricity for 125,000 households, but it is also a learning process. We are learning how to build these wind farms, how to organize the supply chain, and how to manage and operate them," said Bernard van Hemert, one of the wind farm's engineering directors.
"Most campaigns against turbines are based around the noise and the visual impact, and these have been reduced by going offshore. It is more expensive to do it here than to do it on land, but we have all agreed we don't have enough space on land," said van Hemert.
Blessed with shallow sandy soils around their coastline, Dutch engineers say the foundations for the turbines can be hammered 82 feet into the ground in just a matter of hours, although there are myriad other challenges.
The proportions are breathtaking. The turbines extend about 320 feet from the ocean, with three sharp narrow blades, each 130 feet long.
It is hoped that when they start rotating in early 2008 they will cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 225,000 tonnes, helping the Dutch to meet a target of 20 percent renewable energy use by 2020.
TRICKY LOGISTICS
The turbines are so massive they can only be transported by sea and there is just one factory in Europe which can weld and construct the 15-foot-diametre piles, which must be first driven into the sea to form the base of the turbines, van Hemert explains.
"It is a huge logistical operation which requires lots of space. There are only a few crane vessels which can handle those huge structures and hammer them down."
"But bringing up the cables is the most challenging for all offshore wind projects."
Expert divers are helping to fit the electrics.
Developers have also had to ensure that the wind park is well away from busy shipping channels.
"Studies in the United Kingdom have shown that there can be some radio interference but in the situation we have here it is completely safe and there is no risk of confusion or reduced visibility for vessels."
Jim Mollet, chairman of a Dutch group campaigning against wind energy acknowledges off-shore wind farms have some benefits over land-based wind turbines.
"They can be a better solution. But the problem is people tend to believe they are an entire solution. We think the vast sums spent on wind farms would be better spent on research and innovation in other energy sources."
Wind farms cannot generate the sheer amounts of energy the continent requires with cost or space efficiency, he added.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
APEC Set For World Trade, Climate Change Talks
From: Reuters
SYDNEY - U.S. President George W. Bush hopes to spur momentum for a world trade pact and a global target on climate change at this week's APEC summit in Sydney, but host Australia has warned not to expect binding greenhouse targets.
Organizers anticipate violent demonstrations at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit, which will be attended by 21 leaders including Bush, and are staging the nation's biggest ever security operation.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, who will attend the summit, said on Monday she was hoping for a strong APEC statement in support of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks.
"The APEC ministerials and the summit are critically timed to influence that process with a strong leaders' statement, a strong ministerial statement endorsing negotiations going forward on the basis of those texts," Schwab told Reuters on Monday.
WTO negotiations will resume in Geneva this week to discuss draft texts aimed at breaking the deadlock between developed and developing nations in global trade talks.
But talks on an APEC free trade area was not expected at the Sydney summit, said Australia's APEC ambassador David Spencer, chair of the summit's Concluding Senior Officials Meeting.
"No one thinks that this is an initiative which will be launched any time soon," Spencer told reporters. "So there's no expectation that at this meeting, for example, we will have our leaders launch off into a negotiation."
APEC's economies -- which include the United States, Japan, China and Russia -- account for nearly half of global trade and
56 percent of the world's gross domestic product.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard used the Internet site You-Tube on Monday to sell the APEC summit, ahead of expected protests against global warming and the Iraq war.
"There will be some individuals who want to protest against APEC," said Howard in an address broadcast on You-Tube.
"I simply ask them to stop for a moment and consider that if they really are worried about issues such as poverty, security and climate change, then they should support APEC and not attack it," said Howard.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Howard has made climate change a major issue at APEC, but has ruled out APEC setting binding greenhouse gas reduction targets, preferring instead "aspirational targets" for each nation.
"The big thing about APEC... is that it brings together in a manageable-sized forum... the three biggest polluters in the world -- Russia, America and China," said Howard.
"I believe this year's APEC meeting can make a difference where it matters -- developing ideas and putting the region's full weight behind a truly global response," he said.
"We need to find ways to address the problem while allowing countries like China and Indonesia to continue to grow and prosper," Howard said.
Bush also wants to begin drawing China and India further into the fold of discussions on a global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
"I don't want to single out China, but China has got a major role to play," Bush said in a round-table interview with Asia-Pacific newspapers. "Any agreement without China is not going to be an effective agreement."
Green groups and Australia's Labor opposition say APEC will be a failure if it does not set greenhouse targets.
Australia and the United States are opposed to the Kyoto Protocol, arguing its binding greenhouse targets are flawed as major polluters, like India, are excluded from the protocol.
PROTESTS
Media reports that a manual for violent protests was being circulated by protesters vindicated the major APEC security operation, said authorities.
"If there is anti-social, criminal or violent behavior the police will move in strongly and they will make arrests," said New South Wales state deputy premier John Watkins.
Authorities have erected a 5-km (3-mile) security fence across the central business district (CBD) to isolate the leaders in the Sydney Opera House and nearby hotels. A total of 5,000 police and troops are patrolling the city centre.
The first leader to arrive in Australia is Chinese President Hu Jintao, who lands in Western Australia state on Monday where he is expected to be greeted by a Falung Gong candlelight protest against human rights abuses in China.
Bush arrives in Sydney on Tuesday night and protesters plan a rally at Sydney's Town Hall, with the major APEC protest march scheduled for Saturday, the first day of the leaders summit.
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan in Washington, James Grubel in Canberra, Bill Tarrant in Sydney)
SYDNEY - U.S. President George W. Bush hopes to spur momentum for a world trade pact and a global target on climate change at this week's APEC summit in Sydney, but host Australia has warned not to expect binding greenhouse targets.
Organizers anticipate violent demonstrations at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit, which will be attended by 21 leaders including Bush, and are staging the nation's biggest ever security operation.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, who will attend the summit, said on Monday she was hoping for a strong APEC statement in support of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks.
"The APEC ministerials and the summit are critically timed to influence that process with a strong leaders' statement, a strong ministerial statement endorsing negotiations going forward on the basis of those texts," Schwab told Reuters on Monday.
WTO negotiations will resume in Geneva this week to discuss draft texts aimed at breaking the deadlock between developed and developing nations in global trade talks.
But talks on an APEC free trade area was not expected at the Sydney summit, said Australia's APEC ambassador David Spencer, chair of the summit's Concluding Senior Officials Meeting.
"No one thinks that this is an initiative which will be launched any time soon," Spencer told reporters. "So there's no expectation that at this meeting, for example, we will have our leaders launch off into a negotiation."
APEC's economies -- which include the United States, Japan, China and Russia -- account for nearly half of global trade and
56 percent of the world's gross domestic product.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard used the Internet site You-Tube on Monday to sell the APEC summit, ahead of expected protests against global warming and the Iraq war.
"There will be some individuals who want to protest against APEC," said Howard in an address broadcast on You-Tube.
"I simply ask them to stop for a moment and consider that if they really are worried about issues such as poverty, security and climate change, then they should support APEC and not attack it," said Howard.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Howard has made climate change a major issue at APEC, but has ruled out APEC setting binding greenhouse gas reduction targets, preferring instead "aspirational targets" for each nation.
"The big thing about APEC... is that it brings together in a manageable-sized forum... the three biggest polluters in the world -- Russia, America and China," said Howard.
"I believe this year's APEC meeting can make a difference where it matters -- developing ideas and putting the region's full weight behind a truly global response," he said.
"We need to find ways to address the problem while allowing countries like China and Indonesia to continue to grow and prosper," Howard said.
Bush also wants to begin drawing China and India further into the fold of discussions on a global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
"I don't want to single out China, but China has got a major role to play," Bush said in a round-table interview with Asia-Pacific newspapers. "Any agreement without China is not going to be an effective agreement."
Green groups and Australia's Labor opposition say APEC will be a failure if it does not set greenhouse targets.
Australia and the United States are opposed to the Kyoto Protocol, arguing its binding greenhouse targets are flawed as major polluters, like India, are excluded from the protocol.
PROTESTS
Media reports that a manual for violent protests was being circulated by protesters vindicated the major APEC security operation, said authorities.
"If there is anti-social, criminal or violent behavior the police will move in strongly and they will make arrests," said New South Wales state deputy premier John Watkins.
Authorities have erected a 5-km (3-mile) security fence across the central business district (CBD) to isolate the leaders in the Sydney Opera House and nearby hotels. A total of 5,000 police and troops are patrolling the city centre.
The first leader to arrive in Australia is Chinese President Hu Jintao, who lands in Western Australia state on Monday where he is expected to be greeted by a Falung Gong candlelight protest against human rights abuses in China.
Bush arrives in Sydney on Tuesday night and protesters plan a rally at Sydney's Town Hall, with the major APEC protest march scheduled for Saturday, the first day of the leaders summit.
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan in Washington, James Grubel in Canberra, Bill Tarrant in Sydney)
Talks on climate change impact in Africa
From: DOUG MELLGREN -Associated Press
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Climate change could worsen Africa's struggle to feed itself, but simple steps - a cistern to catch rainwater, a solar panel, or hardier seeds for crops - could help the continent's subsistence farms, specialists and activists said Friday.
About 250 researchers, donors, and officials met in Oslo this week for the Second Green Africa Revolution Conference, which follows up a 2004 challenge from former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to revolutionize African farming.
Africa imports about 25 percent of its food, and one in three of its residents suffer chronic hunger, according to a report at the conference. That will worsen if climate changes cause rains to dry up in some areas and flood others.
David Stainforth, climate expert at Britain's Exeter University, said change is coming. Although most scientists are hesitant to make detailed regional predictions, he said, "We are certainly looking at a very dramatic situation."
"Accounting for climate change could make the difference between the long-term success or the long-term failure of a project like the Green Africa Revolution," he said.
An April report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a network of 2,000 scientists, said that by 2020 an additional 75 million to 250 million people could suffer water shortages due to climate change.
Kanayo Nwanze, vice president of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development, said most African governments are aware of the threat, but are often already overrun by other problems, such as epidemics of HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
"It is not that they ignore climate change, they just don't have the capacity," he said.
Nwanze said such steps as rice crops genetically engineered to ripen faster, would help conserve water for other crops.
Howard Shapiro, director of plant science and external research for Mars Inc., said farmers could be provided with seeds that are hardier and more resistant to drought.
In many areas, 60 percent of the rainfall runs off before African farmers can use it so "a simple cistern (to collect rainwater) could provide potable water," he said. "Even the smallest amount of irrigation at the right time can save a crop."
John Boehmer, of Kyoto Energy Ltd., said African women do 60-70 percent of the farming, and then also haul water along with wood or other fuel to provide heat.
His company is developing a program in which Western industry could finance simple technology - solar panels or solar water heaters - for African families, paid for by offsetting the company's own carbon emission quotas.
"This is not aid, this is business," he said. Boehmer said some families' costs would immediately be cut in half, and time would be freed up to farm instead of gather fuel.
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Climate change could worsen Africa's struggle to feed itself, but simple steps - a cistern to catch rainwater, a solar panel, or hardier seeds for crops - could help the continent's subsistence farms, specialists and activists said Friday.
About 250 researchers, donors, and officials met in Oslo this week for the Second Green Africa Revolution Conference, which follows up a 2004 challenge from former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to revolutionize African farming.
Africa imports about 25 percent of its food, and one in three of its residents suffer chronic hunger, according to a report at the conference. That will worsen if climate changes cause rains to dry up in some areas and flood others.
David Stainforth, climate expert at Britain's Exeter University, said change is coming. Although most scientists are hesitant to make detailed regional predictions, he said, "We are certainly looking at a very dramatic situation."
"Accounting for climate change could make the difference between the long-term success or the long-term failure of a project like the Green Africa Revolution," he said.
An April report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a network of 2,000 scientists, said that by 2020 an additional 75 million to 250 million people could suffer water shortages due to climate change.
Kanayo Nwanze, vice president of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development, said most African governments are aware of the threat, but are often already overrun by other problems, such as epidemics of HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
"It is not that they ignore climate change, they just don't have the capacity," he said.
Nwanze said such steps as rice crops genetically engineered to ripen faster, would help conserve water for other crops.
Howard Shapiro, director of plant science and external research for Mars Inc., said farmers could be provided with seeds that are hardier and more resistant to drought.
In many areas, 60 percent of the rainfall runs off before African farmers can use it so "a simple cistern (to collect rainwater) could provide potable water," he said. "Even the smallest amount of irrigation at the right time can save a crop."
John Boehmer, of Kyoto Energy Ltd., said African women do 60-70 percent of the farming, and then also haul water along with wood or other fuel to provide heat.
His company is developing a program in which Western industry could finance simple technology - solar panels or solar water heaters - for African families, paid for by offsetting the company's own carbon emission quotas.
"This is not aid, this is business," he said. Boehmer said some families' costs would immediately be cut in half, and time would be freed up to farm instead of gather fuel.
Agreement reached on greenhouse gas curb
A "non-binding" agreement is reached that is.....
From: Willia, J. Kole -Associated Press
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Negotiators from 158 countries reached basic agreement Friday on rough targets aimed at getting some of the world's biggest polluters to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
A weeklong U.N. climate conference concluded that industrialized countries should strive to cut emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent of their 1990 levels by 2020. Experts said that target would serve as a loose guide for a major international climate summit to be held in December in Bali, Indonesia.
"We have reached broad agreement on the main issues," said Leon Charles, a negotiator from Grenada who helped oversee the Vienna talks.
Delegates worked into Friday evening to overcome resistance from several countries - including Canada, Japan and Russia - that had held up negotiations because they preferred a more open approach rather than setting emissions targets.
The 2020 targets are not binding, but they were seen as an important signal that industrialized nations are serious about slashing the amount of carbon dioxide and other dangerous gases to try to avert the most catastrophic consequences of global warming.
Friday's agreement sought to ease concerns that the emissions target might be too ambitious for some nations, noting that efforts to cut back on airborne pollutants are "determined by national circumstances and evolve over time."
But it made clear that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to "very low levels" to guard against potentially deadly flooding, drought and other fallout.
"Hence the urgency to address climate change," the agreement said.
The Bali conference will try to forge a new global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions after 2012, when the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expires. The Kyoto accord requires 35 industrial nations to cut their emissions 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Environmental groups stressed that developed countries need to take urgent measures to keep Earth's temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit - a limit scientists contend is critical to prevent catastrophic flooding and other deadly weather patterns.
"They need to be guided by the potential calamity," said Angela Anderson, vice president for climate programs at the Washington-based National Environmental Trust.
Failing to cut emissions by at least 30 percent of 1990 levels by 2020 "would condemn millions to disease, water shortages and misery in the developing world," said Red Constantino, an official with Greenpeace International.
European Union officials had pressed hard for the 2020 targets. The EU already has pledged to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases by 20 percent by that year, and by another 10 percent if other industrialized nations join in.
Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate official, said some developing countries - including small island nations most vulnerable to climate change as polar ice caps melt and sea levels rise - were pressing industrialized nations for even deeper emissions cuts.
Their negotiators, he said, were acting out of a sense of urgency and a fear that "they won't have a country to represent" if climate change is not slowed.
---
On the Net:
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, http://www.unfccc.int
From: Willia, J. Kole -Associated Press
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Negotiators from 158 countries reached basic agreement Friday on rough targets aimed at getting some of the world's biggest polluters to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
A weeklong U.N. climate conference concluded that industrialized countries should strive to cut emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent of their 1990 levels by 2020. Experts said that target would serve as a loose guide for a major international climate summit to be held in December in Bali, Indonesia.
"We have reached broad agreement on the main issues," said Leon Charles, a negotiator from Grenada who helped oversee the Vienna talks.
Delegates worked into Friday evening to overcome resistance from several countries - including Canada, Japan and Russia - that had held up negotiations because they preferred a more open approach rather than setting emissions targets.
The 2020 targets are not binding, but they were seen as an important signal that industrialized nations are serious about slashing the amount of carbon dioxide and other dangerous gases to try to avert the most catastrophic consequences of global warming.
Friday's agreement sought to ease concerns that the emissions target might be too ambitious for some nations, noting that efforts to cut back on airborne pollutants are "determined by national circumstances and evolve over time."
But it made clear that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to "very low levels" to guard against potentially deadly flooding, drought and other fallout.
"Hence the urgency to address climate change," the agreement said.
The Bali conference will try to forge a new global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions after 2012, when the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expires. The Kyoto accord requires 35 industrial nations to cut their emissions 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Environmental groups stressed that developed countries need to take urgent measures to keep Earth's temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit - a limit scientists contend is critical to prevent catastrophic flooding and other deadly weather patterns.
"They need to be guided by the potential calamity," said Angela Anderson, vice president for climate programs at the Washington-based National Environmental Trust.
Failing to cut emissions by at least 30 percent of 1990 levels by 2020 "would condemn millions to disease, water shortages and misery in the developing world," said Red Constantino, an official with Greenpeace International.
European Union officials had pressed hard for the 2020 targets. The EU already has pledged to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases by 20 percent by that year, and by another 10 percent if other industrialized nations join in.
Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate official, said some developing countries - including small island nations most vulnerable to climate change as polar ice caps melt and sea levels rise - were pressing industrialized nations for even deeper emissions cuts.
Their negotiators, he said, were acting out of a sense of urgency and a fear that "they won't have a country to represent" if climate change is not slowed.
---
On the Net:
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, http://www.unfccc.int
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Thousands in Southland lose power as temperatures climb
About 11,500 Southern California Edison customers sweat it out in high heat and humidity.
By LA Times Staff Writers
Los Angeles Times, California
An estimated 11,500 customers of Southern California Edison are without power today, utility officials said, as temperatures zoomed upward.
Hardest-hit cities included Monrovia, San Gabriel, Covina, San Bernardino, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Long Beach, Lancaster, Rosamond and Lakewood.
Edison officials reported minor problems with some grid components, including the failure of a small number of distribution transformers, but said that the overall power grid was performing well.
Crews are going first to areas where customers have been without power the longest, and the utility said it was uncertain when most of its customers would have fully restored electrical service.
Edison urged its customers "to conserve to help protect against system overload" and recommended that thermostats be set at 78 degrees or higher and that appliances and power tools not be used, especially between 3 and 6 p.m.
Temperatures Sunday were expected to reach 112 in Woodland Hills with lows in the mid-80s along the coast. By 11:40 a.m., it was already 100 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, where the average temperature at this time of year is 83.
"We're not expecting record-breaking heat but certainly above normal," said Jamie Meier, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service based in Oxnard.
Labor Day, she said, should see a "slight cool-down" of perhaps five degrees, with weather that's "still balmy." In fact, she said, it's the high relative humidity -- 40% to 50%, compared to the usual 20% -- that makes it "feel so oppressive."
"The humidity makes it feel a lot hotter," Meier said, "more like Texas than Los Angeles. We're not used to that here."
By LA Times Staff Writers
Los Angeles Times, California
An estimated 11,500 customers of Southern California Edison are without power today, utility officials said, as temperatures zoomed upward.
Hardest-hit cities included Monrovia, San Gabriel, Covina, San Bernardino, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Long Beach, Lancaster, Rosamond and Lakewood.
Edison officials reported minor problems with some grid components, including the failure of a small number of distribution transformers, but said that the overall power grid was performing well.
Crews are going first to areas where customers have been without power the longest, and the utility said it was uncertain when most of its customers would have fully restored electrical service.
Edison urged its customers "to conserve to help protect against system overload" and recommended that thermostats be set at 78 degrees or higher and that appliances and power tools not be used, especially between 3 and 6 p.m.
Temperatures Sunday were expected to reach 112 in Woodland Hills with lows in the mid-80s along the coast. By 11:40 a.m., it was already 100 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, where the average temperature at this time of year is 83.
"We're not expecting record-breaking heat but certainly above normal," said Jamie Meier, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service based in Oxnard.
Labor Day, she said, should see a "slight cool-down" of perhaps five degrees, with weather that's "still balmy." In fact, she said, it's the high relative humidity -- 40% to 50%, compared to the usual 20% -- that makes it "feel so oppressive."
"The humidity makes it feel a lot hotter," Meier said, "more like Texas than Los Angeles. We're not used to that here."
Australia's PM, John Howard to look beyond Kyoto
Sian Powell
The Australian, Australia
JOHN Howard will push APEC world leaders to address the crucial issue of climate change by agreeing to a "post-Kyoto framework" with a long-term global goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Describing the APEC conference as "undeniably the most important international meeting ever to have been held in Australia", the Prime Minister moved to pre-empt criticism that the APEC leaders' meeting had failed on climate change before it had even begun.
Mr Howard initially proposed climate change as a topic for the APEC world leaders' agenda, but yesterday he conceded he had no hope of forcing APEC's 21 member nations - particularly the developing countries - to agree to binding emission targets.
Kevin Rudd has warned that APEC "had no future" if the leaders failed to agree to firm emission targets.
Mr Howard said Australia had to be realistic about climate change. "We won't reach agreement, nor do we imagine for a moment that we could reach agreement on binding targets among the member countries of APEC," he said.
But he said a framework agreement on the shape of the approach beyond the Kyoto Protocol might be possible.
"What I would like to see the APEC meeting in Sydney do is develop a consensus on a post-Kyoto international framework that attracts participation by all emitters," Mr Howard said.
Ahead of the arrival today of Chinese President Hu Jintao, and the arrival tomorrow of US President George W. Bush, Mr Howard said other crucial issues, such as trade liberalisation and security, would form key elements of the APEC agenda.
He said the APEC summit, bringing together countries that account for 56 per cent of the world economy and 40 per cent of its population, provided an "unrivalled" opportunity for bilateral exchanges.
A matrix of bilateral meetings would permit world leaders to discuss crucial issues and forestall potential regional tensions.
Mr Howard said he expected security issues to feature prominently in his bilateral discussions with the US President. Security would also be likely to feature in discussions between Mr Bush and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Mr Howard is likely to meet nearly all the leaders at bilateral talks, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose visit will be the first to Australia by a Russian or Soviet leader. The Prime Minister will also host the first heads-of-government trilateral security meeting with the US and Japan on Saturday.
The APEC summit began yesterday with meetings of officials and a cruise on Sydney Harbour for business delegates. By week's end, all 21 international leaders will be in Sydney.
"I see this as an opportunity for the modern, sophisticated Australia, through its largest city, undeniably the most beautiful big city in the world, this country to be paraded for the modern, sophisticated, tolerant, multi-racial society that it is," Mr Howard said.
The intensive security clampdown in Sydney was essential to ensure the safety of the APEC summit, and any inconvenience should be blamed on those who used violence to send a message, he said.
Twelve Greenpeace protesters were arrested in Newcastle yesterday for painting a slogan on a coal ship, and two people were detained in Sydney for taking photos. More protests were expected, and the NSW police were braced for violence.
Launching $70.7 million in funding for three new climate change measures yesterday, Mr Howard said a "naive" focus on binding emission targets would set back the development of an international framework by years.
"Our view is that we need a new flexible framework that includes a long-term global goal and encourages a wide range of natural actions by all, with ongoing review processes," he said.
"And we will seek to balance at this meeting the level of ambition and realism proposed for agreement to the leaders this week."
The draft APEC agreement suggests a 25 per cent reduction by 2030 in "energy intensity" - reducing the amount of energy consumed for each task, such as improving the fuel efficiency of cars.
Mr Rudd said yesterday that only a national greenhouse gas emission target for Australia would demonstrate the Government was serious about climate change.
"You must have one within a fixed timetable and Mr Howard has refused to embrace either of those realities," he said.
Mr Howard yesterday announced seed funding of $5million for the Asia-Pacific Network for Energy Technology, and an extra $50 million commitment for the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, as well as $15.7 million for the Asia-Pacific Forestry Skills and Capacity Building Program.
The program helps nations in the region improve the ability of their forests to capture and store carbon dioxide and helps to develop their forest management expertise.
Mr Howard also released the latest report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, which focuses on clean technology development and forest management as measures to slow the growth in greenhouse gas emissions in the APEC region.
The Australian, Australia
JOHN Howard will push APEC world leaders to address the crucial issue of climate change by agreeing to a "post-Kyoto framework" with a long-term global goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Describing the APEC conference as "undeniably the most important international meeting ever to have been held in Australia", the Prime Minister moved to pre-empt criticism that the APEC leaders' meeting had failed on climate change before it had even begun.
Mr Howard initially proposed climate change as a topic for the APEC world leaders' agenda, but yesterday he conceded he had no hope of forcing APEC's 21 member nations - particularly the developing countries - to agree to binding emission targets.
Kevin Rudd has warned that APEC "had no future" if the leaders failed to agree to firm emission targets.
Mr Howard said Australia had to be realistic about climate change. "We won't reach agreement, nor do we imagine for a moment that we could reach agreement on binding targets among the member countries of APEC," he said.
But he said a framework agreement on the shape of the approach beyond the Kyoto Protocol might be possible.
"What I would like to see the APEC meeting in Sydney do is develop a consensus on a post-Kyoto international framework that attracts participation by all emitters," Mr Howard said.
Ahead of the arrival today of Chinese President Hu Jintao, and the arrival tomorrow of US President George W. Bush, Mr Howard said other crucial issues, such as trade liberalisation and security, would form key elements of the APEC agenda.
He said the APEC summit, bringing together countries that account for 56 per cent of the world economy and 40 per cent of its population, provided an "unrivalled" opportunity for bilateral exchanges.
A matrix of bilateral meetings would permit world leaders to discuss crucial issues and forestall potential regional tensions.
Mr Howard said he expected security issues to feature prominently in his bilateral discussions with the US President. Security would also be likely to feature in discussions between Mr Bush and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Mr Howard is likely to meet nearly all the leaders at bilateral talks, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose visit will be the first to Australia by a Russian or Soviet leader. The Prime Minister will also host the first heads-of-government trilateral security meeting with the US and Japan on Saturday.
The APEC summit began yesterday with meetings of officials and a cruise on Sydney Harbour for business delegates. By week's end, all 21 international leaders will be in Sydney.
"I see this as an opportunity for the modern, sophisticated Australia, through its largest city, undeniably the most beautiful big city in the world, this country to be paraded for the modern, sophisticated, tolerant, multi-racial society that it is," Mr Howard said.
The intensive security clampdown in Sydney was essential to ensure the safety of the APEC summit, and any inconvenience should be blamed on those who used violence to send a message, he said.
Twelve Greenpeace protesters were arrested in Newcastle yesterday for painting a slogan on a coal ship, and two people were detained in Sydney for taking photos. More protests were expected, and the NSW police were braced for violence.
Launching $70.7 million in funding for three new climate change measures yesterday, Mr Howard said a "naive" focus on binding emission targets would set back the development of an international framework by years.
"Our view is that we need a new flexible framework that includes a long-term global goal and encourages a wide range of natural actions by all, with ongoing review processes," he said.
"And we will seek to balance at this meeting the level of ambition and realism proposed for agreement to the leaders this week."
The draft APEC agreement suggests a 25 per cent reduction by 2030 in "energy intensity" - reducing the amount of energy consumed for each task, such as improving the fuel efficiency of cars.
Mr Rudd said yesterday that only a national greenhouse gas emission target for Australia would demonstrate the Government was serious about climate change.
"You must have one within a fixed timetable and Mr Howard has refused to embrace either of those realities," he said.
Mr Howard yesterday announced seed funding of $5million for the Asia-Pacific Network for Energy Technology, and an extra $50 million commitment for the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, as well as $15.7 million for the Asia-Pacific Forestry Skills and Capacity Building Program.
The program helps nations in the region improve the ability of their forests to capture and store carbon dioxide and helps to develop their forest management expertise.
Mr Howard also released the latest report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, which focuses on clean technology development and forest management as measures to slow the growth in greenhouse gas emissions in the APEC region.
Police arrest power station protesters
Nick Sheridan at Loy Yang
The Age, Melbourne Australia
Police cut free and arrested two protesters who disrupted supplies at the Loy Yang power station in Gippsland's Latrobe Valley in the state's east this morning, in a protest aimed at APEC leaders.
Four protesters from Real Action on Climate Change chained themselves to two conveyor belts at the power station, which supplies a third of Victoria's electricity, about 5.30am.
The protest stopped one of the conveyor belts transporting coal to one of the plant's four 600 watt generators, which provides effectively 25 per cent of its power.
"All I know is that they are in Tower A and they are chained up to conveyor belts and as a result the power station has had to lock down as a result of safety (concerns)," a Victoria Police spokesman said.
Police search and rescue officers cut two of the protesters free about 10am before leading them out of the plant. They were taken to Traralgon for questioning.
The protesters carried a sign bearing the words "This is real action on climate change" as they were led from the station.
Search and rescue police say they will cut the other two protesters free from a second, inactive conveyor belt at the station.
The protest is not expected to affect electricity supplies to Victorian customers.
A spokesman for the power station said emergency procedures were activated during the protest.
Loy Yang Power owns and operates a 2000 megawatt power station and an adjoining brown coal mine.
A spokeswoman for the activists, Michaela Stubbs, said the action was intended to send a message to APEC leaders meeting in Sydney this week.
"The Asia Pacific Economic Forum is simply failing when it comes when it comes to stopping climate change," Ms Stubbs said.
"What we want to see is strong, short-term greenhouse gas emission targets."
"APEC is talking about non-committed aspirational targets and this is inadequate to address the problem."
with Sarah-Jane Collins and Reko Rennie
The Age, Melbourne Australia
Police cut free and arrested two protesters who disrupted supplies at the Loy Yang power station in Gippsland's Latrobe Valley in the state's east this morning, in a protest aimed at APEC leaders.
Four protesters from Real Action on Climate Change chained themselves to two conveyor belts at the power station, which supplies a third of Victoria's electricity, about 5.30am.
The protest stopped one of the conveyor belts transporting coal to one of the plant's four 600 watt generators, which provides effectively 25 per cent of its power.
"All I know is that they are in Tower A and they are chained up to conveyor belts and as a result the power station has had to lock down as a result of safety (concerns)," a Victoria Police spokesman said.
Police search and rescue officers cut two of the protesters free about 10am before leading them out of the plant. They were taken to Traralgon for questioning.
The protesters carried a sign bearing the words "This is real action on climate change" as they were led from the station.
Search and rescue police say they will cut the other two protesters free from a second, inactive conveyor belt at the station.
The protest is not expected to affect electricity supplies to Victorian customers.
A spokesman for the power station said emergency procedures were activated during the protest.
Loy Yang Power owns and operates a 2000 megawatt power station and an adjoining brown coal mine.
A spokeswoman for the activists, Michaela Stubbs, said the action was intended to send a message to APEC leaders meeting in Sydney this week.
"The Asia Pacific Economic Forum is simply failing when it comes when it comes to stopping climate change," Ms Stubbs said.
"What we want to see is strong, short-term greenhouse gas emission targets."
"APEC is talking about non-committed aspirational targets and this is inadequate to address the problem."
with Sarah-Jane Collins and Reko Rennie
Greece Buries Fire Victims, Hopes For Autumn Rain
From: Michele Kambas, Reuters
nasa.gov
ARTEMIDA, Greece - Sobbing villagers on Sunday buried a Greek mother and her four children who died in destructive forest fires, as the first autumn rains raised hopes of dousing the flames that have killed 64 people.
Storms in northern Greece flooded two villages as firefighters continued to battle blazes in the southern Peloponnese region. Rains were expected across Greece from Sunday night.
"The burnt forests contributed to the floods, which swept cars into the sea," said fire brigade officer Giorgos Minos in the northern Halkidiki peninsula.
In the village of Artemida, perched on a charred Peloponnese mountain, about 200 villagers attended the funeral of the mother found dead still clutching her children, the most shocking image of the inferno's trail of destruction.
"I have run out of tears. Will it bring her and the children back?" said Loukia Papadimitropoulos, 64, one of black-clad villagers who sobbed as a string of hearses carried the white coffins to the village church.
The fires have raged for 10 days, forcing thousands to flee their homes, burning villages and large swathes of forest. On Sunday, an injured man died in hospital, raising the death toll to 64, including 7 firemen.
ELECTIONS LOOM
The conservative government has come under criticism for its handling of the crisis ahead of a September 16 parliamentary election, seen as crucial for the pace of reforms Greece needs to catch up with its euro zone partners.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis blamed arsonists for the fires and called for national unity. His government has doled out at least 107 million euros ($146.2 million) in compensation.
"It can't be a coincidence," he told the Kathimerini newspaper on Sunday, vowing again to punish the culprits. "Facts, eyewitnesses and police findings indicate intent."
The opposition socialist PASOK party has criticized the government but seems unable to capitalize on its woes.
Opinion polls show the ruling New Democracy party holding a 2 percentage point lead over PASOK but support for both parties has waned since the fires began.
The fires nearly destroyed ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympics, and their damage to the economy is estimated at 1.2 billion to 4 billion euros.
The European Commission said it could provide up to 200 million euros from a 'solidarity fund'.
Many Greeks believe rogue land developers set fires to make way for new construction. The World Conservation Union (IUCN), a Geneva-based global network of state and non-governmental groups, blamed the fires on inadequate rural planning.
"Greece ... will continue to face these crises year after year until legal and institutional issues pertaining to land development, changes in rural demographics and the collapse of traditional farming practices are addressed," said IUCN's Bill Jackson.
(Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou in Athens)
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
nasa.gov
ARTEMIDA, Greece - Sobbing villagers on Sunday buried a Greek mother and her four children who died in destructive forest fires, as the first autumn rains raised hopes of dousing the flames that have killed 64 people.
Storms in northern Greece flooded two villages as firefighters continued to battle blazes in the southern Peloponnese region. Rains were expected across Greece from Sunday night.
"The burnt forests contributed to the floods, which swept cars into the sea," said fire brigade officer Giorgos Minos in the northern Halkidiki peninsula.
In the village of Artemida, perched on a charred Peloponnese mountain, about 200 villagers attended the funeral of the mother found dead still clutching her children, the most shocking image of the inferno's trail of destruction.
"I have run out of tears. Will it bring her and the children back?" said Loukia Papadimitropoulos, 64, one of black-clad villagers who sobbed as a string of hearses carried the white coffins to the village church.
The fires have raged for 10 days, forcing thousands to flee their homes, burning villages and large swathes of forest. On Sunday, an injured man died in hospital, raising the death toll to 64, including 7 firemen.
ELECTIONS LOOM
The conservative government has come under criticism for its handling of the crisis ahead of a September 16 parliamentary election, seen as crucial for the pace of reforms Greece needs to catch up with its euro zone partners.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis blamed arsonists for the fires and called for national unity. His government has doled out at least 107 million euros ($146.2 million) in compensation.
"It can't be a coincidence," he told the Kathimerini newspaper on Sunday, vowing again to punish the culprits. "Facts, eyewitnesses and police findings indicate intent."
The opposition socialist PASOK party has criticized the government but seems unable to capitalize on its woes.
Opinion polls show the ruling New Democracy party holding a 2 percentage point lead over PASOK but support for both parties has waned since the fires began.
The fires nearly destroyed ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympics, and their damage to the economy is estimated at 1.2 billion to 4 billion euros.
The European Commission said it could provide up to 200 million euros from a 'solidarity fund'.
Many Greeks believe rogue land developers set fires to make way for new construction. The World Conservation Union (IUCN), a Geneva-based global network of state and non-governmental groups, blamed the fires on inadequate rural planning.
"Greece ... will continue to face these crises year after year until legal and institutional issues pertaining to land development, changes in rural demographics and the collapse of traditional farming practices are addressed," said IUCN's Bill Jackson.
(Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou in Athens)
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
Hurricane Felix Seen Becoming Top-Ranked Storm
From: Irasi Jimenez, Reuters
noaa.gov
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao - Hurricane Felix intensified at an alarming rate on Sunday while passing north of Aruba and was expected to become an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm as it brushed Central America and neared Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, U.S. forecasters said.
On a similar though more southerly track toward the Yucatan as last month's powerful Hurricane Dean, which killed 27 people, Felix's top sustained winds had increased to 140 mph (220 km per hour) by 5 p.m. EDT, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
That made the second hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic storm season, located around 440 miles southeast of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, a Category 4, or "major" hurricane capable of causing extensive damage.
Forecasters at the Miami-based hurricane center said the storm was strengthening at one of the fastest rates seen, as measured by the drop in its minimum internal pressure.
It would be passing over a warm eddy of water in the central Caribbean, finding in it the fuel needed to intensify further within 36 hours into a rare and potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane with winds over 155 mph (249 kph).
"The official intensity forecast could be conservative and there is certainly the potential for us to have another Category Five hurricane on our hands before all is said and done," said hurricane center storm expert Richard Pasch.
Hurricane Dean in mid-August became a Category 5 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale before slamming into the Yucatan.
Such strong hurricanes have been rare in the past. Before the devastating 2005 hurricane season, only two years had seen more than one Category 5 hurricane. The 2005 season experienced four, including Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
noaa.gov
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao - Hurricane Felix intensified at an alarming rate on Sunday while passing north of Aruba and was expected to become an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm as it brushed Central America and neared Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, U.S. forecasters said.
On a similar though more southerly track toward the Yucatan as last month's powerful Hurricane Dean, which killed 27 people, Felix's top sustained winds had increased to 140 mph (220 km per hour) by 5 p.m. EDT, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
That made the second hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic storm season, located around 440 miles southeast of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, a Category 4, or "major" hurricane capable of causing extensive damage.
Forecasters at the Miami-based hurricane center said the storm was strengthening at one of the fastest rates seen, as measured by the drop in its minimum internal pressure.
It would be passing over a warm eddy of water in the central Caribbean, finding in it the fuel needed to intensify further within 36 hours into a rare and potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane with winds over 155 mph (249 kph).
"The official intensity forecast could be conservative and there is certainly the potential for us to have another Category Five hurricane on our hands before all is said and done," said hurricane center storm expert Richard Pasch.
Hurricane Dean in mid-August became a Category 5 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale before slamming into the Yucatan.
Such strong hurricanes have been rare in the past. Before the devastating 2005 hurricane season, only two years had seen more than one Category 5 hurricane. The 2005 season experienced four, including Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Climate change and N. America farms to be studied
AMES, Iowa (Reuters) - Iowa State University researchers will join a study of climate change to produce mid-century projections by late next year of the likely regional effects on North American farms from global warming.
"There is no question now that the climate is changing on a global scale," said Gene Takle, an Iowa State University professor of geological and atmospheric sciences who will lead a study to project North American climate from 2040 to 2070.
Iowa and Illinois are the epicenter of the U.S. Midwest farm belt, which produces the world's largest exportable surpluses of corn, soybeans and wheat and vast amounts of meat, dairy products, poultry and vegetables.
Takle said in an interview with Reuters that the research should give farmers, water managers, environmental engineers, transportation specialists and other professionals a better idea of what the climate will be in the years ahead.
"If the climate is changing, you can't stop it over the next 50 years," Takle said. "What's coming is coming and we better be prepared to adjust to it."
Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week said that greenhouse gas emissions pushed U.S. temperatures in 2006 close to a record high.
The annual average U.S. temperature last year was 2.1 degrees F (1.16C) above the 20th century average and the ninth consecutive year of above-normal U.S. temperatures.
The latest scientific consensus from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year said that in coming decades "warming is expected to be greatest over land and at high northern latitudes, and least over the Southern Ocean and parts of the North Atlantic Ocean."
The Iowa research will be part of an international group of scientists collaborating on the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program, directed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
Current trends in Iowa point to a more humid Corn Belt, which could be a positive for Midwest agriculture, Takle said. But he and others are concerned about total effects.
"We can start to talk about things like how the intensity of precipitation will change. That's very important for farmers because if precip is more intense it can affect things like soil erosion ... it might be more damaging to their crops," said Bill Gutowski, an Iowa State scientist on the project.
The researchers say Iowa annual precipitation has increased by about an inch over the past 30 years but more of that is happening in extreme weather. In other words, Takle said, there are more 3-inch rains than there were 30 years ago.
Winter low temperatures aren't as cold, which has meant about eight more frost-free days than there were in the 1950s, Takle said. That makes for a longer growing season.
The summer heat also isn't as intense as it was 30 years ago, but the humidity is rising, Takle said.
"It appears rainfall will be increasing to the north and decrease to the south of us. For us in the farm belt we don't see any clear-cut changes in either direction," Gutowski said.
"There is no question now that the climate is changing on a global scale," said Gene Takle, an Iowa State University professor of geological and atmospheric sciences who will lead a study to project North American climate from 2040 to 2070.
Iowa and Illinois are the epicenter of the U.S. Midwest farm belt, which produces the world's largest exportable surpluses of corn, soybeans and wheat and vast amounts of meat, dairy products, poultry and vegetables.
Takle said in an interview with Reuters that the research should give farmers, water managers, environmental engineers, transportation specialists and other professionals a better idea of what the climate will be in the years ahead.
"If the climate is changing, you can't stop it over the next 50 years," Takle said. "What's coming is coming and we better be prepared to adjust to it."
Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week said that greenhouse gas emissions pushed U.S. temperatures in 2006 close to a record high.
The annual average U.S. temperature last year was 2.1 degrees F (1.16C) above the 20th century average and the ninth consecutive year of above-normal U.S. temperatures.
The latest scientific consensus from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year said that in coming decades "warming is expected to be greatest over land and at high northern latitudes, and least over the Southern Ocean and parts of the North Atlantic Ocean."
The Iowa research will be part of an international group of scientists collaborating on the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program, directed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
Current trends in Iowa point to a more humid Corn Belt, which could be a positive for Midwest agriculture, Takle said. But he and others are concerned about total effects.
"We can start to talk about things like how the intensity of precipitation will change. That's very important for farmers because if precip is more intense it can affect things like soil erosion ... it might be more damaging to their crops," said Bill Gutowski, an Iowa State scientist on the project.
The researchers say Iowa annual precipitation has increased by about an inch over the past 30 years but more of that is happening in extreme weather. In other words, Takle said, there are more 3-inch rains than there were 30 years ago.
Winter low temperatures aren't as cold, which has meant about eight more frost-free days than there were in the 1950s, Takle said. That makes for a longer growing season.
The summer heat also isn't as intense as it was 30 years ago, but the humidity is rising, Takle said.
"It appears rainfall will be increasing to the north and decrease to the south of us. For us in the farm belt we don't see any clear-cut changes in either direction," Gutowski said.
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