Carbon Price Is Key To Climate Change Battle

Fairfax - Editorial

The Age believes climate change should be at the forefront of policy debates. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

In a letter to The New York Times this week, Australia's newly ensconced ambassador to the United States, Joe Hockey, attempted to refute claims in the newspaper's editorial of March 4 which, rightly, damned the CSIRO's decision to reduce its focus on climate change research. The New York Times called that decision a "deplorable misunderstanding of the importance of basic research into what is arguably the greatest challenge facing the planet".
In his written response, Mr Hockey said the CSIRO "is making a strong contribution to the growing body of international climate change knowledge", and he pointed to continuing research by other institutions, including the National Environmental Science Program and the Bureau of Meteorology.
His response was insipid and beside the point, reflecting the feeble policy approaches of the Abbott and Turnbull governments on climate change matters generally. Mr Hockey sidestepped the fundamental point behind criticism of Australia's funding of science and climate-change strategies, which is that instead of stepping up research and monitoring of climate change indicators and effects, the government is winding back.
Climate change should be at the forefront of policy debates in this country, especially as the nation heads to an election in a few months, yet it seems to have been brushed aside.
As NASA released figures this week showing average global temperatures (land and sea combined) in February were 1.35 degrees above the norm for 1951-1980, Australia's Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel, said the world was "not winning the battle" against climate change. Current efforts seem to be inadequate.
Yet Environment Minister Greg Hunt claims Australia reached "peak emissions" a decade ago, and that the current combination of policies would ensure the nation hit its emissions target of 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020. He says this will be the result of the government's emissions reduction fund ($200 million a year to projects intended to help reduce emissions) and its accompanying mechanism that bars big industrial polluters from exceeding historic outputs; plus the renewable energy target (at least 20 per cent of national electricity demands to come from renewable sources by 2020); and improved efficiency standards on vehicles, buildings and so on.
We say this does not go far enough. The matter is more urgent than the government seems to recognise. The Turnbull government, though, is pursuing the Abbott government's minimalist approach.
The Age has long advocated  policies that would discourage or financially dissuade heavy emitters of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide).
We support a market-based mechanism, a price on greenhouse gas emissions that penalises big polluters, as the foundation for a suite of policies that must be implemented if Australia is to make genuinely deep cuts to emissions.
Labor has said it wants Australia to be a leader in renewable energy. It has proposed developing an emissions-trading scheme, a renewable energy goal so that 50 per cent of the nation's energy would come from renewable sources by 2030, as well as a transition to an economy that might rely less on production generated by emissions-intensive industries.
Labor has offered some worthy starting points. We hope they might be developed through mature debate, with reference to the mountain of climate science, and that they are implemented in a bipartisan manner. To that end, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull must step up and show his true colours on climate change, and not be the dupe for conservatives and numbskull denialists.

Climate Council Call For Action Against Global Warming Amid Record-Breaking March Heat

news.com.au

Australians have sweated through record-breaking autumn heat this month. Picture: AAP/Tracey Nearmy

AUSTRALIA’S record-breaking autumn heat is just a taste of what’s to come if we continue to lag behind global powers who are moving away from fossil fuels to combat climate change.
Environmental experts have warned Australia will continue to experience record-breaking heat and extreme weather in the wake of a damning report that reveals a notable climb in average temperatures across the country at the start of March. Maximum temperatures in the first four days of this month were four degrees above average.
Former Australian of the Year, the Climate Council’s Tim Flannery, said conditions over the past few months had been unprecedented, and inaction from Australia following a global agreement in Paris to do more was “quite disgraceful”.
“We’ve had three months in Australia where nothing has happened, but we got the announcement that emissions from the burning of fossil fuels have grown,” he said.
State and federal governments must take action, with policies to remove sources of pollution and build cleaner energy systems, Professor Flannery said.

The threat of deadly bushfires will rise as heatwaves intensify. Picture: Stuart McEvoySource:News Corp Australia

Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie says March’s unseasonably warm spells show Australia is now experiencing the consequences of climate change.
Average global temperatures could be four to six degrees warmer by the end of the century if nothing is done, Ms McKenzie said.
“That is something we just don’t want to imagine,” she told reporters after the launch of the Climate Council’s report, Heat Marches On, on Sunday.
“At the moment we’re not even at one degree warming globally and we’ve seen such huge changes.”

The CEO says Australia continues to lag behind other countries when it comes to investment in alternative energy sources and the scaling down of traditional fossil fuels despite our naturally sunny and windy conditions.

“It’s something that we should be excelling at, and we should be showing the world how it’s done. But we’re not,” Ms McKenzie said.
“If you look at what’s happening globally, the US for instance has got a moratorium on new coal mines.
“Countries like China, Germany are pushing ahead in renewable energy. The world is taking off.”
Climate change has already begun to affect Australia’s tourism sector, with widespread coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef, triggered by elevated sea surface temperatures.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday upgraded the coral bleaching threat level after flying over the reef to observe some of the hardest hit areas around Lizard Island, north of Cairns.
“As you go north of Lizard Island, it becomes more severe,” he said.
The extent of the damage has prompted Mr Hunt to increase the coral bleaching threat from level two to level three.

Coral bleaching is accelerating at Lizard Island off the state of Queensland. Picture: AFP/ WWFSource:AFP

“That means we are moving to immediately increasing monitoring, and that’s being coupled with action that is being taken,” the minister said.
The revised bleaching level comes almost a week after the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority raised the coral bleaching warning from level one to level two after widespread bleaching was detected.

How we’re sweltering:

• Max temperatures at least 4C above average, from March 1 to 4
• Temperatures 8 to 12C above average for most of southeast
• Record 39 straight days over 26C in Sydney
• Perth had more 40C days this summer than ever before
• Melbourne had hottest March night on record, at peak of 38.6C
• Canberra had 10 straight days of 30C or more
• Echuca, VIC, and Tocumwal, NSW, sweltered through eight straight days of 38C or more in March, breaking records for any month of the year
• Temperature records shattered around the world, with this January and February hotter than any other

100 Days Since The Paris Climate Deal: What Has Changed?

Climate Home - Alex Pashley

(Flickr/Miroslav Petrasko)

The Paris Agreement racked up 100 days of age on Monday.
It’s a classic metric for ranking new governments. So what has changed since 195 countries adopted a new global warming pact on December 12th?The US clean power plan was halted, then dealt a lifeline on the death of a supreme court judge. China unveiled its greener-than-expected ‘five-year plan’. World energy emissions held steady for a second year.
But temperature records went berserk, and CO2 levels ‘exploded‘. Japan shed its opposition to coal power, and the UN climate body faced uncertainty with the impending departure of Christiana Figueres.
John Upton at Climate Central has the run-down of developments in the major emitters.

Holding pattern
Aviation was a startling omission from the Paris deal. But with a footprint the size of Germany and set to triple by mid-century, green groups aren’t letting it off the hook.
A coalition of NGOs has launched a campaign to heap pressure on governments 200 days before the UN-backed aviation authority’s crunch summit in Montreal.
The ‘FlightPath 1.5′ campaign wants an industry emissions cap at 2020 levels, and a regular review to cut pollution in line with an aspirational 1.5C temperature target decided in Paris. An offset mechanism, which the authority ICAO has promised to deliver, is another demand.
“We can’t assume that the biofuels and other radical technological breakthroughs will automatically materialize and put aviation on a flightpath in line with 1.5°C. A well-designed market-based measure is the safety net the aviation industry needs,” said Tim Johnson at the Aviation Environment Federation. WWF and EDF are among the six groups.

Landing London’s airport
Climate change and air pollution are among reasons London’s outgoing Mayor Boris Johnson gives in a valedictory report urging against any expansion of Heathrow. “It is important that aviation plays its full and fair part in addressing its carbon impacts,” says the study, which is called Landing the right airport.
It continues:

“Heathrow’s severe capacity constraints result in increased taxiing on the ground and stacking in the air (and this will largely continue at a three-runway Heathrow). Both contribute to increased carbon emissions. By contrast, a newfour-runway hub would have sufficient spare capacity to operate more efficiently, minimising taxiing and stacking of aircraft. Moreover, being constructed from scratch, a new hub airport would be able to incorporate stateof-the-art energy efficiency technologies and other carbon-sensitive measures in its design (for example infrastructure to support use of biofuels).”

Solar tax rise scrapped
Britain’s struggling solar industry has cheered a government U-turn on tax rises, days after being announced in this year’s budget. Under-fire chancellor George Osborne revealed a sales tax on products on solar panels and other energy-saving products would rise from 5% to 20% as part of an EU ruling. But after threats of a Tory rebellion at the levy on an industry hit by subsidy cuts, the Treasury backtracked. Solar panels would “continue to benefit from the current reduced rate of VAT’, a statement said.

Earth Hour
Iconic landmarks around the world flicked off the lights during the tenth annual Earth Hour on Saturday. The WWF-led initiative seeks to ‘shine a light on climate action’.

New York's iconic Empire State Building dims for Earth Hour at 8:30-9:30pm Saturday (combination photo by Li Muzi)

Back to Bonn 
The agenda for this year’s first formal gathering of climate diplomats this May is out.
Work on a transparency framework for country’s national plans, a global stock-take in 2018, and preparations for the deal to enter into force in 2020 are some of the top tasks, the UN climate body said.
In other news, between 80-100 countries have RSVP’d for April’s signing ceremony at UN HQ in New York.

China in figures
China outlined its development blueprint for the next five years last week. With a cap on energy consumption for the first time ever, it hinted at deepening its climate pledge. This WRI infographic shows how it’s cutting carbon faster.

Links

• Why a Paris climate deal must cover aviation and shipping
• Airlines commit to climate action ahead of Paris
• Paris climate deal must tackle shipping emissions, say experts
• 7 burning issues on the road to a Paris climate deal 

Carbon Emissions Highest In 66 Million Years, Since Dinosaur Age

Reuters - Alister Doyle

A chimney is seen in front of residential buildings during a polluted day in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China, January 21, 2016. Reuters/Stringer

The rate of carbon emissions is higher than at any time in fossil records stretching back 66 million years to the age of the dinosaurs, according to a study on Monday that sounds an alarm about risks to nature from man-made global warming.
Scientists wrote that the pace of emissions even eclipses the onset of the biggest-known natural surge in fossil records, 56 million years ago, that was perhaps driven by a release of frozen stores of greenhouse gases beneath the seabed.
That ancient release, which drove temperatures up by an estimated 5 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) and damaged marine life by making the oceans acidic, is often seen as a parallel to the risks from the current build-up of carbon in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels.
"Given currently available records, the present anthropogenic carbon release rate is unprecedented during the past 66 million years," the scientists wrote in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago, perhaps after a giant asteroid struck the Earth.
Lead author Richard Zeebe of the University of Hawaii said geological records were vague and "it's not well known if/how much carbon was released" in that cataclysm.
Current carbon emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, are about 10 billion tonnes a year, against 1.1 billion a year spread over 4,000 years at the onset of the fast warming 56 million years ago, the study found.
The scientists examined the chemical makeup of fossils of tiny marine organisms in the seabed off the New Jersey in the United States to gauge that ancient warming, known as the Paleoeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).
U.N. studies project that temperatures could rise by up to 4.8C this century, causing floods, droughts and more powerful storms, if emissions rise unchecked. Carbon dioxide forms a weak acid in seawater, threatening the ability of creatures such as lobsters or oysters to build protective shells.
"Our results suggest that future ocean acidification and possible effects on marine calcifying organisms will be more severe than during the PETM," Zeebe said.
"Future ecosystem disruptions are likely to exceed the relatively limited extinctions observed at the PETM," he said. During the PETM, fish and other creatures may have had longer time to adapt to warming waters through evolution.
Peter Stassen, of the University of Leuven who was not involved in the study, said the study was a step to unravel what happened in the PETM.
The PETM "is a crucial part of our understanding of how the climate system can react to carbon dioxide increases," he told Reuters.

State of the Climate: Record Heat and Weather Extremes

World Meteorological Organization*

The year 2015 made history, with shattered temperature records, intense heatwaves, exceptional rainfall, devastating drought and unusual tropical cyclone activity, according to the World Meteorological Organization. That record-breaking trend has continued in 2016.
The WMO Statement on the Status of the Climate in 2015 gave details of the record land and sea surface temperatures, unabated ocean warming and sea level rise, shrinking sea ice extent, and extreme weather events around the world.
It was released to coincide with World Meteorological Day on 23 March, which has the theme “Hotter, drier, wetter. Face the Future.”
“The future is happening now,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“The alarming rate of change we are now witnessing in our climate as a result of greenhouse gas emissions is unprecedented in modern records,” said Mr Taalas.
The global average surface temperature in 2015 broke all previous records by a wide marging, at about 0.76° Celsius above the 1961-1990 average because of a powerful El Niño and human-caused global warming. With 93% of excess heat stored in the oceans, ocean heat content down to 2 000 meters also hit a new record.
January and February 2016 set yet more new monthly temperature records, with the heat especially pronounced in the high northern latitudes. Arctic sea ice extent was at a satellite-record low for both months, according to NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Greenhouse gas concentrations crossed the symbolic and significant 400 parts per million threshold.
“The startlingly high temperatures so far in 2016 have sent shockwaves around  the climate science community,” said David Carlson, Director of the World Climate Research Programme, which is co-sponsored by WMO.
“Our planet is sending a powerful message to world leaders to sign and implement the Paris Agreement on climate change and cut greenhouse gases now before we pass the point of no return,” said Mr Taalas.
“Today the Earth is already 1°C hotter than at the start of the twentieth century. We are halfway to the critical 2°C threshold. National climate change plans adopted so far may not be enough to avoid a temperature rise of 3°C, but we can avert the worst-case scenarios with urgent and far-reaching measures to cut carbon dioxide emissions,” said  Mr Taalas.
In addition to mitigation, it is essential to strengthen climate change adaptation by investing in disaster early warning systems, as well as climate services like drought, flood and heat-health management tools, stressed Mr Taalas.

Key Findings of Statement on Status of Climate in 2015
Sea surface temperatures and ocean heat
Large areas of the oceans saw significant warmth. In particular, the tropical central and eastern Pacific was much warmer than average because of El Niño. Global ocean heat content was record high through both the upper 700 m and 2 000 m levels. Increased ocean heat content accounts for about 40% of the observed global seal level increase over the past 60 years and is expected to make a similar contribution to future sea-level rise. Sea level, as measured by satelllites and traditional tide gauges was the highest ever recorded.

Arctic Sea Ice
The daily maximum extent of Arctic sea ice on 25 February 2015 was the lowest on record (this record was beaten in 2016), and the minimum Arctic sea-ice extent on 11 September was the fourth lowest.

Heat
Many countries saw intense heatwaves. The most devastating ones in terms of human impact were in India and Pakistan. Asia, as a continent, had its hottest year on record, as did South America.
Western and Central Europe recorded an exceptionally long heatwave, with temperature crossing or approaching 40°C in several places. Several new temperature records were broken (Germany 40.3°C, Spain 42.6°C, UK 36.7°C).
North West USA and Western Canada suffered from a record wildfire season, with more than 2 million hectares were burned during summer in Alaska alone.

Heavy rainfall
Global precipitation in 2015 was close to the long-term average. But within this overall figure, there were many cases of extreme rainfall, with 24-hour totals exceeding the normal monthly mean.
For instance, in Africa, Malawi suffered its worst flooding in memory in January. An active West African monsoon saw exceptional seasonal rainfall totals. The West coast of Libya received more than 90mm of rain in 24 hours in September, compared to the monthly average of 8mm. The Moroccan city of Marrakech received 35,9 mm of rain in one hour in August, more than 13 times the monthly normal.
The powerful El Niño meant that 2015 was wet in many subtropical parts of South America (including Peru, northern Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil and northern Argentina), and in parts of the southern United States and northern Mexico.

Drought
Severe drought affected southern Africa, with 2014/2015 as the driest season since 1932/1933, with major repercussions for agricultural production and food security. El Niño induced drought exacerbated forest fires in Indonesia, impacting air quality both in Indonesia neighbouring countries.
The northern part of South America suffered a severe drought including North East Brazil, Columbia and Venezuela, hitting the agriculture, water and energy sectors. Parts of the Caribbean and Central America were also severely affected.

Tropical Cyclones
Globally the number of tropical storms, cyclones and typhoons was not far from the average, but some unusual events were recorded. Tropical cyclone Pam made landfall over Vanuatu as a category 5 cyclone on 13 March 2015, causing widespread devastation.  Patricia hit Mexico on 20 October as the strongest hurricane on record in either the Atlantic or eastern North Pacific basins, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 346 km/h.  An extremely rare tropical cyclone, Chapala, made landfall in Yemen at the start of November, leading to substantial flooding. This was immediately followed by Cyclone Megh, which hit the same area.

World Meteorological Day
World Meteorological Day commemorates the coming into force on 23 March 1950 of the Convention establishing the World Meteorological Organization. It showcases the essential contribution of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to the safety and wellbeing of society.
The theme Hotter, Drier, Wetter. Face the Future highlights the challenges of climate change and the path towards climate-resilient societies.
The increase in hot days, warm nights and heatwaves will affect public health. These risks can be reduced by heat-health early warning systems that provide timely alerts to decision-makers, health services and the general public.
Droughts must be addressed more proactively through integrated drought management, which embraces guidance on effective policies and land management strategies and shares best practices for coping with drought.
In the event of heavy precipitation and floods, impact-based forecasts enable emergency managers to be prepared in advance. Integrated flood management is a long-term holistic approach to minimizing the risks of flooding.
Building climate and weather resilient communities is a vital part of the global strategy for achieving sustainable development. The WMO community will continue to support countries in pursuing sustainable development and tackling climate change through the provision of the best possible science and of operational services for weather, climate, hydrology, oceans and the environment.

*The World Meteorological Organization is the United Nations System’s authoritative voice on Weather, Climate and Water

World Meteorological Day: Hotter, Drier, Wetter. Face the Future

World Meteorological Organization



HOTTER
In 2015 heatwaves affected Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East through the late spring and summer, with many new temperature records set. July brought heat waves to a large areafrom Denmark in the north, to Morocco in the south and Iran in the east. The heat continued in August and into September, shifting further into Eastern Europe.
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DRIER
In 2015 dry areas included Central America and the Caribbean, northeast South America including Brazil, parts of central Europe and Russia, parts of Southeast Asia, Indonesia and southern Africa. In Western North America, long-term drought conditions continued. Basins across the west depend on snowpack as a water resource. On 1 April, the snow water equivalent was 5% of normal.
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WETTER
In 2015 areas of high rainfall included: southern areas of the USA, Mexico, Bolivia, southern Brazil, southeast Europe, areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Heavy rain in January led to flooding in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and in February it affected Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. 2015 saw exceptional seasonal rainfall totals in several parts of Burkina Faso and Mali.
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FACE THE FUTURE

Fortunately, the world's governments are now fully convinced of the scientific evidence of climate change and the need to take urgent action. More research and investment is needed for advancing low-carbon technol- ogies, particularly in the energy sector. But already many policies, technologies and actions are available, and their deployment needs to be scaled up. Individual citizens, community leaders, businesses, civil society organiza- tions, governments and the United Nations system must all contribute.
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