Humans Damaging The Environment Faster Than It Can Recover, UN Finds

The Guardian - Fiona Harvey

Radical action is needed to combat increasing rate of environmental damage to water sources, land, biodiversity and marine life, report shows

The dried-up river Tawi in Kashmir, India. Water scarcity is an increasing problem in poorer parts of the world. Photograph: Jaipal Singh/EPA

Degradation of the world's natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the planet's ability to absorb the damage, meaning the rate of deterioration is increasing globally, the most comprehensive environmental study ever undertaken by the UN has found.
The study, which involved 1,203 scientists, hundreds of scientific institutions and more than 160 governments brought together by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), concludes that without radical action the level of prosperity that millions of people in the developed world count on will be impossible to maintain or extend to poorer countries.
Water scarcity is the scourge of some of the poorest regions on Earth, the study found, leaving developing countries increasingly unable to feed themselves, and causing hardship for millions of people. There appears little prospect of this dire situation being remedied, according to the UN, without radical action being taken.
Water sources are under increasing threat from population growth, climate change, rapid urbanisation, rising levels of consumption, and the degradation of lands that previously provided a natural replenishment of water resources.
The study is intended as an aid to the world's efforts to combat climate change and other environmental threats, as it highlights the difficulties of improving the lives of people in developing countries and tackling global warming, while food resources come under continuing pressure.
UNEP found the rate of damage to the natural environment was increasing globally, despite concerted efforts to persuade governments to take measures to improve the condition of vital natural resources, such as water, land and the seas.
"If current trends continue, and the world fails to enact solutions that improve patterns of production and consumption, if we fail to use natural resources sustainably, then the state of the world's environment will continue to decline," warned Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP.
He said the tools for improving the environment for millions of people existed in developed countries but were in danger of not being used.
The study, using decades of scientific data, found that basic measures to tackle some of the key causes of environmental damage were still not being taken. These included measures to reduce air pollution, such as changes to vehicles; the damage to marine eco-systems, which can have a huge effect on fish stocks on which hundreds of millions of people depend; and the degradation of land when modern agricultural methods were pursued without regard to the longer-term consequences.
Despite the recent global agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, signed in Paris last December, global carbon output continues to rise. The report argues this will put a long-term strain on the ability of developing economies to feed their own people as the result of changes such as increased droughts and floods.
Climate change is exacerbated by the emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture, including the leaching of nitrous oxide – a powerful greenhouse gas – from run-off emissions and incorrectly stored animal manure.
These sources increased by more than a quarter between 2000 and 2010, the report found.
Other problem areas identified in the report included glaciers in the Andes, which provide vital water resources for tens of millions of people, but which are shrinking as the climate warms.
In rich countries, these problems have built up over decades and centuries while economic growth was pursued at the expense of the environment. Subsequent efforts to remedy the environment have met with partial success.
But in developing countries, the path of future development has more potential to change, which has encouraged international institutions to devise more sustainable growth pathways that are supposed both to alleviate poverty and preserve the environment.
If they follow the same pattern of growth, then the danger of irreparable environmental damage will intensify, the study's authors conclude.
They recommend an increased awareness of the environmental impact of development. For instance, exploiting water resources can be made more sustainable by recycling water where possible, and changing agriculture so that wasteful methods of irrigation are replaced by more efficient ones.
Developing countries should also change their methods of dealing with waste, the report found, so as to protect clean water sources and prevent the burning of solid waste in landfill dumps.

Links

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• Carbon dioxide's 400ppm milestone shows humans are rewriting the planet's history 
• Greenpeace activists scale British Museum to protest BP sponsorship 

Want To Know If The Paris Climate Deal Is Working? University Divestment Is The Litmus Test

The Conversation -   Luke Kemp

Green progress? The ANU needs to dig deeper on divestment. Nick-D/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

The Paris climate agreement has been praised for sending a strong signal to the world that we are now serious about cutting greenhouse emissions.Yet despite the diplomatic acclaim, the Paris deal doesn't offer much in concrete terms. It is a simple global show-and-tell regime with no enforcement – if countries miss their targets they will receive little more than a talking-to.
For many, the deal's saving grace is the message it sends to investors, businesses and the wider world outside diplomatic and political circles. The Economist has summed up this "investment signal" idea well:

Perhaps the most significant effect of the Paris agreement in the next few years will be the signal it sends to investors… [After Paris] the idea of investing in a coal mine will seem more risky.

The problem is that there is little to no empirical evidence to support this idea. Will hard-nosed financiers change their ways purely on the basis of long-term pledges that are not supported by short-term actions? Will they redirect vast sums of money because of faith in a loose international treaty? In all honesty, we don't know.
There are clues, however, if we know where to look. If we want to see whether the investment signal from Paris is working, then universities will probably be – for want of a better phrase – the canary in the financial coalmine.
If Paris has truly signalled to the world that the age of fossil fuels is coming to a close, then it should put the movement to divest from fossil fuels on steroids.
And universities are better placed to divest than many other types of institution. It therefore follows that the success of Paris can be measured by whether it spurs universities to quit investing in fossil fuels.

Going fossil-free
Fossil fuel divestment is spreading across the world. According to the campaign group Fossil Free, at least 518 institutions, collectively worth US$3.4 trillion, are either fully or partially divesting.
The list includes groups such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, local governments such as the Australian Capital Territory and the cities of Oslo and Copenhagen, among many others.
Meanwhile universities, which currently make up 12% of this list, have become a particular target for the divestment movement. This is because they are forward-looking institutions with progressive, well-educated stakeholders. After all, it was university faculty members across the world who helped to set out the problem of climate change, and young students who will be among the generations most affected by its future impacts.
Just as universities were among the first movers against apartheid, they can set an example to others in the case of climate. Universities, many of which manage multi-billion-dollar endowments, have both the ability and responsibility to exercise financial power and act early on long-term moral problems.
If the Paris investment signal exists, then, we can expect universities to act well in advance of those with much greater inertia and vested interests in the status quo, such as profit-making corporations (which make up just 3% of Fossil Free's divestment list).

Mixed results
So far the response from universities has been patchy, particularly in Australia. The Australian National University (ANU) provides an informative case study. It shows both the potential of divestment and the limits of the Paris market signal.
In 2014, ANU blacklisted seven resource companies (including two fossil fuel firms, Santos and Oil Search) on the basis of its "socially responsible investment" policy. This triggered a backlash from the likes of the then treasurer, Joe Hockey, and prime minister, Tony Abbott, as well as sustained criticism from the Australian Financial Review.
The outcry showed the power that universities can wield in the climate debate when they put their money where their mouth is. In this case it was a positive impact as it triggered a wider debate on climate policy and investments.
Last month, the ANU updated its policy, announcing a 39% reduction in the carbon intensity of its stock portfolio and pledging to divest from companies that draw more than 20% of their revenue from coal.
However, the policy allows for continued investment in diversified mining companies such as Woodside Petroleum, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. This potentially includes firms with significant fossil fuel holdings (BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance is the largest Australian coal producer, accounting for a quarter of Australian coal exports).
This is partial, not full, divestment – it's a positive step, but far from the seismic investment shift needed to meet the Paris climate goals.
Importantly, the trigger for change has come from within, rather than from Paris. There has been overwhelming pressure from staff and students to divest fully. Yet the university has resisted these calls. Indeed, ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt last month tweeted that "fossil fuels are good business for universities", for the time being at least.There are several counterarguments to this , from the falling costs of renewable energy, to the improving performance of fossil-free investment funds, which often outstrip more conventional ones. But on a basic level it comes down to leadership.

ANU staff and students are campaigning hard for full divestment. Source: Author provided

The ANU has branded itself as a place of "thought leadership". Its current actions show neither long-term thought nor leadership. True leadership would mean showing real belief in the implications of the Paris Agreement.
Widespread, full university divestment from fossil fuels would further pressure national governments to strengthen their commitments – which will be crucial if the Paris Agreement is to meet its goals.
In contrast, continued investment in fossil fuels weakens such pressure and bolsters a belief in the continued relevance of the fossil fuel industry in a post-Paris world.
Universities such as the ANU have not responded swiftly enough to Paris and the signalling of the end of the fossil fuel era. If thought leaders won't do it, how can we ask the same of governments and banks?

Links

• Links to mining sector are preventing Australian universities from divesting in fossil fuels
• Outrage at ANU divestment shows the power of its idea
• From divestments to protests, social licence is the key
• Newcastle's 'divestment' is a chance for the world's largest coal port to consider its future

Climate Change Effects Shown In NASA Images Highlight Drastic Impact

NEWS.com.au

THINK the science of climate change is not settled?
These confronting before and after photos of shrinking glaciers and disappearing lakes may well change your mind.
The images released by NASA's climate change arm reveal just how much our world has changed — some in months, others over years.
From the whiting event in Lake Kivu in Central Africa, to a flooding Mississippi River in the US, the before and after photos reveal startling changes in some places across the world, some in the space of just a few short years.
Other dramatic pictures reveal the effects of fire and flooding.

Shrinking Mýrdalsjökull ice cap, Iceland shown from 1986 to 2014 (right). Source: NASA

Glaciers also come up for mention with Alaska's Columbia Glacier a particular cause for concern.
The glacier which descends through the Chugach Mountains into Prince William Sound used to extend to the northern edge of Heather Island, near the mouth of Columbia Bay in the 1700s.
But in 1980 it began a rapid retreat and according to NASA has now "thinned so much that the up and down motion of the tides affects its flow as much as 12km upstream, until the glacier bed rises above sea level and the ice loses contact with the ocean."

Growing Wax Lake Outlet, Louisiana pictured in November 1984 to October 25, 2014 Most of the Mississippi River delta plain is losing ground. Source: Supplied

NASA said the gallery, which is constantly updated, aimed to "present stunning images, mostly from space, of our ever-changing planet, chronicling changes taking place over time periods ranging from days to centuries."
The agency said the before and after images not only aimed to show the impacts of climate change but also highlighted the destruction caused by wildfires and floods.
The pictures also show the retreat of glaciers as well as the human impact on urban areas due to population growth.
The gallery, which features dozens of images across the globe, also allows people to zoom in on their own area to see what changes are taking place around them.
Some of the images are just days old, showing recent impacts.
While scientists have been warning about the danger of the Earth warming up for years, climate change sceptics claim it's a myth.
These images may put that into perspective.
It wouldn't be the first time NASA has revealed a frightening future for the planet.
Just last year NASA also warned sea levels will rise by a metre over the next century.
Experts predicted an ice sheet the size of Queensland is melting faster than expected which could cause massive storm surges capable of decimating Australia's coastal cities within the next century.

Mustang Complex Fire, Idaho pictured in July 2012 to September 2012 The Mustang Complex Fire, sparked by a lightning strike on July 30, 2012, has consumed more than 330,000 acres of the Salmon-Challis National Forest in northeastern Idaho. Source: Supplied

Scientists said satellite images revealed large sections of Greenland and Antarctica are vanishing at a much faster rate than previously anticipated, and predict sea levels will rise even further than originally thought.
The stark warnings from NASA are echoed by the World Bank which on Wednesday issued a warning that the world is underprepared for major risks posed by extreme weather and other hazards.
It warned by 2050, 1.3 billion people and $217 trillion in assets will be affected by worsening river and coastal floods.
The World Bank also predicted this will only get worse with rising population growth and migration.

Licungo River flooding, Mozambique February 1, 2014 — January 17, 2015. Weeks of heavy rainfall capped by a particularly strong tropical disturbance caused the Licungo and other rivers in Mozambique's Zambezia province to flood. Source: NASA's Earth Observatory

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India Just Set A New All-Time Record High Temperature — 123.8 Degrees

Washington Post - Angela Fritz

(earth.nullschool.net)

A small city in northwest India climbed to a searing 51 degrees Celsius — or 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit — on Thursday afternoon, and broke the country’s record for all-time hottest temperature. The previous record, 50.6 degrees Celsius, was set in 1886.

The record was broken in Phalodi, which is just 125 miles away from the city that, up until this afternoon, claimed fame as the hottest location in India — Pachpadra.

(meteomanz.com)

April and May tend to be the hottest months in northwest India, and this year has been exceptionally so.
Christopher C. Burt, a weather historian at Weather Underground, posited that April’s heat wave was the most intense ever observed in Southeast Asia.
In India it lasted for weeks — but the heat never truly dissipated, dragging on into May. Hundreds of people have died from heat-related illness. Northern India and Nepal have been battling their worst wildfires in years. Officials have on occasion banned daytime cooking in an attempt to prevent accidental fires that killed nearly 100 people in late April.
The India Meteorological Department issued a “severe heat wave warning” for a huge swath of the country on Thursday, which will continue through Saturday. The department expects temperatures will remain above average through at least May 27.
A similar period of extreme heat killed over 2,500 people in 2015.

Links

• Rajasthan town hits 50.5°C, Delhi sizzles at 46.4°C
• India records its hottest temperature ever: 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit