29/12/2017

On The Boil: Five Climate Lawsuits To Watch In 2018

Reuters - Sebastien Malo | Sophie Hares

Urgenda / Chantal Bekker
NEW YORK / TEPIC, MEXICO: - Lawyers and advocates stepped up the fight against climate change this year by pursuing a rising number of legal cases around the world that aim to test the limits of national laws.
Climate change cases numbered nearly 900 in 24 nations as of March, according to a survey by UN Environment and Columbia Law School, marking a steady increase in lawsuits filed to hold governments and companies to account over carbon pollution.
They include a handful of milestone suits that charge violations of various states’ constitutions.
Here are five cases whose outcomes, some expected in the coming year, could reshape the roles and responsibilities of governments and businesses in tackling climate change:

- URGENDA FOUNDATION V. KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS (NETHERLANDS)
This landmark case energized the climate movement in 2015 when a district court sided with the nearly 900 Dutch citizens behind it, ordering their government to cut greenhouse has emissions faster.
It was “one of the most important climate change decisions ever issued”, said Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in New York.
But the outcome is now being appealed and a decision could be handed down as early as 2018, said Gerrard.
The Urgenda ruling remains the only one of its kind globally to declare a government’s obligation to control climate change.
It did so by citing the Dutch constitution, prompting a flurry of similar complaints worldwide where plaintiffs are trying to enlist their nations’ founding principles to curb global warming.

- JULIANA V. UNITED STATES (UNITED STATES)
Trial in this federal suit filed by a group of 21 U.S. teenagers could begin in February 2018.
Building on the precedent established by the Urgenda case, the young people from Oregon charge their government’s climate policy is inadequate and flouts their constitutional right to live in a habitable atmosphere.
The case is currently stalled amid efforts by the U.S. government - fearful it will lead to a constitutional crisis - to prevent it going forward.
“It’s clearly a case to watch,” said Sean Hecht, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA in California.
“It would be extraordinary for a judge to take the step of holding the U.S. government responsible for this, but it’s not unthinkable,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

- LLIUYA V. RWE (GERMANY)
A Peruvian farmer, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, is seeking $20,000 in damages from a large German energy utility based half-way around the world.
Lliuya argues that RWE AG holds some responsibility - by emitting planet-warming gases - for the melting of glaciers and rising water level of a lake near his Andean town.
Observers are calling the Lliuya suit, which is due to hear evidence in 2018, a test case of whether a company can be held financially liable for its contribution to the effects of climate change in other parts of the world.

- EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION V. MAURA TRACY HEALEY (UNITED STATES)
Exxon Mobil is battling attorney generals in Massachusetts and New York who are investigating the oil giant, after news reports charged in 2015 that its own scientists had found cutting fossil fuel use was needed to slow down climate change.
Exxon’s case against Massachusetts’ attorney general Maura Healey and a similar one against her New York counterpart seek to derail subpoenas to obtain the company’s internal documents on climate science.
“There’s a lot at stake because these companies are very concerned about potential liability,” said UCLA’s Hecht.

- GREENPEACE NORDIC V. GOVERNMENT OF NORWAY (NORWAY)
In another case rooted in a constitutional argument, this lawsuit charges that Norway violated the country’s constitution by letting energy firms explore for oil and gas in the Arctic Barents Sea.
With a judgment expected in January, a win by Greenpeace would “re-energize similar litigations in other countries”, said Columbia Law School’s Gerrard.

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From America's Hurricanes To Portugal's Fires, ABC Weather Looks Back At 2017's Deadly Extremes

ABC News - Kate Doyle | Ben Deacon

A helicopter dumps water on a burning house in the Anaheim Hills during October's California fires. (AP: Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register)
Cyclones, bushfires and heatwaves are typically Australian natural disasters, but in 2017 devastating fires, record heat, hurricanes and typhoons — what we call cyclones — struck around the world.
Here are a few of the events that caught our attention this year.

Cyclone Debbie
It was the cyclone that just kept on going.
Debbie made landfall near Airlie Beach as a category 4 system on March 28 with wind gusts of 263 kilometres per hour recorded at Hamilton Island, the highest gust ever recorded in the Queensland digital climate archive, and its initial impact was ferocious.
The 24-hour rainfall total for Queensland. (Supplied: BOM)
But what set Debbie apart from the average cyclone was the trail of drenching rain it left as its remnants made their way down the Queensland coast and across the New South Wales border.
In an historic move, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk closed all schools south of Agnes Water, north of Bundaberg, and east of Nanango in the South Burnett region, including Brisbane and the Gold Coast.


SES workers rescue a man from floodwaters in Lismore (ABC News)

The flooding did not stop at the border as far south in Lismore, NSW, 324.8 millimetres fell in 18 hours, leading to the highest river levels since 1974 and waist-high flooding in the CBD when the town's levee breached.
Media reports attributed nine deaths to Tropical Cyclone Debbie in Australia.
Debbie did not just leave it at that, as New Zealand's North Island was drenched when the tail end of the system made its way across the Tasman a week after it first made landfall in Queensland.
Thousands of homes were evacuated there as well.

Pakistan record heat
In May, there was a major heat event which affected most of the Persian Gulf but seemed to go largely under the radar in western media.
The town of Turbat in south-west Pakistan recorded 54.0 degrees Celsius, equal to the maximum temperature recorded in Mitrabah, Kuwait in July last year.
Be prepared for the heat
Neither of the temperatures have been officially confirmed by the World Meteorological Organisation, but if it turns out to be legitimate it will be a new Asian record.
These record high temperatures stir up debate around the global highest recorded temperature.
The current record of 56.7C taken in Death Valley, USA, in 1913 is viewed with scepticism because of dubious equipment.
Likewise the eastern hemisphere record of 55.0 recorded in Kebili, Tunisia, is also questionable due to inconsistencies in previous temperature recording practices.
So it could well be that the hottest temperature directly recorded on Earth happened this year.
Australia's official hottest temperature was recorded at Oodnadatta in 1960 at 50.7 degrees Celsius.
A man is rescued from floodwaters in Houston. (AP: David J Phillip)
US hurricane cluster
Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katia, and Maria — the US was battered by hurricane after hurricane this year.
Of these, Harvey, Irma and Maria did the most damage.
Harvey led the pack as the first major hurricane to hit the mainland US in almost a decade when it stalled over Houston and led to widespread, devastating flooding.
Hurricane Irma, even stronger than Harvey, battered the Caribbean before travelling across Cuba, to make landfall in Florida.


Three hurricanes threatening land simultaneously in the Western Atlantic Basin.

What made Irma special meteorologically was the length of time it maintained extremely high wind speeds, more than 297km/h for 37 hours, far and away the highest ever recorded.
Maria's biggest impact was on Puerto Rico, where US media reports suggest the death toll was at least 48 people.
As of early December, around one million people on the island were still without power, more than two months after the hurricane ripped through on September 20.

East Africa drought
UN data suggests there are more than 15.2 million people who remain severely food insecure on the horn of Africa as of December 8.
Some parts received decent rain in October and November this year but it will take time for those benefits to trickle through, especially when coupled with other conflicts.
For other areas, this will be the fourth consecutive year the rains have failed.
Somaliland's drought has seen some families lose up to 90 per cent of their livestock. (ABC News: Sally Sara)
As with many of the other events on this list, the question of whether climate change is to blame has been raised and, as with many other events, the answers are complicated.
Extreme cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons are expected to be less common because of climate change, but could be worse when they do hit because of their increased capacity to dump more rain and rising oceans.
Likewise, extreme fires are expected to be worsened by higher temperatures and longer fire seasons.
With the East African drought though, the role of climate change is not definitive.

Portugal fires
Portugal suffered two major rounds of deadly fires this year, one in June and one in October.
The July fires led to 62 deaths and the October fires killed more than 40 people.
The July fires took place during a heatwave when there were several days in a row above 40C.
The October fires were whipped up by the passing of Hurricane Ophelia.
The unusually placed storm was in the area thanks its formation much further north east than a normal Atlantic hurricane, combined with a run-in with the mid-latitude jet stream. It made a beeline for Ireland rather than taking the typical route and heading for the Americas.


Rare fire devil on camera in Portugal (ABC News)

As with the Californian fires later in the year, there has been speculation that introduced eucalypts contributed to the rapid spread of these fires.

South Asia floods
It was reported that more than 1,300 people died in the flooding that hit India, Bangladesh and Nepal in mid-August this year.
UNICEF estimated that 31 million had been affected by the floods associated with a strong monsoon.
At the height of the storms, Bangladesh received as much rain in two hours as it would in a week of a typical monsoon.
Tens of thousands of schools have been inundated or damaged, making it impossible for children to continue their education. (AP: Rajanish Kakade)
California fires
Wildfires whipped by powerful winds have swept through northern California. (AP: Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register)
These fires were not just significant because Ellen DeGeneres and Paris Hilton's homes were evacuated, the fires in early October led to tens of thousands of people being forced to flee their homes and more than 40 people lost their lives.
Entire suburbs were reduced to rubble.
An aerial photo of the devastation left behind from wildfires north of San Francisco. (Reuters: California Highway Patrol)
Firefighters faced the impossible task of fighting 14 fires at once in gusts of up to 120km/h with low relative humidity.
The fires were fanned by what are known as the 'Diablo' winds in Northern California.
Like their more well-known Southern Californian counterpart, the Santa Ana winds, they come from over the continent bringing hot dry conditions.
Diablo winds are traditionally associated with wildfires, especially in autumn.

Victoria storms
Although many in Melbourne were underwhelmed by the much-publicised December storms, there was no denying the rainfall totals in north-east Victoria were record-breaking.
Echuca, Euroa and Eildon all recorded their highest daily rainfall totals on record.

Rainfall Totals
Record breaking rainfall totals recorded in the 24 hours to 9 am December 21 2017
The storm set off debate surrounding natural disaster messaging in Australia and is a timely reminder to be prepared heading into the traditional summer disaster period.
The Sevens and Castle creeks in flood around Euroa. (ABC News: Stephanie Anderson)
Philippines typhoon and landslides
On December 16, Tropical Storm Kia-tak — known locally as Urduja — made landfall in the Philippines.
Severe flooding and landsides were triggered when two months of rain fell in 48 hours.
Less than two weeks later, Typhoon Tembin — also known as Typhoon Vinta — hit the Philippines.
So far, more than 250 people are confirmed dead as a result of the storm.


Landslides kill 32 in storm-hit Philippine province (ABC News)

Central Australian floods
Technically during the dying days of 2016, but close enough that we thought it warranted a mention, the flooding rains that hit central Australia on Christmas night were described as a once in a half-century storm by the Bureau of Meteorology.


Uluru's temporary waterfall (ABC News)

In Kintore 61.4mm fell between 8:00pm and 9:00pm alone, and 232mm fell in the 24 hours after 9:00am on Christmas Day.
The widespread flooding closed the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and several locations were cut off for weeks.

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2017: The Year In Extreme Weather

The Conversation - 

Trees and power lines in Puerto Rico, damaged by Hurricane Maria in September. REUTERS/Alvin Baez
Overall 2017 will be the warmest non-El Niño year on record globally, and over the past 12 months we have seen plenty of extreme weather, both here in Australia and across the world.
Here I’ll round up some of this year’s wild weather, and look forward to 2018 to see what’s around the corner.

Drought and flooding rains… again
It feels as if Australia has had all manner of extreme weather events in 2017. We had severe heat at both the start and end of the year. Casting our minds back to last summer, both Sydney and Brisbane experienced their hottest summers on record, while parts of inland New South Wales and Queensland endured extended periods of very high temperatures.
Sydney sweltered last summer. Joel Carrett/AAP
More recently Australia had an unusually dry June and its warmest winter daytime temperatures on record. The record winter warmth was made substantially more likely by human-caused climate change.
The end of the year brought more than its fair share of extreme weather, especially in the southeast. Tasmania had by far its warmest November on record, beating the previous statewide record by more than half a degree. Melbourne had a topsy-turvy November with temperatures not hitting the 20℃ mark until the 9th, but a record 12 days above 30℃ after that.
November was rounded off by warnings for very severe weather that was forecast to strike Victoria. Melbourne missed the worst of the rains, although it still had a very wet weekend on December 2-3. Meanwhile, northern parts of the state were deluged, with many places recording two or three times the December average rainfall in just a couple of days.
Euroa in northern Victoria copped a drenching. AAP Image/Brendan McCarthy
Hurricane after hurricane after hurricane…
Elsewhere in the world there was plenty more headline-worthy weather.
The Atlantic Ocean had a particularly active hurricane season, with several intense systems. Hurricane Harvey struck Texas and its slow trajectory resulted in record-breaking rainfall over Houston and neighbouring areas.
Then Hurricanes Irma and Maria, both of which reached the strongest Category 5 status, brought severe weather to the Caribbean and southeastern United States just a couple of weeks apart. Island nations and territories in the region are still recovering from the devastation.
Road to ruin: Houston’s Interstate Highway 45 was submerged by Hurricane Harvey. REUTERS/Richard Carson
Around the same time, the Indian subcontinent experienced a particularly wet monsoon season. Flooding in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal killed more than 1,000 people and affected tens of millions more.
Other parts of the world experienced their own severe weather events. Whether it was summer heat in Europe or wildfires in California, 2017 dished up plenty of extremes.
In many cases, especially for heat extremes, we can rapidly identify a human influence and show that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of such events.
For other weather types, like the very active hurricane season and other extreme rain or drought events, it is harder (but not always impossible) to work out whether it bears the fingerprint of climate change.

What’s in store for 2018?
The main problem when trying to offer an outlook is that extreme weather is hard to predict, even on the scale of days or weeks in advance, let alone months.
For Australia, with a weak La Niña in the Pacific, there are few clear indications of what the rest of the summer’s weather will bring. There is a suggestion that we can expect a slightly wetter than average start to the year in parts of the southeast, along with warmer than average conditions for Victoria and Tasmania. Beyond that it is anyone’s guess.
The La Niña is also likely to mean that 2018 won’t be a record hot year for the globe. But it’s a safe bet that despite the La Niña, 2018 will still end up among the warmest years on record, alongside every other year this century. Rising global average temperatures, along with our understanding of the effect of greenhouse gas emissions, are one of our clearest lines of evidence for human-caused climate change.
So it’s hard to say much about what extreme weather we’ll experience in 2018, other than to say that there’s likely to be plenty more weather news to wrap up in a year’s time.

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