A Global Heat Wave Has Set The Arctic Circle On Fire

New York Magazine - Adam K. Raymond

Fire burns in Karbole, Sweden. Photo: Mats Andersson/AFP/Getty Images

From Japan to Sweden, and Oman to Texas, a global heat wave is setting records, igniting wildfires, and killing dozens all across the world this week.
The south-central region is home to the highest temperatures in the U.S. this week, with nearly 35 million people living under excessive heat warnings issued by the National Weather Service. Temperatures are expected to be in the triple digits across Texas this weekend, marking the most severe heat wave in the state since 2011.
The Texas heat has already led to record-breaking days for the Texas power grid twice this week. Things aren’t any better elsewhere in the region, with heat indexes in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana reaching up to 110 degrees.

IMAGE

Across the globe in Kyoto, Japan, Thursday marked the seventh straight day of temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees, breaking all known records for the ancient capital city. At least 30 people have died in Japan during the heat wave, which has complicated rescue efforts following floods and landslides that killed more than 200 in western Japan earlier this month.
On Thursday alone ten people died and 2,605 people were sent to hospitals in Tokyo due to heat, the Japan Times reports. The day before, Tokyo rescue workers set a record by responding to more than 3,000 emergency calls.
Meanwhile, in Sweden, the Arctic Circle is on fire.


An extreme heat wave has caused dozens of forest fires in Sweden, affecting regions as far north as the Arctic Circle. Deutsche Welle

High temperatures and a prolonged drought have caused 49 fires to ignite across Sweden, with temperatures reaching 90 degrees as far north as the Arctic Circle this week. According to the Washington Post, temperatures in Scandinavia typically settle in the 60s and 70s this time of year, meaning the current heat wave is making things around 20 degrees hotter than normal.
The list of areas experiencing extreme temperatures keeps going: An Algerian city earlier this month broke the record for the highest temperature ever in Africa when it hit 124.3 degrees and a city in Oman recorded the highest low temperature — 108.7 degrees — ever recorded on Earth. In Quebec, more than 90 people were killed by extreme heat in early July.
It’s impossible to talk about these extreme temperatures without talking about climate change. Heat domes — high-pressure areas that trap hot air and increase temperatures — are being blamed for these heat waves and they have become more common as the climate has warmed. Research has also repeatedly linked the warming climate to heat waves.
As climate scientist Ben Santer, who linked the burning of fossil fuels to the intense heat waves, told the Los Angeles Times this week, “This isn’t a big scientific surprise.”

Links

• Scorching Scandinavia: Record-breaking heat hits Norway, Finland and Sweden
• Africa may have witnessed its all-time hottest temperature Thursday: 124 degrees in Algeria
• A city in Oman just posted the world’s hottest low temperature ever recorded: 109 degrees
• Japan floods: Death toll nears 200 as intense heat brings threat of disease during clear up
• More than 90 deaths now linked to heat wave in Quebec
• Record heat put thousands of Californians in the dark Friday. Scientists predicted this from climate change.
• Early emergence of anthropogenically forced heat waves in the western United States and Great Lakes
• U.S. National Weather Service: Current Watches, Warnings, and Advisories

Climate Campaigners Lose High Court Battle Over Carbon Target

The Guardian - Press Association

Charity had argued the government was in breach of international obligations under the Paris agreement

Greg Clark, the business secretary, leaves 10 Downing Street. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/REX/Shutterstock

Environmental campaigners have lost their high court challenge against the government over its policy for tackling climate change.
The charity Plan B Earth brought legal action against the government’s stance on the 2050 carbon target, set out under the Climate Change Act 2008.
The charity and 11 UK citizens aged nine to 79 – including the publisher Dame Carmen Callil – wanted to bring a judicial review against the business secretary, Greg Clark.
But Mr Justice Supperstone rejected Plan B Earth’s case on Friday, saying it was “unarguable”.
Lawyers for the charity previously argued the government should have, in light of the current scientific consensus, gone further than its original target of reducing carbon levels by 2050 to 80% of that present in 1990.

They said the decision not to amend the 2050 target put the UK in breach of its international obligations under the Paris agreement on climate change and was influenced by the government’s belief that a “more ambitious target was not feasible”.
At a hearing on 4 July, Jonathan Crow QC told the court: “The secretary of state’s belief that he needs to have regard to what is feasible, rather than what is necessary, betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the scheme of the 2008 act and must be quashed.
“All of the individual claimants are deeply concerned about climate change.”
The barrister argued the business secretary’s “continuing refusal” to amend the 2050 target means the UK is playing “Russian roulette with two bullets, instead of one”.
But, refusing permission for a full hearing, Mr Justice Supperstone said Plan B Earth’s arguments were based on an “incorrect interpretation” of the Paris agreement.
He said: “In my view the secretary of state was plainly entitled ... to refuse to change the 2050 target at the present time.
“I do not consider it arguable that the secretary of state’s refusal to amend the 2050 target is an unlawful exercise of his discretion.”
Tim Crosland, director of Plan B Earth, said the charity was “surprised and disappointed” by the ruling and plans to appeal.
He said: “We consider it clear and widely accepted that the current carbon target is not compatible with the Paris agreement.
“Neither the government nor the committee on climate change suggested during our correspondence with them prior to the claim that the target was compatible.
“Indeed, it was only in January of this year that the committee published a report accepting that the Paris agreement was ‘likely to require’ a more ambitious 2050 target.
“Moreover the government acknowledged in these proceedings that it was uncontroversial that the 2050 target was insufficient to meet the 1.5C target, one of the key aspects of the Paris commitment.
“In these circumstances, Plan B and the other 11 claimants continue to consider that a full hearing on an issue of such urgent and vital importance is necessary.
“As with other legal campaigns confronting powerful vested interests it takes time to break through, and time is not on our side.
“We’ll be doing everything possible to accelerate the process. Wildfires raging in the Arctic Circle must surely be a wake-up call.”

Links

• Judge Throws Out New York Climate Lawsuit
• Local, County And State Governments Are Suing Oil Companies Over Climate Change
• Children Sue Washington State Over Climate Change
• The Netherlands Contemplates The World’s Toughest Climate Law
• Rhode Island Sues Oil Companies Over Climate Change, First State To Do So
• A Landmark Climate Change Ruling Could Go Up In Smoke After Justice Kennedy Retires
• Judge Tosses City Climate Change Lawsuits Against Big Oil
• Here’s Why The Bay Area Lost Its Lawsuit Against Big Oil
• Federal Judge Dismisses Cities’ Suit Against Oil Companies Over Costs Of Climate Change
• ASIC Warns On Climate Risk As Heat Turns On Directors
• The Climate Litigation Threat Is Getting Credible
• UK to review climate target raising hopes of a zero emissions pledge

Australian Governments Concede Great Barrier Reef Headed For 'Collapse'

Fairfax - Nicole Hasham

The world’s climate change path means the Great Barrier Reef is headed for “collapse” according to a plan endorsed by state and federal governments that critics say turns a blind eye to Australia’s inadequate effort to cut carbon emissions.
The federal and Queensland governments on Friday released a “new and improved” Reef 2050 Plan to save the iconic natural wonder, which explicitly acknowledges climate change poses a deadly threat to the reef.
The comments depart starkly from previous official efforts to downplay damage wrought on the reef for fear of denting the tourism industry.

Global temperature rises this century must be kept below 1.5 degrees to ensure the Great Barrier Reef's survival, the government plan says. Photo: E.Matson, AIMS

Based on current climate projections, the outlook for coral reefs generally is “one of continuing decline over time, and in many regions, including the Great Barrier Reef, the collapse and loss of coral reef ecosystems”, the plan says.
It concedes that consecutive coral bleaching events and other stressors “have fundamentally changed the character of the reef”, which is one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.
“Coral bleaching is projected to increase in frequency ... those coral reefs that survive are expected to be less biodiverse than in the past,” the plan says.

Critics say the revised Reef 2050 Plan ignores Australia's weak emissions reduction targets. Photo: Australian Institute of Marine Science

The reef is the world’s largest living structure, covering an area roughly the size of Italy.
Coral reefs are particularly sensitive to the effects of climate change including higher sea temperatures, ocean acidification and more intense storms and cyclones.
The plan recognised that “holding the global temperature increase to 1.5°C or less is critical to ensure the survival of coral reefs”.
“Respected coral scientists have documented in peer-reviewed journals that most of the world’s coral reefs will not survive unless the global temperature increase is limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels,” it said.

Fish swim among bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

However WWF-Australia head of oceans Richard Leck said Australia’s emissions reduction efforts were not even in line with limiting warming to 2°.
He cited a 2017 report by the United Nations environment program that found Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions were set to far exceed its pledge under the Paris accord. This agreement aims to limit global temperature rises this century to well below 2° and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°.
“It is simply not good enough for the revised plan to suggest the global community must work to limit warming when Australia is not doing its fair share,” Mr Leck said.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society’s reef campaign director Imogen Zethoven said increased recognition of climate change as a threat to the reef must be followed by action.
She said scientific research soon to be published showed that if global temperature rises reached an average 2.4°, the Great Barrier Reef would suffer bleaching events twice a decade from 2041. This would occur as early as 2035 if average temperature rises reached 4.3°.
Bleaching events would be far less frequent under an average temperature rise of 1.6°, Ms Zethoven said.
“The onset of twice-a-decade bleaching will then become the onset of annual bleaching and eventually [the entire reef] will be affected,” she said.
Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said Australia’s Paris target was ambitious and the nation was “on track to meet and beat its 2020 target, we will also meet our 2030 target”.
The Queensland government has previously said millions of dollars in federal reef spending is essentially useless unless matched by efforts to tackle climate change
Labor environment spokesman Tony Burke said the federal government had neglected the reef by allowing large-scale land clearing in nearby catchments, which damages water quality.

Links

• Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan
• Mass coral bleaching forces review of reef protection plan
• 'Truly scary': researcher wants to brighten clouds to rescue the Great Barrier Reef
• Cherry-picked charity to pocket at least $22.5 million in taxpayer funding for reef
• 'Insufficient': Queensland government savages reef deal
• Study of reefs reveals benefits of keeping global warming in check
• 'Unorthodox': CSIRO CEO Marshall learnt of $444m reef plan by 'rumour'
• Great Barrier Reef's five near-death experiences revealed in new paper
• Reef charity's fundraising record casts doubt on $444 million grant

Google Boils Down Water Data For New U.N. Environment Site

Reuters - Sophie Hares

Google will produce geospatial maps to show where water has disappeared due to climate change and urbanisation

Men on camels cross the water as a woman washes clothes in Lake Chad in Ngouboua, January 19, 2015. REUTERS/Emmanuel Braun

TEPIC, Mexico - Vast quantities of raw satellite imagery and data will be distilled into an online platform showing how water ecosystems have changed, and how countries can manage them to prevent further loss, said Google and the United Nations.
Focussing initially on fresh water ecosystems such as rivers and forests, Google will produce geospatial maps and data for a publicly available platform to be launched in October in partnership with the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP).
"It's basically a time slide... you can go back in time, and what it does is show you where water has disappeared," said Elisabeth Mullin Bernhardt, a programme manager at UNEP, on Monday.
"It can show you where water never was and now is there. It can show you where water is seasonal."
For Africa's Lake Chad, for example, access to comprehensive data and images showing surrounding land and rivers could help explain why the lake, on which so many depend, is drying up so quickly, said Kenya-based Bernhardt.
Given that most countries share water sources, the information could also be used to encourage neighbouring nations to work together on strategies to manage rivers or lakes, she said.
Google is using artificial intelligence and cloud computing to process a massive amount of satellite imagery and data, stretching back over three decades, before it can be analysed, said Rebecca Moore, director of Google Earth and Earth Engine.
"Much of the world does not have access to good data about the state of their forests, their rivers and lakes and coastal eco-systems and how they've been changing over time," Moore told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.
"It's a critically important time because there are dramatic changes going on, due to climate change and urbanisation and a number of factors that are in some cases significantly depleting fresh water supply."
Improved information could lead to better investment in environmental services as countries try to meet their Sustainable Development Goals, said UNEP.
Agreed at the U.N. in 2015, the 17 global goals include targets to end poverty and hunger, combat climate change, and provide universal access to water and sanitation by 2030.
Governments are currently reviewing progress on the goals at U.N. headquarters in New York, where UNEP and Google announced the satellite initiative.
While researchers will focus on water ecosystems, the platform could be expanded to include issues such as desertification or plastics in the world's oceans, said Bernhardt.

Links

• Release: UN Environment and Google Announce Ground-Breaking Partnership to Protect our Planet
• Google: A planetary-scale platform for Earth science data & analysis
• Australia: Digital Topographic Maps
• As India offers up cash and advice, sunny nations form a solar alliance
• 2017 was second hottest year on record, after sizzling 2016: report
• Amazonian locals key to saving ‘lungs of the planet’ says study
• Big investors urge Trump to stick with Paris climate accord
• At U.N., Trump adviser says U.S. still leaving Paris climate pact
• Carbon-offset deal would cost airlines $6.2 billion in 2025: IATA