The environment in the news friday 17 October 2008
AFP: EU Kyoto signatories on way to goals: environment agency
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- Reuters: Omar weakens to tropical storm in Atlantic
AFP: EU Kyoto signatories on way to goals: environment agencyThu Oct 16, 4:29 pm ET AFP/File – An European flag flutters inside the European Union Headquarters in Brussels. The 15 European Union countries … COPENHAGEN (AFP) – The 15 European Union countries that signed up to the 1997 Kyoto agreement on cutting greenhouse gases are collectively on track to meet their commitment, though individual performances vary, the European Environmental Agency said Thursday. "The EU-15 should meet its collective target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent for the period 2008-2012," compared with 1990, a statement from the Copenhagen-based agency said. Part of this decrease will come from emission reduction projects that EU countries will finance in other countries. Overall, projections from member states for the Kyoto period indicate that the 15 states could cut emissions by more than 11 percent compared with 1990. This could be achieved by a combination of domestic policies and measures (in force and planned), carbon sink activities and credits for emission reductions outside the EU. "Emission performance remains mixed in the EU-15. A few member states are still off their Kyoto track," said Jacqueline McGlade, the agency's executive director. "However, if the expected outstanding performance of other member states is taken into account, the EU-15 as a whole should meet its Kyoto commitment." Within the overall EU-15 Kyoto target of eight percent there are differentiated emission targets for each member state. In 2006, four EU-15 countries (France, Greece, Sweden and Britain) had already reached a level below their Kyoto target. Eight further EU-15 member states (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal) project that they will achieve their targets, but projections from three member states (Denmark, Italy and Spain) indicate that they will not meet their emission reduction goals. Of the eight percent target, 2.7 percent has already been achieved and should rise to a 3.6 percent cut through existing policies and measures by 2010. Buying carbon credits will account for another three percent and reforestation for carbon sink purposes another 1.4 percent. The report also gives a long-term estimate of the emissions situation in Europe. Although emissions are projected to continue decreasing until 2020 in all 27 members of the EU, the 20 percent reduction target compared with 1990, endorsed by European leaders in 2007, will remain out of reach without the implementation of additional measures, such as the EU energy and climate change package proposed by the European Commission in January 2008, the agency said. Back to Menu ______________________________________________________________________ Reuters: Omar weakens to tropical storm in AtlanticBy John Marino John Marino – Thu Oct 16, 11:07 pm ET Reuters – Hurricane Omar in a satellite image taken October 15, 2008. (NOAA/Handout/Reuters)
SAN JUAN (Reuters) – Hurricane Omar weakened to a tropical storm in the Atlantic on Thursday night after threading its way through the small islands of the northeastern Caribbean as a powerful storm that caused far less damage than its punch had threatened. Omar's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 70 miles per hour as it moved northeastward through the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. (0300 GMT Friday) advisory. The hurricane center forecast additional weakening during the next two days. The 15th tropical cyclone of a busy Atlantic hurricane season sank boats in harbors and knocked down trees and utility poles on Caribbean islands, according to reports from officials and residents throughout the vulnerable area. It posed no threat to the United States or any other land area as it raced out over the open waters of the Atlantic. "It missed all the major land masses. The only land mass that we know it hit was an itsy-bitsy island called Sombrero and that's uninhabited," said senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart at the U.S. National Hurricane Center. "If it was going to go on a track that wouldn't affect anybody or at least not affect anybody significantly, then it absolutely took that track," Stewart said. Omar formed north of the Dutch island of Curacao on Tuesday, briefly disrupting oil operations in Venezuela and shutting down processing units at a refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It strengthened into a fierce Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity and neared the threshold of Category 4 at its peak in the Anegada passage between the Dutch-French island of St. Maarten and the Virgin Islands. At 11 p.m., the center of Omar was 505 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and about 715 miles southeast of Bermuda, the Miami-based center said. BOATS SUNK Omar sank at least four boats at the Christiansted harbor in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S. Coast Guard said operations at St. Croix's ports were suspended pending damage assessments, but ports in St. Thomas and St. John were open. The storm toppled trees and power lines across St. Maarten. In the Maho Bay area, it mowed down a row of wooden nightclubs that were popular with visitors, said Paul Boonstra, a Dutchman who runs boat tours. British Virgin Islands officials reported fallen rocks, debris and broken trees on roads and minor flooding. "Once again we thank God that the Territory has been spared the impact of a dangerous Category 3 hurricane," Deputy Gov. Inez Archibald said in a statement. The only land area to really feel strong storm conditions was the eastern end of St. Croix, but sustained winds there did not exceed tropical storm force, the hurricane center said. In the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, home to about 4 million people, Omar caused little more than flooding along a handful of small roads. "This was another bullet we were able to dodge," said Rafael Mojica, of Puerto Rico's National Weather Service. Processing units at the 500,000 barrel-per-day Hovensa refinery on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands were shut down ahead of Omar's arrival and the operators were conducting an assessment on Thursday before restarting it, Hess Corp said. Hovensa is a large supplier of gasoline and heating oil to U.S. East Coast markets. The 2008 hurricane season, which officially ends on November 30, has been far more active than average. Of the most serious storms so far, Hurricane Gustav hit near New Orleans, the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hurricane Ike struck Houston. Both threatened oil rigs off the U.S. Gulf Coast. In Haiti, more than 800 people were killed in flooding caused by Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike, while Cuba suffered $5 billion in damage after Gustav and Ike tore through it. (Additional reporting by Michael Christie in Miami; Writing by Tom Brown; Editing by Jim Loney and Peter Cooney) Back to Menu ______________________________________________________________________ Directory: cpi -> briefs briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news Download 232.53 Kb. Share with your friends:
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