The environment in the news
Christian Science Monitor: Potent greenhouse-gas methane has been rising
Download 0.5 Mb.
|
Christian Science Monitor: Potent greenhouse-gas methane has been risingMethane levels in the atmosphere rose in 2007 after 10 years. Scientists are trying to find out why.By Peter N. Spotts | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor from the April 28, 2008 edition After nearly a decade of holding relatively steady, levels of methane in the atmosphere appear to be rising, and scientists are trying to find out why. The uptick is tiny, especially compared with the growth in carbon-dioxide emissions from industrial activity and land-use changes. But the shift has still raised eyebrows. Pound for pound, methane is 25 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. So powerful is its effect that some experts have proposed that the world could meet climate targets more readily if it made big strides in reducing methane and other greenhouse gases that are less abundant but more potent. If the increase seen last year continues unabated, researchers worry that over the long term, it could help bring on significant additional warming. As Earth's climate warms, it could trigger a steady release of methane as permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere's high latitudes thaws and the organic material it kept on ice begins todecompose. The more methane the permafrost loses, the more the climate warms. The increase "comes on top of a period where methane barely increased at all," says Ed Dlugokencky, a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "I think that's why it looks so remarkable." During the early 1980s, he says, methane levels in the atmosphere rose at an average annual rate of 14 molecules for every billion molecules of other gases, although the growth rate was beginning to slow over that period. From 1999 to 2006, methane's abundance in the atmosphere was relatively constant. Last year, however, the concentration rose by 10 parts per billion to an overall level of 1.8 parts per million (p.p.m). When its direct and indirect effects on the atmosphere are considered, its current warming effect is about half that of CO2, even though it is far less abundant. Both gases are substantially more abundant now than at any time during the last 650,000 years, according to research summarized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year. Last year's methane rise may stem from wetlands' emissions at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere, Dr. Dlugokencky speculates. He notes that 2007 was a particularly warm year there. "We're pretty sure it didn't come from biomass burning" because the data doesn't show a big increase in carbon monoxide, another byproduct of burning biomass. Methane rises from natural sources such as wetlands – as submerged plant material decays – wildfires, permafrost, and ocean sources. But estimates put human-related emissions – from farming to landfills – at some 60 percent of the methane in the air. Factoring methane One of a handful of gases that appear in tiny amounts but are far more potent warming agents than CO2, methane's climate significance – along with other trace gases and black carbon soot – have led some researchers to suggest that clamping down quickly on these emissions could buy some time to deal with the thornier problem of reducing CO2 emissions. Countries are currently negotiating a new climate agreement to take effect after 2012. Several key players, including the European Union, argue that to avoid dangerous climate change, the world must hold global average temperatures to between 3.6 and 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. That means stabilizing CO2 concentrations at about 450 p.p.m. Recently, however, a team led by James Hansen at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York have begun to argue that the CO2 target must be 350 p.p.m. or less to account for additional, long-term amplifying effects of warming. Without seriously tackling methane and these other sources of warming, "our CO2 requirements could be ... tougher than the 350 target," Dr. Hansen says. Making serious reductions in methane, tropospheric ozone (to which methane contributes), and black soot, he continues, could ease the requirements on CO2 by some 25 p.p.m. More research needed At least for several developed countries, much of that low-hanging fruit may already have been picked, according to Michael Prather, an atmospheric chemist at the University of California at Irvine and a lead author on last year's IPCC reports. The flat trends in methane over the past eight years defied previous IPCC projections. The reasons, he says, could range from changes in energy demand in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union to a push by industry in the US and Europe to tackle methane from leaky pipelines, landfills, and other sources as their first cut at controlling greenhouse gases. The uptick NOAA detected "is a surprise," he says. "But in some sense it could mean that we're just back to normal." The task now, Dlugokencky and others say, is to conduct detailed analyses of last year's methane samples to try to identify the sources – Northern Hemisphere versus Southern and natural versus human generated. In addition, some researchers are calling for many more sampling sites. This, they say, would allow monitoring of emission-control efforts in various regions and figuring out whether critical feedback mechanisms, such as thawing permafrost, are finally their heat-trapping inventory to the atmosphere. Back to Menu ________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================== ROA MEDIA UPDATE THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS Tuesday, 29 April 2008 UN In The News Nigeria: Canvasses Collaboration With Unido Daily Trust (Abuja): The Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Halima Tayo Alao, has called for more collaboration between Nigeria and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in order to tackle environmental hiccups in the country. She made this call during a visit by a delegation of UNIDO led by its Director-General, Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, in her office in Abuja. The Minister urged UNIDO to continue to provide technical expertise and support in all the programmes and projects of the Ministry, pointing out environmental issues are key to national development. According to the Minister, industrial pollution is a key problem in the country and therefore sought urgent steps to mitigate its effects on the nation. On the Green Development Mechanism (GDM) project, the Minister called on UNIDO to consider a more pragmatic approach in order to make it effective and relevant to the country. Also speaking, the Director of Pollution Control, in the ministry, Dr.Olusegun Dada, the said the Ministry was working on areas such as the Lagos Lagoon remediation programme, Ozone Village concept, etc as part of efforts to curb erosion. In his response, the Director General of UNIDO, Dr. Yumkella, commended the efforts of the country in the implementation of measures to provide a better and safer environment for its citizens and pledged the organisation's continuous support for the programmes and projects of the ministry. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804281251.html General Environment News Kenya : Le Kenya va se doter d'une politique nationale d'environnement PANA (Nairobi) : Le ministère kenyan de l'Environnement et des Ressources minières va élaborer une politique nationale de l'environnement destinée à renforcer les stratégies de développement et les politiques sectorielles pour un développement durable, a annoncé lundi à Nairobi le Secrétaire général du ministère, James Ole Kiyiapi. Il a déclaré que la politique envisagée identifierait les mesures à prendre pour la préservation et la protection des écosystèmes et des ressources naturelles. M. Kiyiapi a souligné que l'objectif global de cette politique sera d'influencer le comportement des individus et des institutions en termes de production et de consommation des produits et services et de renforcer leur contribution à un développement durable. Il a souligné que, même si le pays était doté d'un riche patrimoine national, il fait face à des demandes contradictoires en matière de croissance économique et de développement qui menacent la viabilité environnementale. De son côté, le directeur du Service kenyan de la Protection de la nature (KWS), Julius Kipng'etich, a annoncé le lancement de projets destinés à assurer aux communautés locales des parcs nationaux une participation aux investissements dans le tourisme. Il a souligné que ces investissements permettraient aux communautés de ne plus dépendre uniquement de l'agriculture mais aussi du tourisme, estimant que cela permettrait de réduire les conflits avec les services de protection de la nature. Kenya: Dream to Tame Plastic Waste Comes of Age The East African Standard (Nairobi): A new strategy that will allow you to sell your plastic waste, generate income for the youth and improve the environment has been unveiled. Players in the plastic industry have come up with a concept that will see plastic waste collected and recycled before getting to the dumpsites. The concept involves organising youths in groups and empowering them to collect plastic waste from homes and selling them to big industries for recycling. The youth will be given special machines on loan, which they will use to shred plastic bags to make it easier for handling and transportation. Industry spokesperson, Mr Evan Githinji, says the idea was to arrest the plastic bags and other plastic waste at the household level before it reaches the environment. Githinji says after consumers use plastic bags they throw them into the litterbin together with other waste making them dirty. "What we need is clean plastic. We are asking Kenyans to separate plastic bags from the rest of the garbage and sell to us. Dirty plastic cannot be recycled," Githinji says. He says plastic waste is normally clean when leaving the house, but gets dirty by the time it reaches dumpsites. "There is huge demand for plastic waste and Kenyans will realise they cannot satisfy the demand," said Githinji. He said their concept would work like that of scrap metal, which is easily recycled. It is possible, he says, to make plastic waste as precious as scrap metal. It is estimated that each year 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide, translating to a rate of over one million per minute. Billions of such plastic bags end up as litter each year while single use bags made of high-density polyethylene remain major culprits that accumulate and persist on earth for up to 1,000 years. Kenya consumes over 24 million plastic bags monthly, according to Mr Mahesh Dodhia, the Chief Executive Officer, Hi-Plast Group of Companies. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804281370.html Kenya: No Solutions Yet for Plastic Waste Problems The East African Standard (Nairobi): Various attempts have been made to stop environmental pollution by plastic waste, but a solution is yet to be found. The latest initiative was by the Nairobi City Council last year's ban of flimsy bags (thin plastic bags). Council askaris arrested people they found using plastic paper bags. The by-law was relaxed, but within the short time it was in force, one could hardly spot a plastic bag. Supermarkets introduced biodegradable bags and encouraged customers to use shopping bags more than once. But it was after the slapping of a 120 per cent exercise tax on plastic materials in the last Budget Speech that the industry was made to take a keen interest in waste management. In 2005, the Government and the United Nations Environmental Programme made recommendations under the banner of Sustainable Cities Programme and Participatory Solid Waste Management that are yet to be implemented. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804281424.html Rwanda: Women Good Promoters of Environment - Minister The New Times (Kigali): The Minister of Natural Resource has said women can be good promoters of the environment because of the lessons learned through generations. Stanislas Kamanzi said this Thursday during the 2008 UNDP retreat on Global Gender Equality held at Serena Kigali Hotel. He gave examples of some influential economic sectors in which women have a major role such as agriculture, energy and water. "Due to their role, women are responsible for productive activities the home, procuring materials for daily consumption and attending to most of the domestic chores," Kamanzi explained to the participants of the retreat He said that women have a bigger role in environmental promotion than their male partners, particularly in rural ecosystems, because of their resource-based socio-economic activities. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804280277.html Nigeria: Rainstorm Wreaks Havoc in Epe, 200 People Homeless Daily Trust (Abuja): Barely a month into the rainy season residents of Lagos suburbs have started counting their losses, as recently some communities in Epe, Eredo Local Council Development Area had several of their houses destroyed by a violent rainstorm. Houses were pulled down, electricity poles and trees were uprooted and scores of houses had their roofs blown away. About 200 people were rendered homeless in Poka, Iragunshin, Noforija, Igboye, Ilara and Ibonwon areas. At Ibonwon and Ilara communities, which are the most affected, roofs were blown away. Only about 17 houses in the town were spared. Despite this, the people gave thanks to God that no life was lost during the storm. The traditional ruler of Ibonwon, Oloja Adekoya, appealed to the state government to come to the aid of the people by repairing the damaged buildings, re-erecting the electric poles and cables, and providing temporary accommodation for the people. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804280728.html Zimbabwe: Farm Mechanisation Gets Another Boost The Herald (Harare): Government has acquired more state-of-the-art farming equipment from China for distribution to farmers under the Farm Mechanisation Programme. The equipment includes tractors, seed drills, roam disc harrows, combine harvesters and irrigation equipment. In an interview yesterday, the Minister of Agricultural Engineering, Mechanisation and Irrigation, Dr Joseph Made, said mechanisation was an ongoing programme meant to ensure maximum production and food security in line with the gains of the Land Reform Programme. "We are grateful to our Chinese colleagues as the consignment of machinery and equipment is now in the country and being assembled to complement the previous mechanisation phases and prepare for the next phase. “We have received 2 000 precise seed drilling planters and another 2 000 roam disc harrows for land preparations," Dr Made said. The Government continues to order related farming machinery from China for land preparation, planting and harvesting. The seed drills are used for planting wheat, soyabean, sorghum and other small grains. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804280962.html Mauritania: Where Every Meal Is a Sacrifice The Washington Post (Nouakchott): Mauritania, and much of Africa, relies on imported food. As trade breaks down, destitute people face tough choices. Even before he took a butcher knife to the she-goat's throat, Likbir Ould Mohamed Mahmoud knew it would only make things worse. The goat was a living bounty in this parched city on the Sahara's edge, providing the sweet milk that filled his family's stomachs at breakfast time. But as soaring food prices worldwide have hit the poorest nations of Africa the hardest, he has been forced to join many of his neighbors in slaughtering or selling off one of their only sources of wealth - their livestock. By sacrificing the she-goat last month, the 39-year-old day laborer and goatherd traded the family's morning milk for dinner meat. It lasted a few days. With the family unable to afford skyrocketing prices for basic foods, he said, his two young children now cry in the morning from hunger. One recent morning, he could take it no more. He took the goat's kid - one of the last two animals in his flock - to the squalid livestock market here in the hopes of selling it to buy food. "Everything - the wheat, rice, sugar and animal feeds - is higher priced than I have ever seen them before," he said. "What will we do? Soon we will have nothing left to sell." Like most of the world's poorest nations, Mauritania is caught in a global food trap, producing only 30 percent of what its people eat and importing most of the rest. As prices skyrocket, those who can least afford it are squeezed the most as the world confronts the worst bout of food inflation since the Soviet grain crisis of the 1970s. Strong global demand and limited supplies are key factors driving up prices, but perhaps just as important is a massive disruption in the free flow of global trade. In recent months, food-producing countries from Argentina to Kazakhstan have begun to slam shut their doors to protect domestic access to the food they grow. The U.N. World Food Program has flagged 30 nations confronting mounting food insecurity this year as a direct result of market forces; 22 of them are in Africa. As prices climb, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and other net food importers have been racked by civil unrest. Hunger is spiking in parts of the continent in patterns similar to past bouts of drought, floods or civil strife. In Mauritania - a nation of 3 million straddling Arab and black Africa - the number of people not getting enough food is up this year by 30 percent in rural areas despite a relatively good annual harvest, according to the WFP. A food emergency has been declared in broad sections of the country, with the food program rushing to roll out feeding stations. U.N. experts, World Bank officials and aid groups fear it marks the onset of the worst food crisis in the region in decades; officials are calling for $755 million in fresh emergency food assistance from rich countries. Aid groups are already falling behind in their efforts to provide food across the continent, leaving even the poorest communities increasingly dependent on the market. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/27/AR2008042702165.html Back to Menu _______________________________________________________________________ ROAP MEDIA UPDATE THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS Tuesday, 29 April 2008
General environment news
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 0.5 Mb. Share with your friends:
|