Cancun Talks Pave Way for Environmental Benefits

The UN Climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, wrapped up with some important developments leading the world on a path towards constructive global action on climate change, United Nations Foundation President Senator Timothy E. Wirth has said in a statement.

The UN Climate Agreements, endorsed by 193 countries, are seen to be the "building blocks for global action" by the UN Foundation that will advance the world toward improvements on key environmental issues, such as deforestation, technology cooperation, adaptation, and financing. The agreements are aimed at persuading the countries to practice low-carbon development plans and strategies, which will ensure economic strengthening and national security whilst protecting the environment.

 "The agreements themselves, as well as the resulting measures that will be implemented around the world, will build confidence in the multilateral negotiations process. These efforts will deliver environmental benefits and pave the way for additional agreements on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the reduction of powerful warming agents such as methane, refrigeration gases, and black carbon from diesel engines and cookstoves.”, said Timothy E Wirth

Wirth said, “The evidence of a destabilized climate is everywhere – from the global temperature record to the shrinking Arctic ice cap to the increasing incidence of extreme weather events. Negotiators in Cancún made important progress toward cooperative action to combat the destructive results of climate change. As the Cancún Agreements are implemented and the world looks at ahead to two more rounds of talks, we should continue the strategy of developing the building blocks that will move us to a greener energy economy.”

For the full statement: Statement by Timothy E. Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation

Costing the Earth: Rethinking Climate Change

In a BBC Radio 4 Program "Rethinking Climate Change" in the series "Costing the Earth", a spectrum of scientists and climate change activists discuss the Hartwell report which says that we need to start afresh if we are to have any hope of success.

These scientists point out the obvious failure to reach multi-national agreements on curbing emissions. Future strategy, they say, should be led by individual groups, governments and temporary alliances. Efforts should focus on practical solutions that bring other benefits alongside emission-control. If a strategy brings about poverty reduction or economic renewal then it is much more likely to attract widespread support than any programme labelled as 'anti-climate change'.

This group of scientists argues that the focus on carbon dioxide has been mis-guided from the start. They estimate that more than half of man-made warming can be attributed to sources other than the burning of coal, gas and oil, and most of those emissions are easier to reduce. We should tackle black soot, reactive nitrogen and methane before we make the kind of tough decisions needed to fight carbon dioxide.

In 'Costing the Earth' Tom Heap conducts a thorough examination of the new approach with experts including author Bjorn Lomborg, the UN's Yvo de Boer and climate negotiators from Oxfam and WWF. He asks if it's right to abandon all the efforts made over the last decade. Can we really save the planet without every major nation signed up to the same plan? Shell Foundations's Simon Bishop also talks in the program about improved cookstoves and the contribution it can make to reducing black soot.

Is Kitchen Smoke Killing the Monsoons?

There seem to be many a scientific proponent of the premise that the increasingly erratic monsoons in the subcontinent have a correlation with Black Carbon (soot) from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Oceanographer, writer, Danielle Meitiv captures the scientific work done so far in her blog.

Says Danielle, pollutants, particularly black carbon (BC), are affecting the monsoons by a process that starts in the winter when soot combines with dust blown from the west, creating huge clouds of haze that hug the southern slopes of the Himalayas.

Danielle explains, "The BC in these clouds absorb solar radiation, warming the air even faster than usual. This draws more moisture to the region sooner, causing the early monsoon to intensify. This theory is known as the Elevated Heat Pump, as the soot acts to pump heat up the Himalayan slopes. Observations show a widespread and sustained warming in the pre-monsoon season over the last three decades. In that same time period, early monsoon rainfall has increased by 20% ."

"Over the oceans, BC has a different, although equally damaging effect. BC combines with other anthropogenic aerosols, forming Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs), large plumes of particles that can stretch over whole continents or ocean basins. These ABCs absorb solar radiation in the atmosphere, causing dimming below. This reduction of irradiance reduces evaporation and cools the surface, leading to a weakening of the later monsoon."

"The combined impact of these two phenomena, the Elevated Heat Pump and Solar Dimming, increases flooding during the early months of monsoon, and causes drought later on. Some studies suggest that over time the result will be an overall weakening of the monsoon and a reduction of rainfall over the region. Reduction in rainfall of great concern because in South Asia there is a strong positive correlation between the amount of precipitation and food production. The Indian summer monsoon is the biggest source of freshwater to the region: over 70% of the annual precipitation over India occurs during the summer monsoon."