Report: Warming to hit California hard
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 6:15 am
From Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:
The Inland region and other parts of the Southwest are warming faster than most of the nation because of human-induced climate change, and residents here can expect the resulting heat waves, wildfires and water shortages to worsen, according to a new White House report on global warming.
The bleak predictions were part of a climate status report to Congress last week. While it contains no new research, the study paints a more comprehensive picture of the problem in the United States than previous studies and brief updates during George W. Bush’s administration.
The area that includes California faces increasing temperatures, drought, wildfires and invasive species that “will accelerate transformation of the landscape,” the report says. Such changes would threaten agriculture, could lead to extinctions of plants and animals and could spark water conflicts between regions, states and nations.
Though no area is immune from climate change, the Southwest is one of the hardest hit. The combination of natural drought and climate change “could turn out to be a devastating one-two punch for the region,” the authors write.
Read more from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
The farm lobby vs. the global warming bill: The agriculture lobby’s fingerprints are all over a crucial bill aimed at fighting global warming, says editorial
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 7:20 amFrom the Los Angeles Times, this editorial:
Conspiracy theorists point to an assortment of groups they think secretly run the country — the gun lobby, Big Oil, the New World Order and even Yale’s Skull and Bones society have all been fingered as the shadowy Illuminati who rule Washington. Yet the nation’s real power brokers are in plain sight, amid amber waves of grain: the farmers.
The farm lobby demonstrates its awesome might every few years with the passage of a new farm bill, which invariably shovels billions in corporate welfare to agribusiness while damaging U.S. trade relationships and in many cases raising consumer prices for agricultural goods. But its power goes beyond the farm bill; it’s hard to pass any legislation even tangentially related to farming without the support of a bipartisan bloc of lawmakers from Midwestern states. Which is why, when congressional Democrats bring their sweeping 1,200-page bill to fight climate change to the House floor today, the farm lobby’s loamy thumbprints will be all over it.
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 from Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) is an ambitious effort to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. It would do this by capping emissions and allowing polluters to trade carbon credits; regulating cleaner fuels; investing in clean energy development; and boosting energy efficiency and renewable power.
What does that have to do with farming? Not a lot. Although agriculture plays a key role in global warming — clearing forest land for farms eliminates trees that absorb carbon, and livestock generate hefty emissions of climate-altering methane — the bill largely ignores such issues. That didn’t stop Rep. Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, from holding up the bill to wrestseed money for his constituents under the theory that heading off global catastrophe is only worthwhile if agribusiness can profit from it.
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
Climate change in the Golden State: Reducing greenhouse gas impacts in California’s urban water cycle
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 24, 2009 at 7:50 amFrom the Water Efficiency Journal:
Water supply in California is becoming constrained by climate change, both directly and indirectly through the need to protect endangered species. Although the current water shortages in California are still referred to as droughts or often seen only as regulatory cutbacks to protect endangered fish species, they are undoubtedly part of a climate-driven trend. The State Water Project (SWP) depends on snowpack in the Sierra, which is projected to decrease drastically over the next few decades from changes in climate, and supply from the Colorado River to southern California has already been severely curtailed because of human-induced changes in hydrological cycles across the western US.
A July 2008 Federal Court ruling to protect endangered fish in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta mandated a significant reduction of pumping to the SWP which supplies most of central and southern California. After compilation of snowpack and reservoir data for winter 2008/2009, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) estimates that the reduction in deliveries to the SWP will be 85%. In anticipation of the Federal Court ruling, the Governor of California directed state agencies in February 2008 to prepare and implement a water conservation program to achieve a 20% reduction in statewide average per capita water use by the year 2020 (the 20×2020 Program).
Read more from the Water Efficiency Journal by clicking here.
How aerosols contribute to climate change
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2009 at 12:13 pmFrom Science Daily:
What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens on the way there is a different story. As imaged by Lynn Russell, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, and her team, air blown by winds between San Diego and Las Vegas gives the road to Sin City a distinctive look.
The team has sampled air from the tip of the Scripps Pier since last year, creating a near real-time record of what kinds of particles — from sea salt to car exhaust — are floating around at any given time. Add data about wind speed and direction and the scientists can tell where particles came from and can map their pathways around Southern California.
When Russell and her students put it all together, the atmosphere of greater San Diego comes alive in colors representing the presence of different airborne chemical compounds in aerosol form. One streak of deep red draws a distinct line from the pier that sometimes extends all the way to Las Vegas. The red denotes organic mass, a carbon-based component of vehicular and industrial emissions that pops up on Russell’s readouts frequently. Plot the streak on a road atlas and it reveals the daily life of pollution in Southern California. For one stretch of time, it neatly traced Interstate 15 all the way past the California-Nevada border.
“We were really surprised,” said Russell. “We did not expect to have such consistent winds for the selected study days.”
Read more from Science Daily by clicking here.
Climate change: KQED takes a look at the new white house report, while the Santa Clara Valley Water District launches new climate change portal
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 20, 2009 at 7:30 amFirst, from KQED:
At least one researcher cited in the 196-page climate impacts report issued this week by the Obama administration is not impressed with the final product. Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado’s Center for Science & Technology Research has written a blog post critical of the report and in particular, the way in which his work was interpreted. If you’d rather not plow through the entire post, John Tierney has an overview of Pielke’s critique on his blog for the New York Times.
The report was arguably the first to break down both observed and projected effects of climate change into coherent regional summaries. For the purposes of the report, California was considered part of the Southwest region, which included states as far east as Colorado and New Mexico.
The KQED Climate Watch blog lists the key points in the report as they pertain to California, and notes that Pielke’s critique does not appear to address any of the points on the list. Find out more from the KQED Climate Watch blog by clicking here.
Want to keep on track of climate change information? Santa Clara Valley Water District librarian Bob Teeter sent me this:
The Santa Clara Valley Water District has a new Climate Change Portal page where interested users can follow the latest reports on climate change. We think it will be particularly useful for those in the water industry in California, like us. Browse reports by date (newest first) or by topic (such as adaptation, water utilities guidance, sample climate action plans). Or do a keyword search to find just what you’re looking for. Subscribe to the RSS feed in order to have links for the newest reports come to you.
Check it out by clicking here.
Effects of climate change on water and U.S. agriculture; Cooley congressional testimony points to growing vulnerability of food systems
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 20, 2009 at 7:29 amFrom the Pacific Institute, this press release:
The evidence is in: climate change is not coming, it is here, and today Congress considered climate change impacts on our national food supply. Agriculture is a water-intensive industry, using some 70% of the nation’s freshwater resources. The impacts of climate change on these water resources will have major consequences for agriculture, according to the Congressional testimony of Heather Cooley, senior research associate of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California. Cooley’s testimony was provided to the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming for the Hearing on Global Warming Effects on Agriculture and Forestry on Thursday, June 18, 2009.
“The agricultural sector is particularly vulnerable to climate change because it is directly tied to land and water resources,” Cooley testified. “Even modest changes in temperature and precipitation patterns, the length of growing seasons, or the frequency of extreme events will have large consequences for many farmers.”
Adaptation measures taken now can substantially reduce the risk of climate change for the agricultural sector, according to the Pacific Institute, but the measures will require federal government support, especially in:
- better management of surface and groundwater resources and improvements in water conservation and efficiency;
- outreach to the agricultural community about the impacts of climate change and potential adaptation strategies;
- additional research and development, particularly in regional assessments and better weather forecasting.“Many of the impacts of climate change are now unavoidable,” said Cooley in her testimony. “For instance, throughout the nation, surface water supplies will be increasingly out-of-phase with agricultural water needs as runoff declines during summer months, when agricultural water demand peaks. But studies show that adaptation by farmers can substantially reduce the risk of climate change for the agricultural sector, even up to 50%.”
In written testimony, Cooley and Pacific Institute Senior Research Associate Dr. Juliet Christian-Smith report significant potential to reduce agricultural water use, thereby reducing vulnerability to drought and other water-supply constraints. In California, for example, the Pacific Institutes estimates that widely available technologies and management practices can reduce agricultural water use by 10% and probably by substantially more. By improving agricultural water use efficiency, farmers reduce their vulnerability to water supply constraints.
“Many conservation practices require substantial investment, and new policies and funding that promote climate change adaptation should be introduced into the Farm Bill. Instead, Congress has threatened to reduce funding in 2009,” said Cooley.
The testimony notes the significant gap between top-down analysis and bottom-up implementation, calling for government support for additional outreach to convey information to and fund adaptation strategies for farmers.
The full testimony is available at: http://www.pacinst.org/publications/testimony/.
Based in Oakland, California, the Pacific Institute is a nonpartisan research institute that works to create a healthier planet and sustainable communities. Through interdisciplinary research and partnering with stakeholders, the Institute produces solutions that advance environmental protection, economic development, and social equity—in California, nationally, and internationally. www.pacinst.org
Pacific Institute’s Heather Cooley to testify in Washington DC today on the impacts of climate change on agriculture
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 18, 2009 at 8:06 amToday, Pacific Institute Research Associate Heather Cooley will testify on the impacts of climate change on agriculture before the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Cooley will discuss how precipitation and weather patterns will affect agriculture and what adaptation methods will be necessary to maintain a healthy agriculture sector in the U.S. Here is the text of her testimony:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the effects of climate change on agricultural production in the United States. Our testimony will focus on those impacts related to water resources – a critical connection especially in the western United States.
These detailed comments are intended to supplement our oral testimony.
Key Messages:
- Agriculture is a water-intensive industry, using about 70% of the nation’s freshwater resource. As a result, impacts of climate change on water resources will have major consequences for agriculture.
- Rainfed agriculture is especially vulnerable to altered precipitation patterns.
- Surface water supplies will be increasingly out-of-phase with agricultural water demand. Surface runoff is expected to decline during summer months, when agricultural water demand peaks. The impacts of climate change on groundwater resources remain largely unknown; however, recent research suggests they may decline.
- Changes in extreme weather events will have a greater effect on crop production than changes in average conditions.
- Adaptation can substantially reduce the risk of climate change for the agricultural sector.The federal government must support adaptation efforts, including better management of surface and groundwater resources and improvements in water conservation and efficiency.
To support adaptation efforts:
- The federal government must support adaptation efforts, including better management of surface and groundwater resources and improvements in water conservation and efficiency.
- The federal government should support outreach to the agricultural community about the impacts of climate change and potential adaptation strategies.
- The federal government should support additional research and development. Specifically, more regional assessments and better weather forecasting are needed.
Read more of Heather Cooley’s testimony by clicking here.
New report provides authoritative assessment of national, regional impacts of global climate change; details point to potential value of early, aggressive action
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 18, 2009 at 7:39 amFrom YubaNet.com:
Climate change is already having visible impacts in the United States, and the choices we make now will determine the severity of its impacts in the future, according to a new and authoritative federal study assessing the current and anticipated domestic impacts of climate change.
The report, “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States,” compiles years of scientific research and takes into account new data not available during the preparation of previous large national and global assessments. It was produced by a consortium of experts from13 U.S. government science agencies and from several major universities and research institutes. With its production and review spanning Republican and Democratic administrations, it offers a valuable, objective scientific consensus on how climate change is affecting-and may further affect-the United States.
“This new report integrates the most up-to-date scientific findings into a comprehensive picture of the ongoing as well as expected future impacts of heat-trapping pollution on the climate experienced by Americans, region by region and sector by sector,” said John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “It tells us why remedial action is needed sooner rather than later, as well as showing why that action must include both global emissions reductions to reduce the extent of climate change and local adaptation measures to reduce the damage from the changes that are no longer avoidable.”
The report, which confirms previous evidence that global temperature increases in recent decades have been primarily human-induced, incorporates the latest information on rising temperatures and sea levels; increases in extreme weather events; and other climate-related phenomena. Adding greatly to its practical value in the realm of policy and planning, it is the first such report in almost a decade to break out those impacts by U.S. region and economic sector, and the first to do so in such great detail.
Read more from YubaNet.com by clicking here.
Wednesday’s top of the scroll: White House report warns of climate change effects; Water problems becoming more widespread
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 17, 2009 at 8:06 am
From CNN.com:
Man-made climate change threatens to stress water resources, challenge crops and livestock, raise sea levels and adversely affect human health, according to a report released by the Obama administration on Tuesday.
The nearly 200-page document on global climate change — released by the White House science adviser and mandated by Congress — does not include new research, but encompasses several recent studies on the effects of global warming over the last half century.
Among the report’s key findings are an “unequivocal and primarily human-induced” rise in the Earth’s temperature of 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 50 years, and a projection of more rapidly changing temperatures over the next several decades. “It’s not just a problem for the future,” said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “We’re beginning to see the impact on our daily lives.”
The continuing temperature rise is likely to spur a series of negative consequences for the Earth’s energy supply, water, transportation, ecosystems and health, the study said. “[The report] tells us why remedial action is needed sooner rather than later, as well as showing why that action must include both global emissions reductions to reduce the extent of climate change and local adaptation measures to reduce the damage from the changes that are no longer avoidable,” said John P. Holdren, the White House science adviser.
Read more from CNN.com by clicking here.
From the San Diego Union Tribune:
Climate change and population growth are straining water supplies even in places where people historically haven’t worried much about the resource. Cities from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast are pushing conservation plans much like the ones being introduced across California to deal with a prolonged drought.
Concerns about the scarcity of drinkable water are prominent this week in San Diego, site of one of the world’s largest water-industry conventions, with more than 10,000 attendees. They also are underscored in a 190-page report issued yesterday by the Obama administration, which highlighted the difficulty of maintaining the nation’s water supplies amid global warming.
“Everywhere you look, you have some kind of water problem,” said Bradley Udall, director of the University of Colorado’s Western Water Assessment and an author of the report. “I don’t think (the public) gets the idea that we are in a new era of limits with many natural resources, water being only one. We are going to learn what a gallon means.”
Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.
Peter Gleick: Western Governors and new thinking on water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 17, 2009 at 7:50 amFrom Peter Gleick’s City Brights blog:
I had the opportunity this week to brief a group of western Governors and Canadian Premiers in Park City, Utah on water challenges and solutions. The trip had many highlights: I saw one of the biggest belt buckles I’ve ever seen (on Governor Otter), the First Dog of Montana (Jag), and a fine shotgun (given as a gift to outgoing Western Governors Association chair Governor Huntsman). During the trip, I also discovered that these leaders seemed not only interested in and concerned about water, but reasonably informed as well.
Water Number: 11. The number of Governors and Premiers from the western U.S. and Canada that attended the water briefing at the Western Governors Association (WGA) meeting. My own Governor, Governor Schwarzenegger, who has not been nearly as well informed on water as he is on climate, was absent.
Let me summarize what I proposed they consider in the coming years:
Which you can read by clicking through to Peter’s blog by clicking here.
Climate change already having impact on U.S., expected to worsen
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 16, 2009 at 4:29 pmFrom Science Daily:
Two researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), Evan Mills and Michael Wehner, contributed to the analysis of the effects of climate change on all regions of the United States, described in a major report released June 16 by the multi-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program.
For the southwest region of the United States, which includes California, the report forecasts a hotter, drier climate with significant effects on the environment, agriculture and health.
“Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States” covers such effects as changes in rainfall patterns, drought, wildfire, Atlantic hurricanes, and effects on food production, fish stocks and other wildlife, energy, agriculture, water supplies, and coastal communities.
“This is the most thorough and up-to-date review ever assembled of climate-change impacts observed to date as well as those anticipated in the future across the United States,” says Evan Mills, one of the Berkeley Lab scientists who contributed to the report. While the report paints an ominous picture of potential impacts, “the good news is that the harshest impacts of future climate change can be avoided if the nation takes deliberate action soon. This can be done through a balanced mix of activities to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and adaptation to the otherwise unavoidable impacts,” says Mills.
Read the rest of this article from Science Daily, which includes a lot of information on what the report predicts is in California’s future, by clicking here.
Western Governors’ Association meeting focuses on water use, climate change and energy, but Schwarzenegger not in attendance
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 15, 2009 at 7:50 amFrom the Associated Press:
It’s an old quip in the West: Whiskey’s for drinkin’ and water’s for fightin’. Only these days, there’s more people with a stake in the fight for water and a dwindling supply. Quenching the growing demand for water in the warming West will require a bigger push for conservation, innovative technology and a rethinking of supply and demand, Western governors and water experts said Sunday.
The three-day Western Governors’ Association meeting that began Sunday focuses on key issues that affect states throughout the West, including water use, climate change and energy. This year — with several cabinet members from the Obama administration and a record attendance — the political landscape has shifted and there’s a renewed urgency for swapping ideas and working together, attendees said.
Sunday’s main discussion, which included Canadian officials and experts from the Middle East and Australia, focused on managing water amid changing climate conditions.
Although many of the controversies in the West center around urbanization, natural resources and energy development, water — and often the lack of it — comes up again and again. “Water is connected to all those things,” said panelist Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an environmental think tank based in Oakland, Calif.
Read more from the Associated Press by clicking here.
The Salt Lake Tribune notes some important governors are not in attendance:
The governors focused Sunday on varied topics and approved resolutions to start a work group for mapping a strategy to cope with climate change; urge a partnership with regional and national governments to address global warming; and two resolutions on transportation and storage of nuclear waste .
While many western governor’s attended the conference, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were conspicuous by their absences.
Prominent pollster and message expert Frank Luntz addressed the conference and shared results of opinion research his firm did earlier this year to gauge American attitudes on how well — or poorly — leaders are doing in addressing the concerns of the American public.
Westerners are more negative and more concerned about the direction the nation is going than any other region, he said. And they are more worried about losing their jobs and more confident that solutions lie in state capitols than in Washington. “What the West is saying is ‘enough,’” said Luntz, “solve it already and let’s move on.”
Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune by clicking here.
UC Davis begins $2.8 Million in studies of agricultural nitrogen’s impacts
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 15, 2009 at 7:40 amFrom the U.C. Davis Newsroom:
UC Davis researchers will receive $2.8 million in new grants to study the use and impacts of nitrogen, a hero of the agricultural revolution that is increasingly viewed as a worrisome source of water and air pollution and potent greenhouse gases.
“This is one of the most important and least publicized environmental issues we face: Escaped nitrogen from agricultural production affects the quality of our air, water, and soil and has huge potential to contribute to climate change,” said Tom Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis. “Many members of the public and politicians are unaware of the scope of this challenge. And many farmers are increasingly interested in nitrogen management to cut costs.”
Nitrogen is a chemical element that occurs naturally in Earth’s air, water and soil. It is essential to life, and cycles through all plants, animals and people. Nitrogen-based fertilizers help California farmers produce more than 400 agricultural commodities — vegetables, fruits, meats and dairy products worth $36 billion a year.
But excess nitrogen is emitted from soils, seeps into groundwater and runs off into surface waters. Wastes from cattle, chickens and other livestock include nitrogen. Farm machines burning oil, gasoline and diesel release nitrogen to the air.
Read more from the U.C. Davis Newsroom by clicking here.
Water supply shifts as global climate changes
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 15, 2009 at 7:12 amFrom the Miami Herald:
Many of the world’s great rivers are becoming less so. Yet in the Midwest, the wet is getting wetter. So says a study that finds global climate change shifting weather and water patterns around the planet.
“In terms of water, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,” said Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. And, he said, the poverty of precipitation is more dramatic than the wealth of water around the world.
He’s a lead author of a study that looked at the flow of water in 925 rivers over 50 years. The researchers found significant shifts in about a third of the large waterways, with most seeing less rainfall in their basins and consequently less water washed out to sea. The drop-off in all the river water dumped into the Pacific Ocean between 1948 and 2004 nearly equals the amount that was flowing from the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Read more from the Miami Herald by clicking here.
World’s next big climate pact begins to take shape; This week, negotiators from 182 countries meet in Bonn, Germany to lay the groundwork for a post-Kyoto climate regime
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 3, 2009 at 7:57 amFrom the Christian Science Monitor:
A two-year march toward a new treaty to combat global warming is pausing briefly in Bonn to give negotiators from 182 countries their first crack at tackling a rough draft of an agreement.
Despite differences over some difficult issues, there is cautious optimism that negotiators could make progress especially now that the US is playing what many see as a more constructive role than it did under the Bush administration.
Over the next two weeks, country representatives will debate and overhaul as much of a 53-page “negotiating text” as they can to get a draft pact ready for government ministers to consider in December at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) annual “conference of the parties” in Copenhagen.
The ultimate goal is to produce a new agreement that will cover developing as well as developed countries and will pick up where 1997 Kyoto Protocol leaves off. The protocol’s first – and so far, only – enforcement period ends in 2012. The protocol, which formally took force last year, calls on industrial countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by a combined average of 5.5 percent below 1990 levels.
Read more from the Christian Science Monitor by clicking here.
DWR named ‘Climate Action Leader’; Department aggressively working to reduce emissions
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 2, 2009 at 4:03 pm
From the Department of Water Resources, this press release:
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has been named a “Climate Action Leader” by the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR). CCAR member organizations earn this special recognition by calculating, disclosing, and independently verifying their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
“The Governor has made it clear that state agencies must lead by example in the battle against climate change,” DWR Director Lester Snow said. “Measuring and verifying the carbon footprint of our department is a major first step in achieving significant reductions in carbon emissions. DWR is absolutely committed to minimizing the carbon footprint of its operations and has an aggressive plan in place to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals.”
During 2008, DWR voluntarily measured its prior-year (2007) GHG emissions, which totaled 3.24 million metric tons. This year, DWR officially reported those emissions after receiving certification from a CCAR-approved independent, third-party verifier. A copy of DWR’s 2007 annual emissions report can be found on the CCAR Web site: https://www.climateregistry.org/CARROT/public/reports.aspx
The majority of DWR’s GHG emissions come from the power it uses to operate the State Water Project (SWP), which delivers water to 25 million Californians and irrigates 700,000 acres of agricultural lands. However, in a given year over half of the power used by the SWP to deliver water comes from zero-carbon hydroelectricity. DWR is taking aggressive actions to reduce its carbon footprint, such as equipment and pumping refurbishments to increase efficiency, the inclusion of additional renewables into the power portfolio of the SWP and a variety of other activities.
DWR expects to meet CCAR’s deadline of June 30, 2009 to report its 2008 emissions, and anticipates the independent verification of this inventory by October 31, 2009. As indicated in its report, DWR anticipates meeting the AB 32 goal of reducing carbon emissions to 1990 levels at least six years earlier than the 2020 reduction target.
The California Climate Action Registry (www.climateregistry.org) is a non-profit organization originally formed by the state to serve as a voluntary registry to encourage GHG emissions reductions. The registry provides climate change leadership by developing and promoting credible, accurate, and consistent GHG reporting standards and tools for organizations to measure, monitor, third-party verify and reduce their GHG emissions consistently across industry sectors and geographical borders. Nearly 350 leading companies, cities, agencies, environmental organizations, educational institutions, and non-profits measure and publicly report their emissions through the registry. DWR joined the CCAR in May 2007.
California forests hold one answer to climate change; The state is a leader in setting up a program to offset heat-trapping emissions by investing in woodlands
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 1, 2009 at 7:55 am
From the Los Angeles Times:
Silvery light flickers through the redwood canopy of the Van Eck forest down to a fragrant carpet of needles and thimbleberry brush. A brook splashes along polished stones, through thickets of ferns.
How lush. How lovely. How lucrative.
This 2,200-acre spread in Humboldt County does well by doing good. For the last four years, Van Eck’s foresters restricted logging, allowing trees to do what trees do: absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The conservation foundation that oversees the forest then calculated that carbon bonus and sold it for $2 million to individuals and companies trying to offset some 185,000 metric tons of their greenhouse gas emissions.
“Forests can be managed like a long-term carbon bank,” said Laurie Wayburn, president of the Pacific Forest Trust, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that oversees Van Eck. Selling offsets, she said, is like “writing checks on the account.”
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
National Geographic special report: Global Food Crisis - What will it take to feed the world’s skyrocketing population?
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 28, 2009 at 7:58 am
From National Geographic:
It is the simplest, most natural of acts, akin to breathing and walking upright. We sit down at the dinner table, pick up a fork, and take a juicy bite, oblivious to the double helping of global ramifications on our plate. Our beef comes from Iowa, fed by Nebraska corn. Our grapes come from Chile, our bananas from Honduras, our olive oil from Sicily, our apple juice—not from Washington State but all the way from China. Modern society has relieved us of the burden of growing, harvesting, even preparing our daily bread, in exchange for the burden of simply paying for it. Only when prices rise do we take notice. And the consequences of our inattention are profound.
Read this National Geographic Special Report by clicking here.
A new era of ‘climate thinking’
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 28, 2009 at 7:53 amMary Nichols was keynote speaker at the The West Coast Summit of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future in Santa Clara recently, reports Reuters News:
In a broad overview of her agency’s scoping plan that will carry out the goals of the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, Nichols described how a new way of thinking — “climate thinking” — will alter the long-term decisions made by policymakers and companies.
For example, state water planning and regulatory agencies inserted a water element into the scoping plan. It specifically calls for reductions in the energy used in water treatment plants; the state will then look for opportunities to improve efficiency moving water around the state.
“Instinctively, you would think that using more localized groundwater or recycled water is a better alternative than transporting water, at least if you have to pump it from one place to another,” Nichols said. “This is another one of those areas where you really have to look at the full lifecycle costs of things and what your options are.”
But before we move water, she said, we should first concentrate on saving water, avoid degrading it to the point where it can’t be used again, and find energy-efficient means of cleaning up the water we already have.
Read the full text of this story from Reuters News by clicking here.
New study: Less sea rise expected from possible Antarctic melt
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 22, 2009 at 8:10 amFrom the Christian Science Monitor:
The ice sheet sitting atop Antarctica is so vast, up to 3 miles (5 km) thick in some places, that it pushes earth’s crust thousands of feet down. If all that ice melted, it would raise sea levels globally by an estimated 230 feet (70 meters).
No one thinks that Antarctica will thaw completely anytime soon, of course, but scientists are increasingly worried by changes observed in just one area: the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS).
Until recently, scientists estimated that if the WAIS melted, sea levels worldwide would rise by some 16 feet. Now, using more refined data, a new study in the May 15 issue of the journal Science revises that number down to an average 11-foot sea level rise.
A lot more information on this story from the Christian Science Monitor by clicking here.
Study halves prediction of rising seas
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 18, 2009 at 8:01 amFrom the New York Times:
A new analysis halves longstanding projections of how much sea levels could rise if Antarctica’s massive western ice sheets fully disintegrated as a result of global warming.
The flow of ice into the sea would probably raise sea levels about 10 feet rather than 20 feet, according to the analysis, published in the May 15 issue of the journal Science.
The scientists also predicted that seas would rise unevenly, with an additional 1.5-foot increase in levels along the east and west coasts of North America. That is because the shift in a huge mass of ice away from the South Pole would subtly change the strength of gravity locally and the rotation of the Earth, the authors said.
Several Antarctic specialists familiar with the new study had mixed reactions to the projections. But they and the study’s lead author, Jonathan L. Bamber of the Bristol Glaciology Center in England, agreed that the odds of a disruptive rise in seas over the next century or so from the buildup of greenhouse gases remained serious enough to warrant the world’s attention.
They also uniformly called for renewed investment in satellites measuring ice and field missions that could within a few years substantially clarify the risk.
Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.
Scientists urge global action to preserve water supplies for billions worldwide; Possible 40 to 90 percent declines in Sierra Nevada snowpack by the end of the century
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 14, 2009 at 8:25 amFrom YubaNet.com:
Melting glaciers, weakening monsoon rains, less mountain snowpack and other effects of a warmer climate will lead to significant disruptions in the supply of water to highly populated regions of the world, especially near the Himalayas in Asia and the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western United States, according to an international group of scientists who met for three days at the University of California, San Diego.
More than two dozen international water experts participating in the “Ice, Snow, and Water: Impacts of Climate Change on California and Himalayan Asia” workshop held at UC San Diego issued a conference declaration May 6 that noted heavy rains in Indian deserts, a recent drought in what is typically one of the wettest place on earth along the foot of the Himalayas, and other extreme weather events in recent decades.
Major rivers in both regions, like China’s Yellow River and the Colorado River in the southwestern United States, routinely fail to reach the ocean now. These extremes are signs of the climate- and societally induced stresses that will be exacerbated in the future under continuing climate changes, threatening massive and progressive disruptions in the availability of drinking water to more than a billion people in the two regions.
Read more from YubaNet.com by clicking here.
The provocative predictions of one Scripps water researcher
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 12, 2009 at 8:38 amFrom the Voice of San Diego:
Back in 2006, Tim Barnett sketched a grim future when asked about the impact climate change would have on San Diego’s water supply. The warming climate, Barnett said then, would bring water cops, limits on lawn watering and trouble for salmon in the Sacramento River, one of San Diego’s major water sources. “I believe the environment will eat it first,” said Barnett, a marine physicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “Do you want to go thirsty or kill off the last salmon in the Sacramento River?”
Three years later, San Diego has adopted specific lawn-watering days, which start June 1. The city will spend $756,000 to hire 10 water cops. The salmon population on the Sacramento River plummeted to historic lows last year, prompting an unprecedented closure of commercial salmon fishing from the U.S.-Mexico border to Oregon.
The drier future that Barnett predicted is becoming reality. And today, Barnett is warning of worse things to come. As the climate continues to warm, the Southwest, from San Diego and Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Phoenix, will have to cope with less water, he said.
Barnett projects that in 40 years, the warming climate will reduce runoff into the Colorado River so much that shortages will be more common than surpluses. The seven states that rely on the Colorado, a major source of San Diego’s water, will have to handle shortages in as much as nine out of every 10 years. Shortages could hit in four out of every 10 years by 2025.
“Our water future is fraught with peril,” Barnett said.
Read more from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.
Warming could choke ag: Study says water shortages could result in $3 billion in losses by 2050
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 8, 2009 at 8:02 amFrom the Capital Ag Press:
A state team of scientists’ dire predictions for climate change in California probably won’t scare many lenders away from handing out farm loans, one lender said. But if the forecasts in a biennial report issued earlier this month by the Climate Action Team come true, credit may be the least of farmers’ worries.
The draft report, which synthesizes 37 research papers written by scientists from major universities and research institutions such as the University of California-Davis, warns that water shortages could result in $3 billion in agricultural losses by 2050 if current trends continue. The document released April 1 also asserts California residents could face more intense and frequent wildfires, flooding, heat waves and air pollution unless more action is taken to combat global warming.
Steve Neader, the regional assistant vice president of Colusa-Glenn Farm Credit, ACA, said the report itself wouldn’t discourage him from working with farmers. “I think if I took that report and went to farmers and said, ‘I can’t loan on this’ … it just leaves too much room for argument,” Neader said. “They would come back and say, ‘It hasn’t happened yet,’ or ‘It’s a cycle.’”
Read more from the Capital Ag Press by clicking here.
Wildfires add to speed of global warming
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 24, 2009 at 8:28 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
Wildfires that ravage California and other major forested areas around the world are speeding the pace of global warming as they pump more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And the planet’s rising temperatures that spur droughts and hotter summers, in turn, are sparking even more widespread fires.
Those warnings come from an international team of fire specialists from six nations, who declare that the global science agency that governs international actions aimed at reversing climate change must include the effects of forest fires in predicting how fast temperatures will rise in coming years.
The report on wildfires and climate is being published today in the journal Science.
One of fire’s most significant contributors to global warming are the thousands of acres deliberately torched each year - particularly in the tropics - to clear forested land for farms, according to three leading authors of the study who spoke Thursday in a teleconference organized by the National Science Foundation.
That kind of deforestation accounts for about one-fifth of all the human-caused greenhouse gas emissions every year, the scientists agreed - and the proportion could become larger quickly as more and more land is cleared by burning, said Thomas Swetnam of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
Climate change video now available online, plus more climate change resources from DWR
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 23, 2009 at 8:09 amFrom the Department of Water Resources Climate Change webpage:
Climate change isn’t something that’s going to hit in the future. It’s already changing the weather patterns and water supply in California; a dwindling snowpack, bigger flood flows, rising sea levels, longer and harsher droughts. In a newly released mini documentary, “A Climate of Change”, find out what adaptation strategies the Department of Water Resources proposes. This video was produced in conjunction with the Water Education Foundation.
Download the video and check out other resources on climate change from DWR by clicking here.
Rivers shrinking: Flow of many rivers in decline
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 22, 2009 at 8:53 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
The flow of water in the world’s largest rivers has declined over the past half-century, with significant changes found in about a third of the big rivers. An analysis of 925 major rivers from 1948 to 2004 showed an overall decline in total discharge.
The reduction in inflow to the Pacific Ocean alone was about equal to shutting off the Mississippi River, according to the new study appearing in the May 15 edition of the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate.
The only area showing a significant increase in flow was the Arctic, where warming conditions are increasing the snow and ice melt, said researchers led by Aiguo Dai of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
“Freshwater resources will likely decline in the coming decades over many densely populated areas at mid- to low latitudes, largely due to climate changes, Dai said. “Rapid disappearing mountain glaciers in the Tibetan plateau and other places will make matters worse.”
Added co-author Kevin Trenberth, “As climate change inevitably continues in coming decades, we are likely to see greater impacts on many rivers and water resources that society has come to rely on.”
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
From the Environment News Service:
Many factors can affect river discharge, including dams and the diversion of water for agriculture and industry. These researchers found, however, that the reduced flows in many cases appear to be related to global climate change, which is altering precipitation patterns and increasing the rate of evaporation. The results are consistent with previous research by Dai and others showing widespread drying and increased drought over many land areas.
The study raises wider ecological and climate concerns. Discharge from the world’s great rivers results in deposits of dissolved nutrients and minerals into the oceans.
The freshwater flow also affects global ocean circulation patterns, which are driven by changes in salinity and temperature and which play a vital role in regulating the world’s climate. Although the recent changes in the freshwater discharge are relatively small and may only have impacts around major river mouths, Dai said the freshwater balance in the global oceans needs to be monitored for any long-term changes.
Read more from the Environment News Service by clicking here.
Earth Day video release “A Climate of Change”, Wednesday, April 22
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 22, 2009 at 8:48 amFrom DWR meteorologist Elissa Lynn:
Climate change isn’t something that’s going to hit in the future. It’s already changing the weather patterns and water supply of California. An earlier spring means the snowpack we rely on for a third of our water supply is dwindling.
Heavier rain in the winter means bigger flood flows. Rising sea levels degrade habitat, and stress our levees. Air circulation is changing in a way that will make longer and harsher droughts. And those drier conditions mean more wildfires.
California is in a precarious position. Adapting to climate change means using the water we do have more wisely, changing how we operate our reservoirs, and planning for greater uncertainty in our water supply.
On Wednesday’s release of “A Climate of Change,” find out what we’ve seen in the state already that can be attributed to climate change, and what adaptation strategies the Department of Water Resources proposes.
This video will launch on DWR’s climate change website Wednesday, 4/22 as well:
http://www.water.ca.gov/climatechange
Produced in conjunction with the Water Education Foundation, the video is hosted by DWR Senior Meteorologist Elissa Lynn, and runs 22 minutes.
Turning up the heat: Sierra faces climate change
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 22, 2009 at 7:48 amFrom the Tahoe Daily Tribune:
Whether we like it or not, the world’s climate is getting warmer on average. And how Sierra Nevada resource managers, especially water providers, will manage the problems presented by climate change was the topic of a workshop in Placerville on Tuesday. About 50 people attended.
Nevada Irrigation District General Manager Ron Nelson called for the workshop when he noticed the global climate change discussion contained little information about how to manage the global phenomenon’s regional effects. The district provides water to nearly 25,000 homes in Placer and Nevada counties.
Two of the most pressing predictions associated with warmer weather in the mountain range are more frequent and intense wildfires, as well as instability in California’s fresh water supply.
As the Sierra snowpack melts, water replenishes the state’s reservoirs during the driest time of the year. But warmer weather is expected to cause a greater percentage of precipitation to fall as rain hastens the snowpack’s melt each year, decreasing the predictability of the state’s water supplies.
Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune by clicking here.
Corn ethanol will not cut greenhouse gas emissions; California regulators may rule that the biofuel is no better–and might be worse–than petroleum for solving climate change
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 21, 2009 at 8:10 amFrom Scientific American:
California regulators, trying to assess the true environmental cost of corn ethanol, are poised to declare that the biofuel cannot help the state reduce global warming. As they see it, corn is no better – and might be worse – than petroleum when total greenhouse gas emissions are considered.
Such a declaration, to be considered later this week by the California Air Resources Board, would be a considerable blow to the corn-ethanol industry in the United States. If passed, the measure could serve as a model as other states and the federal government tackle carbon emissions. But California’s regulators say they have no choice.
The state must assess the full climate change impact of corn ethanol under a California law requiring a sharp cut in carbon emissions from transportation fuels. The board must encourage the use of cleaner alternatives like electricity, hydrogen and cellulosic ethanol, said board spokesman Dimitri Stanich.
The proposal would work like this: If increased production of corn-based ethanol in the U.S. raises corn prices and accelerates the conversion of rainforests and conservations lands to farmland worldwide, greenhouse emissions and loss of the carbon sink associated with such deforestation and disruption must be counted towards the biofuel’s total emissions. “Losing a carbon sink would defeat the purpose of this regulation to reduce greenhouse emissions,” Stanich said.
Read more from the Scientific American by clicking here.
Climate change’s focus is still a bit blurry; Despite new reports, planning for future isn’t much easier
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 20, 2009 at 7:54 amFrom Stockton’s Record:
In late spring, an extreme heat wave roasts California. Three hundred people die, many of them poor, inner-city residents who lack air conditioning, or a car so they can escape their sweltering prison. Energy demand spikes throughout the state. Reservoirs shrink as precious snow melt evaporates. One of San Joaquin County’s most profitable crops withers during the harvest. Climate change could bring such scenarios to pass, and more frequently, by century’s end, new research suggests.
But the key word remains: “could.”
A series of scary reports issued by state officials this month puts the local consequences of climate change in greater focus, yet it’s still far from clear, to the frustration of those tasked with managing our natural resources.
“I don’t think these reports help us very much,” said Kevin Kauffman, general manager of Stockton East Water District. “Somebody needs to make a decision. Decide what model is least corrupt and political and let’s move on, so that we can plan for the future.”
A Record review of the nearly 40 technical reports compiled by the state’s Climate Action Team suggests ramifications for the county and the San Joaquin Valley, though many questions remain.
Read more from the Stockton Record by clicking here.
Climate change accelerates water hunt in U.S. West
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 19, 2009 at 7:18 amFrom Reuters News:
It’s hard to visualize a water crisis while driving the lush boulevards of Los Angeles, golfing Arizona’s green fairways or watching dancing Las Vegas fountains leap more than 20 stories high.
So look Down Under. A decade into its worst drought in a hundred years Australia is a lesson of what the American West could become. Bush fires are killing people and obliterating towns. Rice exports collapsed last year and the wheat crop was halved two years running. Water rationing is part of daily life. “Think of that as California’s future,” said Heather Cooley of California water think tank the Pacific Institute.
Water raised leafy green Los Angeles from the desert and filled arid valleys with the nation’s largest fruit and vegetable crop. Each time more water was needed, another megaproject was built, from dams of the major rivers to a canal stretching much of the length of the state. But those methods are near their end. There is very little water left untapped and global warming, the gradual increase of temperature as carbon dioxide and other gases retain more of the sun’s heat, has created new uncertainties.
Read more from Reuters News by clicking here.
California EPA’s report released Friday documents indicators of climate change in California
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 18, 2009 at 9:24 amFrom the Central Valley Business Times:
Climate change is occurring in California’s environment, with effects that include hotter temperatures, more carbon dioxide in the air and rising sea levels, according to a new report by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), which was released Friday.
The report identifies 27 indicators that measure the impact of climate change on the state’s temperatures, precipitation, land, water, people, plants, and animals. It concludes that changes in California are consistent with those occurring globally. The report is a meta-analysis of existing research done by world-class scientists at the best academic institutions.
“This report documents that climate change is occurring in California with important consequences for the future,” says OEHHA Director Joan Denton. “By monitoring these indicators, we can measure the impacts of climate change and provide information that helps regulators develop policies to respond to them.”
Read more from the Central Valley Business Times by clicking here.
Report: Climate change could doom many Calif crops
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 11, 2009 at 7:55 amFrom the San Jose Mercury News:
Rising temperatures could make pears, peaches, pistachios and other crops needing a winter chill to grow unsuitable for California farms, while others would suffer lower yields, a new report says. The current issue of California Agriculture mailed to subscribers this week is devoted to peer-reviewed articles by researchers at the University of California who paint a dire picture of climate change on food production and the environment.
California temperatures are predicted to increase by 7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2095, the studies said, and as temperatures rise, winter rain in the mountains instead of snow could mean overburdened reservoirs. That, the research said, could force water managers to release runoff into rivers long before farmers need it.
Researchers studied issues ranging from the impact of cow flatulence on rising greenhouse gas levels to the ability of invasive pests to survive across a wider range.
The studies took place on California farms, mostly in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, but can be a warning to growers everywhere. A projection covering the next 30 years—the life span of most permanent crops—shows wine grapes faring well, but table grapes, almonds, walnuts and avocados suffering declines in yields.
Read more from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.
Global warming endangers U.S. corn production, study says; The U.S. could lose $1.4 billion in annual corn revenue
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 10, 2009 at 7:26 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
Reporting from Washington — Global warming could rob the U.S. economy of $1.4 billion a year in lost corn production alone, a national environmental group estimated in a report released Thursday.
The Environment America study, based on government and university data, projects warming temperatures will reduce yields of the nation’s biggest crop by 3% in the Midwest and the South, compared to projected yields without further global warming.
Iowa would be hit hardest, losing $259 million a year in corn revenues, followed by Illinois at $243 million. California, which leads the country in agriculture but doesn’t grow much corn, would take an estimated $4.7-million hit.
The study doesn’t directly address other crops, but one of its main sources, a 2008 government report on the effects of warming on agriculture and natural resources, suggests that California’s signature fruit and vegetable harvests could suffer even more than corn if temperatures rise.
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
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