Antarctic Ozone Hole Appears Early in 2007 - UN

GENEVA - A hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has appeared earlier than usual in 2007, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday.


The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said it would not be clear for several weeks whether the ozone hole, which is expected to continue growing until early October, would be larger than its record size in 2006.

"It is still too early to give a definitive statement about the development of this year's ozone hole and the degree of ozone loss that will occur. This will, to a large extent, depend on the meteorological conditions," the Geneva-based agency said.

The ozone layer shields the earth from damaging ultra-violet rays that can cause skin cancer.

While use of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has waned, the WMO said large amounts of chlorine and bromine remain in the atmosphere and would likely keep causing holes in the protective layer for years to come.

"Although ozone-depleting substances are now declining slowly, there is no sign that the Antarctic ozone hole is getting smaller," it said in a report.

The WMO and the UN Environment Programme have said the ozone layer would likely return to pre-1980 levels by 2049 over much of Europe, North America, Asia, Australasia, Latin America and Africa. But in Antarctica, the agencies said, ozone layer recovery would likely be delayed until 2065.

Geir Braathen, a senior scientific officer with the WMO's atmospheric research and environment programme, said the ozone hole may reach the southern tip of South America in 2007.


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

Energy Efficiency Seen Easiest Path to Aid Climate

VIENNA - Energy efficiency for power plants, cars or homes is the easiest way to slow global warming in a long-term investment shift that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, the United Nations said on Tuesday.


A UN report about climate investments, outlined to a meeting in Vienna of 1,000 delegates from 158 nations, also said emissions of greenhouse gases could be curbed more cheaply in developing nations than in rich states in coming decades.

The cash needed to return rising emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, to current levels by 2030 would amount to 0.3 to 0.5 percent of projected gross domestic product (GDP), or 1.1 to 1.7 percent of global investment flows, in 2030, it said.

"Energy efficiency is the most promising means to reduce greenhouse gases in the short term," said Yvo de Boer, the head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, presenting the report to the Aug. 27-31 meeting.

That could mean tougher standards for cars, factories, coal-fired power plants or buildings in using fossil fuels.

And government policies could encourage people to pick energy efficient lightbulbs, for instance, or discourage them from wasting energy by heating empty outdoor terraces.

The 216-page report was published online last week.

De Boer said the study could help guide governments, meeting in Austria to discuss a longer-term strategy against global warming beyond the UN's Kyoto Protocol. The protocol binds 35 rich nations to cap emissions of greenhouse gases by 2008-12.

The report estimates that "global additional investment and financial flows of US$200 billion-$210 billion will be necessary in 2030 to return greenhouse gas emissions to current levels", including measures for energy supply, forestry and transport.

The study foresees a shift to renewable energies such as solar and hydropower, and some nuclear power. Environmentalists say that the report lacks ambition and that emissions need to be below current levels by 2030.

CARBON MARKETS EXPANDED

The report also estimates that investments in helping nations adapt to the impact of climate change would run to tens of billions of dollars in 2030, such as treating more cases of malaria or building dykes to protect beaches from rising seas.

It said carbon markets would have to be "significantly expanded to address needs for additional investments and financial flows." Companies are now responsible for about 60 percent of global investments.

Harlan Watson, the chief US climate negotiator, said it was unclear how governments could mobilise such vast investments by the private sector. "That's a key question," he said.

The report fills in some gaps in a wider picture given by previous studies such as one by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern saying it would be cheaper to confront climate change now than wait to combat the consequences.

UN reports this year have also projected that warming will bring more heatwaves, droughts, disease and rising seas.

De Boer said investments to developing nations should rise.

"The bulk of cost-effective opportunities are in developing countries," he said, adding that did not mean that rich nations should seek only to invest abroad rather than at home.

"More than half the energy investment needed is in developing countries," he said. China is opening coal-fired power plants at a rate of two per week to feed its growing economy and cleaner technology would help the climate.

Story by Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

Airlines Body Sees End of Paper Tickets in 2008

GENEVA - The global airlines body IATA said on Monday it had placed its last order for paper tickets, clearing the way for air travel to be based entirely on electronic ticketing from June 1 next year.


"In just 278 more days, the paper ticket will become a collector's item," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association.

The changeover from paper would not only cut airlines' costs by US$9 for every traveller but would also mean the industry -- criticised by environmentalists for its part in global warming -- would save 50,000 mature trees a year, he added.

Bisignani did not say whether the US$9 in cost savings would or should be passed on to passengers.

Based in Geneva, IATA represents more than 240 airlines which operate 94 percent of scheduled international flights.

Non-IATA airlines, mainly low-cost carriers like the Irish Ryanair and the British Easyjet, already have a paper-free ticket system where travellers are registered in computers and present only an identity document at check-in.

IATA launched its drive for so called "e-ticketing" just over three years ago and now 84 percent of travellers on IATA carriers fly without paper tickets.

The airlines body says China, one of the fastest-growing markets for air travel and host to next year's Olympic Games, is heading to be the first country in the world to operate an entirely paper-free ticketing system by the end of this year.

Australia's first-ever green magazine - G magazine

What is G magazine?

G is a glossy and stylish guide to green living in the 21st century: an environment-friendly consumer guide for people who want to reduce their impact on the planet but don't want to compromise on quality of life.

Every bi-monthly issue features great ideas for greener living, and practical, evidence-based solutions to living a more environment-friendly lifestyle.

The first issue was the January/February 2007 edition, which went on sale in newsagencies across Australia in November 2006. It is produced by Luna Media, the boutique publishing house that won the coveted Best Small Publisher trophy at Australia's annual Bell Magazine Awards in November 2006.

Charity Gets Staff on Bikes

BOSSES are giving employees extra money as an incentive to ditch their cars and ride a bike to work to help cut greenhouse gases.

Latest figures show about 10,000 workers now regularly use pedal power in the Sydney metropolitan area.

Bicycle NSW chief executive Alex Unwin said there has been a 50percent increase in bike commuters in the last five years.

At internet search engine company Google, employees at its Sydney office are given about $100 to donate to the charity of their choice for every 20 days they use bicycles and other "self-powered means" to get to work. Google Australia's spokesman said about 50 employees are now involved in the scheme.

"It is designed to encourage people to take self-powered means to work," he said.

As well as bike riding, employees can also walk or skateboard to get to work to earn the charitable donations.

And if they must use a car, Google is encouraging them to use an eco-friendly version, offering a $5000 rebate to staff who purchase hybrid cars.

Despite growing ranks of cyclists, Sydney still lags behind cities such as Copenhagen where a stable of around 2000 bikes can be used free of charge by citizens and tourists. Paris also has a high cyclist population and recently announced plans to introduce a self-service network of more than 20,000 bikes that can be picked up and dropped off at a series of bike racks across the city.

Riding bikes instead of using cars is helping to reduce pollutants with each litre of petrol consumed in a car emitting 2.4kilograms of carbon dioxide, figures from the Department of the Environment and Water Resources show.

Sydney real estate developers are also beginning to encourage tenants to use bicycles.

When a new commercial development by GPT Group is completed in inner-city Pyrmont, tenants will have access to a set of bikes that they can use to get around town free of charge.

GPT Group head Tony Cope said he believes the scheme will give the company a competitive advantage while also helping the environment.

"We hope people will grab a bike and ride into the central business district of Sydney rather than getting a taxi," he said.

Innovative "bike buses" are being formed around NSW allowing cyclists to ride to work in the comfort of a group.

Computer programmer Fiona Campbell, who previously drove to work, runs the Marrickville to the city bike bus.

"It's growing all the time," she said.

"Initially it was just me and one other person. Now about 20 use it at some times."
Source: The Sun-Herald

Two-year respite before heat hits

SCIENTISTS predict temperatures will plateau before climbing again to a succession of record-breaking highs, in the most detailed forecast of global warming's effects.

Powerful computer simulations used to create the first global warming forecast suggests temperature rises will stall in the next two years, before rising sharply at the end of the decade.

From 2010, they warn, every year has at least a 50 per cent chance of exceeding the record year of 1998 when average global temperatures reached 14.54 degrees.

The forecast, from researchers at Britain's Meteorological Office's Hadley Centre in Exeter, south-western England, shows that natural shifts in climate will cancel out warming produced by greenhouse gas emissions and other human activity until 2009, but from then temperatures will rise steadily.

Temperatures are set to rise over the 10 years by 0.3 degrees. Beyond 2014, the chance of breaking the temperature record is even greater.

The forecast of a brief slump in global warming has been seized upon by climate change sceptics as evidence that the world is not heating. Climate scientists say the new high-precision forecast predicts temperatures will stall because of natural climate effects that have caused the Southern Ocean and tropical Pacific to cool over the past couple of years.

The forecast marks a shift in thinking by climate change researchers. Instead of using their models to look many decades ahead, they will focus on the very near future.

The hope is that forecasts will be more useful to emergency planners in governments and companies by warning of droughts and other extreme conditions a year or two ahead. Previously, the models have been used to show that global temperatures may rise 6 degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2100.

"If you look ahead on a 50- to 100-year time frame, then global warming is the big thing for the climate," Doug Smith, a climate scientist at the Hadley Centre, said. "But if you're working on a project that is only designed to last for the next few years, that information doesn't make much difference to you."

A team led by Dr Smith set computers working on the forecast after plugging in temperature measurements taken from the world's oceans and atmosphere. The team then checked the accuracy of the forecasts by getting it to predict climate change throughout the 1980s and 1990s - making "hindcasts".

Existing global climate computer models tend to underestimate the effects of natural forces on climate change, so for this analysis Met Office experts tweaked their model to better reflect the impact of weather systems such as El Nino and La Nina, or fluctuations in ocean heat and circulation.

So far, only forecasts of temperature changes have been released in the journal Science, but the models also calculate changes in rainfall, drought risk and other aspects of climate change that affect flood defences and other vital responses to global warming.

"The people who can use long-term climate information are few and far between," Chris West, the director of the British climate impacts program at Oxford University, said.

"It's fine if you're building a skyscraper or something else that's going to be in place for 100 years, but for most people it doesn't matter much. It's much more critical to know what is going to happen in the next year or two, and that is something climate scientists have always struggled with."

Guardian News & Media