9/21/2004 11 pm - 109 Documents - Search Terms: "global warming" "climate change" "kyoto protocol" Patrick J. Michaels (senior fellow in environmental studies - Cato Institute), "Like sowing the whirlwind", The Washington Times, September 21, 2004 The news business loves hurricanes. They usually form far, far away, providing at least a week of stories. And they often start with a bang. Down in the tropical Atlantic, young ones bomb out to amazingly low barometric pressures and outrageous sustained winds. Hurricane Ivan's lowest pressure, for example, would cause the needle on you home barometer to spin around twice. The resultant "eyewall" winds were a 20-mile-wide tornado. It's incredible stuff. But they usually weaken considerably by the time they get to the states, owing to our more northerly latitude and the fact hurricanes don't do well when much of their circulation is over land, which has to happen when they approach North America. That doesn't stop the hype machine. While we like to count up property damage and losses, no one mentions the fantastic revenue these storms generate for the media, or that the constant drumbeat of Charley-Frances-Ivan, Charley-Frances-Ivan must have political repercussions. And so, Tony Blair was just in Washington to visit John Kerry, where he conflated Hurricane Ivan with dreaded global warming. I like just about everything about Tony Blair. He's smart, affable and a real friend to a nation that needs some. But he's way off on global warming, and advising Mr. Kerry to bail out his campaign with apocalyptic climate hype invites a grilling by the climate truth squad, a rather large body of weather nerds in a weather-fixated country. Mr. Blair's problem is that he listens to his science adviser, David King, one of the most ill-informed hawks on climate change on this greening planet. Mr. King actually pronounced the goofy global warming flick "The Day After Tomorrow" as scientifically plausible, which should have completely blown his credibility. Now he claims this year's hurricane activity is a product of global warming, and warming will worsen hurricanes. Here's the simplistic argument. Hurricanes require warm water. Global warming means more of that. Therefore, more hurricanes. The fact is that there's plenty of warm water for hurricanes every year - virtually the entire tropical ocean is hot enough, and yet there are only about 10 per year in the Atlantic. The real research question on these storms is not why there are so many but, rather, why there are so few, given the massive expanse of available warm water? And here's the real scientific inconvenience in Mr. Blair's story. The planet warmed slightly - much less than forecast by people like Mr. King - in the last half of the 20th century. But while that happened, maximum winds in Atlantic hurricanes declined significantly. Yep. As shown by scientist Chris Landsea of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, maximum winds measured by hurricane-hunter aircraft over the last 50 years have declined significantly. Further, there's a logical (if lawyerly) argument that pins this salutary change on global warming. It goes like this: Atlantic hurricanes are much more delicate than their destruction suggests. One thing they cannot tolerate is a west wind blowing into them because it wrecks their symmetry. As a result, their maximum winds decline. El Nino - another climate hype machine - generates precisely this type of wind over the Atlantic. That's why, in El Nino years, the forecast is for a weak hurricane season. In the latter part of the last century, there were an unusual number of El Nino years compared to previous decades. Some scientists (like David King) claim global warming is increasing the frequency of El Nino. But if that's the case, global warming would be responsible for the decline in maximum hurricane winds. How much could that be worth? The decline has been about 15 miles per hour since 1950. That's not small because the force of a hurricane's wind goes up with the square of the velocity. In the high Category Three/ low Four range, this change reduces the power 25 percent. Given that the U.S. experiences about 15 strong hurricanes every decade, and that the average cost is now about $5 billion for one of those hits, you could, if you buy the El Nino argument (I don't, but some others do), thank global warming saving about $13 billion per decade. These numbers won't stop the hype machine on hurricanes. But you would think Great Britain's science adviser would have been sufficiently well informed that he would have kept his prime minister from asking John Kerry to sow the whirlwind. Patrick J. Michaels, senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute (www.cato.org), is the author of "Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media," to be released in October. Copyright 2004 News World Communications, Inc. ---sbs--- Jet Propulsion Laboratory press release, "Glaciers Surge When Ice Shelf Breaks Up", AScribe Newswire, September 21, 2004 7:08 pm ET PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 21 [AScribe Newswire] -- Since 2002, when the Larsen B ice shelf broke away from the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists have witnessed profound increases in the flow of nearby glaciers into the Weddell Sea. These observations were made possible through NASA, Canadian and European satellite data. Two NASA-funded reports, appearing in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, used different techniques to arrive at similar results. Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, Colo., said the findings prove ice shelves act as "brakes" on the glaciers that flow into them. The results also suggest climate warming can rapidly lead to rises in sea level. Large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 1995 and 2002, as a result of climate warming. Almost immediately after the 2002 Larsen B ice shelf collapse, researchers observed nearby glaciers flowing up to eight times faster than prior to the breakup. The speed-up also caused glacier elevations to drop, lowering them by as much as 38 meters [124 feet] in six months. "Glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula accelerated in response to the removal of the Larsen B ice shelf," said Dr. Eric Rignot, a JPL researcher and lead author of one of the studies. "These two papers clearly illustrate, for the first time, the relationship between ice shelf collapses caused by climate warming, and accelerated glacier flow." Rignot's study used data from European Space Agency Remote Sensing Satellites and the Canadian Space Agency Radarsat satellite. The United States and Canada share a joint agreement on Radarsat, which NASA launched. "If anyone was waiting to find out whether Antarctica would respond quickly to climate warming, I think the answer is yes," said Dr. Ted Scambos, a National Snow and Ice Data Center glaciologist and lead author of the second study. "We've seen 150 miles of coastline change drastically in just 15 years." He used data from IceSat, a NASA laser altimetry mission launched in 2003, and Landsat 7, jointly run by NASA and the U. S. Geological Survey. The papers illustrate relationships between climate change, ice shelf breakup, and increased flow of ice from glaciers into oceans. Increased flow of land ice into oceans contributes to sea level rise. While the Larsen area glaciers are too small to significantly affect sea level, they offer insight into what will happen when climate change spreads to regions farther south, where glaciers are much larger. Scambos and colleagues used five Landsat 7 images of the Antarctic Peninsula from before and after the Larsen B breakup. The images revealed crevasses on the surfaces of glaciers. By tracking the movement of crevasses in sequence from one image to the next, the researchers were able to calculate velocities of the glaciers. The surfaces of glaciers dropped rapidly as the flow sped up, according to IceSat measurements. "The thinning of these glaciers was so dramatic that it was easily detected with IceSat, which can measure elevation changes to within an inch or two," said Dr. Christopher Shuman, a Goddard Space Flight Center researcher and a co-author on the Scambos paper. The Scambos study examined the period right after the Larsen B ice shelf collapse to try to isolate the immediate effects of ice shelf loss on the glaciers. Rignot's study used Radarsat to take monthly measurements that are continuing. Clouds do not limit Radarsat measurements, so it can provide continuous, broad velocity information. According to Rignot's study, the Hektoria, Green and Evans glaciers flowed eight times faster in 2003 than in 2000. They slowed moderately in late 2003. The Jorum and Crane glaciers accelerated two-fold in early 2003 and three-fold by the end of 2003. Adjacent glaciers, where the shelves remained intact, showed no significant changes according to both studies. The studies provide clear evidence ice shelves restrain glaciers, and indicate present climate is more closely linked to sea level rise than once thought, Scambos added. For information and images of this research on the Internet, visit http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0913larsen.html. For information about NASA programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov. MEDIA CONTACT: Alan Buis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 818-354-0474 Gretchen Cook-Anderson, NASA Headquarters, 202-358-0836 JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. CONTACT: Alan Buis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 818-354-0474 Gretchen Cook-Anderson, NASA Headquarters, 202-358-0836 Copyright 2004 AScribe Inc. ---sbs--- CU-Boulder press release, "Antarctic Glaciers Accelerating in Response to 2002 Ice Sheet Collapse", AScribe Newswire, September 21, 2004 12:42 pm ET BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 21 [AScribe Newswire] -- Glaciers in Antarctica's most rapidly warming region have quickened their pace following the collapse of a Delaware-sized ice shelf in March 2002, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder and a related study by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Landsat 7 satellite images taken before, during and after the break-up of the Larsen B ice shelf in March 2002 show that several of the glaciers are now moving at up to five times their previous speed, said University of Colorado at Boulder researcher Ted Scambos. Other satellite data show that the glaciers also have thinned significantly since the disintegration of the Larsen B, he said. The recent events underscore the potential for sea-level rise as a result of climate warming over the Earth's polar caps. "The Larsen area can be looked at as a miniature experiment, showing how warming can dramatically change the ice sheets, and how fast it can happen," he said. "At every step in the process, things have occurred more rapidly than we expected." Authored by Scambos and Jennifer Bohlander of CU-Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center, Christopher Shuman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Pedro Skvarca of Argentina's Institute of Antarctica, the study will appear online Sept. 22 and will be accessible on the Web at http://www.nsidc.org/news/. The paper will be published in the Sept. 28 issue of Geophysical Research Letters. The study also included elevation measurements from NASA's Ice Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat. The CU-Boulder study was funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation. A similar study is being simultaneously published in GRL by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Headed by Eric Rignot, the JPL study used radar images and airborne measurements to profile ice thickness in the same region of the Antarctic and showed further glacier acceleration in late 2003 and early 2004, with some glaciers reaching eight times their original speeds. Glaciers showed an almost immediate response after the ice shelf collapse, with some nearly tripling in speed within a matter of months, according to the CU-Boulder study. The Hektoria and Green glaciers, which sped up the most, are currently moving about a mile per year. Most glaciers move much more slowly, from a few inches to several hundred yards annually. The satellite images used in the CU-Boulder study also showed the lower parts of the glaciers fracturing and disintegrating in response to the loss of the ice shelf. Glaciers where the Larsen B ice shelf remains intact have shown little change, Scambos said. The area, located at the far northern tip of the Antarctic just south of Chile and Argentina, has seen a rise in mean annual temperatures of up to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 60 years -- faster than almost any region in the world. In the past 30 years, ice shelves in the region have decreased by more than 5,200 square miles. "This study shows very clearly that glaciers which flow into ice shelves are partially controlled by the presence of the shelf, which acts as a kind of braking system," Scambos said. "Removing the shelf makes them speed up." The CU study included several elevation profiles from ICESat, which carries a laser altimeter specifically designed to measure changes in Earth's ice sheets. Built by Boulder's Ball Aerospace for NASA, the satellite was launched in 2003 and is being operated at the CU-Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Profiles from ICESat showed that the surfaces of the glaciers had dropped by up to 115 feet at their lower ends, confirming that the acceleration was leading to a large loss of ice from the ice sheet. The glacier profiles were produced by Scambos and Shuman. The study highlights the sensitivity of the poles to climate change, Scambos said. "As temperatures crossed the threshold of melting in the summer months, ice shelves in the area rapidly disintegrated. Not only do the ice shelves collapse rapidly, but the subsequent effects on the glaciers are immediate," he said. In three cases since 1995, large areas in the Antarctic have collapsed suddenly. They include the Larsen A Ice Shelf in 1995 [618 square miles], the Wilkins Ice Shelf in 1998 [425 square miles] and the Larsen B Ice Shelf in 2002 [1,235 square miles]. According to Scambos, the recent warming trend in the area has led to greater amounts of melt "ponding" on the ice shelves, weakening and then destroying them. "Meltwater at the surface acts to increase the extent of fracturing in the ice," he said. The weight of the water essentially forces the cracks open, so a relatively small amount of climate warming can destroy large, centuries-old ice shelves. "While the consequences of this area are small compared to other parts of the Antarctic, it is a harbinger of what will happen when the large ice sheets begin to warm," Scambos said. "The much larger ice shelves in other parts of Antarctica could have much greater effects on the rate of sea-level rise." The Ross ice shelf, for example, is the main outlet for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which harbors several large glaciers that contain the equivalent of about 16 feet of global sea-level rise. While researchers once thought summertime temperatures in the Ross ice-shelf area were far below freezing and therefore stable, they appear to be just a few degrees below the threshold for surface ponding, Scambos said. CONTACTS: Ted Scambos, 303-492-1113 Marijke Unger, 303-492-1497 Jim Scott, CU-Boulder News Services, 303-492-3114 The National Snow and Ice Data Center is part of CU-Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. Supporting information and images are posted on the Web at: http://www.nsidc.org/news/. CONTACT: Jim Scott, CU-Boulder News Services, 303-492-3114 Ted Scambos, 303-492-1113 Marijke Unger, 303-492-1497 Copyright 2004 AScribe Inc. ---sbs--- Brendan O'Keefe (MATP), "Where there's dust, there may well be heat", The Australian, September 22, 2004, p. 36 FOUR-WHEEL drives churning across the world's deserts threaten to change global climate patterns in a way scientists are only just beginning to understand. But it's not what goes into the fuel tank or what comes out of the exhaust that is causing concern. It's the tonnes of dust, broken from natural protective crusts and kicked up into the atmosphere, that can trap heat or reflect it, depending on colour. Grant McTainsh, professor at Griffith University's Australian school of environmental studies, says airborne dust is "a problem [that] is going to become severe in the next five to 10 years". "Dust is the only particulate in the atmosphere which has the potential to increase or decrease global temperatures by about the same order of magnitude as CO2. "It can decrease the temperature by reflecting solar radiation and can increase the temperature by absorbing heat," he tells the HES. "The extent to which it does that depends on the colour; red will absorb more than white dust. "Only in the past year or two are global climate modellers starting to consider dust as a factor that could change global climate." Climate change is only part of the dust problem. As Oxford University geographer Andrew Goudie told the International Geographical Congress in Glasgow last month, dust produced by four-wheel drives in the past 50 years, in a process dubbed Toyotarisation, also threatens coral reefs. In a recent Toyotarisation experiment, McTainsh drove a four-wheel drive across a clay pan on the Diamantina River in western Queensland. "One vehicle pass resulted in a 3.6-times increase in loose erodable material," he says. "After 10 vehicle passes, there was 17 times more loose erodable material. The moral of the story is the first time is the worst time." Goudie says Saharan dust blown across the Atlantic to the Caribbean is killing coral reefs. McTainsh says the jury is still out on that idea and that pollutants attached to dust particles are the more likely culprit. "The dust acts as a vector for all sorts of nasties," he says. "It's the pollutants on the dust that are doing the damage. "The Saharan dust comes from flood plains that are heavily populated and heavily polluted and loaded with toxins." McTainsh says he is confident the Great Barrier Reef will not be damaged by dust deposits. That's because Australia's deserts are made from good, clean dirt. "Australian dust sources are pristine." Paradoxically, dust deposits might even hold positives. "[Iron-laden] Australian dust might feed the southern oceans, acting as a stimulus to phytoplankton growth," McTainsh says. "The population is limited by a shortage of iron. They might get some nutrition from Australian dust and it might also be happening in the reef, and the Coral Sea area as well. "We're about to start a project about how dust deposition in the Coral Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria can affect the food chain." Copyright 2004 Nationwide News Pty Limited ---sbs--- Agence France Presse, "Netherlands to buy points under Kyoto protocol by funding Bulgarian projects", September 21, 2004 1:37 pm GMT SOFIA Sept 21 -- The Netherlands on Tuesday agreed to fund two gas distribution projects in Bulgaria that will earn it carbon reduction credits under the Kyoto protocol on global warming, the Dutch embassy in Sofia announced. The deals will earn it more than four million emission reduction units (ERU), the embassy said in a statement. A unit costs an average 5.39 euros and amounts to one tonne of carbon dioxide. The Netherlands will help fund a project by Overgas Inc. to provide gas for the Sofia municipality and another with local company Biovet, to build a heating and power station in Peshtera, in southern Bulgaria. The Kyoto Protocol requires industrialised countries to trim their emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and five other greenhouse gases back to levels 5.2 percent lower than what they were in 1990, by between 2008 and 2012. It allows them to buy gas gas reduction credits by participating in environmental protection projects in other countries. When the deals with Biovet and Overgas Inc. are signed on April 1, Bulgaria will become the Netherlands' main source of reduction credits, the embassy said. Bulgaria is eager to trade credits in order to attract investment and boost its industrial activity, which slowed down after the fall of communism in 1989 when most of its state-owned enterprises collapsed. It already has similar contracts with Switzerland and Austria, Copyright 2004 Agence France Presse. All Rights Reserved ---sbs--- Associated Press, "EU energy chief calls for rethink on emissions trading scheme", September 21, 2004 9:37 am ET BRUSSELS, Belgium -- EU governments should reassess their position on emissions trading if Russia does not ratify the Kyoto protocol on climate change, the European Union's Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said Tuesday. De Palacio told the European Parliament that if Russia has not ratified the Kyoto accord by December, "then Europe should think whether its emissions trading system is the most appropriate one." European industries would suffer if the EU continued to "go it alone" in implementing climate change without Russia, and "we have to defend European industry," she said. De Palacio has questioned the EU's emissions trading system on numerous occasions, fearing it could unfairly target key industries such as the steel sector, forcing factories to relocate to other parts of the world where environmental rules are less stringent. But officials at the EU head office contradicted her, saying Palacio's comments did not mean the EU was going to rethink its position on the Kyoto protocol or on its emissions trading system. "The emissions trading will start January 1, and that is the opinion of the whole commission," said EU spokeswoman Ewa Hedlund. Under the 1997 U.N. pact for combatting climate change, the EU is committed to cutting its emissions 8 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. So far, emissions are down only 2.9 percent. But EU officials hope the start of the emissions trading scheme next January will change that. Under the trading system, European companies that emit less carbon dioxide than allowed can sell unused allotments to those who overshoot the target. The profit motive is expected to drive efforts and technology and bring "substantial cuts" in emissions of carbon dioxide, which makes up 80 percent of the EU's greenhouse gases, EU officials have said. The United States has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, arguing its would be harmful to the economy. Without U.S. and Russian participation, global emissions would unlikely drop by more than 1 percent by 2012. Russian ratification is required now for the treaty to take effect, but Moscow has been dragging its feet despite EU pressure. Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved ---sbs--- Mr. Jos Dings (Director, European Federation for Transport and Environment), "Challenge on tackling aviation emissions", letter to editor of Financial Times (London, England), September 21, 2004, p. 14 Sir, Now that the UK prime minister has recognised the growing impact of aviation on climate change ("Blair urges world to act over global warming", September 15), we would like to offer him an opportunity to prove he will match words with deeds. The International Civil Aviation Organisation will meet for its triennial conference in Montreal starting on September 28. On the table is a proposed resolution, led by the US, that will have the effect of blocking member states from implementing their own policies in this area. If the resolution is adopted in its current form, Tony Blair's stated aim, to incorporate aviation emissions into the proposed European Union emissions trading system, will be severely hampered. As you reported, Mr Blair looks forward to efforts in the area of climate change that are "more ambitious than Kyoto" and he is absolutely right to do so. The Kyoto agreement recommends that environmental concerns for aviation are addressed through ICAO - which has so far shown it will block rather than promote solutions. Although an ICAO resolution is not legally binding, it would take a bold member state to make a reservation against it - if acting alone. Now is the time for Mr Blair to show leadership by building a coalition of the willing to reject the move. Only then will European governments, and indeed other members of ICAO that take climate policy seriously, be able to choose the most appropriate response to the climate threat posed by the rapidly growing aviation industry. Mr Blair also doubts that opinion in the US Senate has shifted radically since it rejected the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 - so now is not the time for the US to be, once again, dictating climate policy to countries that have already woken up to the danger. Jos Dings, Director, European Federation for Transport and Environment, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Copyright 2004 The Financial Times Limited ---sbs--- Mr Matt McGarry (Charlotte, NC), "Storm warnings", letter to editor of Financial Times (London, England), September 21, 2004, p. 14 Sir, It is ironic that President Bush has found in the recent rash of hurricane strikes an opportunity to show just how much he cares about weather-beaten Floridians. After all, wasn't he the president who decided to walk away from the Kyoto Protocol, which deals with the very issue of global warming and its connection to severe weather? Matt McGarry, Charlotte, NC, US Copyright 2004 The Financial Times Limited ---sbs--- American Lung Association of California press release, "American Lung Association of California Urges Tough, New Global Warming Regulations to Improve Public Health; Public Opinion, Health Professionals, Thousands of Public Letters Reflect Strong Support for Landmark Regulations", AScribe Newswire, September 20, 2004 10:43 am ET SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 21 [AScribe Newswire] -- With 87 percent of California adults saying that it is either very important [61 percent] or somewhat important [26 percent] for California to take a leading role in enforcing laws to reduce car emissions that lead to global warming pollution [see note] and with more than 2,000 California residents and medical professionals expressing individual support through American Lung Association of California efforts, the Association continues its push for the California Air Resources Board [CARB] to pass a role-model regulation to reduce global warming air pollution from cars in the state at its September 23 hearing. [Combined with other organizations' efforts, there are more than 112,000 individuals expressing such support.] The proposed regulation will implement landmark legislation passed in 2002 that calls for the state to reduce greenhouse gases emitted from cars and trucks. If adopted, California would be the first state in the nation to require car companies to make cars that emit fewer global warming pollutants. "Controlling greenhouse gas emissions is a key part of our state's strategy to fight air pollution," said said John Balmes, MD, a volunteer who serves on the American Lung Association of California's Clean Air Technical Advisory Group and is division chief of occupational and environmental medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. "We simply have to hold the auto companies accountable to make cleaner cars," he added. "Adopting this new regulation will help clean the air and improve public health." Unless controls are placed on greenhouse gas emissions, higher temperatures due to global warming are expected to worsen air pollution. High temperatures not only contribute to ground-level ozone formation, but also lead to increased pollution emissions from increased use of power plants and air conditioning, and increased evaporation of fuels. "Bad air already takes a huge toll on public health in California. Global warming is expected to make our pollution problems even worse," said Balmes. "Increased air pollution leads to more hospitalizations, more asthma attacks, more emergency room visits, and more school and work absences. Various studies show that air pollution has been shown to increase problems with heart and lung disease, impair quality of life, and decrease life expectancy." California adopted legislation, supported by the American Lung Association of California, AB 1493 [Pavley], that requires CARB to adopt regulations to achieve the "maximum feasible and cost effective reduction" of greenhouse gases from motor vehicles. Once regulations are adopted to implement AB 1493, they will undergo a period of legislative review before becoming effective in 2006. The purpose of California 's clean cars law is to reduce global warming gases from passenger vehicles, which account for approximately 40 percent of the state's emissions. According to the California Energy Commission, almost 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in California come from burning petroleum fuels in the transportation sector. Existing technology is already available for automobile engines, transmissions, refrigerants, tires, aerodynamics and other areas to significantly reduce greenhouse gases. Use of hybrid-electric vehicles and alternative fueled vehicles such as battery electric, natural gas and fuel cell vehicles can also achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The CARB staff proposal would make substantial contributions toward reducing global warming gases. The proposal finds that automakers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22 percent by 2011 and up to 30 percent by 2014 across the vehicle fleet, using a mix of readily available and cost-effective technologies. However, some of these proven and developed technologies are not utilized by car companies and will not be made available in new cars, unless regulations require it. The proposed reductions can be accomplished without affecting vehicle size, weight or performance, contrary to auto company messages. "California is already the international leader in smog control technologies," said Balmes. "Now we must become the leader in technologies that reduce global warming pollution, and slow the warming process of our planet." The American Lung Association of California is working to help people understand the detrimental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming on air quality and public health, as well as the need for cleaner transportation. The central problem leading to greenhouse gas pollution is over-consumption of petroleum, especially in the transportation sector, which contributes 60 percent of California's greenhouse gas emission. Greenhouse gases are also emitted from various industries, power plants and other activities using fossil fuels. The American Lung Association of California's position statement regarding global warming is available at: http://californialung.org/spotlight/hn_policy.html The American Lung Association of California provides a number of resources regarding cleaner transportation at: http://californialung.org/spotlight/vehicles.html and also offers free print ads that provide health facts about diesel and tell Californians "There's Even More You Should Know About Diesel." They can be downloaded from the association's Web site at: http://californialung.org/spotlight/cleanair01_ads.html. Note: The Field Research Corporation survey was conducted in May, 2004 and sponsored by the American Lung Association of California. The poll findings are based on a random sampling of 1,003 California adults conducted by telephone in English and Spanish between May 18 through 24, 2004. Results have a sampling error or +/- 3.2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. ---------- CONTACT: Andrew Weisser, ALA-California, 818.703.6444, aweisser@earthlink.net or your local American Lung Association at 800-LUNG-USA, www.californialung.org EDITOR/REPORTER INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES; two related events as follows: - Sacramento, Tuesday, Sept. 21 - News conference, 10:30 a.m., north steps, State Capitol. - Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 23 - Spokespeople available at ARB Hearing beginning 8:30 a.m., LAX Gateway Sheraton, 6101 W. Century Blvd. CONTACT: Andrew Weisser, 818.703.6444, aweisser@earthlink.net Copyright 2004 AScribe Inc. ---sbs--- Suntharalingam, et al., Improved quantification of Chinese carbon fluxes using CO2/CO correlations in Asian outflow, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D18S18, doi:10.1029/2003JD004362, 2004. ABSTRACT: We use observed CO2:CO correlations in Asian outflow from the TRACE-P aircraft campaign (FebruaryApril 2001), together with a three-dimensional global chemical transport model (GEOS-CHEM), to constrain specific components of the east Asian CO2 budget including, in particular, Chinese emissions. The CO2/CO emission ratio varies with the source of CO2 (different combustion types versus the terrestrial biosphere) and provides a characteristic signature of source regions and source type. Observed CO2/CO correlation slopes in east Asian boundary layer outflow display distinct regional signatures ranging from 1020 mol/mol (outflow from northeast China) to 80 mol/mol (over Japan). Model simulations using best a priori estimates of regional CO2 and CO sources from Streets et al. [2003] (anthropogenic), the CASA model (biospheric), and Duncan et al. [2003] (biomass burning) overestimate CO2 concentrations and CO2/CO slopes in the boundary layer outflow. Constraints from the CO2/CO slopes indicate that this must arise from an overestimate of the modeled regional net biospheric CO2 flux. Our corrected best estimate of the net biospheric source of CO2 from China for MarchApril 2001 is 3200 Gg C/d, which represents a 45% reduction of the net flux from the CASA model. Previous analyses of the TRACE-P data had found that anthropogenic Chinese CO emissions must be ~50% higher than in Streets et al.'s [2003] inventory. We find that such an adjustment improves the simulation of the CO2/CO slopes and that it likely represents both an underreporting of sector activity (domestic and industrial combustion) and an underestimate of CO emission factors. Increases in sector activity would imply increases in Chinese anthropogenic CO2 emissions and would also imply a further reduction of the Chinese biospheric CO2 source to reconcile simulated and observed CO2 concentrations. http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2004/2003JD004362.shtml JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 109, D18S18, doi:10.1029/2003JD004362, 2004 Improved quantification of Chinese carbon fluxes using CO2/CO correlations in Asian outflow Parvadha Suntharalingam Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Daniel J. Jacob Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Paul I. Palmer Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Jennifer A. Logan Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Robert M. Yantosca Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Yaping Xiao Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Mathew J. Evans Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA David G. Streets Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA Stephanie L. Vay NASA Langley Research Center, Virginia, USA Glen W. Sachse NASA Langley Research Center, Virginia, USA Received 17 November 2003; accepted 18 May 2004; published 18 September 2004. Keywords: regional carbon fluxes; multiple-species correlations; atmospheric; CO2 modeling . Index Terms: 0315 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Biosphere/atmosphere interactions; 0322 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks; 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollutionurban and regional (0305); 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Tropospherecomposition and chemistry. View full article: HTML; PDF (385905 bytes) Citation: Suntharalingam, P., D. J. Jacob, P. I. Palmer, J. A. Logan, R. M. Yantosca, Y. Xiao, M. J. Evans, D. G. Streets, S. L. Vay, and G. W. Sachse (2004), Improved quantification of Chinese carbon fluxes using CO2/CO correlations in Asian outflow, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D18S18, doi:10.1029/2003JD004362. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union. ---sbs--- http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2004/2003JD004359.shtml JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 109, D18105, doi:10.1029/2003JD004359, 2004 One-year measurements of surface heat budget on the ablation zone of Antizana Glacier 15, Ecuadorian Andes Vincent Favier Maison des Sciences de l'Eau, Institut de Recherche pour le Dveloppment (IRD), Montpellier, France Patrick Wagnon Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Gophysique de l'Environnement (LGGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Dveloppment (IRD), Saint Martin d'Hres, France Jean-Philippe Chazarin Maison des Sciences de l'Eau, Institut de Recherche pour le Dveloppment (IRD), Montpellier, France Luis Maisincho Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Hidrologia (INAMHI), Quito, Ecuador Anne Coudrain UMR Hydrosciences, Maison des Sciences de l'Eau, Montpellier, France Abstract Meteorological variables were recorded (14 March 2002 to 14 March 2003) at 4890 m above sea level (asl) on the Antizana Glacier 15 (0.71 km2; 028S, 7809W) in the tropical Andes of Ecuador (inner tropics). These variables were used to compute the annual cycle of the local surface energy balance (SEB). The four radiative fluxes were directly measured, and the turbulent fluxes were calculated using the bulk aerodynamic approach, calibrating the roughness length by direct sublimation measurements. The meteorological conditions are relatively homogeneous throughout the year (air temperature and air humidity). There is a slight seasonality in precipitation with a more humid period between February and June. During June-September, wind velocity shows high values and is responsible for intense turbulent fluxes that cause reduction of melting. Considering the SEB over the whole year, it is dominated by net radiation, and albedo variations govern melting. During the period under consideration the net short-wave radiation S (123 W m-2) and the sensible turbulent heat flux H (21 W m-2) were energy sources at the glacier surface, whereas the net long-wave radiation L (-39 W m-2) and the latent turbulent heat flux LE (-27 W m-2) represented heat sinks. Since the OC isotherm-glacier intersection always oscillates through the ablation zone and considering that the phase of precipitation depends on temperature, temperature indirectly controls the albedo values and thus the melting rates. This control is of major interest in understanding glacier response to climate change in the Ecuadorian Andes, which is related to global warming and ENSO variability. Received 17 November 2003; accepted 15 April 2004; published 17 September 2004. Keywords: inner tropics' glacier; energy balance; melting; albedo; temperature. Index Terms: 1827 Hydrology: Glaciology (1863); 1863 Hydrology: Snow and ice (1827); 3307 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Boundary layer processes; 3374 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Tropical meteorology. View full article: HTML; PDF (642987 bytes) Citation: Favier, V., P. Wagnon, J. Chazarin, L. Maisincho, and A. Coudrain (2004), One-year measurements of surface heat budget on the ablation zone of Antizana Glacier 15, Ecuadorian Andes, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D18105, doi:10.1029/2003JD004359. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union. ---sbs--- http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2004/2004GL020727.shtml GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L18301, doi:10.1029/2004GL020727, 2004 Pacific Ocean circulation rebounds Michael J. McPhaden NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington, USA Dongxiao Zhang NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington, USA Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, Seattle, USA Abstract Recent observations indicate that the shallow meridional overturning circulation in the tropical Pacific Ocean has rebounded since 1998, following 25 years of significantly weaker flow. Convergence of cold interior ocean pycnocline water towards the equator increased to 24.1 1.8 106 m3 s-1 during 19982003 from a low of 13.4 1.6 106 m3 s-1 during 199298. Intensified circulation led to the development of anomalously cool tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures, which may have affected Pacific marine ecosystems and global climate. The abruptness of the rebound also obscures presumed anthropogenic warming trends in the instrumental temperature record of the tropical Pacific. Received 10 June 2004; accepted 13 August 2004; published 16 September 2004. Index Terms: 4215 Oceanography: General: Climate and interannual variability (3309); 4231 Oceanography: General: Equatorial oceanography; 4504 Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions (0312); 4532 Oceanography: Physical: General circulation; 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ View full article: HTML; PDF (1225505 bytes) Citation: McPhaden, M. J., and D. Zhang (2004), Pacific Ocean circulation rebounds, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L18301, doi:10.1029/2004GL020727. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union. Copyright 2004 The Financial Times Limited Financial Times (London, England) September 22, 2004 Wednesday London Edition 2 SECTION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; Pg. 20 LENGTH: 242 words HEADLINE: Blair needs to build coalition to address climate change BYLINE: By JOS DINGS BODY: From Mr Jos Dings. Sir, Now that the UK prime minister has recognised the growing impact of aviation on climate change ("Blair urges world to act over global warming", September 15), we would like to offer him an opportunity to prove he will match words with deeds. The International Civil Aviation Organisation will meet for its triennial conference in Montreal, starting on September 28. On the table is a proposed resolution, led by the US, that will have the effect of blocking member states from implementing their own policies in this area. If the resolution is adopted in its current form, Tony Blair's stated aim, to incorporate aviation emissions into the proposed European Union emissions trading system, will be severely hampered. As you reported, Mr Blair looks forward to efforts in the area of climate change that are "more ambitious than Kyoto" and he is absolutely right to do so. Although an ICAO resolution is not legally binding, it would take a bold member state to make a reservation against it - if acting alone. Now is the time for Mr Blair to show leadership by building a coalition of the willing to reject the move. Only then will European governments, and indeed other members of ICAO that take climate policy seriously, be able to choose the most appropriate response to the climate threat posed by the rapidly growing aviation industry. Jos Dings, Director, European Federation for Transport and Environment, 1000 Brussels, Belgium LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 The Financial Times Limited Financial Times (London, England) September 22, 2004 Wednesday Europe Edition 1 SECTION: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY; Pg. 8 LENGTH: 375 words HEADLINE: EU energy chief casts doubt on emissions trade KYOTO PROTOCOL: BYLINE: By RAPHAEL MINDER DATELINE: BRUSSELS BODY: Political divisions within the European Union over a planned emissions trading scheme were highlighted yesterday when the EU's energy chief suggested the launch of the scheme should be dependent on whether Russia signed the Kyoto protocol on climate change. Loyola de Palacio, the energy commissioner, told members of the European parliament that the EU should reconsider the launch of its scheme if Russia did not participate in Kyoto. If Russia did not ratify the protocol by December, "then Europe should think whether its emissions trading system is the most appropriate one." She added: "I'm afraid that Kyoto will not come into force." Ms de Palacio has voiced doubts about the scheme in the past and is stepping down as commissioner next month. But her comments just months before the planned launch in January of the emissions trading scheme are likely to raise political tensions surrounding the project. Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Margot Wallstrom, the environment commissioner and the scheme's main promoter, dismissed the idea of any delay, as well as the suggestion that Russia would pull out of the Kyoto discussions altogether. She said that President Vladimir Putin "has promised to ratify the treaty. So for us the question is when, not if." The trading scheme is designed to force companies that exceed their national allocations to buy extra allowances from more efficient companies, or face heavy fines. Environmentalists see it as a test of the EU's commitment to the Kyoto protocol, but industrial and political opponents say the scheme has practical flaws and would put the EU's industry at a disadvantage against leading trading partners, in particular those like Russia that have so far refused to endorse the protocol. Ms Wallstrom's team has been studying plans submitted by national governments for the scheme, but the process has been marred by foot-dragging by some governments and the fact that some plans have already been judged insufficient by Brussels. Separately, Ms de Palacio said yesterday she would withdraw a proposal to create an EU oil reserve, along the lines of the US model, in the face of strong opposition from some member states about the idea of ceding control to Brussels over such an important resource. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico) September 21, 2004 Tuesday SECTION: FINAL; Pg. D3 LENGTH: 382 words HEADLINE: Study: Nuke Plants Need Funds BYLINE: John Fleck Journal Staff Writer BODY: Domenici Calls For Tax Breaks The nuclear power industry needs a federal subsidy jump-start for new plants to be competitive with coal and natural gas, according to a new study released Monday. But if coal and natural gas had to pay the full costs associated with their contribution to global warming, their economic edge over nuclear power would largely disappear, the study concluded. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., released the government-funded study at a Washington, D.C., news conference Monday. "With limited, early incentives, the nuclear power industry can swiftly produce profitable energy at fully competitive prices," Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. Domenici called for tax breaks to make easy the construction of new plants. The new study, done by a University of Chicago team for the Department of Energy, concluded that the federal government would have to help fund the first few plants. After that, with the one-time cost of engineering design of next-generation nuclear plants paid for, the industry could likely compete on its own, without federal subsidies, the University of Chicago study concluded. Domenici, in his statement, noted increasing discussion of nuclear power as a viable alternative to coal and gas because of global warming. Burning coal and gas emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which appears to be changing Earth's climate in potentially dangerous ways. One possible response under study is to add technology to coal and gas power plants to capture the carbon dioxide before it leaves the plant's smokestack. That would be costly, and if that expense is figured into the calculation, nuclear power -- which emits no greenhouse gases -- would be much more competitive, according to the study. Nuclear power's critics frequently point out that, independent of questions of radiation safety and the thorny problem of waste disposal, the construction of nuclear reactors to generate electricity does not make economic sense. "The commercial nuclear power industry should sink or swim of its own accord in the free market without additional taxpayer assistance," said physicist Tom Cochran of the Natural Resources Defense Council in a talk given to the Western Governor's Association in Albuquerque in April. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 South China Morning Post Ltd. South China Morning Post September 22, 2004 SECTION: News; Pg. 15 LENGTH: 638 words HEADLINE: Let's change the climate of indifference BODY: Last week, I left my windows open and the bonsai underneath promptly wilted and nearly died. That was during Hong Kong's record-breaking smog attack. Halfway around the world, my 79-year-old mother, stepfather, and two elderly cousins huddled without power while Hurricane Ivan screamed through the town of Marion, Alabama, in the southern United States. Along the white beaches of Alabama and Florida, in towns with names like Gulf Shores and Gulf Breeze, rescuers are picking bodies out of treetops. The storm and the smog from the world's fastest-growing industrial belt are not unrelated. They are pieces of a global jigsaw puzzle in which the destructive practices of industry and consumers in the developing and developed world alike are visibly changing the climate. The science is uncontestable. But getting people to do something about it is quite another proposition. According to surveys by Hong Kong's Polytechnic University, concerns with the city's record-breaking pollution levels are limited to the middle class; as incomes rise, so do aspirations for better air quality. But the majority remains indifferent. For the minority who worry about global warming, Hong Kong provides frustrations, not just because of public indifference, but because the scope of what can be done locally is so limited. In its post -industrial phase, the city's per capita emissions of greenhouse gases are among the world's lowest. A 2002 study by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department reveals that Hong Kong could generate up to 50 per cent of its energy from carbon-neutral sources such as wind and solar power - but only by covering nearly all its land and surrounding waters with solar panels and wind farms. Much of the pollution that troubles us comes from Shenzhen and Dongguan, generated by Hong Kong-owned factories but under the jurisdiction of the mainland's environmental authorities. Two things are wrong with this picture - the view that environmental degradation is a local problem, and that it presents only risks, not opportunity. Hong Kong's dominating position as an investor in the Pearl River Delta provides it with a unique opportunity to reshape its energy economy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and airborne toxins, through mobilising private and multilateral finance to solve the delta's energy shortage. Currently estimated at 1.2 gigawatts, most of the capacity shortfall will be met by highly polluting local diesel generation. Unlike global warming, this is an actual near-term crisis, and its solution could have major implications for reshaping Hong Kong's energy industry, as well. The idea is to replace the use of cheap coal in the delta with renewable energy and carbon-light fuels, such as natural gas and bio-diesel, financed by Hong Kong. While this may sound like fantasy, countries such as Denmark and Germany have made substantial progress in cleaning up the atmosphere by means of investment incentives. As in northern Europe, to make this fantasy real will call for substantial regulatory intervention. By opening its grid to renewable energy, both produced locally and imported from the mainland, Hong Kong could use its demand for power to help pay for the delta's clean-up. Besides renewable energy, one way to improve Guangdong's carbon-neutral prospects is to staple a regional natural-gas pipeline network to Hong Kong-based demand, which would lower infrastructure risks and costs. Hong Kong could mandate the conversion of its expensive, naphtha-based local gas system to natural gas, further anchoring a cleaner delta-wide energy economy. Global warming may leave Hong Kong cold, but the financial opportunities of creating a regional energy system might wake it up.Edith Terry is a writer based in Hong Kongeterry@mindspring.com LOAD-DATE: September 22, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Newspaper Publishing PLC The Independent (London) September 22, 2004, Wednesday SECTION: First Edition; NEWS; Pg. 6 LENGTH: 697 words HEADLINE: LIB DEMS IN BOURNEMOUTH: GREEN TAXES WILL TARGET AIRCRAFT AND GAS-GUZZLING 4X4S BYLINE: MARIE WOOLF CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT HIGHLIGHT: Norman Baker addresses party delegates in Bournemouth yesterday Tom Pilston BODY: GAS-GUZZLING cars and "four by fours" will face higher taxes under Liberal Democrat plans to penalise polluting vehicles and cut carbon emissions which lead to global warming. Vehicles that use low-carbon fuels will pay less tax under plans published yesterday to use the tax system to reward environmentally friendly behaviour. The Liberal Democrats warned they would raise taxes for four-wheel drive vehicles - dubbed "Chelsea tractors" - not only because they used a lot of petrol but because they were potentially dangerous to children who, they claimed, could be caught under them if hit. A Liberal Democrat plan to introduce a new aircraft tax, to be paid by all aircraft, regardless of the number of passengers - a proposal designed to encourage airlines to fill seats - is expected be sharply resisted by the aviation industry and passenger groups who fear the taxes could bring an end to cheap fares abroad. But Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, argued that his party would harness the tax system to reward environmental good behaviour and discourage bad.' "We'll make it cheaper for people who drive smaller cars. And more it expensive for those who want to persist with their gas-guzzlers," he said. "Since 1990, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the aviation industry has almost doubled to just under 40 million tonnes a year. So we'll tax the actual aircraft which cause the emissions rather than the passengers for whom air passenger duty would be a thing of the past." The Liberal Democrats also voted for a plan to introduce a 10p tax on plastic bags to encourage people to take their own bags to the supermarket. The party plans to analyse if this policy will lead to people re-using bags or turning to black bin liners which would not be taxed. Yesterday, in a lively debate on the environment, activists urged the party to project a simpler and bolder message to win voters disaffected by the two main parties. They said the language used by the party in environment debate was too complicated for most voters. "We know we are the greenest party but we need to engage the green vote," said Councillor Michael Newby, of Harrogate and Knaresborough. "There is a large green constituency in this country wanting a home. Make the message bold and make the message simple.' Vince Cable, the party's Treasury spokesman, argued that the tax system could be harnessed to persuade people to behave in an environmentally responsible way. "We are not talking about creating new taxes, we are talking about using the taxes that exist to change behaviour," he said. "The environmental taxes that we want to introduce would be revenue neutral." But some Liberal Democrat councillors criticised the party leadership for not expressing explicit reservations about nuclear power in the motion tabled yesterday. "The motion fails to mention the threat of the revival of nuclear power," said Peter Chivall from Peterborough. "The dark forces are still there lobbying governments, saying: take our nice clean shiny technology which was only invented to make bombs anyway'." Jonathon Porritt, the chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, which has advised Tony Blair on how to tackle climate change, was critical about the government's progress on green issues and praised the Liberal Democrats as the effective opposition on the environment. He singled out Norman Baker for praise for campaigning to improve Britain's environment. "We have seen more than enough of a succession of emaciated green rabbits emerging from the Chancellor's shiny top hat having a good look around before losing heart and disappearing out of sight for another year," he said. Earlier the party voted to find better ways to dispose of toxic and hazardous waste. Sue Doughty MP, an environment spokesman, warned that the "lack of capacity" for disposing of waste in landfill sights could lead to illegal fly-tipping. "The government must tackle the hazardous waste crisis before the environment suffers irreparable damage," she said. "Serious questions must be asked of ministers to where this waste is going." LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 MGN Ltd. The Mirror September 21, 2004, Tuesday SECTION: 3 Star Edition; FEATURES; Pg. 43 LENGTH: 51 words HEADLINE: DEAR MIRROR: A GLOBAL WARNING BYLINE: D P WALKER BODY: FOLLOWING Tony Blair's warnings about climate change (Daily Mirror, September 15), we now need to invest in solar, wind and sea power urgently. For far too long we have relied on oil and fossil fuels. We must set an example to the US, which is ignorant about global warming. D P Walker SE London LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 AScribe Inc. AScribe Newswire September 21, 2004 Tuesday 4:09 PM Eastern Time LENGTH: 521 words HEADLINE: Researchers Find Global Warming Not As Severe in Central U.S. BODY: AMES, Iowa, Sept. 21 [AScribe Newswire] -- Scientists at the Regional Climate Modeling Laboratory at Iowa State University have discovered global warming might not be as severe in the central United States as in other parts of the country. Using a detailed regional climate model, they estimate summertime daily maximum temperatures will warm less in a region centered on eastern Kansas than anywhere else in the United States. The findings, in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters, underscore the need to consider the impact of global warming on a region-by-region basis, said Gene Takle, professor of agronomy and geological and atmospheric sciences. "Modeling allows us to make projections of future scenario climates," he said. Lead author Zaitao Pan is a former Iowa State graduate student and research associate. He joined the faculty at Saint Louis University last year. "The modeling showed that warming in the United States will be stronger in winter than summer and stronger at night than during the day. But we found what looked to us like a 'hole' in the daytime warming in summer, which was a surprise," Pan said. After discovering the 'hole' in climate projections for the 2040s, Pan went back to carefully examine the observed maximum daily temperatures from 1975-2000 in a region that centers in eastern Kansas and touches parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa. "We found that, in fact, this hole already has started to develop," he said. Ray Arritt, agronomy professor, said the existence of this 'hole' in the warming, makes sense. "Our model tells us the future climate will have more rainfall and wetter soil, so more of the sun's energy goes into evaporating water than heating the air," he said. "Rainfall in the northern Great Plains already has increased by about 10 percent over the past few decades, which is consistent with our predictions." Besides Pan, Takle and Arritt, other authors are Chris Anderson, doctoral student in agronomy, Bill Gutowski, professor of geological and atmospheric sciences and Moti Segal, research scientist in agronomy. Team members caution that independent evaluations are needed to confirm this finding and to determine whether the 'hole' might be a temporary phenomenon that will disappear as global warming becomes more severe in the latter half of the 21st century. -------- CONTACTS: Gene Takle, Agronomy, 515-294-9871 Ray Arritt, Agronomy, 515-294-9870 Bill Gutowski, Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, 515-294-5632 Zaitao Pan, Saint Louis University, 314-977-3114 Melea Reicks Licht, Agronomy Communications, 515-294-1890 Susan Thompson, Iowa State Communications Service, 515-294-0705 ABOUT THE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY REGIONAL CLIMATE MODELING LAB The Iowa State University Regional Climate Modeling Lab has been doing climate studies using models for about 10 years. Arritt, Gutowski and Takle are members of the U.S. science team that is creating models of future scenario climates for the next major study of the impact of climate change in North America. That study is targeted for completion in 2006. CONTACT: Susan Thompson, Iowa State Communications Service, 515-294-0705 LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright Prime-Tass Business News Agency 2004 Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire September 21, 2004 SECTION: Russian Government; Economy LENGTH: 429 words HEADLINE: DJ EU's De Palacio doubts Russia will sign Kyoto protocol BODY: BRUSSELS Sept 21 (Dow Jones)--European Union energy commissioner Loyola de Palacio Tuesday cast doubts on Russia's willingness to ratify the Kyoto protocol on climate change and said Europe should consider the potential impact on its own industry if Russia doesn't sign up to the agreement. Testifying before the European Parliament's industry, research and energy committee, de Palacio drew parallels to Russia's resistance to ratifying an international energy charter. "Everyday, they say they will ratify it and then nothing happens," de Palacio said. "That is what has been happening for the last five years on the energy charter. I think that they will do the same with Kyoto." De Palacio said Europe should reassess its position on emissions trading, which is the cornerstone of Europe's policy to reduce emissions or carbon dioxide - the main greenhouse gas - and meet its commitments under the Kyoto protocol. If Russia hasn't ratified by December, "then Europe should think whether its emissions trading system is the most appropriate one," de Palacio said. From 2005, firms operating in Europe will be allowed to buy and sell the difference between the pollution they produce and their limit in an E.U.-wide emissions' trading system. The scheme, which covers 10,000 plants, is intended to reduce the cost of complying with Kyoto by several billion euros and was a major factor in convincing E.U. countries to ratify the international accord. De Palacio said Europe's industry would suffer if it continued to "go it alone" on combatting climate change. "We have to defend European industry," de Palacio said. De Palacio has on a number of occasions expressed concern about Europe's emissions trading system. She fears that it unfairly targets key industries such as the steel sector, and could force factories to relocate overseas to parts of the world where less stringent environmental legislation applies. Under Kyoto, the E.U. agreed to reduce emissions by 8% from 1990 levels by 2008-2012. In their action plans, governments are supposed to detail how pollution quotas for their own industries, such as power plants and factories, will be reached. The U.S. pulled out of the anti-pollution pact in 2001, saying it is too costly and would hurt its industry. For the Kyoto protocol to come into force it must be ratified by 55 countries representing at least 55% of the industrialized world's emissions. Without Russia or the U.S., Kyoto won't come into effect. -By Victoria Knight, Dow Jones Newswires; +32-2-285-01-32; victoria.knight@dowjones.com End LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 News World Communications, Inc. The Washington Times September 21, 2004 Tuesday SECTION: LETTERS LENGTH: 187 words HEADLINE: Climate and economics BYLINE: By THE WASHINGTON TIMES BODY: LETTERS I am even more optimistic about the future of the United States than Lawrence Kudlow ("Bullish Bush indicators," Commentary, Friday). But the real danger to this country comes from the economic go-it-alone approach. Starting in January, the European Union embarks on a path to reduce CO2 emissions. More countries will become part of an emissions trading plan devised for the Kyoto Protocol to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The EU decided to go this way in exasperation with the Bush administration's repudiation of progress made in the 1990s, when both Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton supported the Kyoto Protocol. Considering that other nations have learned to live with energy costs four to five times higher than what we have here, they are likely to impose import taxes on goods imported from the United States and other countries that have unfair and inconsiderate approaches to the global environment. If this serves to bring down the World Trade Organization regime - the cornerstone of U.S. economic hegemony - then the blame will be with the United States. PINCAS JAWETZ New York LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Newspaper Publishing PLC The Independent (London) September 21, 2004, Tuesday SECTION: First Edition; NEWS; Pg. 26,27 LENGTH: 1678 words HEADLINE: FOUR HURRICANES IN FIVE WEEKS. SO WHAT, EXACTLY, IS GOING ON?; TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FLOODING CAUSED BY THE LATEST IN A WAVE OF BYLINE: MICHAEL MCCARTHY BODY: Is 2004 the Year of the Hurricane? It depends on where you're considering it from. If you live in the US you'll certainly think so, because the state of Florida has been struck by three in a month, and as America dominates the world's media, the story has had huge attention right around the globe. And now a fourth storm has devastated parts of the Caribbean. However, although to have three tempests of the intensity of hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan burst through one state in the space of four weeks is certainly unusual, the fact that all three made landfall so close together in time and space may well be pure chance. Hurricanes sweep the oceans every year. So here are some of the questions that the 2004 hurricane season throws up, with some of the answers: What is a hurricane? A hurricane is a tropical cyclone, an area of intense low pressure in the tropics surrounded by a violent rotating storm. It is called a hurricane in the North Atlantic, the Northeast Pacific east of the dateline, and the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E; west of the dateline it is called a typhoon, and in the Indian ocean, a cyclone. It becomes a hurricane officially if its wind speeds reach 75mph, or force 12 on the Beaufort scale; below that it is a tropical storm. Every year, there are about 100 tropical storms and about 50 of them reach hurricane strength. The name comes from "Hurican", the Carib god of evil. How is a hurricane formed? Hurricanes need precise meteorological conditions to form: the sea surface temperature needs to be above 26.5C. They are powered by the heat energy released by water vapour: the air above warm tropical water rises quickly as it is heated by the sea, and as it does so it rotates or spins, creating an area of very low pressure, which becomes the eye of the storm. Around the eye winds grow with great velocity, generating violent seas. Why are its effects so severe? First, hurricanes produce the highest wind speeds, up to 200mph in the most extreme cases, which only the strongest structures can withstand. Second, they produce absolutely enormous amounts of rain which can lead to catastrophic flash floods. But third - and sometimes most seriously - they produce a phenomenon known as a storm surge. This is a huge raising of the sea level, caused jointly by the huge winds and the very low atmospheric pressure. In the most extreme cases it can be as much as 25ft above normal. The hurricane pushes this heightened sea along in front of its path and when it hits the coastline, especially the low-lying coasts, there can be disastrous inundations, especially when the surge combines with torrential rain. Britain experienced something like this on 30 January 1953 when a violent gale combined with very low pressure produced a storm surge in the North Sea, which breached the sea defences of Lincolnshire and East Anglia and drowned 307 people. Once a hurricane reaches land, it tends to die out fairly quickly as there is no more warm water to supply heat. But out in the open ocean it can last for a fortnight or more. How are hurricanes graded? Hurricanes are now measured between strengths 1 and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, formulated in 1969 by Herbert Saffir, a consulting engineer, and Dr Bob Simpson, the director of the US National Hurricane Centre. The scale was devised in the aftermath of Hurricane Camille in 1969, the most violent storm ever to hit the continental United States. Its categories run like this: Category one (minimal): winds 75 to 95mph, minor flooding, slight structural damage, storm surge up to 1.5 metres. Category two (moderate): winds between 96 and 110mph, roof and tree damage, storm surge 1.8 to 2.4m. Category three (extensive): winds between 111 and 130mph, houses damaged, severe flooding, storm surge 2.7 to 3.7m Category four (extreme): winds of between 131 and 155mph, major structural damage to houses and some roofs destroyed, storm surge of between 4 and 5.5m. Category five (catastrophic): winds above 155mph, many buildings destroyed, smaller ones blown away completely, severe inland flooding, storm surge of more than 5.5m. How do the 2004 hurricanes measure up? The three storms that hit Florida this summer were pretty bad, but not among the worst on record: their intensity was actually feared to be worse than it turned out to be. Frances was a category two/three and did the least damage; Charley was a three/four, and Ivan a category four occasionally touching five. But they did not compare in destruction with Hurricane Andrew, the category four/five storm that struck Florida in August 1992, which caused $ 25bn (pounds 14bn) worth of damage at today's prices, or in sheer power with Hurricane Camille, which struck Mississippi in 1969 leaving 256 dead, or the Labour Day Hurricane of 1935 which hit the Florida Keys, killing 423. These latter two storms, full category fives, had winds that approached 200mph and there has been nothing else like them in the United States meteorological record. Are hurricanes getting worse or more frequent? Although global warming is confidently expected to produce more violent storms, scientists cannot yet prove a link between current hurricane rates and climate change. There does not seem to have been an increase in the number of category five hurricanes world-wide. This year appears to be more active than 2003 and 2002 but less active than the four years before that. Why and how are hurricanes named? All tropical cyclones are named, to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public about forecasts, watches, and warnings. Since the storms can often be long-lasting and more than one can be occurring in the same region at the same time, names can reduce the confusion about which storm is being described. Before the 20th century, especially in the Caribbean, hurricanes were sometimes named after the saint's day on which they struck land. During the Second World War, US Navy meteorologists gave them the female names of wives and loved ones, but by 1950 a formal naming strategy was in place for North Atlantic cyclones, based on the phonetic alphabet of the time (Able, Baker, Charlie and so on.) In 1953 the US Weather Bureau decided to switch to female first names, and with the agreement of the World Meteorological Association, included male first names in the list in 1979. Each meteorological region of the world now has an agreed list of names. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not used because few names begin with these letters. Quite a few hurricane names - including Andrew, Betsy, Bob, Camille, Hugo and Hilda - have been officially retired because the storms concerned caused damage on a scale unlikely to be repeated. About 50 names have been retired: a country can request retirement. Hurricane Charley The wrecking ball' Hurricane Charley struck Florida on its eastern Gulf coast on Saturday 14 August after two million people had been evacuated from the Tampa area. Forecasters had estimated that this was where it would hit first, but in fact it made landfall 100 miles further south and then cut a diagonal swath of destruction 30 miles wide right across the state. In total, 27 people were killed. The category four storm, described by a rescue worker as "a wrecking ball that swung in at 145mph", cut the power to 900,000 Florida homes and severely damaged about 40,000 buildings, especially in the Orlando area. Reconstruction and rehousing programmes have been slow, because of subsequent hurricane alerts and evacuations. Estimated cost of damage: $ 7-8bn. Hurricane Frances The size of Texas' Hurricane Frances hit Florida on its other side, the eastern Atlantic coast, three weeks after Charley, on Saturday 4 September, blowing ashore about 30 miles north of West Palm Beach. Twice as big as Charley in area (as big as the state of Texas), even more people fled from Frances - 2.4 million, the biggest evacuation in Florida's history. Frances was the worst storm ever to hit the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, left, which suffered superficial damage. In the event, its winds lessened in strength and the eventual category three storm was much less destructive of life and property, although four million people were left without power. No one died. Estimated cost of damage: much less than Charley, but still between $ 2bn and $ 4bn. Hurricane Ivan The most powerful To date, Hurricane Ivan has been the most powerful of the 2004 hurricanes and was billed as the worst to hit the Caribbean for 10 years. At times a category five storm with 150mph winds, Ivan caused at least 70 deaths in a "10-day tour" of the Caribbean islands before striking the continental United States. It burst upon an unprepared St George's, capital of Grenada, on Tuesday 7 September, leaving 34 dead and destroying most of the town's buildings. It then went on to devastate parts of Jamaica before hitting the Cayman islands on 11 September. It eventually hit the Alabama coast and the Florida panhandle last Thursday and has caused a total of 49 deaths in five US states. Estimated cost of damage: still too early to assess. Tropical Storm Jeanne The biggest killer Not as turbulently powerful as the other hurricanes, Tropical Storm Jeanne has been the cause of the highest number of casualties. It first struck Hispaniola - the island containing the Dominican Republic in the east, and Haiti in the west, at the weekend, killing more than a dozen people. Disastrous floods, fuelled by torrential rain, killed another 250 or more in Haiti according to the latest United Nations estimate; many in the northern city of Gonaives. However, the extensive deforestation in Haiti is believed to have made the flooding much worse and scores of people are still missing after their houses were swept away. Jeanne has now moved off north-east of the Bahamas, and is unlikely to hit the US. Estimated cost of damage: still too early to assess. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Associated Press All Rights Reserved The Associated Press State & Local Wire These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press September 21, 2004, Tuesday, BC cycle 8:42 PM Eastern Time SECTION: State and Regional LENGTH: 360 words HEADLINE: Research says global warming may not be as bad in central U.S. DATELINE: ST. LOUIS BODY: Anticipated global warming by mid-century may be less severe in the central United States - including Nebraska - than elsewhere in the country, researchers said Tuesday. Scientists at Saint Louis University and Iowa State used a detailed regional climate model to determine that estimated summer daily high temperatures will not climb as much in the area centered around the Missouri-Kansas border as in other parts of the country. The so-called "hole" in global warming will stretch for hundreds of miles and include Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Oklahoma, Saint Louis University officials said. The findings are published in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters. "The modeling showed that warming in the United States will be stronger in winter than summer and stronger at night than during the day," said Zaitao Pan, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Saint Louis University. "But we found what looked to us like a 'hole' in the daytime warming in summer, which was a surprise." Researchers say the findings underscore the need to consider the impact of global warming on a region-by-region basis. After discovering the hole in climate projections for the 2040s, Pan examined the observed maximum daily temperatures from 1975 through 2000 in a region that centers in eastern Kansas and touches parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa. "We found that, in fact, this hole already has started to develop," he said. Ray Arritt, agronomy professor at Iowa State, said to expect more rainfall and wetter soil in the future. As a result, more of the sun's energy will go into evaporating water than heating the air, he said. "Rainfall in the northern Great Plains already has increased by about 10 percent over the past few decades, which is consistent with our predictions," Arritt said. More research is needed to determine whether the hole might be a temporary phenomenon that will disappear as global warming becomes more severe in the latter half of the century, researchers said. --- On the Net: Saint Louis University: http://www.slu.edu Iowa State: http://www.slu.edu/ LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 AScribe Inc. AScribe Newswire September 21, 2004 Tuesday 6:43 PM Eastern Time LENGTH: 987 words HEADLINE: Study Indicates Wood Is Most 'Green' Building Material BODY: CORVALLIS, Ore., Sept. 21 [AScribe Newswire] -- A new report concludes that wood is one of the most environmentally-sensitive building materials for home construction -- it uses less overall energy than other products, causes fewer air and water impacts and does a better job of the carbon "sequestration" that can help address global warming. The research showed that wood framing used 17 percent less energy than steel construction for a typical house built in Minnesota, and 16 percent less energy than a house using concrete construction in Atlanta. And in these two examples, the use of wood had 26 percent to 31 percent less global warming potential. This $1 million study was prepared by the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, a non-profit corporation of 15 research universities. It was published in the Journal of Forest Products and is the first major update on this topic since a 1976 report by the National Academy of Science. The type of information and data provided in this report may be increasingly useful as consumers and government agencies try to identify construction techniques and materials for homes and other structures that minimize environmental impacts, said James Wilson, a professor of wood science and engineering at Oregon State University, and vice president of this research consortium. "There's a significant consumer movement and even some voluntary standards that are interested in green, or environmentally conscious construction methods," Wilson said. "We need to have a good understanding of the overall effects that different types of construction have in such areas as energy consumption, global warming, air and water impacts, or solid waste disposal." California and some other states are already moving towards "environmentally preferable purchase" standards that identify the best materials to use for energy conservation, environmental protection and other issues, Wilson said. And it's quite possible that some states or localities may legally require such approaches in the future for construction of public buildings, he said. After some experimentation with new building approaches such as concrete or steel in recent decades, Wilson said, it appears that for environmental purposes we may return to one of the most ancient, tried-and-true materials of them all -- wood. "We've seen a general substitution for wood in many aspects of home construction for years, using less of it for siding, windows, roofing, other purposes," Wilson said. "Price and availability of wood were some of the factors involved, along with building codes," he said. "And about five years ago the steel industry began a big push for more use of steel in home construction, which didn't accomplish as much as that industry hoped for, but did have some impact." The new study that was done looks at the total "life-cycle assessment" of different construction products and techniques, considering such issues as how materials are grown, mined, processed, produced, used and ultimately disposed of, to give a better picture of their overall impact on the environment. It considers effects on energy use, air and water emissions, global warming and other topics. Although many people are not aware of their overall makeup, houses require a broad range of natural resources, such as limestone, clay, iron ore, sand, gypsum, wood fiber, resins, coal and more. The process of building them uses energy in the form of electricity, diesel fuel, gasoline, wood, coal, or nuclear power. The cumulative impact of using all these natural resources and energy can be significant in ways that are not always apparent -- everything from the electricity used in running a steel mill to the mining of raw materials or the diesel fuel that powers a truck hauling logs. Compiled in a database, this type of information can help consumers, builders, architects, policy makers or government regulators make more informed choices, Wilson said. This particular project examined the implications of a wood frame housing design versus a steel frame design for the cold Minneapolis region, and a wood frame versus concrete design for the hot, humid Atlanta area. In the Minneapolis example, steel framing, compared to wood, used 17 percent more energy; caused 26 percent more global warming potential; caused a 14 percent higher level of air emissions of concern; more than 300 percent, or triple the level of water emissions of concern; and had about the same solid waste disposal impact. In the Atlanta example, concrete construction, compared to wood, used 16 percent more energy; caused 31 percent more global warming potential; caused a 23 percent higher level of air emissions of concern; had the same impact on water emissions of concern; and created 51 percent more solid waste. Wood had a particular value in addressing the global warming issue, the data indicate. The growth of wood in renewable forests works to "sequester" and remove carbon from the atmosphere, and fewer carbon emissions are created in the processing needed to produce wood products than their steel and concrete counterparts. The report also suggested ways to redesign houses to lower fossil fuel use, reduce the use of excessive amounts of materials, recycle demolition wastes and other improvements. In continued research, Wilson said, scientists hope to expand their studies of wood and other types of construction materials as they relate to even more environmental issues. It will consider more housing examples, different regions of forest resources and manufacturing, use of resins and other structural products that play a role in house construction. The data base created in this study will be freely available to anyone, researchers say. More detail on the study can be found on the Web at www.corrim.org. MEDIA CONTACT: James Wilson, 541-737-4227 David Stauth, 541-737-0787 CONTACT: James Wilson, 541-737-4227 David Stauth, 541-737-0787 LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Newspaper Publishing PLC The Independent (London) September 21, 2004, Tuesday SECTION: First Edition; COMMENT; Pg. 32 LENGTH: 346 words HEADLINE: LETTER: HOW WE MIGHT SHIELD A WARMING PLANET FROM THE SUN'S RAYS BYLINE: PROFESSOR JOHN LATHAM BODY: Sir: Following on from the pertinent articles on the crucially important issue of global warming, by Johann Hari and Niall Ferguson (15 September), I write to draw attention to two possible techniques by which it may be possible to ameliorate or even eradicate warming resulting from the burning of fossil fuels. These were examined at a major symposium on global warming mitigation, held in Cambridge in January, where the consensus view was that they should be funded to be carried further. Both ideas involve increasing the reflectivity (albedo) of the Earth to incoming sunlight. Obviously, if a greater fraction of the sunlight arriving at the top of the atmosphere is reflected back into space, the result is a cooling of the Earth. One idea, developed by a strong team of US scientists, is to inoculate the stratosphere with vast quantities of reflective metallic needles The second idea, on which colleagues and I are working, is to increase the reflectivity of shallow maritime clouds - which cover a large fraction of the oceanic surface - by atomising sea-water to produce tiny droplets which enter the clouds and for well-established physical reasons cause them to become more reflective. Tests using the Meteorological Office's Global Climate Model show that this technique could produce significant cooling. Much more work is required to establish whether technological problems can be resolved, but if so the level of cooling could be controlled. The technique has the advantage that the only raw material required is seawater, which will largely fall back into the oceans. To date, no funding has been allocated for research into these albedo- enhancement ideas. In my view, the consequences of global warming are so devastating to the planet and its occupants, and so imminent, that adequate resources should immediately made available so that these and other possibly helpful techniques can be fully explored. Professor JOHN LATHAM Lower Whitley, Cheshire The writer was director of the atmospheric research group at UMIST LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 The Press Association Limited Press Association September 21, 2004, Tuesday 05:59 AM Eastern Time SECTION: HOME NEWS LENGTH: 513 words HEADLINE: CLIMATE CHANGE 'THE REAL WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION' BYLINE: Joe Churcher, Political Staff, PA News BODY: A summer of floods, landslides and deadly hurricanes has underlined the urgent need for radical action to tackle pollution, Liberal Democrats were warned today. Environment spokesman Norman Baker told the party's annual conference in Bournemouth that the Government and the US were failing to take the issue seriously. And he pledged that green considerations would be incorporated into every aspect of the party's election manifesto and policies. He told representatives: "This summer has provided a taster of what could be in store with floods in Boscastle, landslides in Scotland, and a devastating succession of hurricanes hitting the Caribbean and Florida. "Of course freak weather events have always occurred and no one event can definitively be put down to climate change. But what is clear is that what was freak is now becoming almost commonplace, more extreme and less predictable." A drastic change of direction was needed if the human race was to get off the course it had set towards disaster. But Prime Minister Tony Blair had said the environment was a very long-term issue and only mentioned it once a year in a "ritual speech", he complained. "Very long term? The problem is here and now and needs to be tackled here and now. "Climate change is a weapon of mass destruction and far more real than the ones you've been vainly combing Iraq for," he blasted. Pollution, waste and traffic had all risen under Labour, he said, and the situation in the US was far worse. As well as getting the Americans signed up to Kyoto, there was a need for a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and share them across the planet. In Britain, the Liberal Democrats would ensure 60% of energy came from renewable sources in 40 years using wind, solar and wave power as well as "the hot rocks under the ground". Road pricing would be used to reduce car use and "gas guzzlers" would be more heavily taxed, he promised. "We will do all this and more in a radical programme to save the environment. "The environmental challenge is the great challenge of this century. To meet that challenge we need to create a cleaner, fairer, freer, society: one where human happiness matters more than GDP. "If we can do that we will not only have averted environmental disaster, but made a world more at ease with itself. "Charles Kennedy is determined and I am determined that wherever you bite into the Lib Dem stick of rock you will find the word environment writ large. It must run through all we do and all government does." Mr Baker, who pointed out that plastic holders at the conference had been replaced with bags made from sustainable jute and that future gatherings would be "carbon neutral", concluded: "All those in this country who care about the environment and care about the future should vote Liberal Democrat at the next General Election." Earlier representatives voted to ban the use of cement kilns to dispose of hazardous waste until they were shown to meet standards of specialist waste management facilities. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 The Baltimore Sun Company All Rights Reserved The Baltimore Sun September 21, 2004 Tuesday FINAL Edition SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. 16A LETTERS TO THE EDITOR LENGTH: 1100 words HEADLINE: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR BODY: ... Hurricanes peaked several decades ago Global warming is often named as a possible cause for the occurrence of severe weather events such as Hurricane Ivan ("Ivan the Ordinary," editorial, Sept. 15) As a climate researcher, I wish to point out two misconceptions. First is the erroneous claim that hurricane intensity or frequency has risen significantly in recent decades in response to global warming. The National Hurricane Center reports that in the last century, the decade with the largest number of hurricane strikes in the United States was the 1940s, with a decline since that time. Second is the claim that a future surface warming trend would lead to more frequent and stronger storms. In the past, warmer periods have seen a decline in the number and severity of storms. This is well-documented in scientific journals for data extending back centuries or even millennia. If the surface temperature of the planet rises further in the future, it is likely that these declines will continue. Rather than blaming global warming for such storms - a theory for which there is little supporting meteorological evidence - an emphasis on emergency preparedness and further storm research would be a constructive response to deal with future disasters. George Taylor Corvallis, Ore. The writer is Oregon's state climatologist. Don't blame warming for ordinary storms It was disappointing to see The Sun's editorial page try to connect the current hurricane outbreak with global warming ("Ivan the Ordinary," editorial, Sept. 15). Those who study hurricanes at the National Hurricane Center have stated that global warming has nothing to do with the greater number of storms this year. The current upswing in hurricane activity began in 1995 and may continue for another 20 years. This cycle has repeated itself over and over as far back as hurricanes have been tracked. Certainly we need to change our ways to reduce emissions and greenhouse gases in the future. But for now, many in the scientific community disagree about the severity of global warming. Let's not go blaming weather events on this phenomenon when it has nothing to do with them. Michael Summers Marriottsville ... LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All Rights Reserved Ottawa Citizen September 21, 2004 Tuesday Final Edition SECTION: CITZ; Pg. C6 LENGTH: 248 words HEADLINE: Council sticks to guns to reduce its emissions 63%: Plan upholds strategy for cutting greenhouse gas BYLINE: Vito Pilieci, The Ottawa Citizen BODY: The City of Ottawa released an abbreviated version of its Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan at a public consultation last night. The plan, presented at a meeting at Ben Franklin Place in Nepean, outlines methods the city can use to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The new Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan reasserted council's plans to cut back its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 63 per cent. The city has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 20 per cent below the level they were in 1990. The report is part of the city's long-term Environmental Strategy, which was approved at a council meeting in October 2003. The environmental strategy deals with land use issues, conservation efforts, air quality and other long-term plans with regard to the city's environmental concerns. The report largely blamed the burning of fossil fuels for the increased greenhouse gas pollution in the nation's capital between 1990 and today. It says the largest contributor of the problem is the burning of gas by cars, trucks and buses, and the burning of wood for heat during cold winter months. The plan calls for increased use of "green" vehicles, such as ethanol or hybrid-powered buses, and encouraging more people to use public transit. It also mentions implementing some sort of controls to reduce the amount of Ottawa's annual wood combustion. The city plans to put the full version of the report, which is 90 pages long, on its website later this week. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Guardian Newspapers Limited The Guardian (London) September 22, 2004 SECTION: Guardian Society Pages, Pg. 12 LENGTH: 410 words HEADLINE: Eco Sounding BYLINE: John Vidal and Paul Brown BODY: Wind chimes Who dares stand up for wind energy against C-list celebs such as David Bellamy and Noel Edmonds, who trash the turbines whenever they can? The British Wind Energy Association, clearly stung by the campaign against windpower, has hit back with its own list of celebs. Hello to Guy Berryman from Coldplay, Wayne Hemingway, Simon Schama, Tom Dixon, Anita Roddick, Lord Foster, Kevin McCloud and Chris Tarrant - all confirmed windies. Holy war of words Both sides should get on their knees. The anti-wind lobby has signed up the Rt Rev John Oliver, former Bishop of Hereford, while the windies have the The Rt Rev James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, on their books. The former is the church of England's environment spokesman; the latter is their spokesman on sustainable development. Mitres off, round one. Hot air Anyone got a copy of the 1992 promotional video by the Central Electricity Generating Board that shows David Bellamy standing underneath a turbine saying: "They're beautuful "? Energy levels Tony Blair's big climate speech to the Prince of Wales's business and environment group last week showed Downing Street had lost none of its enthusiasm for spinning the news. First, the BBC was tipped off days in advance so it could put together a large and uncritical "special report" on the science of climate change and exclusively follow the prime minister around Jeremy Leggett's photo-voltaic company, Solar Century. Then it tried to bar environment correspondents from the event, preferring to have less knowledgeable lobby correspondents report the speech. Downing Street only relented when Prince Charles's office protested. Quick change It got worse. The prime minister stated clearly in his speech that the government would publish the review of its climate change strategy the next day. Alas, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs knew nothing about this. Margaret Beckett, the secretary of state, was left to scramble out the terms of reference for a review, to be held over the next few months and available in the spring. Not quite what Blair promised. Cross purposes Transport for London and Friends of the Earth were both quick to correct last week's Sounding about how hard it has been for the public to get details of the planned 500m bridge over the Thames in east London. It seems council offices and some libraries do have the documents. Apologies. John Vidal and Paul Brown LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 The Financial Times Limited Financial Times (London, England) September 21, 2004 Tuesday London Edition 2 SECTION: NATIONAL NEWS; Pg. 6 LENGTH: 474 words HEADLINE: Celebrities braced for blows over wind farms: Rival campaigns have enlisted high-profile support for a contest that is dividing advocates of alternative energy, writes Andrew Taylor BYLINE: By ANDREW TAYLOR BODY: Never mind the furoreover fox-hunting. Celebrities are squaring up to battle over another Labour policy that opponents claim threatens the future of the countryside - the development of wind farms. Broadcaster Noel Edmonds, the self-styled lord of the manor of Crinkley Bottom in the television programme Noel's House Party, was rolled out this summer to lead the campaign against the erection of giant turbines dubbed "weapons of mass distraction". Now the British Wind Energy Association has decided to fight on its opponents' turf. It says Chris Tarrant, compere of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? quiz programme, is backing a rival campaign calling on the public instead to embrace the wind farm revolution. Mr Tarrant says: "Wind turbines are modern-day guardian angels, a stunning addition to our rural landscape and a must if we are to move toward a future powered by green energy." Other high-profile supporters of the campaign include the architect Lord Foster, designer of the rebuilt Berlin Reichstag and the London "gherkin" office block; David Marks and Julia Barfield, designers of the London Eye; Guy Berryman, bass guitarist of Coldplay; the Bishop of Liverpool; the interior designer Kevin McCloud and stylist Wayne Hemingway, who designed the best selling Bug Radio. Mr Edmonds is chairman of the Renewable Energy Foundation which says it is "concerned by the uncontrolled growth in proposals and planning applications for power stations in inappropriate rural areas". It criticises the "developer-led industrial feeding-frenzy that is neither green nor sustainable" which has resulted in "inadequately planned" developments. Serious issues are at stake. For the government to meet its climate change targets requires at least 10 per cent of Britain's electricity to be produced from renewable sources by 2010 rising to 15 per cent by 2015. This compares with about 3 per cent at the moment. Much of this extra capacity is expected to come from wind power. John Prescott, deputy prime minister, last month tightened planning regulations, making it harder for local critics to block developments and threaten the government's targets. Other potential opponents of wind farms include the Ministry of Defence, which is worried about the impact of 100 metre tall masts could have on radar systems; fisherman concerned about the impact of offshore schemes; and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which is worried about turbines being sited on migratory routes and near nesting sites. Marcus Rand, BWEA chief executive, said NOP surveys undertaken in the summer revealed that 74 per cent of the public accepted that wind farms were necessary to meet energy needs. Only 12 per cent opposed their development. He said: "Time is running out (for action) on climate change and wind power is essential to averting its potential impacts." LOAD-DATE: September 20, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 The Press Association Limited Press Association September 21, 2004, Tuesday 01:59 PM Eastern Time SECTION: HOME NEWS LENGTH: 346 words HEADLINE: LIB DEM QUOTES OF THE DAY BODY: :: "Our position is quite clear. We go into the election independent and we emerge from the election independent" - Charles Kennedy underlining that the Liberal Democrats will not prop up either the Tories or Labour in the event of a hung Parliament. "What we are saying quite straightforwardly to people is you can't get something for nothing in life. People are not stupid, they know that" - Charles Kennedy. :: "Climate change is a weapon of mass destruction and far more real than the ones you've been vainly combing Iraq for" - Lib Dem environment spokesman Norman Baker. "The Conservative Party is finished as a serious challenger for government in all our adult lifetimes" - Lord Razzall. "We don't conceal the fact that if you are very highly paid, and particularly if there are two full-time earners in the house, there would be more to pay, but the average family would not be affected in the way the Conservatives have described at all" - Treasury affairs spokesman Vince Cable on the Lib Dems taxation policies. "I think Chelsea tractors can expect to pay more. They are not environmental. They use more fuel" - Matthew Taylor, parliamentary chairman, warning that 4x4s could be taxed off the road under a Liberal Democrat Government. :: "One green speech from a reborn Tory leader does not compensate for seven years of indifference and intellectual incoherence" - Jonathon Porritt criticises Michael Howard in a speech to the conference. :: "UKIP want to take Britain backwards to the isolation and social attitudes of the 1950s. While the Liberal Democrats seek to explain the complexities of the modern world, UKIP reduces reality to the twisted image of a fairground mirror" - Chris Davies, leader of the 12 Liberal Democrat MEPs in the European Parliament. :: "Under the Liberal Democrats, Her Majesty's forces will no longer be at the beck and call of George W Bush" - Paul Keetch, defence spokesman. "Sheer naked opportunism" - Peter Hain, Leader of the House of Commons, says what he thinks of the policies of the Liberal Democrats. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Western Mail and Echo Ltd Western Mail September 21, 2004, Tuesday SECTION: First Edition; NEWS; Pg. 8 LENGTH: 223 words HEADLINE: NUCLEAR REVIVAL PROTEST BODY: Environmental campaigners are due to stage a symbolic tug-of-war between nuclear and renewable energy outside the National Assembly today. The tug-of-war aims to highlight the threat of a revival of the nuclear energy programme if Wales fails to support renewable energy schemes. Nuclear power is being increasingly promoted as a solution to climate change as it emits far less of the main 'greenhouse' gas, carbon dioxide, than fossil fuel power stations. The issue will come under the spotlight when the National Assembly votes on the Scarweather Sands wind farm proposal in early October. United Utilities wants to build a 30-turbine wind farm in Swansea Bay. If the National Assembly rejects the application, environmentalists fear it will add strength to the nuclear lobby's argument that renewables will not be able to deliver the required cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. Gordon James, the Assembly Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Cymru, said if the scheme was not approved by the Assembly it would send a negative message about future wind energy schemes in Wales and raise the spectre of new nuclear power stations in the country. 'Nuclear power emits few greenhouse gases, but its radio-activity and problems of cost, waste disposal and security far outweigh this consideration,' he said. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Sun Media Corporation Edmonton Sun (Alberta, Canada) September 21, 2004 Tuesday Final Edition SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. 50 LENGTH: 731 words HEADLINE: PETRO-CAN LISTS KYOTO; PROSPECTUS WARNS OF FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION BYLINE: BY NEIL WAUGH, EDMONTON SUN BODY: The Petro-Canada plot thickens. Last week, federal Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale announced that the government's 49 million remaining shares of Pierre Trudeau's extremely expensive and divisive experiment in state capitalism (or was it something else?) are on the block. Yet not one red cent will actually end up in the oil company's coffers to drill wells, build tar-sands plants and create wealth for the shareholders. The entire $3 billion goes to the feds - a lot of it to be spent on environmental technology, according to Goodale's announcement. Of course, Goodale's not just the guy with the shares. Along with his boss, Prime Minister Paul Martin, and Environment Minister Stephane Dion, Goodale is also someone who may or may not harbour a dirty little secret. One that could be disastrous to all those new Petro-Canada shareholders to whom a horde of brokerage houses want to sell the government stock on both sides of the border. It's the Kyoto protocol implementation scheme. In last spring's federal throne speech, the Liberals said their plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be even tougher than the requirements laid out in the international treaty. This is Jean Chretien's legacy to the Alberta oilpatch. Certainly Petro-Canada wasn't holding anything back with its preliminary prospectus filed with Canadian and American securities watchdogs, including the Alberta Securities Commission. "Future changes in environmental legislation could occur and result in stricter standards and enforcement, larger fines and liability, and increased capital expenditures and operating costs, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations," the 'risk factors' section of the Petro-Canada document gloomed. Kyoto was specifically listed. Sure, things are rosy now with international oil supply disruptions driving up the benchmark price to over $46 US a barrel yesterday. But what happens after the feds blow off their shares and then bring the Kyoto hammer down? Certainly, that's what the ASC says it's supposed to be standing on guard against. Its website talks about Alberta securities laws that ensure "investors have timely, accurate information on which to base investment decisions." Presumably, that means things like what the sneaky Liberals have up their sleeves for the energy industry after they cash out their shares in a hot market. ASC capital markets director Ken Parker admits the Petro-Canada document only arrived last week and he hasn't had a chance to get a handle on whether the feds, as a powerful insider of the company, have made the necessary declarations in the prospectus. But he does point to the back of the document that calls for "full, true and plain disclosure of all information and does not omit a material fact." You mean like the secretive Kyoto implementation strategy - of which dribs and drabs have been alluded to along the way? By filing the document with Canadian and American authorities, have Petro-Canada and the federal ministers already violated securities laws by withholding key and potentially damaging Kyoto information? "I don't know if, in fact, the federal government does have a plan," Parker sighed. "But if they have a plan and they are trading based on information that's not generally available, then, yes, we might have an issue." Nobody agrees more than federal Conservative finance critic Monte Solberg. "The government is the one that's selling and the government knows what the plans are for implementation of the Kyoto accord which could have a material effect on Petro-Canada shares," Solberg spat. "To close the loop you really need securities regulators asking the question whether or not this is a conflict of interest. Just because it's government, they shouldn't escape that kind of scrutiny." He called on the Alberta and Ontario securities bodies and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to get to the bottom of what's going on here. "If I was someone in the oilpatch reading this, I'd say they are admitting what they've denied all along," Solberg said about the Kyoto clause in the Petro-Canada prospectus. "There could be serious, serious implications from Kyoto down the road. This should send a chill through the heart of executives in the oilpatch." In other words, the Full Monte. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All Rights Reserved The Calgary Herald (Alberta) September 21, 2004 Tuesday Final Edition SECTION: Q: QUERIES - QUIBBLES - QUIRKS; Pg. A15 LENGTH: 133 words HEADLINE: Ode to the world's tiniest terrorist BYLINE: Alex Audette, Calgary Herald BODY: Kyoto - Re: "Who profits from Kyoto? Not the environment," Sept. 12. Oh, mosquito, Darwin probably never thought of you as a predator when he thought of natural selection. You are the ultimate proof that size does not matter. Politicians never think of you unless it gets them re-elected. What you share in common with certain big governments is your preference to feed off poor people. Terrorists could never inflict as much damage to economies as you. Although dengue fever and West Nile Virus exist in your arsenal, they'll never match malaria, which helps you to kill 2.7 million people and infect one billion per year, resulting in $12 billion per year in lost economic productivity. Global warming salutes you and ensures that you will eventually exist in abundance everywhere. Alex Audette, Calgary GRAPHIC: Photo: (A mosquito) LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Newcastle Chronicle & Journal Ltd EVENING CHRONICLE (Newcastle, UK) September 21, 2004, Tuesday Edition 1 SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 14 LENGTH: 768 words HEADLINE: Blair will ignore public at his peril BYLINE: By Kathy Secker, The Evening Chronicle BODY: You have to say the British have developed a form of protest that is uniquely, well, British. Where else in the world would you have Batman on the ledge adjacent to the Royal family's balcony and, the day after, men in silk stockings rummaging like rugby players with hunt supporters on the floor of the Mother of Parliaments? Rest assured that anywhere else in the world these people would have been shot by the national forces of law and order. The fact they weren't shot, and the fact that nothing but pride was dented, signifies why we can still lay claim to being the most civilised nation in the world. The right to protest is enshrined in our national consciousness, whether it be against an unpopular king or an unpopular tax. History tells us that from the days of Magna Carta, we have, as a people, always reserved the right to demand that our rulers meet our expectations of fair play and natural justice; when they don't; the protest is both vocal and vociferous. I hold no candle for foxhunting, but distasteful as I find it, will this new ban save the life of a single fox? Nor do I believe that fathers should be denied access to their children unless the evidence overwhelming suggests that it would be unhealthy for them to have contact with their father. In both pressure groups the case has yet to be proven. The jury, in the shape of the public, is still out, and those responsible for drafting our laws should be mindful that the Great British Public will take a view. We aren't a push over, and any Government that thinks we are will soon have its comeuppance. Wonder wood It's not so much will power, it seems, as willow power that will change the tide of global warming. The Environmental Industries Federation in Newcastle is persuading farmers to grow willow trees as a fuel crop. They argue the trees are quick-growing and so provide a sustainable source of energy when burnt as wood pellets and chippings. They also generate enough oxygen in their lifetime to counteract the carbon dioxide they yield when turned into fuel. From Kielder to Teesside the ancient willow is proving its worth. The EIF hopes to turn its willow farms into sufficient electricity to power 50,000 North East homes by 2010 and, unlike the eyesore of giant wind-turbines, willow farms will enhance the look of the local landscape. Marvellous! He's naily famous You could have been forgiven for thinking that last Saturday was April 1 because that's when we first read of Paul Usher's claim to 15 minutes of fame. Toenail clippings are not generally regarded as collectables, but a 30-month collection of Paul's parings, carefully stored in a plastic box, were offered to and refused by Carlos Caplean, the Uruguayan "toenail supremo". Apparently Carlos only uses his own clippings and as to the purpose he puts them to? Well, visit the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art next month. Gross, or what? Sporting stance While most of the recent sporting headlines have been football-related, it was good to see an internationally-famous North East sportsman talk good sense last weekend, and, for once it had nothing to do with soccer at all. Steve Harmison, pictured, Durham, England, and the world's No 1 bowler, announced he had declined to be available for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe. His grounds were simply that it was a moral decision. Given the dreadful state of human rights in Mugabe's Zimbabwe, it's tragic the decision to cancel the tour is one this Government refuses to take and one the cricket authorities are financially forced to take. But, ultimately, it's proved to be a decision a player can take. I suspect "The Ashington Flyer" might well have set a precedent here, and if anyone ever tells you sport has nothing to do with politics then remember that without men of conscience sport has no meaning at all. Party time for the regional assembly At last, there's something interesting to say about the regional assembly campaign. The forces against have been fractured internally, and are now paying the price. The Electoral Commission has determined that Neil Herron's wing of opposition, the North East No Campaign, will not be the "official" opposition and that leaves them with no Government money to fight to the wire. The accusation that the winning "No" group is a Tory-sponsored effort to ensure the debate becomes a party political issue will only be refuted if Mr Herron's camp can raise the necessary funds to compete with the North East Says No group. Whoever said politics without party was a possibility? We shall doubtless find out. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All Rights Reserved The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) September 21, 2004 Tuesday Final Edition SECTION: WHAT'S HAPPENING?; Pg. B8 LENGTH: 1326 words HEADLINE: The biggest storms on Earth: Deadly hurricanes strike more often BYLINE: Paul Loong, The Canadian Press BODY: Hurricanes are back - perhaps for a long, long time. Meteorologists confirm what we may have guessed from watching the news: these monster storms have been lurching ashore from the Atlantic and wreaking havoc in North America more often in recent years. "It really changed dramatically in 1995," says Peter Bowyer at the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S. That was the year when more than two decades of relative calm in weather patterns came to an end - and an increase in hurricanes began. "In terms of both tropical storms and hurricanes, the last 10 years have been the busiest on record," Bowyer says. He notes, however, that more intense hurricanes occurred back in the 1950s when the active storm weather was comparable to the present. Weather experts say that traces of terrifying storms can be found throughout the ages. Geological evidence of marine life far inland, for example, suggests powerful hurricanes caused storm surges that flooded vast tracts of land with sea water. Experts believe that Canadians and Americans born in the '70s, '80s and early '90s have grown up in a lull as far as hurricanes are concerned. But now we are experiencing first-hand how frequently hurricanes can strike, and how ferocious and destructive they can be. "The clear trend is that hurricanes are on the rise in the Atlantic," Bowyer says. Longterm forecasters, such as those at the University of Colorado who have a good track record of being correct, say the hurricane upsurge is expected to continue for another one to two decades. David Phillips, senior climatologist at the Meteorological Service of Canada in Toronto, says hurricanes, "the biggest storms on Earth," seem to behave in a cyclical pattern - active through the 1950s, quiet from the mid-'70s to the mid-'90s. But nothing about the weather is completely neat and tidy. Devastating hurricanes came ashore even during the supposedly quiet decades. Hurricane Andrew, for instance, killed 55 people in the United States and Caribbean and caused more than $26 billion US in damage in 1992. Climate changes may cause some of the cyclical changes, says Phillips, but he also thinks that changes caused by people might be part of the reason we are so attuned to the impact of hurricanes nowadays. "When you take a look at the '50s and '60s, the newspaper accounts of real brutal, frequent hurricanes making landfall in the southeastern part of the United States, it really discouraged development down there," he says. "But during the '70s and '80s, as people accumulated wealth and were looking for more recreational time or earlier retirement... people were attracted to the sunbelt." Condos and hotels were built right on the oceanfront. Outer islands were developed. Lots more people moved into the hurricane zone during a period of relative tranquility in the weather. Now that hurricanes are back, Phillips says, "there are more targets there for these monster storms. Those little hits of the past have become major blows... We're greater targets, we're more exposed. And Bowyer has also noticed a few new unusual things about the hurricanes churning off the U.S. coast. "We've seen hurricane Alex this year strengthen to a Category 3 hurricane farther north than has happened before. We saw hurricane Ivan strengthen to a level of intensity that has never been seen in a hurricane as far south as that. We saw earlier this year the very first hurricane on record in the south Atlantic, south of the Equator. That's never happened before." CATEGORIES: Category 1 Weak. Wind speeds 118-153 km/h. May damage trees, shrubs, poorly built signs; may cause minor flooding. Category 2 Moderate. Wind speeds 154-177 km/h. Trees may be blown down, signs, roofs and marinas damaged. Residents along coastal shores may be evacuated. Category 3 Strong. Wind speeds 178-210 km/h. Most signs blown down, structural damage to some buildings, mobile homes may be destroyed. Serious flooding possible. Residents along coastal shores and a few blocks inland may be evacuated. Category 4 Very strong. Wind speeds 211-249 km/h. Extensive damage to roofs, wiindows, doors. All mobile homes destroyed. Flooding up to 10 km inland. Residents within 500 metres of shore may be evacuated. Category 5 Devastating. Wind speeds 250 km/h and higher. Severe damage to all buildings, extensive shattering of glass. Residents within 16 km of shore may be evacuated. Names: Weather forecasters name hurricanes to help identify storms and keep them separate as they track them across the ocean. In the Second World War, U.S. military meteorologists named storms after their wives or girlfriends. Men's names were added to the list in the 1970s. The name of the first storm of the season begins with A, the second B, and so on. The letters Q, U and Z are not used and the names are English, French or Spanish - the languages spoken where hurricanes hit. CANADA'S NOTABLE HURRICANES: 1954 HAZEL The weather forecast on Oct. 15, 1954 was "rain tonight." But it had been raining steadily in Toronto for a few days, so no one paid much attention. By dawn the next morning, the most deadly hurricane in Canadian history had swept through the city, killing 81 people and dumping millions of tonnes of water. One entire street on the banks of a river was swept away, its homes and owners carried into Lake Ontario. Hurricane Hazel turned sleepy rivers and creeks into raging torrents. Throughout the night and following days, rescuers roamed the flooded areas in boats, looking for survivors stranded on roofs and hanging from trees. It was the worst flooding in Toronto in 200 years; thousands of families were left homeless. The bodies of several victims turned up months later on waterfronts in New York state. Other victims were discovered buried under mounds of silt along river valleys. Called "the most erratic hurricane in history" by the U.S. Weather Bureau, Hazel had already caused much deadly havoc in the Caribbean. Almost 1,000 were killed in Haiti. Weather officials had been tracking its progress but issued only low-key bulletins that raised few alarm bells in Ontario, which seldom sees hurricanes. But Hazel was not a typical hurricane. The storms usually lose power the farther they get from the Atlantic Ocean and few of them make it over the Allegheny Mountains in northeastern United States. But Hazel met up with a cold front from the Rockies and picked up speed instead. 2003 JUAN A year ago this month hurricane Juan, the worst storm to hit the Maritimes in memory, cut a 180-kilometre-wide swath of destruction through Nova Scotia, southeastern New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Packing sustained winds of 150 kilometres an hour and gusts that peaked at 231 km/h in Halifax harbour, Juan killed seven people, knocked out power to over 300,000 others for upwards of two weeks, and uprooted an astonishing 100 million trees. It also shattered the innocence of many Maritimers, who more often than not view warnings of approaching storms with complacency, even disdain. "Oh, gosh, what a sense of helplessness," recalled Havey Whidden, a 49-year-old dairy farmer who huddled in the basement of his Stewiacke, N.S., home, while he listened to Juan lift up his grain silo and send it crashing on top of his milking barn. Sustained by warmer-than-usual water that prevented it from diminishing in strength as it tracked north from the Caribbean, Juan reached Nova Scotia as a Category 2 hurricane - three notches lower than Category 5 monsters like Ivan or Floyd. Making landfall just west of Halifax shortly past midnight, the fast-moving storm pummelled Atlantic Canada's largest city before moving inland. It cut through Nova Scotia's dairy heartland, damaging 50 farms before tracking north to P.E.I. At the Charlottetown Yacht Club, it dumped boats around like a washing machine and then continued north over the Gulf of St. Lawrence, swamping a fishing boat off Anticosti Island and killing two crewmen before eventually petering out. GRAPHIC: Graphic/Diagram: Anatomy of a hurricane; Colour Photo: (Hurricane Juan.); Colour Photo: AP Photo; (A dock being washed out.) LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 The Press Association Limited Press Association September 21, 2004, Tuesday SECTION: HOME NEWS LENGTH: 370 words HEADLINE: SCIENTISTS DEBATE CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT BYLINE: Sam Marsden, PA News BODY: Scientists are to debate the future of a project to monitor environmental change on Earth from space. The European Space Agency's Earth observation programme board will discuss the use of satellite images to provide information about climate change and oil spills when it meets at Cornwall's Eden Project today. Other practical uses for the data beamed down from space include mapping floods and monitoring algal blooms that can be harmful to fish. Board members will announce the next phase of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) project at the end of the two-day meeting, which has never been held in the UK before. Plymouth Marine Laboratory is involved in two GMES projects to map harmful algal blooms - sometimes called "red tides" - in Europe's seas and coastal areas. Although algae blooms off the coastline can make beautiful satellite images, a small number of species can harm marine life and humans. They can clog the gills of fish and cause higher toxin levels in shellfish. In recent years harmful algal blooms have appeared in Cornwall's Fowey and Fal estuaries. They also caused the temporary closure of shellfish beds in Scotland in 1999 and Ireland in 2000. Steve Groom, head of Plymouth Marine Laboratory's remote sensing group, said: "We are working towards the establishment of a monitoring system that would alert fish farmers and tourist authorities that there is a bloom appearing offshore and whether it is moving into coastal areas. "If we could provide information like this, for example, that a bloom will appear in two days time, fish farmers could either harvest them or move them." One of the GMES projects aims to develop an Internet-based data system to improve the management of oil spills and harmful algal blooms off the shorelines of Europe. Mr Groom said: "If you knew where the blooms are located and could predict if a beach, for example, is going to be affected, in the future you could direct operations to mitigate the problem." While images of land masses from space have been widely available for several decades, the mapping of algal blooms is relatively new because the satellite currently used was only launched seven years ago. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 U.P.I. United Press International September 21, 2004 Tuesday 12:10 PM Eastern Time LENGTH: 180 words HEADLINE: Glacial surge seen when ice shelf broke DATELINE: GREENBELT, Md., Sept. 21 (UPI) BODY: Two NASA-funded studies reported Tuesday profound increases in the flow of glaciers into the open ocean following the breakup of ice shelves in the Antarctic. Large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 1995 and 2002, as a result of climate warming. Almost immediately after the 2002 collapse, researchers observed nearby glaciers flowing up to eight times faster than prior to the breakup. The speed-up also caused glacier elevations to drop, lowering them by as much as 124 feet in six months. Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., used data from NASA, Canadian and European satellites. "These two papers clearly illustrate, for the first time, the relationship between ice shelf collapses caused by climate warming, and accelerated glacier flow," said Eric Rignot, a JPL researcher and lead author of one of the studies. The reports appeared Tuesday in the Geophysical Research Letters journal. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc. The Washington Daybook September 21, 2004 ORGANIZATION: Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) holds a Congressional briefing on "Climate Change Post-2100: What are the Implications of Continued Greenhouse Gas Buildup?" TIME: 2 p.m. LOCATION: 124 Dirksen Senate Office Building CONTACT: 202-662-1892 PARTICIPANTS: Berrien Morre III, director, Institute for the Study of Earth. Oceans and Space; Gerald Meehl, senior scientist, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research; Gerald Stokes, director, Joint Global Change Research Institute TYPE: Briefing LN-ORG: ENVIRONMENTAL & ENERGY STUDY INSTITUTE(93%); COMPANY: ENVIRONMENTAL & ENERGY STUDY INSTITUTE(93%); SUBJECT: Environment;ENVIRONMENT(90%);CLIMATE CHANGE(90%); LOAD-DATE: September 20, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. The Toronto Star September 21, 2004 Tuesday SECTION: LETTER; Pg. A25 LENGTH: 76 words HEADLINE: Climate warming will raise levels BODY: Hands off the Great Lakes Opinion, Sept. 17. Elizabeth May expressed the characteristic opinion of the environment lobby groups that global warming will result in the lowering of water levels in the Great Lakes. The facts indicate the opposite: As the climate warms, the central part of the continent will experience increased rainfall, which means the Great Lakes will probably have more years with high water than low water levels. Fred F. Langford, Sidney, B.C. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. The Toronto Star September 21, 2004 Tuesday SECTION: LETTER; Pg. A25 LENGTH: 76 words HEADLINE: Climate warming will raise levels BODY: Hands off the Great Lakes Opinion, Sept. 17. Elizabeth May expressed the characteristic opinion of the environment lobby groups that global warming will result in the lowering of water levels in the Great Lakes. The facts indicate the opposite: As the climate warms, the central part of the continent will experience increased rainfall, which means the Great Lakes will probably have more years with high water than low water levels. Fred F. Langford, Sidney, B.C. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2004 ---sbs--- Copyright 2004 Czech News Agency (CTK) CTK National News Wire September 22, 2004 SECTION: General News LENGTH: 177 words HEADLINE: GOVT ADJOURNS DECISION ON CARBON CREDITS BYLINE: MS DATELINE: PRAGUE, Sept 22 ; (MS) KEYWORD: 'Czech government air emissions' BODY: The government adjourned as expected the discussion on the number of tradeable carbon credits for greenhouse emissions in 2005-07 at its meeting in the evening on Tuesday, Lubos Sikula from the government Office press department said. This point and several others have been pushed aside as the government debate on the draft 2005 state budget is protracted. The number of carbon credits which are to start to be traded in throughout the EU has caused a conflict between the environment and th