[Pil-pc-oceania] More carbon news

Thu Feb 14 11:27:35 EST 2008

Dear All,

Interesting to hear about the emissions from shipping.  This is
probably one of the easiest forms of transport to deal with in the long
term if there was the political will to do so - we could go to sailing
ships or some kind of sailing/solar combo.  I doubt if there are any
other easy solutions except cutting global trade; which could be a good
idea for many reasons,

Cheers,

Terry

>>> RussGrayson <info at pacific-edge.info> Wednesday, 13 February 2008
11:54 am >>>
SOURCE: The Guardian, today's edition...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/13/climatechange.pollution

True scale of C02 emissions from shipping revealed

Leaked UN report says pollution three times higher than previously
thought
John Vidal, environment editor
The Guardian, Wednesday February 13 2008

The true scale of climate change emissions from shipping is almost
three
times higher than previously believed, according to a leaked UN study
seen
by the Guardian.

It calculates that annual emissions from the world's merchant fleet
have
already reached 1.12bn tonnes of CO², or nearly 4.5% of all global
emissions
of the main greenhouse gas.

The report suggests that shipping emissions - which are not taken into
account by European targets for cutting global warming - will become
one of
the largest single sources of manmade CO² after cars, housing,
agriculture
and industry. By comparison, the aviation industry, which has been
under
heavy pressure to clean up, is responsible for about 650m tonnes of
CO²
emissions a year, just over half that from shipping.

Until now, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has
estimated
shipping emissions to be a maximum 400m tonnes, but the new draft
report by
a group of international scientists is a more sophisticated measure,
using
data collected from the oil and shipping industries for the
International
Maritime Organisation, the UN agency tasked with monitoring pollution
from
ships. It not only shows emissions are much worse than feared, but
warns CO²
emissions are set to rise by a further 30% by 2020.

Contacted about the contents of the report, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair
of
the IPCC, said: "This is a clear failure of the system. The shipping
industry has so far escaped publicity. It has been left out of the
climate
change discussion. I hope [shipping emissions] will be included in the
next
UN agreement. It would be a cop-out if it was not. It tells me that we
have
been ineffective at tackling climate change so far."

The figure is highly embarrassing for the four governments, including
Britain, that paid for the report. Governments and the EU have
consistently
played down the climate impact of shipping, saying it is less than 2%
of
global emissions and failing to include shipping emissions in their
national
estimates for CO² emissions.

Pressure is now expected to increase on shipowners to switch to better
fuels
and on the EU to include shipping in its emission trading scheme. Last
month
aviation was provisionally included following intense pressure - but
shipping escaped.

Previous attempts by the industry to calculate levels of carbon
emissions
were largely based on the quantity of low grade fuel bought by
shipowners.
The latest UN figures are considered more accurate because they are
based on
the known engine size of the world's ships, as well as the time they
spend
at sea and the amount of low grade fuel sold to shipowners.

The UN report also reveals that other pollutants from shipping are
rising
even faster than CO² emissions. Sulphur and soot emissions, which give
rise
to lung cancers, acid rain and respiratory problems are expected to
rise
more than 30% over the next 12 years.
.............

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/feb/12/greenpolitics.health 
1.45am GMT update

Climate change soon could kill thousands in UK, says report
Andrew Sparrow, senior political correspondent
Tuesday February 12 2008. This article was first published on
guardian.co.uk
on Tuesday February 12 2008. It was last updated at 16:35 on February
12
2008.

Climate change could lead to a heatwave in the south-east of England
killing
3,000 people within the next decade, a Department of Health report
said
today.

It put the chances of a heatwave of that severity happening by 2017 at
25%.

Without preventative action, the report said that a nine-day heatwave,
with
temperatures averaging at least 27 degrees over 24 hours, would cause
3,000
immediate deaths, with another 3,350 people dying from heat-related
conditions during the summer.

It predicted that there would be an increase in skin cancers due to
increased exposure to sunlight and that, over the next half century,
air
pollution could lead to an extra 1,500 deaths and hospital admissions
a
year.

While malaria outbreaks were likely to remain rare, the report -
Health
Effects of Climate Change in the UK 2008 - said health authorities
would
need to be alert to the dangers posed by possible larger outbreaks of
malaria in continental Europe.

The report, a follow-up to a study first published in 2002, said the
latest
modelling now suggested that temperatures would rise by between 2.5C
and 3C
over the next century. Periods of very cold weather would become less
common, but heatwaves would become more common.

It pointed out that the heatwave in France in 2003, which contributed
to
more than 14,000 premature deaths, had been attributed by
climatologists, in
part, to the influence of human behaviour on the climate.

................

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/12/carbonemissions.congestion

charging

5.15pm GMT update
London mayor slaps ￡25 charge on gas guzzlers

About this article: This article was first published on guardian.co.uk
on
Tuesday February 12 2008. It was last updated at 17:23 on February 12
2008.
A 4x4 vehicle or 'Chelsea tractor'

A 4x4 vehicle or 'Chelsea tractor' will now have to pay ￡25 to enter
the
congestion zone. 

Drivers of high-powered sports cars and 4x4s will be hit by a new ￡25
charge
every time they enter central London under plans to reduce congestion
and
cut pollution across the capital.

London mayor Ken Livingstone said today that around 30,000 of the
worst-polluting vehicles would face a threefold price rise from
October,
while the most environmentally-friendly cars would be able enter the
congestion charging zone free of charge.

"The CO2 charge will encourage people to switch to cleaner vehicles or
public transport and ensure that those who choose to carry on driving
the
most polluting vehicles help pay for the environmental damage they
cause,"
Livingstone said.

"This is the polluter pays principle. At the same time, the 100%
discount
for the lowest CO2 emitting vehicles will give drivers an incentive to
use
the least polluting cars available."

Livingstone said the new charge was part of a package of measures,
including
the introduction of a clean air zone and a ￡500m investment in walking
and
cycling, that would help London reduce its CO2 emissions by 60% by
2025.

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