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Climate change shifting European seasons
David Fickling, Guardian
Spring is arriving sooner and autumn is starting later because of climate change, according to a study of more than 500 plants and animals across Europe.
Scientists found that events associated with the start of spring – such as the flowering and leafing of plants and activities of certain animal species – were now appearing six to eight days earlier across the continent than they did 30 years ago.
Britain saw an even more dramatic change, with spring events happening 10 days earlier and particular species seeing even earlier flowerings. Wild cherry trees are now flowering two weeks earlier than they did in the 1970s, the report found.
(25 Aug 2006)
Cascades’ reddened forests signal threat to humans
Pat Rasmussen, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Signs that our local forests are stressed by global warming recently struck me while traveling over North Cascades passes in Washington state.
The forest is dying near the top on both east and west sides; trees are still partially green but turning red — old trees, young trees, the forest itself. Tents, and campers, in the Lone Fir Campground were surrounded by these dying trees.
The same reddening trees can be seen hiking through the Glacier Peak Wilderness on the trail to Spider Meadow in the Chiwawa River watershed of the Wenatchee National Forest. People are reporting that forests are dying near Mt. Rainier, on Chinook and White passes and down to central Oregon.
Huge expanses of forest in central British Columbia have died and turned red. A friend living in the Quesnel River watershed of central British Columbia said, “It’s all red, and next come the fires.”
Millions of acres of lodgepole pine have been pushed over the mortality threshold by global warming. There is no longer suitable habitat for the trees that have been growing there.
(25 Aug 2006)
Risky Business (insurers & climate change)
John Simons, Fortune Magazine via CNN-Money
With $58 billion in claims to pay for last year alone, U.S. insurers are jacking rates, canceling policies, and learning to cope with climate change
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…In 18 states, from southern Texas to the northern tip of Maine, insurance companies are scrambling to reduce the risk of major hurricane-related payouts. The upshot: For the 43% of the U.S. population who live and do business in these states, rates are likely to rise between 20% and 100% over the next year, according to the Insurance Information Institute. (In the rest of the country, premiums are expected to rise about 4%.)
The insurance business is in the midst of a sea change. Unpredictable weather, American migratory patterns, and soaring real estate values are increasing risks for insurers and putting pressure on their financial prospects. In response, companies are changing the rules of engagement with their customers.
It’s not the best PR move for an industry still mired in post-Katrina lawsuits. Nonetheless, the effects are already being felt in places like Gulfport, Miss., and Cape Cod, where homeowners’ insurance coverage is becoming more expensive, harder to get – or both. Critics blame the industry, saying it is using the trauma of Katrina as a ruse to raise rates. Insurers, though, blame the weather.
Says Allstate CEO Edward Liddy: “We are in a period of increased land and sea surface temperatures. When you couple that with more people living along coasts and dramatically increased home values in those areas, that’s when you step back and you say, ‘Wait a minute. This is not yesterday’s game.’ “
Publicly, insurers have not accepted the theory of global warming, which says that the accumulation of greenhouse gases – in part because of activities like burning fossil fuels – is changing weather patterns. What the industry does believe is that, for whatever reason, weather isn’t what it used to be.
(24 Aug 2006)
Why Air Con is Ruining Our Environment
Jimmy Lee Shreeve, Independent / UK via Common Dreams
Our love of air con is making the world even hotter
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During this summer’s record-breaking heatwave judges removed their wigs in court, Buckingham Palace guards headed for the shade and the lions at Colchester Zoo were given blood-flavoured ice blocks to lick. It’s no wonder we’ve been snapping up portable air-conditioning systems in a big way to cool down. Currys says it was selling two air-conditioning units every minute during the hottest periods. Other retailers say they have been selling 10 times as many units as usual.
And it’s not just about comfort. In the heatwave of 2003, 30,000 people died across Europe, the continent’s biggest ever natural disaster. Since then, governments have put measures in place to prevent heat-related deaths, including the installation of portable air-conditioning systems in care homes, older hospitals and schools.
We can hardly be blamed for cocooning ourselves in air-conditioned offices, cars, shops and increasingly our homes – especially with temperatures last month averaging 7C higher than usual across southern England and Scotland. Global warming forecasts predict that, within 40 years, every summer will be as sweltering as the 2003 heatwave. But the irony is, as we run away from the effects of global warming, we only add to the problem.
Air-conditioning to control heat and humidity was first developed in the US, and has been around for more than 100 years, but did not become popular until after the Second World War. It works by ducting air across the colder, heat-absorbing side of a thermostatically controlled refrigeration system and directing it back into the living environment. In water-cooled air-conditioning units the waste heat is carried away by the flow of water. In portable units, the heat is generally fed away via a flexible hose that has to be put out of a window. While this might stop us sweating on stifling summer days, it also adds around 50 per cent to the energy costs of a building and in cars increases fuel consumption by 10 to 14 per cent – a major concern when it comes to the environment.
Up until now, this hasn’t been a big issue in Britain – unlike in the US, where roughly one-sixth of all electricity generated is used to cool buildings. But with record sales of air-conditioning systems, and 75 per cent of new cars in the UK coming with air-con (reducing fuel efficiency by up to four miles per gallon), it’s a different story. For the first time the power-grid operator, National Grid, is reporting noticeable surges in power consumption on hot summer days – a situation previously confined to cold winter days when heating systems are turned to full.
(24 Aug 2006)
