Manitoba Wildlands is providing some information regarding current thinking on how to build a global system to address the need to reduce our GHG emissions and prevent dangerous climate change.

James Hansen - Climate Change Scientist and Leader

Dr. Hansen outlines aspects of climate change on his Columbia University website, including Global Temperatures, Sea Level, Ice Sheet Disintegration, and Sea Ice Area. These website use some of the most current data to show the effects of climate change across the world.

Dr. Hansen has received an array of awards for his work, including the Goddard Special Achievement Award, the GISS Best Scientific Publication four time over for his work on Climate Change, and The Dan David Prize for Outstanding Achievements & Impacts in Quest for Energy.

Dr. Hansen also published a book, Storms of My Grandchildren, in which he speaks out regarding global warming: The planet is hurtling even more rapidly than previously acknowledged to a climatic point of no return. He is also an optimist, showing that there is still time to do what we need to save the planet.

Dr. Hansen publishes through the New York Times, The Observer, The Huffington Post, The News Scientist and The Boston Globe.

Dr. Hansen works also intensely as a climate and environmental activist. He has been involved in the debate surrounding mountaintop mining - the process of mining for coal by clear-cutting forests, blowing the tops off of mountains, and dumping the debris into streambeds. Dr. Hansen is calling on the Obama administration to prohibit this practice, in addition to improving their policies on energy efficient/carbon free energies.

1. A moratorium on coal-fired power plants that do not capture and sequester carbon dioxide
2. A fair, gradually rising price on carbon emissions
3. Measures to improve energy efficiency, for example, rewarding utilities and others based on energy and carbon efficiencies, rather than on the amount of energy sold

Scientists Warn EPA About Ethanol GHGs

Life cycle analysis of biofuels means they will be analyzed for direct emissions (ie: tail-pipe) and indirect emissions (ie: land use changes and feedstock production, distribution, and extraction). Revisions to the RFS require a 20% reduction in lifecycle GHG emissions for any renewable fuel produced at new facilities, and a 60% reduction of GHG emissions to be classified as a biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel or cellulosic biofuel, compared to lifecycle GHG emissions from gasoline or diesel (whichever the renewable fuel is replacing).

Revisions to the RFS also involve the EPA making GHG threshold determinations for biofuels based on full lifecycle analysis of fuels, stricter requirements for feedstock producers, and increased volume requirements . After much study and peer review the EPA is confident its modeling of GHG emissions associated with international land use is comprehensive and provides a good basis for making threshold determinations for biofuels.

The EPA is committed to continued monitoring of estimates and evolution in lifecycle GHG assessments.

In Canada, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario all have renewable fuel standards for their jurisdictions.

Pembina Institute Issues First Oil Sands Report Card

In-Situ oil sand projects involve drilling several wells into oil sand deposits, heating the oil from underground causing it to move to surface sands. This is a very "environmentally intense" process that allows access to Alberta's oil resources that are too deep to mine traditionally. 140, 200 km2 in Northern Alberta has already been leased for oil sands development.

Deeper Drilling compares projects on 17 environmental indicators in five categories: general environmental management, land, air, emissions, water and climate change. The highest scoring site had a grade of 60% and the lowest 25%. The 44% average indicates Canada's regulatory standards for in-situ oil sands drilling are too low and need improvement such as implementing industry best practices.

Areas of concern in Deeper Drilling are: increased greenhouse gas emissions like SO2, no consideration for cumulative impacts of projects despite the scale of boreal forest being lost, and lack of public environmental performance data. The report also found companies have no reduction targets for GHG emissions or water use, have not invested in biodiversity offsets, do not have accredited environmental management systems. and very few support the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute.

Troubling Evidence Report -
Climate Action Network Canada

Problems with Prime Minister Harper's government actions on climate science have been uncovered and documented in Troubling Evidence. They include:

• Federal budget excludes funding to the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS), the most important funding body for university-based research on climate science in Canada.
• Replacement of independent National Science Advisor with Science, Technology and Innovation Council
• Environment Canada scientists no longer allowed to be contacted directly by media
• Reports on climate change delayed from publishing
• Appointment of 3 climate skeptics to the boards of two key granting agencies for university-based scientific research

This report also includes six recommendations for changes in government policy to deal with these issues and details the true need for Canadian climate research.

Sierra Club Canada Climate Science Report

The goal of Climate Change Science is to show climate change has accelerated since 2007 and to point out climate change effects may reach a point where a threshold is crossed and feedback effects accelerate changes that "dwarf present effects on human emissions".

Staggering findings from Climate Change Science show sea levels are rising higher than predicted, glacier velocities are increasing, and ocean acidity increased 41% in the last 30 years. It also shows both atmospheric and ocean temperatures have risen dramatically. The report also indicates the sun may be seeing a decrease in sun spot activity (11 year cycle) resulting in a decrease in solar radiation reaching earth, possibly for the next decade. This will have an offsetting effect on the effects of global warming.

Work in a Warming World:
New Canadian Research Program

Lipsig-Mummé will be examining 7 employment sectors looking at policy, training and employment, and workplace solutions to help businesses in the face of climate change and resulting changes in economy. Her central question is, "How can Institutions of work adapt more effectively, and contribute more fully, to the struggle to contain global warming? How will the institutions of work be required to change in the face of climate change?".

"We need to know more about the chain of processes that comprise work, employment and training in key Canadian industries and professions and how their decision-makers understand and respond to the challenge that global warming poses to these processes," said Lipsig-Mummé. "Everywhere, the growth of small and medium-sized businesses poses a risk to changing the culture of energy use. In prosperous, climate-extreme countries like Canada, global warming threatens job loss in transport and energy-intensive industries, but opens the possibility of employment in new and technologically reorganized sectors - if only we are able to plan an integrated strategy of training, investment and representation for these sectors."

Clean Energy Common Sense by NRDC President

Beinecke's book is her reaction to those who argue that global warming is not as big a problem as it is being made out to be and she wants the general public to know the truth on the issue. Beinecke is trying to coax American to "listen to the most authoritative experts in the field", quoting NASA, the Marine Corps, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

When asked what's new about this appeal for climate change, Beinecke said that with the changing economy this is an issue that people can rally around. It will put people back to work, reduce reliance on foreign oil and create a healthier future. This book focuses on three main issues: that climate change is already causing harm, that failing to act threatens national security and that people don't have to and shouldn't wait to act.

Tipping Points Warns of Climate Changes to Come

Without immediate climate action, sea level rise on the East Coast of the USA, the shift to an arid climate in California, disturbances of the Indian Summer Monsoon in India and Nepal or the dieback of the Amazon rainforest due to increasing drought, are likely to affect hundreds millions of people and cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The study explores impacts of these "tipping points," including their economic consequences and implications for the insurance sector.

"If we don't take immediate action against climate change, we are in grave danger of disruptive and devastating changes," states Kim Carstensen, the Head of WWF Global Climate Initiative. "Reaching a tipping point means losing something forever. This must be a strong argument for world leaders to agree a strong and binding climate deal in Copenhagen in December."

According to the report, the impacts of passing "Tipping Points" on the livelihood of people and economic assets have been underestimated so far. This report focuses on regions and phenomena where climate events might be expected to cause significant impacts within the first half of the century.

"Economic consequences of passing climate tipping points are absolutely overwhelming." Carstensen states. "There is still a chance to avoid the worst and this report shows how urgent it is to act immediately. A strong climate agreement in Copenhagen in December is the best, if not the only chance to prevent the worst impacts of devastating climate change."

Archives: Addressing Climate Change