Climate change threatens Yellowstone region: report

A warming climate is imperiling the iconic wildlife and landscapes in the Yellowstone National Park region, two environmental groups said in a study.

The report, Greater Yellowstone in Peril: The Threats of Climate Disruption, by Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and Greater Yellowstone Coalition released on Tuesday shows temperatures in the past decade in the Yellowstone area have exceeded the rate of warming worldwide compared to the 20th Century average. The last decade was the greater Yellowstone region’s hottest on record.


The study’s findings show that temperatures over the past 10 years were 1.4 degrees above the region’s 20th century average. Summers, in particular, averaged 2.3 degrees higher than summers in the past century.

And if worldwide emissions of heat-trapping gases are not reduced, the warming will continue with disastrous effects, Stephen Saunders, president of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, said Tuesday. Left unchecked, climate change is likely to transform the greater Yellowstone area, which includes parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and encompasses two national parks, six national forests and three wildlife refuges, the report said.

The 55-page study predicts that if we do nothing to stem greenhouse gases, within 60 to 90 years, summers in Yellowstone National Park could average 9.7 degrees higher than today’s temperatures. A temperature increase of that magnitude would “totally transform the ecosystem and the experience for people visiting Yellowstone National Park in the summer,” Saunders said.

The study is the first of its kind demonstrating global warming impacts on the Yellowstone region, including Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and several designated national wildlife areas, its authors said.

Though the authors did not design new climate models for their study, they drew “the best of what’s already known” from a variety of larger studies, Saunders said.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is a conservation organization that works to protect the lands, waters and wildlife of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization is a nonprofit working to reduce climate disruption and its impact on the interior West. The Yellowstone National Park region is one of the world's last largely intact temperate ecosystems.

Warming in the area could increase the frequency and severity of wildfires, strip forests of moisture-dependent trees such as aspen, lower water in mountain streams with world-class trout fisheries and damage areas vital to threatened species such as grizzly bears, the study suggests.

"Threads are already being pulled out of the glorious tapestry that is the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and it has lost some of its luster," said Stephen Saunders, president of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and a lead author of the report. "It's up to us to preserve this marvelous, magical place for future generations."

Environmentalists say a worst-case projection shows summertime temperatures at Yellowstone National Park soaring by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit by 2099, according to an analysis in the report of government weather data and modeling by top climate scientists. "That would mean future summers as hot as the Los Angeles metropolitan area have been in recent years," Saunders said in a telephone news conference.

The effects of climate change will be felt particularly by the region’s world-renowned wildlife (left), said Scott Christensen, GYC’s climate change program director and one of the study’s authors. Grizzly bears, pronghorn, big horn sheep and four native species of cutthroat trout are vulnerable to warming effects, he said.

Another concern is the loss of forests, which cover about 83 percent of the region, Saunders said, noting that the effects of climate change are already visible in the large-scale die-off of white bark pines due to an infestation of pine bark beetles. The beetles thrive in warmer weather and favor older trees that take 60 to 80 years to mature.

The sweltering summers and dry winters would be devastating to already ailing alpine trees such as whitebark pines, which produce nuts a mainstay in the diet of Yellowstone's grizzlies, and rare, snow-dependent animals such as the Canada lynx, said Saunders, former deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Interior Department.


GYC hopes the study will provide science to guide the organization’s future decisions regarding GYC plans to look into reducing stressors for wildlife, attending to water quality and quantity, protecting wildlife migration corridors and developing academic resources.

The report, which relied on peer-reviewed research by government and university scientists, should serve as a wake-up call about the Yellowstone area, said Scott Christensen, climate director with the Montana-based Greater Yellowstone Coalition and co-author of the study.

Federal agencies can also play a role. The National Park Service has “a unique opportunity to capture the attention of American people” by adopting more sustainable practices and showcasing them to educate the throngs of park visitors each year, Saunders said.

And, the authors noted, the report’s predictions do not take into account any legislation designed to reduce emissions.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to avoid the worst scenarios,” Christensen said. But it will take collaboration between wildlife services, nonprofits and private landowners, particularly as conditions change.

Failing to reverse the trend could damage the region's $700 million annual tourism economy, the authors added.



Source:
Reuters,"Climate change threatens Yellowstone region: report", accessed September 29, 2011
Bozeman Daily Chronicle,"Study: Yellowstone region records hottest decade ever, on pace for disastrous warming effects by the end of the century",by Jodi Hausen, accessed September 29, 2011

Delhi metro first railway to earn UN carbon credits

Delhi Metro has become the world's first railway network to earn carbon credits from the United Nations for helping cut greenhouse gas emissions. The transport system has helped reduce pollution levels in the city by 630,000 tons a year, a UN release said.

If not for the Metro, the 1.8 million people who use it daily would have traveled by cars, buses or motorbikes, adding to pollution, the UN release added. It will now get $9.5m (£6.1m) in carbon credits annually for seven years. And as the number of passengers increase, so will this figure.

Carbon credits are generated by a UN-run scheme called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The mechanism gives firms in developing countries financial incentives to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

This is the second CDM project of Delhi Metro to be registered with the UN body in the last three years. Metro's first CDM project was on regenerative braking - a technique for reducing power consumption.

"The United Nations body administering the clean development mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol has certified that Delhi Metro has reduced emissions," the UN statement said.

"No other Metro in the world could get the carbon credit for the above because of the very stringent requirement to provide conclusive documentary proof of reduction in emissions," it added.

Every passenger who uses the Metro instead of cars or buses helps reduce greenhouse emissions by approximately 100gm of carbon-dioxide for every trip of 10km (6 miles) and that helps in reducing global warming, the UN said.

Delhi's hi-tech metro system was launched in 2002 (right). Parts of the network are underground while some sections use elevated tracks. The system, which covers some of the city's most congested streets, is seen as the answer to Delhi's traffic chaos and has helped in lowering air pollution
levels.

Here in the sweaty heart of India’s northernmost megacity, the runaway success of the city’s almost complete subway system, known as the Metro, is a feat bordering on miraculous, and it offers new hope that India’s perpetually decrepit urban infrastructure can be dragged into the 21st century.

The Delhi Metro manages to defy just about every stereotype of urban India. It is scrupulously clean, impeccably maintained (left) and almost unfailingly punctual. Its cars are the latest models, complete with air-conditioning and even power outlets to let commuters charge their mobile phones and laptops. Its signaling and other safety technology is first rate, and the system is among the best in the world, urban transport experts say. Despite cheap fares, less than 20 cents for the shortest ride and about 67 cents for the longest, the system manages to turn an operating profit.

The metro system has had to deal with its social bumps too when women passengers complained of sexual harassment by male passengers. As a resolution at least one carriage is reserved for women (right) on every metro train in the Indian capital, where female residents and tourists have complained about sexual harassment on public transport for decades.

Police on Saturday led a crackdown of men using women's carriages at a station in Gurgaon, a satellite development on the outskirts of Delhi, after a series of complaints. Women passengers joined in the police action. The offending male commuters were made to pay a fine of 250 rupees (£3.40) while angry women slapped some of them and forced them to do sit-ups on the metro platform.

The Gurgaon police commissioner who led the raid, said: "We found many male passengers in the women's coach. The moment the women saw us, they got the courage to teach the men a lesson. We want our young girls and women to feel confident and safe while travelling in the Metro (left)."

Source:
BBC News,"Delhi metro first railway to earn UN carbon credits", accessed September 27, 2011
MSN Green, "Delhi Metro gets UN certificate for reducing pollution", accessed September 27, 2011
The Telegraph "Men caught in 'women only' train carriage forced to do sit-ups", accessed September 28, 2011

China to launch 8 Antarctic, Arctic expeditions

China plans to launch five Antarctic research expeditions and another three to the Arctic from 2011 to 2015, said an official with the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA) on Sunday.

In a warming and changing Arctic, China is stepping up its activities in the Arctic Ocean Basin. While China’s interests and policy objectives in the Arctic Ocean Basin remain unclear, Beijing is increasingly active and vocal on the international stage on issues that concern the region. To that end, China is actively seeking to develop relationships with Arctic states and participate in Arctic multilateral organizations such as the Arctic Council. The region includes a rich basket of natural resources: The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered hydrocarbon resources are found in the Arctic region along with 9 percent of the world’s coal along with other economically critical minerals.

With the world’s largest non-nuclear research icebreaker, Xue Long (Snow Dragon) China has embarked on four Arctic research expeditions in recent years into Arctic waters. This is part of China’s larger polar scientific research effort which has seen 26 expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic since 1984. This past summer the vessel made it on a research voyage to 88 degrees North latitude which is only 120 nautical miles from the North Pole. Chinese research scientists from the fourth research expedition traveled to the North Pole via the vessel’s helicopter to conduct research, arriving at the North Pole on 15:38 p.m. (0738 GMT) Friday August 20, 2010 (China Daily, August 21, 2010). It was another first for China and clearly highlights a changing Arctic, which is seeing decreasing and thinning sea-ice year after year. A few years ago this would have been impossible with this ice-breaking research vessel because of the difficult sea-ice conditions and the thick multi-year ice.

Now China will launch the 28th Antarctic research expedition in early November and the fifth to the Arctic in early July 2012, said Qu Tanzhou, director of the CAA, at the annual seminar on China's polar region expedition and research in Shanghai.

In the 2011-2015 period, Chinese researchers will focus on monitoring the weather and environment changes in the polar regions, Qu said.

Qu said climate change in the polar region, particularly that in the Arctic, will inevitably influence China, and the research would benefit the nation's adaptation to climate change.

China plans to build a new icebreaker before 2015 (hopefully (2013), which will form an Arctic-Antarctic maritime research team with Xuelong ("Snow Dragon"), an icebreaker that operated in Antarctica, said Qin Weijia, head of the CAA's committee of the Communist Party of China.

Qin said the plan to build the new icebreaker has already been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planner.

China will have two icebreakers concurrently operating at both the north and south poles, Qin said.


Source:
China Daily,"China to launch 8 Antarctic, Arctic expeditions", accessed September 27, 2011
Arctic Progress, "China's Snow Dragon Sweeps into Arctic Ocean", accessed September 27, 2011

Climate change may leave Mount Everest ascent ice-free, say climbers

Climbers and custodians of Everest say that rapid climate change could soon make for an ice-free ascent of the world's tallest mountain.

Their warning comes come amid a new international effort to gauge the effects of climate change in the Himalayas – and shield local people from potential hazards. A US-funded mission, led by the Mountain Institute, is meeting in Kathmandu to try to find practical solutions to the threat of catastrophic high-altitude flooding from lakes forming at the foot of melting glaciers.

Mountain Institute

Imja lake (left) is one example of a prime potential danger of climate change in the mountains: catastrophic, high-altitude floods. Melting ice turns to glacial lakes which grow in size until – one day – they risk rupturing their banks, spewing out rocks and debris. Such outbursts can kill, and they almost always invariably destroy infrastructure and land, burying fields in several meters of rubble.

That's seen as the biggest potential hazard. There are more than 1,600 glacial lakes in Nepal alone, of which about a half dozen are considered very dangerous. But glacier loss could also destabilize mountainsides or devastate water supplies. Some of Asia's mightiest rivers – the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra – depend to some extent on seasonal glacier melt.

Scientists acknowledge they have yet to form a complete picture of the changes under way in the high Himalayas. The task of offering a definitive scientific account of the extent of melting is daunting – and not just because the area is so vast and inaccessible. Scientists are still working to recover from a PR disaster early last year when it emerged that a United Nations report on climate change had claimed – wrongly – that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035.

But growing anecdotal evidence, from climbers and local people, suggests climate change is making a strong impact even well above the 8,000m line, with signs of melting ice on the southern approach to Everest.

"When I climbed Mount Everest last year I climbed the majority of ice without crampons because there was so much bare rock," said John All, an expert on Nepal glaciers from the University of Western Kentucky. "In the past that would have been suicide because there was so much ice."

He said the terrain he crossed was very different from the landscapes described by earlier generations of climbers (left: picture taken by George Mallory, 1921). Historic photographs of the Everest region also showed a longer and deeper covering of ice.

Everest Base Camp, which occupies a high rocky plateau next to the Khumbu glacier, has undergone similar changes, said Tshering Tenzing Sherpa, who has overseen rubbish collection at the site for the past few years. The summer monsoon months brought several deep new crevasses in the black ice beneath the rocks, he added. "Everything is changing with the glaciers." Tenzing pointed towards the Khumbu ice fall – the start of the climb, and part of a 16km stretch of ice that forms the largest glacier in Nepal. "Before, when you looked out, it was totally blue ice, and now it is black rock on top," he said. He's convinced the changes have occurred in months – not years, or even decades, but during the brief interval of the summer monsoon. "This year it's totally changed," he said


Source:
The Guardian,"Climate change may leave Mount Everest ascent ice-free, say climbers ", by Suzanne Goldenberg, accessed September 26, 2011
The Guardian, "Everest's ice is retreating as climate change grips the Himalayas", by Suzanne Goldenberg, accessed September 26, 2011

British mammals alarm: red squirrel 'could be extinct within next 20 years'

Efforts over the past decade to save British mammals from extinction have failed to halt population declines in red squirrels, hedgehogs, harvest mice and Scottish wildcats.

Red squirrels (left) could be extinct within 20 years, while the UK hedgehog population has dipped to about 1.5m individuals compared with 30m in the 1950s, according to a report by Oxford University's wildlife conservation unit for the People's Trust for Endangered Species.

Red squirrels are the only squirrel native to the British Isles. They are disappearing from the mainland fast and are being replaced by the introduced American grey squirrel (right). The Isle of Wight is an important stronghold as the Solent provides a barrier to grey squirrels. However, a grey does find its way to the Island sometimes and there are contingency plans for dealing with greys that arrive on the Isle of Wight. Not only do grey squirrels outcompete reds; they also carry the deadly parapox virus, which is fatal to the reds. It is illegal to bring a grey squirrel into red squirrel territory. The penalty is two years imprisonment or a £5,000 fine. It is also illegal to release a grey anywhere, once it is caught.

The Isle of Wight’s woodland can provide habitat for around 3,500 red squirrels. Numbers fluctuate annually according to the success or failure of the autumn seed crop. They also fluctuate seasonally when young are born. Reds on the Island live mainly in broadleaved woodland - which is unique nowadays as greys dominate this habitat on the mainland. The Island is also free of deer, which nibble young shoots and retard re-growth of under-story trees.

The common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) (left) and mountain hare are also under threat despite efforts to arrest their decline through nationwide biodiversity action plans.

Seven species of mammals whose conservation was given priority status, including some of the most endangered, were still declining last year, says the report – State of Britain's Mammals 2011.

But there was good news with regard to otters (right), bats and water voles, whose populations have increased. After conservation efforts "akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic", say the report's authors, there was hope that approaches to conservation were improving.

"Although many of Britain's mammals apparently declined significantly in the past 25 years, some appear to have stabilized or even increased in the last decade," the report states.

"Of the 25 monitored mammal species native to Britain, half are stable (not necessarily in a good state) or increasing."

Otters have benefited from cleaner rivers in Britain, following a ban on chemicals used in sheep dip in the late 1990s. But hedgehog (left) numbers have fallen due to fragmentation of their habitats, pesticides killing their prey, and hedgerow loss.

Red squirrel populations have dropped more than 50% in 50 years, and, with the discovery in Scotland in 2005 of the first case of squirrel pox virus, which is carried by grey squirrels, "the omens for the red squirrel in the UK" were "bleak", state the report's authors, Dawn Burnham and David MacDonald.

"The last 15 years have seen some successes, particularly recovery of some rare species," they said. "However, with the ongoing decline of once common species, like hedgehogs, it is widely accepted that targets for the Convention on Biological Diversity, for 2010, were missed.

"In general, progress has been better for species restricted in range that could benefit from targeted, site-based, conservation efforts. There's been less progress on targets for habitats and many widespread species."

Water voles are declining, but brown hare and polecat populations are rising. Greater and lesser horseshoe bat populations have risen 32% and 41% respectively over the past 10 years.


Source:
The Guardian,"British mammals alarm: red squirrel 'could be extinct within next 20 years'", accessed September 26, 2011

From the Inbox - House passes "Dirty Air Death Bill"

Dear Friend,

Moments ago, the U.S. House passed the TRAIN Act – one of the most extreme anti-environmental bills ever passed.

The bill would delay two vital standards for power plants until at least 2018 and cause up to 139,500 premature deaths, with further delays allowing over 27,000 additional deaths every year after that.

The fight to stop this monstrosity now moves to the Senate, where the threat of a presidential veto will hopefully help kill this bill.

For those of you who took action on this, thank you for your support! We did not win the House vote, but our voices were heard and our collective actions have helped make this "Dirty Air Death Bill" a lot less likely of ever becoming law.

We will keep you posted in the days and weeks ahead. For now, please help share the outrage over Twitter and Facebook.

Here are some draft messages for you:

On Facebook: The U.S. House just passed the TRAIN Act – aka “Dirty Air Death Bill” – that will cause more pollution, up to 139,500 premature deaths, and kill jobs. Tell the Senate to block this monstrosity: http://goo.gl/fFbmR

On Twitter: House just passed Dirty Air Death Bill = means more pollution, more early deaths, and fewer jobs. Tell Senate to block bill: http://goo.gl/IccFB

Thanks for your activism and support,

Sam Parry
Director, Online Membership and Activism

From the Inbox -- Let's Get Moving

Dear Supporter, Last week, we cut through the smoke and fog of denial and took a fresh breath of air with 24 Hours of Reality. So what now? If you missed the presentations or want to share them with your friends, check out our video library. You can find highlights and full-length footage from all 24 hours. Ready to roll up your sleeves and hit the streets? Good. Grab your neighbors and your friends and join 350.org on September 24. 350.org is leading a global day of action called Moving Planet. Here's a video that shows what it's all about: The concept behind Moving Planet is simple: Together, we can move beyond fossil fuels. You can join events large and small where we'll be moving on bicycles, unicycles, kayaks and on foot to show our commitment to solving the climate crisis. Find an event near you: http://www.moving-planet.org/video It's time to get moving. Sincerely, Maggie L. Fox President and CEO The Climate Reality Project

From the Inbox - The Action Plan for Public Lands and Education Act is a public land giveaway

Dear Supporter, I know we’ve been writing to you about Shell’s effort to drill as little as 16 miles from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuges shoreline, and we will keep fighting that fight. But a bill has been introduced in Congress to give away (yes, you read that right) public lands in the West, and we need your help. “The Action Plan for Public Lands and Education Act of 2011,” must not move forward. Public land is every American’s land, and it shouldn’t be given away for drilling, digging, mining and other development uses. We must stop this from succeeding. A generous donor has agreed to match your donation dollar-for-dollar between now and September 30, up to $25,000, so your donation will go twice as far. We need every penny we can raise to fight this series of unprecedented attacks on America’s wild places. Remember, your gift will be doubled right now, and we need it urgently to stop this land giveaway before it’s too late. The Action Plan for Public Lands and Education Act is a public land giveaway Western states could be stuck in financial gridlock while corporate polluters profit WASHINGTON (September 22, 2011) - The Wilderness Society today strongly opposed H.R. 2852, “The Action Plan for Public Lands and Education Act of 2011,” introduced in the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. This hearing comes during Great Outdoors America Week, in the heart of National Wilderness Month, and just days before Public Lands Day on September 24. Testifying before the Subcommittee, David Alberswerth, Senior Policy Advisor at The Wilderness Society, said, “We oppose enactment of H.R. 2852, which essentially requires the federal government to give away 5 percent of the ‘unappropriated public lands,’ in each western state,” which includes most Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Forest lands. “This is an unwarranted and unmerited giveaway of assets owned by all Americans to a select few states." According to our initial analysis, the legislation would require 29.8 million acres to be transferred to the western states, effectively giving away tens of billions of dollars of American taxpayer assets without compensation to those taxpayers. In his testimony, Alberswerth offers alternative and better ways to enhance the revenues of western states. For example, oil and gas companies only pay a 12.5 percent royalty rate for oil and gas extracted from federal public lands, while often paying significantly higher royalty rates on state-owned lands. "… [O]ur recommendation is that, instead of promoting a bill like H.R. 2852 which unnecessarily perpetuates conflicts, misunderstandings, and gridlock over the status and management of America’s public lands and national forests, the sponsors of this legislation should change direction and seek out practical solutions to the nettlesome issues of federal/state land and resource ownership patterns,” Alberswerth said. Sadly, this legislation comes during a barrage of unprecedented attacks on America’s lands and waters from a minority in Congress: Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R, CA-22) has introduced, The Great Outdoors Giveaway, that would give corporate polluters access to over 50 million acres of protected national forests and BLM lands. Devastating budget cuts have been made to our most needed programs, and further cuts could result in closures in our national parks, refuges and other wild places. Several members of Congress have introduced numerous bills that would severely undercut the President’s ability to designate national monuments using the Antiquities Act. The Wilderness Society will continue to work with people across the U.S. to ensure that bipartisan wilderness legislation becomes law, and protect our natural heritage for future generations. ### The Wilderness Society is the leading public-lands conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Founded in 1935, and now with more than 500,000 members and supporters, TWS has led the effort to permanently protect 110 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands. www.wilderness.org

The Wilderness Society 202.833.2300 1615 M St, NW, Washington, DC 20036 www.wilderness.org

From the Inbox - help protect the Grand Canyon from a dangerous mining plan

Dear Supporter, We need your help to fight back against mining companies that want to dig, blast, and drill their way through lands surrounding the Grand Canyon and more of our national parks. You see, the mining industry and its allies in Congress want to toss out existing protections and allow new uranium mining claims on 1 million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. If they succeed, it could pollute the Grand Canyon with radioactive uranium, contaminating the Colorado River and the water it provides to 25 million people downstream. The mining industry’s push to open the lands around the Grand Canyon is part of a larger attack on our parks that needs to be stopped now. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska is also threatened by a proposed copper and silver mine that could penetrate park boundaries and damage the headwaters of Bristol Bay, one of the last wild sockeye salmon fisheries on earth. Coal mining companies already use high explosives to remove mountain tops in the southern Appalachians, endangering places like Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Tennessee by sending massive amounts of sediment into nearby watersheds. At NPCA we know first-hand the destruction that mining can cause, and there’s simply no place for it near our national parks. As the foremost advocate for our parks, it’s NPCA’s responsibility to protect these remarkable places. And our track record shows that, with supporters like you behind us, we can demonstrate to Congress that Americans want our national parks protected. If we want to beat back this latest threat to the Grand Canyon and stand up to mining interests that believe our public lands are theirs for the taking, we have to work together. Your support will help us educate Congress and other key policymakers, mobilize our grassroots network to put pressure on Congress and the White House, and challenge mining supporters who say there’s no environmental risk to taking radioactive minerals out of the ground near the Grand Canyon. So please act now by making a special tax-deductible donation to NPCA today. Thank you for standing with NPCA and for everything you do to help protect our parks. Sincerely, Thomas C. Kiernan President P.S. You and I know there’s no place for mining near our national parks. That’s why we need to have the foresight to protect our parks from mineral, oil, and coal companies that want to spoil our rare and special landscapes. Thank you so much for your support! National Parks Conservation Association 777 6th Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001 800.NAT.PARK | npca@npca.org NPCA has earned the highest charity rating from the Better Business Bureau