Poor nations fear being left in cold on global warming

"We haven't been invited to either of those processes," said Espen Ronneberg, a Samoa-based climate change advisor to the Association of Small Island States, on the sidelines of the Bangkok talks.

March 31 2008 - BANGKOK (AFP) — Outraged poor nations bearing the brunt of global warming have become increasingly bold in UN-led climate talks, but some worry that recent trysts of large countries are leaving them out in the cold.

A grouping of 192 countries under the United Nations is leading the way in negotiating a groundbreaking climate change treaty, and most of its members are currently in Bangkok to try to hammer out a two-year work plan.

The meeting comes soon after the United States chaired a meeting of 16 nations most responsible for global warming, and ahead of a special climate summit on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit of rich nations.

"We haven't been invited to either of those processes," said Espen Ronneberg, a Samoa-based climate change advisor to the Association of Small Island States, on the sidelines of the Bangkok talks. More >>>

With time running out, world governments start talks on halting greenhouse gases

March 30, 2008

BANGKOK, Thailand: Governments from 163 countries will launch discussions Monday on forging a global warming agreement, a process expected to be fraught with disagreements over which countries should take the lead to reduce greenhouse gases by as much as half by 2050.

The weeklong, United Nations climate meeting in Bangkok comes on the heels of a historic agreement reached in December to draft a new accord on global warming by 2009. Without a pact to rein in rising greenhouse gases in the next two decades, scientists say warming weather will lead to widespread drought, floods, higher sea levels and worsening storms.

"(There is a) very cooperative and constructive mood, a great enthusiasm to take this work forward," said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is hosting the Thailand meeting. More >>>

A Farewell to Ice

March 18, 2008, The latest report on changes in the world’s glaciers, which we cover in the newspaper today, is Mass Balance Bulletin Number 9. The take-home message for many parts of the world — from Asia to the European Alps to the Andes — appeared to be, “Farewell to ice.” Essentially, the mountain storehouses of frozen water that have shaped their history and culture, or that have provided a secure year-round source of water through modern times, are no longer secure.

Writing about the report brought back memories from nearly 15 years ago, two years before I came to The New York Times.

At the time, I went to Switzerland for Conde Nast Traveler to get a better understanding of the findings in the second such bulletin. Rates of shrinking and melting were already nudging beyond patterns driven by known nonhuman influences. More >>>

EU says more momentum needed for UN climate change agreement

28 March 2008 BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - The European Commission said more momentum is needed in formal negotiations for a new United Nations (UN) climate change agreement. Negotiations are due to start on March 31 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The new agreement is intended to take effect once the Kyoto Protocol's targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries have expired in 2012.
The talks will involve all 192 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including the US. They will also bring together the 178 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in order to draw up future emission targets for developed countries. More >>>

Researchers Say Arctic Sea Ice Still at Risk Despite Cold Winter

March 18 2008 - Using the latest satellite observations, NASA researchers and others report that the Arctic is still on “thin ice” when it comes to the condition of sea ice cover in the region. A colder-than-average winter in some regions of the Arctic this year has yielded an increase in the area of new sea ice, while the older sea ice that lasts for several years has continued to decline.

This ice concentration map during indicates maximum ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere and the contour of the ice edge in 2006.This ice concentration map dated March 9, 2008, indicates maximum ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere. The contour of the ice edge in 2006 is shown in red, while that for the 28-year average is shown in gold. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA On March 18 the scientists said they believe that the increased area of sea ice this winter is due to recent weather conditions, while the decline in perennial ice reflects the longer-term warming climate trend and is a result of increased melting during summer and greater movement of the older ice out of the Arctic. More >>>

Antarctic ice shelf 'hanging by a thread'

25 March 2008 A thin strip of ice, just 6 kilometres wide, is all that is holding back the collapse of a huge ice shelf in Antarctica, according to glaciologists.

The Wilkins ice shelf – previously some 16,000 square kilometres in area – has been disintegrating fast. On 28 February, an iceberg 41 km long and 2.5 km wide broke off the ice shelf. This triggered the runaway disintegration of a further 570 square kilometres of ice.

"I would be very surprised if it survives more than a couple more melt seasons," says Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado, US.

Other researchers, including David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey, believe it could be gone within weeks. "The ice shelf is hanging by a thread – we'll know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be," he says. More >>>

U.N. Security Council must act preemptively – on climate change

This global threat requires a war-room mentality.

March 24, २००८, Arlington, VA। - The United Nations tackled the task of troubleshooting climate change last month. Between holding special General Assembly meetings at headquarters in New York, bringing 100 environmental ministers to Monaco in the largest meeting of ministers since Bali, and launching a Climate Neutral Network to highlight best practices in tackling global warming, the UN appears to be doing what it can to ensure that climate change does not fall off the political radar. Yet, it still isn't enough. A concerted international strategy, on a par with the seriousness and scope of an UN Security Council resolution, is what's needed to counter this climate crisis. More >>>