Posted on 02 September
2009
The Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications
report, released today, outlines dire global
consequences of a warming Arctic that are
far worse than
previous projections. The unprecedented
peer-reviewed report brings together top
climate scientists who have assessed the
current science on arctic warming.
"What they found
was a truly sobering picture,' said Dr Martin
Sommerkorn, senior climate change advisor
for WWF’s Arctic programme. 'What this report
says is that a warming Arctic is much more
than a local problem, it’s a global problem.
"Simply put, if
we do not keep the Arctic cold enough, people
across the world will suffer the effects."
The report shows that
numerous arctic climate feedbacks – negative
effects prompted by the impacts of warming
-- will make global climate change more
severe than indicated by other recent projections,
including those of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 assessment.
The dramatic loss of
sea ice resulting from the Arctic warming
at about twice the rate of the rest of the
world will influence atmospheric circulation
and weather in the Arctic and beyond. This
is projected to change temperature and precipitation
patterns in Europe and North America, affecting
agriculture, forestry and water supplies.
In addition, the Arctic’s
frozen soils and wetlands store twice as
much carbon as is held in the atmosphere.
As warming in the Arctic continues, soils
will increasingly thaw and release carbon
into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and
methane, at significantly increased rates.
Levels of atmospheric methane, a particularly
potent greenhouse gas, have been increasing
for the past two years, and it is suggested
that the increase comes from warming arctic
tundra.
In a first-of-its kind
assessment incorporating the fate of the
ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica
into global sea level projections, the WWF
report concludes that sea- levels will very
likely rise by more than one meter by 2100
-- more than twice the amount given in the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s
2007 assessment that had excluded the contribution
of ice sheets from their projection. The
associated flooding of coastal regions will
affect more than a quarter of the world’s
population.
"This report shows
that it is urgently necessary to rein in
greenhouse gas emissions while we still
can," Sommerkorn said. "If we
allow the Arctic to get too warm, it is
doubtful whether we will be able to keep
these feedbacks under control.
WWF has joined with
other NGOs to produce a model climate treaty
for Copenhagen that gives the world a blueprint
for achieving the kind of emissions cuts
needed to likely avoid arctic feedbacks.
"We need to listen
now to these signals from the Arctic, and
take the necessary action in Copenhagen
this December to get a deal that quickly
and effectively limits greenhouse gas emissions,”
said James Leape, director general of WWF
International.
In December 2009, the
governments of 191 countries will meet in
Copenhagen, Denmark, for the final round
of negotiations for a new global agreement
on climate change. The first period of the
current agreement, called the 'Kyoto Protocol',
will end in three years, in December 2012.
The negotiations in Copenhagen are supposed
to approve a new legal framework for global
climate action from 2013 onwards.
According to WWF, this
framework must guarantee much deeper and
more rapid emission cuts from industrialized
countries, and financing to developing countries
to enable them also to take climate action.
+ More
World’s largest fishery
angles for sustainability
Posted on 03 September
2009
Peruvian anchovy fishers, who accounts for
10 percent of total world fish catch, will
for the first time ensure the sustainability
of stocks.
Lima, Peru: Peruvian anchovy fishers – who
pull in 10% of the total fish catch in the
world – for the first time will be independently
monitored, ensuring the sustainability of
stocks.
Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis
ringens) is a major Peruvian export, with
a value in excess of US$ 1.7 billion in
2008, equivalent to 70% of national fish
exports for the entire country. In recent
years, the government has gradually improved
the management of anchovy stocks by creating
standards and quotas, but this new monitoring
system will greatly bolster those efforts.
The Peruvian government
earlier this month signed an agreement which
formalized the establishment of the first
Peruvian Observatory to regulate its fishing
industry, run by universities Cayetano Heredia
and del Pacifico, The Nature Conservancy
(TNC), WWF and the Instituto del Mar Peruano
(IMARPE). This observatory aims to implement
a monitoring system that will strengthen
and complement the technical capabilities
of the government to ensure sustainable
management anchovy stocks.
“I’m sure that with
this development we’ll have the world’s
best fishery and not just the largest,"
said the Minister of Production of Peru,
Dr. Mercedes Araoz.
By providing free access
to fisheries data for the scientific community
and, the general public, the new Observatory
will better allow for the implementation
and enforcement of the “maximum established
catch per boat” set previously by the government.
Furthermore, it will help to assess the
potential impacts of industrial fisheries
and recommend best practices and strengthen
the sector to improve fisheries management,
ensuring the resilience of the anchovy population
and the sustainability of the marine ecosystem
of Peru.
"This puts Peru
at the forefront of the world’s fisheries
because it not only shares the information
of the largest fishery on the planet, but
it takes an important step towards sustainability
and possible certification, and even generates
inputs for the conservation of Humboldt’s
marine ecosystem facing climate change",
said Michael Valqui, Director of WWF Peru's
Marine Program.
In addition to driving
this initiative with the del Pacifico and
Cayetano Heredia local universities and
TNC, WWF Peru is currently contributing
to the design and implementation of the
operating system of the Observatory which
will eventually work as an online platform
with accurate technical information on the
implementation of quotas, seasons and other
aspects relevant to this activity. Also,
the group will work in coordination with
IMARPE to ensure maximum benefit from this
system that, since it addresses the issue
of transparency in the fishing industry,
constitutes a necessary step on the path
towards an eventual certification of Peruvian
anchovy fishery by the Marine Stewardship
Council (MSC).
