Climate 411

We’ve been getting some good reactions to our new Fight Global Warming Toolbar. Treehugger describes it as “a very easy way to be green”. GoodCleanTech says “If only fighting global warming were as easy as surfing the web, surely our ailing blue planet would be on a fast track to recovery. If you think nothing is that easy, you better hold on to your browsers.”

Our free toolbar lets you raise money to stop global warming simply by using the search box, get our latest action alerts, share environmental news, and quickly access tips and tools for reducing your carbon footprint. We have versions for Internet Explorer and Firefox. Try it out and tell us what you think!

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

In March 2007, we blogged about the dire situation of the South Pacific islands Kiribati and Tuvalu. The sea is rising due to global warming, and two uninhabited islands nearby have already sunk. Now Kiribati is preparing for extinction:

The leader of the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati laid out an extraordinary plan Monday (Sept. 22) that would scatter his people through the nations of the world as rising sea levels submerge the islands they have called home for centuries.

Rising sea levels are submerging the land. Land not yet submerged is being rendered uninhabitable by salty ground water.

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

We frequently mention the IPCC reports on Climate 411 – often referencing them as the most trustworthy authority on global warming science. In fact, our very first blog post was titled "What is the IPCC, anyway?" But for non-scientists, these rather technical reports are a challenge to read.

Climate scientists Michael Mann and Lee Kump published the book Dire Predictions to make the IPCC’s crucially important findings accessible to the layperson. For the most part, they succeed admirably. Mann and Kump did a remarkable job of simplifying complex ideas. But it still gets a little dense in places.

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New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, has completed his transformation from Middle East specialist to green energy expert. He wants the United States to similarly switch focus.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Friedman’s latest book, explains how and why we must stop relying on "fuels from hell" (coal, oil, and gas) as our primary source of energy, and instead switch to "fuels from heaven" (wind, water, and solar). Without this shift, he argues, not only will we cook the planet, but wreck the economy and destroy our way of life. It is tough to quibble with Friedman’s assessments.

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Last Thursday, the Global Carbon Project released its annual report on the state of the carbon cycle, Carbon Budget 2007 [PDF]. It emphasizes (as we reported earlier this year) that CO₂ levels are continuing upward, and the rate of increase is accelerating.

One reason for the acceleration in CO₂ concentrations is higher fossil fuel emissions. Despite rising fuel prices, global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels rose 3 percent in 2007. That’s just slightly below the average increase of 3.5 percent per year since 2000.

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The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is an agreement among 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce global warming pollution from power plants by means of a cap-and-trade system. In cap-and-trade, global warming pollution is limited to an agreed-upon cap that declines over time. The governing authority issues "permits" – also called "allowances" – corresponding to the cap, with one allowance equal to a ton of CO₂ or its equivalent in greenhouse gases. Companies must have allowances for any global warming pollution they emit.

The RGGI auction of allowances is today, and was opened by New York Governor David Paterson. The Washington Post said in an editorial, “We hope that it serves as a reminder to Washington of what can be accomplished when vision and leadership are exercised.” We agree! From EDF president Fred Krupp:

The launch of America’s first carbon market is proof positive that the U.S. can and will take bold steps to combat climate change.

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.