PBMC - Painel Brasileiro de Mudanças Climáticas

Relatório do IPCC é traduzido para o português pela primeira vez

A Iniciativa Verde, por meio do projeto Adaptação às Mudanças Climáticas no Litoral Sul de São Paulo em parceria com o Instituto HSBC Solidariedade, traduz pela primeira vez em português o “Sumário para tomadores de decisão do 5º Relatório de Avaliação do IPCC, Grupo de Trabalho II – Impactos, Avaliação e Vulnerabilidade” (são 46 páginas) do 5º Relatório de Avaliação do Clima do Painel Intergovernamental de Mudanças Climáticas (IPCC). A versão foi autorizada pela Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU), responsável pelo IPCC. O documento está disponível online por meio da seção Nossas Publicações, no site da Iniciativa Verde.

O sumário foi entregue em abril para o Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Ribeira de Iguape e Litoral Sul, no estado de São Paulo, local onde o projeto foi desenvolvido. “Ele é fundamental para a criação de políticas públicas que visem a adaptação de nossos ecossistemas e populações para os impactos das mudanças climáticas globais”, diz Lucas Pereira, diretor técnico da Iniciativa Verde.O objetivo é que o documento seja usado como base para a aplicação de ações de adaptação às mudanças climáticas e para que todos os interessados, mesmo aqueles que não participaram do projeto, tenham acesso ao documento. Além disso, o relatório traduzido é um dos produtos resultado do projeto executado pela Iniciativa Verde.

O relatório lançado em inglês em 2014, o mais recente do IPCC, apontou que o aquecimento global é uma realidade e a contribuição do ser humano é significativa para a ocorrência de fenômenos ligados às mudanças climáticas. Por isso, devemos agir imediatamente em escala global para reverter o que for possível. Leia um resumo do documento feito pelo biólogo Magno Castelo Branco, doutor em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais.

Para saber mais sobre o Projeto Mudanças Climáticas e o Futuro das Comunidades do Litoral Sul Paulista, acesse: http://www.iniciativaverde.org.br/programas-e-projetos-hsbc-solidariedade.php .

Fonte: Iniciativa Verde

Inspiring Examples of Energy Efficiency in Cities Raising Ambition to Cut Emissions

At the UN climate change conference in Bonn, governments are looking at ways to increase ambition to tackle climate change before 2020, when the new Paris 2015 climate agreement is to enter into effect. One key focus of a Technical Expert Meeting  5 and 6 June will be opportunities to accelerate energy efficiency action in urban environments.

Cities account for 70 per cent of global energy use and for 40 to 50 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Urban areas are projected to grow rapidly over the coming years, so reducing the amount of energy consumed in cities is central to the fight against climate change. The sectors with the greatest potential to save energy are buildings, district energy, transport and lighting.

The reasons to make more efficient use of energy apart from fighting climate change are compelling. Millions of new jobs can be created when enough companies are involved in energy conservation. And saving energy has obvious cost benefits, so that the International Energy Agency (IEA) calls energy efficiency “the world’s first fuel”.

At the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit last year, countries, cities and corporations launched large-scale commitment to double the rate of global energy efficiency by 2030 through vehicle fuel efficiency, lighting, appliances, buildings and district energy.

Developed countries need to take the lead on energy efficiency. Yet efficient energy use is equally critical in developing countries where affordable and reliable energy is already in short supply and energy providers already struggle to meet the demands of growing economies.

Examples International Cooperation in the Lighting and Transport Sectors

There are many inspiring examples of how international cooperation can boost energy efficiency measures, also under the UNFCCC. For example, Indonesia’s current energy production - primarily from coal - is rising alongside its recent economic growth.

To increase energy efficiency, the country has proposed a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) dubbed the Street Smart Lighting Initiative (SSLI) that aims to increase the efficiency of lighting by substituting conventional street lighting with more efficient technologies in cities and urban areas. UNFCCC chief Christiana Figueres visited a similar project in the Philippines earlier this year.

International cooperation is also key to reducing energy consumption in the transport sector. Low-carbon transport systems such as rapid bus systems can reduce pollution above all in urban areas. For example, transportation accounts for approximately half of the energy consumption and 31% of global CO2 emissions in Mexico. As part of a bilateral collaboration between the governments of Mexico and Germany, a new nationally appropriate mitigation action (NAMA) was recently submitted to the UNFCCC’s NAMA registry to enable “Eco-driving” courses for truck drivers. Other great examples are NAMAs that support energy efficient transport initiatives in Colombia and Ethiopia.

Buildings and District Energy Central to Urban Climate Action

According to the IEA, buildings alone are the largest energy consuming sector in the world, and account for over one-third of total final energy consumption and an equally important source of carbon dioxide emissions.

Over the next two decades an area roughly equal to 60 percent of the world’s total building stock is projected to be built and rebuilt in urban areas, most of them in developing countries. Widespread implementation of best practices and technologies could see energy use in buildings stabilize or even fall by 2050.

In light of this, the International Union of Architects (UIA) has made a significant move by pledging to phase out carbon emissions by buildings by the middle of the century.

Insulating old buildings is another obvious way to reduce energy consumption. A briefing by the European Climate Foundation, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the University of Cambridge found that good insulation can reduce heating bills by as much as 90%, at the cost of as little as 100 US dollars per square metre.

Intelligent heating and cooling systems which apply to entire cities are also crucial for urban energy efficiency. A recent report by the UN Environmental Programme shows that transition to modern district energy systems could contribute to 60 per cent of required energy sector emissions reductions by 2050, and reduce primary energy consumption by up to 50 per cent.

There are many examples of how district energy systems can help save energy and money. The city of St Paul, Minnesota, USA, uses district energy fuelled by municipal wood waste to displace 275,000 tons of coal annually and to keep US$12 million in energy expenses circulating in the local economy.

Another good example is Paris, the host city of the UN climate change conference in December. Paris has developed Europe’s first and largest district cooling network, part of which uses the Seine River for cooling.

One Can Only Manage what One Can Measure

At the end of the day, one can only manage what one can measure. Energy efficiency efforts of cities are captured by organizations such as ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability andC40 Network of major cities, which both demonstrate that both the scope and pace of local climate action is accelerating.

A top source of information of efforts of cities to be energy efficient is the UN’s newly updated NAZCA Portal, designed to catalyze public and private sector action on climate change before and after 2020, when the Paris universal climate agreement will take effect.

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Extreme Heat Wave In India Is Killing People And Melting Roads

A blistering heat wave in India has killed nearly 1,400 people in the country in less than one week.

At least 1,020 people have died in Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India, while 340 people have died in the adjacent state of Telangana. In northeastern West Bengal and Orissa, at least 24 people have died. Most of the deaths, according to officials, have been among construction workers, the elderly, and the homeless — people who are typically most exposed to high heat and who don’t have access to air conditioning.

“Almost all the victims are old,” said B.R. Meena, principle secretary for revenue for Telangana. “Inquiries reveal that most of them were working and were exposed to the heat. Dehydration and heat stroke caused the deaths.”

In some regions, temperatures have reached a scorching 122°F — heat that’s melted sections of roads in some cities and that’s close, according to the Guardian, to the country’s all-time high of 123°F. Parts of the country had slightly lower temperatures, but the heat was exacerbated by high humidity: in Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, temperatures reached 110.3°F, with relative humidity of 70 percent. Delhi announced Monday that it had reached its hottest temperature of the season of 113°F.

Officials in Andhra Pradesh have taken steps to try to minimize the impact of the heat wave.

“The state government has taken up education programmes through television and other media to tell people not to venture into the outside without a cap, to drink water and other measures,” P. Tulsi Rani, special commissioner for disaster management in Andhra Pradesh, said. “We have also requested NGOs and government organisations to open up drinking water camps so that water will be readily available for all the people in the towns.”

India’s government has promised to provide monetary compensation to families of the dead, and officials have warned Indians in the hardest-hit regions to stay indoors and drink lots of water. Staying indoors won’t provide much relief to the third of India’s population who don’t have electricity, however.

But those in India who do have power are putting strain on the nation’s electrical grid with their high use of air conditioning and fans. In Delhi, high temperatures — and subsequent high usage of air conditioning — have led to fears of power cuts in the city and in other regions where mercury has soared. Power cuts are a common fear in India, where aging infrastructure is struggling to keep up with a populace that’s increasingly installing air conditioners and other electric machines. Indians have dealt with major power outages before: in July 2012, one of the worst blackouts in recent years left 700 million people without power. Solar power, however,could help improve the country’s grid reliability.

Meteorologists are predicting that India will endure a few more days of extreme heat before getting some relief. Even after temperatures drop later this week, they’ll likely spike again, though in the next few weeks, the country should see some sustained relief from the monsoon rains.

India is no stranger to heat waves. In 2010, the country also endured a major wave of high temperatures that killed hundreds of people. In 2013, too, intense heat claimed the lives of more than 500 people in the country. And climate change — which is contributing to extreme heat around the world — has already contributed to an increase in heat waves between 1961 and 2010.

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Mudanças climáticas ameaçam extinguir 1 em 6 espécies

Estudo publicado na 'Science' mostra que riscos são maiores na América do Sul, Austrália e Nova Zelândia.

Uma em cada seis espécies pode ser extinta se nada for feito para reverter mudanças climáticas, de acordo com analistas. Se as emissões de carbono continuarem no ritmo atual e as temperaturas subirem 4 graus até 2100, 16% dos animais e vegetais se perderão, segundo a pesquisa. O estudo, publicado na revista científica Science, mostra que os riscos são maiores na América do Sul, Austrália e Nova Zelândia. Mark Urban, da Universidade de Connecticut, nos EUA, analisou dados de 131 estudos específicos sobre risco de extinção devido à mudança climática. Alguns deles haviam sugerido que as mudanças climáticas poderiam afetar até 54% das espécies - outros diziam que quase nenhuma seria afetada. Urban descobriu que, a cada grau que a temperatura aumenta, a taxa de perda de biodiversidade acelera. Se as temperaturas subirem 2 graus no futuro em comparação com o período pré-industrial, o risco de extinção global vai subir dos 2,8% atuais para 5,2%. "Se o mundo não se unir e controlar as emissões de gases de efeito estufa e nós permitirmos que a Terra se aqueça consideravelmente, vamos enfrentar uma perda potencial de uma em cada seis espécies", disse Urban.  "Muitas espécies serão capazes de mudar seu habitat e se adaptar às alterações climáticas, mas outras não conseguirão, porque seu habitat desapareceu ou porque não podem mais chegar a ele."

Habitats únicos

Os riscos de extinção mais elevados estão previstos para a Austrália, Nova Zelândia e América do Sul, onde há muitas espécies adaptadas a habitats que não existem em outros lugares. Comentando a pesquisa, o professor John J. Wiens, da Universidade do Arizona, disse que o risco de extinção devido a alterações climáticas pode ser ainda maior do que 16%, já que a maioria dos estudos analisados foram da Europa e América do Norte, onde os riscos de extinção são menores. "Na América do Sul, o risco de extinção foi estimado em 23%", disse ele. "Infelizmente, esse número mais elevado pode refletir melhor o número de espécies que podem ser extintas devido às alterações climáticas em um nível global, se considerarmos a forma como as espécies do mundo são distribuídas."

Mike Barrett, diretor de Ciência e Política da WWF-UK, disse que as descobertas ecoam seu relatório Planeta Vivo, que constatou que populações de espécies de vertebrados caíram pela metade desde 1970. "Este relatório olha para a frente e descobre que muitas espécies estão ameaçadas de extinção se não formos capazes de combater as alterações climáticas."

Fonte: G1