PBMC - Painel Brasileiro de Mudanças Climáticas

Warming may disrupt four-fifths of world's oceans by 2050: study

Global warming will disrupt four-fifths of the world's oceans by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, threatening fish that are the main source of food for a billion people, scientists said on Tuesday.

Curbs on man-made emissions, however, would give marine life more time to adapt to warming conditions or for marine life from algae to cod to shift to cooler waters nearer the poles, they said.
"By 2050 around four-fifths of the ocean surface will be affected by ocean acidification and ocean warming," lead author Stephanie Henson, of the British National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, told Reuters of the findings.

Carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, forms a weak acid in water. Currently, only about 10 percent of the oceans are under stress from the twin impacts of high temperatures and acidification, she said.

Cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, in line with goals set by almost 200 nations under a Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, could limit the impact to two-thirds of the ocean by 2050, giving marine life more time to adapt, the scientists said.

Declines in the amount of oxygen in the waters and a reduction in nutrients, both linked to climate change, would add to stresses on the oceans this century, they wrote.

Figuring out the impact is important because one in seven of the world's population, or about a billion people, depend on the oceans as the main source of protein, according to the experts in Germany, the United States, France, Norway and Britain.

The effects on individual species - such as lobsters, herring, sharks or whales - and on the ocean life as a whole were "poorly understood", they wrote in the journal Nature Communications.

There are, however, signs that marine life can resist change. Bright-colored damselfish found on corals such as the Great Barrier Reef off Australia can adapt within a couple of generations to higher temperatures, they wrote.

Many fish species, such as cod or haddock, are moving north in the Atlantic to cooler waters.

 Maria Fossheim of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, who was not involved in the study, said some fish stocks have been moving northwards far faster than the 40 kms (25 miles) a decade estimated by a U.N. panel.

 "But Arctic fish don't have anywhere to go," she said of those already used to the coldest waters.

(Reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Ken Ferris)

From: Reuters

Climate change impact on Australia may be irreversible, five-yearly report says

An independent review of the state of Australia’s environment has found the impacts of climate change are increasing and some of the changes could be irreversible.

The latest State of the Environment report, a scientific snapshot across nine areas released by the federal government every five years, says climate change is altering the structure and function of natural ecosystems in Australia, and is affecting heritage, economic activity and human wellbeing.

It warns climate change will result in “location specific vulnerabilities” and says the most severe impacts will be felt by people who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

Record high water temperatures caused “widespread coral bleaching, habitat destruction and species mortality” in the marine environment between 2011 and 2016, it says.

The minister for energy and the environment, Josh Frydenberg, was due to release the report card on Tuesday morning.
In a column for Guardian Australia, Frydenberg says the report indicates the impact of changing weather patterns is being felt in the ocean, on the Great Barrier Reef and on land, affecting biodiversity and species habitat.

“While carbon emissions per capita have declined from 24.1 tonnes in 2011 to 22.2 tonnes in 2015 and energy efficiency improvements are reducing electricity demand, the report makes clear that, for the world to meet its Paris goals, there is much more to do,” Frydenberg says.

The minister says the report makes clear Australia needs to prepare for changes in the environment and “put in place a coordinated, comprehensive, well-resourced, long-term response”.

He warns that failure to do so “will have a direct and detrimental impact on our quality of life and leave a legacy to future generations that is inferior to the one we have inherited”.

The minister says the report presents the government with a mixed picture. “Good progress has been made in the management of the marine and Antarctic environments, natural and cultural heritage and the built environment – while pressures are building in relation to invasive species, climate change, land use and coastal protection,” he says.

Frydenberg says the doubling of Australia’s population in the past 50 years and growing urbanisation “have all combined to contribute to additional pressures on the environment”.

Australia’s heavily populated coastal areas are under pressure, as are “growth areas within urban environments, where human pressure is greatest”, the report finds.

Grazing and invasive species continue to pose a significant threat to biodiversity.

“The main pressures facing the Australian environment today are the same as in 2011: climate change, land use change, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and invasive species,” the report’s summary says. “In addition, the interactions between these and other pressures are resulting in cumulative impacts, amplifying the threats faced by the Australian environment.

“Evidence shows that some individual pressures on the environment have decreased since 2011, such as those associated with air quality, poor agricultural practices, commercial fishing, and oil and gas exploration and production in Australia’s marine environment.

“During the same time, however, other pressures have increased — for example, those associated with coal mining and the coal-seam gas industry, habitat fragmentation and degradation, invasive species, litter in our coastal and marine environments, and greater traffic volumes in our capital cities.”

See more here 

1ª Reunião do grupo 1,5ºC do IPCC em São Paulo

O Acordo de Paris ambiciona manter o aquecimento global abaixo de 2oC e o máximo possível próximo a 1,5°C. O Painel Intergovernamental sobre Mudança do Clima montou um grupo de trabalho para o 1,5°C, do qual participam 86 especialistas na ciência, tecnologia e sócio economia do clima. O grupo vai participar de uma reunião no INPE, em São José dos Campos, que leva o título de “O aquecimento global de 1,5°C, um relatório especial sobre os impactos de um aquecimento global de 1,5°C acima dos níveis pré-industriais e rotas associadas de emissões globais de gases de efeito estufa, no contexto do reforço da resposta global à ameaça da mudança do clima ao desenvolvimento sustentável e aos esforços de erradicação da pobreza”. A reunião vai até 6ª feira. Do Brasil, participam José Marengo (CEMADEN), Marcos Buckeridge e Patrícia Fernanda Pinho da USP.

Clique aqui e confira o  Relatório Especial do IPCC sobre Aquecimento Global de 1.5ºC realizado na primeira reunião

Pollution responsible for quarter of deaths of young children, says WHO

Pollution is responsible for one in four deaths among all children under five, according to new World Health Organisation reports, with toxic air, unsafe water, and and lack of sanitation the leading causes.

The reports found polluted environments cause the deaths of 1.7 million children every year, but that many of the deaths could be prevented by interventions already known to work, such as providing cleaner cooking fuels to prevent indoor air pollution.

“A polluted environment is a deadly one, particularly for young children,” said Dr Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO. “Their developing organs and immune systems – and smaller bodies and airways – make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water.”

The harm from air pollution can begin in the womb and increase the risk of premature birth. After birth, air pollution raises the risk of pneumonia, a major cause of death for under fives, and of lifelong lung conditions such as asthma. It may also increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer in later life.

The reports present a comprehensive review of the effect of unhealthy environments and found that 570,000 children under five years old die each year from respiratory infections such as pneumonia, while another 361,000 die due to diarrhoea, as a result of polluted water and poor access to sanitation.

The WHO estimates that 11% to 14% of children aged five years and older currently report asthma symptoms, with almost half of these cases related to air pollution. It also suggests that the warmer temperatures and carbon dioxide levels linked to climate change may increase pollen levels, making asthma worse.

“Investing in the removal of environmental risks to health will result in massive health benefits,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO director of environmental and social determinants of health. For example, tackling the backyard recycling of electrical waste would cut children’s exposure to toxins which can cause reduced intelligence and cancer.

In October, the UN’s children’s agency Unicef made the first global estimate of children’s exposure to air pollution and found that almost 90% – 2 billion children – live in places where outdoor air pollution exceeds WHO limits. It found that 300 million of these children live in areas with extreme air pollution, where toxic fumes are more than six times above the health guidelines.

The WHO announced in May that air pollution around the world is rising at an alarming rate, with virtually all cities in poorer nations blighted by unhealthy air and more than half of those in richer countries also suffering.

Research in 2015 revealed that more than 3 million people a year die early because of outdoor air pollution, more than malaria and HIV/Aids combined. Chan told the BBC on Monday that air pollution is “one of the most pernicious threats” facing global public health today and is on a much bigger scale than HIV or Ebola.

From: The Guardian