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Friends of the Earth's report
"Gathering Storm"
Extreme weather events during the last few
months
GLOBAL INDICATORS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Below are some examples of changes in the natural world, observed
recently. These observations, along with numerous other pieces of
evidence, indicate that climate change is already underway.
Ice cores drilled through a glacier more than four miles up in
the Himalayan Mountains have yielded a highly detailed record of
the last 1,000 years of earth's climate in the high Tibetan Plateau.
Based on an analysis of the ice, both the last decade and the last
50 years were the warmest in 1,000 years. The core also showed a
clear record of at least eight major droughts caused by a failure
of the South Asian Monsoon, the worst of these a catastrophic seven-year-long
dry spell that cost the lives of more than 600,000 people. Science
Sept 2000.
The Spread of Disease
Warming accelerates the breeding rates of disease-bearing insects.
It is also propelling them to altitudes and latitudes which were
only a few years ago too cold to support their survival. At current
rates of warming, scientists estimate that mosquito-borne epidemics
will double in the tropical regions and increase 100-fold in the
temperate regions (where we live) - leading to as many as 80 million
new cases a year of malaria alone in the next century. [6]
USA | West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne illness that for
the second year in a row has sickened people and killed birds in
New England and the mid-Atlantic states. The virus, which can cause
a form of encephalitis, killed seven people in 1999 in the United
States, all in the Queens section of New York. This year at least
13 people have been infected with West Nile virus in New York, and
four in New Jersey, officials say. Since July, New York City has
been conducting an aggressive insecticide spraying campaign throughout
the city. The virus, named for the region of Uganda and Egypt where
it is most common, is spread to humans by the bite of an infected
mosquito. It is not transmitted from human to human, or from birds
to humans. Most infected people do not experience symptoms, but
in the elderly or other vulnerable individuals such as those with
weak immune systems, West Nile can be fatal. The deadliest West
Nile virus outbreak this year has been in Israel, where at least
10 people have died and more than 120 people have become ill. [7]
28/09/00
Drought
CHINA | 'Drought Creates New Chinese Desert - Chinese Farmers
See New Desert Erode Their Way of Life': Rising sands are part of
a new desert forming on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,
a legendary stretch once known for grasses reaching as high as a
horse's belly and home for centuries to ethnic Tibetan herders.
The spread of wastelands on these 9,000 foot-high steppes, and across
the pastures and farmed hillsides of a broad swath of northern China,
is threatening to rend patterns of life that depend intimately on
the land and to strand millions of herders and farmers who have
no other place to go in a country with virtually no decent, unused
land. The desert is the combined result, scientists say, of severe
overgrazing that has destroyed the thin topsoil, and a decade of
hotter, drier weather, including three straight years of extreme
drought. The New York Times 30/07/00
AUSTRALIA | Australia's August rainfall was generally below
average in regions that had been affected by deficiencies at the
end of July, the National Climate Centre at the Bureau of Meteorology
said. In particular there was no improvement in the southeast of
the country where deficiencies had been present for nearly four
years, it said. Rainfall for the past 47 months in southern Victoria
and in the southeast of South Australia were the lowest for the
region since at least 1900, it said. [7] 11/09/00
TURKEY | After the driest summer in 20 years, Turkish officials
are warning that they cannot supply Syria with all the water it
wants from the Euphrates and Tigres rivers. The announcement will
cause concern in the Middle East, where water is one of the most
sensitive strategic issues. The Guardian 02/10/00
BURUNDI | Burundi's coffee production is set to drop this
year, mainly due to drought, a senior official said yesterday. The
harvest is put at 18,500 tonnes, compared with 31,000 in 1999. [7]
22/09/00
Sea Level Rise
PACIFIC ISLANDS Rising sea levels have already endangered sacred
sites and drowned some small islands off the tiny nations of Kiribati
and Tuvalu, including the islet of Tebua Tarawa, once a landmark
for Tuvalu fishermen. Kiribati has already had to move roads inland
on its main island as the Pacific Ocean has eaten into the shore.
Rising sea levels have already seeped into some islands' soils,
making them too salty to grow vegetables. In Tuvalu, farmers are
beginning to grow their taro crops in tin containers filled with
compost instead of traditional pits. [7] Nov
1998
Coral Reefs Die
BELIZE | The highest sea temperatures ever recorded in the
Caribbean have caused the first mass die-off of coral in Belize
in 3,000 years. The high temperatures in 1998 lasted for several
months and caused much of the Belizean coral reef to bleach and
die, according to a study by American scientists that has been published
in the latest issue of the journal Nature. "There is growing
concern that global climate change is degrading coral reef ecosystems,
with coral mortality increasing as a result of bleaching and emergent
diseases. Our results from Belize appear to justify this concern,"
said researcher Richard Aronson. Serious coral bleaching has been
previously reported in the Pacific and Indian oceans. http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/
and Nature 04/05/00
SEYCHELLES | Global warming has killed most of the coral
around the Indian Ocean islands of the Seychelles. "By May, 80 percent
of the corals in the Seychelles had already died," Thomas Goreau
of the U.S-based Global Coral Reef Alliance told reporters, adding
that water temperatures had risen to 33 Celsius (91 Fahrenheit)
from the usual 29 C (84 F). Goreau said the warmer waters had led
to unprecedented levels of coral bleaching throughout the Indian
Ocean, adding that the damaged coral would never fully recover.
The environmentalist said the damage was even more extensive at
three protected marine parks in the Seychelles archipelago, where
over 90 percent of the coral was dead. The parks are popular snorkelling
sites for the many tourists who visit the Seychelles each year.
Local environmental officials said it was too early to assess the
impact of the coral bleaching, but said they feared that it could
affect stocks of the colourful tropical fish which live among the
coral. Goreau said the warm area of water had moved north towards
the Maldives islands and Sri Lanka. [7] 04/01/99
Melt Down
Glaciers are melting and the Arctic Sea ice has thinned dramatically
since the 1960's and the 70s; nearly 40 percent in less than 30
years. A recent NASA aerial survey indicates severe thinning of
the Greenland ice sheet. Mastny, L. Worldwatch Institute, 6/03/00
Most of earth's glaciers are retreating at accelerating rates. The
biggest glacier in the Peruvian Andes 20 years ago was retreating
by 14 feet a year. Today it is retreating by 99 feet a year. [6]
Signs of Habitat Changes
Climate change unseen since the Ice Age is threatening a third
of the world's habitat. A report released on 30/08/00 by the World
Wildlife Federation For Nature warned that the Earth's temperature
was rising at such a rapid speed that many animal and plant species
will likely perish. World Wildlife Federation For Nature 30/08/00
The Inuit people of Canada have noticed that near Hudson Bay, Canada's
gateway to the north seas, ice is thinner and has formed seasonably
later, affecting polar bears, which usually ride the thick ice slabs
to hunt seals and voyage to their winter retreat. They say that
the warming of the tundra, the vast permanently frozen treeless
zone lying between the ice cap and the timber line, has altered
migration routes of caribou, the North American reindeer. The Inuit
rely heavily on these animals as part of their sustainable way of
life. They also say they've noticed grizzly bears, wolverines and
other insects and birds that are more commonly found to the south.
[7] 30 & 31/08/00
Polar bears have resorted to attacking whales for food in the Arctic,
due to the fall in numbers of penguins. The Great Bear Foundation
says the simple food chain in the Arctic has been seriously affected
by Global Warming which destroys the ice which is an essential shelter
for plankton seals and penguins alike. The Observer 4/7/99
The waters of the Atlantic have warmed so much, that observers have
seen tropical fish which have never before been seen in northern
waters. Among fish spotted in the North Atlantic are Amberjack,
Mahi-Mahi and Blue Marlin, according to experts at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute. WBUR (National Public Radio) (Local news)
26/8/99 Bird species in North America have shifted their habitat
range 60 miles further north in the last 20 years due to the warming
up of previously unsuitable habitats. Guardian 17/8/99
Earlier migration and egg-laying dates have been recorded for several
bird species along with earlier budburst and flowering of plants.
DETR Indicators of Climate Change in the UK 1999
The surface waters of the eastern Pacific have warmed by 2 degrees
in the last 20 years - independent of El Nino events. That has led
to a 70 percent decline in the population of zooplankton, a five
percent decline in fish populations. [6]
Contact:
Roda Verheyen
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
References
[1] John Robert T Watson, Chairman
of the United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change,
1999.
[2] Climatic Research Unit, Norwich: Global Temperature Record,
2000
[3] Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (1996) Climate Change
1995: The Science of Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
[4] K. Trenberth, Consequences, vol 5, No5, 1999.
[5] The Meteorological Office . The greenhouse effect and climate
change. A briefing from the Hadley Centre. Bracknell. Oct. 1999.
[6] The Heat is Online: Ross Gelbspan http://www.heatisonline.org/main.cfm
[7] Planet Ark; the environment news from Reuters news agency. http://www.planetark.org
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