Tag Archives: Climate change

CURRICULUM: Energy secretary urges Michael Gove to reinstate climate change

By Henricus Peters on | Leave a Comment
English: A photograph of the British MP Edward...

English: A photograph of the British MP Edward Davey, taken at the London School of Economics in January 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Michael Gove speaking at the Conserva...

English: Michael Gove speaking at the Conservative Party “Big Society” policy launch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem energy secretary, says the role of teachers in helping children understand climate change should be safeguarded.  The NAEE strongly  agrees and The Guardian reports 

Ed Davey, the energy secretary, has written a private letter to Michael Gove, the education secretary, urging him to rethink his plans to downgrade climate change in the new national curriculum.

Amid protests from environmentalists and some students, Gove has removed debate about climate change from the draft geography curriculum.

Davey, a Liberal Democrat, argues that inclusion of climate change in the geography curriculum would safeguard the very important role teachers can have in teaching children about climate change.

Gove is seeking to slim down the curriculum, but his critics claim the omission of climate change from key stage 3 geography is an attempt to downgrade its significance, and even its validity.

In a Guardian interview on Wednesday Nick Clegg revealed he was now spending more time trying to broker deals with the Conservatives on green issues than any other single issue in government.

In a sign that the status of climate change teaching in schools is set to become another coalition flashpoint, Davey writes: “While I understand that one of the main objectives of the curriculum is to make it more concise and that ‘climate change’ is included within the science section, it does not appear in the geography section.”

He continues: “As you’ll be aware, there has been a significant number of responses, both from academic experts and the public, calling for climate change to feature explicitly in the geography curriculum. I am writing to express my strong support for such a change.

“Specifically mentioning climate change alongside the existing reference to ‘climate’ will ensure clarity on this issue for schools without requiring any major drafting changes to the curriculum. In doing so we will demonstrate the coalition’s willingness to respond to feedback. More importantly we will safeguard the very important role that teachers have in helping children understand the impacts of climate change, one of the most important global issues of this century.”

Davey has asked for a meeting between the two department’s officials to discuss his concerns.

So far more than 65,000 people have signed petitions urging the government to keep climate change in the national curriculum for England.

The Department for Education has insisted climate change is protected because of its presence in the draft science curriculum.

Campaigners have argued the issue is not about forcing students to believe in climate change, but allowing them to make an informed decision based on what they learn.

They have also argued it is not sufficient to learn about the scientific debate on climate change, but to understand its impact on people, the environment and their own lives.

Under the outgoing national curriculum schools teach seven to 11-year-olds about “managing the environment sustainably”. The curriculum specifies that 11- to 14-year-olds should learn about issues such as “sustainable development and its impact on environmental interaction and climate change”.

The draft curriculum for geography does not contain references to climate change but a section called “Earth science” in the chemistry syllabus says 11- to 14-year-olds should be taught about “the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate” and includes a section on “the efficacy of recycling”.

Luciana Berger, the shadow climate change minister, said: “We have a responsibility to inform young people about global warming and the impact of climate change both here and across the world. Just this week, global carbon dioxide levels reached a record high. It’s no surprise that Michael Gove is trying to airbrush climate change from the curriculum given this Tory-led government’s disastrous green record.”

In a response to the Davey letter, the Department for Education said: “It is not true that climate change has been removed from the new draft national curriculum. In fact, the curriculum will give pupils a deeper understanding of all climate issues and has been welcomed by the Royal Geographical Society – which has specifically praised its treatment of climate change.

“Climate change is mentioned in the science curriculum, and both climate and weather feature throughout the geography curriculum. Nowhere is this clearer than the science curriculum for 11- to 14-year-olds, which states that pupils should learn about the ‘production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate’.

“This is at least as extensive, and certainly more precise, than the current science curriculum for that age group, which says only that ‘human activity and natural processes can lead to changes in the environment’.”

Ministers published the proposed new curriculum in February, and the period for consultation has just ended.

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Earth Day : The Face of Climate Change

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The theme of Earth Day 2013 is The Face of Climate Change. This campaign seeks to harness the power of Earth Day to personalize the massive challenge that climate change presents, while uniting people around the globe into a powerful call to action.

Earth Day Network is collecting images of people, animals and places affected by climate change, as well as images of people doing their part in the fight against climate change. On Earth Day itself, an interactive digital display of all the images will be shown at thousands of events around the world. The display is also available online to anyone who wants to view it, show it or read the stories.

Although climate change still seems a remote problem to some people, the reality is quite different. This past year marked many climate-change milestones. Arctic sea-ice cover reached a record low in September. The United States experienced its hottest year ever; this after the World Meteorological Organization announced that the first decade of this century was the hottest on record for the entire planet. Public perception of extreme weather events as “the new normal” grew, as unusual super storms rocked the Caribbean, the Philippines and the northeast United States; droughts plagued northern Brazil, Russia, China and two-thirds of United States; exceptional floods inundated Nigeria, Pakistan and parts of China; and more. Meanwhile, international climate change talks stagnated.

But as these Faces of Climate Change begin to multiply, others are multiplying, too: people stepping up to do something about it.

“The goal is to depict the very real impact that climate change is having on people’s lives and to unite thousands of Earth Day events around the world into one call for climate action,” said Franklin Russell, director of Earth Day at Earth Day Network. “The more people who participate, the more of an impact it will have.”

Earth Day Network is encouraged by the level of participation in this year’s activities.

Examples of stories collected so far include a mountaineer in New Zealand who reported on receding glaciers and an organization in Thailand who installed solar panels at a refugee camp on the Myanmar border. With more than 1 billion people across 192 countries participating in Earth Day-related activities each year, the potential is enormous.

People can also post photos to Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #FaceOfClimate for inclusion in the mosaic. To view The Face of Climate Change photo display, go to www.earthday.org/faces. To learn more about Earth Day 2013 and The Face of Climate Change, go to www.earthday.org/2013.

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MEDIA AVAILABILITY:

·         Kathleen Rogers, president

·         Franklin Russell, director of Earth Day

If you are interested in specific stories from The Face of Climate Change or in scheduling an interview with an Earth Day Network spokesperson, contact Bryan Buchanan, communications director: buchanan@earthday.org, 202-518-0044 x 14

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Climate change: How snakes and ladders could save the planet

By Henricus Peters on | 1 Comment
The EPA was directed to set standards for radi...

The EPA was directed to set standards for radioactive materials under Reorganization Plan No. 3 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Snakes and ladders, bingo and top trumps might be old-fashioned games most associated with childhoods past, but if climate-change experts are to be believed, they could just help us to save the planet. The Independent reports 

Paula Owen is on a one-woman mission to discover if a bit of fun and competition can convince people to lead more environmentally friendly lives. Firefighters, city workers, museum-goers, teachers, schoolchildren and university students will test out her eco-inspired games over the next year as she tries to show that learning about sustainability does not have to be dull.

Next week, Science Museum Lates, in London, will display her take on the classic games – including life-size snakes and ladders, where squares containing good activities (walking to work, say) send you up the ladders, while bad squares (overheating your home) send you sliding down snakes. And there’s eco-bingo, where you can expect to hear: “Lag your loft; you’ll save a ton – it’s number one.”

The former chemist told The Independent on Sunday: “I am trying to find a way to get the message across that’s new, affirmative, positive and inclusive. I want to move people who are not informed by the messages of old into doing something – even if it’s just the smallest thing. People are bored with the misery messaging that tries to guilt you into doing things; it means most people end up dismissing the whole thing.”

Her new e-book, How Gamification Can Help Your Business Engage in Sustainability, is gaining attention worldwide. Venezuela, Brazil, Australia and Canada are all following Dr Owen’s study and she says that the US Environmental Protection Agency is interested in a version of her eco-top trumps. Meanwhile, Manchester University wants 2,000 of the cards for this year’s freshers.

But Paula Owen is not the only one to notice how games can be used to change people’s behaviour in the real world. Gartner, a technology research company, predicts that more than 50 per cent of organisations involved in innovation will be “gamifying” processes by 2015, applying the mechanics of games in the real world. Deloitte, the consultancy firm, rates it as one of the top 10 trends to watch in coming years.

“The games aren’t new; what’s new is that we’re taking games seriously,” said Oliver Lawder, creative planner at Futerra, a sustainability communications agency. “Climate change is a massive global issue; lots of things individuals can do feel small and insignificant. What game mechanisms can do is start to reward, incentivise and show the collective effort of everyone coming together to have a positive effect.”

The idea is not without critics who see it as just another gimmick. Plus, there are practical difficulties in collecting data for the more complex, digital games. But Mr Lawder predicts that we will move towards a “Gamification 2.0″ as technology improves. As for the eco-factor, the idea is catching on. Nissan‘s Leaf line of electric cars now monitors efficiency-based achievements in the form of trees on the steering wheel, which drivers can compare, receiving virtual medals.

For Dr Owen, early results look good. More than 60 per cent of those playing her eco-games at the Science Museum’s launch last month said they learnt new information which they could take home; and 64 per cent of the fire-fighters who piloted them said they could help the London Fire Brigade become greener.

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CLIMATE CHANGE : Change will make flights more bumpy

By Henricus Peters on | Leave a Comment
Jet streams flow from west to east in the uppe...

Jet streams flow from west to east in the upper portion of the troposphere. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

FLIGHTS will become bumpier as global warming destabilizes air currents at altitudes used by commercial airliners, climate scientists warned yesterday.

Already, atmospheric turbulence injures hundreds of airline passengers each year, sometimes fatally, damaging aircraft and costing the industry an estimated US$150 million, scientists said.

“Climate change is not just warming the Earth’s surface, it is also changing the atmospheric winds ten kilometers high, where planes fly,” said study co-author Paul Williams of the University of Reading‘s National Centre for Atmospheric Science in southeastern England.

“That is making the atmosphere more vulnerable to the instability that creates clear-air turbulence,” he said by email.

“Our research suggests that we’ll be seeing the ‘fasten seatbelts’ sign turned on more often in the decades ahead.”

Turbulence is mainly caused by vertical airflow – up-draughts and down-draughts near clouds and thunderstorms.

Clear-air turbulence, which is not visible to the naked eye and cannot be picked up by satellite or traditional radar, is linked to atmospheric jet streams. The jet streams are projected to strengthen with climate change.

The study authors used supercomputer simulations of the North Atlantic jet stream, a strong upper-atmospheric wind driven by temperature differences between colliding Arctic and tropical air.

The jet stream affects traffic in the aviation corridor between Europe and North America – which is one of the world’s busiest.

They found that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels, predicted within 40 years, would cause turbulence to be 10-40 percent more forceful at typical cruise altitudes.

“Turbulence strong enough to make walking difficult and to dislodge unsecured objects is likely to become twice as common in transatlantic airspace by the middle of this century,” said Williams.

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Climate Change: 1,600 Years of Ice in Andes Melted in 25 Years

By Henricus Peters on | Leave a Comment
Glacial ice in the Peruvian Andes that took at least 1,600 years to form has melted in just 25 years, scientists reported Thursday, the latest indication that the recent spike in global temperatures has thrown the natural world out of balance. The International Herald Tribune reports
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A helicopter is taking off Greenland Ice Sheet

A helicopter is taking off Greenland Ice Sheet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

The evidence comes from a remarkable find at the margins of theQuelccaya ice cap in Peru, the world’s largest tropical ice sheet. Rapid melting there in the modern era is uncovering plants that were locked in a deep freeze when the glacier advanced many thousands of years ago.

Dating of those plants, using a radioactive form of carbon in the plant tissues that decays at a known rate, has given scientists an unusually precise method of determining the history of the ice sheet’s margins.

Lonnie G. Thompson, the Ohio State University glaciologist whose team has worked intermittently on the Quelccaya ice cap for decades, reported the findings in a paper released online Thursday by the journal Science.

The paper includes a long-awaited analysis of chemical tracers in ice cylinders the team recovered by drilling deep into Quelccaya, a record that will aid scientists worldwide in reconstructing past climatic variations.

Such analyses will take time, but Dr. Thompson said preliminary evidence shows, for example, that the earth probably went through a period of anomalous weather at around the time of the French Revolution, which began in 1789. The weather presumably contributed to the food shortages that exacerbated that upheaval.

“When there’s a disruption of food, this is bad news for any government,” Dr. Thompson said in an interview.

Of greater immediate interest, Dr. Thompson and his team have expanded on previous research involving long-dead plants emerging from the melting ice at the edge of Quelccaya, a huge, flat ice cap sitting on a volcanic plain 18,000 feet above sea level.

Several years ago, the team reported on plants that had been exposed near a meltwater lake. Chemical analysis showed them to be about 4,700 years old, proving that the ice cap had reached its smallest extent in nearly five millenniums.

In the new research, a thousand feet of additional melting has exposed plants that laboratory analysis shows to be about 6,300 years old. The simplest interpretation, Dr. Thompson said, is that ice that accumulated over approximately 1,600 years melted back in no more than 25 years.

“If any time in the last 6,000 years these plants had been exposed for any five-year period, they would have decayed,” Dr. Thompson said. “That tells us the ice cap had to be there 6,000 years ago.”

Meredith A. Kelly, a glacial geomorphologist at Dartmouth College who trained under Dr. Thompson but was not involved in the new paper, said his interpretation of the plant remains was reasonable.

Her own research on Quelccaya suggests that the margins of the glacier have melted quite rapidly at times in the past. But the melting now under way appears to be at least as fast, if not faster, than anything in the geological record since the end of the last ice age, she said.

Global warming, which scientists say is being caused primarily by the human release of greenhouse gases, is having its largest effects at high latitudes and high altitudes. Sitting at high elevation in the tropics, the Quelccaya ice cap appears to be extremely sensitive to the temperature changes, several scientists said.

“It may not go very quickly because there’s so much ice, but we might have already locked into a situation where we are committed to losing that ice,” said Mathias Vuille, a climate scientist at the State University at Albany in New York.

Throughout the Andes, glaciers are now melting so rapidly that scientists have grown deeply concerned about water supplies for the people living there. Glacial meltwater is essential for helping Andean communities get through the dry season.

In the short run, the melting is producing an increase of water supplies and feeding population growth in major cities of the Andes, the experts said. But as the glaciers continue shrinking, trouble almost certainly looms.

Douglas R. Hardy, a University of Massachusetts researcher who works in the region, said, “How much time do we have before 50 percent of Lima’s or La Paz’s water resources are gone?”

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