Category: News August 2021

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Scientists Confirm That Amazon is Now Emitting More CO2 Than It is Absorbing

aerial view of green trees and river during daytime

24 August 2021 – by Evelyn Workman

A recent study has revealed that significant parts of the Amazon rainforest are now emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs. Up until recently, the Amazon has been one of the most important sinks of CO2, assisting in the absorption of the emissions causing climate change, however, this new research demonstrates that the Amazon is actually starting to help accelerate climate change.

The causes of this shift from carbon sink to carbon source are investigated in the study, published in Nature in July. It found that most of the emissions are caused by fires, many of which are deliberately started to clear land for beef and soy production. In addition to the fires, hotter temperatures and droughts also contribute to the forest becoming a CO2 source.

The researchers measured CO2 above the rainforest canopy at four different locations during the period from 2010 to 2018. At these locations 600 vertical profiles of CO2 were taken up to 4,500 m above the canopy. This allowed the researchers to investigate how the whole Amazon is changing. While previous studies have established that the Amazon’s CO2 uptake has been declining based on ground based measurements, this study is the first to use atmospheric measurements across a vast geographical area.

Lead author and researcher at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Luciana Gatti, says the research highlights some bad news, that “forest burning produces around three times more CO2 than the forest absorbs.” 

Additionally, she emphasised that, “the places where deforestation is 30% or more show carbon emissions 10 times higher than where deforestation is lower than 20%.”

These insights are made even more worrying by the fact that deforestation rates have been higher under Brazil’s current president, Jair Bolsonaro, than under any past administration. And deforestation is showing no sign of halting, with rates hitting a 12 year high in 2020.

“Imagine if we could prohibit fires in the Amazon – it could be a carbon sink,” said Gatti. “But we are doing the opposite – we are accelerating climate change.”

“The worst part is we don’t use science to make decisions,” she said. “People think that converting more land to agriculture will mean more productivity, but in fact we lose productivity because of the negative impact on rain.”

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Floods in Bangladesh and Beyond

green trees on body of water during daytime

20 August 2021 – by Atoosa Gitiforoz

A new study published by Nature reveals a stark increase in the number of people exposed to flooding. For example, between 2000 and 2015, the number of people exposed to flood-affected areas in Bangladesh increased by 14.3 million. 

The study, using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from 2000-2018 produced 913 flood maps, demonstrating a 20-24% increase in flood exposure in the first 15 years of the 21st century – almost 10 times higher than previous estimates from 1970-2010. Whilst previous studies focused on Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, this study identifies 57 countries where flood exposure is expected to grow. 

It is worth noting that one of the reasons this study has in fact produced such high estimates is due to the inclusion of dam breaks, pluvial events and snowmelts – factors often not included in other global models. However, the study does likely underestimate flood exposure trends in rapidly urbanizing areas, says the author; this is due to uncertainties in satellites and population growth modelling. 

The study concludes by pointing to ways flood-exposed population estimates could be improved in the future i.e. including more events over longer periods of time or at higher resolution, increasing the number of modelled events such as flash flooding where satellite temporal coverage is inadequate, comparing observation and modelling trends and refining future global population spatial estimates. 

Enhancing both estimation and vulnerability analyses can ultimately boost flood adaptation efforts and drive investment into mitigation efforts.

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Climate Crisis to Blame for Severe Madagascar Drought

brown grass field with green tree under blue sky during daytime

17 August 2021 – by Evelyn Workman

The worst drought in over four decades has hit southern Madagascar, leaving thousands of families on the brink of starvation, the UN food agency has warned. It reported that more than 1.14 million people are food insecure as a result of the severe droughts in the region.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in search of food, and those who remained have been sustaining themselves on raw cactus fruits, wild leaves and locusts for several months. The district of Ambovombe is one of the worst affected areas, where global acute malnutrition rates have reached 27 percent, leaving many facing a life-threatening situation. In addition, malnutrition levels in children under five in Madagascar have almost doubled over the last four months, to a frightening 16.5 per cent. It is estimated that 14,000 people are already in catastrophic conditions, and this is expected to double to 28,000 by October. Few people have been able to access the area due to the remote location and weak road infrastructure, resulting in the delivery of aid being delayed.

World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley, who visited the region, has said, “This is not because of war or conflict, this is because of climate change”.

Beasley has urged people to not turn their backs on the people of Madagascar, and, “to stand up, act and keep supporting the Malagasy government to hold back the tide of climate change and save lives.”

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Miami Condo Collapse – Did Climate Change Play a Role?

palm trees near buildings

16 August 2021 – by Evelyn Workman

Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront condo in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed on the 24th June. The death toll from the disaster sits at 79, as of 10th July, while a further 61 remain unaccounted for. Investigations are still being carried out to determine the precise cause of the collapse, however, questions have been raised over the impact the climate crisis and rising sea levels had on destabilising the building, and prompts further discussions on how climate change will impact other buildings in south Florida.

A 2018 engineering report on the structure found “abundant cracking and spalling in various degrees” in concrete columns, and that deteriorating waterproofing could cause “exponential damage” via the expansion of these cracks. 

“Cracks in the concrete allows more sea water to get in, which causes further reactions and the spreading of cracks. If you don’t take care of it, that can cause a structure failure”, said Director of the University of Florida’s International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design, Zhong-Ren Peng.

While experts say that the exact role of rising seas in the collapse is still unclear, buildings will become unstable due to the advancements of salt water which will weaken the foundations. Higher sea level increases the amount of saltwater the foundations of buildings are exposed to, and with most of south Florida already only a few feet above sea level, other buildings in the area could be subjected to a similar fate 

Harold Wanless, a geologist at the University of Miami, says the sea level in south Florida could increase by a foot each decade in the second half of this century, depending on the melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. 

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UK Parliament Considers Joining Independent Expert Panel in Recommending ‘Ecocide’ as New Crime for International Criminal Court

gray and brown train railway near green green moutain

11 August 2021 – by Ben St. Laurent

In a renewed effort to incorporate environmental protection into existing bodies of international criminal law, an expert panel has developed a legal definition for the term ‘ecocide’ — “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.” The expert panel included independent criminal and environmental lawyers, jurists, authors, and professors from around the world. The Stop Ecocide Foundation, responsible for convening the commission, is working to amend the Rome Statute to include ecocide within the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction.

According to Guardian legal affairs correspondent Haroon Siddique, this present attempt marks the most recent in a long battle to establish a legal framework for ecocide, including an effort to include ecocide in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, as well as the 1998 Rome Statute which established the ICC. While it currently lacks explicit jurisdiction over environmental cases, in recent years the ICC has interpreted crimes against humanity to include environmental destruction, with implications for member states as well as corporations operating within their borders. If the Rome Statute is amended to include ecocide, it would join the ranks of international crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. Prof Philippe Sands QC, who co-chaired the committee, told The Guardian that the new definition of Ecocide “catches the most egregious acts”, including major oil spills and deforestation, but excludes daily activities that more broadly contribute to climate change.

Already, an amendment to the 2021 UK Environment Bill has been introduced by Green Party peer and former party leader Natalie Bennett, which would adopt the new legal definition of ecocide into UK law. If retained in its current state after the review process, this amendment would also create a path for domestic criminal recourse against those responsible for committing ecocide in the UK. Another amendment to the Environment Bill (page 85) proposed by Baroness Bennett would require that the UK government support an amendment to the 1998 Rome Statute, which would begin the process of the ICC expanding its jurisdiction to include ecocide. 

Article 121 of the Rome Statute maintains that any of the Court’s 123 state parties may propose an amendment to the treaty, and the ICC would require the support of at least a two-thirds majority of member states to adopt the amendment. If adopted, the amendment would enter into force for all ratifying parties one year after ratification, allowing the court to “exercise its jurisdiction regarding a crime covered by the amendment when committed by that State Party’s nationals or on its territory.” 

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Heatwave Linked to Hundreds of Deaths in U.S. Pacific Northwest and Canada

silhouette of mountains during sunset

9 August 2021 – by Evelyn Workman

A devastating heatwave hit the US Pacific Northwest and Canada last week, shattering temperature records in many areas across the region. The heatwave was caused by a persistent area of high pressure, known as a “heat dome”.

In Canada, temperatures rose to nearly 50°C, leading to devastation, including hundreds of deaths, melted power lines and wildfires. Lytton, British Columbia, broke Canada’s hottest temperature record on three consecutive days last week. A wildfire consequently destroyed the settlement on Wednesday, the heatwave leaving perfect conditions for its rapid spread. The community were evacuated, however, at least two people are believed to have died in the wildfire. Similarly, Seattle and Portland recorded three consecutive days of record breaking temperatures, peaking at 42.2°C and 46.1°C, respectively, on Monday 28th June.

A week after the worst consequences of the heatwave were witnessed, health officials are only now being able to take stock of the disastrous effects the heatwave has had on the communities. The heat was blamed for 95 deaths in Oregon, while 13 deaths were reported to be heat related in Seattle, Washington. Nearly 500 people may have been killed in Canada as a result of the record breaking temperatures. British Columbia’s chief coroner said that 719 “sudden and unexpected deaths” had been reported over the past week, which is triple the number expected in a typical year.

In addition, hospitals across the region were left struggling with the increased demand of people needing medical attention, due to heat-related illnesses in combination with water injuries and increased violence levels. Officials in Portland have reported that the area got more emergency department and urgent care visits in a single weekend than it would usually see in an entire summer. 

Climate scientists have warned that climate change will make these extreme heat waves more common everywhere, and that all societies need to prepare for extreme weather events. One of the world’s leading climate scientists, Michael E Mann, said, “Climate models are actually underestimating the impact that climate change is having on events like the unprecedented heatwave we are witnessing out west right now.” U.S. president Joe Biden and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau have joined scientists in blaming the climate crisis for the heatwave.

While the worst of this heat dome has hit, high temperatures are still expected to continue over the next week, increasing the risk of more deaths, illnesses, and forest fires.

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Children Displaced Due to Climate Change: UNICEF UK Call for Action From UK Government

brown wooden bench on mountainside at daytime

4 August 2021 – by Evelyn Workman

A report, Futures at Risk: Protecting the Rights of Children on the Move in a Changing Climate, released by the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), analyses how climate-change related migration impacts children’s access to education and health care. There were 30.1 million new internal displacements caused by extreme weather related events in 2020, 9.8 million of these were of children. The report notes that this equates to 26,900 new weather related child displacements every day. 

Ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), taking place in Glasgow in November, UNICEF UK has called on the UK government to support children who have been forced to leave their homes due to climate change. In the report, they propose the government establish a technical facility, to be launched at COP26, bringing together experts across health, education, migration, and climate sectors to share knowledge and propose solutions to tackle this problem.

The report provides several recommendations for the UK government to better support and protect children displaced by climate-change related events. These include using the UK’s role as an international donor to champion the rights of children affected by climate change-related displacement, and meeting its commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and encouraging other high-income countries to make a similar pledge at COP26.

“The UK Government must use the opportunity of its COP26 Presidency this year to champion the rights of children on the move, galvanising widespread and ambitious action to address the challenges we know are coming,” Joanna Rea, Director of Advocacy at UNICEF UK, said, “If not, the futures of millions of children will be at risk.”

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Australian Court Ruled the Government Has ‘Duty of Care’ to Protect Young People From Climate Crisis

aerial view of rock cliffs under cloudy sky

3 August 2021 – by Evelyn Workman

In June 2021, the Australian Federal Court has ruled that the environment minister Sussan Ley has a duty of care to protect young people from the impacts of climate change. A group of young Australians had sought an injunction to prevent Ley from approving a possible Whitehaven coal mine extension project in the state of New South Wales. The young people argued that the minister had a common duty of care to protect young people from the harm caused by climate change, and that approval of the project would breach this by endangering their future.

Judge Mordecai Bromberg ruled that Ley owes a duty of care to Australia’s young people not to cause them physical harm from future climate change. However, he did not grant the injunction because he had “not been satisfied that a reasonable apprehension of breach of the duty of care by the minister has been established”. This means that Ley does not have to prohibit the coal mine extension project, however, her responsibility to young people has now been formally recognised in court.

The court heard the expansion of the mine could lead to an extra 100m tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere, which will only contribute towards an accelerated rate of global warming. The court was also presented with scientific evidence from bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Bureau of Meteorology highlighting the potential harm Australian children could face in the future due to climate change. One million of today’s children in Australia are expected to suffer a heat-stress episode requiring hospitalisation within their lifetimes, substantial economic losses will be experienced, and the Great Barrier Reef and most of Australia’s eastern eucalypt forests will not exist when today’s children grow up. 

The group of young people who brought the case to court was led by 16-year-old Melbourne student Anj Sharma and supported by Sister Brigid Arthur, an 86-year-old nun who was appointed to be their litigation guardian. One member of the group, 17-year-old Ava Princi said, “I am thrilled because this is a landmark decision. My future and the future of all young people depends on Australia stepping away from fossil fuel projects and joining the world in taking decisive climate action.” Even though the injunction was not granted, Princi said, “it is not over yet”.