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NORTHERN CLIMATE CHANGE NETWORK LISTSERV
April/2010 – Issue 20
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April/2010 – Issue 20
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The NCCN newsletter focuses on climate change stories that foster greater awareness of community level climate change impacts and adaptation, and which have relevance to north-central British Columbia. Contributions from readers for future issues are welcome. Send us your ideas.
BC NEWS and LINKS
Preparing for Climate Change: BC’s Adaptation Strategy
The BC Ministry of Environment provides information about various Provincial actions and responses to climate change, including climate change adaptation. The Province’s Climate Action Plan emphasizes possible mitigations for the causes of climate change. Regardless of the causes of climate change, adaptive measures for the consequences of anticipated climate change are required, a strategy for which is laid out in Preparing for Climate Change: BC’s Adaptation Strategy. As noted on the Adaptation website, “As we continue to implement the Climate Action Plan, the Province is moving ahead with coordinated actions to help B.C. adapt to climate change. Building on significant past accomplishments, this Adaptation Strategy provides a solid framework that addresses climate change impacts and adaptation going forward.
The Adaptation Strategy goals are to ensure that:
- Available knowledge and resources are used efficiently and directed to key sectors and decision-makers;
- All relevant government programs participate and have consistent goals and approaches;
- Public and stakeholders recognize that adaptation is an important part of addressing climate change; and
- Provincial investments to build a green economy and infrastructure are resilient to climate change impacts.”
Provincial contest to develop climate change software for web and mobile applications
In late March, the Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap announced a new “Apps4Climate Action” contest challenging software developers to create web and mobile applications that build awareness and inspire action to reduce carbon emissions. The contest invites potential software developers to examine the Province’s Climate Change Data Catalogue to see the data the software applications can use. The submission deadline for the “Apps4Climate Action” contest is July 15, 2010.
NEWS and LINKS from CANADA and ABROAD
Canadian Institute of Planners’ “Planning for Climate Change” website
The Canadian Institute of Planners has developed a Planning for Climate Change website. Among others, the website includes links for Learning Modules, Tools/Resources, and also a library of reference material.
Ontario Government releases a report on adapting to climate change
Ontario’s 11-member expert panel on climate change adaptation has released a report calling on the Ontario Government to take decisive actions to prepare for the impacts of climate change. The report, Adapting to Climate Change in Ontario: Towards the Design and Implementation of a Strategy and Action Plan, provides 59 broad recommendations “to help Ontario understand climate change impacts, reduce risks and take advantage of beneficial opportunities resulting from climate change.” A link to download the report and additional information about Ontario’s response to climate change may be found on the Ministry of the Environment website. Readers may also wish to refer to this related news artlcle.
NOAA data on Arctic sea ice formation and global temperature trends
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website Arctic Change provides up-to-date information on arctic sea ice formation. Information on global temperature trends to the year 2009 can also be viewed at the site. “The sea ice area for the Arctic shows near-record minimums since 2002... The recent years represent a unique event because they show a year-to-year persistence of minimum ice extents. Sea ice area is now significantly below the level of the 1980s and earlier.” In addition, “calendar year 2009 was tied for the second warmest year in the modern record”, NOAA reports. Further information about global temperature means is available from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) surface temperature analysis web pages.
EVENTS
Climate change events in BC
NCCN listserv readers are reminded of several good sources for information on forthcoming events in BC related to climate change, as listed below. (Note: This is by no means a comprehensive list, and other sources for events can be explored via web searches, etc.)
The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) hosts numerous lectures, conferences and other events. PICS Live seminars can be accessed, and presentations from past seminars can also be loaded from the same webpage. Their PICS Events webpage provides information on both Upcoming and Past Events. Among upcoming PICS events is FutureGrid: BC’s Energy Options in a Changing Environment, this year’s PICS Annual Forum to be held June 14-16 at the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver.
The BC Ministry of Forests hosts a research Seminar Series with numerous climate change-related topics. Current and past seminars can be accessed online (users can download PowerPoint presentations, audio files, and additional documents). The May and June 2010 seminars include among others: “Climate modelling – what it is and what it isn’t” (by Dave Spittlehouse, May 5th) and “Forest ecosystem dynamics under climate change and implications for resource management” (by Elizabeth Campbell, June 9th).
The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) commonly includes among other events lectures and seminars related to climate change. For details see UNBC Coming Events.
BioEnergy Conference and Exhibition 2010
The 4th International BioEnergy Conference & Exhibition 2010, co-hosted by the International Bioenergy Conference and Exhibition Society and the BC Bioenergy Network, will be held in Prince George from June 8-10. This year’s Conference will also include a Clean Tech Exhibition, with “over one hundred companies representing interests in the bioenergy and other alternative and clean tech power sectors, offering varied renewable energy solutions.”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, REPORTS and LINKS
Reports and Publications:
o BC Ministry of Forests – Forest Science Program technical report: Ecological resilience and complexity: a theoretical framework for understanding and managing British Columbia’s forest ecosystems in a changing climate.
o BC Forest Science Program Extension Note 92: Forests in a carbon-constrained world.
o BC Forest and Range Evaluation Program (FREP) report: Monitoring forest and rangeland species and ecological processes to anticipate and respond to climate change in British Columbia.
o BC Citizens’ Conservation Councils on Climate Action – Final Progress Report.
o IUCN species Red List report: Species and Climate Change: More than just the Polar Bear; see also Species on climate change hit list named and Climate Change and Species.
o Columbia Basin Bulletin article “New Study Looks At How Local Air Movements In Mountains Affects Global Warming”.
o The Ecological Society of America’s position statement on Ecosystem Management in a Changing Climate (see also a Science Daily article on ESA’s statement).
o United Nations Environment Programme report: The Natural Fix? The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Mitigation.
o BC Forestry Climate Change Working Group report: Tackle Climate Change – Use Wood.
o Scientific American article “How Much Is Too Much?: Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions” (April 2009); see also the related Nature article “Warming caused by cumulative carbon emissions towards the trillionth tonne”, and the Science News article “A limit for carbon emissions: 1 trillion metric tons”.
o Proceedings of the Royal Society article “A long-term association between global temperature and biodiversity, origination and extinction in the fossil record”.
o Australian Research Council (ARC) Coral Reef Studies news story “ "Evil twin" threatens world’s oceans, scientists warn”.
Organizations and Programs:
o Bullfrog Power promotes and facilitates the use of alternative energy in BC and other provinces, and has been supported by organizations such as The Pembina Institute and World Wildlife Fund Canada.
o NaiKun Wind Development Inc. is one of numerous companies exploring alternative energy solutions to BC’s growing energy needs.
o Climate Change North provides a wide array of climate change education resources and links, oriented largely to grade school students and teachers. The website is owned and operated by the Northern Climate ExChange, a program of the Northern Research Institute at Yukon College.
o Climate Change Impacts Research Consortium (CCIRC), Simon Fraser University.
o International Boreal Conservation Campaign; see also the CBC News report Boreal forests ignored in climate change fight.
o Project Get Ready initiative to encourage the use of plug-in hybrid vehicles.
o Statistics Canada feature article on Climate Change in Canada and other climate change-related publications.
Additional links of interest:
o BC Hydro Appliance and Lighting Calculator.
o Australian Research Council (ARC) Coral Reef Studies news story “Climate change skeptics ’lack scientific credibility’”.
o CBC news story “Mitsubishi testing electric cars in Quebec”.
o Car & Driver news story “Chrysler to Sell ElectricFiat 500 in U.S. Beginning in 2012 – Car News”.
o Documentary film “The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning”.
o Montreal Gazette news story “Climate-change sceptics have it wrong, memo to minister says”.
o International science journal Nature editorial on the Climate of Fear surrounding many climate scientists in reaction to the recent public discourse on climate science.
o A BBC interview with Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA), which has been at the center of the recent controversy over hacked e-mails.
