2011 is 9th Warmest Year on Record Says NASA

The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000.

NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which monitors global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, released an updated analysis that shows temperatures around the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century. The comparison shows how Earth continues to experience warmer temperatures than several decades ago. The average temperature around the globe in 2011 was 0.92 degrees F (0.51 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline.

The first 11 years of the 21st century experienced notably higher temperatures compared to the middle and late 20th century. The only year from the 20th century in the top 10 warmest years on record is 1998.

Higher temperatures today are largely sustained by increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. These gases absorb infrared radiation emitted by Earth and release that energy into the atmosphere rather than allowing it to escape to space. As their atmospheric concentration has increased, the amount of energy "trapped" by these gases has led to higher temperatures.

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Disappearing Ducks? North America’s Prairie Potholes Vulnerable to Warming Climates

The loss of wetlands in the prairie pothole region of central North America due to a warmer and drier climate will negatively affect millions of waterfowl that depend on the region for food, shelter and raising young, according to research published today in the journal BioScience.

The new research shows that the region appears to be much more sensitive to climate warming and drying than previously thought.

“The impact to the millions of wetlands that attract countless ducks to these breeding grounds in spring makes it difficult to imagine how to maintain today’s level of waterfowl populations in altered climate conditions,” said Dr. Glenn Guntenspergen, a U.S. Geological Survey researcher and one of the report authors. “Parents may not have time to raise their young to where they can fly because of wetlands drying up too quickly in the warming climate of the future,” he added.

A new wetland model developed by the authors to understand the impacts of climate change on wetlands in the prairie pothole region projected major reductions in water volume, shortening of the time water remains in wetlands and changes to wetland vegetation dynamics in this 800,000-square kilometer region in the United States (North and South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota and Iowa) and Canada.

Many wetland species -- such as waterfowl and amphibians -- require a minimum time in water to complete their life cycles. For example, most dabbling ducks -- such as mallards and teal-- require at least 80 to 110 days of surface water for their young to grow to where they can fly and for breeding adults to complete molting, the time when birds are flightless while growing new feathers. In addition, an abundance of wetlands are needed because breeding waterfowl typically isolate themselves from others of the same species.

“Unfortunately, the model simulations show that under forecasted climate-change scenarios for this region (an increase of 4-degrees Celsius), the western prairie potholes will be too dry and the eastern ones will have too few functional wetlands and nesting habitat to support historical levels of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species,” said Dr. W. Carter Johnson, another study author and a researcher at South Dakota State University.

The authors noted that their model allowed a more comprehensive analysis of climate change impacts across the northern prairies because it simultaneously examined the hydrology and vegetation dynamics of the wetland complex, which are both important for the wildlife that depend on the prairie potholes for part or all of their life cycles.

“Our results indicate that the prairie wetlands are highly vulnerable to climate warming, and are less resilient than we previously believed,” said Guntenspergen. “All but the very wettest of the historic boom years for waterfowl production in the more arid parts of the prairie pothole region may be bust years in a 4-degrees Celsius warmer climate.”

These findings may serve as a foundation for managers and policy makers to develop management plans to prepare for and adapt to climate change in the prairie pothole region.

The article, Prairie wetland complexes as landscape functional units in a changing climate, was published in BioScience (60[2]:128-140) and authored by researchers with South Dakota State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Montana, St. Olaf College, The Desert Research Institute-University of Nevada, and the University of Idaho.

Contact Information:
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Office of Communication
119 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
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Egyptians to be Affected by Climate Change

Cairo: Web: A study conducted by the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, commissioned by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, warned that Egypt would be one of the Arab countries most affected by climate change. The study analyzed a variety of scenarios of climate change impact, particularly on coastal areas, based on satellite images of the region, and showed that Egypt would be the most affected Arab country due to a rise in sea levels. The study stated that, “at least 12 million Egyptians will be forces to migrate from their area of residence in parts of Nile Delta and that with a rise in sea level by 5 meters, almost one third of the total affected Arab population would be Egyptian.

The Study was prepared by Dr. Eman Ghoneim, a research professor at the Center for Remote Sensing and devoted a large portion of its findings to the impact of rising sea levels on the Nile Delta. The study warned, “under the scenarios of rising sea levels, much of the Nile Delta would be lost forever, and the analysis of remote sensing and geographic information system, classified some areas in the Nile Delta at risk if sea levels rise by one meter” The report estimated that a rise of one meter only could engulf much of the Nile Delta. With about one third of the Delta area underwater, some of its coastal cities, such as Alexandria, Edco, Port Said and Damietta, would be in great danger.In this scenario, it is estimated that about 8.5% of the country’s population (7 million) would be forces to migrate to other areas.

The study added, “In extreme case scenarios of a 5 meter sea levels rise, more than half of the Nile Delta (58%) will face devastating effects and 10 major cities would be threatened, including Alexandria, Damanhur, Kafr El-Sheikh, Damietta, Mansoura and Port Said. Rising water would drown productive plots of agricultural lands and force about 14% of the country’s population (11.5 million) to move to areas of the more densely populated areas south of the Nile Delta region.”

The study went on to say that, “the Nile Delta, which covers about 24,900 square kilometers, and accounts for about 65% of agricultural land in Egypt, was once the largest site for sediments deposits in the basin of the Mediterranean Sea. It is an extreme example of low, flat land located in an area that is very vulnerable to rising sea levels.” The Delta is threatened due to accelerated erosion of the coastline and the establishment of the Aswan High Dam in 1962, which subsequently sequestered large amounts of sediment behind the dam in Lake Nasser.

The study showed that coastal erosion of the Delta as a result of natural causes and the extraction of groundwater can be seen in satellite images, especially near the coastal cities of Rosetta and Damietta. The analysis of satellite images shows that the Ras Rashid, “Rosetta”, lost almost 9.5 square kilometers of area. Likewise, the coastline retreated 3 km in the last 30 years (1972 to 2003), meaning that this part of the Delta declines at an alarming rate of about 100 meters in the year.

Study also discussed the consequences of climate change on the Arab region as a whole, including the impact of rising sea levels and its effects on the growth of cities, stating that the southern part of the Nile Delta is now suffering from uncontrolled population growth in the city of Cairo. The results also showed a loss of about 12% (62 square kilometers) of the agricultural areas adjacent to Cairo, between 1984 and 2002.

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AGU Statement Regarding the Recent Release of E-mails Hacked from the Climate Research Unit at University of East Anglia

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has received a number of inquiries asking about our response to the release of e-mail hacked from the Climate Research Unit at University of East Anglia. AGU finds it offensive that these emails were obtained by illegal cyber attacks and they are being exploited to distort the scientific debate about the urgent issue of climate change.

AGU's position statement on climate change

AGU reaffirms the position statement approved by AGU Council in 2007. This statement is based on the large body of scientific evidence that Earth's climate is warming and that human activity is a contributing factor. Nothing in the University of East Anglia hacked e-mails represents a significant challenge to that body of scientific evidence.

AGU policy requires that all position statements be reviewed after four years and updated as necessary. AGU's position statement on climate change will be reviewed in 2011 and modified as needed to reflect evidence of recent scientific research.

Scientific inquiry and publishing

AGU is, and always has been, firmly committed to maintaining the highest standards of publishing excellence, including the objectivity and integrity of the peer review process for all our publications. We do not censor the authors of papers submitted to our journals or the editors of those journals.

Science and the scientific method is seldom a linear march to the “correct” and indisputable answer. Disagreement among scientists is part of the energy that moves inquiry forward. AGU’s publications in Earth and space science provide platforms for scientists to present the results of their original research in scholarly journals with high professional standards. The primary requirement is that the research passes through a rigorous peer review process.

In the area of climate research, AGU has published — and will continue to publish — excellent, peer-reviewed scientific findings without regard to whether those findings might be interpreted as supporting or contradicting prevailing views on climate change and the impact of human activity on climate.

AGU meetings as a forum for scientific exchange

AGU welcomes the participation of all scientists at its professional meetings and conferences. Scientists are not censored in any way, and abstracts are not peer reviewed. We view an AGU meeting as an open forum for scientific discussion. When we organize our meeting activities the conveners strive to put together sessions that are balanced in terms of the numbers of presentations per session, the breadth of treatment they provide on given topics, and the mixture of incremental and breakthrough scientific results they present. This process allows for those with opinions that fall outside the mainstream to present their ideas.

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Satellite images reveal rapid melting of Antarctica's glacier

Antarctica's glaciers are melting more rapidly than previously known because of climate change, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report prepared in close collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey. The report is based on the historical and recent satellite imagery, aerial photography and other data, as well as the newest mapping techniques. The study has released maps of recent glacier retreat along Antarctica’s Larsen and Wordie Ice Shelves.

The new report and map of the Larsen Ice Shelf are part of a project to research the coastal change and glaciological characteristics of the entire Antarctic margin. The research is also part of the USGS Glacier Studies Project that is monitoring and describing glacier extent and change over the whole planet using satellite imagery.

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Climate map of disaster hotspots in South-East Asia

An attempt to map the potential effects of climate change across South-East Asia has found Cambodia to be unexpectedly vulnerable to disasters.

The map, which considers the region's risk of exposure to climate hazards as well as its ability to adapt to such threats, found that Cambodia's poor ability to deal with disasters dwarfs its relatively low exposure to the risks.

The project, 'Climate Change Vulnerability Mapping for Southeast Asia', was carried out by the International Development Research Centre's Economy and Environment Program for South-East Asia (EEPSEA) as part of a larger-scale study.

The researchers combined historical datasets (from 1980–2005) with climate hazard maps for five climate-related risks. They compared these findings with the vulnerability assessment framework of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — based on exposure to multiple hazard risks, human and biological sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to climate change.

The study found that some of the most vulnerable areas in South-East Asia were the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Bangkok, because of their exposure to sea level. The northern part of the Philippines was also particularly vulnerable, being at high risk from tropical cyclones.

But the most vulnerable areas of all, occupying four of the top ten hotspots out of a total of 530, were in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Not only does the city lie at the intersection of all but one of five climate-related hazards — drought, floods, landslides and sea level rise — it is also densely populated. These risks outweigh its high adaptive capacity.

"This is the first comprehensive [climatic] picture of what the region looks like," says Herminia Francisco, director of EEPSEA. "The map illustrates the extent of climate change in the region and that most of the countries are vulnerable to the worst manifestations of climate change. To avert disasters, governments should take urgent and ambitious actions."

Richard Fuchs, IDRC regional director for South-East and East Asia, says: "The challenge for us is to put more pressure on the policymakers to better manage adaptation options in reducing vulnerability in the region."

Philippines senator Loren Legarda, who attended the Manila launch of the map last week (6 March), said that policymakers should now devise ways to prepare vulnerable people for the impact of climate change.

Download full report in PDF.

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CarbonTools PRO GML 3.2

The Carbon Project has announced support for Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) GML 3.2 in CarbonTools PRO, a geospatial software developer kit for the .NET framework. This update allows programmers to build rich spatial data infrastructure (SDI) applications to support tomorrow's transportation, infrastructure and environmental challenges.

"The next generation of digital information flowing in and out SDI applications will be rich in details, and the chosen base specification for these many of these applications is OGC/ISO Geography Markup Language (GML) 3.2," said Jeff Harrison, President and CEO of The Carbon Project.

The Carbon Project enhanced its CarbonTools PRO GML parser and data management modules to support advanced models in GML 3.2. This GML 3.2 parser helps developers build a new generation of dynamic transportation, infrastructure and environmental applications powered by rich geospatial data.

"The parsed GML content seamlessly merges with the numerous data types and sources supported by our CarbonTools PRO product. In addition, internal feature management and caching tools as well as the robust rendering functionality are all supported to help developers build GML 3.2-powered applications," said Nuke Goldstein, CTO of The Carbon Project.

The latest version of CarbonTools PRO is available now from www.carbontools.com.

In addition to new GML 3.2 parsers The Carbon Project included a major update to its popular Gaia geospatial viewer in CarbonTools PRO. The full Gaia 3.3 source code is provided with the CarbonTools PRO product – making it possible for developers to create and deploy advanced applications in minutes.

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Japanese global warming monitoring satellite

Japan Aerospace Agency will launch a satellite this January that will monitor greenhouse gases and assist in the fight against climate change. The agency has named the satellite as Go-Sat, and says it is able to detect infrared signals absorbed by greenhouse gases.

After blast-off, the satellite will go into orbit around the Earth making rounds in less than two hours, and will collect new climate data every three days. The satellite is equipped with sensors and can observe the distribution of carbon dioxide and methane.

The satellite is scheduled to be in orbit for five years and preliminary data is expected to be ready for scientists by April or May. UN climate officials are hoping to work out a new emission treaty by December 2009, but this satellite should help to monitor gases before and after any treaty is signed.

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Use crops to cool planet Earth

According to researchers from the University of Bristol, UK, by carefully selecting which varieties of food crops to cultivate, much of Europe and North America could be cooled by up to 1°C during the summer growing season. This is equivalent to an annual global cooling of over 0.1°C, almost 20% of the total global temperature increase since the Industrial Revolution.

The growing of crops already produces a cooling of the climate because they reflect more sunlight back into space, compared with natural vegetation. Different varieties of the same crop vary significantly in their solar reflectivity (called 'albedo'), so selecting varieties that are more reflective will enhance this cooling effect. Since arable agriculture is a global industry, such cooling could be extensive.

Reporting today [15 January] in Current Biology, Dr Andy Ridgwell and colleagues at the University of Bristol argue that we should select crop varieties in order to exert a control on the climate, in the same way that we currently cultivate specific varieties to maximize and fine-tune food production.

The team emphasised that unlike growing biofuels, such a plan could be achieved without disrupting food production, either in terms of yield or the types of crops grown. "We propose choosing between different varieties of the same crop species in order to maximize solar reflectivity rather than changing crop type, although the latter could also produce climatic benefits," explained Ridgwell.

Over the next hundred years, making these kinds of decisions would be equivalent to averting the carbon footprint of 195 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Farmers could be encouraged to grow such crops by issuing them with carbon credits. Ridgwell has calculated that if such a mechanism were in place farmers might expect to earn in the region of 23 euros per hectare per year for the warming averted. Biofuels currently earn 45 euros per hectare per year, but take up valuable agricultural land needed for growing crops.

Plants differ in their albedo because of differences in the properties of the leaf's surface and how the leaves are arranged (called 'canopy morphology'). The team therefore propose that the varieties grown should be chosen for their reflective properties alongside other considerations already made when planting crops, such as the food processing characteristics of a grain. ¬

Since society has so far remained unwilling to make the drastic reductions in fossil fuel use needed to cut carbon dioxide emissions, simple alternatives such as growing more reflective crops are a realistic way of helping reduce the severity of heat waves and droughts in these regions. Results could be achieved very quickly and at very little cost.

"There is a clear need for more research into characterising the variability in albedo that currently exists between the different variants and strains of common crop plants," commented Ridgwell. "We are applying for funding that will enable us to better quantify what is possible now, what variability there is for future selective breeding, and whether there is a need for genetic modification in the future".

Provided by University of Bristol

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The Carbon Project: "Secure SDI" Live at GEOINT 2008

The Carbon Project in collaboration with CubeWerx took the stage at GEOINT 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee to highlight "Secure SDI" for geospatial intelligence operations. The live demonstration on October 30 was conducted as part of the Emerging Technologies Showcase in the center of the Ryman Exhibit Hall of the Gaylord Opryland Resort.

The presentation featured emerging technology from The Carbon Project and CubeWerx and highlighted how GEOINT systems can transform into agile customer-centric frameworks driven by trusted partnerships. Security technology being deployed to support a joint Canadian/United States cross-border interoperability project was featured in the live demonstration.

The demonstration highlighted robust and powerful security solutions for Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). OGC SDI is a suite of standards used by government agencies around the world to promote digital geospatial data sharing and exploitation.

Secure SDI extensions for The Carbon Project's CarbonArc PRO on ArcGIS desktop and the free Gaia 3.2 geospatial viewer were demonstrated to GEOINT attendees from around the world. The extensions offer unprecedented feature-level security, role-based access control and security by geographic areas in coordination with distributed security frameworks from CubeWerx, a leading provider of spatial data warehousing and OGC-compliant Web services software products.

CubeWerx provides a Secure SDI server product (CubeWerx IMS) that acts as a "gatekeeper" and allows access control to OGC SDI resources.

Secure SDI products from The Carbon Project and CubeWerx products have been selected recently by government customers and are being deployed in multiple projects.

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Greenland's ice cap melting faster than expected

Greenland's ice cap, which covers more than 80 percent of the island, is melting faster than expected because of global warming, a Danish researcher said on Monday.

The 1.8-million-square-kilometre (695,000-square-mile) ice cap, which accounts for 10 percent of the planet's fresh water, is losing about 257 cubic kilometres (62 cubic miles) of ice per year.

In 2080, it is expected to lose 465 cubic kilometres (111 cubic miles) per year, according to new estimates presented by a Danish-US team of scientists at the International Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The net loss in 2080 would be "81 percent greater than today" and would cause "sea levels to rise by 107 millimetres" (4.2 inches), the team's head researcher Sebastian Mernild said in a statement received in Copenhagen.

Satellite observations show that "the global water level has since 1993 risen by three millimetres (0.11 inches) per year, or at a much more accelerated pace than during the last century" when it rose by 1.7 millimetres (0.06 inches) per year, he said.

The ice cap's melting season beat a new record in 2007, corresponding to a loss of 50 percent of the ice's total surface. And this record will not be the last one.

The research team's calculations, based on climate models and the UN climate panel's predicted scenarios, showed that "the average air temperature (in Greenland) will rise by some 2.7 degrees by the end of the century.

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Carbon Project YouTube channel, launched

The Carbon Project has launched a branded channel on YouTube featuring videos on Open Geospatial Consortium,Inc. (OGC) Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) usability for ESRI ArcGIS desktop users. OGC SDI is a suite of standards used by government agencies around the world to promote digital geospatial data sharing and exploitation.

The Carbon Project channel is online at http://www.youtube.com/thecarbonproject

"OGC SDI is becoming more ubiquitous for GIS users now and into the foreseeable future. CarbonArc PRO 1.6 makes this advanced content highly accessible and its robust functionality easy to use," said Jeff Harrison, President and CEO of The Carbon Project.

The Carbon Project's YouTube channel is a free resource of helpful hints and instructions on how to easily tackle the most frustrating OGC SDI issues in ArcGIS, such as WFS filtering and transactions.

ArcGIS users that want to be on the vanguard of this movement can get a free download or SDI User license for just $295 at http://www.thecarbonproject.com/carbonarc.php.

CarbonArc PRO has been selected by multiple customers and featured in many recent SDI projects.

CarbonArc PRO was developed with CarbonTools PRO, an extension to Microsoft.NET that lets software developers add advanced geospatial interoperability to any Microsoft Windows application.

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Maplecroft Climate Change Risk Report Released

The newly released Maplecroft Climate Change Risk Report includes the first-ever climate change vulnerability index and a set of best-to-worst rankings for more than 168 countries worldwide. It identifies the world's highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters as well as those countries most and least vulnerable to climate change. The report finds many of the world's biggest CO2 emitters are also the countries least vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Despite being the biggest emitter, the United States is the 12th least vulnerable to climate change. And Canada is "the best haven from climate change". At the same time about 75% of the 20 nations most vulnerable to climate change are found in Africa, the continent with the lowest CO2 emissions.

The report incorporates an innovative new approach to measuring climate change risks and :

* Is an ideal tool to help government and company decision-makers ensure climate change vulnerability is included in planning and strategy as well as to assist in mitigating the impacts of climate change.

* Includes detailed country scorecards and analysis of climate change vulnerability and risks in 168 countries.

* Includes GIS maps of climate change vulnerability at a sub-national level - providing insight into high risk cities, towns or regions as well as the impact of climate change on business operations and value chains.

Visit http://www.marketwatch.com for more.

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Green cover study in Karachi

Mayor Mustafa Kamal has been plugging development in Karachi as if cement was going out of style. And indeed, if any of the hesitant investors from Washington to Korea gingerly took a tour of the city, they would see that Kamal has been to task with whatever resources he has. The result: bumpy flyovers and underpasses, whose sheer ugliness is forgivable if only for their traffic-jam reducing utility. The behemoth structures, despite being new, look as old as post-boom Detroit or pre-Capitalism Moscow. These roads in the sky appear seemingly out of nowhere and squat over housing colonies that miraculously manage to shrink and expand at the same time.

It will thus be surprising to most of Karachi’s harassed and confused residents that despite all this development, barely 35 percent of the city is covered in the grey stuff. The rest, a sprawling 2,300 acres, is either barren, or better, green. And Mayor Kamal knows it too.

By the end of August, Tahir Consultants will have completed its study of the city for a CDGK plan to transform all that barren land. The City District Government of Karachi will plant trees and landscape this area to not only balance out the concrete with nature but also combat pollution.

Such a project will require help from the Asian Development Bank but, as the Bank’s Karachi Mega City Sustainable Development Programme Coordinator Roshan Ali Sheikh told Daily Times, Karachi is perfect for such an undertaking. “Karachi is the 12th largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million and 4,115 people per square kilometer,” Sheikh explained.

The city is spread over 3,600 sq km, of which, 1,300 sq km (35 percent) is developed but 2,300 sq km (65 percent) is being used for urban agriculture.

The possibilities are easy to see with the satellite images the CDGK obtained of the areas that would be a part of the project. The total vegetation cover under the CDGK administration is a pitiful 5,327 acres but 41,438 acres are barren and therefore an open invitation. The largest swathe is found in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town that has 1,868 acres of vegetation. This town also has the most barren land (13,007 acres).

The project would extend tree cover, establish aesthetic plantations, apply modern landscaping techniques and encourage farm and social forestry practices. It will not only be limited to the inner city, however, but will encompass the Super, National, RCD highways, Northern Bypass, Super Highway-Kathore Road, Gadap Road, Gadap-Northern Bypass, Al-Asif Square-Northern Bypass, Malir-National Highway/Super Highway via Memon Goth and Darsano Channo, Memon Goth-National Highway-Super Highway link road via Damloti wells and Super Highway-Jinnah Avenue near Model Colony-Malir Cantonment. At the other end it will also extend to the coastal belt areas of Manora, Sandspit, Paradise Point, Hawkesbay Road, Keamari, Ibrahim Hyderi-Rehri Goth, Karachi Fish Harbour, Port Qasim and Bin Qasim industrial areas.

“The plantations would help improve the local climate, stabilize natural systems and maintain air, water, and soil quality,” explained the ADB’s Sheikh. The biochemical process will improve and underground and run-off water would be regulated. The plantations will reduce erosion, carbon sequestration and the greenhouse effect, while adding aesthetic value and mean more recreational spots.

There is one hitch, however, as with all such projects: it will need water and Karachi already has quite a shortage. The planners hope, however, to set up links and sub-links to use sewerage for irrigation. And Karachi has a lot of sewerage to spare.

The inner city will not be ignored. And the CDGK wants to also pay attention to green belts, parks, roundabouts, road lines and highways. “The project study will also identify areas that need forestation and landscaping,” said Sheikh. It will study soil quality, water availability and sustainability and recommend different landscaping techniques for the diversified areas.

The project will also focus on establishing mini-forests. According to Sheikh, the Lyari and Malir riverbanks and their adjoining arteries would be preferred and the coastal belt will also be given a share. If successful, this project could mean that Karachi could rival Islamabad, known for its lush greenery and prove that alongside development Kamal and his city government can cultivate more investors. No pun intended.

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Indian Satellite to study climate change

Few issues have taken the global centre stage as did climate change recently, and images of melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels are now all too ubiquitous to ignore.

But how much do we really know about global warming? What is the quantity of greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane — in our atmosphere? How are they distributed around the world?

Some answers might be brought back by I-STAG, a satellite to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2012, in a unique collaborative initiative with science institutes.

“I-STAG, (Indian Satellite for Aerosol and Gases) is a small satellite, weighing no more than 150 kg and will most likely go as a co-passenger with one of the major launches scheduled for 2012,” R. Sridharan, Programme director, Space Science Office, ISRO, told The Hindu. It will be placed in a low Earth orbit at 600 km.

In its two-year life span, I-STAG will collect data on the quantity and distribution of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, aerosols (suspended particulate matter), ozone, water vapour and the oxides of nitrogen and sulphur so that an estimate can be made on their impact on climate.

“The satellite will have a special focus on the tropics and will monitor the spatial and temporal variation in the amount of these gases to assess their long-term effect on the climate and ecosystem,” said Prof. Sridharan.

The experiments would also attempt to estimate the impact of biomass burning and forest fires on climate.

I-STAG will be developed jointly by the Indian Institute of Science, the Space Physics Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram, the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, and the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory in Tirupati.

“ISRO will put in the seed money of about Rs. 10 crore, and scientists will, through simulations, demonstrate the concepts and also work out the methods for analysing the data,” Prof. Sridharan said.

The three experiments on I-STAG would measure and trace the distribution of greenhouse gases through an infrared spectrometer, and a multiwave radiometer would monitor the distribution and polarisation properties of aerosols.

I-STAG is part of the space organisation’s “small satellites programme” for scientific experiments, said ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair. “The first of the series of small satellite was the Indian Mini Satellite, which flew with CARTOSAT-2A. We are scheduled to launch three more small satellites in the next four years, including I-STAG. These are SENSE, to study the near-space environment; Aditya, to study the solar corona; and YOUTHSAT to measure solar radiation,” he said.

Prof. Sridharan said the science institutes were now preparing the project report for I-STAG in consultation with the satellite group at the ISRO Satellite Centre.

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Carbon-Dioxide (CO2) Geological Storage Atlas

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the recognised mitigation measures for the lowering of greenhouse-gas emissions. Assessment of the potential for CCS in South Africa requires a detailed investigation into locating and characterising potential carbon geological-storage sites. This eighteen-month investigation will start imminently and is sponsored by Sasol, Eskom, PetroSA, Anglo American plc and the South African National Energy Research Institute (SANERI). The CGS, along with the Petroleum Agency of South Africa, has been appointed to compile and publish the resulting CO2 Geological Storage Atlas. This project by the CGS and aforementioned collaborators was announced by the Honourable Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, at the recently held annual meeting of the International Carbon-Sequestration Leadership Forum in Cape Town.

The atlas, which will be completed by December 2009, will report methodologies and the results of the storage-potential evaluations for all the onshore and offshore basins of South Africa. It will provide ranking of the basins according to risk and tectonic settings, and will discuss storage options. It will also contain illustrated maps showing the geographic distribution of the basins and relevant geological and seismic profiles to support salient findings. Additional data, such as the estimated CO2 storage capacities of basins, the main emission sources, location of industrial complexes and transport issues will also be included.

The production of this atlas constitutes:

* Phase 1: The CO2-storage prospectivity assessment, which will most likely lead to further research, the development of a pilot project and potentially large-scale pilot CO2 storage ventures in South Africa. Provided that potentially suitable deep-storage sites are identified, the following multiphase approach will have to be adopted:

* Phase 2: Carry out confirmatory seismic surveys to investigate likely deep structures inferred from Phase 1 investigations, and synthesise all data with a view to planning the next step of exploration activities (see Phase 3);

* Phase 3: Verify by means of deep drilling the seismic-survey findings of Phase 2, and conduct geotechnical testing on recovered drill core and down-the-hole geophysical soundings and tests; document and synthesise all data with a view to identifying the most promising storage reservoirs;

* Phase 4: Use all available information to model the reservoir capacities of the most suitable reservoirs selected in Phase 3, model CO2 injectivity (how many wells, and at what spacing and depth) and start with small-scale site tests and monitoring;

* Phase 5: If Phase 4 shows promising results, develop an integrated national strategy linking capture, transport and storage options.

Worldwide, storage reservoirs are commonly associated with the sedimentary basins in which oil and gas occur. South Africa unfortunately lacks natural world-class storage reservoirs, but the onshore central basin of the Karoo Supergroup with its substantial sedimentary formations may offer storage opportunities. Offshore sedimentary rocks along the coastline also have some potential for storage.

The CGS is also a cooperative member for a project proposal to the European Commission, which will aim to align the CCS knowledge of South Africa, Brazil, India, Mexico and Colombia with that of Europe. This will include harmonisation of applied methodologies between the listed countries and capacity building in the emerging economies. The initial proposal has passed the first phase of submission and a full proposal will be submitted to the 7th Framework of the European Commission at the end of May 2008.

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GIS to Aid in Assessing Climate Change

Environmentalists and scientists will explore how geographic information system (GIS) technology can aid research into global warming and its potential effects at the Climate Change GIS program during the 2008 ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC) held August 4–8 in San Diego, California. Attendees will benefit from useful and inspirational workshops, panel discussions, paper sessions, and Special Interest Group meetings designed to aid GIS users in climate change research and construction of mitigation plans and preventive programs.

Environmental experts from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and others, will share their GIS project experiences. Attendees will gain insight on global concerns such as carbon accounting, sea level rise, and alternative energy sources. People working for government agencies, nonprofit groups, power utilities, forestry departments, and many more, will learn ways to apply GIS to their environmental management projects. ESRI UC attendees can participate in a wide variety of activities offered by the program such as

* Using GIS to analyze climate patterns and climate change
* Learning about The Nature Conservancy’s Carbon Accounting Model
* Understanding current ecosystem disturbance patterns with remote sensing
* Discovering Planet Action, founded by SPOT Image, a nonprofit organization
established to support conservation groups worldwide with imagery and GIS to more effectively tackle climate change-related issues

The Climate Change GIS program has topics to inspire attendees from all disciplines. Learn more about the 2008 ESRI International User Conference at www.esri.com/uc.

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The Carbon Project attains gold status in Microsoft partner program

The Carbon Project, an innovative,high-energy technology company specializing in mapping and geosocial networking, today announced it has attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program with competencies in ISV/Software Solutions.

This certification recognizes the expertise of the company, its impact in the technology market place and its ability to meet customer needs.

The Carbon Project serves professionals, software developers, government agencies and businesses that develop mapping solutions or use geospatial data. The Carbon Project also provides geographically enabled solutions for sharing digital news, video content, targeted marketing and intelligence analysis.

"We're pleased to achieve Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status. This allows us to further advance our technical expertise and relationship with Microsoft to our customers," said Nuke Goldstein, CTO of The Carbon Project.


"Customers are looking for companies that can bridge the gap between business requirements and technology," said Jeff Harrison, President and CEO of The Carbon Project. "Our Gold Partner status demonstrates our expertise solving customer challenges using Microsoft products and technology."

Some of The Carbon Project's Microsoft-based technologies include:

CarbonTools PRO - An extension to the Microsoft .NET Framework that supports location content handling and sharing from an array of sources, including Microsoft Virtual Earth.

CarbonArc PRO - A Microsoft .NET-based extension to the ESRI ArcGIS 9.2 desktop that enables the OGCR Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) 1.0 baseline and Microsoft Virtual Earth on the GIS desktop.

Gaia 3.1 - A popular open geospatial viewer for OGC WMS, WFS, Microsoft Virtual Earth and many other sources based on Microsoft .NET.

CarbonCloud - An advanced IPv6 peer-to-peer (p2p) framework for sharing location content and other information based on Microsoft PNRP.

Echo myPlace - A people-to-people social networking application using the latest in Microsoft Virtual Earth visualization and Microsoft Silverlight 2 Internet media technologies.

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Ocean life under threat from climate change

“Marine ecosystems are undoubtedly under-resourced, overlooked and under threat and our collective knowledge of impacts on marine life is a mere drop in the ocean,” wrote Dr Anthony Richardson, from The University of Queensland and CSIRO, and his co-author, Dr Elvira Poloczanska from CSIRO in Hobart.

“There is an overwhelming bias toward land-surface studies which arise in part because investigating the ocean realm is generally difficult, resource-intensive and expensive,” they said.

The disparity in focus on land-based compared to marine impacts was highlighted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Fourth Assessment Report (2007), which included 28,500 significant biological changes in terrestrial systems but only 85 in marine systems.

The paper argues that the collection of marine environment data over 20 years or more – a requirement for inclusion in IPCC assessments – suffered in the mid-1980s due to government funding cutbacks for international marine science research, just as ocean warming began accelerating.

The authors advocate change in the existing IPCC process to better assess the impacts.

“Climate change is affecting ocean temperatures, the supply of nutrients from the land, ocean chemistry, food chains, shifts in wind systems, ocean currents and extreme events such as cyclones,” Dr Poloczanska said. “All of these in turn affect the distribution, abundance, breeding cycles and migrations of marine plants and animals, which millions of people rely on for food and income. Development of the Integrated Marine Observing System, announced in 2006, is an important step forward but securing data over the time scales relevant for climate assessment will not occur until near 2030.”

Dr Richardson said the situation is made more urgent as emerging evidence suggests marine organisms may be responding faster to climate change than land-based plants and animals. “As the climate is warming, marine plants and animals are shifting towards the poles and their timing of peak abundance is occurring earlier in the year,” he said. “The slower dynamics of the ocean also means that some changes such as ocean acidification will be irreversible this century.

“While understanding impacts of climate change in the oceans is important, ultimately we need to develop adaptation options as the knowledge-base expands,” Dr Richardson said.

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