Friday, 16 Sep 2005

Hurricane Katrina, which turned the U.S. energy system on its ear, has spurred a number of Republicans in Congress to start calling for tighter auto fuel-economy rules. Yes, that would mean new cars would have to guzzle less gasoline (gasp!). Of course, the hurricane spurred even more Republicans to call (yet again) for opening the Arctic Refuge to drilling, waiving liability for producers of MTBE, and a host of other industry-friendly proposals that they failed to pack into the energy bill President Bush signed last month. Muckraker investigates the prospects for Energy Bill 2: The Sequel.

Hurricane You Hear Me Now?

Warming oceans linked to increase in powerful hurricanes and storms

Severe hurricanes and cyclones have become more common worldwide as ocean temperatures have increased, according to a study published today in the journal Science. Georgia Tech climatologist Judith Curry and colleagues studied satellite data from the past 35 years as well as computer models before reaching their conclusion: Category 4 and 5 hurricanes -- storms with winds of 131 miles per hour or higher -- rose from an average of 10 a year in the 1970s to 18 a year since 1990. During the same period, average tropical sea surface temperatures increased up to 1 degree Fahrenheit, after remaining stable from 1900 through the mid-1960s. This is the second major study in six weeks to link warming oceans to more-severe storms, but debate rages on about whether the recent surge in highly destructive storms falls within the realm of normal weather variability. "There is increasing confidence, as the result of our study, that there's some level of greenhouse warming in what we're seeing," said Curry. "Is it the whole story? We don't know."


Nicole Rycroft, who nudges Canadian publishers toward forest-friendly practices, is well versed in the art of persuasion. She's got plenty of ideas for individuals eager to wield their consumer influence to get paper-heavy industries like catalog manufacturers to switch to eco-friendly fibers. As InterActivist this week, Rycroft answers reader questions about U.S. organizations doing similar work to protect forests, explains why e-books aren't such a great idea, describes how you, too, can get your book published on tree-friendly paper, and more.

Gas Dismissed

Federal judge throws out multistate suit against CO2-spewing utilities

A U.S. federal judge yesterday delivered a big blow to eight states that had been pushing for power plants to cut their carbon dioxide emissions in an effort to stave off global warming. A coalition of the states plus New York City had filed suit against five utility companies that together own 174 fossil fuel-burning power plants, claiming that the five firms are the nation's biggest CO2 polluters and should be forced to curb their emissions. U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska dismissed the case, saying the plaintiffs were asking the court to set broad environmental policies with implications for the economy, national security, and foreign policy, matters that "are consigned to the political branches that are accountable to the people, not to the judiciary." The states promised to appeal. "This ruling, if it stands, threatens to undermine and erode our power as states to hold accountable out-of-state polluters who foul our air," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Quick on the Thaw

Melting Arctic sea ice may have hit point of no return, scientists fear

Experts on the climate of the Arctic have been busy this summer altering their dire predictions for a globally warmed future -- to make them even direr. According to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, the Arctic's sea ice has been gradually retreating since about 1978 -- no surprise there -- but the trend has worsened in the last four years or so to the point where the climate system may be unable to recover. Since September 2002, the ice has failed to make any sort of significant comeback in the winter. Worried researchers point to a vicious cycle of melted ice exposing more ocean -- a better heat absorber than ice -- to the sun, leading to more ice loss, leading to more exposed ocean, and so on. Says an Arctic ice specialist at Cambridge University, "You're essentially changing land into ocean ... [which] will have a very big impact on other climate parameters." Though vast quantities of melted sea ice alone wouldn't raise sea levels*, experts worry the rapid changes to the Arctic's climate might also lead to rapid melting of Greenland's glaciers, which could dramatically affect ocean levels.

*[Clarification, 20 Sep 2005: This summary originally implied that the melting of sea ice would raise sea levels, which isn't the case.]