A group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers agreed Thursday to ask Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to clearly state Japan’s interest in hosting the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor.

The ruling party lawmakers reached the agreement ahead of a March 27 meeting between Koizumi and French President Jacques Chirac in Tokyo, with the site for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a multibillion-dollar project involving six parties, expected to be a major focus.

Tadamori Oshima, a former agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, said the lawmakers have decided to adopt a resolution urging the government to draw ITER to Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, and to bring it to Koizumi ahead of his talks with Chirac.

“I’m not yet sure whether the ITER issue will definitely be taken up at the (Koizumi-Chirac) summit, but if it were, I would like the prime minister to clearly state Japan’s resolve (to host ITER) and to specify the advantage of the Japanese site (to the French site),” Oshima told reporters.

The lawmakers made the move because Koizumi has remained silent on the issue which may indicate a lack of enthusiasm on Japan’s behalf while Chirac has often spoken publicly about the need to bring ITER to Europe.

Read complete article: LDP lawmakers to ask Koizumi to show resolve to host fusion reactor (Kyodo News)

Climate change and the threat of global warming are poorly understood by the U.S. public, and taking action to reduce their impact is not a high priority, according to a recent MIT survey.

These results suggest that change in U.S. climate policy will not be led by public opinion. Elected officials will have to provide leadership–a task they will find difficult because achieving significant reduction of the greenhouse gases linked to climate change may involve economic costs well above what the average consumer is willing to pay.

For more than a decade, Howard J. Herzog and his colleagues at MIT’s Laboratory for Energy and the Environment (LFEE) have been studying one approach to climate-change mitigation. In carbon-dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS), the CO2 emissions from large sources that contribute to global warming are captured and injected into geologic formations for long-term storage.

CCS has technologic and economic promise, but public acceptance could be a problem. As a result, the researchers wanted to find out what people thought about CCS in particular and about climate change and environmental issues in general.

So LFEE Principal Research Engineer Herzog, graduate student Thomas E. Curry, Professor David M. Reiner of the University of Cambridge and Stephen Ansolabehere, the Elting R. Morison Professor in MIT’s Department of Political Science, developed a survey that included 17 questions about the environment, global warming and climate-change-mitigation technologies. They collaborated with Knowledge Networks, a company that specializes in Internet-based public opinion surveys.

The 1,200 respondents proved to be relatively unaware not only of CCS but also of other energy-related responses to climate change that were listed in the survey. The researchers were not surprised that CCS fell under the radar for the general public. It was more surprising that many of the respondents also had not recently heard or read about hydrogen cars, wind energy or nuclear energy.

Most striking: Fully 17 percent of the people had heard or read about none of the listed items during the past year.

Other questions demonstrated the public’s lack of understanding. For example, when asked what concern CCS would address, well over half of the respondents said they were not sure. Of those that made a choice, 23 percent said (correctly) that CCS could reduce global warming, but 29 percent said (incorrectly) that it could reduce smog.

The survey further found that the environment and climate change are not high-priority issues for the public. The environment came out 13th on a list of 22 possibilities for “the most important issues facing the U.S. today.” And on a list of 10 specific environmental problems, “global warming” came up sixth, well behind water pollution and toxic waste.

What do the survey results mean for public outreach on climate change issues? Researchers concluded that education is critical. Programs should start with the fundamentals, helping people to understand the links between burning fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for climate change. Perhaps most important, researchers said discussions must include the relative costs of the various technology options, as cost differentials can profoundly influence people’s preferences.

In continuing their work on CCS, the MIT researchers plan to administer the same survey in two or three years to measure the evolution of public awareness. In the meantime, they are working with their Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS) partners to analyze similar surveys taken in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.

This research was supported by the AGS and the Carbon Sequestration Initiative.

Original press release: Climate change poorly understood, MIT survey finds (MIT)

Around 150 researchers from 15 countries across Europe as well as Canada and the United States gathered near Rome to prepare for CryoSat, ESA’s Earth Observation mission dedicated to the precise measurement of land and sea ice thickness.

While in some places dramatic changes are occurring in the polar regions, we still do not have a full picture of how the polar caps as a whole are responding to climate change. Due to launch at the end of July this year, CryoSat is designed to provide a clear answer to this leading scientific question.

CryoSat is the first of ESA’s Earth Explorers, science missions focused on specific issues of our planetary environment. CryoSat’s focus is polar ice. Using an innovative multi-mode radar altimeter it will measure fluctuations in land ice sheet height and sea-ice thickness to an unprecedented accuracy during a three-year period.

The first CryoSat User Workshop took place from 8 to 10 March at ESRIN, ESA’s establishment in Italy, located in Frascati.

The three-day event was formally opened by Volker Liebig, Head of ESRIN and ESA Director of Earth Observation: “The main objective of this first workshop is to provide future users of CryoSat data with a better understanding of CryoSat measurements, the data products and their validation.

“It is also an opportunity for scientific users to present their own research programmes and discuss details with the ESA engineers.”

Liebig added that existing ESA Earth Observation missions such as Envisat deal with ice, snow and water in a broad context but that CryoSat was a much more dedicated mission, and it was good to see such a high and broad scientific interest in it from across Europe.

CryoSat Lead Investigator Duncan Wingham, Professor of Climate Physics at University College London, recalled that it was more than seven years ago that the first 50-page paper proposing CryoSat had been written: “Having led that proposal, it is a pleasure to see so many people here as a consequence.”

Wingham added that satellite data had already provided researchers with a wealth of data on polar ice - he singled out 11 years worth of results from ESA’s ERS spacecraft - but that CryoSat remained as relevant as ever.

“Our use of previous spacecraft has been opportunistic in nature, using instruments optimised for studying the ocean geoid,” said Wingham. “With CryoSat we have started from scratch with a clean piece of paper, achieving as close as possible to a true polar orbit and an increase in sensor accuracy and density of coverage.”

CryoSat’s main instrument is called the SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL). Using one of two antennas it sends out radar signals then both antennas detect signal echoes from the Earth’s surface. By knowing the position of the spacecraft to a very high accuracy - achieved with an onboard ranging instrument called the Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) supplemented by a laser retro-reflector system - the signal return time reveals the surface altitude. Correct antenna orientation is also vital and is maintained using a trio of Star Trackers.

Past radar altimeters can deliver data only over the sea and large-scale homogeneous ice surfaces, but SIRAL’s new design can also provide detailed views of irregular sloping edges of land ice as well as non-homogenous ocean ice.

The instrument will work in standard Low Rate Mode (LRM) over ice sheet interiors but will switch to highly detailed SARIn Mode over ice edges, combining returns from both antennas using a technique called interferometry. And over sea ice it will switch to SAR Mode, improving its spatial resolution.

In this mode, based on the character of its echoes it can be determined whether they come from open water or ice masses. Differences in altitude between the two can be used to measure the ‘freeboard’ of floating sea ice from which its total thickness can be derived.

The end results is an instrument that allows quantifying ice thickness on land, sea and at the boundaries of the two - where fluctuations due to climate change are most likely to be found.

Any changes in global ice cover would affect climate, ocean currents and sea surface height. Wingham added that while current data indicates that Antarctica has a positive mass balance, the South Greenland ice sheet appears more at risk.

He added that there is evidence that inter-annual sea ice in the Atlantic part of the Arctic Ocean is starting to thin - possibly influencing regional ocean currents in turn because salinity changes from sea ice freezing and melting help drive currents. However any conclusions are premature because sea ice in particular suffers a particular paucity of data - what is available mostly comes from submarine sonar surveys - but that CryoSat should make a big contribution.

A large part of the Workshop discussed calibration and validation activities for the mission. Such ‘ground-truthing’ is important for any remote sensing satellite, but especially for CryoSat because its signal will be sensitive to seasonal changes in the properties of snow and ice, including changing snow cover and ice densities. These factors have to be understood and corrected for in order to better detect longer-term changes.

The Workshop heard that a five-year schedule of ESA-coordinated calibration and validation activities had been laid out from 2003 to 2008. The first full-scale Cryosat Validation Experiment - Cryovex - was carried out over Arctic sea ice in 2003, with a second over Arctic land the following year. Following launch another major combined land-sea activity is planned for next year.

Widespread airborne data collection using laser, radar or electromagnetic instruments is an important part of these activities, with flight lines to be coincident as much as is possible so results can be compared together. Ground-based operations are also required, to measure seasonal snow variation, drill ice cores and plant GPS trackers, electromagnetic sensors and underwater sonar devices.

The Workshop discussed a range of supplemental validation activity due to occur across both the Arctic and Antarctic regions to gather datasets both able to validate Cryosat results and also scientifically useful in their right.

“Many of our users spend a lot of time working in ice regions, and they are very willing to contribute to validation activities,” said Guy Ratier, CryoSat Project Manager. “One of the most useful parts of an event like this is being able to coordinate individual efforts to maximise their value.”

The contribution of other satellites will also be useful first in validating CryoSat results and later in carrying out science. In particular NASA’s ICESat was highlighted. Because this mission uses a laser altimeter, it is sensitive to the snow-air boundary while CryoSat’s radar signal peers through snow to detect the ice-snow boundary - so the two spacecraft should complement each other well.

Gravity-detection missions, such as NASA’s current Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and ESA’s planned Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) Earth Explorer mission should also prove complementary to CryoSat altimetry results, detecting how ice and sea surface heights deviate from the planetary geoid (or gravity level coinciding with average sea level).

“We are very grateful to the teams doing very nice work gathering data in very difficult conditions, sometimes at temperatures of minus 35 degrees and wind speeds of 40 miles per hour,” said Wingham, concluding what he said had been a very successful Workshop. “We hope to return the favour in due course by doing some very nice work with this satellite.”

Original press release: European scientists at CryoSat workshop look forward to answers from the ice (ESA)

Amateur British explorers Matthew Hancock, 26, a London banker, and 28-year-old Matt Coates, a Kilkenny-based Engineer with Altran Technologies Ireland, departed on March 6 on an unsupported expedition in which they aim to be the first to walk to the Magnetic North Pole in its current location. The pair will trek across parts of the Arctic Ocean never before covered by man whilst gathering vital scientific data into the damaging effects of climate change on one of the world’s remotest areas.

The Climate Change Magnetic Pole Expedition 2005, sponsored by the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the European Climate Exchange (ECX) will see the pair walk just over 500 miles, dragging sledges weighing more than 120 kilos. The whole trip is expected to last around 6 weeks, with the two-man team walking an average of 12 miles per day. Surplus funds generated from the expedition will be donated to Cancer Research.

The pair will face extreme dangers throughout the expedition, not least the threat of the Arctic’s 20,000 polar bears as well as the obvious hazards posed by the elements - hypothermia, frostbite, gangrene and hypoglycaemia - and the further risk of injury caused by falling through thin ice.

The expedition is scheduled to get underway in early March from Resolute Bay in Canada, deep inside the Artic Circle and the northern-most permanently inhabited place on earth. The first leg of the trip will be a 560-mile journey by plane to Cape Isachsen, the last point of land at the edge of the Artic Ocean. From here the walk is scheduled to begin on or around 14th March, at which time the Magnetic North Pole is expected to be approximately 250 miles north over pack ice.

Upon reaching a point some 50 miles north of Cape Isachsen - the last visited position of the Magnetic North in 2002 - Hancock and Coates will be walking over terrain not yet walked by man.

“The expedition is going to be a tremendous test of our physical and mental durability, but we are fully aware of the dangers we face and have prepared meticulously to ensure we can cope with the challenges that lie ahead,” explains Hancock.

“We expect to uncover some valuable findings into climate change and, in doing so, hope to raise the profile of the serious, ongoing effects of global warming on the polar ice caps.”

Adding to the challenge faced by the pair is the constant movement of the Magnetic North Pole. Thought to be accelerating in a northerly direction every year, it is now almost 200 miles further from the nearest point of land than in 2002.

Scientific data recorded en route will be used by a team of researchers at the Geological Survey of Canada - considered to be the leading authority on the earth’s magnetic properties. Environmental information will also be gathered on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), and will support a critical part of the ESA’s CryoSat mission which aims to quantify the understanding of the impact of climate change on polar ice caps and sea ice cover. Other scientific data will be used by co-sponsors Brit Insurance of Lloyd’s of London to aid the development of their space, satellite and weather insurance knowledge. The experiments to be undertaken will include daily tests into the thickness of snow laying on the ice, changes in temperature and the monitoring of radio reception at different frequencies.

Coates and Hancock will report back daily, sending photos and reports via satellite phone to a support team in the UK.

Over the last few months Hancock has devoted much time to dragging tyres around Hyde Park in London - an exercise aimed at simulating the action of pulling a sled. The team have also been working hard to increase their body mass - by up to two stone each - in order to prepare themselves physically for the strenuous task ahead.

Key Facts

• The team currently expect to find the Pole at 83 degrees North, 114 degrees West
• As well as long-term movement, the exact position of the Pole moves every day in an elliptical pattern with a major axis of between 20 to 55 miles, as the spinning of the earth alters the effect of the sun on the earth’s magnetic field
• The team has been asked to measure thickness of the snow by the European Space Agency (ESA) as part of its CryoSat mission. Although the ESA can measure the amount of solid matter floating on the ocean from space, for measurements of climate change is it important to find out whether this solid is snow or ice
• At up to 6 miles per day, ice-flow will be a big factor on the team?s progress. If the ice flows against the team, progress can be negative
• The sledges were designed by Steve Mellor. Steve also designed and made the foils (rudder and keel) for Ellen McArthur’s record breaking Trimaran
• Originally a team of four, 2 members withdrew from the trip in Autumn 2004; Rob Gluckman broke his back in training whilst Arash Mostofi was forced to withdraw due to work commitments
• The team will be equipped with a .30 calibre rifle to ward-off polar bears. The gun will only be used as a very last resort. On a previous trip, Matt Coates successfully frightened off an inquisitive polar bear
• The Arctic’s 20,000 polar bears will have just awoken from a winter’s rest and will be hungry and ready to feed. Their sense of smell (ranging over 25 miles) means that a meeting is likely
• A material science expert, Matt Coates has designed a fuel-efficient cooking system to lower the weight of fuel supplies required
• Huskies are not a viable option on an unsupported trip as they cannot carry their own requirement in food as far as a human
• When last attempted, in 2002, the ice was much flatter than believed to be at present. For the past two years it has been hard to pass due to large pressure ridges and piles of rubble
• Each man will need approximately 1.2 kilograms of food per day
• Subject to prevailing winds, and where the terrain permits, the team hopes to snow-kite for parts of the return leg to Cape Isachsen

Original press release: Chicago Climate Exchange and European Climate Exchange Sponsor Expedition in Search of Magnetic North Pole ()

G8 countries should phase out fossil fuel subsidies and increase support for renewable energy and energy saving projects, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Research published today (Tuesday) coincides with Gordon Brown�s first major speech on climate change, at a roundtable of energy and environment ministers, part of a programme of events marking the UK’s G8 presidency.

IPPR’s report highlights the massive subsidies to fossil fuels from governments and international financial institutions, compared with limited support for renewable energy and energy saving projects. World Bank support for alternative energy projects in 2003 amounted to $1.7 billion out of total support to energy projects of $12 billion.

The report recommends that the UK government establish a coalition of willing industrialised and developing countries to increase international investment in renewable energy and energy saving technologies. This would be done through:

• Requiring national Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and multilateral banks to require energy audits and minimum energy efficiency standards for the projects they support.
• Improving the terms of ECA support for renewable energy projects so that they are at least as good as those for fossil fuels. Substantially increasing the World Bank target to grow its investment in renewable energy.
• Building capacity for deploying renewable energy and energy saving technologies in developing countries.

Simon Retallack, ippr research fellow and report author said:

“It is time for governments to put a stop to the multi-billion dollar hand-outs given to the fossil fuel industry. To prevent dangerous climate change, the playing field urgently needs to be levelled, so that clean, renewable energy technologies can compete fairly.

“But progress shouldn’t be made at the speed of the slowest ship in the convoy. The UK should seize the initiative at this week’s summit by putting together a coalition of willing countries committed to forging ahead rapidly with action to combat climate change.”

Catalysing commitment on climate change also recommends:

• Mandatory disclosure of companies’ contributions to climate change and requiring institutional investors to take account of long-term climate risks in their investments.
• Climate measures are aligned with poverty alleviation efforts in developing countries by focusing on those measures that deliver multiple benefits, like small-scale renewable projects.
• Industrialised countries accept current and historical responsibility for emissions causing climate change impacts by establishing a compensation fund for developing countries to support disaster preparedness, mitigation and relief.
• Governments agree a framework of rules to link emerging carbon markets with ones established under Kyoto’s absolute caps on greenhouse gas emissions.

Original press release: G8 Should Phase Out Fossil Fuel Subsidies (ippr)

Tokyo - French President Jacques Chirac will meet Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi when he visits Japan on an official visit later this month, the Japanese foreign ministry said Friday. Chirac and his wife Bernadette will start their three-day official visit on March 26, during which they are also scheduled to meet Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, the ministry said. The French president will also attend a sumo tournament in western Japan’s Osaka and a seminar on sustainable development during his visit, according to diplomats.

Visiting French Foreign Trade Minister Francois Loos said last month Chirac would also
attend the six-month World Exposition in central Aichi prefecture. Japan hopes 15 million people will visit the World Expo, which will run from March 25 to September 25 with the main theme of how to make technology friendly to the environment. A political issue during Chirac’s visit would be a plan championed by France to end the European Union embargo on selling arms to China, which has drawn concern from Japan and its close ally the United States.

The arms embargo has been in place since the massacre of pro-democracy protesters in
Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. Also on the agenda would be the protracted dispute with Japan regarding rival bids to host the multi-billion dollar International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), one of the most exciting ventures in international science.

Original press release: FRANCE’S CHIRAC TO MEET KOIZUMI, EMPEROR, ON JAPAN VISIT (PPPL)