The scientific evidence on climate change is now clear enough for the leaders of G8 to commit to take prompt action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, according to an unprecedented statement published today (see below) by the science academies of the G8 nations.

The statement is published by the Royal Society the UK national academy of science and the other G8 science academies of France, Russia, Germany, US, Japan, Italy and Canada, along with those of Brazil, China and India. It has been issued ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

The statement calls on the G8 nations to: “Identify cost-effective steps that can be taken now to contribute to substantial and long-term reductions in net global greenhouse gas emissions.” And to, “recognise that delayed action will increase the risk of adverse environmental effects and will likely incur a greater cost.”

Lord May of Oxford, President of the Royal Society said: “It is clear that world leaders, including the G8, can no longer use uncertainty about aspects of climate change as an excuse for not taking urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“Significantly, along with the science academies of the G8 nations, this statement’s signatories include Brazil, China and India who are among the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the developing world. It is clear that developed countries must lead the way in cutting emissions, but developing countries must also contribute to the global effort to achieve overall cuts in emissions. The scientific evidence forcefully points to a need for a truly international effort. Make no mistake we have to act now. And the longer we procrastinate, the more difficult the task of tackling climate change becomes.

Lord May continued: “The current US policy on climate change is misguided. The Bush administration has consistently refused to accept the advice of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The NAS concluded in 1992 that, ‘Despite the great uncertainties, greenhouse warming is a potential threat sufficient to justify action now’, by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Getting the US onboard is critical because of the sheer amount of greenhouse gas emissions they are responsible for. For example, the Royal Society calculated that the 13 per cent rise in greenhouse gas emissions from the US between 1990 and 2002 is already bigger than the overall cut achieved if all the other parties to the Kyoto Protocol reach their targets. President Bush has an opportunity at Gleneagles to signal that his administration will no longer ignore the scientific evidence and act to cut emissions.

On the UK’s efforts on climate change, Lord May said: “We welcome the fact that Tony Blair has made climate change a focus for its presidency of the G8 this year. But the UK government must do much more in terms of its own domestic policy if it is to turn its ambitions to be a world leader on climate change into a reality. While the UK has managed to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide, most of the cuts have been almost accidental rather than the result of climate change policies. Indeed, its emissions actually increased by over 2 per cent in 2002 - 2003. Clearly the UK must take some tough political decisions about how it manages our ever-growing demand for energy at a time when its vital that we cut our emissions of greenhouse gases.

“The G8 summit is an unprecedented moment in human history. Our leaders face a stark choice act now to tackle climate change or let future generations face the price of their inaction. Never before have we faced such a global threat. And if we do not begin effective action now it will be much harder to stop the runaway train as it continues to gather momentum.

The statement also warns that changes in climate are happening now, that further changes are unavoidable and that, “nations must prepare for them.” In particular it calls for the G8 countries to work with developing nations to enable them to develop their own innovative solutions to lessen and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.

Lord May said: “We, the industrialised nations, have an obligation to help developing nations to develop their own solutions to the threats they face from climate change.”

Joint science academies� statement: Global response to climate change

The national science academies of the G8 nations and Brazil, China and India, three of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the developing world, have signed a statement on the global response to climate change.

The statement stresses that the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action and calls on world leaders, including those meeting at the G8 summit at Gleneagles in July 2005, to do the following.

• Acknowledge that the threat of climate change is clear and increasing
• Launch an international study to explore scientifically-informed targets for atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and their associated emissions scenarios, that will enable nations to avoid impacts deemed unacceptable.
• Identify cost-effective steps that can be taken now to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions. Recognise that delayed action will increase the risk of adverse environmental effects and will likely incur a greater cost.
• Work with developing nations to build a scientific and technological capacity best suited to their circumstances, enabling them to develop innovative solutions to mitigate and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, while explicitly recognising their legitimate development rights.
• Show leadership in developing and deploying clean energy technologies and approaches to energy efficiency, and share this knowledge with all other nations.
• Mobilise the science and technology community to enhance research and development efforts, which can better inform climate change decisions.

Original press release: Clear science demands prompt action on climate change say G8 science academies (Royal Society)

URL of Science Academies statement: Joint science academies� statement: Global response to climate change (Royal Society)

Relevant BBC News story: World scientists urge CO2 action (BBC News)

Beijing, China - WWF commends the Chinese government for establishing 24 new protected areas in Heilongjiang province in north-east China.

Totaling 1.8 million hectares - an area equivalent to more than one-third the size of Switzerland - these protected areas were created between 2002 and 2005. The government will add another 1 million hectares by 2010, bringing Heilongijang’s total protected area cover to 6.4 million hectares, or 14 per cent of the province’s territory.

“As our province is one of China’s - and the world’s - richest areas in terms of biodiversity, the Heilongjiang government is making it a priority to save our natural resources by establishing protected areas and managing them effectively,” said Han Lian Sheng, Director of the Heilongjiang Forestry Department.

Heilongjiang province takes its name from the Heilong River, which forms a natural border between China and Russia. The province is home to one of the world’s most distinctive temperate forests, and has one of the last stands of mixed temperate deciduous and conifer forests in east Asia.

It is also a critical area for conserving endangered animal and plant species, including yew trees (Taxus), Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), and leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis), as well as musk deer (Moschus moschiferus), brown bears (Ursos arctos), Asiatic black bears (U. tibethanus), and rare bird species such as the Siberian (Grus leucogeranus), and red-crowned cranes (G. japonensis).

These key species and their habitats are threatened by commercial logging, forest firests, poaching, wetland conversion, over-fishing, pollution, and dam construction.

“Because of the global significance of this exciting initiative, and its potential to help ensure the survival of a variety of endangered species in the wild, WWF has recognized it as a Gift to the Earth,” said Prof Lars Kristoferson, Secretary General of WWF-Sweden. “We applaud the Chinese government and remain committed to working together with our partners for the future of this vital area.”

A Gift to the Earth is WWF’s highest accolade for applauding good conservation work. Each of these Gifts represents an important success within one or more of the global conservation priorities recognized by WWF including: protection of forest, freshwater, and marine ecosystems; endangered species; prevention of climate change; and elimination of toxic chemicals.

“The establishment of these new protected areas is a big step forward for both forest conservation and species protection in China,” said Dr Zhu Chunquan, Director of WWF China’s Forest programme.

“This Gift to the Earth is a great example for other conservation initiatives in China. We hope it will encourage our neighbours to create a cross-border ‘Green Belt’ in the Amur/Heilong ecoregion.”

In addition to bringing 6.4 million hectares of protected areas in the Amur/Heilong Basin under protection by 2010, WWF offices in Mongolia, the Russian Far East, and China are also working to create a larger unified region of networked protected areas - a ‘green belt’ - set aside for conservation purposes.

Local communities in Heilongjiang province have participated in the establishment and monitoring of the newly protected areas, and will be involved in co-managing them. WWF and its partners will also work with local communities to develop sustainable livelihoods. The Gift to the Earth celebration, held in the province’s capital, Harbin, will help strengthen conservation awareness amongst the local communities.

Original press release: China declares new protected areas (WWF)

Heilongjiang Province Gift to the Earth Summary (WWF)

New data released by the Met Office today highlights a marked variation in rainfall across the UK and shows how southern areas have had a significant lack of rainfall through six of the last seven months. The data also illustrates the challenges the country faces in getting water from where it mostly falls to where the majority of people live.

Rainfall figures for the seven-month period November to May, show that most of the UK has had a dry spell now extending through two complete seasons; only during April have we seen above-average rainfall. Some parts of central and southern England have only had around 60% of their usual rain for the period.

The driest counties through the seven-month period have been Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, receiving 58% of their usual rainfall. The wettest areas, the Western Isles and Highland region of Scotland, have had 128% of their average rainfall.

Looking at individual areas shows that the period Nov 2004 - May 2005 for SE and Central Southern England was the fourth driest in the series, whereas for Northern Scotland it was the fifth wettest (the series goes back to 1914).

Original press release: May figures confirm continuing dry spell (UK Met Office)

Giant red blobs, picket fences, upward branching carrots, and tentacled octopi - these are just a few of the phrases used to describe sprites - spectacular, eerie flashes of colored light high above the tops of powerful thunderstorms that can travel up to 50 miles high in the atmosphere.

Sprites, so-named by a University of Alaska scientist inspired by the creatures in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” have been observed since the 1800s, though rarely visible from the ground. Aircraft pilots began reporting sightings of sprites in the 1950s and ’60s, but they were not formally identified until 1989 when the Space Shuttle (STS-34) recorded the flashes as it passed over a thunderstorm in northern Australia. While many theories have been offered on the cause of this rare phenomenon, new NASA-funded research is settling the mystery and helping to determine the driving force behind these marvel displays of light.

Most researchers have long supported the theory that sprites are linked to major lightning charges. Still, some scientists believe that conditions high in the atmosphere, like meteoritic dust particles or gravity waves might also induce sprite formation.

Now, a study led by Steven Cummer of Duke University, Durham, N.C. and Walter Lyons of FMA Research, Inc., Fort Collins, Colo. has found more evidence that sprites are generated by major lightning strikes. They also found the total charge, as it moves from the cloud to the ground, and multiplied by that distance, known as the “lightning charge moment,” is most critical in the sprite’s development. The study appeared in the April 2005 issue of Journal of Geophysical Research-Space Physics.

During the summer of 2000, researchers from across the nation participated in the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study. While the primary goal was to study severe thunderstorms and their link to heavy rain and hail, scientists also gathered important data on lightning’s role in triggering events above thunderclouds, like sprites.

Armed with the aid of sophisticated instruments and sensors, Cummer collected information from three thunderstorm outbreaks across the central U.S. and compared the “lightning charge moment” in both sprite and non-sprite producing lightning.

“The idea was that if other factors contributed to lowering the electric field threshold for sprite initiation, they would probably not always be present and we would find that sprites occasionally form after just modest lightning strokes,” said Cummer.

Simulations created with the help of NASA computer animations and other data showed that weak lightning strikes do not create sprites. They also found factors other than the cloud-to-ground charge transfer are generally not important ingredients in sprite development.

The nature of the charge does appear to make a difference, however, as sprites are very rarely created by negatively charged cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, probably because big negative strokes occur infrequently over the typical breeding ground for sprites in the U.S. High Plains.

Negative cloud-to-ground lightning strokes are initiated by a large concentration of negative charges in the cloud base, which tends to induce an area of positive charge on the ground, resulting in the discharge of electricity seen as lightning. A positive lightning stroke is exactly the opposite, with a positive charge concentration in the cloud resulting in a negatively charged area on the ground.

Sprites, like lightning strokes, are largely unpredictable and brief - lasting only 3 to 10 milliseconds and inherently difficult to study. But, the technique used in this study also proved that “a single sensor can monitor moment change in lightning strikes over a very large area, providing a reasonable way of estimating how often sprites occur globally,” said Cummer. Much research to date has instead relied on the strategic placement of multiple low light video cameras.

Sprites and other phenomena, including elves - that bring a millisecond flash of light that fills the entire night sky within a 100 kilometer (62 mile) radius of the associated lightning strike - are generating much interest because of their strong electric fields and electromagnetic pulses that may interact with the Earth’s ionosphere and magnetosphere.

Some of the most recent research has shown that some lightning strikes might be associated with terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), intense explosions of gamma rays lasting only about one millisecond that are emitted into space from the upper atmosphere. Scientists believe electrons traveling at nearly the speed of light scatter off atoms and decelerate just above thunderclouds, emitting TGFs. While many questions remain today, future technology will certainly allow for even more precise detection of these events, giving scientists valuable insight into their origins.

The following images show sprites over thunderstorms in Kansas on August 10, 2000, observed in the mesosphere, with an altitude of 50-90 kilometers as a response to powerful lightning discharges from tropospheric thunderstorms. The true color of sprites is pink-red. Credit: Walter Lyons, FMA Research, Fort Collins, Colorado

Yellow Sprite Images

Green Sprite Image

Original press release: Unlocking the Mystery Behind Lightning’s Puzzling Friend (NASA)

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate has selected 23 projects that will harness Earth science data to improve decision-making processes. NASA will contribute approximately $22 million over the three-year life of these projects with national organizations that include water management, public health, air quality, ecosystem stewardship and disaster management.

“These projects were chosen for their leadership in the use of Earth science observation and model predictions,” said NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Dr. Ghassem Asrar. “Also a key factor in the selection process was the initiative shown in putting together partnerships with public, private and academic organizations,” he added.

Peer panels and NASA program managers reviewed 172 proposals for their merit, cost, and relevance to NASA goals, objectives and cost. The principal investigators from the 23 projects come from: Alabama, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Dakota, Virginia and Washington. The projects include participants from 22 states and more than 59 organizations.

Original press release: NASA Funds Projects to Extend Earth Science Research (NASA Earth Observatory)

Events are taking place in more than 100 countries to mark World Environment Day, which is promoting the idea of “green cities”.

The UN estimates that more than 60% of people will live in cities by 2030.

The day highlights ways of managing expansion to benefit people and their surroundings. It will be promoted by rallies, tree-plantings and clean-ups.

The UN environment agency says local governments, businesses and industry must work together to build change.

Original press release: Environment Day spotlights cities (BBC)