SOIL CARBON AND CLIMATE CHANGE
NEWS
From
Consortium for Agricultural
Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases
(CASMGS)
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/ctec
Charles W. Rice, K-State
Department of Agronomy, National CASMGS Director
(785) 532-7217 cwrice@ksu.edu
Scott Staggenborg, K-State Department
of Agronomy (785) 532-7214 sstaggen@ksu.edu
Steve Watson, CASMGS
Communications (785) 532-7105 swatson@oznet.ksu.edu
No. 36
K-State:
* K-State Agronomist To Help Author Next UN Report On Climate Change
National:
* CASMGS Helps
Science:
* New Version Of Premier Global Climate Model Released
International:
* Eight Countries Cooperate To
Re-Capture Methane
* Shell Oil Head Views Carbon
Sequestration As Essential
**********
K-State
Agronomist to Help Author
Next
UN Report on Climate Change
Chuck Rice, K-State professor of agronomy, has been invited to be one of the lead authors of a chapter in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“This is a tremendous responsibility and honor. IPCC assessment reports are often used to establish far-reaching policies and programs on climate change, and it’s critical to make sure that the reports are accurate, thorough, and completely objective,” Rice said.
“I’ll be one of 10 scientists responsible for the chapter on agriculture, including carbon sequestration and land use,” he added.
The IPCC was created in 1988 by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization. Its role is to provide objective assessments of the current research worldwide on climate change.
Previous IPCC Assessment Reports, published in 1990, 1995, and 2001, have had powerful effects on public policy. The First Assessment Report confirmed to the general public the scientific basis of climate change. It also helped lead to the adoption of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Second Assessment Report, in 1995, contributed to the negotiations that led to the adoption of the Convention’s Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The Third Assessment Report provided updated information used by governments worldwide to set policies.
IPCC Assessment Reports involve the collective efforts of
about 2,000 science experts from around the world, Rice said. The report
undergoes a rigorous two-stage international review process before it is
The IPCC is organized into three working groups and a task force on national greenhouse gas inventories. Working Group I assesses the scientific aspects of the climate system and of climate change. Working Group II addresses the vulnerability of human and natural systems to climate change, the negative and positive consequences of climate change, and options for adapting to them. Working Group III assesses options for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and otherwise mitigating climate change, and economic issues.
“My contribution will be within Working Group III,” Rice explained. “This Working Group addresses the issue of how to reduce greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.”
-- Steve Watson swatson@oznet.ksu.edu
**********
CASMGS
Helps
Deepen
Cooperation On Climate Change
Six new projects were announced
in
The announcement was made by
Judy Lawrence of the New Zealand Climate Change Office and Dr Harlan Watson,
the US Senior Climate Negotiator and Special Representative. The partnership
focuses on research into climate science and sequestration technology.
The new projects announced are:
* A study of global methane
emissions
* The rescue and digitization
of historic climate data
* Work on carbon dioxide sequestration
in coal seams
* Work to develop new materials
for the hydrogen economy
* Work on nitrous oxide
emissions from grazed pastures
* The hosting of a joint event
with
"The announcement of these
projects today underlines our continuing joint commitment to climate
change," says NZ Energy Minister and Convenor of the Ministerial Group on
Climate Change, Pete Hodgson.
The
Twenty-six projects were
announced on the partnership's launch when a
--
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.cfm?DocumentID=20342
**********
New
Version of Premier
Global
Climate Model Released
The
CCSM3 shows global temperatures
could rise by 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit in a hypothetical scenario in which
atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are suddenly doubled. That is significantly
more than the 3.6 degree Fahrenheit increase that had been indicated by the
preceding version of the model.
William Collins, an NCAR
scientist who oversaw the development of CCSM3, says researchers have yet to
pin down exactly what is making the model more sensitive to an increased level
of carbon dioxide. But he says the model overall is significantly more accurate
than its predecessor.
As scientists learn more about
the atmosphere, the world's most powerful climate models generally agree about
the climatic effects of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas emitted by
motor vehicles, power plants, and other sources. Observations show that
atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have increased from 280 parts per million
by volume (ppmv) in preindustrial times to more than 370 ppmv today, and the
increase is continuing. A doubling of carbon dioxide over present-day levels
would significantly increase global temperatures, according to all the major models.
The models do not always agree, however, on the complex impacts of clouds, sea
ice, and other pieces of the climate system.
-- The National Science
Foundation,
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/pr.cfm?ni=10000000000106
**********
Eight Countries
Cooperate
To
Re-Capture Methane
The
The Methane to Markets
Partnership aims to deliver significant energy, safety, and environmental
benefits through the recovery and use of methane, while reducing global greenhouse
gas emissions.
The Partnership will focus on
deploying cost-effective technologies in landfill gas-to-energy projects,
methane recovery projects at coal mines, and improvements in natural gas
systems, announced the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The
--
*********
Shell
Oil Head Views
Carbon
Sequestration As Essential
The head of one of the world's biggest
oil giants has said unless carbon dioxide emissions are dealt with he sees
"very little hope for the world."
Ron Oxburgh, head of Shell Oil,
told the Guardian newspaper that climate change made him "very worried for
the planet."
He said a technology to trap
harmful emissions, blamed by many scientists for climate change, must be developed. But he said he feared "the timescale
might be impossible".
"No one can be comfortable
at the prospect of continuing to pump out the amounts of carbon dioxide that we
are at present," said the Shell boss. "People are going to go on
allowing this atmospheric carbon dioxide to build up, with consequences that we
really can't predict, but are probably not good."
He said a technique called
carbon sequestration urgently needs to be developed to capture greenhouse gas
emissions like carbon dioxide, so they can be stored underground, rather than
be allowed to enter the atmosphere.
"Sequestration is
difficult, but if we don't have sequestration then I see very little hope for
the world. I don't see any other approach."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3814607.stm
**********
Seventh International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control
For more information, see: http://www.ghgt7.ca/main.html
Emissions Marketing Association 8th Annual Fall Meeting and International Conference
For more information, see: http://www.emissions.org/conferences/fallconference04
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Expert Meeting on Industrial Technology Development, Transfer and Diffusion
For more information, see: http://www.rivm.nl/mnp/ieweb/ipcc/index.html
Carbon Market Insights 2005
For more information, see: http://www.pointcarbon.com/article.php?articleID=3838&categoryID=141
**********
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