The Environment Chronicle

With increasing water temperatures comes an increasing likelihood of potentially pathogenic bacteria appearing in the North and Baltic Seas. AWI scientists have now proven that a group of such bacteria known as vibrios can survive on microplastic particles. In the future, they want to investigate in greater detail the role of these particles on the accumulation and possible distribution of these bacteria.

On 30 June 2016 the United Kingdom announced an ambitious new carbon target for the Year 2032. Amber Rudd accepted the advice of the government’s statutory climate advisers, setting a target on Thursday of reducing carbon emissions 57% by 2030 on 1990 levels.

On 30 June 2016, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission reached an agreement on how to better protect deep-sea fish, sponges and corals while maintaining the viability of the European fishing industry. The agreement brings the EU rules on deep-sea fisheries, which date back to 2003, in line with the sustainability targets enshrined in the EU's reformed Common Fisheries Policy. The text agreed contains a number of provisions that will help better protect the European deep seas. From now on, fishermen may only target deep-sea fish in areas where they have fished in the past (their so-called 'fishing footprint'), thereby ensuring that pristine environments remain untouched. Trawls below 800m will be banned completely in EU waters, and areas with vulnerable marine environments (VMEs) will be closed to bottom fishing below 400m. To further protect VMEs, fishermen will have to report how many deep-sea sponges or corals they catch and move on to other fishing grounds in case a certain maximum amount has been reached. These measures are complemented by a reinforced observers' scheme that will improve the scientific understanding of the deep sea. Finally, specific measures, for example landings in designated ports, will be taken to improve enforcement and control. Fishing authorisations may ultimately be withdrawn in case of failure to comply with the new rules. In 2012, the Commission had proposed a package which included the full phasing out over two years of deep-sea gears in contact with the sea bottom. This proposal was rejected by the Council and the Parliament. Today's agreement offers alternative protection measures.

On 6 June 2016, the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed failed to extend the licence for controversial weedkiller Glyphosate. Twenty member states voted in favour of the extension and only one against while seven abstained, including Germany and France.

On 23 June 2016, five young elk that were imported from Sweden in November 2015 were released into nature after spending the past months in an enclosed area in the Lille Vildmose marsh in northeastern Jutland, Denmark.

On 23 June 2016, the Berlin House of Representatives voted to blacklist investment into companies that are incompatible with the city’s stated goal of going “climate neutral” by the year 2050. The policy will ban coal, oil and gas companies from the city’s €750 million pension fund.

On 22 June 2016 the first eHighway system on a public road opened. For the coming two years, a Siemens catenary system for trucks will be tested on a two-kilometer stretch of the E16 highway north of Stockholm, Sweden. The trial will use two diesel hybrid vehicles to operate under the catenary system. During the two-year trial, Sweden's Transport Administration Trafikverket and Gävleborg County want to create a knowledge base on whether the Siemens eHighway system is suitable for future commercial use and further deployment.

On 22 june 2016, the world’s two primary city-led climate change and energy initiatives, the EU Covenant of Mayors and the Compact of Mayors, announced the formation of a new, first-of-its-kind global initiative of cities and local governments leading in the fight against climate change. This single initiative will create the largest global coalition of cities committed to climate leadership, building on the commitments of more than 7,100 cities from 119 countries and six continents, representing more than 600 million inhabitants, over 8% of the world’s population.

Norway has become the first industrialised nation to formally ratify the Paris Agreement, after its UN ambassador Geir Pederson deposited its "instrument of ratification" to the UN's climate change Secretariat in New York on 20 June 2016.

Solar Impulse 2 has completed the first ever crossing of the Atlantic by a solar-powered aeroplane, landing in Spain early on 23 June 2016. On 20 June 2016 the solar aircraft took off from New York's JFK airport after mission engineers identified a narrow weather window in which to undertake the nearly four-day flight.

On 15 June 2016, the European Commission presented criteria to identify endocrine disruptors in the field of plant protection products and biocides. The Commission proposes to the Council and the European Parliament to adopt a strong science-based approach to the identification of endocrine disruptors and to endorse the WHO definition.

On 10 June 2016, the European Commission presented a proposal for the European Union to ratify the Paris Agreement. The Commission's proposal for the ratification of the Paris Agreement on behalf of the EU is now with the European Parliament and Council for their approval. The Commission's proposal takes the form of a Council decision. The consent of European Parliament is required prior to the adoption of the decision by the Council. Once approved, the Council will designate the person(s) who will deposit the ratification instrument, on behalf of the European Union, to the United Nations Secretary- General. In parallel the EU Member States will ratify the Paris Agreement individually, in accordance with their national parliamentary processes.

On 8 June 2016, Shell Canada announced it has voluntarily contributed offshore rights to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to support the establishment of a national marine conservation area off the coast of Nunavut.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 8 June 2016 calling for the Commission to take immediate action on the definition of endocrine (hormone) disruptors. The executive was supposed to publish its scientific criteria for the identification of chemical substances that affect the human endocrine system by December 2013 at the latest.

On 5 June 2016, a key international treaty aimed at combating illegal fishing came into force. The Port State Measures Agreement, adopted and promoted in November 2009 by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation, allows countries to keep illegal operators out of their ports and to prevent them from landing illegal catches. It requires that countries officially designate ports for use by foreign fishing vessels. These vessels should send prior notifications to enter designated ports and provide port authorities with information, including on the catches they have on board. The Agreement also calls on countries to deny entry or inspect vessels that have been involved in IUU fishing and to take appropriate actions.

Climate change is fast becoming one of the most significant risks for World Heritage sites, according to the report “World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate”, released on 26 May 2016 by UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The report lists 31 natural and cultural World Heritage sites in 29 countries that are vulnerable to increasing temperatures, melting glaciers, rising seas, intensifying weather events, worsening droughts and longer wildfire seasons. At the request of the Government of Australia, references to Australian sites were removed from the Report. The report initially had a key chapter on the Great Barrier Reef.

On 19 May 2016 a committee of representatives from the 28 European Union member states met again to vote on whether to extend the authorization of glyphosate - the most commonly used herbicide in the world - which is set to expire in the EU at the end of June. But the committee could still not get a majority of countries for or against reauthorization.

On 18 May 2016, German federal cabinet agreed to set aside some 600 million euros to encourage people to buy electric cars - via an "environmental bonus." The costs of the scheme will be shared with the auto industry, which is also putting up 600 million euros. New car-buyers stand to get a 4,000-euro subsidy if they buy a purely electric car, and 3,000 euros if they opt for a hybrid car, which combines a battery and a small combustion engine. Not only that, electric cars will be exempt from motor vehicle taxes for 10 years.

On 17 May 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found in favor of four youth plaintiffs, all supported by Our Children's Trust, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, in the critical climate change case, Kain et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The Court found that the DEP was not complying with its legal obligation to reduce the State’s GHG emissions and ordered the agency to “promulgate regulations that address multiple sources or categories of sources of greenhouse gas emissions, impose a limit on emissions that may be released . . . and set limits that decline on an annual basis.”

On 12 May 2016, the Brazilian Government announced the creation of five new protected areas in the State of Amazonas. These lands together stand for 2.69 million hectares. All of these areas are located in the Madeira River basin , in the southern Amazon. They were established due from studies funded by the Amazon Protected Areas Program (ARPA) – a Brazilian government initiative supported technically and financially by WWF for more than a decade. The Conservation Director of WWF-Brazil, Mário Barroso, celebrated the creation of the new areas. “Creating protected areas is one of the most effective strategies to protect and promote the conservation of biodiversity. So, we welcome the action of the Brazilian Government and found this decision very interesting and important”, he said.

On 9 May 2016 environmental officials in El Salvador announced a three-month emergency over a molasses spill in a river in the Santa Ana department. The civil protection service issued the alert after 3.4 million liters of sludgy, brown, hot molasses was released into La Magdalena river near the town of Chalchuapa, 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of the capital San Salvador. The environment ministry said the spill occurred on 4 May 2016.

On 9 May 2016, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew released the first annual report on the State of the World’s Plants. The World's Plants report, which involved more than 80 scientists and took a year to produce, is a baseline assessment of current knowledge on the diversity of plants on earth, the global threats these plants currently face, as well as the policies in place and their effectiveness in dealing with threats. The first section focuses on the diversity of plants on earth, noting that there are now an estimated 391,000 vascular plants known to science of which 369,000 are flowering plants -- with around 2,000 new vascular plant species described annually. In terms of the uses of plants, the report collates data from multiple data sources to reveal that at least 31,000 plant species have a documented use for medicines, food, materials and so on. The majority (17,810 plants) of those now documented have a medicinal use. A large movement of invasive alien plant species is also occurring. Nearly 5000 plant species are now documented as invasive in global surveys. These plants are causing large declines in native plants, damaging natural ecosystems, transforming land-cover and often causing huge economic losses.

The Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) takes effect on 8 May, 30 days after the number of countries adhering to this legal instrument reached the necessary threshold for its coming into force. One hundred and two countries have now adhered to the Amendment, which amount to two-thirds of the 152 States Parties to the CPPNM. The Amendment expands the original Convention, adopted in 1979, to also cover the protection of nuclear facilities and nuclear material in domestic use, storage and transport.

On 5 May 2016, Dilma Rouseff, President of Brazil inaugurated the hydroelectric power station of Belo Monte in Para state.

On 3 May 2016 Brazilian federal prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit demanding that mining companies responsible for a catastrophic dam failure in November 2015 shell out up to 155 billion reais ($43.55 billion) for cleanup and remediation.

Energy-intensive industries have received too many pollution permits for the period 2013-2020 under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the European Court of Justice ruled on 28 April 2016.

The European Commission is referring Germany to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to take stronger measures to combat water pollution caused by nitrates. Nitrates are essential for plants to grow and they are widely used as fertilisers. However, excess levels cause severe water pollution, with consequences for people's health, the economy and the environment. The decision follows a reasoned opinion sent to the German authorities in July 2014. The latest figures submitted by Germany in 2012 and several recent reports from the German authorities show worsening nitrate pollution in groundwater and surface waters, including the Baltic Sea. Despite these trends, Germany has not taken sufficient additional measures to effectively address nitrates pollution and revise its relevant legislation to comply with the EU rules on nitrates (Council Directive 91/676/EEC). Since the Commission considers that the water pollution by nitrates is also not sufficiently addressed in the framework of the ongoing revision of the national action programme, it has decided to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the EU.

On 27 April 2016, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission adopted a policy proposal that will guide the actions of the European Union in the Arctic region. The European Union will step up its existing action and engagement in the region with 39 actions focussing on climate change, environmental protection, sustainable development and international cooperation. The particular importance of research, science and innovation is reflected across these priority areas. The Arctic covers the Central Arctic Ocean, its regional seas such as the Barents, Kara and Chukchi seas, as well as the territories of Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States. Three EU Member States are therefore also Arctic States, while Iceland and Norway are members of the European Economic area.

The second Sentinel-1 satellite – Sentinel-1B – was launched on 25 April 2016 to provide more ‘radar vision’ for Europe’s environmental Copernicus programme. Sentinel-1B lifted off on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST), separating from the rocket’s Fregat upper stage 23 min 35 sec later. Sentinel-1B joins its identical twin, Sentinel-1A, in orbit to deliver information for numerous services, from monitoring ice in polar seas to tracking land subsidence, and for responding to disasters such as floods.

Ferries and ships will be banned from dumping toilet waste in the Baltic Sea the International Maritime Organization said on 22 April 2016 in London. The ban will come into force in June 2019 for new passenger ships and two years later for older vessels, the IMO said in a statement.

In an extraordinary show of support for the Paris climate agreement 175 countries signed the Paris Agreement at a ceremony at UN Headquarters on 22 April 2016 that far exceeded the historical record for first-day signatures to an international agreement.

The Indian monsoon’s yearly onset and withdrawal can now be forecasted significantly earlier than previously possible. A team of scientists developed a novel prediction method based on a network analysis of regional weather data, and will propose this approach to the Indian Meteorological Department. The heavy summer rains are of vital importance for millions of farmers feeding the subcontinent’s population. Future climate change will likely affect monsoon stability and hence makes accurate forecasting even more relevant. “We can predict the beginning of the Indian monsoon two weeks earlier, and the end of it even six weeks earlier than before – which is quite a breakthrough, given that for the farmers every day counts,” says Veronika Stolbova from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the University of Zurich, the lead-author of the study to be published in the Geophysical Research Letters.

On 20 April 2016, German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks submitted an official request to the Belgian government that two nuclear reactors – referred to as Tihange 2 and Doel 3 – be taken offline until further safety checks can be completed.

On 19 April 2016, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed Supervisor Scott Wiener’s legislation to require solar panels be installed on new residential and commercial buildings constructed in San Francisco. From January 2017 all new buildings in the city with 10 floors or fewer must have either solar PV or solar thermal panels installed.

More than seven trillion US dollars economic damage and eight million deaths via natural disasters since the start of the 20th century: These figures have been calculated and collected by the risk engineer Dr. James Daniell from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). His database CATDAT looks at examining socioeconomic indicators as well as collecting and evaluating socioeconomic loss data through time, and has built a massive base for his post-disaster risk model which helps governments and aid organisations with catastrophe management and assessing rapidly the scale of a disaster. On 18 April 2016 James presented his results at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna. As part of CATDAT, James Daniell has collected and evaluated over 35,000 natural disaster events since 1900 globally. Around a third of economic losses between 1900 and 2015 have been caused via floods. Earthquakes have caused around 26 percent of losses, Storms around 19 percent, Volcanic eruptions around 1 percent. „Over the last 100+ years the economic losses via natural disasters, in absolute terms, have increased“, said Dr. Daniell, who conducts research at KIT as a John Monash Scholar is at the Geophysical Institute as well as the Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology CEDIM. Over the whole time period, floods have caused the highest amount of economic losses, however, in recent times, since 1960, the highest percentage has switched to storm (and storm surge) with around 30% of losses. Over 8 million deaths are shown in the CATDAT database since 1900 for earthquake, flood, storm, volcano and bushfires (withough counting deaths due to long term effects or drought/famine). The amount of deaths due to earthquake between 1900 and 2015 from the database at around 2.32 million (with a range of 2.18-2.63 million). Around 59 percent of them died as a result of the collapse of masonry buildings, and 28% of them due to secondary effects such as tsunami or landslides. Volcanic eruptions in the same time period have killed only 98,000 people (range: 83,000-107,000). However, volcanic eruptions before 1900, like the Tambora 1815 event, have the possibility to cause massive death tolls and also cause lower temperatures around the world leading to food security issues. With each event over 100000 deaths, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (around 230,000) and 2008 Cyclone Nargis (around 140000) in Myanmar are the largest disasters since 2000 in terms of deaths. The event with the highest death toll to date is the Great Floods of 1931 in China with a mean estimate around 2.5 million deaths.

On 15 April 2016 EU member states supported proposals not to renew the EU approvals for the herbicides, amitrole, isoproturon and triasulfuron. The three active ingredients previously had their existing approvals extended to June 30th due to ongoing delays in the EU renewal programme.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) responded positively to the invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways.

On 24 March 2016, Longannet Power Station in Fife, Scotland switched off its four generating units for the last time, signalling the end of coal-fired electricity production in Scotland. Its owner, Scottish Power, said the high cost of connecting to the grid was to blame. Friends of the Earth Scotland said the move showed the positive steps taken in the fight against climate change.

New Greenpeace International research released on 22 March 2016, on World Water Day, finds that coal power plants around the world consume enough freshwater to sustain 1 billion people. Greenpeace International commissioned the Dutch engineering consultancy Witteveen+Bos to develop a model to calculate the existing and growing fresh water withdrawal and consumption (hereafter referred to as water demand) from coal-fired power plants and coal mining, and to analyse the detailed impact of coal-fired power plant water demand on surface freshwater resources. Their calculations show that existing coal-fired power plants alone consume 19 billion m3 of freshwater per year globally. This means that annually the world’s 8,359 coal-fired power plant units consume enough water to meet the most basic needs of more than 1 billion people. If we add the water that the coal industry uses to mine hard coal and lignite, this number rises to 22.7 billion m3 of water per year, enough to meet the most basic water needs of 1.2 billion people.

One in five home appliances tested by consumer and green groups consumes more energy than claimed on packaging. The three year investigation into fridges, dishwashers, light bulbs and other energy-using products found undeclared energy use in a majority of product groups. The MarketWatch project, co-financed by the European Commission and run by a coalition of European civil society groups, instructed accredited labs to follow official procedures to verify compliance with EU product efficiency rules. The project used a range of intelligence to focus on products and sectors thought to be failing, so the results do not reflect the market as a whole. Sample sizes reflected those used by market surveillance authorities for half the products studied. Smaller samples were used where manufacturers accepted initial findings or products were being discontinued.