The Environment Chronicle

On 18 August 2015, Islamic scientiest from 20 countries launched a climate change declaration at an International Islamic Climate Change Symposium in Istanbul, Turkey.

On 18 August 2015, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Brian Salerno announced that Royal Dutch Shell plc has received approval of one Application for Permit to Modify (APM) to conduct exploratory drilling activities into potential oil-bearing zones offshore Alaska at one of the wells at the Burger Prospect, Burger J. The company remains limited to the top section of the Burger V well. Shell submitted an APM on August 6 to modify the Burger J Application for Permit to Drill (APD), which previously restricted Shell from drilling into oil-bearing zones since a capping stack was not on hand and deployable within 24 hours, as required by BSEE. A capping stack is a critical piece of emergency response equipment designed to shut in a well in the unlikely event of a loss of well control. The capping stack, staged on the vessel M/V Fennica, is now in the region and capable of being deployed within 24 hours.

Glaciers in Central Asia experience substantial losses in glacier mass and area. Along the Tien Shan, Central Asia’s largest mountain range, glaciers have lost 27% of their mass and 18% of their area during the last 50 years. An international research team led by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and including the institute of the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at Rennes University in particular, estimated that almost 3000 square kilometres of glaciers and an average of 5.4 gigatons of ice per year have been lost since the 1960s. In the online issue of Nature Geoscience published online 17 August 2015 , the authors estimate that about half of Tien Shan’s glacier volume could be depleted by the 2050s.

In 2015, Earth Overshoot Day falled on 13 August. In less than eight months, humanity has used up nature’s budget for the entire year, with carbon sequestration making up more than half of the demand on nature, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. Earth Overshoot Day has moved from early October in 2000 to August 13th this year.

On 12 August 2015, massive chemical explosions occured at the Port of Tianjin, China. Two explosions ripped through Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co. Ltd warehouse in Tianjin Port, killing 165 people. Another eight people are still unaccounted for. The explosions damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars and 7,533 containers, with verified direct economic losses of 6.87 billion yuan. On 5 February 2016, China released its official report of investigation, which reveals that the disaster, "an extraordinarily serious production safety accident," was caused by ignition of hazardous materials, improperly or illegally stored at the site. Ruihai Logistics had "illegally built a freight yard of hazardous materials, conducted illegal operations, illegally stored hazardous material and had been running inept safety management," the report said.

The UNFCCC Secretariat has reported that Australia is the 54th Party to formally submit its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), which sets out a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target of 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2030. The Party intends to implement the higher range of the target if circumstances allow, considering such factors as the costs of technology.

Scientists from the University of Sydney’s School of Geosciences have led the creation of the world’s first digital map of the seafloor’s geology. It is the first time the composition of the seafloor, covering 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, has been mapped in 40 years; the most recent map was hand drawn in the 1970s. Published online in the journal Geology on 5 August 2015, the map will help scientists better understand how our oceans have responded, and will respond, to environmental change. It also reveals the deep ocean basins to be much more complex than previously thought. Dr Dutkiewicz and colleagues analysed and categorised around 15,000 seafloor samples – taken over half a century on research cruise ships to generate the data for the map. She teamed with the National ICT Australia (NICTA) big data experts to find the best way to use algorithms to turn this multitude of point observations into a continuous digital map.

On 8 August 2015 the federal court overturned the Abbott government’s approval of Australia’s largest proposed coal project, Adani’s Carmichael mine in north Queensland. The court has ruled the environment minister, Greg Hunt, ignored his own department’s advice about the mine’s impact on two vulnerable species, the yakka skink and the ornamental snake.

On 3 August 2015, US President Obama and Environmental Protecting Agency (EPA) announced the finalization of America's Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan sets achievable standards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

On 2 August 2015, the Member States of the United Nations agreed to a final version of the post-2015 Development Agenda – now known as 2030 Agenda. The agenda entitled "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" is the first globally applicable implementation plan. All members of the United Nations agreed on its 17 concrete goals for sustainable development, poverty reduction, social issues and environmental protection. The agenda was drafted over the past three years by several UN bodies, especially the open working groups on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), which make up the agenda’s core elements. They replace the previous Millennium Development Goals and are to be implemented by 2030. Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks: "The decision on the UN sustainability agenda is historic. For the first time the international community has systematically linked tackling poverty with the preservation of our planet."

EFSA is to assess the findings of a report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which concludes that the herbicide glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans. The report will be considered as part of EFSA’s on-going peer review of the re-evaluation of glyphosate. The re-evaluation was carried out by the BfR, the German risk assessment body.

On 29 July 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced that the IARC Monograph on the herbicide glyphosate is now available online. After a systematic review and evaluation of the scientific evidence, the Monograph Working Group classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). This classification is the result of a year-long evaluation by leading independent experts without conflicts of interest, who reviewed all pertinent, publicly available scientific literature on the carcinogenicity of glyphosate. The established procedures and criteria for the selection, evaluation, and integration of evidence used in developing a Monograph are provided in the Preamble to the IARC Monographs.

A new Yale-led research revealed for the first time what the world thinks about climate change and why. Using data from the 2007-2008 Gallup World Poll, conducted in 119 countries, an international team of researchers identified the factors that most influence climate change awareness and risk perception for 90% of the world’s population. The contrast between developed and developing countries was striking, note the researchers: In North America, Europe, and Japan, more than 90% of the public is aware of climate change. But in many developing countries, relatively few are aware of the issue, although many do report having observed changes in local weather patterns. The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change on 27 July 2015. “Overall, we find that about 40% of adults worldwide have never heard of climate change,” said co-author Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and study lead. “This rises to more than 65% in some developing countries, like Egypt, Bangladesh, and India.” The research team also found that education level tends to be the single strongest predictor of a person’s awareness of climate change.

On 27 July 2015 at the White House, Secretary of State John Kerry and senior White House officials hosted 13 of the largest companies from across the American economy who are standing with the Obama Administration to launch the American Business Act on Climate Pledge: Alcoa, Apple, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Cargill, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Google, Microsoft, PepsiCo, UPS, and Walmart.

520.325 people called on the European Commission to save Europe's nature laws in a public consultation – by far the highest number of responses ever reached in the history of the EU. The public consultation formally closed at midnight on 26 July 2015. In May, major environmental organisations launched the 'Nature Alert' campaign in response to the EU Commission's proposal evaluate whether the existing EU nature laws should be changed. The campaign makes the case for improved implementation and enforcement of existing rules set out by the laws – known as the Birds and Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directives.

On 25 July 2015, renewables accounted for 78 percent of Germany's power consumption surpassing the old record of 73 percent. The new generation record was enabled by a combination of strong winds in the north, where most of Germany's wind turbines are installed, and sunny conditions in the south, where Germany has installed most of its solar.

The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry gives the go-ahead for a Conservation Concession for the protection of the critically endangered Sumatran orangutans. For more than five years the Frankfurt Zoological Society, The Orangutan Project and the WWF have been campaigning to obtain the management rights for two forestry concession blocks. Finally, on 24 July 2015, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry granted the licence for an Ecosystem Restoration Concession, an innovative way to preserve native forest areas from logging. The area (roughly one and a half times the size of the Bavarian Forest National Park) directly adjoins the 145,000 hectare Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. On behalf of the Indonesian Nature Conservation Agency the Frankfurt Zoological Society has been reintroducing seized illegal pet orangutans into Bukit Tigapuluh since 2002. Apart from being a new home for orangutans the concession area also serves as an important habitat for the critically endangered Sumatran tigers and Sumatran elephants. The implementation of the concession is funded via the KfW Development Bank with almost 3.6 million Euro by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety in the framework of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The granting of the licence was concluded after many years of struggle with the paper industry, which intended to claim the rainforest area for conversion into acacia plantations.

On 22 July 2015, the French parliament passed an energy law that will halve the country’s energy consumption by 2050, cut nuclear power production by a third by 2025 (from 75 percent of electricity mix to 50 percent), and increase renewable energy to 32 percent of total energy consumption by 2030. It also requires France to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, in part by reducing fossil fuel consumption by 30 percent in 2030 compared with 2012. The emissions reduction requirement is in line with the E.U.’s 28-country commitment to cut emissions at least 40 percent by 2030.

The Australian Government has set major new targets to tackle feral cats, protect and recover threatened mammals, birds and plants, and improve recovery practices under the nation's first Threatened Species Strategy. On 16 July 2015, Federal environment minister, Greg Hunt launched the Strategy at the Natonal Threatened Species Summit in Melbourne. Australia plans to kill two million feral cats over the next five years following concerns that the predators have been preying on wildlife and have left more than 120 native species at risk of extinction. “By 2020, I want to see two million feral cats culled, five new islands and 10 new mainland 'safe havens' free of feral cats, and control measures applied across 10 million hectares,” Mr Hunt said. It is believed there are about 20 million cats across the nation – and they kill about 75 million native animals a day. The cats arrived with the European settlers in the late 1700s and are the same species as domestic or alley cats, but have since gone wild and spread across the continent.

The five states that surround the central Arctic Ocean – Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark in respect of Greenland, the Kingdom of Norway, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America – met in Oslo on 16 July 2015 to sign a declaration to prevent unregulated commercial fishing in high seas portion of the central Arctic Ocean.

As part of the Energy Union strategy, launched by the European Commission in February 2015, on 15 July 2015 the Commission proposed a revision of the energy efficiency labelling laws. In order to make it easier for consumers to understand and compare products, the European Commission is suggesting to have one single 'A to G' energy label. The Commission proposes a return to the well-known and effective 'A to G' label scale for energy efficient products, including a process for rescaling the existing labels. The Commission proposes that all new products placed on the EU market are registered on an online database, allowing greater transparency and easier market surveillance by national authorities.

A pipeline failure has spilled about 5 million litres of bitumen, sand and wastewater from a Nexen Energy pipeline near its Long Lake oil sands facility south of Fort McMurray in northeastern Alberta, Canada. The leak from the pipeline was discovered in the afternoon of 15 July 15, 2015.

Enel Green Power and Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP), the Chilean state-owned company active in the hydrocarbons sector, have begun construction in Chile on Cerro Pabellón, the first geothermal plant in South America. Cerro Pabellón, located in the municipality of Ollagüe, in the region of Antofagasta, in the Andean Plateau, will also be the first geothermal plant in the world built at 4,500 metres above sea level.

In the most comprehensive analysis of climate change impacts on critical pollinators, researchers have found that rapid declines in bumblebee species across North America and Europe have a strong link to climate change. The study was published in Science on 10 July 2015. It was conducted by scientists from University of Ottawa and other North American institutions. Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), as one of the major partners from Europe, were responsible for coordinating basic data collection.

A reform of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), informally agreed with the Latvian Presidency of the Council, was endorsed by Parliament on 8 July 2015. The new law creates a system that will automatically take a portion of ETS allowances off the market and place it in a reserve if the surplus exceeds a certain threshold. In the opposite scenario, allowances could be returned to the market. Under the deal, "backloaded" allowances (900 million allowances withdrawn from the market at least until 2019), will be placed in the reserve. Any remaining allowances not allocated by the end of the current trading phase (2020) should also be placed in the reserve, subject to an overall review of the ETS directive, to be tabled by the Commission this year. The Market Stability Reserve will start operating earlier than initially foreseen, on 1 January 2019, instead of 2021 as proposed by the Commission.

On 8 July 2015, UN-General Secretary Ban Ki-moon visited the Franco-German Arctic research base AWIPEV in Spitsbergen, Norway. He caught up on the latest development of climate change. In front of the Blomstrandbreen glacier he called for action against the climate change. The international community has to „take action now“, Ban said. „I am just close to 250 metres to the glacier. It looks magnificient. But at the same time, I am alarmed that there are so many cracks that will soon break. They are melting very rapidly, and I fully agree with what scientists have been projecting.“ Ban has already visited the glacier six years ago. „We have to keep global temperature rise below two degrees as soon as possible.“ Together with the AWI researchers and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Norway, Borge Brende, Ban launched a radio-sonde which measures the temperature, the air pressure and other important atmospheric climate parameters.

On 8 July 2015, the EU became the 181st party to join the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The Convention covers more than 35 000 animal species and plants, ensuring that trade remains legal and sustainable. Further to a public consultation launched in 2014, the European Commission services have started the preparatory work for an EU Action Plan against wildlife trafficking, for which the EU accession to CITES constitutes an important milestone.

On 30 July 2015, the German weather service announced that a new all-time hot temperature record was confirmed for the country. At 3:40 p.m. local time, Kitzingen, Germany reached a scorching high temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius, breaking the old national temperature record of 104.4 degrees (40.2 degrees Celsius) which was previously set in 1983 and twice in 2003.

Researchers of the Institute of Aircraft Design showed the practicability of battery powered aircraft with a spectacular flight over the Alps. A milestone towards an energy efficient and carbon-neutral aviation has been reached. On 4 July 2015, the electric aircraft “e-Genius” flew from the airfield Hahnweide near Stuttgart over the Alps to Italy. On its way to the north-Italian airfield Calcinate del Pesce, the hi-tech aircraft had to cover a distance of 320 km and climbed to an altitude of 4000 m in order to pass the Swiss summits safely. The two seater aircraft was flown by the experienced record pilot Klaus Ohlmann and Ingmar Geiß of the University of Stuttgart. e-Genius arrived at its destination airfield in little over two hours. On the same day, the batteries were recharged and e-Genius headed back to Stuttgart in the afternoon. This was a particular challenge because of the steep profile of the Swiss Alps. In order to have enough time to climb, a flight path through the Gotthardpass was chosen, which meant the aircraft had to cover an even longer 365 km distance back to Germany. Besides the lack of carbon and noise emission, the energy consumption of the flight showed the huge potential of the new aircraft technology: for both flights combined, only 83 kWh were needed, the energy contained in 9.2 l of fuel. This leads to a total energy expense of only 21€ for the whole trip, assuming current electricity prices in Germany.

On 8 January 2015, the de Blasio Administration announced that as of July 1, 2015, food service establishments, stores and manufacturers may not possess, sell, or offer for use single service Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam articles or polystyrene loose fill packaging, such as “packing peanuts” in New York City.

The combined globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for July 2015 was the highest for any month since record keeping began in 1880. The July average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.46°F (0.81°C) above the 20th century average. As July is climatologically the warmest month for the year, this was also the all-time highest monthly temperature in the 1880–2015 record, at 61.86°F (16.61°C).

On 1 July 2015, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee confirmed the Great Barrier Reef would not be placed on its endangered list.

On 30 June 2015, the People's Republic of China submitted its new climate action plan to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). China will aim to cut its greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60-65% from 2005 levels under a plan submitted to the United Nations ahead of crucial climate change talks in Paris later this year. China said it would increase the share of non-fossil fuels as part of its primary energy consumption to about 20% by 2030.

On 29 June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked one of the Obama administration’s most ambitious environmental initiatives, an Environmental Protection Agency regulation meant to limit emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants. Industry groups and about 20 states had challenged the E.P.A.’s decision to regulate the emissions, saying the agency had failed to take into account the punishing costs its rule would impose. The Clean Air Act required the regulation to be “appropriate and necessary.” The challengers said the agency had run afoul of that law by deciding to regulate the emissions without first undertaking a cost-benefit analysis.

On 27 June 2015, just four days after being lofted into orbit, Europe’s Sentinel-2A satellite delivered its first images of Earth. With a swath width of 290 km, the satellite’s first acquisition began in Sweden and made a strip-like observation through central Europe and the Mediterranean, ending in Algeria. The data were relayed in real time to Italy’s Matera ground station, where teams eagerly awaited their arrival for processing. While northern and central Europe were mostly cloudy, Italy’s typical sunny weather allowed the teams to get their first glimpse of the multispectral instrument’s capabilities over the northwestern part of the country and the French Riviera – and they were excited by what they saw. With a ground resolution of 10 m per pixel, the images show individual buildings in Milan, agricultural plots along the Po River, and ports along the southern French coast.

On 27 June 2015, Ecuador released 201 tortoises on Santa Fe Island in the Galapagos archipelago, where a similar subspecies went extinct more than 150 years ago. The 201 tortoises were raised in captivity and are between four and 10 years old. Santa Fe is the former home to Chelonoidis sp, a subspecies of giant tortoise which died out after humans took a hefty toll on the ecosystem, beginning in the 18th century when pirates and buccaneers decimated the population. "We released in Santa Fe 201 tortoises from the Chelonoidis hoodensis subspecies, which are from Espanola Island, and which have morphological and genetic similarities to the extinct subspecies on the (Santa Fe) island," rangers from Galapagos National Park said. Of these, 30 have a radio transmitter that will allow park rangers to follow the animals in the wild.

On 24 June 2015, the Hague District Court ruled that the State must take more action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands. The State also has to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25% lower than those in 1990. The Urgenda Foundation had requested the court for a ruling. Based on the State’s current policy, the Netherlands will achieve a reduction of 17% at most in 2020, which is below the norm of 25% to 40% for developed countries deemed necessary in climate science and international climate policy. The legal proceedings were instituted by the Urgenda Foundation, a citizens’ platform which develops plans and measures to prevent climate change. The foundation also represents 886 individuals in this case.

The latest IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, update published on 23 June 2015, now includes 77,340 assessed species, of which 22,784 are threatened with extinction. The loss and degradation of habitat are identified as the main threat to 85% of all species described on the IUCN Red List, with illegal trade and invasive species also being key drivers of population decline. Update also shows that over-collection and habitat destruction are placing enormous pressure on many medicinal plants.