New rules to cut methane emissions 40-45% by 2025 compared with 2012 levels in USA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will seek methane cuts from the industry of 40% to 45% by 2025 compared with 2012 levels, according to an administration official not authorized to speak publicly.

 Methane is the second most prevalent gas tied to climate change after carbon dioxide. The gas seeps from wells and the compressors, pumps, pipes and storage tanks that make up the oil and gas production and distribution network.

It’s worrisome because methane is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat because of greenhouse effect. Methane, which leaks from oil and gas wells, accounts for just 9 percent of the USA’s greenhouse gas pollution.

About one-third of the methane emissions come from oil and gas production and transmission.

The White House says it can make the moves under the Clean Air Act, rather than by trying to push legislation through the Republican-controlled congress.

Methane emissions from oil and gas drilling and production and transmission systems are projected to increase because of the breakthroughs in hydraulic fracturing technology that have led to an energy boom. A 2014 study published in the journal Science found that methane was leaking from oil and natural gas drilling sites and pipelines at rates 50 percent higher than previously thought.

Mr. Obama’s new regulations will be designed to curb methane leaks from oil and gas wells, pipelines and valves — the entire fossil fuel drilling, production and transportation system.

Initially, they will apply only to new and modified oil and gas systems.

Read more at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/us/politics/obama-administration-to-unveil-plans-to-cut-methane-emissions.html 

http://www.worldoil.com/Obama-said-to-target-methane-emissions-in-next-climate-task.html 

http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2015/01/15/obama-veut-reduire-de-40-les-emissions-de-methane-d-ici-a-2025_4556790_3234.html 

 

California is suffering its driest spell for at least 1,200 years and is now 100 per cent in drought

The current drought in California is the worst the state has seen in at least 1,200 years, according to a recent study published by the American Geophysical Union.

Scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the University of Minnesota reconstructed California’s temperature and precipitation history back to 800 A.D. using tree ring data.
Hidden in this millennium of data they found as many as 66 dry periods of at least three to nine years. In the entire 1,200 year period they studied, there were only three droughts that were similar in nature to the current drought.
Though none have been as severe as what California has seen in the three years since 2012. Not even the historic droughts of the late 1970s, nor the late 1980s.
The study also found that 2014 was the worst single drought year in the past 1,200 years, and that approximately 44 percent of California’s 3-year droughts have gone on to last another year, or longer.
Read more at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-drought-is-the-most-severe-in-at-least-1200-years-9908853.html

El Niño storms blamed for stunting growth in Peruvian children

The weather system known as El Niño is thought to be responsible for causing natural disasters and disease outbreaks worldwide. It could also, researchers now say, be blamed for the stunted growth of children in Peru.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US found that Peruvian children who were born during or immediately after a severe El Niño event 17 years ago were significantly shorter for their age than their peers born after the extreme storms abated. El Niño is a cyclical weather pattern that occurs every three to seven years in the equatorial Pacific region. Warming at the surface of the ocean builds up and heats the air above it which results in torrential rains and extreme flooding in the Americas.
Read more at:http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/el-nio-storms-blamed-for-stunting-growth-in-peruvian-children-9883021.html

The new climate economy: Better growth better climate

Countries at all income levels have the opportunity to build lasting economic growth and at the same time reduce the immense risk of climate change. But action is needed now.

Read at:
 http://newclimateeconomy.report/
http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2014/09/16/la-lutte-contre-le-rechauffement-n-est-pas-l-ennemie-de-la-croissance_4488013_3244.html 

Classification of air quality in European cities

The Romanian city of  Cluj-Napoca ranks first among 100 larger cities of the European Union in terms of air quality, according to a research published by French magazine We Demain together with Respire association.
Cluj-Napoca, which is located in the center of Romania’s historical province of Transylvania, is the country’s third largest city, with 304,500 people.
According to the research, Cluj-Napoca is one of the only two large cities in Europe where the average number of days of air pollution exceeding normal levels is zero. The other city is Edinburgh in Scotland, but Cluj wins due to lower average levels in the analyzed air pollution indicators.
The research takes into consideration three air polluting factors, which are small particles, nitrous dioxide and ozone and calculates the average number of days per year in which the level for these pollutants are exceeding the normal levels, which makes the air unhealthy to breathe.
However, the authors of the research show that the data measurements are imperfect which makes the data not that relevant for comparison. For example, Cluj has only two stations for measuring air pollution, while Berlin has 48 such stations. Berlin is ranked 65th with 83 days a year of exceeding levels for air pollution.
Read more at;
http://www.romania-insider.com/romanias-cluj-napoca-best-city-in-the-eu-for-air-quality/124062/
http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2014/06/05/dans-quelle-ville-en-europe-respire-t-on-le-mieux_4433073_3244.html
http://www.respire-asso.org/classement-de-la-qualite-de-lair-en-europe-100-plus-grandes-villes/ 

The European Parliament approved , 03-04-2014, a proposal aimed at decreasing vehicle noise by around 25%.

What’s the problem?

Traffic noise is one of the most widespread environmental problems in the European Union. Noise interferes with people’s daily activities at school, at work, at home and during leisure time. It causes sleep disturbance, hearing damage,  even cardiovascular disease; and hinders performance at work and children’s learning (1). Studies have revealed that fifty thousand deaths (2) and approaching a quarter of a million cases of cardiovascular disease every year in Europe are linked to traffic noise. For the first time, noise has also been linked to an increased stroke risk: in Denmark, 5% of all stroke cases are caused by traffic noise (3).

In terms of the burden on health, environmental noise is second only to air pollution according to the World Health Organisation. Noise standards for road vehicles have not been updated for 20 years and had little impact on noise levels adjacent to roads. Improved standards are long overdue but the current proposal fails to adequately deliver the health benefits and cost-savings that are possible by reducing noise from vehicles at the source. Proposed amendments by the motor industry would significantly weaken the inadequate proposals of the Commission. With the 6 EU Environment Action Programme and the EU Environmental Noise Directive (4), the European Parliament and the Member States have agreed to reduce noise. A more effective implementation of the vehicle noise standards would provide a significant opportunity to improve the health and quality of life of EU citizens.

What are the benefits of reducing vehicle noise?

Cutting road noise levels by just 3 decibels is equivalent to halving the level of traffic. This change would deliver a major improvement in the health and quality of life of the vast majority of European citizens who live in towns and cities or near major roads. A 3 decibel reduction is quickly and easily achievable through  technologies already readily available to Briefing  New EU vehicle noise limits  car and truck manufacturers. Nearly 1 in 4 of the cars and 1 in 3 of the light trucks tested over the past 5 years already meet the strictest standards proposed by the Commission.

Failing to tackle noise from vehicles at source requires national governments, local authorities and homeowners to install noise barriers or sound insulation to homes and public buildings. Quieter vehicles reduce the need for expensive noise abatement and would increase property values, since homes in noisy areas are less attractive to potential buyers.

What will the new regulation involve?

 Noise limit values will ultimately be decreased by 4 dB(A) for passenger cars, vans, buses and coaches and for trucks by 3 dB(A).

The Commission points out that despite increasing traffic, noise emissions limits for vehicles have not changed since 1996. 
Following the vote, limit values will be decreased in 3 steps and will the full reductions enforced in 10-12 years. 
In addition, a new and more representative test method to measure sound emissions will ensure that the sound level of vehicles under street driving conditions does not differ from the type-approval test results. 
Finally it is proposed that electric and hybrid electric vehicles be fitted with sound generating devices which would make these cars safer for pedestrians/visually impaired persons-
Read more at :
http://www.neurope.eu/article/parliament-votes-decrease-vehicle-noise 
http://www.transportenvironment.org/publications/new-eu-vehicle-noise-limits-0 

The dangers of global warming highlighted in latest UN report

(Reuters)-Global warming poses a growing threat to the health, economic prospects, and food and water sources of billions of people, top scientists said in a report that urges swift action to counter the effects of carbon emissions.
The latest report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the effects of warming are being felt everywhere, fuelling potential food shortages, natural disasters and raising the risk of wars.
"The world, in many cases, is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate," the IPCC said on Monday, after the final text of the report was agreed.
More warming increased the chance of harsh, widespread impacts that could be surprising or irreversible, it added.
The report projects global warming may cut world economic output by between 0.2 and 2.0 percent a year should mean temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), estimates that many countries say are too low.
"Over the coming decades, climate change will have mostly negative impacts," said Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), citing cities, ecosystems and water supply as being among the areas at risk.
"The poor and vulnerable will be most affected," he added.
The IPCC was set up in 1988 by the WMO and the United Nations Environment Programme.
RISK EMPHASIS
The report emphasizes the risks, and portrays cuts to greenhouse gas emissions as an insurance policy for the planet.
"Climate change is really a challenge of managing risks," Christopher Field, co-chair of the IPCC group preparing the report, told Reuters before its release on Monday.
The risks range from death to disrupted livelihoods in low-lying coastal zones and small islands, due to storm surges, coastal flooding, and sea-level rise, the report said.
Immediate action is needed, says the report, which follows a warning that humans are probably responsible for global warming thought to cause droughts, colder weather and rising sea levels.
Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/31/us-climate-ipcc-idUSBREA2U00E20140331 
http://www.ipcc.ch/