Author: Monique Decortis

This calendar covers events from 15 March to 24 May 2015

Download it here or from www.vcac.org.au/calendar

A number items of interest are featured below.

Regards,
Monique

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life
on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet”
– Albert Einstein

• CHALLENGING CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH DIET (Extract)
• DEFORESTATION – youtube video
• ZERO CARBON AUSTRALIA LAND USE; AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

CHALLENGING CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH DIET (Extract)
Monique Decortis

……Diet impacts on climate as meat based diets are in a large part responsible for the emissions of methane through the life cycle and supply chain of animals raised for food.
Ruminants such as cattle, sheep, goats, camel, and buffalo produce methane as a by-product of digesting plant material. Globally, ruminant livestock produce roughly 80 million metric tons of methane annually, accounting for about 28% of the global methane emissions from human-related activities. Livestock production systems can also emit nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.
Livestock raising is one of the main drivers of deforestation. Clearing of tropical forests and rain forests for the creation of new grazing land and farm land increases the rate of species extinction, has a devastating effect on biodiversity and is responsible for an extra 2.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emission per year.
With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double by 2050, while milk output is also set to increase considerably. Livestock now use 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 percent of the global arable land used to produce feed for livestock. Livestock water consumption, including water used in producing feed, places great stress on the already-limited supply of water resources.
Replacing livestock with other food sources would greatly reduce greenhouse emissions and therefore the rate at which the climate is warming. Replacement of livestock for mitigation of climate change needs to go alongside other actions such as cessation of deforestation through logging for commercial reasons, replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy, population control and an overall reduction in consumption of our natural resources.

DEFORESTATION (3:50 minutes)

Tropical forests act as the lungs and temperature regulator for the planet. and they play a crucial role in maintaining a stable climate. Over half of the species on earth reside in tropical forests, yet every year, 20 million hectares of tropical forests are being destroyed, releasing 2 billion tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere. Every second an area of tropical rainforest the size of a football field is being destroyed.Deforestation is responsible for 20-25% of global warming, due to the massive release of CO₂ that is stored in the trees.
A Woods Hole Research Centre study found that the Amazon Forest is at imminent risk of being turned into desert.  If the 90 billion tons of carbon stored in the Forest were released into the atmosphere, it would have disastrous consequences on the world’s climate.
According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization’s 2007 report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 70% of total Amazon deforestation, and over 90% of Amazon deforestation since the 1970’s, is due to clearing land for pasture and for growing soya bean crops to be fed to livestock. In addition, scientists have found that 60% of the black carbon particles building up on the surface of the ice in Antarctica were carried there by the wind from South American forests, which are burned to clear land for livestock production. Black carbon, or soot, is 680 times more heat trapping than CO₂.

 

ZERO CARBON AUSTRALIA LAND USE; AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

Beyond Zero Emissions

Beyond Zero Emissions’ Zero Carbon Australia Land Use Report outlines a range of measures that can substantially reduce emissions and provide opportunities for farmers in building resilience to the impacts of climate change. These measures encompass both agriculture and forestry and address emissions at the scale required to prevent catastrophic climate change.

                                

The Land Use Report analyses the suite of land use practices in Australia for their function as a source of greenhouse emissions, the potential of the landscape to draw down atmospheric CO2, and the likely impact of changes to land use patterns on local economies. The report provides a comprehensive assessment of how Australia can manage its productive capacity, ecological heritage and ecosystems services for the future.

Download the report (pdf 16.1 MB) or order the report: BZE online shop.

 

This update of the Victorian Climate Action Calendar covers events from 22 February to 19 April

   can be downloaded here and from vcac.org.au/calendar

    A number items of interest are featured below.

    Regards,

    Monique

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• HEALTHY SOILS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE
• SOIL IS A NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCE – info sheets
• BBC RADIO: INSIDE SCIENCE – SOIL BEHAVIOUR
• WHAT IS SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION?
• SOIL CARBON MONITORING IN TANZANIA – youtube video

– 2015 IS THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SOILS – 

HEALTHY SOILS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE 

Soil is a non renewable resource, and it determines much of our existence. Soil, apart from feeding us and sustaining us, also has a crucial regulatory role in our climate. The United Nations has declared 2015 The International Year of Soils It aims to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security, essential ecosystem functions and in addressing climate change.

 

SOIL IS A NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCE

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Soil preservation is essential for food security and our sustainable future

Soil is a core component of land resources, agricultural development and ecological sustainability, it is the basis for food, feed, fuel and fibre production and for many critical ecosystem services. It is therefore a highly valuable natural resource, yet it is often overlooked. The natural area of productive soils is limited – it is under increasing pressure of intensification and competing uses for cropping, forestry, pasture and urbanization, and to satisfy demands of the growing population for food and energy production and raw materials extraction. Soils need to be recognized and valued for their productive capacities as well as their contribution to food security and the maintenance of key ecosystem services. Read further.

BBC RADIO INSIDE SCIENCE ON SOIL BEHAVIOUR

New research seeking to further our understanding of soil behaviour.

Adam Rutherford interviews a number of people.including Richard Bardgett, Professor of Ecology Manchester University who says: “…The soil covers pretty much all of the earth’s surface, and we need the soil for our foods……the soil is critical for climate change, the soil is the third largest global store of carbon and there is something like almost two to three times as much carbon contained in the soil as there is in the within the atmosphere. So it is an incredibly important carbon store affecting the whole global circulation of carbon which is critically important for climate change…”

Soils acts as storage for carbon, especially when it is frozen but as the world gets warmer the permafrost melts as a runaway effect of climate change. With global warming the permafrost and the tundra defrost, releasing megatons more carbon…..

Further into the program, Professor Ian Hartley, Exeter University, says that “perhaps there is three times as much carbon in permafrost as we previously thought… That carbon has been present in these soils for thousands of years.  However, tundra ecosystems are no longer absorbing carbon, they are actually releasing it. They are releasing it when they are starting to decompose when the permafrost thaws as it responds to climate change”. Listen to the program(30mins)

WHAT IS SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION 

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide can be lowered by reducing emissions or by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing in  terrestrial, oceanic, or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. A sink is defined as a process or an activity that removes greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. The long-term conversion of grassland and forestland to crop and grazing lands has resulted in losses of soil carbon worldwide but there is a major potential for increasing soil carbon through restoration of degraded soils and widespread adoption of soil conservation practices. ……land-use conversion and soil cultivation are still responsible for about one-third of GHG emissions…. However, improved agricultural practices can help mitigate climate change by reducing emissions from agriculture and other sources and by storing carbon in plant biomass and soils. » Read the full article

SOIL CARBON MONITORING IN TANZANIA

 

This Victorian Climate Action Calendar covers events from 15 February to 12 April 2015.

» Download the newsletter here

A number items of interest are featured below.

Regards,
Monique

• “HOTTEST YEAR’ STORY OBSCURES BIGGER NEWS: OCEAN WARMING NOW OFF THE CHARTS
• WHY THE ARCTIC IS WARMING FASTER THAN THE REST OF THE PLANET
• ARCTIC’S ‘PENGUINS OF THE NORTH’ ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

‘HOTTEST YEAR’ STORY OBSCURES BIGGER NEWS: OCEAN WARMING NOW OFF THE CHARTS

Joe Romm Jan 2015

The oceans — where over 90% of global warming heat ends up — have literally warmed up off the charts of NOAA. The big climate news in the past weeks was NOAA and NASA announcing that 2014 was the hottest year on record, breaking the highs of 2005 and 2010. But the bigger story got buried: Global warming has continued unabated in recent years. Indeed, it’s not just that there not been a hiatus or pause or even slowdown in surface temperature warming (see below).

Ocean heat content data to a depth of 2,000 meters, from NOAA.

The oceans, where the vast majority of human-caused global warming heat goes, have seen an acceleration in warming in recent years. As climate expert Prof. John Abraham writes in the UK the UK Guardian, “The oceans are warming so fast, they keep breaking scientists’ charts.”

WHY THE ARCTIC IS WARMING FASTER THAN THE REST OF THE PLANET    

Mindy Townsend Dec 2014

Earth’s climate is continuing to warm, and the arctic regions are warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. This is to do with light and how that light interacts with stuff. Different wavelengths of visible light correspond with different colors. For example, if you see a green plant that means that the plant is absorbing all wavelengths of light except green. Green is reflected back, and that is what we see. Black and white are a little different, but it’s the same concept. Black is really the absence of light. Things that appear black are absorbing most of the light that hits it.  White is all colors; things that appear white are reflecting most of the light back.  The amount of light reflected from a surface without being absorbed is called the albedo. The more light or energy is absorbed, the lower the albedo. This concept is important for determining the effects of climate change.

The Earth reflects about 30 percent of the sun’s radiation, but not every point on the planet reflects the same amount. For example, snow reflects about 95 percent of the sun’s radiation. Water, on the other hand, absorbs that radiation. It only reflects about 10 percent of the radiation. As the arctic ice melts, it starts to expose the darker regions beneath it. Those darker regions absorb more heat, and cause more melting. This is called arctic amplification, and it’s causing the arctic region to heat up at a much greater rate than the rest of the world.

Marine animals depend on the arctic sea ice for survival. Some such as Polar bears are doing okay in areas where sea ice is holding steady, but they are struggling in areas of sea ice decline. Some arctic vegetation can’t tolerate the new summer heat. Sea level rise will likely cause coastal erosion and flooding, and millions of people around the world are vulnerable to this. All of this is to say that the planet is still warming and the warming is accelerating in possibly the worst possible area of the planet.

ARCTIC’S ‘PENGUINS OF THE NORTH’ ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Brian Clark Howard National Geographic  Jan, 2015

The latest research on little auks, sometimes called “penguins of the north,” reveals a surprising response to a rapidly warming Arctic: The birds make up for food lost to the effects of climate change by catching prey that were stunned by the cold water running off melting glaciers—another effect of climate change.

Why It Matters: Little auks are considered especially vulnerable to climate change. The birds are often considered an indicator species of the Arctic, raising red flags for ecological changes.

“It’s good news that the little auks are adapting now, but because the system is changing continuously, we don’t know how long they will be able to keep up. …

… ultimately there is only one thing we can do for little auks, polar bears, and everything else that is affected, that’s to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.”  

» Read more about the study

The latest update of the Victorian Climate Action Calendar covers events from 8 February to 5 April 2015. It can be downloaded here. 

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A number items of interest are featured below.

• SUSTAINABLE LIVING FESTIVAL – information

• TRANSITIONS FILM FESTIVAL – information & youtube video

• GLOBAL DIVESTMENT DAY – participation invited

• THE HUMAN COST OF POWER – youtube video

• ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INTERRUPTED – youtube video

We are in for a very busy month: 

THE SUSTAINABLE LIVING FESTIVAL this year with no less than 300 events, started on on 7 February and will run till 1 March.

The Sustainable Living festival raises awareness and provides tools for change by showcasing leading solutions to the ecological and social challenges we face. It will again present a rich program of home and lifestyle solutions including talks, workshops, art, film, performance and markets to educate and inform the audience about their state of sustainability.
» Visit SLF  

THE TRANSITIONS FILM FESTIVAL will start the first of its 20 cutting-edge documentaries and huge range of shorts on 13 February and it will run till 6 March.
The Transitions Film Festival, Australia’s largest sustainability film festival, is dedicated to showcasing inspirational documentaries about the social and technological innovations, revolutionary ideas and trailblazing change-makers that are leading the way to a better world.
» Share the festival trailer on Facebook

GLOBAL DIVESTMENT DAY – 13 & 14 February

Friday and Saturday, people across the country and around the world will break up with fossil fuels and call on others to do the same. Divestment is weakening the political power of the fossil fuel industry so that we can break the climate deadlock and build the solutions the world needs. Together, we’re changing the game and putting fossil fuels on the defensive. Be part of a shift!  Here are some important things you can do:

   – Attend your nearest event.

   – Divest your bank

   – Divest your super

   – Change your profile picture on social media to demand divestment

» Click here to register for Global Divestment Day

THE HUMAN COST OF POWER – youtube video (16.3mins)

by the Climate and Health Association.

This film explores the health impacts associated with the massive expansion of coal and unconventional gas in Australia. It was produced by Fiona Armstrong, convenor, Climate and Health Alliance, together with the Public Health Association of Australia and directed by award winning science journalist Alexandra de Blas

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INTERRUPTED   (1.25mins)

Many of us learned about our natural environment from David Attenborough. And we all know that when it comes to presenting wildlife documentaries, you can’t outdo David Attenborough – but a rowdy bird of paradise had a pretty good go at it.   Thanks to the bird it took several takes for Sir David to get the sequence just right for his latest project ‘Birds of Paradise’.

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This Victorian Climate Action Calendar covers events from 1 February to 30 March 2015.

» Download the calendar here

 

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Four items of interest from the calendar are featured below:

• CLIMATE CHANGE MOVES THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK – information

• CSIRO, BOM RESEARCH SHOWS HOW CLIMATE CHANGE WILL AFFECT AUSTRALIA – article

• IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE, AND IT’LL BE SUPER-CHEAP – article

• JOIN OTHERS TO MAKE A FINAL STAND AGAINST THE MAULES CREEK COAL MINE – participation invited

 

 

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVES THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK

Last updated in 2012 at five minutes to midnight, the clock has moved forward

two minutes as the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists grows further concerned

about the emissions trajectory.

1947: 7 minutes to midnight

2015 : 3 minutes to midnight

CSIRO BOM RESEARCH SHOWS HOW CLIMATE CHANGE WILL AFFECT AUSTRALIA

Droughts will become more intense. Hot days will become more frequent and hotter. Bush fires could become more common and more destructive than ever, ‘severe’ bushfire ratings will become more common. Extreme rainfall events across the nation are likely to become more intense, even where annual-average rainfall is projected to decline.” Oceans will become much warmer and more acidic.  Cyclones will decrease, but when they do occur they will be significantly fiercer and occur further south.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE, AND IT’LL BE SUPER-CHEAP

Many problems facing humanity are not straightforward, cheap or easy to solve. Solving climate change however, although not easy to solve, is straightforward we know precisely what needs to be done and the net cost is quite low.”

JOIN IN TO MAKE A FINAL STAND AGAINST THE MAULES CREEK COAL MINE

It has been an amazing journey. We have come together to make clear that we will not stand idly by as coal companies proceed with their damaging expansion plans. Over the past year, hundreds of Australians have come to the Leard State Forest to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and the construction of one of the worst new coal mines in Australia to protect our climate, our environment, and our democracy. People like rugby legend David Pocock and internationally renowned scientist and IPCC contributor Colin Butler, but also everyday heroes – such as doctors, mothers and religious leaders.

In the coming months Whitehaven Coal is determined to continue building their mine, with clearing of the Leard State Forest imminent. Join us to make a final stand against the Maules Creek Coal Mine. Led by our friends at Front Line Action on Coal, Bat Attack will be an incredible 6 day gathering from February 13th – 18th. There will be music, skill shares, workshops, and actions, forest tours and performances from poets, circuses and musicians.

» Register here to join us

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