18 November 2015, The Conversation, The state of emergency could thwart public demonstrations at the Paris climate talks. What impact will the attacks have on the Paris Climate Change Conference scheduled to begin in 12 days? While already complicated, the talks will now take place within a state of emergency that is threatening to limit public participation. Events in Paris continue to unfold at a dizzying pace. But in the coming days we will learn a lot by paying attention to how parties use (and abuse) the language of freedom and liberty. American philosopher Judith Butler underlined this point in a note from Paris written the night after the attacks: “One version of liberty is attacked by the enemy, another version is restricted by the state. The state defends the version of liberty attacked as the very heart of France, and yet suspends freedom of assembly (“the right to demonstrate”) in the midst of its mourning and prepares for an even more thorough militarization of the police.” State of emergency the night of the attacks President François Hollande declared a state of emergency. The legal basis for this declaration derives from Article 16of the French Constitution (1958) and Law Number 55-385 (1955). Hollande’s announcement was only the second time since World War II that a President has exercised this power on French soil. The last occasion was in November 2005 when riots broke out in response to the deaths of two teenage immigrants, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré. On that occasion, the emergency lasted until January 4 2006. The current state of emergency took effect after midnight on November 14 and is set to expire after 12 days. However, it is likely that Hollande will successfully extend the emergency period for three months and gain broader security powers. Read More here
Monthly Archives: November 2015
18 November 2015, The Conversation, Shrinking Antarctic glaciers could make Adélie penguins unlikely winners of climate change. Penguin numbers exploded in East Antarctica at the end of the last ice age, according to research published today in BMC Evolutionary Biology. Despite their image as cold-loving creatures, the increase in Adélie penguin numbers seems to be closely linked to shrinking glaciers, raising the possibility the these penguins could be winners from current climate change. Adélie penguins are one of only two penguin species that live on the Antarctic continent. Their cousins, emperor penguins, may be the movie stars, but it is the Adélies that are the bigger players in the Southern Ocean. They outnumber emperors by more than ten to one, with a population of over 7.5 million breeding adults and counting. Given the abundance of Adélie penguins and their crucial role in Southern Ocean ecosystems, there has been a great deal of interest in understanding how the species is likely to respond to future climate change. Sensitivity to sea ice Breeding colonies have been monitored for decades to determine the effects of a changing environment on the penguins. A common finding of many of these studies is that Adélies are highly sensitive to sea ice conditions. Unlike emperor penguins, Adélies do not nest on the sea ice, but they must cross it to reach their nests on land. As everyone knows, penguins are not the most efficient walkers, and in years with a lot of sea ice their journeys to and from the ocean to feed their chicks can become lengthy. With a longer wait between meals chicks are less likely to survive. In an extreme case, extensive sea ice at one breeding colony had a devastating impact in 2014, and not a single chick survived. Read More here
17 November, ABC Science, New map of Earth’s groundwater to help estimate when it may run out. Less than 6 per cent of ground water in the upper two kilometres of the Earth’s landmass is renewable within a human lifetime, according to a new map showing the world’s hidden groundwater. “This has never been known before,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Tom Gleeson of the University of Victoria in Canada. “We already know that water levels in lots of aquifers are dropping. We’re using our groundwater resources too fast -faster than they’re being renewed.” Using data and computer models, an international group of hydrologists has produced the first data-driven estimate of the Earth’s total supply of groundwater. “Since we now know how much groundwater is being depleted and how much there is, we will be able to estimate how long until we run out.” The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, estimated a total volume of underground water to be almost 23 million cubic kilometres, of which 0.35 million cubic kilometres is younger than 50 years old. Underground water is found beneath the Earth’s surface and is recharged by rain, snow or water that leaks from the bottom of lakes and rivers. Its age can be a few months to millions of years. It can be found as deep as nine kilometres, according to the United States Geological Survey. “Since we now know how much groundwater is being depleted and how much there is, we will be able to estimate how long until we run out,” Dr Gleeson said. Read More here
17 November 2015, Washington Post, In a major step on the road to Paris, rich countries agree to slash export subsidies for coal plants. After a concerted push from the United States, members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development agreed Tuesday to slash subsidies aimed at exporting technology for coal-fired power plants. The decision by the world’s wealthiest countries to eliminate export credits for the least efficient coal plants, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2017, and can be strengthened four years later, marks a major negotiating success for the Obama administration in the run-up to U.N. climate talks later this month. The U.S. and several other key global players–including France, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development–have already limited its export financing for coal plants and had been pressing other nations, including Japan and South Korea, to follow suit. A senior administration official, who briefed reporters about the agreement reached in Paris on the condition of anonymity, said that under the new rules OECD countries would still provide export credits for coal plants using ultra-supercritical technology and help finance slightly less-efficient plants in the world’s poorest countries. But the policy would effectively cut off public financing for 85 percent of coal plants currently in the pipeline, he said. Jake Schmidt, who directs the international program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, estimated that these export agencies typically fund between five and seven coal plants a year. A large number of private banks follow the OECD guidelines for their own lending practices, he added, so the move could have “a ripple effect.” Read more here