Polar ice sheets melting faster than predicted

Ice loss from the massive ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica is accelerating, according to a new study.

If the trend continues, ice sheets could become the dominant contributor to sea level rise sooner than scientists had predicted, concludes the research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

"The traditional view of the loss of land ice on Earth has been that mountain glaciers and ice caps are the dominant contributors, and ice sheets are following behind," said study co-author Eric Rignot, a glaciologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California, Irvine. "In this study, we are showing that ice sheets, mountain glaciers and ice caps are neck-and-neck."

But that could soon change, Rignot said, because the rate at which ice sheets are losing mass is increasing three times faster than the rate of ice loss from mountain glaciers and ice caps.

"I don't think we expected ice sheets to run neck-and-neck with mountain glaciers, which basically sit in a warmer climate, this soon," he said.

Source: Greenwire, 9 March 2011

In this issue

Several options for cutting ships’ emissions

A mix of regulatory measures, such as emission control areas and fuel efficiency standards, combined with market-based instruments, is the best way of reducing air emissions from shipping, according to a report published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in December.

NOx emission control in the Baltic Sea

Designating the Baltic Sea as a NOx Emission Control Area will more than halve ships’ NOx emissions by 2040

Strict sulphur standards no threat to shipping

The health benefits alone are worth 27 times more than the costs to the shipping industry, when tougher standards for sulphur emissions are introduced in 2015.

Air pollution in the UK linked to 200,000 deaths

Reducing concentrations of particulate air pollution would lead to significant gains for public health, according to new review from an independent expert group.

Further cuts in emissions of air pollutants needed

The European Environment Agency (EEA) recently released its fourth state of the environment report (SOER 2010), providing a comprehensive assessment of how and why Europe’s environment is changing.

Policy action improves air quality in Europe

A new study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) evaluates three key EU policy instruments for air pollution control and finds that they have significantly improved Europe’s air quality and reduced pollution-induced health damage. There is however scope for further improvement, if countries achieve all their binding commitments to reduce emissions.

Ongoing negotiations for new emission ceilings

Europe-wide solutions for step-wise improvements of health and the environment at the least overall cost are being investigated.

High economic benefits of new NEC directive

The annual benefits of achieving the interim targets of the thematic strategy on air pollution are valued at 15-49 billion euro in 2020.

How to cut global energy use by three quarters

It will probably be difficult to replace all fossil fuels with sustainable energy. But if we first cut energy demand it will be much easier – and the potential for energy efficiency is huge!

Carbon dioxide controls Earth’s temperature

Water vapour and clouds are the major contributors to Earth’s greenhouse effect, but a new atmosphere-ocean climate modelling study shows that the planet’s temperature ultimately depends on the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide.

100 per cent renewable energy globally by 2050

The world could be fuelled by 95 per cent renewable energy by 2050, according to a report by WWF, while maintaining rates of economic growth and with small lifestyle changes.

Negotiating forests in the Climate Convention

Among the plethora of acronyms flooding global climate negotiations, LULUCF is one of the most frequently used. Interpreted Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry it has been a controversial issue in the negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol and its implementation since the beginning. The battle is still raging in an almost impenetrable fog of calculation methods, reference levels, caps and exceptions and with devils in virtually every detail.

The remaining carbon budget

Between 750 Gt and 1000 Gt of global CO₂ emissions is all that remains if the world is to have a 75 per cent chance of staying below the 2°C target, according to three reports.

Necessary to go for 50 per cent by 2020

“the window for reaching this temperature target is diminishing very fast”

Main menu

Polar ice sheets melting faster than predicted

In this issue

Several options for cutting ships’ emissions

NOx emission control in the Baltic Sea

Strict sulphur standards no threat to shipping

Air pollution in the UK linked to 200,000 deaths

Further cuts in emissions of air pollutants needed

Policy action improves air quality in Europe

Ongoing negotiations for new emission ceilings

High economic benefits of new NEC directive

How to cut global energy use by three quarters

Carbon dioxide controls Earth’s temperature

100 per cent renewable energy globally by 2050

Negotiating forests in the Climate Convention

The remaining carbon budget

Necessary to go for 50 per cent by 2020

Publications

Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

What we do

Air pollution

Climate Change

Policy initiatives

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