Climate Decade in Review - Post 30: US Climate Action Partnership Founded

Jan 22 ’07 – The US Climate Action Partnership was formed. The Climate Action Partnership is a partnership of corporations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that called for significant and immediate action to fight global climate change.

Although many individual companies and certainly many NGOs had been calling for action for many years, the high profile nature of the companies involved led to significant press coverage and added credibility to the need for action. They released this statement (pdf) on January 22, 2007.

Founding members of USCAP were these companies:
  • Alcoa
  • BP America
  • Caterpillar Inc.
  • Duke Energy
  • DuPont
  • FPL Group
  • General Electric
  • Lehman Brothers
  • PG&E Corporation
  • PNM Resources

and these original NGOs:
  • Natural Resources Defense Council
  • Pew Center on Global Climate Change
  • Environmental Defense

Seventeen more companies, the National Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy joined later in 2007. Recently, three companies have decided to leave USCAP.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

How It All Ends

If you've never seen this video, I think it is one of the most powerfully convincing efforts to help people understand the need to take action on climate change. If you like it, you can also watch the more than 6 hours of additional supporting video in the "Expansion Pack." . . . . . but you don't have to.



If you are committed to fighting global climate change and liked the video, feel free to pass it on.

"A Bicycle is not A Transportation Device" (NOT!)

There's been a bit of a brouhaha over a statement made by a Fairfax County official, Supervisor John Cook, who wants to cut out funding for bicycle facilities in their county (article here). He said, "I don't believe a bicycle is a transportation device. I think it's a recreation device. The big problem is people don't want to ride their bike in the rain or get sweaty before work."

Of course he is dead wrong, but this attitude works against efforts to transform our communities and transportation systems to something more sustainable. (It's also a bit presumptive that the only transportation use he can think of is getting to and from work.)

I sent the Commissioner this letter.

Hello Mr. Cook,

I read in the Examiner your quote that you believe bicycles are not transportation. I can assure you that is not the case. As a long-time bike commuter (yes, I sweat and ride in the rain--as do hundreds of others) I have met and seen literally thousands of people who use
their bikes to get where they need to go.

I live in Arlington County, but for about a year I worked for a company in Herndon and then Reston. I biked there at least 90% of the time. Every single day: summer, winter, fall, spring, I would see other cyclists riding both ways on their way to work or otherwise. I don't work there any more, but not long ago I biked to to the Fair Oaks Mall to see a doctor at the Kaiser facility there. I generally bike to my dentist in Tysons, and, recently, pulled my daughter on her trailer bike to her dentist appointment there, too. We also often bike to her orthodontist in Seven Corners and her dance studio in Bailey's Crossroads. If that's not transportation, what is?


I would strongly suggest you go out to the W&OD some weekday morning in May or June (yes, it's true, fewer cyclists ride in the winter) and watch. Even better, why don't you participate in
Bike to Work Day on May 15. Perhaps you saw the press release from the County. Six of the 23 pit stops this year will be in Fairfax County. I'm sure FABB or WABA would be pleased to provide you with a bike buddy to help you get there.

Portland just passed a resolution to spend over $600 million on bike facilities over the next 20 years. I suspect you perceive Portland as a bastion of liberal, spandex-wearing weirdos, but what do you know that they don't? (or what do they know that you don't?)

Clearly you were just speaking from your own limited viewpoint. I believe it's always a good idea to gather facts and data first before making an assertion based just on one's own personal experience. Had you done that, you would have learned that bicycling is rapidly growing in the region, the number of bike commuters is rising every year, and that even in Fairfax County there are thousands of residents who use their bikes both for transportation and recreation.

Good luck to you, and I hope that you are able to make it out to Bike to Work Day this year. Sign up early, and you can get a free t-shirt.


Kind regards,

Steve Offutt

(top photo by M.V. Jantzen; Reston BTW Day photo from FABB)

Transforming Transportation by Reprioritizing Trails

Here in the Washington region we have experienced record snowfall that has crippled our transportation systems. They are returning to normal. At the time of this post, it is eight days since the blizzard ended.
I live in Arlington County, which is supposedly the model TOD community: bicycle and pedestrian friendly, excellent transit service, smart land-use decisions, etc.  At bicycle advocacy meetings I hear that we are going to strive to move up from Silver to Gold designation from the League of American Bicyclists. However, not one flake of snow (now ice) has been removed from any of the key (and in some cases essential) ped/bike commuter corridors.

This part of the Custis Trail (which is likely one of the 10 most used bike commuter routes in America) has been redubbed the Custis luge.
Because of how it is shaded, it will still have ice on it a month from now unless action is taken.

Arlington has a Car-Free Diet campaign that promotes Arlington as a place to live
without a car, because of all their supposed amenities and infrastructure. Yet someone who lives in parts of Rosslyn
without a car has no--zero!--options for getting to the Metro (okay, taxicab; one). What are they to do? Walk on Lee Highway? Risk injury on the Custis luge?

There are three sections of trail near Metro stations that provide Metro access to hundreds and hundreds of people. As of the time of this writing, not one inch of those sections has been attended to in any way. Because of the significant pedestrian use, those sections have now become glaciated skidways of treacherous ice.

The problem is that trail maintenance is housed in the Parks Department. Rightfully, Parks tend to have lower priority than transportation. Yet in the case of significant portions o
f Arlington trails, they function primarily as transportation facilities. Trails that are used significantly for transportation should be treated as transportation infrastructure and prioritized as such.


View Larger Map
Recently Arlington installed counters along the trails, and they have documented the fact that a significant number of people are using the 4-Mile Run underpass at 395 for transportation; it's necessary for them to reach jobs in Shirlington. Yet as far as the County is conce
rned, they may as well not exist.

In reality, if a small vehicle plow had been dispatched immediately after the snow stopped and before it was tramped down, it could have cleared a 5-foot wide path on the 17 miles of Arlington Loop plus the section from the Custis/WOD intersection to East Falls Church in 4-5 hours max. At $100/hour, it would have cost under $500 total. Three times this year so far, we're still looking at probably no more than $2000. No salt or chemicals needed. If you clear down to the pavement right away, it dries out on its own. By now it would be totally usable. (Some people have intelligently pointed out, if you clear 1/2 the trail, the other half remains for the skiers for much longer--everyone wins.)

If someone were to try to clear the Rosslyn part of the Custis now, it will take many hours and big-time treatment, costing thousands of dollars. Clearing all the trails would take days. I can hear the whine already, "We doe-on't have the muh-uhny to do it."


A few years ago I was in
New York a couple of days after a large snowstorm. I stayed on the west side near Ground Zero. I could see the Hudson River Greenway totally cleared as far as I could see, and one cyclist I talked to said it was cleared all the way up. The streets were still a mess. Somehow NY has figured out a way to prioritize that route for the thousands of peds and cyclists who are dependent on it.

When the George Washington and Rock Creek Parkways were built, they were primarily envisaged as "recreational" facilities--intended for people to tool along and enjoy the scenery. Their function has changed. Imagine if commuters were told that those roads were not going to be cleared, because they are "Parkways" rather than "highways," so they are not really transportation corridors, but recreational. That's essentially what pedestrians and cyclists are being told about their "trails." They are recreational facilities, not transportation corridors, so they don't get tended to until everything else is done, and then only if there is money enough left.

It is past time for communities to re-prioritize their thinking about transportation to include all the amenities, not just the roads and transit facilities. Pedestrian and trail facilities should be included in transportation budgets--not parks or other lower priority budgets.


Climate Decade in Review - Post 29: Hurricane Wilma Most Intense Hurricane Ever in Atlantic

October 2005 - Hurricane Wilma was the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, with a low pressure reading of 882 millibar of pressure and sustained winds of 185 miles per hour.

The 2005 hurricane season was the most severe in recorded history, with Hurricane Katrina being the most well remembered for the devastation it brought to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. However, Hurricane Wilma was an even more intense storm. Three of the six most intense Atlantic storms ever all occurred in 2005 and six of the top eleven occurred since 1998.

Much of the excess heat energy the earth is absorbing as a result of increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is going into the oceans, making them warmer. Warmer ocean waters provide more energy to tropical storms, making them more intense. Research indicates that the prevalence of more intense tropical storms is likely to increase in the future. It is not clear if a warmer world will result in more, fewer or the same frequency of storms, but those storms will tend to be more intense.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 28: Highest Winter Temperature Ever in Buenos Aires

August 31, 2009 – Buenos Aires records the hottest winter temperature ever: 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Southern Hemisphere experiences winter during the months of June, July and August--opposite of the Northern Hemisphere. So August in Buenos Aires is their winter. Buenos Aires has a mild climate and does not experience either extremely low nor high temperatures. The average high temperature in August is 63 degrees F.

One of the indicators that global warming is caused by higher concentrations of greenhouse gases rather than natural changes, such as greater solar radiance, is that nighttime and winter temperatures will rise more than summer and daytime temperatures. So the fact that Buenos Aires experienced its highest winter temperature in recorded history is consistent with what would be expected in a world with higher greenhouse gas concentrations.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 27: US Emissions of CO2 Exceed 6 Billion Tons

2004 - US CO2 emissions exceed 6 billion tons for the first time.

Long the world's leader in highest CO2 emissions, the United States' emissions of CO2 continued to grow during the decade of the 00's, surpassing 6 billion tons in calendar year 2004 (according to EPA's official GHG inventory). Growth in CO2 emission in the United States was slower in the 00's than during the 90's, however. In 1990, US CO2 emissions were slightly more than 5 billion tons and grew to 5.94 billion tons by 2000.

The 1990 date is important, because Kyoto uses 1990 as a baseline. Many other countries and the bulk of international negotiations also use 1990 as a baseline against which they strive to achieve emission reductions. The United States will have to reduce emissions almost 20% just to get back to the same emissions level as 1990.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.
(Photo attribution:http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/ / CC BY-NC 2.0)

Climate Decade in Review - Post 26: "Earth Clearly Out of Balance"

December 2003 - The American Geophysical Union adopted its official position on climate change in which they stated that the world's climate is "clearly out of balance."

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) was established in 1919 by the National Research Council and for more than 50 years operated as an unincorporated affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences. It is now a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the furtherance of the geophysical sciences through the individual efforts of its members and in cooperation with other national and international scientific organizations.

Deecember 2007 - They reaffirmed and revised their position statement, which includes these quotes:
  • "The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming"
  • "With climate change, the human footprint on Earth is apparent."
  • "In the next 50 years, even the lower limit of impending climate change is far beyond the range of climate variability experienced during the past thousand years and poses global problems in planning for and adapting to it."
  • "Given the uncertainty in climate projections, there can be surprises that may cause more dramatic disruptions than anticipated from the most probable model projections."
Virtually all of the credible scientific bodies in the world have established positions on climate change that are consistent with the scientific consensus: the world is warming, human emissions of greenhouse gases are a primary cause, the effects will be more negative than positive, and action needs to be taken to avoid passing significant tipping points in the climate system. AGU is just one of many of these.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 25: EU Countries Ratify Kyoto. 55th Country.


May 30, 2002 - Sixteen EU countries ratify the Kyoto Protocol, pushing it over the 55 required as one condition of going into force. The Protocol contains two conditions:

"on the ninetieth day after the date on which not less than 55 Parties to the Convention, incorporating Parties included in Annex I which accounted in total for at least 55% of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 of the Annex I countries, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession."

With Autria's ratification, the first condition--55 parties--was met. The second condition, 55% of emissions from Annex 1 parties was met later when Russia ratified it on November 18, 2004, bringing it into force 90 days later in February 2005.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 24: Golden Mountain Toad Declared Extinct

2008 - The Golden Mountain Toad of Costa Rica was officially declared extinct on the IUCN Red List

The Golden Mountain Toad, also called the Monteverde Golden Toad lived in a single, high altitude tropical forest near Monteverde, Costa Rica. These forests were often enveloped by clouds, a climatic condition that the toads had adapted to. Global warming has created more drought conditions, leading to changes in climate that the toad was not adapted to and leading to its demise.

The last Golden Mountain Toad was documented in 1968, and the amphibian was declared officially extinct throughout the world in 2008 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the official organization for tracking endangered species.

Climate change driven by human's emissions of greenhouse gases, along with other environmental abuses (chemicals, deforestation, mining, dams, etc.) are driving extinctions to their highest rate in 65 million years, potentially endangering more than 1 million species over the next few decades.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 23: 2005 is Hottest Year Since Civilization Began

2005 - NASA's measurements indicate that 2005 was the hottest year on record, edging out 1998 slightly.

"It's fair to say that it probably is the warmest since we have modern meteorological records," said Drew Shindell of the NASA institute in New York City. "Using indirect measurements that go back farther, I think it's even fair to say that it's the warmest in the last several thousand years."

1998 was an unusually warm year due to a record El Nino. 2005 was even warmer without an El Nino, indicating that warmer temperatures are becoming the norm--not the anomaly.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 22: Australia in Drought for Entirety of the 00's

2002 to present - Australia has been experiencing a significant drought event that began in 2002, centered in the Southwest part of the continent. The resultant dust storms in Sydney in the fall of 2009 were headline news worldwide, but the impact on agriculture as well as other water restrictions have been felt for several years. Many farmers have found it difficult or impossible to stay in business. Some climate scientists believe that this climatic change may be permanent, making parts of Australia that were previously semi-arid into desert.

Many scientists link the drought directly to climate change. A study released in early 2010 linked lower rainfall in Australia with higher precipitation in Antarctica. Essentially the precipitation has moved as a result of climatic changes resulting from higher levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 21: Arizona Records its Highest Temperature Ever

July 5, 2007 - Arizona records the highest temperature ever recorded in the state: 128 degrees Fahrenheit, matching the high temperature record set--also in Lake Havasu--on June 29, 1994.

High and low temperature records are set every year somewhere in the world, so the fact that Arizona recorded a new high temperature during the Climate Decade does not particularly support nor contradict human-caused climate change.

However, records indicate that new high temperature records are now being set about twice as frequently as cold temperature records. This is a change over the last couple of decades, when low and high temperature records were being set at about the same frequency. This increase in the ratio of high to low temperature records is very consistent with what climate change predicts.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 20: AAPG revises Climate Change Statement Leaving No Scientific Bodies Out

July 2007 - The American Association of Petroleum Geologists revised their official statement in relation to human-induced climate change. AAPG was the last reputable scientific body in the world to still have an official position that ran counter to the scientific consensus on climate change.
As of that moment, there no longer any credible scientific bodies in the world that did not acknowledge the contribution of humans to the increase in greenhouse gases.

As one might expect, this society has a large number of oil and gas companies and their employees as members, and efforts to significantly reduce greenhouse gases are likely to have a negative impact on their industry. Nonetheless, a number of their members threatened to quit the Their official statement was wishy-washy but not contrary to the scientific consensus, basically punting on whether the additional CO2 humans are adding to the atmosphere is actually causing the climate to warm.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 19: Highest Temperature Ever Recorded in S. Dakota

July 15, 2006 - South Dakota records its highest temperature in recorded history: 120 degrees F.

The temperature record (actually a tie with an earlier date) occurred near the town of Usta, SD.

By itself, a new high temperature record does not necessarily mean that climate change is occurring. New high and low temperature records are set every year. However, over the last decade or so, the number of new high temperature records set has been about double the number of low temperature records being set in the United States. This pattern is consistent with what one would expect if average temperatures over the US were increasing due to climatic changes (which they are).

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 18: GHG Protocol Published

September 2001 - The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) published the first edition of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The Protocol included two parts: the Corporate GHG Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and the GHG Protocol for Project Accounting.
The first is a methodology for corporate entities to account for their greenhouse gas emissions (also called an inventory). The second provides a methodology for determining the GHG savings associated with GHG mitigation projects.

After the development of the Kyoto Protocol, there was a growing and critical need for standardized methodologies for accounting for greenhouse gases. WBCSD and WRI launched the GHG Protocol Initiative in 1998 to develop exactly that, and it was officially unveiled in September 2001. The GHG Protocol has remained the most widely used and accepted protocol for GHG accounting. The Corporate Module was revised in 2004 ; the Project module was revised in 2005.

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This is one in the series of "Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 17: National Security and the Threat of Climate Change

April 2007 - The Center for Naval Analysis released its report, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change.

The release of this report was widely reported in the media due to the prestigious nature of the contributors, a group of twelve, highly respected retired admirals and generals. Its key findings included:
  • Projected climate change poses a serious threat to America’s national security.
  • Climate change acts as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world.
  • Projected climate change will add to tensions even in stable regions of the world.
  • Climate change, national security, and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges.
It's recommendations included:
  • The national security consequences of climate change should be fully integrated into national security and national defense strategies.
  • The U.S. should commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilize climate change at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability.
among others.

There are literally thousands upon thousands of studies and reports about climate change available. In fact, one of the reasons the debate about climate change continues to rage is that any particular viewpoint can be supported in one way or another with information that can be found somewhere. This report stands out as being particularly credible, because
  • the conclusions seem to run counter to what one would expect from military experts--who are not generally known for being cozy environmentalists;
  • CNA is a highly respected organization with a stellar reputation to uphold and would therefore suffer should it publish dubious or incorrect research;
  • Likewise for the contributors themselves, who do not have any particular apparent bias and are highly respected.
The report is also important from the standpoint that it emphasizes the wide ranging effects that global climate change will have on societies, geopolitics, and governmental stability.


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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 16: Wilkins Ice Shelf Partially Collapses

March 28, 2008 - a 156 square mile part of The Wilkins Ice Shelf along the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrates (photo is a close-up of the ice after the break up).

The Wilkins Ice Shelf lies along the Antarctic Peninsula and is about the size of the island of Jamaica. Increasing temperatures worldwide are increasing more rapidly at the poles, where they are having significant affects on polar ice. In this case, the Wilkins Ice Shelf lost a significant portion of itself on this date in the climate decade. It is virtually certain that most of the rest of it will disintegrate in the next decade.

In this case, the actual collapse of the ice sheet will have little or no effect on sea levels. That is because the ice shelf was already floating. Floating ice that melts does not raise sea levels in the same way that an ice cube melting in a glass does not raise the level of water in the class. Land-based ice that melts does raise sea level, because it is like adding water to the glass.

The other way ice shelves lead to sea level rise is if they were holding back glaciers. In the case of Wilkins, that is not the case either.

Nonetheless, the ongoing disintegration of the Wilkins Ice Shelf and other polar ice at both poles is a constant reminder of the significant effect global warming is having on our environment.
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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review Post 15: Russia Ratifies Kyoto

November 18, 2004 - Russia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol, which provides sufficient support to allow it to come into force in early 2005.

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on December 11, 1997 at the third Conference of the Parties (COP3) held in Kyoto, Japan (hence the name). The language developed regarding its coming into force reads:
"on the ninetieth day after the date on which not less than 55 Parties to the Convention, incorporating Parties included in Annex I which accounted in total for at least 55% of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 of the Annex I countries, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession."

In plainer English that means that at least 55 countries were needed to ratify it AND, of the developed countries (called Annex 1), enough of them to account for 55% of the total emissions from all Annex 1 countries were also needed. Ninety days after those hurdles were met, the Protocol would go into force.

Once the United States (representing 34% of the Annex 1 emissions) made it plain that we were not going to ratify Kyoto, it was necessary to get Russia (16%) to ratify in order to meet the 55% requirement. After months of mixed signals from Russia, President Vladimir Putin threw his support behind ratification in September 2004. The rest of the pieces fell into place shortly afterward for Russian ratification.

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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 14: Christie Whitman Resigns from EPA

June 27, 2003 - Christie Whitman, Administrator of EPA, resigns her post in the Bush Administration.

Christine Todd Whitman, who had been Governor of New Jersey from 1994-2001, was sworn in as Administrator of EPA on January 31, 2001. Ms. Whitman had established a good environmental record, particularly for a Republican, during her governorship, and employees at EPA were relatively pleased with her selection (I know this, because I worked there at the time. I, in fact, met Ms. Whitman on a couple of occasions).

The Bush Administration originally stated that it intended to take action on reducing greenhouse gases, but only six weeks later, officially reversed this stand. It was widely believed that Ms. Whitman did not support this change in policy, and she was often caught between the anti-environmental tendencies of the administration and the environmentalists who had expected more of her based on her record in New Jersey.

Ms. Whitman was succeeded by the feckless Michael Leavitt and then later by the obsequious Stephen Johnson, neither of whom had the slightest interest in pushing back on the White House and just went along with the delay, deny, study strategy of the Bush Administration.

Ms. Whitman now heads an environmental consulting firm, the Whitman Strategy Group, that advises companies on environmental issues, including comprehensive strategic consulting on climate change.

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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 13: Wind Energy in US Grows Rapidly

August 2006 - Wind energy capacity in the United States reached 10,000 Megawatts (MW), enough to power 2.5 million homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

Wind energy capacity at the beginning of the decade was about 2,500 MW, meaning that installed capacity quadrupled in six years. Wind energy was the fastest growing source of new electricity supply for the decade. By the end of the decade, total US installed wind capacity was approximately 35,000 MW--showing phenomenal growth of well over 30% per year.

Wind energy is one of the more attractive renewable energy options. Electricity generation from wind is entirely carbon free, and the growth of the wind industry during the 00's has helped bring prices down to be competitive with fossil fuel generation in many cases. Each kilowatt-hour of wind energy that replaces a kWh of coal-generated electricity reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than a pound. (A typical household will use 25-40 kWh per day of electricity.)

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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 12: Panama Reforestation Project Achieves CCBA Certification


February 1, 2007 - The Panama Native Species Reforestation Project in Panama is the first project to meet the stingent Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCB) established and implemented by the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA).

The market for voluntary carbon offsets grew from virtually unheard of to a robust market during the decade of the 00's. In response to questions related to the legitimacy, quantification and other issues about carbon offsets, a number of different certifications were developed, each addressing different market niches. CCBA is highly regarded for its rigor associated with forestation offset projects such as this one.

CCBA was established by and is supported by numerous highly regarded organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, the Rainforest Alliance and the Center for International Forestry Research.

Carbon offsets represent a complementary strategy for addressing climate change. Organizations can go above and beyond their own emissions reductions to help fund emissions reductions elsewhere in the world. In the case of CCBA-certified projects, these offsets not only reduce carbon dioxide, but also contribute to the local economies and help protect biodiversity.

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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review - Post 11: Markham Ice Shelf Breaks Off

August 2008 - The Markham Ice Shelf on the coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada broke free entirely from the island and went adrift in the Arctic Ocean.

The Markham Ice Shelf was estimated to be approximately 4500 years old. It was about 19 square miles in area (somewhat smaller than Manhattan) and about 10 stories thick.

Arctic temperatures have been increasing much faster than global temperatures as a whole, which is consistent with what models predict for increasing CO2 as humans ave been doing for the last 200 years. Increased temperatures in the Arctic are leading to reduced ice cover, warmer sea temperatures, changing ecosystems and many other effects. The loss of ice cover, like the Markham Ice Shelf is the sort of effect that is completely consistent with the magnitude of global warming occurring in the Arctic.

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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.

Climate Decade in Review Post 10: Highest Temperature Ever Recorded in Japan

August 16, 2007 - Japan experienced the highest temperature ever recorded in the country - 40.9 C (105.6 F). This temperature was experienced in Gifu prefecture in central Japan and Saitama prefecture near Tokyo and broke the previous record of 40.8 C set in 1933. The death toll ranged from seven to thirteen persons, varying by news source.

Heat waves are weather events, and it is difficult to attribute particular weather events to overall global climate change. The likelihood of heat waves and higher temperatures increases as the globe warms, so one would expect that new high temperature records will continue to be broken in ever increasing numbers as the average temperature of the atmosphere continues to increase.

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This is one in the series of "Climate Decade in Review" posts on this blog that began in January 2010. These posts present climate-change-related events that occurred during the 00's, the warmest decade in recorded history.