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[guardian.co.uk > News > World news > Narural disasters and extreme weather]
World feeling the heat as 17 countries experience record temperatures
2010 sees record highs in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine but also many African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries
John Vidal, environment editor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 August 2010 13.28 BST
Article history
{A forest fire rages near the village of Golovanovo, Russia, last week. Temperatures in Moscow have now fallen to a more manageable 31C. Photograph: Igor Kharitonov/EPA}
2010 is becoming the year of the heatwave, with record temperatures set in 17 countries.
Record highs have occurred in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine – the three nations at the centre of the eastern European heatwave which has lasted for more than three weeks – but also African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries.
Temperatures in Moscow, which have been consistently 20C above normal, today fell to 31C (86F), and President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled a state of emergency in three out of seven Russian regions affected by forest fires.
Thousand of hectares of forest burned in the fires, killing 54 people and leaving thousands homeless. For days, Moscow was shrouded in smog, and environmentalists raised fears that the blaze could release radioactive particles from areas contaminated in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Wildfires have also swept through northern Portugal, killing two firefighters and destroying 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of forests and bushland since late July. Some 600 firefighters were today struggling to contain 29 separate fires.
But the extreme heat experienced in Europe would barely have registered in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Niger, Pakistan and Sudan, all of which have recorded temperatures of more than 47C (115F) since June. The number of record highs is itself a record – the previous record was for 14 new high temperatures in 2007.
The freak weather conditions, which have devastated crops and wildlife, are believed to have killed thousands of elderly people, especially in Russia and northern India. The 2003 European heatwave killed about 15,000 people.
Pakistan, now experiencing its worst ever floods, had Asia's hottest day in its history on 26 May, when 53.5C (128.3F) was recorded in Mohenjo-daro, according to the Pakistani Meteorological Department. The heatwaves have also been occurring in the US, where Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Washington, Baltimore and Trenton all documented their highest ever temperatures in July.
The global research, collated by meteorologists at weather information provider Weather Underground, supports US government data collated on 11 different indicators – from air and sea temperatures to melting ice – which showed temperatures rising around the world since the 1850s. This June was also the hottest ever on record and 2010 is on course to be the warmest year since records began, according to separate data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published last month.
Only one country has set a record for its coldest-ever temperature in 2010. Guinea, in west Africa, recorded 1.4C (34.5F) in a nine-day cold snap at Mali-ville in the Labe region in January. Farmers lost most of their crops and animals.
Record temperatures in 2010
Belarus, 7 August, 38.9C (102F) at Gomel
Ukraine, 1 August, 41.3C (106.3F), Lukhansk, Voznesensk
Cyprus, 1 August, 46.6C (115.9F), Lefconica
Finland, 29 July, 37.2C (99F), Joensuu
Qatar, 14 July, 50.4C (122.7F), Doha airport
Russia, 11 July, 44.0C (111.2F), Yashkul
Sudan, 25 June, 49.6C (121.3F), Dongola
Niger, 22 June, 47.1C (116.8F), Bilma
Saudi Arabia, 22 June, 52.0C (125.6F), Jeddah
Chad, 22 June, 47.6C (117.7F), Faya
Kuwait, 15 June, 52.6C (126.7F), Abdaly
Iraq, 14 June, 52.0C (125.6F), Basra
Pakistan, 26 May, 53.5C (128.3F), Mohenjo-daro
Burma, 12 May, 47C (116.6F), Myinmu
Ascension Island, 25 March, 34.9C (94.8F), Georgetown
Solomon Islands, 1 February, 36.1C (97F), Lata Nendo
Colombia, 24 January, 42.3C (108F), Puerto Salgar
[guardian.co.uk > Environment > Biochar]
UK government urged to evaluate biochar potential with trial schemes
First official report says burying charcoal in the soil has potential to cut greenhouse gases but scientific uncertainties remain
Jane Dudman
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 August 2010 11.33 BST
Article history
{Burying charcoal produced from microwaved wood could offset as much as 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, research shows. Photograph: Rex Features}
The idea of burying charcoal produced from microwaved wood to tackle global warming is still beset with scientific uncertainties, says the UK government's first report on "biochar".
The warning comes as a separate US study published this week said that as much as 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions could be offset by biochar.
Biochar involves burying cooked charcoal so that the carbon dioxide absorbed during the tree's growth remains safely locked away for thousands of years. The technique could remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. But it has divided environmentalists, with backing from Gaia theorist James Lovelock and Nasa scientist James Hansen, but opposition from critics who say there is not enough to land carry out biochar on a large scale.
The report, commissioned by the government, looks at the stability and potential benefits of biochar in soil, as well as at the risks, including the danger of contaminants getting into soil. In addition to economic and logistical challenges, the report noted there are many scientific uncertainties about the role biochar might play. It is not clear how long the carbon would stay trapped in the soil or whether it enhances the quality of the soil as supporters claim, said Saran Sohi, leader of the University of Edinburgh's UK Biochar research centre and one of the report's authors.
However, the report concludes "biochar has a high carbon abatement efficiency" and calls for more pilot schemes that could potentially "advance rapidly the science, engineering, regulation and socioeconomic evaluation of biochar systems in the UK context".
The US study, Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change, paints a more positive picture. Biochar could offset 1.8bn tonnes of carbon emissions annually in its most successful scenario, it said, without endangering food security, habitat or soil conservation.
"These calculations show that biochar can play a significant role in the solution for the planet's climate change challenge," said the study's co-author Jim Amonette, a soil chemist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Biochar offers one of the few ways we can create power while decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. And it improves food production in the world's poorest regions by increasing soil fertility. It's an amazing tool."
Separately, biochar experts said last week that global sustainability efforts are being hampered by an emphasis on English language research.
At a seminar in Tokyo, Professor Shinogi Yoshiyuki from Kyushu university, said researchers into sustainable technologies around the world needed to share information.
"This is a global issue and we need to create a global network [of information]," he commented. Yoshiyuki is vice-president of the Japan Biochar Association, which was set up last year to highlight the results of 30 years' research into biochar technology in Japan.
Sohi, who was at the seminar along with sustainability experts from the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change, said his team's visit to Japan was "a real opportunity to collaborate and link up research".
He acknowledged that his report was based largely on English-language biochar research, but said there has been a willingness in both Japan and the UK to collaborate in researching the technology further.
• Jane Dudman's travel expenses in Japan were paid for by the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. They had no say in the content of this article.
[guardian.co.uk > News > World news > Narural disasters and extreme weather]
World feeling the heat as 17 countries experience record temperatures
2010 sees record highs in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine but also many African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries
John Vidal, environment editor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 August 2010 13.28 BST
Article history
{A forest fire rages near the village of Golovanovo, Russia, last week. Temperatures in Moscow have now fallen to a more manageable 31C. Photograph: Igor Kharitonov/EPA}
2010 is becoming the year of the heatwave, with record temperatures set in 17 countries.
Record highs have occurred in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine – the three nations at the centre of the eastern European heatwave which has lasted for more than three weeks – but also African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries.
Temperatures in Moscow, which have been consistently 20C above normal, today fell to 31C (86F), and President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled a state of emergency in three out of seven Russian regions affected by forest fires.
Thousand of hectares of forest burned in the fires, killing 54 people and leaving thousands homeless. For days, Moscow was shrouded in smog, and environmentalists raised fears that the blaze could release radioactive particles from areas contaminated in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Wildfires have also swept through northern Portugal, killing two firefighters and destroying 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of forests and bushland since late July. Some 600 firefighters were today struggling to contain 29 separate fires.
But the extreme heat experienced in Europe would barely have registered in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Niger, Pakistan and Sudan, all of which have recorded temperatures of more than 47C (115F) since June. The number of record highs is itself a record – the previous record was for 14 new high temperatures in 2007.
The freak weather conditions, which have devastated crops and wildlife, are believed to have killed thousands of elderly people, especially in Russia and northern India. The 2003 European heatwave killed about 15,000 people.
Pakistan, now experiencing its worst ever floods, had Asia's hottest day in its history on 26 May, when 53.5C (128.3F) was recorded in Mohenjo-daro, according to the Pakistani Meteorological Department. The heatwaves have also been occurring in the US, where Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Washington, Baltimore and Trenton all documented their highest ever temperatures in July.
The global research, collated by meteorologists at weather information provider Weather Underground, supports US government data collated on 11 different indicators – from air and sea temperatures to melting ice – which showed temperatures rising around the world since the 1850s. This June was also the hottest ever on record and 2010 is on course to be the warmest year since records began, according to separate data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published last month.
Only one country has set a record for its coldest-ever temperature in 2010. Guinea, in west Africa, recorded 1.4C (34.5F) in a nine-day cold snap at Mali-ville in the Labe region in January. Farmers lost most of their crops and animals.
Record temperatures in 2010
Belarus, 7 August, 38.9C (102F) at Gomel
Ukraine, 1 August, 41.3C (106.3F), Lukhansk, Voznesensk
Cyprus, 1 August, 46.6C (115.9F), Lefconica
Finland, 29 July, 37.2C (99F), Joensuu
Qatar, 14 July, 50.4C (122.7F), Doha airport
Russia, 11 July, 44.0C (111.2F), Yashkul
Sudan, 25 June, 49.6C (121.3F), Dongola
Niger, 22 June, 47.1C (116.8F), Bilma
Saudi Arabia, 22 June, 52.0C (125.6F), Jeddah
Chad, 22 June, 47.6C (117.7F), Faya
Kuwait, 15 June, 52.6C (126.7F), Abdaly
Iraq, 14 June, 52.0C (125.6F), Basra
Pakistan, 26 May, 53.5C (128.3F), Mohenjo-daro
Burma, 12 May, 47C (116.6F), Myinmu
Ascension Island, 25 March, 34.9C (94.8F), Georgetown
Solomon Islands, 1 February, 36.1C (97F), Lata Nendo
Colombia, 24 January, 42.3C (108F), Puerto Salgar
[guardian.co.uk > Environment > Biochar]
UK government urged to evaluate biochar potential with trial schemes
First official report says burying charcoal in the soil has potential to cut greenhouse gases but scientific uncertainties remain
Jane Dudman
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 August 2010 11.33 BST
Article history
{Burying charcoal produced from microwaved wood could offset as much as 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, research shows. Photograph: Rex Features}
The idea of burying charcoal produced from microwaved wood to tackle global warming is still beset with scientific uncertainties, says the UK government's first report on "biochar".
The warning comes as a separate US study published this week said that as much as 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions could be offset by biochar.
Biochar involves burying cooked charcoal so that the carbon dioxide absorbed during the tree's growth remains safely locked away for thousands of years. The technique could remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. But it has divided environmentalists, with backing from Gaia theorist James Lovelock and Nasa scientist James Hansen, but opposition from critics who say there is not enough to land carry out biochar on a large scale.
The report, commissioned by the government, looks at the stability and potential benefits of biochar in soil, as well as at the risks, including the danger of contaminants getting into soil. In addition to economic and logistical challenges, the report noted there are many scientific uncertainties about the role biochar might play. It is not clear how long the carbon would stay trapped in the soil or whether it enhances the quality of the soil as supporters claim, said Saran Sohi, leader of the University of Edinburgh's UK Biochar research centre and one of the report's authors.
However, the report concludes "biochar has a high carbon abatement efficiency" and calls for more pilot schemes that could potentially "advance rapidly the science, engineering, regulation and socioeconomic evaluation of biochar systems in the UK context".
The US study, Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change, paints a more positive picture. Biochar could offset 1.8bn tonnes of carbon emissions annually in its most successful scenario, it said, without endangering food security, habitat or soil conservation.
"These calculations show that biochar can play a significant role in the solution for the planet's climate change challenge," said the study's co-author Jim Amonette, a soil chemist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Biochar offers one of the few ways we can create power while decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. And it improves food production in the world's poorest regions by increasing soil fertility. It's an amazing tool."
Separately, biochar experts said last week that global sustainability efforts are being hampered by an emphasis on English language research.
At a seminar in Tokyo, Professor Shinogi Yoshiyuki from Kyushu university, said researchers into sustainable technologies around the world needed to share information.
"This is a global issue and we need to create a global network [of information]," he commented. Yoshiyuki is vice-president of the Japan Biochar Association, which was set up last year to highlight the results of 30 years' research into biochar technology in Japan.
Sohi, who was at the seminar along with sustainability experts from the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change, said his team's visit to Japan was "a real opportunity to collaborate and link up research".
He acknowledged that his report was based largely on English-language biochar research, but said there has been a willingness in both Japan and the UK to collaborate in researching the technology further.
• Jane Dudman's travel expenses in Japan were paid for by the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. They had no say in the content of this article.