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Countries’ climate pledges built on flawed data, Post investigation finds

Across the world, many countries underreport their greenhouse gas emissions in their reports to the United Nations, a Washington Post investigation has found. An examination of 196 country reports reveals a giant gap between what nations declare their emissions to be versus the greenhouse gases they are sending into the atmosphere. The gap ranges from at least 8.5 billion to as high as 13.3 billion tons a year of underreported emissions — big enough to move the needle on how much the Earth will warm.
The plan to save the world from the worst of climate change is built on data. But the data the world is relying on is inaccurate.
“If we don’t know the state of emissions today, we don’t know whether we’re cutting emissions meaningfully and substantially,” said Rob Jackson, a professor at Stanford University and chair of the Global Carbon Project, a collaboration of hundreds of researchers. “The atmosphere ultimately is the truth. The atmosphere is what we care about. The concentration of methane and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is what’s affecting climate.”

September 14, 2021 Climate Change / Economy / Environment / International / Landfill / Methane / News & Updates

U.S., Europe plan joint push to cut methane — and convince other nations to follow suit

Methane, the world’s second-most prevalent greenhouse gas, comes from an array of sources, including fossil-fuel extraction, landfills, livestock and other agricultural waste.

August 27, 2021 Climate Change / Environment / International / Methane / News & Updates / Science & Society

More Than 40 Million Acres of Land Have Burned in Siberia

Siberian wildfires naturally occur as part of an annual cycle, but climate officials see this year’s blazes as a sign of more enormous fire risks in the future. Especially with the amount of carbon released during these wildfires on an already warming planet, writes the Post. Last year when wildfires rolled through Siberia, an estimated 450 million tons of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere. This year, the combined wildfires released more than 505 million tons of CO2, and the fire season is still not over, Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe reports.

According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Russia can expect to face extreme weather events—like intense heatwaves, wildfires, and floods—as global warming intensifies, reports the Moscow Times. Russia, in general, is warming 2.5 times faster than the rest of the planet. This statistic is alarming because 65 percent of Russia is covered in permafrost, which holds large amounts of carbon and methane. As permafrost melts, stored greenhouse gases are released, which in turn warms the planet, leading to more permafrost melt, per the Moscow Times. Even if global carbon emissions fall drastically, a third of Siberian permafrost will melt by the end of the century, the Post reports.

April 15, 2021 Air Pollution / Climate Change / Environment / Landfill / Methane / News & Updates / Waste

The Hidden Damage of Landfills

Environmental Impact of Landfills:

The most pressing environmental concern regarding landfills is their release of methane gas. As the organic mass in landfills decompose methane gas is released. Methane is 84 times more effective at absorbing the sun’s heat than carbon dioxide, making it one of the most potent greenhouse gases and a huge contributor to climate change.

Along with methane, landfills also produce carbon dioxide and water vapor, and trace amounts of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and non methane organic compounds. These gases can also contribute to climate change and create smog if left uncontrolled.

The creation of landfills typically means destroying natural habitats for wildlife. The average landfill size is 600 acres. With over 3,000 active landfills in the United States, as much as 1,800,000 acres of habitat have been lost.

While landfills are required to have plastic or clay lining by federal regulation, these liners tend to have leaks. This can result in leachate, a liquid produced by landfill sites, contaminating nearby water sources, further damaging ecosystems.

Leachate can contain high levels of ammonia. When ammonia makes its way into ecosystems it is nitrified to produce nitrate. This nitrate can then cause eutrophication, or a lack of oxygen due to increased growth of plant life, in nearby water sources. Eutrophication creates “dead zones” where animals cannot survive due to lack of oxygen. Along with ammonia, leachate contains toxins such as mercury due to the presence of hazardous materials in landfills.

While there is no doubt that the prevention of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation should sit at the top of any public policy, industrial strategy and individual behaviour, just like reducing the consumption of energy, this proposition might mislead the public into thinking that waste can suddenly disappear if only we had the will to make it happen. Despite these unattainable expectations, the ‘Zero Waste’ concept has become a viral and omnipresent phrase in recent years. A Google search of this term shows around half a million hits, as of March 2020, and countless government and non-governmental organisation initiatives worldwide. Zero Waste seems to be the only acceptable aim for today’s politicians who embrace an environmentally friendly platform. As a result, countries and municipalities all over the globe have committed themselves to achieving the goal of Zero Waste. So far, however, nobody has managed it, and given the many scientific and practical roadblocks, no one ever will.

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©Ashley Cooper

Countries’ climate pledges built on flawed data, Post investigation finds

U.S., Europe plan joint push to cut methane — and convince other nations to follow suit

More Than 40 Million Acres of Land Have Burned in Siberia

The Hidden Damage of Landfills

The Zero Waste utopia and the role of waste-to-energy