2015 – Page 80 – PLEA Network

22 July 2015, The Conversation, Who’s on the outer? Uncovering poverty’s many faces: Despite a long history of research into poverty, no consensus yet exists on what constitutes being “poor” or “disadvantaged”. Measures of household wealth don’t go far enough in identifying those most at risk of being excluded from society. Nor do such measures explain the level of exclusion they face. Significant numbers of people are at risk, however. Our research suggests that more than one in two people with a disability or long-term health condition and nearly half of people aged 65 and above experienced social exclusion in 2012.

A better way to measure poverty? Monitoring changes in the prevalence and characteristics of poverty is crucial to keeping track of whether a society is really successful in tackling this problem. Traditional measurements have too narrowly focused on incomes and whether households can afford a minimum acceptable standard of living. Broader concepts have emerged more recently. These recognise that socioeconomic disadvantage is much more complex. One more useful method is the concept of “social exclusion”. Read More here

22 July 2015, RTCC, Could Australians sue for stronger climate action? Head of Netherlands campaign group Urgenda shares courtroom success story with environmentalists in Brisbane: Marjan Minnesma got a warm welcome in Brisbane this week. Described as a “climate litigation rockstar” by independent journalism site New Matilda, she is the head of Dutch campaign group Urgenda. That NGO, backed by hundreds of citizens, last month won an unprecedented legal victory forcing the Netherlands government to cut greenhouse gas emissions faster. “The verdict brought hope and inspiration to communities around the world,” said Jo-Anne Bragg, principal lawyer at the Queensland branch of Australia’s Environmental Defenders Office. She was introducing Minnesma, who is touring Australia, to greens at a webcast event on Tuesday. They wanted to know: Could Urgenda’s remarkable achievement be replicated on the other side of the world? Read More here

21 July 2015, The Guardian, Arctic sea ice volume showed strong recovery in 2013, Cooler temperatures revived sea ice levels suggesting a rapid recovery was possible if global warming was curbed, scientists say: Ice in the Arctic staged a surprise revival in 2013, bucking the long-term trend of decline, according to the first analysis of the entire ice cap’s volume. The revival was the result of cooler temperatures that year and suggests that, if global warming was curbed, the Arctic might recover more rapidly than previously thought. The shrinking Arctic ice cap is one of the best known impacts of climate change. The indication that it could be reversible is rare good news for a region where climate change has driven up temperatures far faster than the global average.

The extent of Arctic ice has shrunk by 40% since the late 1970s, when satellite measurements began. But getting comprehensive data on the thickness of the ice, rather than just its area, was difficult until the European Space Agency launched the Cryosat satellite in 2010. The satellite’s 88 million measurements, analysed in Nature Geoscience, show that from 2010-12 the Arctic ice volume fell by 14%, in step with the warming trend of the last few decades. But in 2013, the ice volume jumped up by 41%. “It’s fair to say that none of us were really expecting that,” said Rachel Tilling, at University College London and who led the study. But she dismissed the idea of a wider recovery of the ice cap, saying that climate change is still driving average temperatures up, despite significant variation from one year to the next. “It was a cold year – that happens.” In fact, while colder than recent years, the temperature in 2013 would have been regarded as normal as recently as the late 1990s. “This allowed thick sea ice to persist northwest of Greenland because there were fewer days when it could melt,” said Tilling. The research is significant as it shows the Arctic ice cap may be more resilient than expected. Tilling said: “You see Arctic sea ice as dwindling and in decline, but then there is a cold year and you get some of the ice back. It shows there is hope for Arctic sea ice, if you can turn the clock back to colder temperatures, which would need huge reductions in carbon emissions.” Read More here

21 July 2015, The Conversation, The march of the king crabs: a warning from Antarctica: Changing wildlife: this article is part of a series looking at how key species such as bees, insects and fish respond to environmental change, and what this means for the rest of the planet. Hundreds of metres below the surface of the freezing ocean surrounding Antarctica, the seafloor is teeming with life. The animals living there have no idea that an army is on the brink of invading their tranquil environment. The army is composed of king crabs. Until 2003, there were no crabs in this fragile Antarctic ecosystem. Now, driven by warming waters, their arrival heralds a major upset. The unique communities living on the continental shelf off Antarctica are found in no other place on Earth. Delicate brittle stars, beautiful sea stars, vibrant sea lilies, and giant sea spiders are among the spectacular inhabitants found there. The animals live side by side, with almost no predators to upset the balance. For millions of years, the cold water temperatures in the Antarctic have stopped most predators from surviving in this harsh environment. But this situation is rapidly changing. Read More here

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Yearly Archives: 2015