Half-truths from NZ media on climate change

Climate change makes it into the New Zealand media (NZ Herald and Radio NZ respectively) - sort of.

Are we supposed to take heart from half-truths?

What proportion of truth:bullshit is acceptable.

The incredibly conservative (and that is very kind) Royal Society talks in terms of mild and long-term changes when the horse has already bolted, we are looking at a blue sea event in the Arctic this summer and changes have gone exponential – in short, runaway climate change and this is what we get.

Are we supposed to be grateful.

This takes me right back to the Brezhnev years in the USSR where the Soviet leader would give long-winded criticisms of “shortcomings” when the Soviet economy was falling around his ears.

Give me a break!

All I can say is that if the propganda channels are acknowledging this much things must be pretty bad!

If you put everything they've said into the present tense you might get a more accurate impression

Six reasons you should worry about climate change

Changes expected to impact New Zealand include at least 30cm and possibly more than one metre of sea-level rise this century. Photo / NZME.

With a historic global climate agreement about to be signed in New York, a new report has laid bare how New Zealand will be affected by climate change.

The report, published by the Royal Society of New Zealand, has found that climate change, already underway, will almost certainly accelerate this century unless drastic action is taken to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases.

Changes expected to impact New Zealand include at least 30cm and possibly more than one metre of sea-level rise this century.

The report finds it likely that the sea level rise around New Zealand will exceed the global average, which will cause coastal erosion and flooding, especially when combined with storm surges.

"Many New Zealanders live on the coast and two-thirds of us live in flood-prone areas so we are vulnerable to these projected changes," said Professor James Renwick, chair of the expert panel who wrote the report.

Even small changes in average conditions can be associated with large changes in the frequency of extreme events, he said.

The report highlights six major effects we can expect to see.

1. It will threaten our coastlines

• It is very likely that the rate of sea level rise around New Zealand will exceed the historical rate and exceed the global average - at least another 30cm is virtually guaranteed this century but the rise could exceed 1m.

• With a 30cm rise in sea level, the current one-in-100 year extreme sea level event would be expected to occur once every year or so in many coastal regions.

Great Barrier Reef feeling the heat

$250k of equipment lost in ice berg break

*Rising sea levels mean rising coastal water tables, leading to semi-permanent or permanent inundation of low-lying areas, and the potential for
salt water to get into freshwater systems.

• The implications for coastal populations will vary widely, depending on the shape of the coast, the distribution of buildings and structures at risk and their vulnerability, and the differentiated make-up of communities themselves. 

*However, the recent report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment indicates that thousands of households in many towns and cities will be affected.

• These communities will need to plan for and adapt to change and some will need to decide whether to "hold the line" or relocate in response to known risks or actual climate change impacts.

2. It will bring more floods

• Damaging flood events will occur more frequently and will affect rural and urban areas differently.

• Near the coast, floods will be exacerbated by rising sea levels and storm surges and further inland flooding will increase erosion, siltation and building damage.

• About two-thirds of New Zealand's population lives in areas prone to flooding, which is New Zealand's most frequent and, after earthquakes, most costly insured disaster.

• Extreme heavy rainfall events are expected to become more frequent in most parts of the country, by a factor of up to four, especially those regions where an increase in average rainfall is expected.

• Engineering solutions such as stop-banks, and static planning measures such as land-use zoning, while helpful in the short term, could reduce New Zealand's ability to respond as flood risk increases over time..

3. It will make our freshwater problems worse

• Decreasing annual average rainfall in eastern and northern regions of both main islands, plus higher temperatures, will increase the frequency and intensity of droughts and the risk of wild fire.

• At the same time, urban expansion and increased demand for water from
agriculture will result in increased competition for freshwater resources.

• There will be increased pressure on water resources due to both climate change and economic development.

• Decreasing rainfall in the east and north, plus higher temperatures, will increase the frequency and intensity of droughts, while at the same time, urban expansion and increased demandfor water from agriculture will result in increased competition for freshwater resources.

• The increased pressure on water resources and increased demand for water resources also puts our freshwater ecosystems at risk.

• Fire danger is projected to increase in many parts of New Zealand due to changing rainfall and higher summer temperatures - the number of days with very high and extreme fire weather is expected to increase, with greatest changes in the east and north of both islands.

4. It will acidify our oceans

• Changes in ocean temperature, water chemistry, and currents will have impacts on New Zealand's marine life, fisheries, and aquaculture, including southward migration of species and negative effects on shell-forming species such as pāua and mussels.

• A fifteen-year time series taken off the Dunedin coast shows that ocean chemistry is already changing in the waters around New Zealand, consistent with measurements from other sites around the world.

• Model projections show that the waters around New Zealand will warm and acidify, with the greatest warming occurring in the Tasman Sea.

• Studies on different marine organisms have shown that there will be impacts ranging from productivity to ecosystem community structure as a result of these changes.

5. It will put our threatened species even more at risk

• Over half of New Zealand's more then 50,000 species are found nowhere
else in the world; over three quarters of the vascular plants, rising to 93 per cent
for alpine plants, and over 80 per cent for the more than 20,000 invertebrates.

• Existing environmental stresses will be exacerbated by shifts in mean climatic conditions and associated change in the frequency or intensity of extreme events, especially fire, drought and floods.

• Native ecosystems are being directly affected by climate change and also indirectly by expanded ranges for pests and diseases, increased fire risk and land use change.
• Even with the current rise in average temperatures, up to 70 species of native plants are likely to be at risk of extinction this century.

• Warming of New Zealand's normally cold lakes, combined with nutrient runoff from the surrounding production land will likely increase occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms, while the abundance and spread of pest species will be an added cost for Councils and may affect New Zealand's "clean and green" image.

6. There'll be flow-on problems from the rest of the world

• The way other countries respond to climate change will influence New Zealand's international trade relationships, and potentially migration patterns.

• New Zealand is strongly dependent upon our international connections, and so climate change impacts far from our shores are likely to be felt here.

• While New Zealand agriculture could benefit from increasing global commodity prices in the long term, there are many negatives.

• Reduced food security, increased displacement and migration, and potential political instability suggest that patterns of international trade, demand for services, and international tourism, could change substantially in the future as a consequence of climate change.

• We gain significant revenue from long-haul tourism which could be reduced if the acceptability of long haul travel, and costs of fossil fuels, are affected by climate change.

From the State propaganda channel

Sea level rise threat to NZ coasts

Radio NZ,

19 April, 2016

Climate change could swamp significant areas with even modest rises in sea levels, a report by the prestigious Royal Society of New Zealand says.

Places at risk include eastern Auckland along Tamaki Drive, where a 0.5 metre surge would inundate popular areas. The following map shows the damage from sea level rises of several gradients between 0.5 and two metres.

Graphic: Royal Society of New Zealand

Coming from New Zealand's pre-eminent research body for science, the report confirms the severity of the local threat posed by climate change. Chair of the expert panel which wrote it, Professor James Renwick, said New Zealanders were particularly vulnerable.

Read a summary of the report here.

"Many New Zealanders live on the coast and two-thirds of us live in flood-prone areas," he said.

In South Dunedin, a high water table meant high tides would lead to frequent surface ponding and a lack of drainage for storm water.

The report added that the east coasts of both the North and South Islands were sensitive to erosion and inundation caused by climate change.

The Royal Society's warnings come just a day after New Zealand was accused of cheating over its main climate change weapon, the Emissions Trading Scheme.

In its report, the Royal Society broke down its analysis into several key areas.

One was the effect of climate change on coastal environment.

Depending on how greenhouse gas emissions were managed, the sea would rise between 30 centimetres and 1.1 metres by 2100, it said.

This would have an exponential impact, making it likely the current one-in-100-year extreme sea level event would occur every year in some places and making storm surges much more potent.

Ponding and soil saturation from previous floods would aggravate the effect.

Freshwater resources would also be harmed by climate change.

The report said rising temperatures and reduced annual average rainfall would increase the demand for water for agriculture, increasing reliance on irrigation.

Droughts would be more severe and would occur in places not prone to drought now.

This would create more pressure to build new water storage dams which could harm water ecology downstream.

The report also warned of dangers to water quality in the ocean surrounding New Zealand.

The surface of the sea would rise in temperature by one degree to three degrees, though this would be more marked to the west of New Zealand than to the east.

Oceans would also become more cidic.

Changing sea temperatures around New Zealand over the next 100 years. Graphic: Royal Society of New Zealand

The report is particularly strong on increased fire risks.

This would increase in both severity and the duration of the fire risk season.

Not only would it be hotter and drier in some parts, but high CO2 levels would increase plant size in some cases, creating more material available to burn.

And the aftermath of a fire increased the risk of soil erosion.

Graphic: Royal Society of New Zealand

Professor Renwick went on to warn that even small changes in average conditions could be associated with extreme weather.

He added a pattern of wet areas getting wetter and dry areas getting drier along with extreme weather would put pressure on our housing, infrastructure and industry.