World Environment Day: Value of eco-crimes soars to USD 258bn - report

Eco-crimes hit record high at up to $258 billion, outstripping the illegal trade in small arms,
says a joint UNEP-Interpol report.
[Image: Interpol] 

By News Desk | Nairobi, Kenya: According to a joint UNEP-Interpol report, the value of environmental crime is 26 per cent larger than previous estimates, at $91-258 billion today compared to $70-213 billion in 2014.

The Rise of Environmental Crime, released on the eve of World Environment Day, finds that weak laws and poorly funded security forces are enabling international criminal networks and armed rebels to profit from a trade that fuels conflicts, devastates ecosystems and is threatening species with extinction.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "Interpol and UNEP have joined forces to bring to the attention of the world the sheer scale of environmental crime. The vast sums of money generated from these crimes keep sophisticated international criminal gangs in business, and fuel insecurity around the world.

"The result is not only devastating to the environment and local economies, but to all those who are menaced by these criminal enterprises. The world needs to come together now to take strong national and international action to bring environmental crime to an end."

Environmental crime dwarfs the illegal trade in small arms, which is valued at about $3 billion. It is the world's fourth-largest criminal enterprise after drug smuggling, counterfeiting and human trafficking. The amount of money lost due to environmental crime is 10,000 times greater than the amount of money spent by international agencies on combating it - just $20-30 million.

"Environmental crime is growing at an alarming pace. The complexity of this type of criminality requires a multi-sector response underpinned by collaboration across borders. Through its global policing capabilities, Interpol is resolutely committed to working with its member countries to combat the organized crime networks active in environmental crime," said Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock.

The report recommends strong action, legislation and sanctions at the national and international level, including measures targeted at disrupting overseas tax havens; an increase in financial support commensurate with the serious threat that environmental crime poses to sustainable development; and economic incentives and alternative livelihoods for those at the bottom of the environmental crime chain.

The last decade has seen environmental crime rise by at least 5-7 per cent per year. This means that environmental crime - which includes the illegal trade in wildlife, corporate crime in the forestry sector, the illegal exploitation and sale of gold and other minerals, illegal fisheries, the trafficking of hazardous waste and carbon credit fraud - is growing two to three times faster than global GDP.

To combat the illegal trade in wildlife, the United Nations system and partners have launched their Wild For Life campaign, which draws on support from celebrities such as Gisele Bündchen, Yaya Touré and Neymar Jr. to mobilize millions to take action against poaching and the trafficking of illegal wildlife products.

Already, thousands of people and more than 25 ministers have chosen a species to show their commitment to protecting wildlife. The host of this year's World Environment Day, Angola, has joined the fight, promising to shut down its domestic trade in illegal ivory, toughen border controls and restore its elephant population through conservation measures.

More than one quarter of the world's elephant population has been killed in a decade. Some of world's most vulnerable wildlife, like rhinos and elephants, are being killed at a rate that has grown by more than 25 per cent every year in the last decade.

The report also looks at how money generated from the illegal exploitation of natural resources funds rebel groups, terrorist networks and international criminal cartels. In the last decade, for example, poachers have killed an average of 3,000 elephants per year in Tanzania. That's an annual street market value for ivory traffickers of $10.5 million, an amount that is five times greater than the entire national budget of the country's wildlife division.

It's official: 2015 was Earth's hottest year on record, scientists confirm

[PHOTO: Ellen Munro/Flickr/CC BY 2.0] 

Washington, DC: Earth’s 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Globally-averaged temperatures in 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius). Only once before, in 1998, has the new record been greater than the old record by this much.

The 2015 temperatures continue a long-term warming trend, according to analyses by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York (GISTEMP). NOAA scientists concur with the finding that 2015 was the warmest year on record based on separate, independent analyses of the data. Because weather station locations and measurements change over time, there is some uncertainty in the individual values in the GISTEMP index. Taking this into account, NASA analysis estimates 2015 was the warmest year with 94 percent certainty. 

"Climate change is the challenge of our generation, and NASA’s vital work on this important issue affects every person on Earth," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Today’s announcement not only underscores how critical NASA’s Earth observation program is, it is a key data point that should make policy makers stand up and take notice - now is the time to act on climate."

The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1.0 degree Celsius) since the late-19th century, a change largely driven by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.

Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 15 of the 16 warmest years on record occurring since 2001. Last year was the first time the global average temperatures were 1 degree Celsius or more above the 1880-1899 average.

Phenomena such as El Niño or La Niña, which warm or cool the tropical Pacific Ocean, can contribute to short-term variations in global average temperature. A warming El Niño was in effect for most of 2015.

"2015 was remarkable even in the context of the ongoing El Niño," said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. "Last year’s temperatures had an assist from El Niño, but it is the cumulative effect of the long-term trend that has resulted in the record warming that we are seeing."

Weather dynamics often affect regional temperatures, so not every region on Earth experienced record average temperatures last year. For example, NASA and NOAA found that the 2015 annual mean temperature for the contiguous 48 United States was the second warmest on record.

NASA’s analyses incorporate surface temperature measurements from 6,300 weather stations, ship- and buoy-based observations of sea surface temperatures, and temperature measurements from Antarctic research stations. These raw measurements are analyzed using an algorithm that considers the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and urban heating effects that could skew the conclusions if left unaccounted for. The result of these calculations is an estimate of the global average temperature difference from a baseline period of 1951 to 1980.

NOAA scientists used much of the same raw temperature data, but a different baseline period, and different methods to analyze Earth’s polar regions and global temperatures.

World Wildlife Day: Interpol calls for global action

[PHOTO: U.S. Army Environmental Command/Flickr/CC BY 2.0] 

Lyon: INTERPOL is backing World Wildlife Day as part of the Organization’s ongoing efforts to support law enforcement around the globe in promoting environmental security.

With the theme ‘Wildlife crime is serious’, World Wildlife Day 2015 aims to raise awareness of the positive role which local communities can also play in helping curb this illegal trade, which is often linked to other forms of crime, including corruption and drug trafficking.

INTERPOL’s Environmental Security unit works with all 190 member countries to protect and conserve the world’s natural resources from exploitation by criminals.

“The criminal networks behind wildlife crime make large illicit profits while their actions damage the environment and the economies of affected countries. Ultimately we are all poorer as our iconic wildlife and biodiversity are damaged irreparably,” said Glyn Lewis, INTERPOL’s Director of Specialized Crime and Analysis.

“Effectively combating environmental crime requires a collective effort and World Wildlife Day provides us with an opportunity to show our unity in this fight,” added Mr Lewis.

As a member of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime which includes the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and World Customs Organization (WCO), INTERPOL strongly supports this powerful alliance to fight wildlife crime.

In 2014, a five-month-long INTERPOL-coordinated operation involving 13 countries targeting wildlife trafficking in tigers and other big cats across Asia resulted in the seizure of hundreds of animals and more than 160 arrests.

Last year also saw the launch of the first INTERPOL operation focusing on environmental crime fugitives, targeting more than 130 suspects wanted by 36 countries for crimes including illegal fishing, wildlife trafficking, illegal trade and disposal of waste, illegal logging and trading in illicit ivory.

Operation Infra (International Fugitive Round Up and Arrest) Terra, coordinated by INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support unit, has already led to several high-profile arrests including Feisal Ali, a Kenyan national suspected of leading an international ivory smuggling syndicate, and Rajkumar Praja, the ringleader of a rhino poaching network in Nepal.

One of the aims of INTERPOL’s Turn Back Crime campaign is to raise public awareness of the connection between organized crime and the illicit wildlife trade, encouraging people not to buy items which come from threatened species.

The campaign also encourages the private sector and the public to join forces and take an active role in supporting police activities to form a global alliance against organized crime.

At least 28 dead in Afghanistan avalanches: Officials

[FILE PHOTO: Joe Shlabotnik/Flickr/CC BY 2.0] 

| RFE/RL

Kabul: A series of avalanches caused by heavy snowfall have killed at least 28 people to the northeast of Kabul in Afghanistan's mountainous province of Panjshir.

Officials said on February 25 that dozens of people also are missing and that the death toll is expected to rise.

Two days of heavy snow have blocked main roads in the province, making it difficult for rescue workers to reach the affected villages.

Provincial Police Chief Abdul Aziz Ghairat said houses were buried beneath snow and ice in the districts of Pariyan, Darah, and Bazarak.

The heavy snowfall also has blocked a key highway that leads to the Salang tunnel, which connects Kabul with provinces to the north of the Hindu Kush mountains.

Deadly avalanches are common in Afghanistan's high mountains during the winter.

Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Scientists warn of 'mega-drought' risk in parts of US

[PHOTO: Anthony Quintano/Flickr/CC BY 2.0] 

Washington: Droughts in the U.S. Southwest and Central Plains during the last half of this century could be drier and longer than drought conditions seen in those regions in the last 1,000 years, according to a new NASA study.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, is based on projections from several climate models, including one sponsored by NASA. The research found continued increases in human-produced greenhouse gas emissions drives up the risk of severe droughts in these regions.

"Natural droughts like the 1930s Dust Bowl and the current drought in the Southwest have historically lasted maybe a decade or a little less," said Ben Cook, climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and lead author of the study.

 "What these results are saying is we're going to get a drought similar to those events, but it is probably going to last at least 30 to 35 years, " he added. 

North American map of estimated ground moisture in 2095 based on a moderate emissions scenario Soil moisture 30 cm below ground projected through 2100 for moderate emissions scenario RCP 4.5. The soil moisture data are standardized to the Palmer Drought Severity Index and are deviations from the 20th century average.

However, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase along current trajectories throughout the 21st century, there is an 80 percent likelihood of a decades-long megadrought in the Southwest and Central Plains between the years 2050 and 2099.

The scientists analyzed a drought severity index and two soil moisture data sets from 17 climate models that were run for both emissions scenarios. 

The high emissions scenario projects the equivalent of an atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of 1,370 parts per million (ppm) by 2100, while the moderate emissions scenario projects the equivalent of 650 ppm by 2100. Currently, the atmosphere contains 400 ppm of CO2.

NASA scientists used tree rings to understand past droughts and climate models 

incorporating soil moisture data to estimate future drought risk in the 21st century 

In the Southwest, climate change would likely cause reduced rainfall and increased temperatures that will evaporate more water from the soil. In the Central Plains, drying would largely be caused by the same temperature-driven increase in evaporation.

The Fifth Assessment Report, issued by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013, synthesized the available scientific studies and reported that increases in evaporation over arid lands are likely throughout the 21st century. But the IPCC report had low confidence in projected changes to soil moisture, one of the main indicators of drought.

Until this study, much of the previous research included analysis of only one drought indicator and results from fewer climate models, Cook said, making this a more robust drought projection than any previously published.

This study also is the first to compare future drought projections directly to drought records from the last 1,000 years.

The scientists were interested in megadroughts that took place between 1100 and 1300 in North America. These medieval-period droughts, on a year-to-year basis, were no worse than droughts seen in the recent past. But they lasted, in some cases, 30 to 50 years.

When these past megadroughts are compared side-by-side with computer model projections of the 21st century, both the moderate and business-as-usual emissions scenarios are drier, and the risk of droughts lasting 30 years or longer increases significantly.

Connecting the past, present and future in this way shows that 21st century droughts in the region are likely to be even worse than those seen in medieval times, according to Anchukaitis.

"Those droughts had profound ramifications for societies living in North America at the time. These findings require us to think about how we would adapt if even more severe droughts lasting over a decade were to occur in our future," Anchukaitis said.

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. 

The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.