[AGL] Darn those pesky Scots!

[Wayne Johnson]

MM.

You may wish to forward this to the List.

Sadly, our Beloved Leader doesn't live in Scotland (actually, he doesn't 
seem to live anywhere except in his own imagination....), so this "body of 
evidence" and "professional/scientific opinions" won't be part of his 
nightly reading regimen. Or, in his case, regiment.

All of these guys MUST GO if there is any chance to save a) the whole 
frigging planet and b) nuclear war with Iran....and the rest of the alphabet 
of horrors.

wgJ

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Red alert as climate change takes its toll on Scotland
IAN JOHNSTON
  a.. Scotland is getting wetter and hotter as climate change hits, report 
says
  b.. Nature also under threat
  c.. Less pollution of land is one of few positives in report
Key quote "Climate change is leading to changes in temperature, rainfall 
patterns, snow cover, wind and storm events, flooding and coastal erosion. 
All of these could have significant impact on Scotland's environment, 
economy and people." - Scottish Environmental Protection Agency report

Story in full
SCOTLAND was put on red alert over climate change yesterday, with experts 
saying it was already responsible for placing endangered species at greater 
risk, for rising sea levels, major floods and landslides.

And environmental watchdog the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency 
warned the situation was likely to worsen.

Producing the first ecological audit of the whole country for ten years, 
SEPA said Scotland would continue to become warmer and wetter and that 
attempts to stop the decline of endangered species by 2010 would prove 
"challenging".

The State of Scotland's Environment 2006 report catalogued a series of 
threats to Scotland from global warming:

• Rising levels of winter rain, up by 60 per cent in the north and west of 
the country since 1961.

• A long-term rise in sea levels. Since 1862, the sea off Aberdeen has risen 
by an average of 0.66mm a year.

• A rise in temperatures in Scotland for every season except autumn of one 
degree Celsius in the past 40 years and a similar rise in sea temperatures 
in just 20 years

The report said: "Climate change is leading to changes in temperature, 
rainfall patterns, snow cover, wind and storm events, flooding and coastal 
erosion. All of these could have significant impact on Scotland's 
environment, economy and people."

It added: "Scotland's biodiversity is under increasing threat from habitat 
loss, land-use changes, urbanisation and the spread of non-native species, 
as well as climate change.

"The impact of climate change is already in evidence, with some species' 
ranges being reduced, others extended and food chains being disrupted.

"This makes the attainment of the European Union target to halt the loss of 
biodiversity by 2010 challenging."

Research shows much is already under threat:

• The country faced the potentially "catastrophic loss" of its island 
nesting seabird populations.

• The hooded crow and meadow pipit have declined dramatically and some 
experts believe climate change is part of the reason. The Breeding Birds 
Survey found the number of hooded crows had fallen by 37 per cent over the 
past few years.

• Other birds under threat include the kestrel, lapwing and curlew, which 
saw populations drop by between 25 and 50 per cent between 1994 and 2005.

• Flowers such as snowdrops and wild daffodils flowered three weeks earlier 
in 2001 than they did in 1978.

• Important habitats such as bogs and dwarf shrub heath have decreased: 
about 32 per cent of important habitats are declining. A survey of plants 
found 27 per cent of species had decreased.

• Heavier rainfall will lead to more frequent and severe river flooding, 
potentially affecting 77,000 homes and buildings.

• Storms and drier soils can be expected to increase landslides.

The report used a colour code to indicate the situation in a range of areas, 
and climate change was considered at "full-blown red" alert, with 
biodiversity also under serious threat, on the edge of amber and red.

Dr Campbell Gemmell, chief executive of SEPA, said more research was needed 
to understand the full complexity of life in Scotland's ecosystem and the 
effects of global warming.

"Climate change is real and it's happening in Scotland now," he said. "There 
are 90,000 species of plants, animals and microbes in Scotland, but we 
understand about two per cent of them."

Professor Colin Galbraith, director of scientific and advisory services at 
Scottish Natural Heritage, said ways would have to be developed to deal with 
the effects of climate change - as well as efforts to prevent it - because 
some changes were already happening and more were in the pipeline.

He said: "Climate change: we cannot avoid it, it's a huge issue globally and 
a huge issue locally. I think the debate will focus much more on adaptation, 
particularly in the western world."

Prof Galbraith said

a warmer, wetter Scotland could potentially attract new plants and animals, 
which would not be controlled by the natural operation of the ecosystem.

The report assessed the state of the three main parts of the environment: 
land, water and air.

Air quality was in the worst state - it was given an amber alert - with 
urban smog a particular problem in the summer.

The stratospheric ozone layer, which protects life from the sun's radiation, 
has also been falling, while ozone at ground level, where it is a pollutant, 
has been increasing.

Ground-level pollution has been linked to respiratory diseases and heart 
conditions and is believed to increase the risk of death among the elderly 
and other vulnerable groups.

The weather is expected to become more erratic, with increasing numbers of 
"extreme event" storms.

On the positive side, SEPA pointed to the cleaning up of polluted land. It 
is now focusing on dealing with "diffuse" pollution - such as slurry from 
farm fields and oil leaks from vehicles, which can leach into the water 
systems - rather than major incidents.

Dr Gemmell, who gave SEPA's performance in the decade since it was set up a 
mark of seven out of ten, said the cleaning of rivers had been one of the 
major achievements.

He said about 1,400km of Scotland's rivers were "seriously polluted" in 
1996, but this had been reduced to 800km by 2005.

The environment minister, Ross Finnie, said climate change was a "major 
threat" to which the Executive was responding in a serious way.

"If progress over the past ten years is to be maintained, government, 
business and consumers must decide what environmental legacy we wish to 
leave our children and act now to protect their future," he said.

However, Green MSP Mark Ruskell said "much more serious action" needed to be 
taken. "The Scottish Executive is tinkering round the edges and presenting a 
brave face with a false set of targets that don't add up," he said.

Growing problem
SCOTLAND produces around 20 million tonnes of waste every year.

While the majority is from commerce and industry - currently at 8.9 million 
tonnes and 7.2 million tonnes respectively - the level of household waste is 
continuing to rise by up to two per cent each year.

The result is air pollution from greenhouse gases, and fouled water 
supplies.

SEPA says it is vital that waste is treated as a resource to be reused and 
recycled, and consumption of raw materials is reduced.

'Wind rush' set to end, says minister in call for shift in emphasis towards 
alternative types of renewable energy
SCOTLAND'S "wind rush" - the massive surge in applications to build 
windfarms - may be coming to an end, the environment minister signalled 
yesterday.

Ross Finnie, who attended the launch of the Scottish Environment Protection 
Agency's report, said the emphasis should now be on other forms of renewable 
energy such as tidal, wave and biomass.

According to a report earlier this year by environmental groups, windfarms 
made up nearly 90 per cent of renewable energy schemes planned or under 
construction. If this rate of development were to continue, nearly 600 
square kilometres - an area bigger than North Lanarkshire - would be covered 
by windfarms in order to meet the 40 per cent renewable energy target for 
electricity by 2020.

However, Mr Finnie said the Executive was keen to ensure a proper mix of 
renewable energy sources. Currently there is only a single marine energy 
testing station in Orkney, with no tidal or wave schemes making energy.

He said: "There are probably enough windfarms in development and in the 
pipeline at the moment [to meet its desirable share of the 40 per cent 
target]."

Even if a number of current windfarm proposals are rejected, its target 
share would probably still be met, he said.

"The rush [to build windfarms] came about because of the state of the 
technology. It's a much more mature technology [than wave or tidal] and in 
relative terms the cost of wind installations has come down very 
dramatically indeed."

Officials stressed this did not mean that no new windfarms would be 
considered, particularly as the Executive plans to try to exceed the 40 per 
cent renewable energy target.

COMMENT
Watchdog needs to bare its teeth
SEPA was established by the Environment Act of 1995 which combined the old 
river purification boards and Her Majesty's Industrial Pollution 
Inspectorate. As well as bringing together the disciplines of these two 
organisations, the act also gave SEPA several important new duties and 
powers.

SEPA certainly had a less than smooth start to life - mainly as a result of 
some clashes of operating culture. Thankfully, those days are but a distant 
memory and there is little doubt in my mind that the decision to create SEPA 
was the right one.

Having campaigned for the creation of an official environmental watchdog for 
Scotland, over the years, Friends of the Earth has actively engaged with 
SEPA. This interaction has mainly been positive, but on some occasions a 
little less amicable.

In the beginning we were continually needing to prod and remind SEPA of its 
powers and responsibilities - and the need to use them. At the time this was 
a little frustrating as we'd much rather have been focusing all our 
attention on the polluter and not on those who were supposed to be 
regulating the polluters.

On the odd occasion, a protest with banner, placards and media in tow 
outside a SEPA office was what was required to encourage it to do the right 
thing.

However, things do change, and in recent times SEPA has started to flex its 
regulatory muscles more often and act in the way a real environmental 
watchdog should do.

As in life, environmental problems are not just confined to flowers, trees 
and animals with feathers or fur. More often than not, environmental 
problems are felt first by people and the communities in which they live. 
This is an area where SEPA has experienced many difficulties over the years.

Often, in the eyes of communities suffering environmental injustices, SEPA 
appears to take the side of the polluter or big business. We know SEPA is 
aware of this and, with our encouragement, is actively trying to address 
this perception.

There will always be more that can be done to help tackle environmental 
injustice, whether it is better access to pollution information, improved 
awareness of the needs of communities or SEPA just remembering to use the 
powers it has.

However, despite our differences over the years, we are encouraged by many 
of the changes we have seen in SEPA. With the publication of its latest 
assessment of Scotland's environment, it is clear that this country still 
needs an environmental watchdog.

If we are to tackle the global problems like climate change or local 
environmental injustices, then the watchdog needs to remember to bare its 
teeth a little more often.

DUNCAN MCLAREN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF FRIENDS OF THE EARTH SCOTLAND