February temperatures smashed previous records by an unprecedented amount and exceeded historical averages across the northern hemisphere by nearly two and a half centigrade degrees in what some scientists are calling an emergency. Locally there are several upcoming climate change presentations – including two hosted by citizen groups plus a multi-day conference at McMaster that will include Mayor Eisenberger, Burlington Mayor Goldring and the provincial Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.
February temperature averages across the northern hemisphere were nearly 2.5°C higher than the historical normal. Overall global temperatures broke the monthly record for the tenth month in a row and by a far larger margin than ever seen before.
“This not only was the highest for February in the 1880–2016 record—surpassing the previous record set in 2015 by 0.33°C / 0.59°F—but it surpassed the all-time monthly record set just two months ago in December 2015 by 0.09°C (0.16°F),” reports the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“The average global temperature across land surfaces was 2.31°C (4.16°F) above the 20th century average of 3.2°C, the highest February temperature on record, surpassing the previous records set in 1998 and 2015 by 0.63°C and surpassing the all-time single-month record set in March 2008 by 0.43°C.”
NOAA reports record warmth “across various areas of South America, much of southern Africa, southern and eastern Europe, around the Urals of Russia, and most of Southeast Asia stretching to northern Australia” and “a vast region stretching from central Russia into eastern Europe, along with most of Alaska, observed February temperatures more than 5°C (9°F) above the 1981–2010 average.” By comparison, NOAA maps show southern Ontario was around 1.5°C above normal last month.
There’s also some optimism that humans are responding more effectively to the climate crisis. The majority of new energy facilities, especially in China, are now wind and solar installations. And greenhouse gas emissions didn’t increase in 2015 for the third year in a row, but continues to be sent skyward each year sharply increasing accumulated carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
The citizen-organized climate events include Environment Hamilton’s Wednesday March 30 meeting at the central library on “what Hamilton can do about climate change”, and a Spirit of Red Hill Valley lecture on Tuesday April 5 that features Gordon Laxer on how Canadians can achieve energy and ecological security in a post-tar sands economy. Laxer was the founding director of the Parkland Institute and recently published After the Sands which Ralph Nader has hailed as “a myth-destroying blockbuster book.”
The McMaster conference focuses on how cities will have to adapt to climate change, something that is already costing Hamilton significant amounts from increased flooding risks. That includes the city’s subsidy for installation of backflow valves that will be debated on March 23 after claims exhausted its $2.5 million annual budget in the first six weeks of this year. With installations in far less than ten percent of city homes, total handouts in the Pollution Prevention Program [3P] already exceed $20 million, including $4 million last year alone.
The program began after a hundred year storm flooded over 7000 homes and the Red Hill Parkway in the summer of 2009. It was seen as a way of reducing the numbers of compassionate grants issued to flood victims that had exceeded $5 million, but most of those taking advantage of the $2220 backflow valve subsidy are in other parts of the city according to an audit completed last month which concludes that “only 25% of the households that reported experiencing at least one sewer lateral backup participated in the program and installed a backwater valve.”
That consultant review also found the attempt to reduce abuse of the program by requiring residents to obtain three quotes has failed miserably. “The average 3P grant payment represented 96 percent of the average maximum grant reimbursement before the three quotes requirement was in effect. This percentage decreased to only 95 percent after three quotes were required.” A sampling of payouts found 42 out of 50 “obtained quotes from the same combination of three contractors [and] in all cases, the same contractor consistently quoted the lowest cost.”