Another great article in The New Scientist talks about a new system for mapping much more precisely the impact of climate change on eco-systems.
Designed by The Nature Conservancy, the system – linked with Google Maps – will enable conservationists to work out expected changes in precipitation and sea levels in areas as small as four kilometres across. Previous technology only provided forecasts for areas ranging in size from 350-600 kilometres.
Why this breakthrough could be essential is that scientists believe that the impact of global warming will create millions of micro climates. Some of these climates will be arid and others subject to heavy rainfall. Areas very close together might also either be flooded or safe from the effects of rising sea levels.
The new technology is designed to protect endangered species such as the Bangladeshi Tiger.
But as the effects of global warming become obvious – even to the most short-sighted and goldish-brained members of the chemicals community – this or similar technologies might become essential when seeking finance for a new project.
Legislators will surely also demand that a planned coastal cracker in Guangdong won’t end up as a cracker off the coast and under water, thereby creating an environmental disaster.
Lehman Brothers had a first stab at assessing how much ethylene capacity might be at risk from flooding brought about by climate change in a report published early last year.
It estimated that 46% of existing and 45% of planned ethylene capacity globally was at high risk from such flooding. The bank said that the world have 173m tonne/year of ethylene capacity by 2012.
As climate change accelerates, it might even be necessary to use these technologies to identify safe land where plants can be relocated.