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News Archive - April 2008
The New Security - Huffington Post
The next president will face the following security threats, most new and different from the previous Cold War era: proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their availability to stateless nations (i.e. jihadists); ground forces exhausted by two protracted wars; energy dependence in the Persian Gulf; America's disproportionate role in protecting the global flow of oil; the security implications of climate change, and the list continues. Issues that were recently separated into policy "boxes" are now interrelated. Consider the linkages among the cost of food and fuel, the world price of oil, increase in demand for oil in coming decades, the cost to U.S. taxpayers to protect global oil supplies, the impact of oil consumption on climate, two wars in the Persian Gulf, and so forth. Consider also how global warming is changing weather patterns. In the American West and elsewhere aquifers and reservoirs are drying up. Crops are becoming scarce and costly, thus leading to massive instability among the world's poor. In South Asia, over a billion people may lose their source of fresh water as Himalayan glaciers recede. Two of these nations are India and Pakistan -- nuclear states with indigenous terrorist movements and a history of conflict between them.
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Hansen for the plebes - Gristmill
The nation's top climate scientist, James Hansen, has just published a general-audience article, "Tipping Point" [PDF], in State of the Wild 2008-2009 from Island Press. It is well worth sending to folks who don't like all the math. His key points: We are at the tipping point because the climate state includes large, ready positive feedbacks provided by the Arctic sea ice, the West Antarctic ice sheet, and much of Greenland's ice. ... Prior major warmings in Earth's history, the most recent occurring 55 million years ago ... resulted in the extinction of half or more of the species then on the planet.
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Terra Preta, Biochar, Black Gold: a Climate Change Solution - DeSmogBlog
It's no silver bullet, but Terra Preta de Indio, a centuries-old agricultural-waste management and fertilization practice, may provide part of the solution to global warming - and to the gathering world food shortage.Terra Preta is a literal description of the "dark earth" that European explorers first discovered in the Amazon basin, earth that researchers now believe was enriched with charred agricultural waste. Preparing and mixing this biochar into the earth is a great way to sequester carbon AND to fertilize crops. There are a host of challenges - a large number of hurdles to clear before biochar can be guaranteed as a useful solution to climate change - but when asked if it's a possible goal, Cornell University Assoc.
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StatoilHydro Storing 10 Million Tonnes of CO2 - Rigzone
StatoilHydro reported that ten million tonnes of carbon dioxide are now stored underground at Sleipner in the North Sea. 2,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) are removed from natural gas produced on the Sleipner West field in the North Sea every day.
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Experts call for 'feed-in tariffs' to encourage renewable energy use - Guardian Unlimited
Engineers, trade unions, farmers and house builders have backed a campaign by Friends of the Earth and the Renewable Energy Association to introduce a "feed-in tariff" system that would improve Britain's take-up of renewable energy.
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Antarctic ice threatened by ozone-hole recovery - Nature
Recovery of the ozone hole above Antarctica could warm the Antarctic and cause more ice to melt in coming decades, researchers say. As the ozone hole heals, wind patterns that shield the interior of the polar region from warm air may break down, causing warming in the Antarctica as well as warmer and drier conditions in Australia.
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Kenya: Harsh Weather Patterns to Shrink Maize Production - AllAfrica.com
Kenyans could soon be forced to adjust their eating habits as the favourite maize meal becomes more scarce due to the effects of climate change.
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The world's children will be first to pay the price for climate change, and they deserve to be heard - Guardian Unlimited
David Puttnam: The world's children will be first to pay the price for climate change, and they deserve to be heard
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Clean, abundant and free renewable energy sources - Guardian Unlimited
Fossil fuels are running out, and the only real answer to tackling global warming is to use renewable sources of energy. So, how do they work?
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OECD ministers plead for environment despite economic concerns - France24
OECD environment ministers on Tuesday stood by efforts to tackle climate change, despite arguments in some quarters that at a time of economic uncertainty, spending on green issues could damage competitiveness. In an "excellent and lively debate" over two days, ministers reasserted the goal of addressing global warming and outlined some of the challenges as to how to cut greenhouse-gas emissions in a border-free worldwide market, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a statement. "Ministers noted that tackling climate change and moving towards low-carbon economies is a shared ambition, but moving to a low-carbon society will require structural shifts in the economy," it said. "This can create opportunities, but also competitiveness challenges (though often overstated), for particular industries, sectors and workers."
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Can a Polymer Help Curb Arctic Ice Melting? - PhysOrg
In order to help prevent the melting of Arctic ice, a process that has been occurring at alarming rates in recent years, which many scientists believe is due gradual global warming, a group of researchers have proposed a partial solution that is quite novel: covering select small regions with a layer of a porous polymer that would reflect sunlight and promote freezing, thereby reducing melting.
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Earth stewardship - Common Ground.ca
When we stand four-square to the future and observe the simultaneous incoming storms of global warming, food shortages, peak oil, mass extinctions, and a host of other crises any one of which is enough to make us cry a global “ouch”, how can we not notice that the culprit behind all these problems is capitalism, the system of laws and entitlements created 250 years ago?
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Real Solutions to the Climate Crisis - AlterNet
A look at climate-friendly options for buildings, electricity production, transportation, and food and forestry.
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Big squid imperil fish, people - Times Colonist
Canada, BC: Nightmarish packs of rapacious giant devil squid are hunting off the B.C. coast -- and as their numbers increase, scientists are worrying about an attack on fish stocks. Humboldt squid, called diablos rojos or red devils in Mexico, have been known to attack scuba divers and were once a rarity in B.C. waters. But a changing ocean environment has brought them northward, and they may now be permanently establishing themselves off the B.C. coast.
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UN chiefs hold food crisis summit - BBC News
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to announce details of new measures to tackle the global food crisis.
"In the long term we need to address the challenges caused by climate change," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
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Warming 'affecting poor children' - BBC News
Climate change is already affecting the prospects for children in the world's poorer nations, says the UN children's agency. The UN children's agency says that increases in floods, droughts and insect-borne disease will all affect health, education and welfare.
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Corn-fuel bill will worsen hunger, critics say - CNews
Canada: Food will be turned into fuel and people will go hungry if Parliament passes a new bill demanding greater use of corn-fuels like ethanol, critics say.
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Oil giants make £7bn in three months - Guardian Unlimited
Soaring prices of oil and gas help Royal Dutch Shell and BP swell profits and comfortably beat analyst expectations
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Sydney's Poor Elderly Hit Hardest By Climate Change - Planet Ark
SYDNEY - Climate change will hurt Sydney's poor and elderly the most, as many live in low-lying coastal areas vulnerable to rising sea levels and cannot afford technologies that protect them from life-threatening heatwaves.
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US judge orders May 15 decision on polar bears - Reuters
The Bush administration must decide by May 15 whether polar bears should be listed as threatened by climate change under the Endangered Species Act, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, barring further delay.
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Breakthrough in battle to curb greenhouse gases - New Kerala
London, April 27 : A team of scientists has developed a highly energy-efficient method of converting waste carbon dioxide into chemical compounds, marking a breakthrough in the fight to cut greenhouse gases.
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Zeppelins: a low-impact alternative to flying - The Christian Science Monitor
These airships cause less environmental damage than planes. But journeys would test passengers' patience.
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Easing greenhouse gas emissions won't crimp the economy, study says - The Kansas City Star
WASHINGTON | Legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions won't send utility costs or unemployment through the roof, nor will it damage the economy, according to a study released last week.
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Study: Bio-plastic goods not eco-friendly
Bio-plastic goods can still damage the environment by emitting gases that can impact climate change, a study by a British newspaper found.
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Big Oil: 'Together, We Can' ignore global warming - Gristmill
By Brad JohnsonOriginally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room. The American Petroleum Institute, the trade organization for the oil and natural gas industry, has just begun running a feel-good commercial that argues "America's future" lies in drilling out domestic reserves of oil and natural gas. Here's what the ad says: Oil and natural gas powered the past. But the future? Fact is, a growing world will require more. 45 percent more by 2030, along with greatly expanding alternatives. We have substantial oil and natural gas resources right here. Enough to power 60 million cars and heat 160 million households for 60 years.
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Attenborough fears for Earth - Canada.com
Attenborough: "Whatever we do now, the world is going to change. The question is, can we slow down those changes or reduce them? One clutches at straws to try and find something in this bleak picture which is not deeply depressing."
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US air force calls for mission to combat climate change - Guardian Unlimited
World's top scientists to come together in programme to develop greener fuels and tackle global warming
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Climate change: the facts - Guardian Unlimited
The subject of global warming has become impossible to ignore. But what are its implications? And is mankind really to blame?
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Nature's controlling cycles are largely out of our hands - Guardian Unlimited
Human activities have upset some of the Earth's delicate balances in recent times, but nature's controlling cycles are largely out of our hands
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Who Will Revive BC's Forests? - in News - The Tyee
Canada, BC: World relies on our 'lungs,' but replanting is lowest in 20 years.
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Polar bears 'at risk' in Canada - BBC News
Polar bears in Canada are at risk from climate change but not threatened by extinction, a panel of experts say.
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Experts say that the drought in the U.S. could mean climate change - CNews
The U.S. Southwest's current drought could be the start of the Dust Bowl-like future that some scientists have already predicted will come from human-caused warming.
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World Bank Carbon Plan 'A Protection Racket' - OneWorld
A World Bank-backed carbon-reduction programme in which concessional loans would be offered to developing country governments was compared to a protection racket by Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper at a meeting in London at the weekend.
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Is 450 ppm politically possible? Part 2.5 - GristMill
The goal of this post is to explore how peak oil and, yes, peak coal might affect the world's effort to stabilize CO2 concentrations. Here I present calculations I haven't seen anywhere else, and since different sources provide different numbers, please view these as a crude estimates. I welcome corrections. At recent growth rates for oil consumption, we are all but certain to peak in oil production within two decades -- and if we follow the recent trend-line for coal use (and for coal reserves), we could hit peak coal within three decades. It looks like it simply isn't possible for oil and coal use to sustain for decades the trends that led CO2 emissions to rise 3 percent per year since 2000, if the analysis below is roughly correct.
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North Pole could be ice free in 2008 - New Scientist
This year, Arctic scientists are preparing for that possibility that ice loss will make it possible to swim at the top of the world
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Aust drought increasing world grain prices: expert - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
An expert in science communication says the drought in Australia is one of the reasons world grain prices are increasing.
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Step Aside Dollar, Is Rice the New Global Currency?
China is exchanging its depreciating reserves of the greenback for things of value, notably rice, with deadly consequences for U.S. foreign policy.
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Narwhals more at risk to Arctic warming than polar bears - PhysOrg
(AP) -- The polar bear has become an icon of global warming vulnerability, but a new study found an Arctic mammal that may be even more at risk to climate change: the narwhal.
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Warming shifts gardeners' maps - USA Today
A growing number of meteorologists and horticulturists say that because of the warming climate, the 1990 U.S. climate zone map doesn't reflect a trend that home gardeners have noticed for more than a decade: a gradual shift northward of growing zones for many plants.
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Low-Carbon Electricity is Needed To Power Plug-in Hybrids - Science Daily
Engineering researchers report that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that fuel global warming, but the benefits are highly dependent on how the electricity system changes in the coming decades.
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'Sustainable' bio-plastic can damage the environment - Guardian Unlimited
Corn-based material emits climate change gas in landfill and adds to food crisis
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Hints of methane's renewed rise - BBC News
Levels of the greenhouse gas methane appear to be rising again after years of stability, data suggests.
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Arctic Ice Melting Faster Than Anticipated - WWF - Planet Ark
GENEVA - Arctic ice may be melting faster than most climate change science has concluded, the conservation group WWF said in a report published on Thursday.
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Carbon study: Beetle-killed forest pumping out CO2 - CNews
VANCOUVER - British Columbia's pine-beetle devastated forest is belching out enough carbon to equal Canada's average annual forest fire emissions, says a new report from scientists at the Ministry of Natural Resources Canada.
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Greenhouse plan could damage ozone - CNews
WASHINGTON (AP) - The rule of unintended consequences threatens to strike again. Some researchers have suggested that injecting sulfur compounds into the atmosphere might help ease global warming by increasing clouds and haze that would reflect sunlight.
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A. Siegel: Buying our way to a better planet? - HuffingtonPost
There is a debate, subdued at times, between various approaches toward changing the planet to the better. In many ways, my viewpoint (on the optimist...
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China Aims For First Zero Emission Power By 2015 - Planet Ark
BEIJING - China plans to build a major emissions-free coal burning power station by 2015, the project chief said on Wednesday, putting it at the front of a tight global race to build the first commercial scale plant.
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Butterflies, tornadoes and climate modelling - realClimate
Many of you will have seen the obituaries (MIT, NYT) for Ed Lorenz, who died a short time ago. Lorenz is most famous scientifically for discovering the exquisite sensitivity to initial conditions (i.e. chaos) in a simple model of fluid convection, which serves as an archetype for the weather prediction problem. He is most famous outside science for the 'The Butterfly Effect' described in his 1972 paper "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?". Lorenz's contributions to both atmospheric science and the mathematics of dynamical systems were wide ranging and seminal.
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Arctic currents may be warming the world - New Scientist
Natural changes in the warm ocean currents travelling to the icy north may be helping to heat up the entire northern hemisphere
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RIGHTS: Climate a "Life and Death" Issue for Native Peoples
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 23 (IPS) - Leaders of the world's 370 million indigenous peoples are calling for the United Nations to include their voices in its future talks on climate change.
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The big turn off: Could you drink, bathe and clean using just 20 litres a day? - Guardian Unlimited
Full marks to those who keep a tight rein on their carbon footprint, but don't relax just yet: water is the new carbon, and our engorged water footprints need to be scrutinised before the rivers really do run dry. At the World Economic Forum in January, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, warned that water and food shortages would be the crises of 2008. Last week we watched the escalating food crisis reverberate around the globe. Conflicts fuelled by water shortages may well be next, triggered by climate change, population growth and poor water management.
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EPA scientists drop bombshell in political-interference survey - DeSmogBlog
Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists said they have been victims of political interference and pressure from superiors to skew their findings, according to a survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Scientific Integrity Program, said the survey results revealed "an agency in crisis" with low morale, especially among scientists involved in risk assessment and crafting regulations. "The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work, but their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations," Grifo said. The survey comes as EPA is under fire from Congress on a number of fronts, including its delay in determining whether carbon dioxide should be regulated to combat global warming.
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Is 450 ppm - or less politically possible? Part 2
In this post I will lay out "the solution" to global warming, focusing primarily on the 14 "stabilization wedges." Part 1 argued that stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide at 450 ppm is not politically possible today, but that it is certainly achievable from an economic and technological perspective. It would require some 14 of Princeton's "stabilization wedges" -- strategies and/or technologies that over a period of a few decades each reduce global carbon emissions by one billion metric tons per year from projected levels (see technical paper here [PDF], less technical one here [PDF])
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Green engine for black cab firm - BBC News
Manganese Bronze, the maker of the iconic London black cab, signs a deal to produce a battery-powered taxi.
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Despite Climate Worry, Europe Turns to Coal - New York Times
At a time when the world’s top climate experts agree that carbon emissions must be rapidly reduced to hold down global warming, Italy’s major electricity producer, Enel, is converting its massive power plant here from oil to coal, generally the dirtiest fuel on earth. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Marco Di Lauro for The New York Times Italy’s Civitavecchia power plant is converting from oil to coal. Over the next five years, Italy will increase its reliance on coal to 33 percent from 14 percent. Power generated by Enel from coal will rise to 50 percent. And Italy is not alone in its return to coal. Driven by rising demand, record high oil and natural gas prices, concerns over energy security and an aversion to nuclear energy, European countries are expected to put into operation about 50 coal-fired plants over the next five years, plants that will be in use for the next five decades.
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Global warming threat to native dragonfly species - The Independent
Britain's dragonflies, which date back to the dinosaurs but are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction, pollution and climate change, are to be the subject of a major national survey.
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WFP cuts school meals as food crisis grows - Guardian Unlimited
Rapid rise in food prices forces the World Food Programme to cut its provision of school meals to some of the world's poorest children
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Time for small changes is over - BBC News
Small changes to the way we live our lives are not enough to tackle the environmental challenges facing the planet, argues Tom Crompton. In this week's Green Room, he says the stark reality is that the only option is to cut the unsustainable consumption of the Earth's finite resources.
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How Many Earth Days Do We Have Left?
Lester Brown, author of Plan B 3.0, shows us how we can change in enough time to save life on earth, as we know it. Of all the resources needed to build an economy that will sustain economic progress, none is more scarce than time. That is one of the key messages of PLAN-B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, the newest book by Lester Brown -- available from www.earthpolicy.org.
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Eight Reasons Our Changing World Will Turn You Into an Environmentalist, Like It or Not - AlterNet
The challenges our society faces with depleted energy resources, water shortages, soaring food costs all point to environmental solutions.
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Norway Gives Tanzania $100 Mln For Forests - Planet Ark
DAR ES SALAAM - Norway will give Tanzania $100 million over five years to cut deforestation in the east African country and try to reduce carbon emissions blamed for climate change, according to a deal signed on Monday.
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Climate projects prevented 135 million tonnes of CO2: agency - Muzi
Projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in developing countries have prevented 135 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering Earth's atmosphere so far, the Norwegian classification group Det Norske Veritas (DNV) said on Monday.
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Marked rise in greenhouse-gas emissions between 1990 and 2005: study - CNews
OTTAWA - A new study says Canada's greenhouse-gas emissions rose 25 per cent between 1990 and 2005, but it says the increase would have been greater without improvements in energy efficiency.
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Impressions from the European Geophysical Union conference 2008 - RealClimate
Last week, the European Geophysical Union held its annual general assembly, with thousands of geophysicists converging on the city of Vienna, Austria. It was time to take the pulse of the geophysical community. When registering at the conference, we got a packet called 'Planet Earth; Directions for Use'. As far as I know, this is a new feature apparently offered by the EGU. The box says 'EGU cares…' and it contains 4 sheets: Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Litho- and Pedosphere, and the Atmosphere. The Biosphere sheet is concerned about the biodiversity, the hydropshere discusses water shortage and loss of marshland issues, the litho- & pedosphere mentions the fact that fossil fuels are finite and soil erosion, and the atmosphere discusses AGW.
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Biggest onshore wind farm plan rejected - The Independent
Plans for Britain's biggest land-based wind farm were turned down by the Scottish government yesterday, in a landmark decision with wide implications for the future development of renewable energy in the UK.
See also: The dilemma of global warming
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Me, worry? - GristMill
A new series of Pew polls shows public concern for climate change is out of sync with the science:
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Farm bill: making America fat and polluted, one subsidy at a time - The Christian Science Monitor
At a time of soaring food prices, America's grocery bill is about to balloon. Congress is staggering toward completion of a nearly $300 billion farm bill that upholds subsidies for big farmers and food corporations – undermining vital efforts to make our food supply more healthful and sustainable, both environmentally and economically.
It's time to overhaul the government's approach to food and farming.
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Nature throws one-two punch at global warming - deSmogBlog
The Nature article says the climate problem is much greater than forecast by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due to rising use of coal in Asian nations, especially China and India, where energy use is projected to double by 2030. If an exploding population is to have sufficient energy for development, the world's energy supply will have to at least double in 50 years even if consumption in China, India and elsewhere never rises to the per-capita level seen today in the U.S., Canada and Europe. At the same time, if the climate is to be stabilized, carbon emissions must fall sharply from current levels.
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Capitalism harms planet - Morales - BBC News
Bolivian President Evo Morales tells a UN forum capitalism must be scrapped to save the planet from climate change.
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Waiting for a techno miracle: not the fastest way to cut emissions
With NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof's seeming endorsement of Roger Pielke Jr.'s ideas about mitigating global warming, it seems that we have two main arguments developing: the "breakthrough" argument, which says we must have technology breakthroughs in order to solve the problem, and, as articulated (for instance) by Joseph Romm, the "just do it" argument that we have the technologies now to minimize global warming. Most of my posts have been an attempt to show how current technologies can move us toward a "zero emissions" society. The "breakthrough" people do raise an interesting question, but then they veer off into the wrong answer.
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CLIMATE CHANGE-US: Governors Unite to Cut Emissions
NEW HAVEN, Apr 20 (IPS) - U.S. state governors say they are fed up with the George W. Bush administration's foot-dragging on climate change and will go ahead -- and around -- the White House to reduce greenhouse gases.
See also:
US Lawmakers Are Changing Opinions on Climate, Pachauri Says - Bloomberg
Quebec Joins US - Canada Group To Cut Emissions - Planet Ark
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Thousands march in Spain over climate change - AFP
Thousands marched through Madrid on Sunday to demand that the Spanish government adopt concrete measures to fight climate change,
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Drought hits millions in Thai rice region: government - TODAYonline
Thai villagers sit on a dry riverbank during a severe drought in 1998. More than 10 million people in parts of Thailand's rice bowl region have been hit by drought, causing further concerns as prices of the staple grain soar.
See also: Mere rise in temperature will reduce S. Asian crop yield, warns envoy - Ceylon Daily News
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Top native leader wants more action on climate - CTV.ca
Phil Fontaine, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, will tell a United Nations committee today that the government needs to engage natives more on climate change.
"We're witnessing dramatic changes in the environment"
See also: Young Alaskan Sees Changing Way of Life - NPR
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The Antarctic deep sea gets colder - PhysOrg
The Antarctic deep sea gets colder, which might stimulate the circulation of the oceanic water masses. This is the first result of the Polarstern expedition of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association that has just ended in Punta Arenas/Chile. At the same time satellite images from the Antarctic summer have shown the largest sea-ice extent on record. In the coming years autonomous measuring buoys will be used to find out whether the cold Antarctic summer induces a new trend or was only a "slip".
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Stop waiting for 'leaders' to act on global warming - The Christian Science Monitor
Greener energy in your community depends on strong grass roots.
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Talk about hot air - Guardian Unlimited
According to Nigel Lawson, the science community has been so successful in stifling debate about global warming that he could hardly find a publisher to print this book. If only.
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Exposed: the great GM crops myth - Independent
Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new study shows, undermining repeated claims that a switch to the controversial technology is needed to solve the growing world food crisis.
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20th April 2008 |
Apocalypse now - Sunshine Coast Daily
Cuban permaculturist and educator Roberto Perez: Havana – Perez’s home city – produces 60% of its fruit and vegetables within its city limits and peri-urban areas. It has transformed itself into an economy that is virtually self-sustainable while leading the way as a “low energy society” where public transport is the norm and recycling is an integral part of life.
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20th April 2008 |
Watching wolves, moose - and the heat - WOOD-TV
Vucetich, of Michigan Tech University, is co-leader of a team closely monitoring Isle Royale's moose and wolves for five decades. Both species have had their ups and downs, but now may be facing their biggest threat. Declines in pack and herd populations, coming as average temperatures have been rising, make the scientists wonder if global warming may be writing a new story line for the narrative that played out as the plane followed the hungry pack below.
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20th April 2008 |
The Fat Bush Theory - New York Times
George W. Bush says we’re on track to meet the nation’s goals for curbing global warming. Let’s back up here. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had trouble getting my head around goals that involve reducing the rate at which something is growing. To appreciate the administration’s efforts on the, um, issue, let’s try to imagine it in terms other than greenhouse gas emissions. (As the president noted: “Climate change involves complicated science.”)
Suppose that two years after taking office, George W. Bush discovered that because of the stress of his job, he had gained 40 pounds and was tipping the scales at 220.
The real-world Bush would immediately barricade himself in the White House gym, refusing all human contact or nourishment until the issue was resolved. But imagine that he regarded getting fat as seriously as he regards melting glaciers, rising oceans and drought and starvation around the planet. In that case, he would set a serious, management-type goal — of, say, an 18 percent reduction in the rate at which he was gaining weight, to be reached within the next decade.
Cut to the Rose Garden in 2008 where partial victory is declared. “Over the past seven years, my administration has taken a rational, balanced approach to these serious challenges,” the 332-pound chief executive announces. He delivers this good news sitting down.
2012: Bush hits his final goal and 400 pounds at approximately the same time.
See also:
US carbon emissions to rise 23 percent over UN benchmark: IEA - AFP via Yahoo! News
US emissions of greenhouse gases are poised to rise by nearly a quarter over a key UN benchmark by 2025, the date set by President George W. Bush for stabilising this pollution, an International Energy Agency (IEA) expert said on Friday.
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19th April 2008 |
Food miles don't feed climate change – meat does - New Scientist
Eating locally-produced food has little impact on your carbon footprint, but going veggie for one day a week makes a big difference. Weber's team combined statistics on greenhouse gas emissions for different foods with estimated greenhouse footprints for transport for each step in a food's production and final delivery. Food travelled an average of 1640 km in its final trip to the grocery store, out of total of 6760 km on the road for the raw ingredients. But some foods log more kilometres than others. Red meat averaged 20,400 km – just 1800 of those from final delivery. Accounting for greenhouse gas emissions made those contrasts even starker. Final delivery "food-miles" make up just 1% of the greenhouse emissions of red meat, and 11% for fruits and vegetables. To drive his point home, Weber calculated that a completely local diet would reduce a household's greenhouse emissions by an amount equivalent to driving a car 1600 km fewer per year. He assumed the car travels 10.6 km per litre of petrol (25 mpg). Switching from red meat to veggies just one day per week would spare 1860 km of driving. "The differences between eating habits are very, very striking," Weber says.
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19th April 2008 |
EU set to scrap biofuels target - Guardian Unlimited
Commission backing away from its insistence on 10% quota by 2020 amid fears of food crisis
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19th April 2008 |
Solar so good for our house - Guardian Unlimited
Business money: One year on and roof-top panels are generating nearly all the electricity used by Ashley Seager
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19th April 2008 |
Coasts feeling the heat - CNews
Canada: Global warming concerns highest in Maritimes and B.C., lowest in Prairies. "It's a combination of having experienced the potential impacts of climate change on our doorstep and the cultural link to the sea and land ... I'm not too surprised this is a top issue." In a virtual tie with Quebecers, 88% of Maritimers also agreed that fighting global warming should be the country's top priority, followed by Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia. Nationwide that number was 78%.
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19th April 2008 |
Spain suffers worst drought - CNN.com
Spain is reeling from its most severe drought in 70 years with the nation's reservoirs on average just half full, the Environment Ministry reports. The tower of a former church, underwater before the drought, reappears in the Mediano reservoir. Rainfall has been less than half of what's considered normal for the last six months and reservoir levels were already low after two years in which normal rain levels failed to rebound from the driest 12 months on record -- October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005.
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19th April 2008 |
Moulins, Calving Fronts and Greenland Outlet Glacier Acceleration - RealClimate
Guest Commentary by Mauri Pelto The net loss in volume and hence sea level contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) has doubled in recent years from 90 to 220 cubic kilometers/year has been noted recently (Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2007). The main cause of this increase is the acceleration of several large outlet glaciers. There has also been an alarming increase in the number of photographs of meltwater draining into a moulin somewhere on the GIS, often near Swiss Camp (35 km inland from the calving front). The story goes-warmer temperatures, more surface melting, more meltwater draining through moulins to glacier base, lubricating glacier bed, reducing friction, increasing velocity, and finally raising sea level.
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19th April 2008 |
Clearing smog reveals true extent of global warming - New Scientist
Atmospheric pollution confuses temperature measurements, so now it is clearing we can measure global warming more accurately. A team led by Martin Wild, of the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science in Switzerland, has been monitoring changes in temperatures, the amount of aerosols in the air and the amount of sunlight that is getting through and warming the different continents. Their data, taken from over 2500 locations, shows that in Europe and the US the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground is increasing. Satellite data shows that the optical density of the air above Europe, a measure of how dense the suspension of aerosols is, has been stable since 2000.
This, says Wild, suggests that aerosols are no longer influencing brightness and something else is making it more sunny – possibly a reduction in cloud cover, although he does not yet know why this might happen.
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19th April 2008 |
Climate talks in France reach no emissions goals - CNews
PARIS (AP) - Negotiators from the world's most polluting countries have failed to agree on specific goals for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.
See also: Climate Conference is a Lesson in Irresponsibility - Deutsche Welle
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19th April 2008 |
Climate Change Likely To Intensifies Storms - Science Daily
Hurricanes in some areas, including the North Atlantic, are likely to become more intense as a result of global warming even though the number of such storms worldwide may decline, according to a new study by MIT researchers.
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19th April 2008 |
Clinton, Obama walk delicate line hunting votes in coal states - International Herald Tribune
Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are walking a delicate line as they promise to aggressively tackle global warming while trying to assure voters that they continue to believe in the future of coal.
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19th April 2008 |
Burning ice, ice, baby - Gristmill
Methane hydrates (or clathrates), "burning ice," are worth understanding because they could affect the climate for better or worse. You can get the basics here on ... ... a solid form of water that contains a large amount of methane within its crystal structure [that] occur both in deep sedimentary structures, and as outcrops on the ocean floor. The worst that could happen is a climate catastrophe if they were released suddenly, as some people believed happened during "the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum." The best that could happen is if they could be recovered at a large scale safely -- then they would be an enormous new source of natural gas, the lowest-carbon and most efficient-burning fossil fuel.
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18th April 2008 |
Wild fires likely to spread due to global warming - Reuters
Wild fires are likely to be bigger, more frequent and burn for longer as the world gets hotter, in turn speeding up global warming to create a dangerous vicious circle, scientists say.
See also: Smoke worsens over Buenos Aires - BBC News
Smoke blanketing the Argentine capital Buenos Aires has thickened, prompting the authorities to close airports and major highways. The smoke started a week ago, caused by fires on grassland outside the city that are being blamed on farmers clearing the land to graze cattle.
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18th April 2008 |
Tiny tremors can track extreme storms in a warming planet - EurekAlert!
SANTA FE, New Mexico--Data from faint earth tremors caused by wind-driven ocean waves-often dismissed as “background noise” at seismographic stations around the world-suggest extreme ocean storms have become more frequent over the past three decades, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America.
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18th April 2008 |
March the warmest on record over world land surfaces
(AP) -- Planet Earth continues to run a fever. Last month was the warmest March on record over land surfaces of the world and the second warmest overall worldwide. For the United States, however, it was just an average March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday.
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18th April 2008 |
Greenland ice lakes drain at speed of Niagara Falls - New Scientist
A 3-kilometre-wide lake on Greenland's ice sheet was swallowed up in under an hour and a half
See also:
Greenland's disappearing lakes leave giant ice sheets largely unmoved - Guardian Unlimited
Research allays fears that the rapid draining of water from the top of Greenland's ice sheet may be contributing to the rise of global sea levels
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18th April 2008 |
How to Win the War on Global Warming - TIME
How to Win the War on Global WarmingTIME. Here's our blueprint for how America can fight-and win-the war on global warming. The most important part of a blueprint to contain climate change is to put ...
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18th April 2008 |
Crown Estate buys turbine prototype - Guardian Unlimited
Company says project will allow it to gain first-hand experience of developing offshore wind technology designed to operate in deep water
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18th April 2008 |
350 sense - Gristmill
Bill McKibben is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, and author of a dozen books, most recently The Bill McKibben Reader. ----- If only atmospheric chemistry gave you points for trying. A year ago this week, we were celebrating. I and six college-age colleagues of mine, joined by thousands of organizers across the country, had managed to pull off 1,400 simultaneous demonstrations against global warming in all 50 states. Though we didn't have much in the way of resources, Step It Up day was a success -- and within a week, both the Obama and Clinton campaigns had endorsed our call for 80 percent cuts in carbon emissions by 2050.
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18th April 2008 |
Pyrenean snowfall could be cut by half - Guardian Unlimited
Spanish scientists predict temperatures in the mountain range could rise by between 2.8C and 4C by the start of the 22nd century
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18th April 2008 |
More doubt on cosmic climate link - BBC News
New data throws more doubt on the notion that cosmic rays are a major influence on the Earth's climate.
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18th April 2008 |
Acidic oceans may be water of life for plankton - New Scientist
2, prompting hopes that they might lock away carbon
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18th April 2008 |
Sarkozy urges 'massive' private investment in green technologies - International Herald Tribune
About 90 percent of the money for fighting global warming will come from the private sector over the long term, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said at climate talks in Paris.
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18th April 2008 |
The Wikipedia Climate Conspiracy - DeSmogBlog
Resident expert in climate denial at the National Post, Lawrence Solomon, penned a piece recently decrying Wikipedia's entry for science historian Noami Oreskes. Oreskes is well known for her oft-quoted 2004 article in Science that found that out of a random sample of 928 research articles on climate change, not one questioned the consensus view that human activity is to blame. Solomon got his hackles up when Wikipedia disallowed his edit of the Oreskes entry referring to a social anthropologist named Benny Peiser (well known to DeSmog), who apparently had "debunked" Oreskes original study. No mention of course that Peiser's "debunking" has never been published in a peer-reviewed journal, the normal route for which discourse and debate in science is undertook.And rightly so.
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18th April 2008 |
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Climate change: Losing Greenland - Nature
Is the Arctic's biggest ice sheet in irreversible meltdown? And would we know if it were? Alexandra Witze reports.
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17th April 2008 |
Scientists find bigger, more cracks in Arctic ice shelves - CBC North
Researchers who teamed up with Canadian Rangers on a patrol around Ellesmere Island this month say they've found cracks in ice shelves are worse than they originally thought.
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17th April 2008 |
Oceans absorbing less CO2 may have 1,500 year impact - Windsor Star
VIENNA - Global oceans are soaking up less carbon dioxide, a development that could speed up the greenhouse effect and have an impact for the next 1,500 years, scientists said on Wednesday.
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17th April 2008 |
Changing jet streams may alter paths of storms and hurricanes - PhysOrg
The Earth`s jet streams, the high-altitude bands of fast winds that strongly influence the paths of storms and other weather systems, are shifting possibly in response to global warming. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution determined that over a 23-year span from 1979 to 2001 the jet streams in both hemispheres have risen in altitude and shifted toward the poles.
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17th April 2008 |
Britain's collapsing coastline - Guardian Unlimited
Patrick Barkham on Norfolk's cruel new choice: plough millions into doomed defences, or abandon whole villages to the invading waters?
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17th April 2008 |
Lough Neagh ducks on the decline - BBC News
Climate change could be behind a dramatic fall in the number of ducks on Lough Neagh, according to scientists.
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17th April 2008 |
Alarmist? It's getting worse: Stern - The Age
Climate change expert Nicholas Stern says he underestimated its threat. "Emissions are growing much faster than we'd thought, the absorptive capacity of the planet is less than we'd thought, the risks of greenhouse gases are potentially bigger than more cautious estimates, and the speed of climate change seems to be faster," he told Reuters at a conference in London.
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17th April 2008 |
A controversial fighter in the climate-change debate - The Christian Science Monitor
NASA's James Hansen frequently clashes with global warming 'deniers,' as well as the Bush administration.
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17th April 2008 |
The brighter side of $115 a barrel crude - Salon.com
How can high oil prices, which encourage more burning of a coal, be a good thing? The answer lies in the European Union's Emissions Trading System
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17th April 2008 |
Bush sets new CO2 emission target - BBC News
US President George W Bush says he is setting an "ambitious" new target of halting growth in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.
...but no ones buying it...
Same as it ever was - Grist
Strike three on climate change for the Bush White House? - DeSmogBlog
CLIMATE CHANGE-US: Little New in Bush Climate Plan - IPS
Bush's Toothless Climate Plan - Time Magazine
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The education of Warren Buffett - Gristmill
One of the biggest climate stories of 2007 never made it to the business pages. It's about how Warren Buffett, with no fanfare, quietly walked away from coal, cancelling six proposed plants. Buffett used to love coal. His involvement with it began when Berkshire Hathaway bought MidAmerican Energy Holdings in 1999. MidAmerican was a big operator of coal plants, and with natural gas prices edging toward a huge leap upwards -- bringing coal back into favor -- it appeared to be a typically savvy Buffett move. In 2006, Buffett picked up another utility, PacifiCorp, which includes Rocky Mountain Power and operates in Calif., Idaho, Ore., Utah, Wash., and Wyo.
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16th April 2008 |
The best technology to protect the earth - Gristmill
Other than energy efficiency (see here), I don't believe any set of technologies will be more important to the climate fight than concentrated solar power (CSP). I have a long article on CSP in Salon: "The technology that will save humanity: The solar energy you haven't heard of is the one best suited to generate clean electricity for generations to come." OK, maybe "will" should be "may help" (I'm an optimist, sue me!) and readers have heard about CSP for a while. But I do think CSP deserves much more attention: It is the best source of clean energy to replace coal and sustain economic development.
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16th April 2008 |
Tesco to show carbon footprints - Guardian Unlimited
Science environment: Supermarket group announces environmental move which will see product labels carry carbon information
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16th April 2008 |
Climate Models Match Well With Current Observations - U.S. News & World Report
More than a dozen centers around the world develop climate models to enhance our understanding of climate change and serve as the basis for policy decisions. But just how good are those models, and can they truly be relied upon? A new study by meteorologists at the University of Utah shows that current climate models are quite accurate and can be valuable tools for those seeking solutions to global warming trends.
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16th April 2008 |
EPA is missing in action on major environmental issues, observers charges - GovExec.com
The Environmental Protection Agency is failing to live up to its name these days, its legions of critics agree. At a time when the nation's top environmental regulators face increasingly complex pollution problems, President Bush is pushing for dramatic cuts in EPA's budget, his administration's strained, pro-industry interpretations of environmental laws have repeatedly been laughed out of court, and the White House is widely perceived to be running roughshod over agency scientists and lawyers.
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16th April 2008 |
Forecast for big sea level rise - BBC News
Sea levels could rise by up to one-and-a-half metres by the end of this century, according to scientific analysis.
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16th April 2008 |
Analyst pushes water sector as global warming affects supply - AP via Yahoo! Finance
With money already being allocated to combat global warming's affect on water supply, investors cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and wait for politicians to settle the matter, an analyst said Tuesday.
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16th April 2008 |
A decarbonization story: part one - Gristmill
The decarbonization data makes clear that if you want to beat 450 ppm and avoid catastrophic climate impacts, a significant price for carbon (plus aggressive technology deployment) is much more important than technology breakthroughs. That is a central point of this post. That is what I learned in the mid-1990s when I helped to run the billion-dollar office at DOE in charge of federal clean energy technology breakthroughs and deployment -- and had the chance to work with the top scientists and technology modelers at the national labs to figure out how we can cut emissions most quickly and cost-effectively.
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16th April 2008 |
Ultracapacitors: the future of electric cars or the 'cold fusion' of autovation? - The Christian Science Monitor
ZENN Motors says its electric car will cruise for 250 miles on a single five-minute charge. Skeptics cry shenanigans.
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16th April 2008 |
University of Calgary Audit Exposes Friends of Science Wrongdoing - DeSmogBlog
A University of Calgary audit into its relationship with the climate lobby group, Friends of Science (FOS), suggests that in setting up two trust funds on behalf of FOS, U of C Professor Barry Cooper likely contravened Revenue Canada and Elections Canada laws - and, in diverting money to his wife and daughter, most certainly broke rules at the University itself.The audit was assessing allegations that:1. Prof. Cooper helped secure Revenue tax receipts for FOS donors, even though FOS does not have charitable status;2. Prof. Cooper channeled money through the university that was later used to fund what "may be considered third party advertising under the Elections Act" - an ad campaign that was never registered and would contravene Elections Canada laws;3.
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16th April 2008 |
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China 'now top carbon polluter' - BBC News
China has already overtaken the US as the world's biggest polluter, according to a new report by US scientists.
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15th April 2008 |
EU carbon market sets up another round of windfall profits for dirtiest power generators - ENN
Polluting electricity generators in Europe are set to reap another round of extraordinary windfall profits from the carbon trading scheme meant to curb their carbon emissions, a new report revealed today. The study, commissioned by WWF from world-leading carbon market analysts Point Carbon, estimates that the windfall to electricity generators in just the five states of UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland over the current five year phase of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) could be between 23 and 71 billion Euros ($US 36 -111 billion ).
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15th April 2008 |
Biofuel: the burning question - Independent
UK: From today, all petrol and diesel sold on forecourts must contain at least 2.5 per cent biofuel. The Government insists its flagship environmental policy will make Britain's 33 million vehicles greener. But a formidable coalition of campaigners is warning that, far from helping to reverse climate change, the UK's biofuel revolution will speed up global warming and the loss of vital habitat worldwide.
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15th April 2008 |
Australians hungry for climate change action: report - ABC via Yahoo!7 News
A new report on climate change has found that most people want urgent action to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.
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15th April 2008 |
$10bn wind farm set up in Texas - Guardian Unlimited
Science environment: Billionaire oil tycoon hatches audacious plan to erect enough turbines to supply one million US homes
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15th April 2008 |
Breaking: The great ice age of 2008 is finally over -- next stop, Venus!
By Joseph RommA top NASA scientist just emailed me the breaking news: "The ice age expired!" Even more shocking: the rate of warming this year has been just about unprecedented in the historical record -- even faster than I had predicted just last month based on the NASA data from February. Just look at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies dataset. While January's land-ocean global temperature was a mere +0.12 degrees C above the the 1951-1980 average and the February anomaly was +0.26 degrees C -- the March anomaly was a staggering +0.67 degrees C.
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15th April 2008 |
Climate change affecting UK's coastal wildlife, report warns - Guardian Unlimited
A diverse range of wildlife along Britain's coastline will be affected by flooding and coastal erosion in the next 100 years, conservationists have warned
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15th April 2008 |
Melting Mountains A "Time Bomb" For Water Shortages - Planet Ark
VIENNA - Glaciers and mountain snow are melting earlier in the year than usual, meaning the water has already gone when millions of people need it during the summer when rainfall is lower, scientists warned on Monday.
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15th April 2008 |
A world of hunger - The Age
A world of hungerThe Age, Australia. Then there is the surge in Western demand for biofuels as alarm at climate change has driven policy to cut fossil fuel emissions. The consequences for the ...
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15th April 2008 |
Summary of main points in food report - Guardian Unlimited
Key findings of the UN report into the global food crisis
See also:
Reinventing Agriculture - IPS
Q&A: "Increase Agricultural Productivity While Reducing the Environmental Footprint" - IPS
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15th April 2008 |
George Monbiot: Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger. And if you care, eat less meat - Guardian Unlimited
George Monbiot: A food recession is under way. Biofuels are a crime against humanity, but - take it from a flesh eater - flesh eating is worse
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15th April 2008 |
Rich states failing to lead on emissions, says UN climate chief - Guardian Unlimited
Developing countries, including China and India, are unwilling to sign up to a new global climate change pact to replace the Kyoto protocol in 2012 because the rich world has failed to set a clear example on cutting carbon emissions, according to the UN's top climate official.
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15th April 2008 |
FEATURE - Bangladesh Faces Climate Change Refugee Nightmare - Planet Ark
DHAKA - Abdul Majid has been forced to move 22 times in as many years, a victim of the annual floods that ravage Bangladesh.
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15th April 2008 |
Green groups in carbon plan rift - The Age
Major environment group aligns itself with coal industry to push case for carbon storage technology, in a move that has split the green movement. The World Wildlife Fund will join forces with the Australian Coal Association, the Climate Institute and the powerful miners' union, the CFMEU, to call for a government taskforce, possibly situated within the Prime Minister's Department, to oversee the introduction of the technology.
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15th April 2008 |
2008 Proxy Voter Guide for Libertarian and Conservative Shareholders Released by Free Enterprise Action Fund - PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance
Concerns over corporate lobbying for impending regulation of greenhouse gases dominate the 2008 Proxy Voting Guide released today by Action Fund Management, the investment adviser to the Free Enterprise Action Fund , a publicly traded mutual fund.
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15th April 2008 |
Top emitters meet in Paris, worries on UN overlap - AlertNet
The world's top greenhouse gas emitters meet in Paris this week to work out ways to slow global warming with uncertainty about whether the U.S.-backed talks will help or hinder plans for a new U.N. climate treaty.
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15th April 2008 |
Private Security Firm Spied on Environmental Groups for Corporate Clients
A private security firm infiltrated environmental groups, collected their phone records and confidential internal documents.
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15th April 2008 |
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Focus: Hunger. Strikes. Riots. The food crisis bites - Guardian Unlimited
In less than a year, the price of wheat has risen 130 per cent, soya by 87 per cent and rice by 74 per cent. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, there are only eight to 12 weeks of cereal stocks in the world, while grain supplies are at their lowest since the 1980s. Not surprisingly, these swiftly rising prices have unleashed serious political unrest in many places. In Dhaka yesterday 10,000 Bangladeshi textile workers clashed with police. Dozens were injured, including 20 policemen, in a protest triggered by food costs that was eventually quelled by baton charges and teargas. In Haiti, demonstrators recently tried to storm the presidential palace after prices of staple foods leaped 50 per cent. In Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal and Cameroon there have been demonstrations, sometimes involving fatalities, as starving, desperate people have taken to the streets. And in Vietnam the new crime of rice rustling - in which crops are stripped at night from fields by raiders - has led to the banning of all harvesting machines from roads after sunset and to farmers, armed with shotguns, camping around their fields 24 hours a day.
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13th April 2008 |
Now survivalism isn't just for eccentrics Idea of 'extreme preparedness' heads to the mainstream - SF Chronicle
The traditional face of survivalism is that of a shaggy loner in camouflage, holed up in a cabin in the wilderness and surrounded by cases of canned goods and ammunition. It is not that of Barton M. Biggs, the former chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley. Yet in Biggs' new book, "Wealth, War and Wisdom," he says people should "assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure."
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13th April 2008 |
John Doerr: Not nearly enough money going to green tech - CNET
Speaking at the MIT Energy Conference, famed venture capitalist sees a "green-tech boom," but he says it's happening too slowly to address global energy challenges.
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13th April 2008 |
What to Do About Water - Vancouver Sun
Because of climate change, there's too much in some places and too little in others. Chris Wood explains the mess we've made and suggests solutions that likely won't be popular.
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13th April 2008 |
Financing crucial to next climate change pact-UN - Reuters
The global fight against climate change after the Kyoto pact expires will fail unless rich countries can come up with creative ways to finance clean development by poorer nations, a UN official said on Saturday.
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13th April 2008 |
China drought leaves 670,000 without drinking water - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
A drought in China's north-east Liaoning province has left nearly 700,000 people without drinking water after rainfall in the first three months of 2008 tumbled to one-fifth levels last year, the Xinhua agency said.
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13th April 2008 |
Bangladesh introduces improved stove to save fuel
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh has introduced an improved cooking stove that will consume 50 percent less of the biomass used for cooking in rural areas, a senior official said on Sunday.
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13th April 2008 |
Arctic future full of uncertainty - Calgary Herald
A huge amount of uncertainty exists with respect to the broader Arctic -- a planetary cap comprising eight per cent of the world's land mass: everything above the 66th Parallel in eight countries across 24 time zones, inhabited by four million people. With the twin challenges of climate change slowly creating a "blue Arctic" offering enhanced access to polar neighbourhoods, and accelerating competition for energy and other resources, it's imperative that such uncertainty be addressed.
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13th April 2008 |
Coal To Liquids In Australia - The Oil Drum
Coal To Liquids In AustraliaThe Oil Drum. ... which is far in excess of levels considered safe by the IPCC, leading some global warming activists to declare "coal is the enemy of the human race". ...
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13th April 2008 |
‘Make the climate wreckers explain actions to children' - Sunday Herald
EVERY PUBLIC sector organisation should have to justify the impact on the climate of every decision it takes, under plans to be put forward by the trade union, Unison. Councils, enterprise agencies, government bodies and the government itself would all be accountable for any development or plan which increases the pollution that is warming the globe. Unison is proposing that chief executives responsible for climate-wrecking schemes should be hauled up before school children to explain their actions.
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13th April 2008 |
The colour of money just got greener - Guardian Unlimited
The only way to save the planet is to help big business to make a profit from it, the founder of eco-dealmaker Cool NRG tells Nick Mathiason
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13th April 2008 |
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Jim Hansen, the Big Ice Melt and the Mainstream Media - Truthout
Imagine you have a choice between two scenarios on the future impact of climate change:
Scenario A: Climate change is real and human-caused, a gradual increase in global temperature that we have a long time to do something about (2050 targets) before drought, sea level rise, etc. get too severe; climate change can be effectively mitigated within continuing political and economic business as usual with carbon taxes and more efficient green technology.
Scenario B: Climate change is an emergency where we must make Draconian cuts to our use of fossil fuels immediately and globally in order to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere this decade so that we don't continue over a tipping point where both polar ice caps melt completely, sea level rises by 75 meters, and conditions become fiercely inhospitable to humanity and most of the species with which we share this small blue planet. Political and economic business as usual is far too slow and path dependent for mitigation of this scale, so we must innovate a World War II-style government mobilization so that a systemic reconfiguration of the global economy is possible.
Thousands of mainstream media articles and commentaries on TV, in newspapers and magazines, inform about climate change Scenario A, but there has been minimal, almost nonexistent mainstream coverage of Scenario B even though its main proponents - James Hansen and his NASA climate science team - have released several papers explaining this nonlinear vision of climate change focusing upon the unpredicted rapid melting of the polar ice caps.
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12th April 2008 |
Gore predicts worsening climate change - Times Online
Climate change is taking place even faster than the worst predictions made by the UN's Nobel prize-winning panel on climate change, Al Gore said this morning. The former US vice-president and winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize said that there were forecasts that the North Pole ice cap could disappear during summer months within five years. "The climate crisis is significantly worse and unfolding more rapidly than those on the pessimistic side of the IPCC [International Panel on Climate Change] projections had warned us."
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12th April 2008 |
Getting Cooler? What the World Meteorological Organization Actually Said - DeSmogBlog
For the past week, the breathless buzz on the global warming denier blogs and radio programs has been about a certain BBC News article regarding the temporary cooling effect of El Ni??a this year. Serial denier Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters described how the denier dramathon unfolded: NewsBusters has just learned that a British "climate activist" was responsible for getting the BBC to radically alter its "Global Temperatures 'To Decrease'" article last Friday.As reported Sunday, the third paragraph of what previously had been a very balanced piece about how global temperatures have been declining since 1998 was totally reworded in order to make the report just another hysterical climate change pronouncement.On Monday, Jennifer Marohasy, the director of the Environment Unit at Australia's Institute of Public Affairs, received and published an e-mail exchange between the article's author, Roger Harrabin, and a climate activist affiliated with the British ...
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12th April 2008 |
Ward Hunt Ice Shelf destined to disappear - Toronto Star
New cracks in the largest remaining Arctic ice shelf suggest another polar landmark seems destined to break up and disappear. Scientists discovered the extensive new cracks in the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf earlier this year and a patrol of Canadian Rangers got an up-close look at them last week.
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12th April 2008 |
End of the sequoias? - Scripps News
FRESNO, Calif. -- The 2,000-year-old giant sequoias east of Fresno, Calif., have survived warm spells lasting centuries, but in just 100 years, global warming could snuff them out -- along with many Sierra Nevada species.
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12th April 2008 |
Drought brings 'staggering fire behaviour' - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Firefighting authorities say they have been staggered by changes to fire behaviour because of ongoing drought in South Australia.
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12th April 2008 |
Americans See Global Warming as Serious Problem - Angus Reid Global Monitor
Many adults in the United States are concerned about climate change, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 47 per cent of respondents think global warming is a very serious problem, while 26 per cent deem it as somewhat serious.
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12th April 2008 |
May the truth force be with you - Gristmill
By Guest authorThis is a guest post from Jonathan F. P. Rose, co-founder of the Garrison Institute, presenting a public forum on "Satyagraha: Gandhi's Truth Force in the Age of Climate Change" April 13 at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City. ----- In recent days, we commemorated the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., who died 40 years ago this month. And some have also recalled that King was influenced by Gandhi, learning from Gandhi's Satyagraha or "truth force" movement the nonviolent tactics that ultimately made the civil rights movement a success.
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12th April 2008 |
Plant a Garden, Get a Tax Break? - Alternet
We give tax breaks to encourage people to put solar panels on their roofs, so why not offer incentives for healthy food production in their backyards?
See also: The solution beneath our feet
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12th April 2008 |
MARKET ALONE CAN'T HALT CO2 EMISSIONS: BRITISH CLIMATE OFFICIAL - The Tocqueville Connection
PARIS, April 11, 2008 (AFP) - A top British climate change official backed an embattled European Union scheme Friday to tax industrial carbon emissions, but also allowed for exceptions in highly competitive sectors.
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12th April 2008 |
Scientists Predict More Floods, Droughts - PhysOrg
(AP) -- Scientists predicted Thursday that climate change in coming decades will cause more flooding in the Northern Hemisphere and droughts in some southern and arid zones.
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12th April 2008 |
All candidates for US presidency treat Kyoto as if it is radioactive - Sault Star
The conventional wisdom in Canada is that no matter who becomes the next American president, he or she will quickly lead the United States into compliance with the Kyoto Accord and its successor treaty. Problem is, when you look at what Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Democratic contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are actually saying about Kyoto and its successor treaty (and I've just gone through 80 eye-glazing pages about their environment policies on their campaign websites) you realize the conventional wisdom is wrong.
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12th April 2008 |
Greenpeace costs BE atomic plan at £25bn - Guardian Unlimited
Buying British Energy and using its sites to build nuclear power stations will be costly and ineffective, claims Greenpeace
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12th April 2008 |
A force to be reckoned with - Los Angeles Times
Songs of the Earth: Environmentalist Bill McKibben's new book plead with readers to stay focused on what is happening to the world.
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12th April 2008 |
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Logging boreal forest could detonate massive 'carbon bomb,' says report - CNews
OTTAWA - Canada's boreal forest is a ticking "carbon bomb" and its continued logging could trigger a massive release of greenhouse gases, says a new report.
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11th April 2006 |
FINANCE: World Bank "Playing Both Sides of Climate Crisis" - IPS
NEW YORK, Apr 10 (IPS) - A new study released by an independent policy think tank casts further doubts on the World Bank's ability to stay neutral in the global politics of climate change.
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11th April 2006 |
The future of solar-powered houses is clear - PhysOrg
The future of solar-powered houses is clear. People could live in glass houses and look at the world through rose-tinted windows while reducing their carbon emissions by 50 percent thanks to QUT Institute of Sustainable Resources research.
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11th April 2006 |
The technologies needed to beat 450 ppm, Part 1 - GristMill
By Joseph RommIn 2007, the IPCC wrote [PDF] in its Working Group III summary (page 16): The range of stabilization levels assessed can be achieved by deployment of a portfolio of technologies that are currently available and those that are expected to be commercialised in coming decades. This assumes that appropriate and effective incentives are in place for development, acquisition, deployment and diffusion of technologies, and for addressing related barriers (high agreement, much evidence). This range of levels includes reaching atmospheric concentrations of 445 to 490 ppm CO2-equivalent, or 400 to 450 ppm of CO2.
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11th April 2006 |
Low-carbon Living Takes Off In The US - Science Daily
Co-housing offers a low-carbon lifestyle, and developers are poised for a market that could soon burgeon in the US, according to a new study. Cohousing in the US typically comprises private living units (houses or flats) with shared spaces such as a gym, office space, workshops, laundry facilities and a cafe. Those living in cohousing consume nearly 60 per cent less energy in the home, and operate car-sharing and recycling schemes that greatly reduce the pollution from travel and landfill.
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11th April 2006 |
Model-data-comparison, Lesson 2 - RealClimate
In January, we presented Lesson 1 in model-data comparison: if you are comparing noisy data to a model trend, make sure you have enough data for them to show a statistically significant trend. This was in response to a graph by Roger Pielke Jr. presented in the New York Times Tierney Lab Blog that compared observations to IPCC projections over an 8-year period. We showed that this period is too short for a meaningful trend comparison. This week, the story has taken a curious new twist. In a letter published in Nature Geoscience, Pielke presents such a comparison for a longer period, 1990-2007 (see Figure).
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11th April 2006 |
Absence of clouds caused pre-human supergreenhouse periods - PhysOrg
In a world without human-produced pollution, biological productivity controls cloud formation and may be the lever that caused supergreenhouse episodes during the Cetaceous and Eocene, according to Penn State paleoclimatologists.
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11th April 2006 |
Peak Oil Is a Problem We Can Solve Now - Alternet
The peak oil problem will not "destroy suburbia" or the American way of life. Only unrestrained emissions of greenhouse gases can do that.
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11th April 2006 |
Poor go hungry as rich fill their tanks - Guardian Unlimited
Fight against world poverty set back by seven years as World Bank condems global dash to biofuels
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11th April 2006 |
Bjorn Lomborg and the Anti-Climate Crowd - DeSmogBlog
Bjorn Lomborg is breaking bread with another right wing think tank this week. The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research will be hosting the “skeptical environmentalist” for a speech today in the Big Apple. Lomborg continues to tour the world delivering his message of “don't worry – be happy” around environmental issues - particularly global warming. In May he will be hosting the Copenhagen Consensus 2008 conference where we can expect to see another contrived conclusion that climate change it too expensive to deal with. Lomborg's biggest cachet with the media is that he portrays himself as an environmentalist and a one-time supporter of Greenpeace , though the organization has no record of his membership.
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11th April 2006 |
Hunters, anglers worry about global warming, loss of wildlife - WOOD TV 8 Grand Rapids
Global warming could force elk and mule deer from much of the American West. Wild trout could disappear in lower Appalachian streams. Two-thirds of the country's ducks may disappear. A new assessment of the threat to fish and wildlife habitat has hunters and anglers calling for action.
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11th April 2006 |
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Warming trends rise in large ocean areas -study - AlertNet
Warming trends in a third of the world's large ocean regions are two to four times greater than previously reported averages, increasing the risk to marine life and fisheries, a U.N.-backed environmental study said.
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10th April 2008 |
East Lancashire pays the price of extreme weather - This Is Lancashire
EXTREME weather caused by climate change is leaving local councils facing a multi-million pound bill. Council bosses say things are getting worse after an internal report warned the true cost of bad weather was "grossly underestimated".
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10th April 2008 |
Most Canadians think Earth Hour should happen more often: poll - CNews
OTTAWA - A new survey suggests most Canadians think Earth Hour should happen more often. In fact, the Harris-Decima poll suggests more than a third of Canadians wouldn't mind flicking off their lights and appliances for an hour as often as once a month.
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10th April 2008 |
CLIMATE CHANGE: Will Societies Bend, or Snap in the Storm? - IPS
JOHANNESBURG, Apr 9 (IPS) - Representatives from countries, civil society and the private sector are meeting this week in Johannesburg, South Africa, to review the findings of the three-year International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). This global initiative has examined agriculture from all angles, to determine how farming might be done more sustainably in the future.
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10th April 2008 |
Fruit and vegetable waste clogs landfills - PhysOrg
About 4.4 million uneaten apples are being thrown away each day in Britain, creating a mountain of landfill waste, a report reveals. Reducing food waste could cut carbon dioxide by 15 million tons each year, equivalent to taking one in five cars off the road, The Times of London reported.
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10th April 2008 |
Green Groups Oppose World Bank's India Coal Plant - Planet Ark
WASHINGTON - Environmental groups called on the World Bank to delay a decision on Tuesday on funding for a $4.2 billion coal-fired power plant in India until more analyses of costs and environmental impact are done.
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10th April 2008 |
Lieberman-Warner is a mess - GristMill
Climate Security Act could be worse than the 2007 energy bill. From an analysis [PDF] of the Lieberman-Warner act by the NRDC: ... the requirement for renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biogasoline, will grow from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons in 2022. So far, so good, but keep in mind that biogasoline, green diesel, algae derived biodiesel, and cellulosic ethanol have yet to be proven commercially or environmentally viable. Less than a month ago, the NRDC and our government were under the mistaken impression that our conventional biofuels produced fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. And it gets worse:By 2022, 21 billion gallons must be advanced biofuels, of which 16 billion gallons must be cellulosic biofuels.
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10th April 2008 |
Al Gore at TED
Al Gore addresses the TED conference, March 2008: Pretty intense. You can see how he is consciously attempting to transcend politics -- he's shooting for something bigger now.
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10th April 2008 |
Brit's Eye View: Not now, Darling
U.K.'s Labor Party embraces nuclear but is slow to move on the big climate challenge.
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10th April 2008 |
Next-generation nuclear fuel may be too hot to handle: report - PhysOrg
New high-efficiency nuclear fuel meant to burn longer and stronger may prove unstable in an emergency and hard to dispose of, according experts cited in a report published Wednesday.
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10th April 2008 |
'Citizen scientists' watch for signs of climate change - The Christian Science Monitor
People with no formal training are helping scientists track and record birds, fish, stars, and plants in their neighborhoods online.
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10th April 2008 |
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What is the meaning of 'green'? - BBC News
Everyone from supermarkets to politicians talk about going green, but does it actually mean anything?
'We might be the Death Star, but we have a flowerbed in the fourth quadrant.'
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9th April 2008 |
Food price rises threaten global security - UN - Guardian
Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN's top humanitarian official warned yesterday after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world.
See also: Hungry mob attacks Haiti palace - BBC
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9th April 2008 |
World food balance tips toward crisis - Seattle Post Intelligencer
The subsidized conversion of crops into fuel was supposed to promote energy independence and help limit global warming. But this promise was, as Time magazine bluntly put it, a "scam."
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9th April 2008 |
Scientist warns climate change will impact beer production - CNews
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - The price of beer is likely to rise in coming decades because climate change will hamper the production of a key grain needed for the brew - especially in Australia, a scientist warned Tuesday.
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9th April 2008 |
Climate - Energy Bulletin
Map animation of greenhouse gas sources - 'like a beating heart'.
Will capitalism survive climate change? The South's dilemma
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9th April 2008 |
New York assembly shelves Manhattan congestion charge - Guardian Unlimited
Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls politicians 'cowards' for failing to back $8 levy to combat choking traffic jams and pollution
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9th April 2008 |
Time to stop playing fast and loose with renewables targets - Guardian Unlimited
The government should concentrate on strengthening its renewable energy programme, not arguing for dubious certificate trading systems
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9th April 2008 |
The US Is Heading Towards Water Crisis - AlterNet
Decreasing water supplies are garnering the interest of the private sector and the potential for profit.
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9th April 2008 |
Earth Day Reality Check: Consumers 'Clueless' About Home Energy ... - PR Newswire
As environmental action enters the spotlight this 38th annual Earth Day on April 22, 2008, a national study shows that consumers remain largely "clueless" about residential energy use impacting greenhouse gas emissions -- despite a vast U.S. marketing movement toward green affinity and awareness in recent years.
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9th April 2008 |
Key US Rep Outlines Draft CO2 Policies; Warns Of Infighting - Nasdaq
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The chairman of the House energy committee Tuesday broadly outlined his draft climate change policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but warned that "ferocious infighting" could delay passage of any bill.
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9th April 2008 |
Shell Chief Seeks Carbon Capture Subsidies - Planet Ark
BRUSSELS - The European Union must create rapid incentives to promote underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) to achieve its ambitious climate change goals, the head of oil major Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday.
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9th April 2008 |
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Palm oil industry continues to destroy Indonesia's peatland forests - Monsters and Critics.com
Jakarta - The destruction of Indonesia's peatland forests is continuing unstopped despite the government's pledge to halt it, according to a report by environmental group Greenpeace's issued Monday.
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8th April 2008 |
World Bank Accused Of Climate Change "Hijack" - Planet Ark
BANGKOK - Developing countries and environmental groups accused the World Bank on Friday of trying to seize control of the billions of dollars of aid that will be used to tackle climate change in the next four decades.
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8th April 2008 |
The 2030 Blueprint - Gristmill
A new report from Architecture2030 shows that solving the climate change crisis can save billions of dollars, stimulate a deteriorating U.S. economy, and create high quality jobs (full report here). Complex problems sometimes require the simplest of solutions. One of the most important questions facing those attempting to solve the climate crisis is, "How do we reduce CO2 emissions dramatically and immediately?" The simplest answer is, "Turn off the coal plants." Although coal produces about half of the energy supplied by the electric power sector, it is responsible for 81% of the sector's CO2 emissions.
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8th April 2008 |
CLIMATE CHANGE: European Mountain Top Vanishes - IPS
BERLIN, Apr 7 (IPS) - The peak of the Stubai Mountains in the Austrian Alps has vanished. It was around a couple of months back, but since then no one can say exactly when it disappeared.
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8th April 2008 |
Your Asphalt Parking Spot Can Become a Blooming Garden Plot - The Tyee
We can pave our streets green: Wouldn't you give up your extra parking spot for a garden plot?
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8th April 2008 |
Price shock in global food - The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News
Americans may fret that Wheat Thins cost 15 percent more than a year ago but in poor nations, such price hikes aren't taken lightly. In Ivory Coast last week, women rioted against higher food costs, leaving one person dead.
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8th April 2008 |
E-Day: A good use of energy? - BBC News
The recent Energy Saving Day did not affect the UK's electricity use as intended; does that mean such initiatives are a waste of time?
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8th April 2008 |
Target CO2 - RealClimate
What is the long term sensitivity to increasing CO2? What, indeed, does long term sensitivity even mean? Jim Hansen and some colleagues (not including me) have a preprint available that claims that it is around 6ºC based on paleo-climate evidence. Since that is significantly larger than the 'standard' climate sensitivity we've often talked about, it's worth looking at in more detail. We need to start with some definitions. Sensitivity is defined as the global mean surface temperature anomaly response to a doubling of CO2 with other boundary conditions staying the same. However, depending on what the boundary conditions include, you can get very different numbers.
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8th April 2008 |
Worst drought for a generation leaves water and comradeship in short supply - Times Online
Spain is suffering its worst drought in more than four decades, pitting the country's regions against each other in a fierce battle over water resources.
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8th April 2008 |
Can technology alone stop global warming? - Gristmill
By Joseph RommOf course not. We need at least three other things: Major political change, to deploy the technologies fast enough. My first take on this is here ("Is 450 ppm [or less] politically possible? Part 1"). Major price change, to add a cost to emitting greenhouse gases that approximates the terrible damage done by them. All of the technology advances in renewables (or nuclear, or coal with carbon capture) that you can plausibly imagine in the next decade won't make coal cost-uneffective -- this is a critical point to understand. Major behavior change; most people need to understand at a visceral level that unrestricted greenhouse gas emissions are the gravest threat to the health and well-being of future generations that we face, by far.
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8th April 2008 |
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Climate target is guaranteed catastrophe - Guardian Unlimited
Hansen says the EU target of 550 parts per million of C02 - the most stringent in the world - should be slashed to 350ppm. He argues the cut is needed if "humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilisation developed". A final version of the paper Hansen co-authored with eight other climate scientists, is posted today on the Archive website. Instead of using theoretical models to estimate the sensitivity of the climate, his team turned to evidence from the Earth's history, which they say gives a much more accurate picture.
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7th April 2008 |
Keeping a green eye on drivers - Los Angeles Times
Devices in 400 Denver cars will measure lead-footed use of the gas and brake pedals and other fuel-burning maneuvers. The aim: to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Hundreds of drivers here will serve as guinea pigs in a test that's part sociology experiment, part environmental advocacy and part Driver's Ed 101.
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7th April 2008 |
New Method For Combating The Greenhouse Gas Nitrous Oxide Developed - Science Daily
The cost of treating wastewater contaminated with nitrogen could be lowered in future. Soil scientists have developed a new mathematical model which can help determine the optimum conditions for microbiological water treatment. Using the stable natural nitrogen isotope, this mathematical model is the most accurate to date.
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7th April 2008 |
Wind farm faces MoD opposition - Guardian Unlimited
E.ON, the power generator, has today submitted a planning application to build a £700m wind farm off the east Yorkshire coast, despite opposition from the Ministry of Defence.
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7th April 2008 |
Global Warming Heats Up Urgency Of Salmon Recovery Efforts - Science Daily
Federal efforts to recover endangered salmon on the Columbia and Snake rivers can no longer ignore global warming, which already has fundamentally changed the river and ocean habitats of salmon and steelhead, warns a new scientific review.
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7th April 2008 |
The Inconvenient Truthteller: Al Gore captivates Montreal - DeSmogBlog
Al Gore strode into Montreal Friday evening and the city embraced him as one of its own. In fact, I can't quite imagine that he gets quite this kind of welcome anywhere else. First of all, his visit was sponsored by La Presse, which guaranteed a pretty compelling advance. And if the front page coverage wasn't impressive enough, the full-colour special section on climate change would have to turn your head. Before taking to the stage at the Place des Arts to deliver his now-famous slideshow, Gore was whisked off to the offices of Power Corporation – a name which perfectly describes the scope, if not the actual activities of the company in question – for a VIP reception hosted by Andre Desmarais and including the cream of the Montreal business and political community.
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7th April 2008 |
Carbon credits could help save Amazon, blunt warming: study - Raw Story
Global carbon markets could generate billions of dollars each year for developing countries that tackle tropical deforestation, a major source of global warming, according to a new study. Reducing the rate at which Amazonian rain forests are disappearing by only 10 percent, for example, would yield 1.5 to 9.1 billion euros (2.2 to 13.5 billion dollars), depending on world carbon emission prices, researchers calculated.
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7th April 2008 |
Fires main threat to Amazon in drier climate: study - Reuters UK
Fires set by people will be the biggest threat to the Amazon rainforest in coming decades linked to a drier climate caused by global warming, researchers said on Monday. They said swathes of the forest were more likely to be killed by blazes raging out of control than by a more gradual shift towards savannah caused by more frequent droughts predicted by the U.N. Climate Panel in a 2007 report.
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7th April 2008 |
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Global warming continues, regardless of La Nina weather pattern - TREND Information
The long-term trend of global warming is continuing, despite the current La Nina weather phenomenon that is bringing relatively cooler temperatures to parts of the Equatorial Pacific region, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said yesterday.
Worldwide temperatures this year are expected to be above the long-term average, even though La Nina is also likely to persist through to the middle of 2008, WMO said in a press statement issued in Geneva.
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6th April 2008 |
Koalas in danger - Independent
The future of the koala, perhaps Australia's best-loved animal, is under threat because greenhouse gas emissions are making eucalyptus leaves – their sole food source – inedible. Scientists warned yesterday that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were reducing nutrient levels in the leaves, and also boosting their toxic tannin content.
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6th April 2008 |
Spanish region may ship water to relieve drought - Environmental News Network
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's northeast Catalonia region will need to import water by ship and train from May to ensure domestic supplies if the current drought persists, the regional government said in a report. The report, sent to Reuters on Friday, said rainfall in all but one of Catalonia's 15 river basins was below emergency levels for the year so far.
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6th April 2008 |
Georgia lawmakers approve request to redraw borders, hoping to alleviate a drought - Boston Herald
ATLANTA - Lawmakers in drought-parched Georgia voted Friday to ask mapmakers to redraw their state’s northern boundary in hopes of tapping the Tennessee River, in a vote that potentially escalates a conflict with their neighbor.
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6th April 2008 |
New Focus on Coal's Part in Warming - Washington Post
James E. Hansen, perhaps the best-known scientific advocate for curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, sent a letter recently to the head of one of the nation's largest power companies, calling on him to confront the role that his coal-fired plants play in global warming. Hansen proposed they meet.
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6th April 2008 |
Climate debate shifts as many say emissions caps are not enough - International Herald Tribune
More economists, scientists and students of energy policy are pushing for the development of advanced low-carbon technologies.
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6th April 2008 |
Riots fear after rice price hits a high - Guardian Unlimited
Shortages of the staple crop of half the world's people could bring unrest across Asia and Africa
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6th April 2008 |
New site for global warming action - We Can Solve It
No single person will stop global warming, but by working together, we can make it a priority for government and business. We'll succeed because when people unite and call for action, change is inevitable. Together we can solve the climate crisis.
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6th April 2008 |
Companies will have to tell all on carbon emissions - Independent
All quoted companies will be forced to detail carbon emissions in their annual reports after the Government caved in to backbench pressure.
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6th April 2008 |
Dust to Dust... - Sunday Herald
The rising temperatures and increasing humidity triggered by climate change are threatening to unleash a plague of pests on the priceless contents of Scotland's historic buildings, according to a new warning from the National Trust for Scotland (NTS). Clothes moths, carpet beetles, woodworm, mould and fungi are all on the ascendancy, says NTS's head of collections conservation services, Clare Meredith. This puts the textiles, furniture and books in some of the nation's iconic castles and stately homes in danger.
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6th April 2008 |
Nobel winner has grave climate fears - TVNZ
The Nobel Prize-winning scientist who rang the first alarm bells over the ozone hole has issued a warning about climate change, saying there could be "almost irreversible consequences" if the Earth warmed 2.5 degrees Celsius above what it ought to be.
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6th April 2008 |
Bangkok climate change talks close - Reuters UK
As expected, no major advances were achieved at the meeting, which was mainly intended to flesh out a roadmap from a breakthrough agreement in Bali last year to kick off the talks through to a culmination in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.
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6th April 2008 |
Just the Tree of Us - Newsweek
Driven by public concern, all the candidates agree that action is needed to slow global warming. No matter who's elected, America's policy will be different a year from now.
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6th April 2008 |
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CLIMATE CHANGE: A Game With Too Many Free Riders
BROOKLIN, Canada, Apr 4 (IPS) - The evidence is piling up that climate change threatens to bring a chaotic future unlike anything ever known. Taking collective action in time to avert the worst means rewarding climate-safe behaviour, punishing climate transgressors and publicly praising those who are trying to protect the environment, a new study suggests.
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5th April 2008 |
Green row over fuel made from coal - Guardian Unlimited
Science environment: Energy companies planning to replace dwindling supplies of oil with synthetic fuels derived from coal
· Method devised by Nazis sparks worldwide interest
· Greenhouse gas emissions around double that of oil
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5th April 2008 |
CLIMATE CHANGE: New Value For Old Forests
SYDNEY, Apr 4 (IPS) - Newly sensitised to the dangers of climate change, researchers around the world are making progress in helping to protect old growth forests that are threatened by fires, urban development and logging.
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5th April 2008 |
An inspirational kickoff from David Suzuki - DeSmogBlog
A room, bursting with 250 Inconvenient Truth trainees gathered in Montreal Friday afternoon for the opening of the first Canadian (and the first bilingual) Al Gore Bootcamp. And if they weren't already excited by the prospect – and convinced of the necessity – of learning how to engage Canadians in a climate change conversation (and plainly there were), David Suzuki would have made all the difference. Suzuki could fairly be characterized as the Al Gore of Canada, where climate change is concerned. His organization, the David Suzuki Foundation, has been actively engaged in lobbying for action for more than a decade.
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5th April 2008 |
Crop switch worsens global food price crisis - Guardian Unlimited
UN secretary general raises doubt over policy encouraging farmers to produce biofuels amid signs of worst food crisis in a generation
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5th April 2008 |
Go for an 'Edible Estate': The Case Against Lawns - AlterNet
Why do we dedicate so much property to something that requires precious resources, endless hours and contaminates our air and water?
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5th April 2008 |
Wheat future surge on worries that bad weather will damage crops - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
NEW YORK - Wheat prices shot up Friday as investors bet that a mix of wet and dry weather in wheat-growing U.S. states will damage crops and tighten supplies of the grain used to make bread, pasta and other foods.
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5th April 2008 |
NOAA studies four seals species as possible endangered - Alaskajournal.com
NOAA Fisheries Service is preparing status reviews of ribbon, bearded, spotted and ringed seals for possible listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.
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5th April 2008 |
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Australia to begin carbon capture - BBC News
Australia opens its first underground carbon storage facility in an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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4th April 2008 |
US mulls Pacific salmon fishing ban - BBC News
A collapse in Pacific salmon stocks is leading the US government to consider a fishing ban, the BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani reports.
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4th April 2008 |
Canadian Researchers Warn Of New Arctic Worries - Planet Ark
Melting ocean ice is apparently allowing larger storm surges to flood into the delta in Canada's far north, a change that could have an impact on energy development plans for the region, said Lance Lesack, who has been tracking environmental changes in the region for more than a decade. "With receding sea ice, suddenly we're seeing bigger storm surges moving into the delta from storms that really aren't any bigger than they have been historically," said Lesack, a geographer from Simon Fraser University near Vancouver.
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4th April 2008 |
Harmful algae taking advantage of global warming - PhysOrg
You know that green scum creeping across the surface of your local public water reservoir" Or maybe it`s choking out a favorite fishing spot or livestock watering hole. It`s probably cyanobacteria - blue-green algae - and, according to a paper in the April 4 issue of the journal Science, it relishes the weather extremes that accompany global warming.
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4th April 2008 |
Severe Spanish drought sparks regional fights over water - Channel NewsAsia
MADRID: The worst drought in decades in Spain is leading to regional disputes over scarce water resources with areas with more reserves resisting transfers to more parched zones.
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4th April 2008 |
CLIMATE CHANGE: A Vision Worth Fighting For - IPS
BROOKLIN, Canada, Apr 3 (IPS) - Sweeping societal change is a slow and erratic business. The civil rights movement in the United States went nowhere for decades and then exploded in the 1960s. Not long ago, smokers could light up anywhere they pleased in Canada and the U.S. Now they are mostly confined to a few outdoor areas and as a consequence, far fewer people smoke.
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4th April 2008 |
US warns on economy as Africa seeks climate aid - Raw Story
The United States warned Thursday a worsening economy limited what it could give to help poor nations fight global warming, as African activists appealed for major polluters to commit one percent of GDP.
[absolutely shameful]
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4th April 2008 |
BRAZIL: Clean Gasoline Fuels Soybean Production
RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 3 (IPS) - The Brazilian government has decided to move up the deadlines for obligatory addition of biofuels to gasoline and diesel fuel, a measure that will boost the production of soybeans, the oilseed crop with the lowest yield and that causes the most environmental damage.
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4th April 2008 |
IMF: Price Carbon Emissions To Avert Global Warming Crisis - Nasdaq
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A price should be put on greenhouse gas emissions to avert "potentially catastrophic" damage to the world economy from global warming, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.
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4th April 2008 |
Ted Turner Says Global Warming Will Increase Cannibalism - Ecorazzi
In an interview Tuesday for Charlie Rose’s PBS show, the CNN founder said that one of the consequences of Global Warming will be mass cannibalism. From the interview, “Not doing it will be catastrophic. We’ll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable. The droughts will be so bad there’ll be no more corn grown. Not doing it is suicide.”
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4th April 2008 |
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The green scare - Guardian Unlimited
Science environment: Why is the Bush government casting 'eco-terrorists' as public enemy No 1? John Vidal reports
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3rd April 2008 |
The World Bank's Climate Profiteering - AlterNet
The bank is turning dirty carbon credits into gold -- bad news for those seeking a real solution to the climate crisis.
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3rd April 2008 |
More from the delayer-1000 du jour
By Joseph RommThe usually thoughtful journal Nature has just published a pointless and misleading -- if not outright dangerous -- commentary by delayer-1000 du jour, Roger Pielke, Jr., along with Christopher Green, who, as we've seen, is another aspiring delayer. It will be no surprise to learn the central point of their essay, ironically titled "Dangerous Assumptions" (available here [PDF] or here, with a subscription), is: "Enormous advances in energy technology will be needed to stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at acceptable levels." This is otherwise known as the technology trap or the standard "Technology, technology, blah, blah, blah" delayer message developed by Frank Luntz and perfected by Bush/Lomborg/Gingrich.
See also: Report: Uphill fight vs. CO2 - Rocky Mountain News
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3rd April 2008 |
A tactical and moral mistake - Toronto Star
A tactical and moral mistakeToronto Star, Canada. The report followed a common pattern of portraying China as a recalcitrant participant in global warming talks and a large, energy inefficient, polluting, ...
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3rd April 2008 |
Hungry Crowds Spell Trouble For World Leaders - Planet Ark
YAOUNDE - "Is it not said 'A hungry man is an angry man'?" commented Simon Nkwenti, head of a teachers' union in Cameroon, after riots that killed dozens of people in the central African country.
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3rd April 2008 |
ENVIRONMENT: Major Climate Campaign Hits U.S. Airwaves
WASHINGTON, Apr 2 (IPS) - Building on his Oscar for the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and his 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore Wednesday launched a 300-million-dollar media campaign to mobilise the public for concrete action to reduce global warming.
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3rd April 2008 |
US states take agency to court over emissions standards - Guardian Unlimited
A group of states are attempting to force the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with a Supreme Court ruling
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3rd April 2008 |
Green Scotland 'can power whole of UK' - Scotsman
Green Scotland 'can power whole of UK'Scotsman, United Kingdom. By HAMISH MACDONELL SCOTLAND could become the global leader in the fight against climate change by producing ten times as much electricity from renewables ...
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3rd April 2008 |
Climate and cholera - PhysOrg
Cholera outbreaks may soon be predicted using satellite sensors, paving the way for preemptive medicine in countries that suffer epidemics, says Distinguished University Professor Rita Colwell, speaking today at the Society for General Microbiology`s 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
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3rd April 2008 |
CLIMATE CHANGE: The Fault Lies Not in Our Cars but in Ourselves
BROOKLIN, Canada, Apr 2 (IPS) - Rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere can be compared to a flooding river, swamping low areas at first but inevitably bursting its banks.
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3rd April 2008 |
The great carbon con: Can offsetting really help to save the planet? - The Independent
It all started with Sting, this fad for owning one's very own patch of tropical rainforest, though it is probably unfair to blame him entirely for creating the boom industry that buying up forests piecemeal has become.
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3rd April 2008 |
Dust plays huge role in climate change - The Christian Science Monitor
Tiny particles heat up the atmosphere faster than scientist once believed. The good news is this dust can be cleaned up fairly quickly.
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3rd April 2008 |
Coal power policy under attack from top scientists - Guardian Unlimited
Leading scientists warn ministers that plans for a new generation of coal power stations pose climate risk
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3rd April 2008 |
Carbon prices rise amid tighter rules - Guardian Unlimited
Europe's big polluters emitted lower levels of carbon dioxide than allowed last year
See also: EU industry sees emissions rise - BBC News
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3rd April 2008 |
Rising seas could be death knell to sportfish - Naples Daily News
Global warming models show a 15-inch sea level rise in Southwest Florida by year 2100, wiping out much marshland where fish breed.
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3rd April 2008 |
German Soy Fuel Blend Fails Climate Test - Greenpeace - Planet Ark
HAMBURG - Germany's policy of blending fossil diesel with biodiesel to combat climate change is failing because 20 percent comes from soyoil produced in countries where deforestation takes place, Greenpeace said on Wednesday.
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3rd April 2008 |
'No Sun link' to climate change - BBC News
The idea that the Earth's climate is determined by cosmic rays and the Sun's activity is discredited by UK scientists.
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3rd April 2008 |
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How Conservatives Have Duped Us in the Global Warming Fight
We've let them decide how we talk about climate change and what's important.
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2nd April 2008 |
CLIMATE CHANGE: The Future Is Now
BROOKLIN, Canada, Apr 1 (IPS) - Our fingers are glued to the global thermostat, pushing it ever higher, and climate catastrophe has already begun to reshape human civilisation.
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2nd April 2008 |
Climate change: Time is running out - CNN.com
It appears that the scale and seriousness of climate change is at last being grasped. In 2008, we stand on the brink of a historic consensus, not only between scientists, but in the corridors of political power and in boardrooms across the globe.
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2nd April 2008 |
Is 450 ppm - or less politically possible? Part 1
By Joseph RommThe short answer is: "Not today -- not even close." The long answer is the subject of this post. Regular readers know that the nation and the world currently lack the political will to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide at 450 ppm or even 550 ppm. The political impossibility is also obvious from anyone familiar with Princeton's "stabilization wedges" [PDF] -- and if you aren't, you should be (technical paper here [PDF], less technical one here [PDF]). The wedges are a valuable conceptual tool for showing the immense scale needed for the solution (although they have analytical flaws).
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2nd April 2008 |
A timeline of climate change science - CNN.com
Climatology was once a small and often overlooked branch of science. But important discoveries made as the early 19th century have contributed to what is the most important field of scientific study in the world today. Listed below are some key dates in climate change history.
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2nd April 2008 |
After Earth Hour - Toronto Star
For one hour on Saturday evening, Torontonians turned their lights off and cut their power consumption by almost 9 per cent from the average over the past three years. Symbolic though it was, Earth Hour demonstrated the level of concern in this city over climate change as well as a willingness by residents to start changing their behaviour when it comes to the overuse of fossil fuel.
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2nd April 2008 |
Canada's submission to UN climate change conference ‘deceitful': critics - GlobalTV Ontario
OTTAWA - The Harper government is being accused of misleading the world about the toughness of its plan to force industry to bury greenhouse gas emissions underground.
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2nd April 2008 |
Building the future - CNN.com
It's easy to overlook the impact buildings have on greenhouse gas emissions, but the places where we live and work contribute over 30 percent of global greenhouse emissions.
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2nd April 2008 |
Climate changing gas from some surprising microbial liaisons - PhysOrg
The climate changing gas dimethyl sulphide (DMS) is being made by microbes at the rate of more than 200 million tonnes a year in the world`s seas, scientists heard today at the Society for General Microbiology`s 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
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2nd April 2008 |
Climate Cartoons Brings Green to Screen - Animation Magazine
Climate Cartoons Brings Green to ScreenAnimation Magazine. Climate Cartoons, a leading producer of animation that inspires action to prevent climate change, uses the power of animation to educate viewers on the ...
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2nd April 2008 |
EU data set to reveal effect on emissions - Financial Times
Carbon traders found out on Tuesday whether the European Union's emissions trading scheme has succeeded in persuading companies to curb their greenhouse gas output.
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2nd April 2008 |
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No laughing matter -- bacteria are releasing a serious greenhouse gas
Unlike carbon dioxide and methane, laughing gas has been largely ignored by world leaders as a worrying greenhouse gas. But nitrous oxide must be taken more seriously, says Professor David Richardson from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, speaking today at the Society for General Microbiology`s 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
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1st April 2008 |
Climate Change Is a Wake-Up Call to Radically Reform Our Economy
The people most affected by the injustices of the polluting economy are already helping to lead the way.
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1st April 2008 |
'Fossil Fools' Protests Target Oil Industry - OneWorld.net
Green groups are planning to celebrate April Fools Day Tuesday with a variety of actions designed to embarrass oil industry bosses gathering in Washington.
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