Critics angry at Bush climate plan
Washington, (USA), September 27/28, 2007 - US President George W Bush infuriated his critics by professing world leadership on climate change at his meeting of the top 16 world economies - while offering no new substantive policy and implicitly rejecting binding emissions controls.
Bush has said every country must set its own targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He also said combating climate change should not hinder economic growth.
Delegates from the world's top 16 polluting nations were meeting in Washington to discuss ways of tackling climate change.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted that climate change is a real problem, and world leaders should forge a new global consensus on tackling it. She said that the "growing problem" should be resolved under UN auspices.
Critics voiced concern that the US was trying to rally support for voluntary rather than binding emission cuts. This would dilute attempts to reach a global agreement through the UN, ahead of the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.
news.bbc.co.uk (0928): Critics angry at Bush climate plan
news.bbc.co.uk (0928): Bush seeks flexible CO2 targets
news.bbc.co.uk (0927): Bush Administration Pushes Climate Change Action into the Future: Scientific American
news.bbc.co.uk (0927): Bush hosts climate change talks
news.bbc.co.uk (0927): Motives behind Bush's climate summit
environment.independent.co.uk (0927): Bush prepares for 'greenwashing' climate summit
www.reuters.com (0927): U.S. climate talks draw world's biggest polluters

Historic Surge in Grain Prices Roils Markets
Washington, (USA), September 28, 2007 - Rising prices and surging demand for the crops that supply half of the world's calories are producing the biggest changes in global food markets in 30 years, altering the economic landscape for everyone from consumers and farmers to corporate giants and the world's poor.
www.wsj.com: Historic Surge in Grain Prices Roils Markets

Australia Beef Crisis Hits as Drought Decimates Wheat
Sydney, (AUS), September 28, 2007 - Record high grain prices have thrown Australia's A$4 billion (US$3.5 billion) beef cattle industry into disarray, emptying feedlots, cutting cattle saleyard prices and triggering price rises for domestic and exported beef.
www.planetark.com: Australia Beef Crisis Hits as Drought Decimates Wheat

Ethanol, schmethanol
London, (UK), September 27, 2007 - Everyone seems to think that ethanol is a good way to make cars greener. Everyone is wrong.
www.economist.com: Ethanol, schmethanol

"We can combat climate change"
New York, September 27, 2007 - (by Ban Ki-Moon) - One day, we learn that the ice might be gone from Arctic sea by 2050. The next, we hear that world governments met in Montreal to accelerate a deadline for phasing out the ozone-depleting chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons - a milestone in combating global warming.
www.iht.com: "We can combat climate change"

Three Gorges Dam is a disaster waiting to happen, China admits
Beijing, (CHI), September 27, 2007 - It was hailed as one of the engineering feats of the 20th century. Now the Three Gorges Dam across China’s mighty Yangtze River threatens to become an environmental catastrophe.
www.timesonline.co.uk: Three Gorges Dam is a disaster waiting to happen, China admits

The illness of Planet Earth / The Stakes are terrible high
Mixing the oceans proposed to reduce global warming

Chris Rapley (left) and James Lovelock propose an "emergency treatment for the pathology of global warming"

London, September 26, 2007 - Could mighty pumps be installed in the ocean to mix up the waters and cool the planet? At least some scientists and businessmen believe so — but the idea is controversial.
In a letter to the editor published in Nature this week, James Lovelock, Gaia-hypothesis, and Chris Rapley, British Arctic Survey, (BAS), suggest that this deus ex machina could be an "emergency treatment for the pathology of global warming".
Large vertical pipes could, they say, be used to mix nutrient-rich waters from hundreds of metres down with the more barren waters at the surface. This could cause algal blooms at the surface, which would consume carbon dioxide (CO2) through photosynthesis. When the algae die, some of this carbon could sink into deep waters. The algae may also produce chemicals that spur cloud formation, further cooling the planet.
None the less, "the removal of 500 gigatons (500 billon tons) of carbon dioxide from the air by human endeavour is beyond our current technological capability. "If we can't 'heal the planet' directly, we may be able to help the planet heal itself," according to Lovelock and Rapley.
One version of the scheme sees around 10,000 pipes in the Gulf of Mexico, they told The Daily Telegraph. But until there are some trials, "there is no way one can come up with a figure on atmospheric carbon dioxide reduction per pipe let alone temperature reduction," said Dr Rapley.
www.telegraph.co.uk: James Lovelock's plan to pump ocean water to stop climate change
news.bbc.co.uk: Lovelock urges ocean climate fix
wwww.nature.com: Mixing the oceans proposed to reduce global warming
www.antarctica.ac.uk: Interview with Prof Chris Rapley - Nunatak (Video)
www.sciencepoles.org / Chris Rapley: Taking Stock on Climate Change
globalpublicmedia.com / Professor Chris Rapley: The Dangers of Climate Change, Chris Rapley (Part 2 of 6), TUC Radio (transcript)
ZN May 19 2006 / Lovelock: 'The Revenge of Gaia' Books & Debate
ZN March 16 / James Lovelock: We should be scared stiff
ZN June 27: World Wildlife Fund warns against plan by Planktos
ZN January 27: US answer to global warming: smoke and giant space mirrors

Can Earth plants keep up with us?
September 26, 2007 Our lives depend on plants. Plants turn the energy of the Sun into our most basic needs: lumber for houses, fuel for cooking, fiber for clothing, feed for livestock, and food for our own growing bodies. But as global population and incomes rise, will plants be able to keep up with the human appetite? And if they cannot, which regions will be short on food and other plant-based resources, and what will that mean for nations as they try to assure food security for their citizens?
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Can Earth plants keep up with us?

European fishing pirates hit Pacific: Greenpeace
Canberra (Aus), September 25, 2007 - Illegal fishing vessels linked to large European fishing firms have begun plundering endangered ocean stocks in the Western and Central Pacific, environment watchdog Greenpeace said on Tuesday.
Surveillance of fishing fleets near the tiny Pacific nations of Kiribati and the Cook Islands showed European owned or operated vessels had expanded their range from the Indian and Atlantic Oceans -- mainly in search of tuna.
With a global tuna shortage, large European firms named by Greenpeace as Albacora, Calvopesca and Conservas Garavilla, were sending fishing boats into the western Pacific under flags from Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and the Netherlands Antilles.
www.enn.com: European fishing pirates hit Pacific

EU risks fueling climate change with target for biofuels
Amsterdam, September 25, 2007 - Wetlands International asks the European Parliament to support the motion by the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament which calls the Commission to drop the planned 10% mandatory biofuel target. It also demands for a comprehensive certification scheme for biofuels. In many cases, biofuel production is linked to negative impacts on biodiversity, livelihoods and even climate change. In the past year Wetlands International has repeatedly warned the EU for the huge CO2 emissions from unsustainable biofuel plantations now established in South-east Asian peatswamp forests.
www.wetlands.org: EU risks fueling climate change with target for biofuels

Man causing climate change - poll
London, September, 25 2007 - Large majorities in many countries now believe human activity is causing global warming, a BBC World Service poll suggests. A sizable majority of people agreed that major steps needed to be taken soon to address global warming. More than 22,000 people were surveyed in 21 countries and the results show a great deal of agreement on the issue.
Almost two-thirds of the world's people say there must be urgent action to tackle global warming, the poll showed .
Overall, 65 percent of the 22,000 people polled in 21 countries said there was a need "to take major steps very soon" ranging from 91 percent in Spain to 37 percent in India.
In the United States, the world's biggest emitter of climate changing carbon gases, 59 percent called for urgent action and in China, which builds a coal-fired power station every five days to feed its booming economy, it was 70 percent.
news.bbc.co.uk: Man causing climate change
news.bbc.co.uk: Global warming leaves Russians cold
www.alertnet.org: Global majority wants action on climate change

Kenya Plans for Huge Sugar Factory Spark Bitter Dispute
Nairobi, September 24, 2007 - Plans for a 50,000-acre (20,000-hectare) sugar production plant in Kenya's Tana River Delta have ignited a bitter dispute between conservation groups and economic-minded officials.
news.nationalgeographic.com: Kenya Plans for Huge Sugar Factory Spark Bitter Dispute

Climate change calls for concerted global solution, Ban Ki-Moon says at opening of key UN meeting

United Nations (New York), September, 24 2007 - Representatives from nearly 160 countries, including more than 70 heads of state, are taking part in a high-level, informal discussion on climate change. The Secretary-General convened this meeting to give participants an opportunity to exchange views on the challenges of climate change and how to respond to it.
Ban Ki-Moon: Climate change calls for concerted global solution
More news about the UN conference on Climate change

Bush calls separate climate change talks
Washington, September 24 / August 4 2007 - US President George W Bush has announced that his government will host a multinational conference on climate change in Washington later this week.
The US has invited the UN, EU and 15 of the world's leading economies to the high-level talks on 27-28 September, the White House said in a statement.
news.bbc.co.uk: Bush calls climate change talks
www.time.com: Bush Seeks Climate Change Talk

Deal on ozone and climate relief
New York / Montreal, September, 24 2007 - Nearly 200 governments have agreed a faster timetable for phasing out chemicals that deplete the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.
news.bbc.co.uk: Deal on ozone and climate relief

Making Carbon Markets Work
New York / Montreal , September, 24 2007 - Limiting climate change without damaging the world economy depends on stronger and smarter market signals to regulate carbon dioxide. As Congress in the US debates how to cut climate-warming emissions, insights drawn from the European carbon market can help.
www.sciam.com: Making Carbon Markets Work

Arctic Becomes Tourism Hot Spot, But Is That Cool?

New York / Disko Bay, Greenland , September, 24 2007 - James Brusslan is an environmental lawyer with climate change on his mind. He cycles to the office and works at a Chicago law firm that offsets its carbon emissions. He plasters friends' SUVs with stickers that say: "I'm changing the climate! Ask me how!"
online.wsj.com: Arctic Becomes Tourism Hot Spot, But Is That Cool?
online.wsj.com: Arctic Tourism Hotspots
Extent of sea ice in Arctic sets record low

Is Global Warming Drowning Africa?
Kampala (Uganda), September 21, 2007 - Africa has always been predicted to be the continent that will be worst hit by global warming and climate change. Could those predictions be coming true?
www.time.com: Is Global Warming Drowning Africa?
www.time.com: Africa Under Water (Photo's)

China’s Policy of Returning Farmland to Forests Must Be Upheld
Beijng, September 20, 2007 - China is witnessing a dangerous trend. The country’s policy of returning farmland to forests is faltering, and many areas are opting out of this activity in a push to protect local farmers. They are recklessly expanding farmlands that should have been replaced with forests under the policy, or they have simply allowed farmers to continue cultivating steep hillsides.
news.enn.com: China’s Policy of Returning Farmland to Forests Must Be Upheld

RealClimate: Worth a Look
London, September 20, 2007 - Real Climate: "We're pleased to report that, after a rough start, Nature's blog 'Climate Feedback' seems to have gotten back on track. We're happy to endorse it as a useful resource for those interested in relatively informal discussions of issues at the leading edge of current climate research."
www.realclimate.org: Worth a Look

Damage to the planet ‘is already inevitable’
London, September 19, 2007 - Climate change is so far advanced that serious damage to the environment is inevitable, scientists told a conference.
Action to limit the impact can only make the difference between moderate and severe damage rather than preventing it altogether.
Scientists who a decade ago were warning that climate change would first be felt significantly by their grandchildren said they expected it to have a major impact within their own lifetimes.
www.timesonline.co.uk: Damage to the planet ‘is already inevitable’

IPCC 4th Report: Climate change happening faster
London, 19 September 2007 - Climate change is happening faster than we first thought and major damage to grain supplies and ecosystems could happen within a generation, scientists said.
Stopping global warming in its tracks is no longer feasible because about 1.1ºC of warming is already in the climate system according to the report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
It says some major changes, such as increased heatwaves and floods, cannot now be avoided and are likely to happen at lower global average temperatures than first predicted.
World leaders now have only eight years to begin reducing greenhouse gas emissions if they stand a chance of keeping the global average temperature rise below 2ºC.
www.telegraph.co.uk: IPCC 4th Report: Climate change happening faster
www.telegraph.co.uk / August 15: Climate change 'arriving sooner than thought'

How climate change will affect the world
London, September 18/19 2007 - The effects of climate change will be felt sooner than scientists realised and the world must learn to live with the effects, experts said yesterday.
Martin Parry, a climate scientist with the Met Office, said destructive changes in temperature, rainfall and agriculture were now forecast to occur several decades earlier than thought. He said vulnerable people such as the old and poor would be the worst affected, and that world leaders had not yet accepted their countries would have to adapt to the likely consequences.
www.guardian.co.uk: How climate change will affect the world
www.guardian.co.uk: Grim outlook for poor countries in climate report

Increase in atmospheric moisture tied to human activities
Livermore, (Cal/USA), September 18 2007 - Observations and climate model results confirm that human-induced warming of the planet is having a pronounced effect on the atmosphere’s total moisture content.
Those are the findings of a new study appearing in the September 17 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
www.llnl.gov: Increase in atmospheric moisture tied to human activities

'Too late to avoid global warming,' say scientists
London, 18 September 2007 - The European Union's goal of keeping the global temperature rise to 2C is unlikely to be met, a leading climate researcher has warned.
According to professor Martin Parry in various news media millions, if not tens of millions, would be at increased risk to their lives from a rise above 2C (3.6F).
The latest study from the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) put the inevitability of drastic global warming in the starkest terms yet, stating that major impacts on parts of the world – in particular Africa, Asian river deltas, low-lying islands and the Arctic – are unavoidable and the focus must be on adapting life to survive the most devastating changes.
news.bbc.co.uk: Making EU climate goal 'unlikely'
environment.independent.co.uk: 'Too late to avoid global warming,' say scientists

EIA: Speed up phase out of greenhouse gases
Montreal, (Russia) September 17, 2007 - The pace of global warming will get worse unless the production of greenhouse gases in developing countries is halted, a conservation watchdog has warned.
Gases used in fridges and air conditioning are being produced on a massive scale in China, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
www.telegraph.co.uk: Speed up phase out of greenhouse gases

The Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol mutually supportive say top UN Officials
New York, September 17, 2007 - International efforts to safeguard Earth's climate and protect the ozone layer are mutually supportive, said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
www.unep.org: The Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol mutually supportive say top UN Officials

World in Transition – Climate Change as a Security Risk
London September 14, 2007 - (German Advisory Council on Global Change) - Without resolute counteraction, climate change will overstretch many societies’ adaptive capacities within the coming decades. This could result in destabilization and violence, jeopardizing national and international security to a new degree.
www.wbgu.de: Climate Change as a Security Risk

Window to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change Closing
Washington, September 14, 2007 - Consumption of energy and many other critical resources is consistently breaking records, disrupting the climate and undermining life on the planet, according to the latest Worldwatch Institute report, Vital Signs 2007-2008.
www.enn.com: Window to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change Closing
www.enn.com: Earth's "Vital Signs" In Bad Shape

US states win right to set carbon target
Washington, September 14, 2007 - The US state of Vermont has won a landmark victory in the battle against global warming being waged at local level across America in defiance of the Bush Administration.
A federal judge has ruled against an alliance of US and European car companies seeking to kill off Vermont's tough new greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles. The regulations are modelled on California's groundbreaking pollution standards for cars which were adopted in the teeth of opposition from President George Bush.
environment.independent.co.uk: US states win right to set carbon target

Clean coal to qualify for Kyoto carbon offsets
London, September 14, 2007 - Very efficient coal-fired power plants will be able to sell carbon offsets under the Kyoto Protocol, in an expansion of project eligibility under the carbon trading scheme, U.N. official Jose Miguez said.
www.metoffice.gov.uk: Met Office Hadley Centre launches five-year programme

Red List of endangered species - wildlife disappearing as never before
London, September 12, 2007 - Life on earth is disappearing with species hurtling towards extinction at an unprecedented rate. One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70 per cent of the world's assessed plants now appear on the Red List of endangered plants and animals.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Red List of endangered species - wildlife disappearing as never before
www.eurekalert.org: Corals added to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for first time

Met Office Hadley Centre launches five-year programme
London, September 11 2007 - The Met Office Hadley Centre launches its new five-year programme of work on climate change today at the Royal Society in London. The new Integrated Climate Programme (ICP) of the Met Office Hadley Centre for the first time combines the requirements of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Defence for information on climate change. It provides an even stronger contribution to the development of the science that will be required to help policymakers and other stakeholders in the UK and internationally to deal with climate change in the future.
www.metoffice.gov.uk: Met Office Hadley Centre launches five-year programme

World likely to pass dangerous warming limits
London, September 11 2007 - The world will probably exceed a global warming limit which the European Union calls dangerous, scientists at Britain's MetOffice Hadley Centre said on Tuesday, presenting a new, 5-year research program.
But not all scientists agree, demonstrating a shift in debate from whether climate change is happening -- on which where there is near consensus -- to how bad it will get and what to do about it.
news.reuters.com: World likely to pass dangerous warming limits

Gorilla: Conservation alone 'is not enough'

Virunga (Congo), September 11, 2007 - Continued fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced an estimated 35,000 people, who are now living in the outskirts of Virunga National Park. WWF is on the ground and working with humanitarian organizations to meet the urgent need for firewood and protect the park's endangered mountain gorillas. ( foto: wwf)

London, September 10 2007 - Ahead of Wednesday's publication of the 2007 Red List of Threatened Species, Dr Richard Leakey argues that conservation alone cannot save threatened species like the mountain gorilla. In this week's Green Room, he calls for action on humans' needs as well.
news.bbc.co.uk: Conservation alone 'is not enough'
news.bbc.co.uk: Gorillas head race to extinction
www.worldwildlife.org: WWF supporting UN efforts to assist internally displaced people while protecting wildlife in Virunga National Park
Congo's rare mountain gorillas caught in fighting

Urban sprawl may eat up countryside by 2100
London, September 9 2007 - Urban growth and the development of roads and airports could swallow up what is left of England's undisturbed countryside by the end of the century, campaigners have warned.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Urban sprawl may eat up countryside by 2100
environment.independent.co.uk: England's countryside 'set to vanish in decades'
www.guardian.co.uk: English countryside 'headed for extinction'

Nuclear power's new age
London, September 6 2007 - A nuclear revival is welcome so long as the industry does not repeat its old mistakes.
www.economist.com: Nuclear power's new age

Now Is Time for Non-Violent Earth Revolution
London, September 6 2007 - Now Is Time for Non-Violent Earth Revolution! That begins by stopping ancient forest logging, ending burning of coal and reducing aviation.
There are times in human history where obligations to truth, humanity and being take precedent over personal safety, consumption and comfort. Now is one such moment. The time has come for non-violent, direct societal and personal revolutionary action to save the Earth.
earthmeanders.blogspot.com: Now Is Time for Non-Violent Earth Revolution

British seas 'a wasteland compared with 100 years ago'
London, September 6 2007 - The seas around Britain are a wasteland compared with 100 years ago and at least a third of the sea must be closed to fishing if the profusion of fish we had then is to return, according to a new book.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Extract from The Unnatural History of the Sea

Nuclear industry hails climate-driven "renaissance"
London, September 6 2007 - The nuclear power industry said on Thursday it provided a clean alternative to fossil fuels and a global warming crisis, shrugging off environmentalist concerns about nuclear waste and atomic security.
www.enn.com: Nuclear industry hails climate-driven "renaissance"

Climate: Sawyer predicted rate of warming in 1972
London, September 6 2007 - Thirty-five years ago this week, Nature published a paper titled "Man-made carbon dioxide and the 'greenhouse' effect" by the eminent atmospheric scientist J.S. Sawyer (Nature 239, 23-26; 1972).
In four pages, Sawyer summarized what was known about the role of carbon dioxide in enhancing the natural greenhouse effect, and made a remarkable prediction of the warming expected at the end of the twentieth century. He concluded that the 25% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide predicted to occur by 2000 corresponded to an increase of 0.6 °C in world temperature.
gristmill.grist.org: Climate: Sawyer predicted rate of warming in 1972
More early predictions and projections

Global warming: Too hot to handle for the BBC
London, September 6 2007 - The transformation of climate change from a scientific to a political issue became clear last night when the BBC dropped plans for a day-long TV special on global warming.
The scrapping of Planet Relief, an awareness-raising broadcast similar in concept to programmes such as the poverty-focused Comic Relief and Live8, and planned for early next year, marked a watershed moment: it showed that opining about climate change is now as significant in Britain as scientific fact.
independent.co.uk / Global warming: Too hot to handle for the BBC

Veal, without the cruelty
London, September 6 2007 - We import thousands of tonnes of veal each year. The calves are kept in close confinement in the dark and fed nothing but milk. But, says Allegra McEvedy British organic farmers are now producing the meat humanely, and the good news is it's just as tasty.
guardian.co.uk: Veal, without the cruelty

Asian-Pacific Region is harming planet
Sydney (AU), September 5 2007 - ASIAN-PACIFIC economies account for more than half the damage being done to the planet by fossil fuels and are the primary culprits behind large-scale deforestation, two environment reports published yesterday say.
www.smh.com.au: Asian-Pacific Region is harming planet

Congo's rare mountain gorillas caught in fighting

Kinshasa, September 4 2007 - Rebels in eastern Congo have occupied part of a reserve protecting rare mountain gorillas, putting the endangered primates in the crossfire of an escalating political and ethnic conflict, conservationists say.
www.enn.com: Congo's rare mountain gorillas caught in fighting
www.worldwildlife.org: Conflict Spreads in Congo, Threatening Mountain Gorillas
Leaky: World Great Apes face disater

Last refuge of the orang-utan

London, September 4 2007 - Once it was a mighty orange army, 300,000-strong. Now the tree-dwelling mammal is down to its last 25,000 as its habitat is destroyed in favour of palm oil plantations.
independent.co.uk: Last refuge of the orang-utan
www.msnbc.msn.com: Orangutans squeezed by biofuel boom
Leaky: World Great Apes face disater

Times Atlas to reflect 'environmental disasters'
London, 3 September 2007 - Climate change and unregulated irrigation projects are becoming major drivers for redrawing maps, say the cartographers of a renowned atlas.
"We can literally see environmental disasters unfolding before our eyes," says Mick Ashworth, the editor-in-chief of The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World. "We have a real fear that, in the near future, famous geographical features will disappear forever."
The latest edition of the atlas is published on 3 September, four years after the previous version.
newscientist.com: Atlas to reflect 'environmental disasters'

Livestock breeds face 'meltdown'
London, September 3 2007 - Many of the world's rare species of livestock face extinction unless conservation measures are taken now, a group of researchers has warned.
bbc.co.uk: Livestock breeds face 'meltdown'

Vatican seeks to be carbon neutral
Tiszakeszi, September 3 2007 - This summer the cardinals at the Vatican accepted an unusual donation from a Hungarian start-up called Klimafa: The company said it would plant trees to restore an ancient forest on a denuded island by the Tisza River to offset the Vatican's carbon emissions.
www.iht.com: Vatican seeks to be carbon neutral

Al Gore, James Hansen, and Civil Disobedience
New York, September 2 2007 - In his recent global warming op-ed in the New York Times ("The Big Melt," August 16, 2007) , Nicholas Kristof reported on a conversation with Al Gore in which the former Vice-President said: "I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers, and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants." His comment was a reaction to the ever- quickening pace of polar ice meltoff, with all its catastrophic implications, and the huge role played by coal-fired power plants in advancing our demise through global warming.
www.climateark.org: Al Gore, James Hansen, and Civil Disobedience

In Northern France, Warming Presses Fall Grape Harvest Into Summertime
Rouffach, (France) - September 2 2007 - On a cobweb-encrusted rafter above his giant steel grape pressers, René Muré is charting one of the world's most tangible barometers of global warming.
The evidence, scrawled in black ink, is the first day of the annual grape harvest for the past three decades.
In 1978, it was Oct. 16. In 1998, the date was Sept. 14. This year, harvesting started Aug. 24 -- the earliest ever recorded, not only in Mur's vineyards, but also in the entire Alsace wine district of northeastern France.
www.washingtonpost.com: In Northern France, Warming Presses Fall Grape Harvest Into Summertime

Climate change may delay Ice Age by 500,000 years
Southhampton, August 31 2007 - The next Ice Age may be delayed by as much as 500,000 years as a result of climate changes triggered by the burning of fossil fuels, according to a new report.
According to New Scientist, which features Dr Tyrrell’s research this week, this work demonstrates the most far-reaching disruption of long-term planetary processes yet suggested for human activity.
www.soc.soton.ac.uk: Climate change may delay Ice Age by 500,000 years
www.blackwell-synergy.com: The long-term legacy of fossil fuels (Abstract)

Merkel suggests new way of fighting global warming
Tokyo, August 31 2007 - German chancellor Angela Merkel has outlined a new model for fighting global warming in a bid to get both industrialised and developing countries on board.
euobserver.com: Merkel suggests new way of fighting global warming

Industrial nations agree step to new climate pact
Vienna, August 31 2007 - Industrial nations agreed on Friday to consider stiff 2020 goals for cutting greenhouse gases in a small step towards a new long-term pact to fight climate change.
IEarlier, industrial nations seemed deadlocked about whether to set stringent 2020 goals for cutting greenhouse gases at a first U.N. session about long-term climate targets.
www.reuters.com: Industrial nations agree step to new climate pact
www.reuters.com: Rich countries deadlocked over 2020 climate goals

Peat bogs 'emit as much carbon as 400,000 cars'
London, August 31, 2007 - Bogs in northern Britain could be emitting as much carbon into the atmosphere each year as 400,000 family cars, according to a study has claimed.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Peat bogs 'emit as much carbon as 400,00 cars'
Related:
news.bbc.co.uk: Poland mired in wetlands row

NASA study predicts more severe storms with global warming
Washington, (DC-USA), August 30, 2007 - NASA scientists have developed a new climate model that indicates that the most violent severe storms and tornadoes may become more common as Earth’s climate warms.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: NASA study predicts more severe storms with global warming
www.eurekalert.org: NASA study predicts more severe storms with global warming

Food demand and climate straining soils
Vienna, August 30, 2007 - World food demand will surge this century with a leap in population, highlighting a need to protect soils under strain from climate change, experts said on during the UN meeting in Vienna.
www.reuters.com: Food demand and climate straining soils

Chinese industrial expansion threatened by global warming

Beijng, August 30, 2007 - The huge industrial zone at the heart of the "Made in China" economic miracle is directly threatened by global warming, which could lead to it being inundated by sea water, scientists have warned.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Chinese industrial expansion threatened by global warming

The High Price Our Environment is Paying For Our Spending
Sydney, August 30, 2007 - Australian Conservation Foundation’s Consumption Atlas, a new interactive online tool developed in collaboration with the Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis at Sydney University, reveals that people living in Australia’s wealthiest metropolitan areas are responsible for the country’s highest household greenhouse pollution.
www.enn.com: The High Price Our Environment is Paying For Our Spending

Tiger numbers at catastrophic levels

London / Delhi, August 30, 2007 - There may now be as few as 1300 wild tigers left in India. A new scientifically-based count reveals the true extent of the catastrophic fall in tiger numbers. The last count in 2002 - based on the number of footprints found - put tiger numbers at 3,600 but this survey has now been discredited.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Tiger numbers at catastrophic levels
nationalgeographic.com: Rare Japanese Wildcat Edging Closer to Extinction

Higher river levels as more CO2 makes plants less thirsty
London, August 29, 2007 - Rising carbon dioxide levels will increase river levels in the future, according to a team of scientists from the Met Office Hadley Centre, the University of Exeter and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
The findings, published on 30 August 2007 in the journal Nature, suggest that increasing carbon dioxide will cause plants to extract less water from the soil, leaving more water to drain into rivers which will add to the river flow increases already expected due to climate change.
www.metoffice.gov.uk: Higher river levels as more CO2 makes plants less thirsty

Trying to Connect the Dinner Plate to Climate Change
New York, August 29, 2007 EVER since “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore has been the darling of environmentalists, but that movie hardly endeared him to the animal rights folks. According to them, the most inconvenient truth of all is that raising animals for meat contributes more to global warming than all the sport utility vehicles combined.
www.nytimes.com: Trying to Connect the Dinner Plate to Climate Change

Mankind to blame for warming but can slow damage
Vienna, August 29 2007 - Mankind is to blame for climate change but governments still have time to slow accelerating damage at moderate cost if they act quickly, a draft U.N. report shows.
www.reuters.com: Mankind to blame for warming but can slow damage

The looming food crisis
London, August 29 2007 - Land that was once used to grow food is increasingly being turned over to biofuels. This may help us to fight global warming - but it is driving up food prices throughout the world and making life increasingly hard in developing countries. Add in water shortages, natural disasters and an ever-rising population, and what you have is a recipe for disaster.
news.independent.co.uk: The looming food crisis

Energy Efficiency Seen Easiest Path to Aid Climate
Vienna, August 29, 2007 - Energy efficiency for power plants, cars or homes is the easiest way to slow global warming in a long-term investment shift that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
www.planetark.com: Energy Efficiency Seen Easiest Path to Aid Climate

How Did We Get Into This Mess?
London, August 28, 2007 - For the first time, the United Kingdom’s consumer debt now exceeds our gross national product: a new report shows that we owe £1.35 trillion(1). Inspectors in the United States have discovered that 77,000 road bridges are in the same perilous state as the one which collapsed into the Mississippi(2). Two years after Hurricane Katrina struck, 120,000 people from New Orleans are still living in trailer homes and temporary lodgings(3). As runaway climate change approaches, governments refuse to take the necessary action. Booming inequality threatens to create the most divided societies the world has seen since before the first world war. Now a financial crisis caused by unregulated lending could turf hundreds of thousands out of their homes and trigger a cascade of economic troubles.
www.monbiot.com: How Did We Get Into This Mess?

Faster Change Means Bigger Problems

Because of their limited ability to migrate, forests belong to the most vulerable to rapid climate change

Oslo, August 28 2007 - The debate about what constitutes "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate" has almost exclusively focused on how much the temperature can be allowed to increase. But we have perhaps just as much reason to be concerned about how quickly these changes take place.
www.cicero.uio.no: Faster Change Means Bigger Problems

Extreme conditions: What's happening to our weather?
London, August 27/28 2007 - This summer is set to be the wettest ever. It's the latest in a series of broken records which suggest climate change is here already.
Britain and Western-Europe is just a few showers away from recording a record wet summer, at the climax of the most remarkable period of broken weather records in the country's history. All of the smashed records are to do with temperature and rainfall - the two aspects of the climate most likely to be intensified by the advent of global warming.
independent.co.uk / Extreme conditions: What's happening to our weather?

European hot spots and fires identified from space

August 28/29, 2007 - Hot spots across Southeastern Europe from 21 to 26 August have been detected with instruments aboard ESA satellites, which have been continuously surveying fires burning across the Earth’s surface for a decade.
www.esa.int: Greece suffers more fires in 2007 than in last decade, satellites reveal
www.esa.int: European hot spots and fires identified from space
www.climateark.org: Weak laws, neglect behind Greek fires - Greenpeace
www.iht.com: A political crisis brews in Greece as fires rage
www.nytimes.com: In Greece, Wine Saves Life; a Mother’s Arms Do Not
euobserver.com: Greek fires prompt plans for permanent EU emergency forces

China puts summer flood death toll at 1,138
London / Beijng, 28 August 2007 - Stronger relief efforts helped limit damage and loss of life from droughts and flooding in China this summer, but floods still killed more than 1,100 people, officials said on Tuesday.
euobserver.com: Greek fires prompt plans for permanent EU emergency forces

"Momentum building" for new climate deal
Vienna, August 27/28 2007 - The United Nations says momentum is building for tougher long-term action to fight global warming beyond the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol and a climate meeting starting in Vienna today will be a crucial part of the process.
www.guardian.co.uk: India and China urged to cut emissions
www.reuters.com: "Momentum building" for new climate deal
news.bbc.co.uk: Vienna meeting seeks climate plan
www.physorg.com: U.N. Climate Talks Focus on Business End

Global Warming's Next Victim: Wheat
New York, August 27 2007 - We're used to watching the price of oil mock gravity, but there's an even more essential commodity that's also become scarcer and pricier in recent months: Traders are paying record prices for wheat on world markets, thanks in part to shortages caused by a mix of drought and flooding. Canada, the second-biggest wheat producer after the U.S., looks set to harvest its smallest crop in five years, due to an unusually dry July, while production in the European Union may be down nearly 40% from last year after flooding rains followed long droughts. Growing global demand for biofuels is also eating up grain production, and boosting prices.
www.time.com: Global Warming's Next Victim: Wheat

Merkel presses China on climate
Beijng, August 27 2007 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged China to address the issue of climate change, as she starts a three-day visit to the country.
But China said that it was still catching up economically, making it harder to reduce emissions.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said developed nations have contributed more to climate change because they have been growing fast for 200 years.
China, which has boomed economically, has seen a sharp rise in pollution.
news.bbc.co.uk: Merkel presses China on climate
www.planetark.com: Merkel Puts Climate, Skills Atop German Agenda

Indonesia hopes to include peat in new climate deal
Jogjakarta, August 27, 2007 Indonesia wants emission cuts from preserving its vast carbon-rich peatlands to be eligible for trade in a new deal on combating global warming at upcoming climate talks, a forestry official said on Monday.
www.reuters.com: Indonesia hopes to include peat in new climate deal

Sir David Attenborough: Saving life on our fragile planet Earth
Jogjakarta, August 27, 2007 In the fifty years since his first documentary for the BBC, Sir David Attenborough has seen thousands of species on earth. Now his thoughts have turned to the impact of climate change on the natural world.
news.independent.co.uk: Saving life on our fragile planet earth

Major Shift In Investments Crucial To Responding To Climate Change, UN
New York, August 26, 2007 - Tackling climate change in the next quarter century will require major changes to patterns of investment and financial flows, according to a recently released report by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
www.sciencedaily.com: Major Shift In Investments Crucial To Responding To Climate Change

What if climate change is worse than the forecasts?
London, August 25 2007 - The new book With Speed and Violence, by former New Scientist editor Fred Pearce, explores the question of whether climate change could happen faster and go further than the IPCC range of forecasts. In short, fairly self-contained chapters ideal for skipping around in, it explores various scientists' ideas about how climate might lurch between metastable states instead of varying smoothly with inputs.
weblog technocrat.net: What if climate change is worse than the forecasts?
www.opendemocracy.net / Fred Pearce: Memo to the G8
lists.topica.com: "The Earth is Finished" . . . [?]
www.gci.org.uk: Slouching towards disaster

Climate fight brings mega profits to EU power firms
London, August 24 2007 - (Reuters) - European power companies are making billions of euros in excess profits in the European Union's battle to beat global warming by cutting emissions of carbon gases, and consumers are paying for it, economists say.
www.reuters.com: Climate fight brings mega profits to EU power firms

Smog smothers Japan, experts point to China
Tokyo, August 24 2007 - Smog is menacing Japanese cities for the first time in 30 years and cropping up in rural areas for the first time ever, alarming the government and prompting experts to point the finger at neighboring China.
www.reuters.com: Smog smothers Japan, experts point to China

Thousands evacuated as Sepat reaches central China
Beijng, August 24 2007 - Around 600,000 people have been forced to evacuate in the Hunan province of central China as the remnants of tropical storm Sepat affects parts of the country.
www.bbc.co.uk: Thousands evacuated as Sepat reaches central China

Britain Set to Miss Climate Change Targets
London, August 23 2007 - Britain will miss its goal to cut emissions of climate warming carbon gases by 20 percent by 2010 and will fall short of its aims to boost energy from renewable sources, a leading think-tank said on Thursday.
www.planetark.com: Britain Set to Miss Climate Change Targets

Coal Dependency Seen Braking China's Climate Drive
Ny Alesund, Norway, August 23 2007 - China will have trouble cutting its dependence on coal despite growing pressures to fight global warming, a leading Chinese official told an international panel of experts on Wednesday on an Arctic island.
www.enn.com: Coal Dependency Seen Braking China's Climate Drive

Hurricane Dean sets slow but dynamic start for the season

August 21 st 2007 - Hurricane Dean, just before landfall in Yucatan, Mexico. Click on the picture for the full story by earthobservatory.asa.gov.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Hurricane Dean

Climate change called security issue like Cold War
Ny Alesund, Norway, August 21, 2007 - (Reuters) - Climate change is the biggest security challenge since the Cold War but people have not woken up to the risks nor to easy solutions such as saving energy at home, experts said on Tuesday.
www.enn.com: Climate change called security issue like Cold War

Climate Protest Spreads to Sizewell Nuclear Plant
London, August 21, 2007 - Climate protesters expanded their Heathrow airport action on Monday, with small groups demonstrating outside Sizewell nuclear power plant and BP's London headquarters.
www.planetark.com: Climate Protest Spreads to Sizewell Nuclear Plant

China Starts Building First Northern Nuclear Plant
Beijng, August 21, 2007 China has started constructing a nuclear power plant in the north of the country, as part of efforts to boost clean energy and reduce reliance on coal."
www.planetark.com: China Starts Building First Northern Nuclear Plant

Thermochemical process converts poultry litter into bio-oil
Boston, August 21, 2007 Foster Agblevor, associate professor of biological systems engineering, is leading the team of researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (www.cals.vt.edu) at Virginia Tech (www.vt.edu) developing transportable pyrolysis units that will convert poultry litter into bio-oil, providing an economical disposal system while reducing environmental effects and biosecurity issues.
www.enn.com: Thermochemical process converts poultry litter into bio-oil

Scientists Track Climate-Driving Atlantic Current
Washington, August 17, 2007 - The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation -- also known as the conveyor belt -- was featured in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and the disaster flick "The Day After Tomorrow" as a changeable force that could wreak havoc on the climate in Europe and North America if it slowed down.
www.planetark.com: Scientists Track Climate-Driving Atlantic Current

Scientists warn on climate tipping points
London, August 16 2007 - Some tipping points for climate change could be closer than previously thought. Scientists are predicting that the loss of the massive Greenland ice sheet may now be unstoppable and lead to catastrophic sea-level rises around the world.
In drawing together research on tipping points, where damage due to climate change occurs irreversibly and at an increasing rate, the researchers concluded that the risks were much greater than those predicted by the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
www.guardian.co.uk: Scientists warn on climate tipping points

Persuading Britons to cut back on flying will be an uphill struggle

London, August 16 2007 - A field next to Heathrow—the world's busiest international airport—does not seem an appealing place for a spot of camping. The roar of jet engines is ever-present, and the only significant landmark is the airport's new control tower. Yet on August 12th dozens of people gamely began erecting tents. They were not there to admire the scenery: this was the Camp for Climate Action, and they had come to protest against aviation and its contribution to global warming.
www.economist.com: Persuading Britons to cut back on flying will be an uphill struggle
news.independent.co.uk: Thousands more homes face life in shadow of the flightpath
www.guardian.co.uk: Beneath Heathrow's pall of misery, a new political movement is born
www.economist.com: Persuading Britons to cut back on flying will be an uphill struggle

Australia Discovers Ocean Current "Missing Link"
Sydney, August 16, 2007 - Australian scientists have discovered a giant underwater current that is one of the last missing links of a system that connects the world's oceans and helps govern global climate.
www.planetark.com: Australia Discovers Ocean Current "Missing Link"

Climate Change: The Truth About Denial

August 13/15, 2007 (US) - Sen. Barbara Boxer had been chair of the Senate's Environment Committee for less than a month when the verdict landed last February. "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal," concluded a report by 600 scientists from governments, academia, green groups and businesses in 40 countries.
Worse, there was now at least a 90 percent likelihood that the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels is causing longer droughts, more flood-causing downpours and worse heat waves, way up from earlier studies.
Those who doubt the reality of human-caused climate change have spent decades disputing that. But Boxer figured that with "the overwhelming science out there, the deniers' days were numbered."
As she left a meeting with the head of the international climate panel, however, a staffer had some news for her. A conservative think tank long funded by ExxonMobil, she told Boxer, had offered scientists $10,000 to write articles undercutting the new report and the computer-based climate models it is based on. "I realized," says Boxer, "there was a movement behind this that just wasn't giving up."
blog.sciam.com: Newsweek denies the existence of global warming*
www.newsweek.com: The Truth About Denial
Dossier klimaatverandering (Dutch): Vervuilers financieren klimaatleugens
www.elsevier.nl (Dutch): Al Gore en Newsweek gooien met modder

Selling Ecocide: Is it time to consider a ban on the adverts which help to cook the planet?
London, August 14 2007 - (George Monbiot) - "I am sorry to be crude, but however else I try to say it, the phrase “lying bastards” comes to mind. In March I claimed that the government is fudging its figures on cutting carbon emissions, and that it is due to miss its targets for renewable energy(1,2). It denied the charges, claimed its cuts are “correctly quantified” and suggested I had got my facts wrong. Yesterday, the Guardian published a secret briefing by civil servants admitting that the government’s programmes are way off track and urging ministers to try to amend them not with new investments, but through “statistical interpretations of the target”.
www.monbiot.com: Selling Ecocide

Carbon market encourages chopping forests
Washington, August 13, 2007 - The current carbon market actually encourages cutting down some of the world's biggest forests, which would unleash tonnes of climate-warming carbon into the atmosphere, a new study reported on Monday.
www.reuters.com: Carbon market encourages chopping forests

Global Warming Will Step Up After 2009
Washington, August 10, 2007 - Global warming is forecast to set in with a vengeance after 2009, with at least half of the five following years expected to be hotter than 1998, the warmest year on record, scientists reported on Thursday.
www.planeteark.com: Global Warming Will Step Up After 2009

Net energy -- a useless, misleading and dangerous metric, says expert
August 8, 2007 - As oil becomes scarce, the world needs new transportation fuels. As new fuel options develop we need means of assessing which are most effective at replacing petroleum. So far many scientists have used a measure called ‘net energy’. However, Professor Bruce Dale from Michigan State University claims, “Net energy analysis is simple and has great intuitive appeal, but it is also dead wrong and dangerously misleading – net energy must be eliminated from our discourse.” Dale’s perspective is published in the first edition of Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining.
www.eurekalert.org: Net energy -- a useless, misleading and dangerous metric, says expert
www.eurekalert.org: Production costs of advanced biofuels is similar to grain-ethanol

Extinct: the dolphin that could not live alongside man

Geneva, August 8, 2007 - The Yangtze river dolphin is today declared extinct. It is the first large animal to be wiped from the planet for 50 years, and only the fourth entire mammal family to disappear in 500 years. And it was driven to its death by mankind.
www.sciam.com: Requiem for a Freshwater Dolphin
www.independent.co.uk: Extinct: the dolphin that could not live alongside man
www.guardian.co.uk: Yangtze river dolphin driven to extinction
www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk: First human-caused extinction of a cetacean species?

Early 2007 Saw Record-Breaking Extreme Weather
Geneva, August 8, 2007 - The world experienced a series of record-breaking weather events in early 2007, from flooding in Asia to heatwaves in Europe and snowfall in South Africa, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday.
www.planetark.com: Early 2007 Saw Record-Breaking Extreme Weather
www.cnn.com: Around the globe, 2007 is on track to be a year of extreme weather

Bluetongue Virus Spreads To More Dutch Farms
Amsterdam, August 8, 2007 The bluetongue virus, which affects sheep and cows, has spread to the centre and east of the Netherlands, affecting 117 farms in those areas, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday. The disease, which causes fever and mouth ulcers and in some cases turns the animal's tongue blue, broke out two weeks ago. Bluetongue is transmitted by insects and can be highly dangerous to sheep. It does not affect humans.
www.planetark.com: Bluetongue Virus Spreads To More Dutch Farms

Global land temperatures for January and April likely warmest ever recorded
New York, 7 August 2007 – Global land surface temperatures for January and April will likely be ranked as the warmest since records began in 1880, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported today, adding that it is working with its partners to set up a multi-hazard early warning system to tackle the extremes brought on by climate change, such as violent storms, floods and heatwaves.
www.un.org: Global land temperatures for January and April likely warmest ever recorded

Coral Reefs Vanishing Faster Than Rain Forests
August 7, 2007 - Coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans are dying off much quicker than previously thought, a new study shows.
news.nationalgeographic.com: Coral Reefs Vanishing Faster Than Rain Forests

The Earth fights back
London, August 7, 2007 - Never mind higher temperatures, climate change has a few nastier surprises in store. We can also expect more earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and tsunamis...
www.guardian.co.uk: The Earth fights back

The Dirty Truth About Plowing
August 7, 2007 - Each year, 24 billion tons of the world's soil blows or washes away, largely because of plowing. Now, the first large-scale analysis of an alternative farming method that eschews the plow confirms that it stems soil loss.
www.sciencemag.org: The Dirty Truth About Plowing

Archaelogists discover 8-million-year-old forest in Hungary
Bukkabrany (Hungary), August 6, 2007 Archaeologists have found an eight-million-year old forest of cypresses, well preserved and not fossilised, in Bukkabrany in north eastern Hungary.
www.france24.com: Archaelogists discover 8-million-year-old forest in Hungary

Please Tell the EU: Don't Sacrifice Birds and Ecosystems for Biofuel Expansion
Amsterdam, August 6 2007 - Europe's bird and insect populations, as well as heavily stressed terrestrial ecosystems, face decimation as the European Commissioner for Agriculture plans to scrap land set-asides for the 2008 season. This unexpected move is a response to rising grain prices – caused by the growing biofuel sector and worsening climate change impacts.
www.climateark.org: Don't Sacrifice Birds and Ecosystems for Biofuel Expansion

Urban sparrow under severe threat from new housing
London, August 5 2007 - "A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough, without ever having felt sorry for itself," wrote DH Lawrence. Not so today's suburban sparrow, which is in trouble as towns and cities expand and green spaces grow smaller and scarcer.
environment.independent.co.uk: Urban sparrow under severe threat from new housing

European heatwaves 'have doubled'
London, August 4 2007 - The duration of heatwaves in Western Europe has doubled since 1880, a study has shown.
www.bbc.co.uk: European heatwaves 'have doubled'

Brazil Using Satellites to Monitor Deforestation
Washington, August 3 2007 - Large scale deforestation began in the 1970s and accelerated in the 1990’s, with the growth of the soybean industry, fueled by international investment (New York Times). In 2002, the agricultural lands of Mato Grosso and neighboring Maranhão comprised the vast majority of soy production in the Legal Amazon.
www.wri.org: Tracking the World's Forests with Satellites

Pollution Amplifies Greenhouse Gas Warming Trends to Jeopardize Asian Water Supplies
San Diego (Ca/USA), August 1 2007 - Scientists have concluded that the global warming trend caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases is a major contributor to the melting of Himalayan and other tropical glaciers. Now a new analysis of pollution-filled "brown clouds" over south Asia by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego offers hope that the region may be able to arrest some of the alarming retreat of such glaciers by reducing its air pollution.
www.unep.org: Pollution Amplifies Greenhouse Gas Warming Trends to Jeopardize Asian Water Supplies

Insurers Claim Global Warming Makes Some Regions Too Hot to Handle
Washington, August 1 2007 - As the nation braces for an active hurricane season, private insurers jump ship, leaving federal and state governments liable for ever increasing payouts.
www.sciam.com: Insurers Claim Global Warming Makes Some Regions Too Hot to Handle

Asia's brown clouds 'warm planet'
London, August 1 2007 - Clouds of pollution over the Indian Ocean appear to cause as much warming as greenhouse gases released by human activity, a study has suggested. The "brown cloud" is pollution from burning wood and fossil fuels.
news.bbc.co.uk: Asia's brown clouds 'warm planet'
news.nature.com: Brown clouds boost global warming

Billion Tree Campaign world record set by India in July 2007

New York / New Delhi, July 31, 2007 - The Forest Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous State of India, has succeeded in planting 10.5 million trees in a single day on 31 July 2007. This ambitious project, to which 600,000 people participated, was meant to raise the awareness of residents of the State towards the importance of tree-planting and the vital role of trees in correcting ecological imbalances, removing the environmental pollution and increasing tree cover. The decision to launch this unique operation was taken at the Governmental level.
www.unep.org: Billion Tree Campaign world record set by India in July 2007

A Threat to the Yellowstone Grizzlies
New York, July 30, 2007 - On a steep, rocky alpine slope outside the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park, scientists examine what they call the "dead trees standing," a copse of ancient whitebark pine trees [Pinus albicaulis] that have thrived for thousands of years on these snowy Montana peaks. But lately the once-hardy trees, whose cone seeds account for a crucial part of the local grizzly bear's autumn diet, have been suffering. Their evergreen needles have turned dark red, and their distinctive silver-grey trunks are flecked with wounds oozing dried sap — evidence of attacks by predatory insects and fungi.
www.time.com: A Threat to the Yellowstone Grizzlies

EU wrangling on carbon emissions moves into courts
A tug of war over carbon dioxide emissions in Europe has turned litigious, with governments and environmental watchdogs fighting at the region's highest court over the right to pollute.
www.iht.com: EU wrangling on carbon emissions moves into courts

Brazil, Alarmed, Reconsiders Policy on Climate Change

Manaus (Brazil) July 31 2007 - Alarmed at recent indications of climate change here in the Amazon and in other regions of Brazil, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has begun showing signs of new flexibility in the tangled, politically volatile international negotiations to limit human-caused global warming.
www.nytimes.com: Brazil, Alarmed, Reconsiders Policy on Climate Change

Rare species suffer as floods wash away young
London, July 31 2007 - Britain's wildlife has suffered severely alongside the human victims of our record wet summer and its floods. Some of our best-loved creatures, including the endangered grey partridge, have lost their young and their habitat has been destroyed.
environment.independent.co.uk: Rare species suffer as floods wash away young

China climate change storms ‘have affected 200 million’

Beijng, July 30 2007 - Violent storms and floods that experts say are a consequence of global warming have hit 200 million people in China.
www.timesonline.co.uk: China climate change storms ‘have affected 200 million’

Focus on carbon 'missing the point'
London, July 30 2007 - The focus on reducing carbon emissions has blinded us to the real problem - unsustainable lifestyles, says Eamon O'Hara. In this week's Green Room, he argues that bigger problems await us unless we shift our efforts.
news.bbc.co.uk: Focus on carbon 'missing the point'

Tropical storms doubled due to global warming

Hurricane-Ready Waters in the Atlantic

London / New York, July 30 2007 - Atlantic hurricanes have doubled in the past century, in part due to warmer seas, a new study says.
news.bbc.co.uk: Hurricane boost 'due to warm sea'
www.cnn.com: Tropical storms doubled due to global warming
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Frequency of Atlantic hurricanes doubled over last century; climate change suspected
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Hurricane-Ready Waters in the Atlantic

Big Oil spends more, pumps fewer barrels
London, July 30, 2007 - The world's three largest fully publicly traded oil firms are investing billions of dollars more this year and the extra spending has yet to result in higher production.
www.reuters.com: Big Oil spends more, pumps fewer barrels

Where the wind blows
London, July 26, 2007 - A grandiose plan to link Europe's electricity grids may recast wind power from its current role as a walk-on extra to being the star of the show.
www.economist.com: Where the wind blows

Rising surface ozone reduces plant growth and adds to global warming
London, July 26 2007 - Scientists from three leading UK research institutes have released new findings that could have major implications for food production and global warming in the 21st century. Their research was published online in Nature on 25 July.
www.metoffice.gov.uk: Rising surface ozone reduces plant growth and adds to global warming
www.realclimate.org: Ozone impacts on climate change

Green consumerism will not save the biosphere
London, July 24 2007 - (By George Monbiot) - It wasn’t meant to happen like this. The climate scientists told us that our winters would become wetter and our summers drier. So I can’t claim that these floods were caused by climate change, or are even consistent with the models. But, like the ghost of Christmas yet to come, they offer us a glimpse of the possible winter world we’ll inhabit if we don’t sort ourselves out.
www.monbiot.com: Green consumerism will not save the biosphere

Gore: ‘We are losing this battle badly’
Vail/Aspen (USA) July 19 2007 - Human civilization, not the planet, is threatened, climate activist and former V.P. says Former Vice President Al Gore did not mince words about climate change Wednesday: “We are facing a true planetary emergency,” Gore said.
As the featured speaker for the Greentech Innovation Network summit, a gathering of world leaders and innovators to discuss climate-change solutions, Gore sounded more like a preacher than a policymaker, at moments reddening in the face and urging the audience to act against climate change.
www.vaildaily.com: Gore: ‘We are losing this battle badly’

Sydney urged to pack for attack or disaster
London, July 16, 2007 - Residents of Australia's biggest city, Sydney, have been urged to pack a survival kit to prepare for a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.
The local authority wants people to put together an emergency "Go-Bag", including maps, food and a radio.
news.bbc.co.uk: Sydney urged to prepare for a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.

Climate change: Sex sells, but at what cost?

London, July 16, 2007 - (Opinion by Matt Prescott) - "Sex sells" is the mantra of advertisers, but our fixation with status symbols and material wealth is undermining our efforts to tackle climate change, argues Matt Prescott. In this week's Green Room, he outlines how he thinks we can love ourselves and the planet.
news.bbc.co.uk: Sex sells, but at what cost?

Citizens arrest
London, July 16, 2007 - (Opinion by David Nicholson) - Tackling climate change is now a worldwide crusade - so what's stopping campaigners driving its simplest solution?
environment.guardian.co.uk: Citizens arrest / The green lobby should be talking about human population growth

Are these the last days of the Oil Age?
London, July 12, 2007 - Oil ruled the 20th century; the shortage of oil will rule the 21st. There is now no doubt about the rising trend in oil prices. In 2003 a barrel of Brent crude sold for $29; in 2004 it rose to $38; in 2005 it rose to $54.50; in 2006 it rose to $65. Last Friday the price closed at $77.50. Some dealers expect it to test the $80 level quite shortly.
www.timesonline.co.uk: S.O.S.: Are these the last days of the Oil Age?

Ground Breaking Report Underlines Vital Role of Ecosystems and Natural Resources in Supporting Livelihoods and Reducing Poverty

Bangkok, 12 July 2007 - Rapid economic growth of recent decades is expected to continue in Greater Mekong countries, but growth must be matched with efforts to reverse negative impacts on environment if the region's poor are to benefit, according to the Greater Mekong Environmental Outlook 2007, released today in Bangkok. The report is the first collaborative assessment of the sub-region's environment.
www.unep.org: S.O.S.: Ground Breaking Report Underlines Vital Role of Ecosystems and Natural Resources in Supporting Livelihoods and Reducing Poverty

China's Premier Urges Action In Energy-Saving Drive

Beijing, July 12, 2007 - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has urged local governments to shut polluting plants and encourage families to save energy, marking his second appeal in just three days aimed at achieving energy efficiency.
www.planetark.com: China's Premier Urges Action In Energy-Saving Drive

Factory may destroy natural wonder

Nairobi, July 12 2007 - The Indian chemical company Tata wants to extract soda ash from Lake Natron, the most important breeding site for the lesser flamingo. One of nature's most spectacular sights - millions of pink flamingos migrating between the Rift Valley's alkaline lakes - is in danger of disappearing forever, according to conservationists.
environment.guardian.co.uk: Factory may destroy natural wonder

Families should have no more than two children
London, July 11 2007 - Families should have no more than two children if they want to help combat climate change, according to new research by a thinktank. According to the report, published by the Optimum Population Trust, Britain's high birth rate is a major factor in the current level of climate change, which can only be combatted if families voluntarily limit the number of children they have.
www.thisislondon.co.uk: Families should have no more than two children

A healthy world needs lots of species

London, July 11, 2007 - Effects of biodiversity loss could be worse than previously thought. Biodiversity loss could impact food production, water quality and carbon dioxide levels more than previously thought, scientists have discovered.
www.nature.com: A healthy world needs lots of species

Warming Report Warns of Increased Flooding
New York, July 11, 2007 - One-hundred-year floods could come as often as once every 10 years by the end of this century, Long Island lobsters could disappear and New York apples could be just a memory if nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report on the impact of global warming by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
www.nytimes.com: Warming Report Warns of Increased Flooding

US grassroots tackle climate change
Sebastopol, CA (USA), July 11, 2007 - The US government may have refused to throw its weight behind efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but Americans are increasingly acting on their own initiative.
news.bbc.co.uk: US grassroots tackle climate change

'New thinking' needed on climate
New York, July 11, 2007 - The international climate debate needs to embrace a "new way of thinking" to tackle the problem, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has urged.
Mr Ban called on world leaders to unite on climate change.
www.planetark.com: Solar Variations Not Behind Global Warming

Solar Variations Not Behind Global Warming
London, July 10, 2007 - The sun's changing energy levels are not to blame for recent global warming and, if anything, solar variations over the past 20 years should have had a cooling effect, scientists said on wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
www.planetark.com: Solar Variations Not Behind Global Warming
www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk: The sun is not a factor in recent climate change! (full aricle in pdf)

The biofuel myths
London, July 10, 2007 - The term "biofuels" suggests renewable abundance: clean, green, sustainable assurance about technology and progress. This pure image allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the United Nations and even the International Panel on Climate Change to present fuels made from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as the next step in a smooth transition from peak oil to a yet-to-be-defined renewable fuel economy.
But in reality, biofuel draws its power from cornucopian myths and directs our attention away from economic interests that would benefit from the transition, while avoiding discussion of the growing North-South food and energy imbalance.
www.iht.com: The biofuel myths

Atmospheric Temperature Trends 1979-2005

Washington, July 10, 2007 - Climate models predict that the build up of greenhouse gases should warm the lower layer of the atmosphere, called the troposphere, and cool the layer above it, the stratosphere. Greenhouse gases accumulate in the troposphere where they absorb energy radiated from the Earth and re-emit energy back to the surface. Because the gases trap heat in the lower parts of the atmosphere, the stratosphere cools down. This pattern of warming in the lower atmosphere and cooling in the stratosphere is a hallmark of greenhouse gas warming in global climate models.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Atmospheric Temperature Trends 1979-2005

Grounded: Another victory in battle to curb airport growth
London, July 10, 2007 - A dramatic grassroots fightback is under way against the massive expansion plans of Britain's airports which, despite grave concerns about effects on the environment, are aiming to treble flights and vastly increase passenger numbers within 20 years.
news.independent.co.uk: Grounded: Another victory in battle to curb airport growth

The End of the Wild
New York, July 9 2007 - A study released last week in the peer-reviewed journal Science shows that humans have domesticated the planet to such an extent that little true wilderness remains. Researchers spent years combing through satellite data to find that as of 1995, less than 17 percent of the Earth’s land area could be considered truly wild—that is, with no human populations, crops, road access or night-time light.
www.emagazine.com: End of the Wild
www.nature.org: Is there any Wilderness left?
www.nature.org: The End of the Wild

US leads search for climate solutions
San José, CA (USA), July 5/9, 2007 - BBC News website's Sam Wilson reports from San Jose on how the state is at the forefront of innovation in clean technology.
news.bbc.co.uk 0709: US leads search for climate solutions
news.bbc.co.uk 0705: California inspires US revolt on climate

Live Earth: One big gesture for man, one giant problem for the Earth
London, July 8, 2007 - Live Earth was watched by two billion people on a day when 20 million tons of carbon were emitted, a square kilometre of the Antarctic ice shelf was lost and a major new study, exclusively revealed by the 'IoS', shows the damage we are doing worldwide.
www.independent.co.uk: Live Earth: One big gesture for man, one giant problem for the Earth

The world won't listen
London, July 7, 2007 Occasionally a noble attempt to galvanise action proves so ineffective that it only entrenches hopelessness. There is a risk that today's Live Earth could fall into that trap. It is an extraordinary feat of organisation, involving eight concerts on seven continents, and will be seen on television by as many as 2 billion people. Yet instead of inspiring the world to action it may merely highlight how little of substance is being done to avert climate catastrophe. There are warning signs already: the Istanbul concert has been abandoned for lack of support and Rio, the centrepiece of the effort, had to be salvaged by the last-minute intervention of Al Gore himself. Part of the problem is that there is something flawed in the Live Earth psychology: in the cause of tackling a problem that must ultimately be solved by reducing consumption, it will conspicuously consume resources, as the Guardian reports today. But the gloom might also be because Live Earth is raising awareness of a problem with no attractive solution.
www.guardian.co.uk: The world won't listen

Concerts promote climate message
London, July 8, 2007 - Rock stars around the world have been performing to hundreds of thousands of music fans as part of the Live Earth day to highlight climate change.
Among the biggest names on stage are Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, The Police and Garth Brooks.
Live Earth is organised by former US Vice-President Al Gore, who called the concerts a "global response" to a global problem.
www.timesonline.co.uk: Live Earth fails to pack large-scale punch
www.nytimes.com: Stars Join Their Voices to Support Live Earth
www.bbc.co.uk: Concerts promote climate message
www.cnn.com: Live Earth rockers fight global warming

So, Al Gore, what's the one thing we can all do to tackle climate change?
Washington / London, July 7, 2007 - What is the one thing, the most urgent thing, that everyone can do to tackle global warming...?
Al Gore: "Well, first of all, learn about it. Learn about the ways in which you can become part of the solution to the problem in the contexts of your own life. Learning about it is important in your role as a citizen, and in helping to achieve the policy changes that in the long term will be required to solve this crisis."
environment.independent.co.uk: So, Al Gore, what's the one thing we can all do to tackle climate change?

Record-breaking June rainfall figures
London, July 5, 2007 - Provisional statistics from the Met Office have today shown that June has been the wettest since records began in 1914. The UK-wide average figure of 134.5 mm has beaten the previous highest June total of 121.2 mm in 1980. Records for England and Northern Ireland have also been broken.
www.metoffice.gov.uk: Record-breaking June rainfall figures

Climate Change will 'almost kill off humanity'
Adelaide, July 5, 2007 - Humans will have to learn to use the planet to save themselves if they hope to combat climate change. That is the view of James Lovelock, who invented the Gaia Theory that treats the world as an organism.
www.news.com.au: Change will 'almost kill off humanity'
www.nyas.org: Climate Change Wake-up Call
'The Revenge of Gaia' Books & Debate

A Sudden Change of State / We are led to catastrophe
London, July 5, 2007 - (by Georges Monbiot) - A new paper suggests we have been greatly underestimating the impacts of climate change – and the size of the necessary response.
Reading a scientific paper on the train this weekend, I found, to my amazement, that my hands were shaking. This has never happened to me before, but nor have I ever read anything like it. Published by a team led by James Hansen at Nasa, it suggests that the grim reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could be absurdly optimistic.....
www.monbiot.com: A Sudden Change of State / We are led to catastrophe
pubs.giss.nasa.gov / Hansen et all: Climate Change and Trace Gases (pdf)

Why rock won't save the planet
London, July 5, 2007 - Live Earth concerts will take place around the globe this weekend. Their aim is admirable, but if we are serious about climate change, then telling concert-goers to take the bus once a week is not enough, writes George Marshall.
environment.guardian.co.uk: Why rock won't save the planet

'Scepticism' over climate claims
London, July 3, 2007 - The public believes the effects of global warming on the climate are not as bad as politicians and scientists claim, a poll has suggested.
The Ipsos Mori poll of 2,032 adults - interviewed between 14 and 20 June - found 56% believed scientists were still questioning climate change.
There was a feeling the problem was exaggerated to make money, it found.news.bbc.co.uk: 'Scepticism' over climate claims

Al Gore: "Moving Beyond Kyoto..."
July 2 2007 - "We — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision. It is unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is before us."
"Our home — Earth — is in danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings."
www.nytimes.com: Moving Beyond Kyoto
www.algore.com

Gore: Live Earth Concerts to Deliver Climate SOS
New York, July 1, 2007 Former US Vice President Al Gore urged people worldwide to pressure their governments to cut global warming pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide by 2050.
www.planetark.com / Gore: Live Earth Concerts to Deliver Climate SOS
liveearthpledge.org: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis
liveearthpledge.org: Answer the call / Make your comitment

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