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Is Germany's 'Climate Chancellor' a Failure?
Berlin, June 2, 2008 -
A year after pitting herself against the world's leaders over climate change, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed down and gone silent on key environmental policies. It seems that the one opponent she can't bear confronting is the German voter.
www.spiegel.de: Is Germany's 'Climate Chancellor' a Failure?
Soaring living costs cloud U.N. climate talks
Bonn, June 1, 2008 - U.N.-led climate talks kick off on Monday in Germany with experts trying to forge a global warming pact facing a new challenge from critics who say climate change measures are partly to blame for higher food and energy prices.
www.reuters.com: Soaring living costs cloud U.N. climate talks
Now is not the time to abandon our ambition to be green
London, June 1, 2008 - (by Sir David King) -
Gordon Brown has called on the oil industry to come up with ideas for improving supplies as fuel costs soar and Business Secretary John Hutton announced the go-ahead for oil production to start in two new fields, West Don and Don South West. He also unveiled plans for new oil and gas fields to be carved out of unprofitable parts of around 30 existing fields, which could produce an additional daily production of 20,000 barrels..
www.guardian.co.uk: Now is not the time to abandon our ambition to be green
Farm Hands Down
Seattle, May 30, 2008 -
To create a truly sustainable food system, we'll have to confront the farm-labor crisis, says Tom Philpott. "When I think about what a truly healthy, vibrant food system would look like, I envision more farms: small farms serving specific communities, and diversified, midsized farms geared to supplying their surrounding regions.
www.grist.org: Farm Hands Down
Is water becoming 'the new oil'?
Barcelona, May 30, 2008 -
Public fountains are dry in Barcelona, Spain, a city so parched there’s Euro 9,000 ($13,000) fine if you’re caught watering your flowers. A tanker ship docked there this month carrying 5 million gallons of precious fresh water — and officials are scrambling to line up more such shipments to slake public thirst.
www.enn.com: Is water becoming 'the new oil'?
Deep climate cuts urged; food price a wake-up call
London / Oslo May 29, 2008 -
Governments will have to cut greenhouse gases far more deeply than planned to control global warming and high food prices linked to droughts are a wake-up call, four leading scientists said on Thursday.
"We have lost 10 years talking about climate change but not acting on it," the experts, led by Britain's Martin Parry who is a co-chair of a U.N. Climate Panel group on the impacts of climate change, wrote in the journal Nature.
www.reuters.com: Deep climate cuts urged; food price a wake-up call
www.planetark.com: Cut CO2 To India's Level, Top Scientist Urges
Climate scientists clear up discrepancy in global temperature record
London, 29 May 2008 -
An international team of scientists has uncovered the reason for a sharp cooling in observed global sea temperatures at the end of the Second World War.
www.metoffice.com: Climate scientists clear up discrepancy in global temperature record
www.nature.com: Climate anomaly is an artefact
www.realclimate.org: Of buckets and blogs
China set to ban ultra-thin plastic bags
Beijing, May 27 2008 -
China is about to try to kick a 3 billion-a-day plastic bag habit. But breaking the addiction, in a bid to save energy and protect the environment, will be easier said than done.
www.reuters.com: China set to ban ultra-thin plastic bags
Spain's drought: a glimpse of our future?
Barcelona, May 24, 2008 -
Barcelona is in the grip of a climate crisis on a scale never seen before in modern-day Europe. And now this parched city is being forced to import supplies from France.
www.independent.co.uk: Spain's drought: a glimpse of our future?
Climate-change icon gains 'threatened' status from United States
New York, May 21, 2008 -
In a long-anticipated decision hailed as a victory by environmental groups, the United States last week declared the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) a 'threatened' species. But this heightened protection status may have little bearing on the animals' ultimate fate.
www.nature.com: Climate-change icon gains 'threatened' status from United States
The Ethics of Climate Change: Pay Now or Pay More Later?
May 21, 2008 -
Weighing our own prosperity against the chances that climate change will diminish the well-being of our grandchildren calls on economists to make hard ethical judgments.
www.sciam.com: The Ethics of Climate Change: Pay Now or Pay More Later?
Aviation impacts 'hotly disputed'
London, May 21, 2008 -
UK ministers have been urged to halt airport expansion until the true costs and benefits of the proposed increase in flying are properly understood.
bbc.co.uk: Aviation impacts 'hotly disputed'
www.independent.co.uk: Aviation impacts 'hotly disputed'
EU report calls for faster climate change curbs
Brussels, May 20, 2008 -
Global temperature rises should be kept well below the European Union's target of 2 degrees Celsius to avoid costly damage to people and their lifestyles, according to a European Parliament report.
www.reuters.com: EU report calls for faster climate change curbs
EU car adverts to carry cigarette-type health warnings
Brussels, May 19, 2008 -
European Union plans to force car manufacturers to prominently display information about greenhouse gas emissions and petrol consumption of their vehicles in magazine, television or billboard advertising.
euobserver.com: EU car adverts to carry cigarette-type health warnings
A lot of hot air
May 15 2008 -
One of the most troubling aspects of climate change is the feedback loop. As the world warms, so frozen earth begins to melt, which releases greenhouse gases, which warms the world up further. Something similar seems to be happening with the literature of climate change. As people write books on global warming, so they generate interest in the subject, which increases demand, which leads to the writing of even more books. Both these cycles result in a lot of hot air.
www.economist.com: A lot of hot air
China's Journey: Inside the Dragon
May 12 2008 -
Chinese history has become the story of average citizens. But there are risks when a nation depends on the individual dreams of 1.3 billion people rather than a coherent political system with clear rule of law.
ngm.nationalgeographic.com: Inside the Dragon
New Earth Rising: Hope for a New Global Dream
May 11 2008 -
Sufficient and workable individual and social solutions exist for the wide range of ecological, economic, social and personal ills facing the biosphere and humanity; and together they could herald in a new era of global ecological sustainability.
ngm.nationalgeographic.com: Inside the Dragon
Global cooling theories put scientists on guard
London, May 8 / 9 2008 - A new study suggesting a possible lull in manmade global warming has raised fears of a reduced urgency to battle climate change.
www.reuters.com: Global cooling theories put scientists on guard
www.nature.com: Advancing decadal-scale climate prediction in the North Atlantic sector
www.realclimate.org: Global Cooling-Wanna Bet?
Ranking Consumers By Environmental Behavior: India, Brazil Top Index; United States Ranks Last
May 8, 2008 - The National Geographic Society and the international polling firm GlobeScan today unveiled a new mechanism for measuring and comparing individual consumer behavior as it relates to the environment.
www.sciencedaily.com: Ranking Consumers By Environmental Behavior: India, Brazil Top Index; United States Ranks Last
Latest technique in climate forecasts show decrease in summer rainfall
London, May 2, 2008 -
Results from the latest multiple model ensemble techniques in climate change forecasting, published by the Royal Society, indicate that average summer rainfall for northern Europe could decrease by between 5 and 20 per cent by the end of the century.
The findings use Met Office Hadley Centre climate simulations in a multiple model ensemble. This method has been pioneered by climate research scientists at the Met Office and is described in an article on its website.
www.metoffice.gov.uk: Latest technique in climate forecasts show decrease in summer rainfall
Rich World Must Back 80 Percent Carbon Cuts - Stern
London, May 1, 2008 -
Rich countries must commit to cutting carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and developing nations must agree that by 2020 they too will set their own targets, leading economist Nicholas Stern said on Wednesday.
www.reuters.com: Rich World Must Back 80 Percent Carbon Cuts
Russian climate plans show tough path to U.N. treaty
Moscow, April 29 / 30, 2008 -
Russia will not accept binding caps on its greenhouse gas emissions under a new climate regime, currently being negotiated to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, top officials said on Monday.
www.reuters.com: Russian climate plans show tough path to U.N. treaty (30-04)
www.enn.com: Russia says has no plans to cap carbon emissions (29-04)
Climate change could force 1 billion from their homes by 2050
London, 29 April 2008 -
As many as one billion people could lose their homes by 2050 because of the devastating impact of global warming, scientists and political leaders will be warned today.
They will hear that the steady rise in temperatures across the planet could trigger mass migration on unprecedented levels.
www.reuters.com: Climate change could force 1 billion from their homes by 2050
Poor children main victims of climate change: U.N.
London, April 29 2008 -
Millions of the world's poorest children are among the most vulnerable and unwitting victims of climate change caused by the rich developed world, a United Nations report said on Tuesday, calling for urgent action.
www.reuters.com: Poor children main victims of climate change: U.N.
Sydney's poor, elderly hit hardest by climate change
Sydney, Apr 29, 2008 -
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.
www.reuters.com: Sydney's poor and elderly hit hardest by climate change
Nature's carbon balance confirmed
London, April 28 2008 -
Scientists have found new evidence that the Earth's natural feedback mechanism regulated carbon dioxide levels for hundreds of thousands of years.
But they say humans are now emitting CO2 so fast that the planet's natural balancing mechanism cannot keep up.
news.bbc.co.uk: Nature's carbon balance confirmed
Biodiversity Loss Will Make You Sick
Singapore/Nairobi, 24 April -
A new generation of antibiotics, new treatments for thinning bone disease and kidney failure, and new cancer treatments may all stand to be lost unless the world acts to reverse the present alarming rate of biodiversity loss a new landmark book says.
www.unep.org: Biodiversity Loss Will Make You Sick
EU commission investigates link between biofuels and food crisis
Brussels, April 24 2008 -
In the wake of mounting pressure from international organisations such as the World Bank and the United Nations World Food Programme, European Commission President Barroso has requested a study on whether there is any relationship between the recent skyrocketing of food prices around the world and biofuels.
euobserver.com: EU commission investigates link between biofuels and food crisis
World Food Program launches emergency call for Haiti
Port-au-Prince, April 24 - The World Food Program lacks crucially needed funds to help feed Haiti's poor, and international donors must provide urgent and massive aid, a spokesman for the United Nations agency said on Thursday.
www.alertnet.org: World Food Program launches emergency call for Haiti
www.wri.org: Food Price Crisis Triggers Questions about Global Food Security
www.spiegel.de: The Fury of the poor
Plan to reverse global warming could backfire
Chicago (US), April 24 2008 - A proposed solution to reverse the effects of global warming by spraying sulfate particles into Earth's stratosphere could make matters much worse, climate researchers said on Thursday.
They said trying to cool off the planet by creating a kind of artificial sun block would delay the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole by 30 to 70 years and create a new loss of Earth's protective ozone layer over the Arctic.
www.reuters.com: Plan to reverse global warming could backfire
CO2, methane up sharply in 2007
Washington, April 23 2008 -
The amount of two key greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere rose sharply in 2007, and carbon dioxide levels this year are literally off the chart, the U.S. government reported on Wednesday.
More....
Summit calls for climate targets
Tokyo, April 23 2008 -
European and Japanese leaders at their annual summit in Tokyo have called for "ambitious and binding" targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
news.bbc.co.uk: Summit calls for climate targets
Europeans switching back to coal
Civitavecchia, April 22 2008 -
At a time when the world's top climate experts agree that carbon emissions must be rapidly reduced to hold down global warming, a leading Italian electricity producer, Enel, is converting its massive power plant here from oil to coal, the dirtiest fuel on earth.
www.iht.com: Europeans switching back to coal
The Green Pope
New York, April 22 2008 -
Benedict XVI has embraced environmentalism. How he's using church teachings to urge Roman Catholics to take care of the earth. The pope believes that eco-friendly lifestyles will help protect the world's poorest communities.
www.newsweek.com: The Green Pope
McCartney urges vegetarianism to fight climate ills
New York, April 21 2008 -
Former Beatle Paul McCartney is urging the world to go vegetarian in a bid to fight global warming and is surprised more green groups don't promote it.
In an interview with the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), McCartney said the global meat industry was a major contributor to global warming. A transcript of the PETA interview was given to Reuters.
www.reuters.com: McCartney urges vegetarianism to fight climate ills
Food price rises are "mass murder" - UN envoy
Vienna, April 20 2008 - Global food price rises are leading to "silent mass murder" and commodities markets have brought "horror" to the world, the United Nations' food envoy told an Austrian newspaper on Sunday.
www.reuters.com: Food price rises are "mass murder" - UN envoy
Bush to announce intermediate goal for CO2 emissions
Washington, April 15/18 2008 -
President George W. Bush plans to announce on Wednesday an intermediate goal to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, but will not make specific proposals, the White House said.
www.planetark.com: Bush's CO2 Plan Is "Neanderthal" - German Minister
www.reuters.com: Bush to announce intermediate goal for CO2 emissions
www.reuters.com: Bush urges halt of CO2 emission growth by 2025
www.spiegel.de: Bush Has 'Understood Nothing, Learned Nothing'
God Pollution
April 15, 2008 -
Irrational belief in ghosts and gods detracts from ecological and evolutionary science based solutions required to save creation:
"I am an atheist. And I believe strongly that irrational worship of invisible ghosts and absent gods impedes humanity from taking responsibility for and fashioning a just, peaceful, equitable and sustainable world. By finding comfort and an all-encompassing worldview in bizarre millennia old illogical cults, humanity rejects ecological science and re-emergent intuition of the need and how to protect their Earthly habitat. Reading Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" has confirmed what I always knew, making it abundantly clear to me that there is no god and religion is evil."
earthmeanders.blogspot.com: God Pollution
Pressure Grows on EU to Abandon Biofuels
Berlin, April 16 2008 -
With food prices skyrocketing and faith in biofuels plummeting, many are demanding that the European Union back away from its commitment to eco-fuel. Even the EU's own scientists are skeptical.
www.spiegel.de: Pressure Grows on EU to Abandon Biofuels
www.independent.co.uk / Biofuel: the burning question
Agriculture - The Need for Change
Washington/London/Nairobi/Delhi, 15 April 2008 -
The way the world grows its food will have to change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if the world is to cope with a growing population and climate change while avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse. That is the message from the report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, a major new report launched by over 400 scientists.
www.enn.com: Agriculture - The Need for Change
Where Will Germany's Energy Come From?
Berlin, April 15 2008 -
Nuclear power is too dangerous. Coal is too dirty. Gas involves too much dependence on Russia. And renewables are insufficient. So just where is Germany going to get its power from?
www.spiegel.de: Where Will Germany's Energy Come From?
Nuclear energy a solution to climate change
Brussels, April 15 2008 -
The EU's top energy official has underscored the vital role that nuclear energy has to play in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and its importance in helping deliver the bloc's energy needs at a time of "persistently high" oil prices.
euobserver.com: Nuclear energy a solution to climate change
Rich countries criticised for lack of leadership on climate change
April 14 2008 -
Rich countries are failing to set a good example for developing countries on tackling climate, the head of the United Nations' scientific panel on climate change has said. According to Rajendra Pachauri, many developed countries have failed to lead the way and do what is necessary to make the developing nations commit to a new global climate change pact - set to be signed next year.
www.planet2025news.net: Coming Ecological Collapse: Failing Ecosystems the Mother of All Bubbles
World food shortages to stay, riots a risk: FAO
New Delhi, April 7 / 11 2008 (Reuters) -
Food riots which have struck several impoverished countries could spread with shortages and high prices set to continue for some time, the head of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
Kenya faces acute food shortage. Global cereal crisis is likely to hit the country the hardest because farmers growing maize, the staple crop of Kenya, have been displaced following post-poll violence.
China allocates temporary food subsidy to college students to offset inflation and Italy observes a day-long pasta strike after the price of pasta went up by almost 20 per cent....
www.downtoearth.org.in: Global food crisis: causes and implications for India
www.downtoearth.org.in / Climate change: new opportunity to renew old orders
www.independent.co.uk: The other global crisis: rush to biofuels is driving up price of food
www.guardian.co.uk: Poor go hungry while rich fill their tanks
www.planetark.com: World food shortages to stay, riots a risk: FAO
Carbon Dioxide Emissions Accelerating Rapidly
Washington, April 9, 2008 -
Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels stood at a record 8.38 gigatons of carbon (GtC) in 2006, 20 percent above the level in 2000.
More....
Post-Kyoto Targets May Not Be Same For All
Miami, April 8, 2008 -
The next deal to combat climate change may not set the same type of targets for developing nations as it does for the big polluting industrialized countries but everyone will have to be included in some way for it to work, a UN envoy said on Monday.
www.planetark.com: Post-Kyoto Targets May Not Be Same For All
UN climate panel making 'dangerous assumptions', say scientists
April 7, 2008 -
An excessive focus on targets and timetables and the assumption that low-carbon technologies will spontaneously appear are hampering efforts to address climate change, according to a group of North American scientists.
www.euractiv.com: UN climate panel making 'dangerous assumptions'
Climate target is not radical enough
London, April 7, 2008 -
One of the world's leading climate scientists warns today that the EU and its international partners must urgently rethink targets for cutting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because of fears they have grossly underestimated the scale of the problem.
Jim Hansen: Climate target is not radical enough
Greenhouse Gas Increase from U.S. Power Plants Highest Since 1998 / Hansen: 350 is enough (March 18)
EU biofuel sustainability criteria too weak, say green groups
Brussels, April 7 2008 -
Documents outlining proposed sustainability criteria for biofuels currently under consideration by European officials show that member states are planning to apply "only cosmetic changes" to existing criteria, according to environmental groups.
weuobserver.com: EU biofuel sustainability criteria too weak, say green groups
Head Of UN Climate Panel To Seek New Term
Oslo, April 7, 2008
India's Rajendra Pachauri said on Saturday he will seek a new six-year term as head of the UN climate panel that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore.
www.planetark.com: Head Of UN Climate Panel To Seek New Term
Bangkok climate talks establish 2008 work programme
Bangkok, 5 April, 2008 -
The first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWGLCA 1) and the fifth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (AWG 5) attracted over 1000 participants, including more than 100 media representatives, to their "Bangkok Climate Change Talks" in Bangkok, Thailand, from 31 March to 4 April 2008.
The AWGLCA developed a 2008 work programme that aims to further discussions on all elements of the Bali Action Plan at every session of the AWGLCA in a coherent, integrated and transparent manner. It establishes a timetable and elements to be addressed, as well as eight in-session workshops to be held during 2008. The AWG convened an in-session workshop on analyzing the means for Annex I parties to reach their emission reduction targets. In its conclusions, AWG 5 indicated that emissions trading and the project-based mechanisms under the Protocol should continue in the post-2012 period, and be supplemental to domestic actions in Annex I countries. The next round of discussions will convene in Bonn, Germany, beginning on 2 June 2008.
www.iisd.ca: Bangkok Climate Change Talks
Can Climate Change Make Us Sicker?
London, April 4, 2008 -
What do we talk about when we talk about global warming? It'll get hotter, that's a safe bet, polar ice caps will be melting and wildlife that can't adapt to warmer temperatures could be on the way out. But what does it really mean for the health of us, the human race?
www.time.com: Can Climate Change Make Us Sicker?
World Mayors Propose Urban Water Declaration
Bangkok, April 1, 2008 -
Ankara, Turkey's capital and second largest city, dried up last summer. Faced with low rainfall and a shrinking reservoir, the city of 4 million resorted to water rationing. Hospitals delayed surgeries. Stray dogs died in the streets. Mayor Melih Gokcek asked residents to "wash your hair, not your bodies" and came under heavy criticism for alleged water mismanagement. In an effort to be better prepared for future droughts as well as the catastrophic dry spells expected to accompany climate change, Turkey's leaders and the World Water Council (WWC), a multi-stakeholder group based in Marseilles, France, are proposing a global declaration on urban water management strategies.
www.enn.com: World Mayors Propose Urban Water Declaration
www.worldwaterforum5.org: What is the Istanbul Urban Water Consensus?
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