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ACTION: 24th October 2009 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION
We're coordinating a distributed day of events for 24 October, uniting the world around a common call to action--and we're asking you to help. You don't need to have ever done anything like this before--you'll have lots of support through 350.org. And if you're stuck for action ideas, just click here.
ACTION: 12th December 2009 GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION International Demonstrations on Climate Change
“We demand that world leaders take the urgent and resolute action that is needed to prevent the catastrophic destabilisation of global climate, so that the entire world can move as rapidly as possible to a stronger emissions reductions treaty which is both equitable and effective in minimising dangerous climate change. We demand that the long-industrialised countries that have emitted most greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere take responsibility for climate change mitigation by immediately reducing their own emissions as well as investing in a clean energy revolution in the developing world. Developed countries must take their fair share of the responsibility to pay for the adaptive measures that have to be taken, especially by low-emitting countries with limited economic resources. Climate change will hit the poorest first and hardest. All who have the economic means to act, must therefore urgently and decisively do so.”

Sea level rise: It's worse than we thought - New Scientist
As more and more ice slides into the ocean, sea levels are rising faster and faster but just how high will they get?

2nd July 2009
Drax protesters 'not criminals' - BBC News
Environment campaigners accused of taking part in a protest at Drax power station in 2008 tell a court they are not criminals.

2nd July 2009
The least sea ice in 800 years
New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are published in the scientific journal, Climate Dynamics.

2nd July 2009
An insurance plan for climate change victims - New Scientist
As governments dither over how to protect the world's poor from the effects of a warming planet, an unlikely group is stepping up

2nd July 2009
47 groups urge Obama to endorse 2-degree C warming threshold - Grist Magazine
Discover Magazine47 groups urge Obama to endorse 2-degree C warming thresholdGrist Magazine... the worst impacts of climate change. Staying below the 2°C/3.6°F target is a key guide post to measure our efforts to tackle global warming pollution. ...Climate Change Alarmist Claims Arrival of Summer Is Really Global ...Prison Planet.comNew climate report says global warming is 'human-induced'Truckee TimesThe State of the Climate and of Climate ScienceDiscover MagazineRed, Green, and Blue -Miller-McCune.com -WCAXall 33 news articles raquo;

2nd July 2009
ExxonMobil 'continuing to fund climate sceptic groups' - Guardian
Records show ExxonMobil gave hundreds of thousands of pounds to lobby groups that have published 'misleading and inaccurate information' about climate changeThe world's largest oil company is continuing to fund lobby groups that question the reality of global warming, despite a public pledge to cut support for such climate change denial, a new analysis shows.Company records show that ExxonMobil handed over hundreds of thousands of pounds to such lobby groups in 2008. These include the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) in Dallas, Texas, which received $75,000 (£45,500), and the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC, which received $50,000.According to Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, at the London School of Economics, both the NCPA and the Heritage Foundation have published "misleading and inaccurate information about climate change."On ...

2nd July 2009
U.S. seen backing climate target at G8
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States will agree to a goal to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius at next week's Group of Eight summit, a senior European official involved in preparing the meeting said on Wednesday.

2nd July 2009
New York inches closer to offshore wind farm
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Government agencies and power companies said on Wednesday they are gauging interest from developers and manufacturers about building a wind farm about 13 miles off the New York city coast that could end up being the largest such project in the United States.

2nd July 2009
El Nino seems all but certain: Australia
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An El Nino weather pattern this year appears almost certain, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday in a revised forecast, raising the prospect of drought in Australia and a even weaker monsoon in India.

2nd July 2009
Activists respond to popular mobilisation call with human 'Mili-band' - Guardian
Protesters are re-appropriating the climate and energy minister's name as the moniker for a day of action at the site of E.ON's proposed power station at KingsnorthBack in December, Ed Miliband called for a "popular mobilisation" to help politicians push through a global agreement to limit carbon emissions.He spoke of the need for "countervailing forces":When you think about all the big historic movements, from the suffragettes, to anti-apartheid, to sexual equality in the 1960s, all the big political movements had popular mobilisation.This Saturday his wish will in part, at least be granted. Protesters will be taking the climate and energy minister's surname and re-appropriating it as the moniker for the latest day of action at E.ON's proposed coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.Activists will gather to form a human "Mili-Band" around the symbolic site, much in ...

2nd July 2009
Greenwash: Are EDF trying to cut our use of energy? Surely, some mistake
Perhaps EDF should join in on Green Britain Day and 'do something green' itself by committing to getting out of coal. You may have seen the posters and newspaper ads (including in the Guardian) featuring a green union flag. All very patriotic; even though they are being put up by a French-owned energy company, EDF. But, jingoism aside, it's the green bit that worries me. Sacré vert, as they might say. The green-flag posters advertise something called Green Britain Day, which is set for 10 July. EDF, along with the London Olympics and the Eden Project, wants it to be a "focal point for people to take action towards a more sustainable lifestyle".The date has been chosen, according to EDF, because it is the final week of many school terms, when the kids can put down their learning and do something green instead.

2nd July 2009
China torn by heatwave, rainstorm - Xinhua
A Pakistan NewsChina torn by heatwave, rainstormXinhuaBEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The heatwave continues in Beijing and several other northern provinces Thursday, while rainstorms drench at least half of the ...Extreme weather continues in ChinaChina.org.cnall 38 news articles raquo;

2nd July 2009
More bubkes
Roger Pielke Sr. has raised very strong allegations against RealClimate in a recent blog post. Since they come from a scientific colleague, we consider it worthwhile responding directly. The statement Pielke considers misinformation is a single sentence from a recent posting: Some aspects of climate change are progressing faster than was expected a few years ago - such as rising sea levels, the increase of heat stored in the ocean and the shrinking Arctic sea ice. First of all, we are surprised that Pielke levelled such strong allegations against RealClimate, since the statement above merely summarises some key findings of the Synthesis Report of the Copenhagen Climate Congress, which we discussed last month.

2nd July 2009
ENVIRONMENT-URUGUAY: Invasion of the Sand Dunes
CIUDAD DE LA COSTA, Uruguay, Jul 1 (IPS) - "A road used to run through here, the sidewalk was over there, and this was the neighbour s yard. That was an esplanade where people parked their cars, and that area over there was a plaza," says Jackeline, pointing to enormous sand dunes that have swallowed up everything, even entire trees.

2nd July 2009
For more news, click here >>
News from previous days is below


Permafrost melting a growing climate threat - Reuters [essential]
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The amount of carbon locked away in frozen soils in the far Northern Hemisphere is double previous estimates and rapid melting could accelerate global warming, a study released on Wednesday says.

1st July 2009
Drax protest trial judge blocks climate change talk - Guardian [essential]
Defendant tries to address court on dangers of global warming but is told jury not concerned with motivesClimate change campaigners on trial for hijacking a coal train on its way to the Drax power station in North Yorkshire were stymied three times this morning in their attempts to address a jury on the dangers of global warming.Judge Spencer repeatedly warned Paul Chatterton, a Leeds University lecturer who is leading the defence of 22 activists, that the jury was concerned only with whether they had stopped and boarded the train and not with their reasons for doing so.The defendants, aged between 21 and 43, have pleaded not guilty to obstructing a railway engine contrary to the Malicious Damage Act of 1861.

1st July 2009
EPA affirms California’s right to set tougher automobile emissions standards - Grist
The EPA announced on Tuesday that it will grant a waiver for California and 13 other states to set automobile emission standards that are higher than national ones. The move is important symbolically, though it isn t likely to lead to emission reductions in the next few years.

1st July 2009
Wind 'can revolutionise UK power' - BBC News
Britain can massively expand wind power by 2030 without suffering power cuts, a report says.

1st July 2009
Canada May Sell Wheat to Brazil After Drought in Argentina - Bloomberg [food]
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian wheat farmers may gain from a drought in Argentina, the fourth-largest exporter of the grain last year, by shipping to Latin American nations such as Brazil, Canadian Wheat Board Chief Executive Officer Ian White said.

1st July 2009
North America faces beetle plague - BBC 
An epidemic of mountain pine beetles, which has devastated forests in British Columbia, is threatening to spread.

1st July 2009
Britain's heatwave set to continue - BBC News
ITV.comBritain's heatwave set to continueBBC NewsBritain's heatwave is expected to go on until the weekend, raising the possibility that the official "watch level" could be raised to protect vulnerable ...Britain braced for another sizzlerThe Press Associationall 149 news articles raquo;
See also: Have the climate change deniers abandoned us during the heatwave?

1st July 2009
Seagrass losses reveal global coastal crisis - Reuters
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Mounting loss of seagrass in the world's oceans, vital for the survival of endangered marine life, commercial fisheries and the fight against climate change, reveals a major crisis in coastal ecosystems, a report says.

1st July 2009
Czech Met Office says June storms are exceptional - Radio Prague
The weather is the subject on the tip of everyone s tongue just now following violent floods over the last week in the Czech Republic. Forecasters warn that there is still a risk of storms causing more deaths and damage. But just how exceptional has the recent weather been and is climate change partly to blame?

1st July 2009
Obama To Open U.S. Lands To Large-Scale Solar Power Projects
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department is studying whether 670,000 acres of federal lands in six Western states are suitable for the construction of large-scale solar power projects. Salazar, appearing in Las Vegas with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the Obama administration is doing everything we can to put the bulls-eye on the development of solar energy on our public lands. He predicted that by the end of next year, 13 commercial-scale solar power projects could be under construction on U.S. government lands in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

1st July 2009
Report Gives Sobering View Of Warming's Impact on U.S.
A new U.S. government report paints a disturbing picture of the current and future effects of climate change and offers a glimpse of what the nation s climate will be like by century s end. BY MICHAEL D. LEMONICK

1st July 2009
Droughts and floods threaten China's economic growth, forecaster warns
Cost of crop failure soars as weather disasters become more frequent and severeChina faces an increase in weather disasters which will threaten crops and economic growth, the country's most senior forecaster has warned.He Lifu, of the National Meteorological Centre, told the China Daily newspaper that events such as droughts, floods and storms had become more frequent and severe since the 1990s and the trend was likely to continue."Extreme weather will be more frequent in the future due to the instability of the atmosphere, and global warming might be the indirect cause," the forecaster told the English-language paper.

1st July 2009
India will reject greenhouse gas emission targets - Reuters
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will not sign up to targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions but will instead focus on fighting poverty and boosting economic growth, the environment minister said Tuesday.

1st July 2009
Americans Assess How to Fight Climate Change - Angus Reid
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The views of adults in the United States on climate change are shifting, according to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 59 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should take action to curb global warming even if other countries such as China and India do less, down nine points since July 2008.

1st July 2009
New Material Could Vastly Improve Carbon Capture - Scientific American
To capture the carbon dioxide generated by coal plants, chemical companies like Dow Chemical Co. and energy giants like Alstom SA have been betting big on liquid solvents like amine, a corrosive derivative of ammonia that has a thirst for binding with CO2. Problem is, once the two are bound, they never want to part. [More]

1st July 2009
Why did the government dump its green building regulations plan? - Guardian
Bang goes its promise of efficient homes; bang goes the green new deal. How will the government meet its obligations under the Climate Change Act?I've asked this question before, but the mystery seems only to thicken: how in God's name does the government intend to meet its obligations under the Climate Change Act? Its programme for cutting carbon through renewable energy is way behind schedule. It is expanding airports and motorways, while bailing out the car industry, ensuring that motor emissions stay high. The EU emissions trading scheme hardly touches the industries it is meant to regulate. Full carbon capture and storage will come too late to stop new coal-burning power stations from adding greatly to the problem.

1st July 2009
Canada, Russia Considered Climate Bad Boys Among G8 Nations - Bloomberg
July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Canada and Russia , both northern and oil-rich, are making the least progress in cutting carbon- dioxide emissions among the major economies, a new study shows.

1st July 2009


Betraying the Planet - New York Times [essential]
Climate change poses a clear and present danger to our way of life. How can anyone justify failing to act?

30th June 2009
Is the United States drifting toward "war socialism"? - Resource Insights [essential]
Jay Hansen is a well-known voice on issues of peak oil and sustainability. A systems analyst by trade, he established one of the first web sites (dieoff.org) to discuss these issues in depth in the mid-1990s. His latest web venture is a site called War Socialism on which he proposes a form of governance which he believes will be the only viable one in the coming age of scarcity.By discussing Hansen's views I am not endorsing them. But Hansen is no lightweight. He has thought very deeply about our ecological predicament. He has tried to square what he knows about human behavior with what he believes needs to be done in the world we now face.

30th June 2009
Climate war could kill nearly all of us, leaving survivors in the Stone Age - Guardian [essential]
We need a climate change 'Churchill' to lead us away from planet-wide devastation, writes James Lovelock in the latest edition of Conservation magazine, part of the Guardian Environment NetworkIn a small way, the plight of the British in 1940 resembles the state of the civilized world now. At that time we had had nearly a decade of the well-intentioned but quite wrong belief that peace was all that mattered. The followers of the peace lobbies of the 1930s resembled the environmentalist movements now; their intentions were more than good but wholly inappropriate for the war that was about to start.

30th June 2009
Lens effect of pollution sways climate change - UC Newsroom [essential]
Particulates, atmospheric soot combine chemically to absorb solar energy, increase global warming.

30th June 2009
Argentina May Cease Wheat Exports for First Time on Drought - Bloomberg [essential] [food]
June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina, the world s fourth largest wheat exporter last year, may withdraw from world markets for the first time in at least a century as drought reduces plantings.

30th June 2009
Crops face toxic timebomb in warmer world: study - Reuters [food]
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Staples such as cassava on which millions of people depend become more toxic and produce much smaller yields in a world with higher carbon dioxide levels and more drought, Australian scientists say.

30th June 2009
Extinction risk to plant biodiversity may occur at lower levels of CO2 than previously considered - PhysOrg [food]
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have traced a sudden collapse in plant biodiversity in ancient Greenland, some 200 million years ago, to a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide which caused a rise in the Earth`s temperature.

30th June 2009
A breath of fresh air for batteries - Guardian Unlimited
Is using air the answer to a longer-lasting lithium battery? It's a surprising question but one familiar to Professor Peter Bruce of the University of St Andrews. A new "air-fuelled" rechargeable lithium battery being developed in his research laboratory promises up to 10 times today's energy storage capacity. A normal lithium battery in your mobile or laptop consists of a graphite negative ...

30th June 2009
Scientists attack energy industry - BBC
Britain must invest hugely to create a new low-carbon economy, say leading members of the Royal Society.

30th June 2009
Rising seas to submerge Louisiana coastline by 2100 - Guardian
Scientists say between 10,000 and 13,500 square kilometres of coastal land around New Orleans will go underwater due to rising sea levels and subsidenceA vast swath of the coastal lands around New Orleans will be underwater by the dawn of the next century because the rate of sediment deposit in the Mississippi delta can not keep up with rising sea levels, according to a study published today.Between 10,000 and 13,500 square kilometres of coastal lands will drown due to rising sea levels and subsidence by 2100, a far greater loss than previous estimates.For New Orleans, and other low-lying areas of Louisiana whose vulnerability was exposed by hurricane Katrina, the findings could bring some hard choices about how to defend the coast against the future sea level rises that will be produced by climate change.They also revive the debate about the long-term ...

30th June 2009
Green energy agency to locate headquarters in UAE - Reuters
CAIRO (Reuters) - Member states of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) voted to locate their headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt's state news agency MENA said on Monday.
See also:
Nuclear industry 'hijacking' clean energy forum - Guardian
Should renewable energy include nuclear? - The Christian Science Monitor

30th June 2009
China unhappy with US climate bill - China Economic Net
The United States set the bar too low and offered the world a poor example when it passed its climate change bill on Friday, according to a senior Chinese climate change official.

30th June 2009
Obama against penalties on polluters - Sydney Morning Herald
US President Barack Obama expressed his opposition to a provision in the clean energy bill that would impose trade penalties on countries that do not accept limits on global warming pollution, The New York Times reported.

30th June 2009
Shell Is On Track To Become Most CO2-Intensive Oil Co -Study - Nasdaq
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) is on track to become the most carbon intensive international oil company because of its focus on unconventional oil resources like Canadian tar sands, said a study published by a coalition of environmental groups Monday.

30th June 2009
BP shuts alternative energy HQ
'Beyond Petroleum' boast in doubt as clean energy boss quits Renewables budget will be reduced by up to £550m this yearBP has shut down its alternative energy headquarters in London, accepted the resignation of its clean energy boss and imposed budget cuts in moves likely to be seen by environmental critics as further signs of the oil group moving "back to petroleum".But Tony Hayward, the group's chief executive, said BP remained as committed as ever to exploring new energy sources and the non-oil division would benefit from the extra focus of being brought back in house.BP Alternative Energy was given its own headquarters in County Hall opposite the Houses of Parliament two years ago and its managing director, Vivienne Cox, oversaw a small division of 80 staff concentrating on wind and solar power.But the 49-year-old Cox BP's most senior female ...

30th June 2009


Transitions - Energy Bulletin
Transition movement vs post-carbonistas
The Transition Initiative: changing the scale of change, from The Orion magazine
Transition Hohenwald: Rural Community Targets Energy Efficiency


28th June 2009
US House supports emissions bill - BBC
The US House of Representatives narrowly backs legislation to cut carbon emissions, but the bill now faces a tough Senate battle.
See also:
One hurdle down for climate bill, 60 more to go - Grist
Farm lobby: Shoot the climate bill, but keep the Peterson goodies - Grist
China welcomes U.S. climate bill, says more needed - Reuters

28th June 2009
How Confucianism could curb global warming - The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News
Now here's a curveball to secular Western policy experts: China's intellectuals are openly debating the role of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in promoting the Communist Party's vision of a harmonious society and ecologically sustainable economic development.

28th June 2009
Spreading Desertification Affecting Mediterranean, Group Says - Yale e360
Growing depletion of aquifers and climate change are turning parts of Italy, Spain, and France into desert, according to the Italian environmental group, Legambiente. The group said that 11 percent of arable land in Sicily, Sardinia, and sections of southern Italy already shows signs of drying up and could eventually affect the livelihoods of 6.5 million people. The main cause is the depletion of underground aquifers, which can result in seawater intruding into the groundwater, effectively poisoning water supplies, Legambiente said. The group reported that 74 million acres of land in Italy, Spain, and the French Riviera were gradually turning to desert because of overexploitation of water resources, with 20 percent of the Iberian Peninsula already experiencing desertification.

28th June 2009
Climate Most Significant Factor In Fanning Wildfires' Flames, In The Warming West - redOrbit
Study finds that climate's influence on production, drying of fuels -- not higher temperatures or longer fire seasons alone -- critical determinant of Western wildfire burned areaThe recent increase in area burned by wildfires in the Western United States is a product not of higher temperatures or longer fire seasons alone, but a complex relationship between climate and fuels that varies among ...

28th June 2009
CLIMATE CHANGE: India's Monsoon Predictions More Uncertain - IPS
NEW DELHI, Jun 27 (IPS) - Predicting the monsoons - a risky proposition despite the deployment of satellites and supercomputers - appears to have become iffier thanks to climate change.

28th June 2009
Ozone hole has unforeseen effect on ocean carbon sink - News Scientist
The Southern Ocean has lost its appetite for carbon dioxide, and now it appears that ozone levels could be partly to blame

28th June 2009
Tea prices tipped to hit a record high after drought - Daily Mail [food]
Tea prices tipped to hit a record high after drought

28th June 2009
Brazil's Lula signs Amazon bill - BBC [essential]
Brazil's president approves a controversial bill allowing Amazon farmers to acquire an area of public land larger than France.

28th June 2009
Bubkes - Realclimate [essential]
Some parts of the blogosphere, headed up by CEI ("CO2: They call it pollution, we call it life!"), are all a-twitter over an apparently "suppressed" document that supposedly undermines the EPA Endangerment finding about human emissions of carbon dioxide and a basket of other greenhouse gases. Well a draft of this "suppressed" document has been released and we can now all read this allegedly devastating critique of the EPA science. Let's take a look First off the authors of the submission; Alan Carlin is an economist and John Davidson is an ex-member of the Carter administration Council of Environmental Quality.

28th June 2009
Germany at a More Real Climate Crossroads
More vital news from Germany: besides the creation of a car free city (Vauban), Chancellor Merkel is holding Obama's feet to the fire to do more to halt greenhouse-gas emissions -- even as she faces domestic protest regarding sacrosanct coal power. Germany's entire society enjoys a better quality of life than the U.S. thanks to generous vacations while using half the energy per capita used by U.S. citizens. But all is not well in Germany due to economic and demographic stress combined with unsustainable energy dependence.

28th June 2009
Leading the world in hot air - Independent
UK: Just as New Labour's "new dawn" was giving way to the harsher light of hard work nine years ago, Tony Blair appointed Jonathon Porritt to chair a new Sustainable Development Commission. It was an inspired appointment. Mr Porritt has a remarkable record of a lifetime's commitment to, and technical knowledge of, the green cause. The commission was a visionary idea, albeit labelled with the stodgy concept of "sustainability" a way of describing the central imperative of environmentalism, namely that human activity should not deplete the earth's capacity to sustain future generations.

28th June 2009
The cost of cap-and-trade: What MIT really thinks David Hone
The MIT Joint Program on the Science & Policy of Global Change have long been advocates of cap-and-trade as an appropriate policy instrument to drive a reduction in national emissions. They also provide valuable insight into the economic impacts of such an instrument through the economic modelling tools they have at their disposal. As Waxman-Markey races through Congress and might even become legislation this year, both sides of the debate are arming themselves with data to defend or attack the proposal. In recent weeks MIT have found themselves in the middle of this foray as their findings have been somewhat misquoted by those not in favour of a cap-and-trade approach in the USA.

28th June 2009
The Slope of Dysfunction - Culture Change
Editor's note: Culture Change has made the claim for almost two decades that collapse of the whole petroleum infrastructure and the economy was closer than any other known oil-industry analysis suggested. For example, we have politely corrected Dr. Colin Cambell's claim that the "second half of the Age of Oil" was going to be the result of peak oil. Now, Dmitry Orlov has made the most clear case yet that petrocollapse is rather imminent. - Jan Lundberg

28th June 2009
Hot summer fridge boost warning - BBC News
High summer temperatures are having an effect on the operation of fridges and freezers, leading to increased sales.

28th June 2009
For more news, click here >>
News from previous days is below


Miliband: 2020 is year of no return for emissions - Independent [essential]
The world's emissions of the greenhouse gases causing global warming should peak in 2020 and then start to decline, the British Government is proposing in the run-up to the global climate conference taking place at Copenhagen in December.

26th June 2009
Q&A: Water Scarcity Threatens Half the Planet - IPS [food]
ROME, Jun 25 (Tierramerica) - If the world's governments fail to reach an immediate agreement on how to manage water resources by 2030, half the planet's population will not have enough water to survive, scientist Jonathan Baillie told Tierramerica.

26th June 2009
The oil intensity of food - Grist [food]
Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. This prospect of peaking oil production has direct consequences for world food security, as modern agriculture depends heavily on the use of fossil fuels.

26th June 2009
Mexico's gamble - BBC News [food]
Can Mexico have a green energy policy and feed its poor?

26th June 2009
Major economies consider halving world CO2 - Reuters
OSLO (Reuters) - Major economies including the United States and China are considering setting a goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 when they hold a summit in Italy next month, a draft document showed.

26th June 2009
Growth of global carbon emissions halved in 2008, say Dutch researchers - Guardian
Recession and oil price main drivers behind fall in consumption as developing world emissions rise above 50% for first timeThe growth of global carbon dioxide emissions fell by half in 2008, according to data released today. The global recession and high oil prices played a major role in reducing the rate of emissions. But measures to tackle global warming by cutting emissions such as renewable energy were only partly responsible. The data from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (NEAA) also show that, for the first time, CO2 emissions from the developing world account for more than half of the global total.Analysis from the NEAA draws on fossil fuel consumption figures published last week by BP.

26th June 2009
UK's Brown proposes $100 bln annual climate fund - AlertNet
Source: Reuters (Adds details) LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Developed countries must contribute collectively to a $100 billion annual fund to fight climate change in developing countries by 2020, UK Prime ...

26th June 2009
Carbon man shuns Washington trip - BBC News
An academic turns down a flight to a US conference to discuss carbon emissions and others follow suit.

26th June 2009
Dolphin 'super pod' shifts north - BBC canary
Environmental charity Earthwatch says a massive migration of short-beaked common dolphins are a sign of climate change.

26th June 2009
Dyson calls on UK government to back environmental engineering projects
At the launch of his latest innovation, Dyson accuses UK ministers of being more interested in bailing out banks than fostering entrepreneurs and engineersSir James Dyson today criticised the UK government for its lack of support for entrepreneurs and engineers, accusing ministers of being more interested in bailing out banks than fostering companies that could create money and high-tech jobs.The entrepreneur behind the bagless vacuum cleaner said ministers should be backing large projects that could help tackle environmental problems and also encourage young people to take up engineering.Dyson made the comments at the launch of his latest innovation, an electric motor that spins faster than a jet engine, which will be used in the latest models of Dyson's handheld vacumn cleaners.

26th June 2009
Politicians must champion the 'age of sensible', says science museum boss
People more likely to act on climate change if offered positive vision of low-carbon future, says Chris RapleyPoliticians and scientists must adopt a more positive and aspirational message on climate change and "re-think" the current "hair shirt" approach if they are to persuade more people of the importance of action, according to the head of the Science Museum in London.On the eve of the museum's centenary, Professor Chris Rapley, said that people needed to be shown a positive picture of low-carbon future rather than focus on how difficult the global warming problem is. "We have to believe that that's possible otherwise we might as well all give up," he said.In a reference to the title of the hit climate change film The Age of Stupid - which he called "very thought-provoking and very valuable" - he said the museum's climate change exhibit planned ...

26th June 2009
Greenwash: Weee directive is a dreadful missed opportunity to clean up e-waste
An EU directive to clean up the electronic waste industry is not being operated or policed properly, and is often ignored completely by manufacturersRemember the charmingly named Weee directive from Brussels? That's Weee as in what to do with waste electronics goods like computers.It is now two years since the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive came into force in the UK. The idea was to stop land-filling all those toxins in computers and to keep the computers in use as long as possible.But the directive has proved to be a dreadful wasted opportunity. In fact, it is worse than that.

26th June 2009
76% of African-Americans Want Delay on Climate Legislation Until Economy Recovers - PR Newswire via Yahoo! News
76% of African-Americans want Congress to make economic recovery, not climate change, its top priority, says a newly released nationwide poll of African-Americans conducted by the National Center for Public Policy Research.

26th June 2009
Big Carbon Cuts Coming
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file50354.pdf Energy trends : March 2009 : URN 09/79a ISSN number: 0308-1222 In the section starting on Page 19 Carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption in the UK , another document was linked :- http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file50484.xls The last points on the right-hand side of the chart are 34less than the 1990 figure on the left-hand side.

26th June 2009
For the Farm Lobby, Too Much Is Never Enough - Washington Post
Washington PostFor the Farm Lobby, Too Much Is Never EnoughWashington Post... hit harder by global warming than agriculture. A report out last week from scientists at 13 government agencies found that climate change is happening ...and more raquo;

26th June 2009


Hot Summers, Calm Seas Are Tipping Point for Tatoosh Island's Red Alga - UBC Faculty of Science canary
Hot Summers, Calm Seas Are Tipping Point for Tatoosh Island's Red AlgaUBC Faculty of Science, Canada"If we take predicted temperature increases related to global warming and apply them to our study system, lethal combinations of environmental conditions which previously occurred only about once per decade will begin to happen once every two to four ...

25th June 2009
Ozone Hole Reduces Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Uptake In Southern Ocean - Science Daily canary
Does ozone have an impact on the ocean s role as a carbon sink ? Yes, according to researchers. Using original simulations, they have demonstrated that the hole in the ozone layer reduces atmospheric carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean and contributes to the increase in ocean acidity. These results should have a considerable impact on future models of the IPCC, which do not currently take ozone ...

25th June 2009
India monsoon rain 'below normal' - BBC [food]
Indian officials say that monsoon rains in the country are likely to be "below normal" leading to fears about crop failure and higher food prices.

25th June 2009
Another day, another self-defeating energy bill compromise - Salon.com [essential]
Stopping climate change won't be easy if everybody who squawks gets a free pass

25th June 2009
Methane controls before risky geoengineering, please - New Scientist [essential]
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions will be vital in the long run, but we should start by tackling methane, says Kirk Smith

25th June 2009
Offshore wind 'could power 19m homes' - Guardian
Offshore wind has the potential to power every home in the UK and provide up to 70,000 jobs, according to the governmentThe UK's seas could provide enough extra wind energy to power the equivalent of 19m homes, according to an assessment by the government.The government's strategic environmental assessment (Sea) confirmed projections that an extra 25GW of electricity generation capacity could be accommodated in UK waters.This would be in addition to the 8GW of wind power already built or planned offshore, bringing the potential total electricity capacity of offshore wind to 33GW enough to power every household in the UK.According to the government, offshore wind has the potential to meet more than a quarter of the UK's electricity needs, provide the UK with up to 70,000 new jobs and generate £8bn a year in revenue.The findings of the Sea mean the crown ...

25th June 2009
Poll: wide support to regulate emissions - UPI
WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- Americans give wide support to regulation of atmospheric release of greenhouse gases from power plants, cars and factories, a poll indicated Thursday.

25th June 2009
Kites flying in high-altitude winds could provide clean electricity - PhysOrg
(PhysOrg.com) -- At any moment, the winds in high-altitude jet streams hold roughly 100 times more energy than all the electricity being consumed on Earth, according to a study by Stanford environmental and climate scientists Cristina Archer and Ken Caldeira.

25th June 2009
Company claims 'responsible' destruction of rainforest
A British-affiliate company accused of helping fund the imminent destruction of a critical area of Indonesian rainforest says it is acting "responsibly"

25th June 2009
We are what we think: Why the press fails us and how to fix it
Why has climate change not galvanized us? Why are there pro and con positions on insuring a livable planet? The press must accept some of the blame.

25th June 2009
Arizona Looks to Outlaw Global Warming Legislation - AnandTech
One state looks to ensure its citizens do not have to pay for climate change efforts...

25th June 2009


Todd Stern rejects calls for 40% cut in US emissions - Guardian [essential]
President Barack Obama's climate envoy has rejected calls for the US and other rich nations to make radical greenhouse gas cuts over the next decade.Speaking at the end of a ministerial level meeting of the world's most polluting countries in Mexico yesterday, Todd Stern dismissed the idea that the US might comply with calls for industrialised nations to cut carbon emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020."In our judgment [this kind of cut is] not necessary and not feasible given where we are starting from," he said.

24th June 2009
China arable land fears end reforestation drive - Reuters [essential]
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has halted a program of letting marginal farmland return to woodland, because of fears the country's arable land area could fall below a "red line" needed to feed its people, a vice minister said on Tuesday.

24th June 2009
Stop Building Tanks [essential]
Let s divert the money spent on arms to addressing the real strategic threat.

24th June 2009
The Uprising In The Amazon Is More Urgent Than Iran's - It Will Determine The Future Of The Planet [essential]
In the depths of the Amazon rainforest, the poorest people in the world have taken on the richest people in the world

24th June 2009
Fatboy Slim And Others Fight Climate Change Until They're Blue In the Face - Ecorazzi
Fatboy Slim And Others Fight Climate Change Until They're Blue In ...Ecorazzi, NY... Oxfam is launching Blue in the Face a brand new celebrity summer climate change campaign. The goal is to encourage world leaders at the climate summit in Copenhagen this December to get their asses in gear with this global warming stuff! ...

24th June 2009
Himalayan glaciers feared to be swelling dangerously due to global warming - Smash Hits canary
Himalayan glaciers feared to be swelling dangerously due to global ...Smash Hits, IndiaLondon, June 24 (ANI): Scientists in Nepal have embarked on the first field studies of Himalayan glacial lakes, some of which are feared to be swelling dangerously due to global warming. In May, they completed the field visit to the first location, ...

24th June 2009
Amazon battle
Key ruling on land ownership keenly awaited

24th June 2009
Hansen and Hannah arrested in West Virginia mining protest - Guardian [essential]
Protesters arrested for blocking a road near Massey Energy coal processing plant in Raleigh County, southern West VirginiaActor Daryl Hannah and Nasa climate scientist James Hansen were among 31 people arrested yesterday as they protested against mountaintop removal mining in southern West Virginia.State police sergeant Michael Baylous said all were released after being cited for impeding traffic and obstructing an officer after they blocked a road near a Massey Energy subsidiary's coal processing plant.Another woman, who was among a crowd of mining industry supporters, was charged with misdemeanour battery, Baylous said.The arrests followed a rally involving several hundred protesters outside an elementary school about 90m away from the plant's coal storage silo.

24th June 2009
Climate refugees will not flood rich nations: study
LONDON (Reuters) - Migrants uprooted by climate change in the poorest parts of the world are likely to only move locally, contrary to predictions that hundreds of millions will descend on rich countries, a study said on Wednesday.

24th June 2009
MSPs poised to pass climate laws - BBC News
Landmark legislation to help Scotland tackle the threat of climate change is expected to be passed at Holyrood.

24th June 2009
Make Poverty Permanent
I strongly agree with one central theme from Nicholas Stern s analysis of how to tackle Climate Change. In his book A Blueprint for a Safer Planet , he argues in depth that Climate Change Adaptation strategies for countries in the Global South must be combined with those strategies to beat Poverty and encourage Development. By using the term Global South , I mean mostly undeveloped countries, which just happen to be South of the Earth s Equator. They also happen to be countries where international trade has a heavy drain on their domestic resources and commodities. One could question whether it is right to continue to draw them into the global economy if Sustainable Development cannot be achieved by their integration.

24th June 2009
Coral face 'a stormy future'
As global warming whips up more powerful and frequent hurricanes and storms, the world's coral reefs face increased disruption to their ability to breed and recover from damage.

24th June 2009
Peterson gets his way with climate and energy bill
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Tuesday surrendered to agriculture interests on a key provision in the massive climate and energy bill he introduced with Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

24th June 2009
A Diaspora From African Drylands - New York Times
A Diaspora From African DrylandsNew York Times, United StatesThe piece is a close-up view of the global issue of migration driven by climate change. He focuses on Nandom, a town in the poorest part of northern Ghana that has lost half its population.

24th June 2009


Renewable energy: Sunny days ahead - Financial Times
It was like the dotcom boom all over again. Everybody wanted to be in on the action. Everyone you met was doing something. It was all people talked about. This is how one energy executive describes the dash to register solar photovoltaic (PV) energy projects in Spain last year, as high incentives triggered a flood of licence applications. The clamour led to a speculative bubble in which investors presented schemes with a total capacity of 1,300 MW – against a government target of 375 MW – in a year in which more than half the new solar PV capacity in the world was installed in Spain. As the surge of applications – many of them containing errors or lacking adequate financial backing – swelled to a torrent, the government was forced to intervene, setting a deadline for registering projects and fixing new ceilings for total capacity.

23rd June 2009
Hot tub technology - Guardian Unlimited
A tank with an immersion heater may be just an oversized kettle, but there are thought to be around 19m in Britain's homes, which collectively have the ­capacity to store huge amounts of energy as hot water. And this could be key to achieving an almost wholly renewable electricity supply. Dr Barrett says the heaters could be switched on and off rapidly to compensate for the erratic output of wind turbines and solar panels, each heater controlled by a gadget that responds to signals sent through the electricity grid – a system used since the second world war. "Everybody is always looking for a shiny new silver-bullet solution" says Dr Barrett, "but this idea is cheap, safe, and based on technology that's been around for decades".

23rd June 2009
Supermarket suppliers 'helping destroy Amazon rainforest' - Guardian [essential]
Meat companies sued over Amazon deforestation Accused firms supplying Tesco, Asda and MSBrazilian authorities investigating illegal deforestation have accused the suppliers of several UK supermarkets of selling meat linked to massive destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian firms that supply Tesco, Asda and Marks Spencer are among dozens of companies named by prosecutors, who are seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation.The move follows a three-year investigation by Greenpeace into the trade in cattle products such as meat and leather traced to illegal farms across the Amazon region. The Greenpeace report, revealed in the Guardian earlier this month, showed that a handful of major Brazilian processors exported products linked to Amazon destruction to dozens of blue-chip companies across the world.

23rd June 2009
Refrigerants set to spur climate change: study - Reuters [essential]
OSLO (Reuters) - Greenhouse gases from chemicals used in refrigerants and air conditioning are set to be a bigger than expected spur of climate change by 2050, scientists said.

23rd June 2009
Swiss glaciers melting faster than ever before: study - Reuters canary
ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's glaciers shrank by 12 percent over the past decade, melting at their fastest rate due to rising temperatures and lighter snowfalls, a study by the Swiss university ETH showed Monday.

23rd June 2009
Is eating soya causing damage to the planet? - Guardian [food]
Growing soybeans has serious eco consequences - but they're not what you may think. Time to spill the beans, says Lucy SiegleA number of upset vegetarians and vegans have been in touch to say they've been accused by acquaintances of causing planetary damage through their tofu and soya-milk consumption, given that soya production has become synonymous with deforestation. The first thing I should do is to explain that although Europe imports 39m tonnes of soya a year (imagine it contained in 15 miles' worth of lorries bumper to bumper), 90% is destined for animal feed. It's beef rather than veggie burgers that ate all the soybean.

23rd June 2009
Earth's coastlines after sea-level rise, 4000 AD - New Scientist
Even if we could freeze-frame the atmosphere as it is today, sea levels would still rise by 25 metres, says the latest study into the effects of climate change on melting ice sheets

23rd June 2009
A Sea Change in China's Attitude Toward Carbon Capture - New York Times
When European and Chinese scientists first agreed to collaborate on capturing carbon dioxide from power plants and storing it underground, China's entire carbon capture and sequestration "team" was composed of two Tsinghua University graduate students. Less than five years later, the landscape is markedly different. China's first near-zero-emissions coal plant won state approval this month -- an apparent formality, since construction already is far under way. Two other pilots are in the works, including one in inner Mongolia that could be the largest sequestration project in the world. Conferences on carbon capture in China now routinely feature high-level government and industry leaders.
See also: US draws line with China on climate technology - SpaceDaily

23rd June 2009
American shoppers 'misled by greenwash' - Guardian
98% of supposedly environmentally friendly products in US supermarkets make false or confusing claims, campaigners sayMore than 98% of supposedly natural and environmentally friendly products on US supermarket shelves are making potentially false or misleading claims, Congress has been told. And 22% of products making green claims bear an environmental badge that has no inherent meaning, said Scot Case, of the environmental consulting firm TerraChoice.The study of nearly 4,000 consumer products found "greenwashing" in nearly every product category from a lack of verifiable information to outright lies.Even the experts are confused. Case, whose firm runs its own Ecologo certification programme, admitted he had bought a refrigerator only to find it failed to meet its claims of energy efficiency."My refrigerator used twice as much energy as advertised," he told members of the House of Representatives committee on commerce, trade and consumer protection.

23rd June 2009
Obama's climate change silence
The new report on the effects of global warming makes it clear we need to act. But a bill won't pass without a push from ObamaThe top scientific advisers in the Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled a startling new report on what the latest climate science tells us is both already happening and likely to happen in the near future if planet-warming emissions continue unhindered. The report is astounding in the foreseeable future, the United States could witness the submersion of the Florida Keys, up to 100 days of more-than-100-degree heat in places like Texas and the end of a domestic maple syrup industry.For those who were paying attention, these were shocking findings.

23rd June 2009
Australian Senate poised to defeat carbon laws - AlertNet
CANBERRA: The Australian parliament's upper-house Senate began debating plans for the government's carbon trading scheme on Monday with little sign the package of 11 bills will pass. The emissions trading system (ETS) is a key element of the government's plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for global warming, and was a major promise in the election that swept Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd into office in late 2007.

23rd June 2009
Pressing the Case for Geoengineering - New York Times
Mr. Victor, the director of Stanford University’s Energy and Sustainable Development Program, is a leading voice in the effort to get governments and policymakers to start thinking seriously about the possibility of technological tinkering with the atmosphere, as a weapon of last resort in the battle against global warming. Geoengineering, he said, needs to be brought in from the mad-scientist fringe. Governments, he said, should finance research, weigh policy options and discuss geoengineering in international climate-change organizations. “It may be we never use this option, but is needs to be ready,” he said. For his part, Mr. Victor declared himself optimistic that technologies to curb emissions — from alternative fuels to carbon capture — will be the long-term answer. But he worries about making it to the long term without environmental disaster, especially during transition years, he said, from 2050 to 2070 or so. “So I think we’ll need to have the geoengineering option,” he said.

23rd June 2009
What will the U.S. and other major economies commit to? - Grist
I am outside of Mexico City with delegates from the world s 17 biggest economies who are meeting this week ahead of the next G8 meeting to further negotiate international climate agreements. Issues on the table include funding for forest protection, mid-term and long-term emission reduction targets, and financing for adaption and mitigation. The outcomes from these talks remain in doubt and other questions fester, like to what will the U.S. commit to?

23rd June 2009




STICKY: Why politicians dare not limit economic growth - New Scientist [essential]
Visceral fear is not without foundation. If we do not go out shopping, then factories stop producing, and if factories stop producing then people get laid off. If people get laid off, then they do not have any money. And if they don't have any money they cannot go shopping. A falling economy has no money in the public purse and no way to service public debt. It struggles to maintain competitiveness and it puts people's jobs at risk. A government that fails to respond appropriately will soon find itself out of office. This is the logic of free-market capitalism: the economy must grow continuously or face an unpalatable collapse. With the environmental situation reaching crisis point, however, it is time to stop pretending that mindlessly chasing economic growth is compatible with sustainability. We need something more robust than a comfort blanket to protect us from the damage we are wreaking on the planet. Figuring out an alternative to this doomed model is now a priority before a global recession, an unstable climate, or a combination of the two forces itself upon us.
ACTION: 350.org
If we don't get our Co2 level down to 350 parts per million we're all going to be toast. Bill McKibben of Step It Up wants this magic number to be imprinted, implanted, implaneted and indelibly fused into the minds of everyone on this planet. If you're on side visit www.350.org
The Climate Safety report is now available for free download from :-
http://www.climatesafety.org
http://climatesafety.org/downloads/climatesafety.pdf


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