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		News Archive     27/07/2009 08:00 PM Fertile Crescent 'will disappear this century' New Scientist: Is it the final curtain for the Fertile Crescent? This summer, as Turkish dams reduce the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to a trickle, farmers abandon their desiccated fields across Iraq and Syria, and efforts to revive the Mesopotamian marshes appear to be abandoned, climate modellers are warning that the current drought is likely to become permanent. The Mesopotamian cradle of civilisation seems to be returning to desert. Last week, Iraqi ministers called for urgent talks with upstream ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM On the stormy seas of carbon reduction Sydney Morning Herald: BARACK OBAMA went into the White House determined to lead the world on climate change, but he is facing a very rough passage. His administration is trying to navigate a flimsy vessel through an impossibly narrow channel between two rocky shoals. The President's rickety boat? A preliminary piece of legislation. The US House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill that proposes to cut American carbon output by 15 per cent by 2020 and by 80 per cent by 2050. Obama has ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Canada: Carbon capture technology to be a big investment Canadian Press: The federal and Alberta governments may have to invest between $1 and $3 billion per year after 2015 to turn the business of capturing carbon into a viable commercial technology. A report by the Alberta Carbon Capture and Storage Development Council suggests that energy prices could rise as consumers shoulder "a large share of the burden" of the costs of the technology. But the council, headed by the former president of Syncrude, Jim Carter, concludes that investment in cleaner ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Greenpeace threatens E.ON with legal action over nuclear reactors Guardian: Greenpeace is threatening to take legal action against E.ON and other nuclear power companies for rushing ahead with plans to build new reactors before they have got the proper consents. The move has been triggered by reports that preparatory bore holes for new reactors will start to be drilled for E.ON on 3 August at Oldbury in Gloucestershire. EDF is said to be considering similar work. A Greenpeace spokesman said its lawyers were reviewing a situation which made a mockery of ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM US satellites reveal true extent of melting polar summer ice Guardian read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM South Korean industrial firms to spend $2.6bn on "clean coal" projects Business Green: SK Energy, South Korea's largest oil refiner by output, is teaming with domestic steel maker Pohang Iron and Steel Co (Posco) to develop "clean coal" technologies at a total cost of 3.35 trillion won (US$2.6bn, £1.6bn). The two companies have signed a deal to jointly develop a manufacturing process for synthetic natural gas, according to an announcement at the weekend by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The ministry, which regulates economic policy in the industrial and energy ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Nike and Coke unveil deforestation and water commitments Business Green: Nike and Coca-Cola Enterprises, two of the world's most high-profile and at times criticised brands, extended their sustainability initiatives last week in moves designed to boost their environmental credentials. Following a report last month from Greenpeace that linked Nike's complex supply chain -- alongside those of other shoe manufacturers including Adidas, Reebok and Timberland -- to deforestation in the Amazon, the company said last week that it will take further steps to ensure ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Climate Camp to return to London for annual August protest Press Association: Activists from the group Climate Camp vowed today to return to London over the August bank holiday for their annual summer protest against global warming. Climate Camp was last in the capital in April, when they set up tents and stalls in the City of London as part of the G20 protests, in which one man died and the tactics of police officers were criticised. The climate protests in April focused on the European Climate Exchange on Bishopsgate, the centre of carbon trading in ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Permafrost Could Be Climate's Ticking Time Bomb Various: The terrain of the North Slope of Alaska is not steep, but Andrew Jacobson still has difficulty as he hikes along the spongy tundra, which is riddled with rocks and masks multitudes of mosquitoes. Jacobson, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Northwestern University, extracts soil and water samples in search of clues to one of global warming's biggest ticking time bombs: the melting of permafrost. Permafrost, or frozen ground, covers approximately 20 to 25 percent of ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM In Texas, drought means conserving every last drop Associated Press: Off-duty police officers are patrolling streets, looking for people illegally watering their lawns and gardens. Residents are encouraged to stealthily rat out water scofflaws on a 24-hour hot line. One Texas lake has dipped so low that stolen cars dumped years ago are peeking up through the waterline. The nation's most drought-stricken state is deep-frying under relentless 100-degree days and waterways are drying up, especially in the hardest-hit area covering about 350 miles across ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Infrastructure woes hamper China wind farms' push for profitability Business Green: Chinese wind farm operators are struggling to earn a profit as a lack of wind resources and an insufficient power infrastructure has hampered efforts to provide clean energy to the grid. A report posted earlier this week on the web site of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC), a government agency that oversees China's power sector, noted that some wind farms are suffering from a lack of wind, with many recording lower utilisation hours than had been estimated by ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Earth system science: From heresy to orthodoxy Guardian: Earth system science is shorthand for the recognition that El Niño, climate change and the calamitous 2004 tsunami are all very complex events. El Niño is a natural cyclic blister of hot water in the Pacific that ruins the anchovy harvest off the coast of Peru. It also disturbs weather patterns to trigger floods on the western coasts of the Americas, stoke droughts and forest fires in Indonesia, and blight harvests in Africa. Human complicity in dangerous climate change is now ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Act now on climate change or pay later: expert Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Climate Change Institute in Canberra has warned that Australia must think beyond the emissions trading scheme, if it wants to have an impact on global warming. Climate change experts are meeting at a summit at the Australian National University to discuss Australia's response to the threat of global warming. As the Federal Government and Opposition battle it out over the detail of an ETS, Climate Change Institute director Will Steffen is advising Australians to embrace the ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM 75 million to flee climate change: report Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A new report says climate change could produce 75 million refugees in the Asia Pacific region in the next 40 years. It urges Australia to put new immigration measures in place to help with people movements, and to cut deeply into its own climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions. The report, by aid agency Oxfam Australia and think-tank the Australia Institute, says the effects of climate change are already being felt in the region. It says addressing the immigration ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Greenhouse gases target likely to be 15%, says Key Radio New Zealand: The Government is likely to set a target of a 15% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, says Prime Minister John Key. A round of public consultation on what the target should be has just been completed, with environmental groups pushing for a 40% reduction. The target will be tabled at the next round of international climate change negotiations in Germany in August. Mr Key says Climate Change Minister Nick Smith will present his recommendation to Cabinet in the ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Mongolian wilds inspire UN's Ban BBC: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been in the wilds of Mongolia, travelling over rough roads to meet a nomad family. He has attended a traditional sports festival and visited a nature reserve. Mr Ban's primary reason for visiting the north Asian country is to learn how climate change affects the far-flung corners of the globe. Desertification and deforestation are major threats to Mongolia's nomads, despite recent flooding in the capital. Child ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate change 'threatens' Pacific isles Age: New Zealand and Australia need to take urgent action against climate change to stop neighbouring Pacific Islands becoming uninhabitable, Oxfam says. Millions of people from developing Pacific nations faced increased risk from cyclones, storm surges, king tides and ecosystem destruction due to climate change, the development agency said in a report released on Monday. "Without a significant effort by developed countries now, some island nations in the Pacific face the very real ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Boom in hydropower pits fish against climate LA Times: The Rocky Reach Dam has straddled the wide, slow Columbia River since the 1950s. It generates enough electricity to supply homes and industries across Washington and Oregon. But the dam in recent years hasn't produced as much power as it might: Its massive turbines act as deadly blender blades to young salmon, and engineers often have had to let the river flow over the spillway to halt the slaughter, wasting the water's energy potential. The ability of the nation's aging ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM US-China talks to focus on global economy, environmental policy LA Times: Reporting from Washington and Beijing -- The United States and China today kick off talks in Washington that are expected to highlight Beijing's unease about its massive holdings in federal bonds, Washington's desire to reduce China's reliance on exports and the need for both sides to reach consensus on tackling climate change. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will lead the American side in the two-day U.S.-China Strategic and ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate change helped the Incas build civilisation Telegraph: The climate remained dry but melting glacial ice provided a constant supply of water, resulting in a surplus of crops to feed the population. The men freed up from agricultural duties were then able to focus on other activities, among them constructing roads and buildings such as the Incas' 3,250-mile Royal Road through the highlands, the 2,520-mile Coastal Road and Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. Dr Alex Chepstow Lusty, a British palaeoecologist working for the ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM India not to succumb to pressure on carbon emission pact: Govt Press Trust of India: India will not succumb to any international pressure on committing to a legally binding agreement on cutting carbon emissions but will deal with climate change issues as per its own plans, Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Monday. "Under no international agreement, will we accept legally binding mitigations," he said, replying to questions in Rajya Sabha. He said Parliament will be taken into confidence on measures drawn by New Delhi. At the recent ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Pacific needs help to combat climate change: Oxfam Agence France-Presse: Developed countries need to act urgently to help vulnerable Pacific island nations cope with climate change, international aid group Oxfam said Monday. By the year 2050, about 75 million people could be forced to leave their homes due to climate change in the Asia-Pacific region, the Oxfam report said. "Climate change has the potential to affect almost every issue linked to poverty and development in the Pacific," said Oxfam New Zealand executive director Barry ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM India not to commit to legally binding climate change agreement Xinhua: An Indian minister said on Monday that India will not succumb to any international pressure on committing to a legally binding agreement on cutting greenhouse emissions but will deal with climate change issues according to its own plans, reported the semi-official Press Trust of India. India's Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said that under no international agreement will India accept "legally binding mitigations" of greenhouse gas which could hamper the country's ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Why the Arctic is central to climate change negotiations Winnipeg Free Press: As nations meet to discuss the impacts of climate change and promote their interests in the lead-up to the negotiations in Copenhagen in December, we hope that one element of the big picture does not get lost -- the critical role of the Arctic region. An international agreement reached in Copenhagen that does not safeguard the Arctic will be mere window-dressing. The Arctic ice and tundra act as a vital cooling system for our planet. Without white ice to reflect heat and light, the ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Carbon in the forests of Guyana Stabroek News: (This is the first in a 10-part series) This series of articles is intended to look at some of the issues surrounding Guyana's bid for funds from the World Bank-administered Forest Carbon Partnership Fund (FCPF) and from Norway, and for the President's Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). While most of the government information is on the government's LCDS website – www.lcds.gov.gy – that site is still under development at the time of writing and it is not possible to read about ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM China's largest desert lake may vanish in decades, experts warn Xinhua: China's largest desert lake - Hongjiannao - is still shrinking as a result of climate change and human activities, and may vanish in a few decades, experts have warned. "Just 10 years ago, one couldn't see the other bank of the Hongjiannao even through a telescope. Today, it's visible with the naked eye," He Fenqi, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at an international seminar on wetland preservation over the weekend in Shenmu County of northwest China's Shaanxi ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM SolarWorld keeps outlook, lifts solar stocks Reuters: German solar bellwether SolarWorld on Monday kept its 2009 sales outlook, helping European solar stocks gain, as it said cost savings had helped it offset most effects of the sector's ongoing price slump. SolarWorld, Germany's third-biggest solar company by revenue, unexpectedly released second-quarter key figures and said it was still sticking to its sales forecast of 1 billion euros ($1.42 billion) for 2009. "SolarWorld AG thus succeeded in largely counteracting the price ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate change: New study backs UN panel on ocean rise Agence France-Presse: The UN's climate panel has been backed over a key question as to how far global warming will drive up sea levels this century, a study published on Sunday says. The UN experts are right that the oceans are unlikely to rise by an order of metres (many feet) by 2100, as some scientists have feared, it says. But, its authors caution, low-lying countries and delta areas could still face potentially catastrophic flooding if the upper range of the new estimate proves right. In ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Algae is a promising biofuel Agence France-Presse: SOME call it pond scum, but algae is drawing increasing attention as a source of biofuel that can help replace petroleum or fuels made from crops like corn or soybeans. VIRTUES OF ALGAE RODNEY Andrews, director of the Centre for Applied Energy Research at the University of Kentucky, said driving the push to algae is 'an interest in getting away from fossil fuels to more renewable systems.' Dr Andrews directs a research project that uses algae to capture carbon emissions from ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Warmest seas on record Sydney Morning Herald: FOR as long as people have taken the temperature of the seas they have never been so warm. Global ocean surface temperatures for June were the highest since records began, in 1880, breaking the record set in 2005, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration of the United States says. The average sea surface temperature for June, measured by satellites and buoys, was 0.59 degrees above the 20th-century average of 16.4 degrees. The combined land and sea temperature ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM New Zealand: Emissions targets need to be realistic, says Smith Otago Daily Times: Attempting to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 would cause too much economic hardship, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said today. The signal from Dr Smith came as he also reported that new data showed New Zealand had sufficient forests to offset increases in emissions since 1990 to meet Kyoto Protocol obligations. Estimates of New Zealand's Kyoto liability have bounced around wildly from profits to multi-billion dollar payments due to different ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM United States: City gives biodiesel another chance News-Record: As a famous frog once said, "It ain't easy being green.' That's what Greensboro discovered with its use of biodiesel. The city became a leader in the use of the alternative energy in 2001 to reduce its carbon footprint, but dropped it altogether last year after one too many bumps in the road. Soon city garbage trucks and other vehicles will be back burning biodiesel again -- but this time using soybean-based B5, diesel that is mixed with 5 percent biodiesel. "For ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM United States: Supporters of bill to put limits on greenhouse gas emissions look for support Detroit Free Press: Senate supporters of a bill that for the first time would put limits on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have launched an intense one-on-one effort to sound out their colleagues' views in hopes of winning their support. It's by no means clear that they will succeed, however. A climate and energy bill squeaked through the House of Representatives in June. But in the Senate, the odds are against it because Senate rules generally require a 60-vote majority to move legislation to a ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Canada: Oilsands boom coming, Rubin says Edmonton Journal: Alberta is on the verge of an oilsands boom, but the high prices necessary to fuel such an expansion will hammer the world economy and force profound change, says the former chief economist for CIBC World Markets. Jeff Rubin told the Energy Services Summit meeting at the Shaw Conference Centre Friday that the oilpatch is the place to be, and predicts oil prices will once again hit $100 a barrel by next summer if the world economy quickly recovers from the deepest recession since the ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM New Zealand government make strong statement on climate change One News: Thirty dollars a week for every man, woman and child looks likely to be the price Kiwis will have to pay to do their bit to fight global warming. But the government says the cost would have been twice that if it had signed up to the pollution cuts urged in a high profile campaign by Greenpeace. The sheer scale of the problem isn't questioned by the government. "What's going on is going to have a fundamental impact on human life on planet earth," says Nick Smith, Climate ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM 35 million people to be climate refugees by 2050 New Nation: Experts in a population and climate change programme observed that at least 35 million people have to migrate by 2030-50 as one third area of the country will be submerged due to sea level rise for global warming. They said developed countries were responsible for the situation but they are not paying compensation to the least development countries to address the problem. They said this while addressing a two-daylong workshop which ended yesterday at Nawab Nawab Ali Chowdhury ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Developing world to wait for climate change cash Local: The developing world may have to wait until the December UN climate talks in Copenhagen before being told how much EU money will be available to help fight the effects of global warming, the Swedish EU presidency said on Saturday. Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren told journalists that the EU would be prepared to provide financial assistance but should not commit to any figures ahead of the talks aimed at forging a deal to tackle climate change after the existing Kyoto ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM WTO Considering Carbon Tariffs On Emission-Heavy Countries redOrbit: Germany announced that a French notion to charge "carbon tariffs" on items from countries that will not reduce greenhouse gases is a form of "eco-imperialism," and an obvious breach of WTO rules. The subject of greenhouse tariffs has been faced with vehement opposition from countries like China and India, who depend on affluent countries to purchase their products as they develop their economies. Matthias Machnig, Germany's State Secretary for the Environment, said on Friday ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Earth bears scars of human destruction: astronaut Reuters: A Canadian astronaut aboard the International Space Station said on Sunday it looks like Earth's ice caps have melted a bit since he was last in orbit 12 years ago. Bob Thirsk, who is two months into a planned six-month stay aboard the station, said he is mostly in awe when he looks out the window, particularly at the sliver of atmosphere wrapped around the planet. "It's a very thin veil of atmosphere around the Earth that keeps us alive," Thirsk said during an in-flight news ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Peru: Climate study puts Incas' success down to 400 years of warm weather Times (UK): Supreme military organisation and a flair for agricultural invention are traditionally credited for the rise of the Incas. However, their success may have owed more to a spell of good weather -- a spell that lasted for more than 400 years. According to new research, an increase in temperature of several degrees between AD1100 and 1533 allowed vast areas of mountain land to be used for agriculture for the first time. This fuelled the territorial expansion of the Incas, which at its ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Peru: Hotter weather fed growth of Incan empire New Scientist: The meteoric rise of the Incan empire between 1400 and 1532 was driven by a sustained period of warmer weather, new research on Peruvian lake sediments suggests. The sediments, from a core going back 4000 years, contain biological and organic evidence revealing sharp changes in land use and agriculture around Marcacocha, a small lake near Cuzco at the heart of the ancient empire. The higher temperatures, starting around 1150, ended thousands of years of cold aridity, and ... read more 27/07/2009 08:00 PM Tasmania gets Australia's first REDD deal Mongabay: A forest conservation project in Tasmania has become Australia's first Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) project to meet Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards. The project, run by Sydney-based Redd Forests, is on 860 hectares of private land in Tasmania. Logging of old-growth forests in Tasmania is increasingly controversial: environmentalists regularly clash--sometimes violently--with forestry companies. The new project provides an alternative ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM United States: From pristine reefs to coral wastelands Honolulu Advertiser: The scientific projections are ominous. If substantial steps aren't taken globally to counter the effects of climate change, reefs in Hawai'i and around the world eventually could become coral wastelands, decimated by increasingly acidic and warming ocean waters. Some scientists say such a scenario, which would wreak havoc with Hawai'i's fisheries and the state economy, could come by the end of the century, perhaps even a few decades sooner. But the projections are just ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Global Ocean Surface Temperature Warmest On Record For June ScienceDaily: The world's ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for June, breaking the previous high mark set in 2005, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Additionally, the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for June was second-warmest on record. The global records began in 1880. Global Climate Statistics The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the second warmest ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Coral Bleaching Likely In Caribbean ScienceDaily: read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM UN chief in Mongolia to highlight climate change Agence France-Presse: UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited herders in Mongolia on Sunday to highlight the impact climate change is having on people's everyday lives, his office said. Ban was visiting a traditional Mongolian herder community to see first hand how their livelihoods were being hit by water shortages and desertification, his office added. Later, Ban is expected to talk about the need for governments to invest in helping communities adapt to the effects of climate change so local economies can ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM China: The bicycle kingdom is going electric Associated Press: It's a simple pleasure, but Xu Beilu savors it daily: gliding past snarled traffic on her motorized bicycle, relaxed and sweat-free alongside the pedal-pushing masses. China, the world's bicycle kingdom -- one for every three inhabitants -- is going electric. Workers weary of crammed public transport or pedaling long distances to jobs are upgrading to battery-powered bikes and scooters. Even some who can afford cars are ditching them for electric two-wheelers to avoid traffic ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Revealed: the secret evidence of global warming Bush tried to hide Guardian: Graphic images that reveal the devastating impact of global warming in the Arctic have been released by the US military. The photographs, taken by spy satellites over the past decade, confirm that in recent years vast areas in high latitudes have lost their ice cover in summer months. The pictures, kept secret by Washington during the presidency of George W Bush, were declassified by the White House last week. President Barack Obama is currently trying to galvanise Congress and the ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM India 'Getting Serious' on Climate Change OneWorld US: India is taking significant steps to fight climate change by switching to renewable energy sources, helping communities deal with the effects of warming temperatures, and more, said experts at a OneWorld-hosted meeting in the country's capital. The day-long conference, organized by a OneWorld.net sister organization headquartered in India, was held on July 16 in New Delhi. Meeting participants came together to build a dialogue between business, media, government, civilians, and ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM California kills offshore oil lease project Reuters: The California state assembly killed a chance on Friday for the state's first new offshore oil drilling lease since 1969, after the idea narrowly passed the senate earlier in the day. The measure was defeated by a 43-30 vote in the assembly and was taken out of the budget bill approved on Friday that seeks to close a $26 billion budget deficit. Plains Exploration & Production Co had wanted to drill off an existing platform in federal waters into state waters. The project ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: PM criticised over climate change BBC: Gordon Brown's outgoing adviser on sustainable development has accused him of "hindering" work on climate change. Sir Jonathon Porritt told the Independent the PM did not find the environment any more important now than when he was chancellor. Sir Jonathon also said Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had to "change his ways" on environmental issues. Sir Jonathon was appointed Sustainable Development Commission chairman by Tony Blair's government in 2000. Sir ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Delayed U.S. climate action increases risks: EU Reuters: A U.S. proposal to cut greenhouse emissions slowly at first before making deeper cuts later will increase the risks of irreversible climate damage, a European Union report says. "The USA is stating that it is feasible to do less before 2020 and more after," said the internal EU report by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency. "It is not possible to fully compensate in future decades for higher emissions in the earlier years in a so-called 'delayed action scenario'," ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM EU considers billions for poor before climate talks Reuters: Rich countries should immediately mobilize billions of dollars in development aid to the poorest nations to win their trust in the run-up to global climate talks in Copenhagen, a draft EU report says. OECD countries should also fulfill their existing commitments on overseas aid, which would more than double those aid flows to poor nations to around $280 billion annually by 2015, it added. The recommendations are made in a draft report by the European Commission and Sweden, ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Govt 'sceptical' over carbon import tariffs Agence France-Presse: Britain opposes the use of carbon import tariffs against developing countries to encourage them to tackle global warming, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband said on Saturday. A bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month could allow import taxes on products made in countries that do not have statutory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, sparking an outcry from emerging economies such as India and China. "We are sceptical about the notion ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Brazil: Fears that Amazon tribes won't be heard New York Times: As the naked, painted young men of the Kamayurá tribe prepare for the ritualized war games of a festival, they end their haunting fireside chant with a blowing sound – "whoosh, whoosh" – a symbolic attempt to eliminate the scent of fish so they will not be detected by enemies. For centuries, fish from jungle lakes and rivers have been a staple of the Kamayurá diet, the tribe's primary source of protein. But fish smells are not a problem for the warriors anymore. Deforestation and, ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM West Texas wind power waits for power lines WFAA: For decades, the census brought bad news to Sweetwater. The population of this West Texas town about 40 miles west of Abilene had been sliding since the sixties. Then came the wind. "I really sense, if you talk to our school district, that our population kind of hit bottom and really started to increase again," said Ken Becker, executive director of the Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development. "So things are really on the upswing." You don't have to look far to ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM A jump-start for new battery plants Washington Post: The Energy Department is getting ready to hand out about $2 billion in grants to create a domestic industry for electric-car batteries, and 122 companies are scrambling to get pieces. The companies range from small niche firms to giants such as Dow Chemical and Johnson Controls. All are promising a combination of innovation and ability to deliver new products on a commercial scale to prevent the United States from trading dependence on foreign oil or reliance on foreign-made ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Government readies biggest ever push for energy saving Washington Post: You're probably familiar with some of the federal government's incentives for home energy efficiency -- heftier tax credits for solar panels, solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, heavy-duty insulation and windows and electricity-saving air conditioning and the like. But these come-ons are just the beginning of an unprecedented government-wide push for energy conservation in housing -- and even "locational efficiency" -- benefits. At the Department of Housing and Urban ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Cold, wet summer doesn't disprove climate change, scientist says Maine Public Broadcasting Network: The relentless rain has become a stale topic of conversation this summer, but the National Weather Service says the end may be near. Scientists say there are some climate change lessons to be learned from the season. Record-breaking rainfall around the state might be letting up in the next two weeks, according to Todd Lericos, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Caribou. "There is some hint that we might be in for a slight pattern change that will bring, you know, ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM The China challenge Living on Earth: Among the developing countries reluctant to reduce greenhouse gas emission before developed countries make progress, China is the economic powerhouse. U.S. labor and industry groups worry capping emissions at home while China goes about its business as usual will put the United States at a competitive disadvantage. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke just returned from China. He tells host Jeff Young when it comes to climate change and trade with China, there are just as many opportunities as ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM 'Cash for clunkers' rules are released, sparking a rush LA Times: The federal government finally released the rules that dealers and their customers have to follow to participate in the much-discussed "cash for clunkers" program, which can provide consumers with up to $4,500 when they trade in an older vehicle and buy a newer, more fuel-efficient model from a participating dealer. The law creating the $1-billion program went into effect July 1, but many dealers were reluctant to participate until they got a look at the rules. The arrival of the ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Mexico City announces emergency water-rationing plan Latin American Herald Tribune: Mexico City authorities have announced an emergency, 10-month water rationing plan in response to severe shortages that Mayor Marcelo Ebrard blames on global warming. "This year we've had the least amount of rainfall in many years. That's caused the Cutzamala system, which ... accounts for a significant percentage of the city's supply, to have lower levels than it should have," Ebrard told a press conference on Thursday. The National Water Commission, or Conagua, has warned in ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Companies to decide on SD coal-fired power plant Associated Press: Five power companies will decide this fall whether to move forward on a proposed $1.6 billion coal-fired power plant that would serve more than a million customers in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana and Iowa. Minnesota-based Otter Tail Power Co. is leading the effort to build a plant in the northeastern corner of South Dakota that would generate up to 580 megawatts of power. The new plant would sit next to the 450-megawatt Big Stone Plant, which began operating in 1975. Otter ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM EU ministers shun French carbon tariff proposal Agence France-Presse: European ministers rallied on Friday against a French proposal to introduce so-called carbon tariffs on non-EU nations that fail to agree on a new global deal on climate change. France was a vocal supporter of carbon tariffs during negotiations on the EU's climate package and Paris insisted Friday they remain a plausible option if no deal is struck at December's UN climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark. Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, whose country currently holds ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Carbon capture to cost $3B a year to succeed Calgary Herald: If capturing and storing industrial carbon emissions is to succeed as a climate change strategy, Alberta and the federal government will have to provide as much as $3 billion a year for an undetermined length of time, says a provincial report released today. The report, which provides a road map for expanding carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the province, states energy consumers will ultimately bear the financial brunt of advancing this technology, which many critics ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM EU considers billions for poor before climate talks Reuters: Rich countries should immediately mobilise billions of dollars in development aid to the poorest nations to win their trust in the run-up to global climate talks in Copenhagen, a draft EU report says. OECD countries should also fulfil their existing commitments on overseas aid, which would more than double those aid flows to poor nations to around $280 billion annually by 2015, it added. The recommendations are made in a draft report by the European Commission and Sweden, which ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM 'Clunkers' draws customers to car dealers Wall Street Journal: Auto dealers said they saw a surge in showroom traffic and an uptick in sales Friday, the first day of the federal government's "cash for clunkers" program, which offers incentives for trading in old cars for more fuel-efficient ones. The program -- officially called CARS, for Car Allowance Rebate System -- provides up to $4,500 for a traded-in vehicle. It is aimed at lifting sales for the beleaguered auto industry and taking gas-guzzlers off the road. The launch ran into at ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Greenland comes in from the cold BBC: The musk ox steak on my plate was seductively dark and succulent. One of my dining companions was eyeing a slab of reindeer flesh big enough to feed a pack of huskies, while the other was drooling over scallops harvested from the clear cold waters of the Baffin Sea. But never mind this traditional, and sublime, Greenlandic fare, I really want to tell you about my side order of leeks. Without wishing to sound immodest I know a thing or two about vegetables - it comes from being the son ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Key Senators push back on Palin climate claims Reuters: Key U.S. lawmakers on Friday defended their plans to establish a system capping greenhouse gas emissions, disputing attacks from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin that climate change legislation in Congress would destroy jobs and hurt the economy. In an op-ed article in Friday's Washington Post, Democratic senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry argued that the climate change legislation they are crafting in the Senate will "create millions of jobs in America" by promoting the production of ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Developing nations may have to wait on climate aid: EU presidency Agence France-Presse: Developing countries could be made to wait until the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December before the EU reveals how much money it will give them to cope with the effects of global warming, the Swedish EU presidency said on Saturday. Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren told journalists the EU would be prepared to provide financial assistance but should not commit to any figures ahead of the talks aimed at forging a deal to tackle climate change after the existing Kyoto ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Senior Liberals at odds on climate change strategy The Australian: TONY Abbott has urged Liberal MPs to back the embattled leadership of Malcolm Turnbull and asked them to pass Kevin Rudd's flawed emissions trading scheme in the Senate to avoid a double-dissolution election that they cannot win. The one-time leadership opponent to Mr Turnbull has turned into his staunchest public defender and has appealed to Liberal MPs to "allow" the Opposition Leader to exercise his assessment on emissions trading and to save the Coalition "from a fight it can't ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Drought takes toll on Iraq revival efforts Reuters: What was known as history's fertile crescent, where lush farmland and abundant water gave rise to civilization, is today a dusty desert where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers crawl sluggishly toward the sea. Vast tracts of Iraqi farmland are cracked and barren, precious marshes have dried up and sandstorms blot out the sun. Even "Saddam River," the flagship drainage system Saddam Hussein launched in the 1980s to restore Iraq to its ancient agriculture glory, has turned into a ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Clouds may be thinning due to global warming USA Today: Clouds decline due to global warming, suggests a study of the Northeast Pacific, which in turn would lead to more climate change. Clouds reflect sunlight, cooling the atmosphere, note the Science study authors led by Amy Clement of the University of Miami. Whether global warming creates more clouds or less "remain a primary cause of uncertainty in global climate model projections," says the study. Global warming is projected to raise average atmospheric temperatures from 3 to 7 ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Ga. company agrees to penalty over air pollution boston.com: A Georgia company has agreed to pay $337,500 for violating air pollution laws at its western Kentucky aluminum processing plant, a penalty the Environmental Protection Agency calls the largest of its kind in the southeastern United States. The U.S. Justice Department and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet filed the lawsuit against Carrollton, Ga.-based Southwire Co., on the same day it filed the settlement in U.S. District Court on Thursday. Kentucky and the federal ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Planning Oversight Halts Food Security Programme Inter Press Service: A Food-for-Work programme, which cleverly aims to combat both environmental degradation and food shortages, has come to a halt due to lack of long-term planning. For the past few months, members of the Malindza community, a poverty-stricken area in the south of Swaziland, have built dams and anti-erosion structures, such as wire mesh boxes, barriers, trenches and fencing in exchange for food. In addition, programme participants are in the process of setting up food gardens to grow ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Mystery of the toucan's beak solved Independent (UK): Charles Darwin thought the toucan's oversized beak was a sexual lure for attracting potential mates, while some modern-day biologists suggested it was either for peeling fruit or to warn off territorial rivals. A new study has found, though, that the outrageously big structure helps to keep the bird cool in the heat of the tropical day. The beak of the toco toucan -- the largest member of the toucan family -- accounts for about one-third of the bird's body length, which is larger than ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Japan: Plan to use jumping lice in battle against Japanese knotweed Independent (UK): Jumping plant lice from Japan could be released in Britain to control Japanese knotweed, under plans from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The non-native sap-sucking insect would be released under licence to tackle the weed, notorious for causing terrible damage to buildings, roads and railway lines; driving out other plants; and eroding river banks. The ornamental plant was introduced in the early 19th century and escaped into the countryside, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM George Will / Syndicated columnist China and others turn a cold Seattle Times: Unfortunately, China's president had to dash home to suppress ethnic riots. Had he stayed in Italy at the recent G-8 summit, he could have continued the Herculean task of disabusing Barack Obama of his amazingly durable belief, shared by the U.S. Congress, that China -- and India, Brazil, Mexico and other developing nations -- will sacrifice their modernization on the altar of climate change. China has a more pressing agenda, and not even suppressing riots tops the list. China made ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Slow, costly and often dangerous road to wind power New York Times: On America's highways, wind turbines may be the ultimate oversize load. Trucks carrying silvery blades nearly half a football field long have been lumbering through this placid coastal town all summer, backing up traffic as they slowly exit the roadway. Huge, tubular chunks of tower also pass through. Tall pieces of machinery looking somewhat like jet engines travel at night because they require special routing to avoid overpasses. As demand for clean energy grows, towns around ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Foreign rail companies eye US stimulus money to build new passenger trains Associated Press: Foreign companies that dominate the international high-speed rail industry are trying to cash in on the Obama administration's plan to pump billions of dollars into U.S. rail systems to help stimulate the economy. The stimulus plan sets aside $8 billion for high-speed rail, a figure that has ambassadors and foreign leaders jockeying to get their preferred companies in on the deal. Though the law requires the U.S. to "buy American" with stimulus money, the rail plan requires so many ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Ah, the olive groves of balmy England Times (UK): SUBTROPICAL crops such as dates, figs and rice could become staples of British agriculture within 20 years, according to government forecasts. The assessment, produced by officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), outlines future possibilities for British food production based on recent climate data. The forecasts highlight some of the unexpected benefits of a warmer climate. It means the British diet will in future be able to include produce ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Scientists 'kept at arm's length' BBC: The government is keeping scientists at "arm's length" and treating science as "a peripheral policy concern," a group of MPs has said. The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills committee says knowledge from experts is not being properly used to make informed policy decisions. Instead of being sidelined, scientists should be able to communicate directly with the prime minister, it argues. Former chief scientist Sir David King said reform was "critical". A ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Kingsnorth policing 'counterproductive' Guardian: Kent police's blanket use of stop-and-search powers on thousands of environmental activists at the Kingsnorth demonstration was "disproportionate and counterproductive", according to an official review into the force's handling of protests released today. A total of 8,218 searches were carried out on protesters at the week-long demonstration last August against the energy company E.ON's proposed coal-fired power-station, after orders from senior commanders were misinterpreted "as an ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Poland: Meet Belcha - Europe's biggest carbon polluter Guardian: The biggest single producer of carbon emissions in the European Union has been named – and it is about to get even bigger. The appropriately titled Elektrownia Belchatow – a massive coal-fired power station – belched out 30,862,792 tonnes of CO2 last year and by 2010 the whole generating facility will have grown by 20%. The Polish energy giant was named as climate change enemy number one in a report by the London-based Sandbag Climate Campaign and its greenhouse gas output dwarfed the ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: More arrests at turbine factory protest Press Association: Police made more arrests overnight outside a wind turbine factory where climate change activists are staging a protest in support of workers occupying the site. Police said two men were detained close to the Vestas Wind Systems plant, on the Isle of Wight. Three people were arrested yesterday. Around 25 workers are staging a sit-in as part of a campaign to save the factory from closure, with the loss of hundreds of jobs, next week. The plant's Danish owners erected a ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australian study reveals ancient secrets to climate change Xinhua: A groundbreaking study released in Australia on Thursday recorded sea temperatures over millions of years that could reveal the secrets to the climate change. Australian scientist Sindia Sosdian and research partner Yair Rosenthal studied the shells of tiny sea creatures for more than three years to examine major climate shifts over the past 3.2 million years. The research recorded two major cooling periods over that time -the first about 2.7 million years ago when a drop in ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Germany to propel Vietnam's wind power sector with $1.4m grant Business Green: A German development agency has provided Vietnam with a EUR1m ($1.47m, £865,000) grant intended to develop the nation's wind power industry while opening the door to Teutonic expertise in the sector. State-backed German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Vietnamese officials earlier this week signed an agreement aimed at helping Vietnam to implement a legal framework for connecting wind power projects to the national grid. Doing so would help attract foreign ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM US wind firms win capital funding Business Green: Two US renewables firms - First Wind and Terra-Gen Power - won capital funding for wind farms this week despite the harsh economic environment, while a third Nordex AG began construction on a manufacturing facility for turbines. Newton, Massachussetts-based First Wind, which generated sales of $12m (£7.3m) and a net loss of $73m in fiscal 2008, has just closed two transactions totalling $191m. The first is a $115m, 8.5-year loan facility from Alberta Investment Management, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Scripps-led study shows ocean health plays vital role in coral reef recovery Innovations Report: The new research study led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego suggests that by improving overall ocean health, corals are better able to recover from bleaching events, which occur when rising sea temperatures force corals to expel their symbiotic algae, known as zooxanthellae. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon that is expected to increase in frequency as global climate change increases ocean temperatures worldwide. The new findings, published in the ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate insurance: what kind of deal can be made in Copenhagen? Guardian: As even the staunchest advocates will tell you, climate insurance is by no means a magic bullet. But clearly the tools of modern finance could certainly help make poor nations prepare for and respond to all manner of natural disasters big and small. We explore some of these ideas in this week's issue of Nature, taking a quick look at how the insurance debate is playing out in the ongoing United Nations climate talks. The upshot is that some kind of insurance mechanism is likely to ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM UN sees $10 billion aid as good start to climate pact Reuters: Aid of $10 billion from rich nations would be a "good beginning" to launch a U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, the United Nations' top climate official said Thursday. Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, also told the BBC World Service in an interview that rich countries needed to pledge deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and the poor had to slow the rise in their emissions. But cash was needed to kick-start a ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM EU could provide billions for forests - report Reuters: The European Union could provide up to 2.5 billion euros ($3.55 billion) a year to help poor nations protect tropical forests, the EU executive said in a report to ministers meeting in Sweden on Thursday. The European Commission report will be discussed at the meeting of EU energy and environment ministers in the mountain resort of Are. The talks will also tackle energy efficiency and preparations for global climate talks in Copenhagen in December. Forests and finance for poor ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM India: Obama's climate man talks of sticky deal with India IBN: While Hillary Clinton's visit to India is being considered a huge diplomatic success on the climate change front not much progress was made. As part of Hillary's contingent was President Obama's Special Envoy on climate change, Todd Stern. Stern spoke exclusively to CNN-IBN's Environment Editor Bahar Dutt on the road ahead for India and the US on sticky issue of climate change. Bahar Dutt: Would you say that talks between India and the US have been inconclusive as far as climate ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Spain: Rainfall to decrease over Iberian Peninsula Physorg: Scientists have recorded a decline in winter precipitation over the past 60 years in Spain, and they now forecast that precipitation will also decrease in spring and summer. A team from the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIC) has studied rainfall data from 1950 to 2006 and the climate projections for coming decades, showing that less rain will fall in future over the Iberian Peninsula. However, precipitation will continue to be more frequent in winter than in spring-summer. Have ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Even the Isle of Wight wants Miliband to buck the market Guardian: The Isle of Wight is an unlikely setting for an industrial rebellion. It's true Karl Marx was once a regular visitor, but the island's a generally conservative place, better known for sailing than strikes. That changed on Monday, when workers occupied Britain's only major wind-turbine factory in protest at its imminent closure. Tonight they were still there, barricaded in the Newport plant's offices, surrounded by police and security guards, as hundreds of other workers and their supporters ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Japan Denies Buying 'Hot Air' Credits Created in Kyoto Accord Bloomberg: Japan is defending itself against criticism that it is exploiting a surplus of assigned emission credits and buying "hot air." The Japanese government and its largest companies plan to buy more than 350 million tons of emission credits in the five years ending in 2012, said Keiji Hisata, an official in Tokyo's Kyoto Mechanisms Office at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The purchase may include units assigned to the 37 countries with targets under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM China to subsidise solar power projects Malaysian Insider: China's government says it will pay up to 70 per cent of the price of new solar power systems in an effort to speed up development of clean energy industries. The Finance Ministry's announcement on Tuesday comes as Beijing tries to reduce China's surging demand for imported oil and gas and create companies that cash in on growing global demand for clean energy technology. The subsidies are meant to develop the solar industry as a new source of economic growth for the country, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Wong pours cold water on nuclear power AAP: Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has poured cold water on suggestions Australia could move towards nuclear power. The government's own nuclear body, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), says it's time to give "active consideration" to nuclear power, which it says is safe, reliable and would become more cost-effective. Mining giant Rio Tinto has talked up nuclear power and called on the government to make a decision about it by 2020. But ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Nuclear is the answer: Opposition Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Nuclear power is the only suitable form of energy for Australia's long-term electricity needs as the country seeks to reduce its carbon emissions, the Opposition says. Speaking on ABC radio in Darwin this morning, Opposition spokesman on energy and resources, Ian Macfarlane, said: "It is the only zero-emission, base-load electricity that Australia can install in the next 30 years." Yesterday, the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, rejected calls for Australia to consider ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Wall St. seeks sunny forecasts in solar earnings Reuter: Investors are looking for signs of a recovery in solar panel demand when manufacturers report earnings in the coming weeks, though panel prices are still falling fast and earnings may not see a meaningful improvement until 2010. U.S. solar players including SunPower Corp, First Solar Inc and MEMC Electronic Materials are scheduled to report quarterly earnings this week and next, with Chinese and German companies' results also in the offing. Recently, companies including ... read more News Archive     Back to Homepage
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