Contact Us: info@climatechange.ie
		News Archive     01/08/2008 07:00 AM As one door closes, another door opens to a healthier planet Sydney Morning Herald: Lee Kuan Yew hailed it as one of man's greatest inventions, Boris Yeltsin claimed it gave him a cold and used it as an excuse to get out of work. Public Enemy sang about it, at least metaphorically, Jimmy Carter donned a cardigan and had words with the nation about turning it down and Bill Clinton increased its energy-efficiency standards months before leaving office. The common theme here is air-conditioning. Air-conditioning is not an inalienable right, but in a culture of constant ... read more 01/08/2008 07:00 AM World Bank Struggles to Prioritize Sustainability Worldwatch Institute: World Bank investment projects fail to dedicate sufficient attention to long-term sustainability, an internal review said last week. Although the world's largest multinational financer has heightened its focus on mitigating environmental degradation and climate change in recent years, the institution places uneven emphasis on the economic benefits of environmental preservation, the assessment revealed. The World Bank considers itself among the world's leading advocates for ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Birds Fly North in Climate Change Vanguard - Study Reuters: Birds have been moving north in Europe over the past 25 years because of climate change in the vanguard of likely huge shifts in the ranges of plants and animals, scientists said on Wednesday. A study of 42 rare bird species in Britain showed that southern European bird species such as the Dartford warbler, Cirl bunting, little egret or Cetti's warbler had become more common in Britain from 1980-2004. And species usually found in northern Europe, such as the fieldfare, ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Congo Launches Review of Logging Contracts Reuters: Congo, home to the world's second largest tropical forest, launched a review of all timber contracts on Wednesday in an effort to clean up a business rife with corruption and to recoup millions of dollars in lost taxes. The World Bank-sponsored initiative will look at 156 deals. Most were signed during a 1998-2003 war and subsequent interim government accused of awarding numerous dubious logging and mining contracts. In 2002, with the country partially under the control of ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM United Kingdom: Environment: Climate activists occupy proposed site for coal-fired power station Guardian: Climate change activists yesterday occupied the proposed site for Britain's first coal-fired power station in 30 years, claiming the development will cause huge damage to the environment if it goes ahead. More than 150 protesters descended on the site near the village of Kingsnorth in Kent ahead of next week's Camp for Climate Action, which is expected to attract thousands of environmentalists. Activist Connor O'Brien said: "The purpose of the climate change camp is to ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Future threats to the Amazon rainforest Mongabay: Between June 2000 and June 2008, more than 150,000 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared in the Brazilian Amazon. While deforestation rates have slowed since 2004, forest loss is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Here mongabay.com takes a look at past, current and potential future drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Past drivers of deforestation in the Amazon Most deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has occurred since the late 1960s when ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Market Remedy to Climate Change Stalls Reuters: The world's biggest source of private sector investment to fight climate change in the developing world has stalled pending complex global climate talks and uncertain demand. The US$13 billion trade in carbon offsets has also come under withering attack over profiteering and scam projects to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsets allow people and businesses to pay others to cut emissions of planet-warming gases on their behalf, and is meant to cut the cost of fighting ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Oil Not Costly Enough to Prompt Needed Changes - Experts Inter Press Service: Just about everyone is complaining about the high price of oil, but it does not even reflect the environmental costs and is still insufficient to promote the changes needed to ensure a less catastrophic future for humanity, experts warn. The "brutal and rapid" rise in the price of oil over the last few years has not generated changes that would bring about the indispensable regulation of the global economic system, but has merely given rise to "adaptations" that ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM 'Oil from algae' promises climate friendly fuel Guardian: A liquid fuel made from plants that is chemically identical to crude oil but which does not contribute to climate change when it is burned or, unlike other biofuels, need agricultural land to produce sounds too good to be true. But a company in San Diego claims to have developed exactly that – a sustainable version of oil it calls "green crude". Sapphire Energy uses single-celled organisms such as algae to produce a chemical mixture from which it is possible to extract fuels for cars ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Arctic Ice Bigger Than 2007, But Thawing Long-Term Reuters: Arctic sea ice is unlikely to shrink below a 2007 record low this year in a reprieve from the worst predictions of climate change even though new evidence confirms a long-term thaw is under way, experts said. The 2007 record raised worries of a melt that could leave the North Pole ice-free this year, threaten indigenous hunters and thaw ice vital for creatures such as polar bears. It would also help open the Arctic to shipping and oil and gas firms. "Most likely there ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Canadian infrastructure at risk from climate change, engineering panel warns Canwest News Service: Climate change is making Canadian roads, water supplies, sewer systems and government buildings more vulnerable to multibillion-dollar failures that place human health and safety at risk, warns a new national engineering assessment uncovered by the Vancouver Sun. The study, Adapting to Climate Change, is the first national engineering vulnerability assessment in Canada and comes on the heels of other government reports about the impacts of global warming and potential health ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM China Readies Tougher Olympic Pollution Measures Reuters: China is mulling emergency plans to keep Olympic skies clear and may push more cars off the road in Beijing and nearby cities if wind or rain do not disperse smog build-ups, government pollution advisors said on Wednesday. Scientists blamed a sultry haze that shrouded the host city over the weekend on an unusually long bout of hot, humid weather and say the combination is unlikely to be repeated during the Games, which start August 8. But they are readying back-up plans for ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Climate Change Could Hit Lebanon's Dwindling Cedars Reuters: Sturdy cedars perched high in the mountains stand for many Lebanese as symbols of their fractured land's survival. But some environmentalists worry that the trees face a new threat from global warming. "The biggest challenge now for the cedars of Lebanon is climate change," said Nizar Hani, scientific coordinator of the Barouk Cedar Nature Reserve in the Shouf mountains. Only murmuring insects and breezes rustling through cedar branches disturb the stillness of the ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit CNN: <body>Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter. That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second. That barely beat the previous corporate record of $11.66 billion, also set by Exxon in the fourth quarter of 2007. "The fundamentals of our business remain strong," Henry Hubble, Exxon's vice president of investor relations, said on a ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM United Kingdom: How to go to Climate Camp - and enjoy it Guardian: 'We don't want people who are thinking of coming for the first time to feel intimidated," says Peter McDonnell, a spokesperson for the Climate Camp, the week-long protest camp starting this Sunday at Kingsnorth in Kent which aims to highlight the "climate madness" of plans to build the UK's first coal-fired power station for 30 years near to the site. "That's really, really important. People mustn't be put off by scare stories." It's easy to see why the ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM China: Its green medal hopes are lost but Beijing must race on Guardian: Beijing made many promises to secure the 2008 Olympics - hostages to fortune, as it turned out, as the date approached. Some greater press and political freedoms, for instance, have clearly not been honoured: as Amnesty International pointed out yesterday, there has been more, not less, repression as the games approach. But other promises that may remain unfulfilled do not reflect bad faith so much as the scale of the task. When the world's most polluted country promised a green Olympics, it ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM United Kingdom: New coal stations 'threaten emissions goal' InTheNews.co.uk: If plans to build new coal-fired power stations get the go-ahead then Europe's main climate policy could be in danger of collapsing, a thinktank claimed today. The European Union has set a goal of reducing emissions from the power sector and heavy industry by 21 per cent by 2020 through its emissions trading scheme (ETS). This scheme has been in place since 2005 and puts a price on carbon that businesses use and creates a market for carbon. A report from the IPPR ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Oceans to take center stage at int'l climate conference Jakarta Post: The first world conference in Manado next year will address the impact of climate change on oceans and the degradation of marine resources, an official says. "All this time, discussions and focus on climate change have been dominated by issues such as forests and alternative energy," secretary for the office of the coordinating minister for people's welfare, Dwisuryo Indroyono Soesilo, said here Tuesday. "In fact, oceans have a significant correlation with ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Offshore oil drilling more palatable to Californians New York Times: The United Nations has long been accused by its detractors of generating hot air. Starting in August, a glance at the thermostat in the Secretariat building will provide confirmation. To set an example in the effort to curb energy use that contributes to global warming, the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has approved a one-month pilot project to raise the thermostat throughout much of the landmark building to 77 degrees from 72 degrees. The thermostats in the often windowless ... read more 31/07/2008 07:00 AM Australia: Should we wait for other nations? Canberra Times: Few now seriously doubt the enormity and gravity of the climate change problem. In the Australian context, it seems as though the issue of climate change is finally receiving the attention it deserves. The Rudd Government clearly regards the issue of climate change as one of national priority. Accordingly, it has proposed that an emissions trading scheme be implemented no later than 2010. Earlier this month, the draft Garnaut report proposed a similar time frame for the ... read more News Archive     Back to Homepage
		Contact Us: info@climatechange.ie About Us