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Indian climate guru hopes to steer world away from steak

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Sydney Morning Herald: Matt Wade) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Sydney Morning Herald: As the world struggles to come up with a climate change deal, India's Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, has challenged it to follow the example of millions in his country and refuse to eat beef in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Mr Ramesh, a vegetarian, says those who refrain from eating beef are helping to fight climate change. "The single most important measure that can be taken in the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to stop eating beef," he ...

Philippines: GMA seeks binding deal in Denmark

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Business Mirror: Mia M. Gonzale) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Business Mirror: PRESIDENT Arroyo plans to push for a "binding and legal" agreement that would save the world from catastrophic climate change should she attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15) next month, Malacañang announced on Sunday. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said, "She doesn't want mere promises without any commitments. So that is the Philippine and personal position." It may just be a forlorn effort. He added the President's possible participation in ...

United Kingdom: Security 'cover-up' at nuclear plants

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: Jamie Doward) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: The government is refusing to provide details on five separate security breaches at Britain's nuclear power stations last year. The breaches have prompted accusations that ministers are suppressing damaging information at a time when they are attempting to sell the idea of more nuclear power stations. Earlier this month, 10 new sites in England and Wales were approved. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told MPs that nuclear was a "proven and reliable" energy source. But the ...

After the deluge, Ireland's sodden south and west mop up

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: Henry McDonald and Mark Townsend) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: Large tracts of the south and west of Ireland stood submerged last night as 300 Irish troops, backed up by helicopters and boats, were on standby to rescue more people caught up in floods. As more than 18,000 homes in Cork prepared to start the week without water supplies after flooding damaged a pumping station in the city, the overall cost of the damage was being calculated. Experts were estimating the extreme weather could cost the country up to EUR100m, breaking the EUR98m record ...

Obama ready to offer target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: Suzanne Goldenberg) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: President Barack Obama is considering setting a provisional target for cutting America's huge greenhouse gas emissions, removing the greatest single obstacle to a landmark global agreement to fight climate change. The Observer has learnt that administration officials have been consulting international negotiators and key players on Capitol Hill about signing up to a provisional target at the UN global warming summit in Copenhagen, now less than three weeks away. Todd Stern, the ...

United Kingdom: After the deluge, a sodden Cumbria begins to clear up

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: Mark Townsend) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: They began the search at midday, just as the new rains came. Teams of RAF personnel were ordered to search flood-hit Cockermouth and check its streets for signs of life. The men knocked loudly on the doors of homes whose ground floors had hours earlier been under water and shouted for replies at empty buildings. Early reports indicated that some residents were still stranded at the Old Mill homes just outside the town, but that a police boat team had managed to feed them the night ...

Emissions increase despite financial crisis

info@ecologicalinternet.org (ScienceDaily: none given) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

ScienceDaily: A new study from Norwegian and New Zealand scientists provides updated numbers for CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. While the global financial crisis may have slowed down the emission growth, it has not been sufficient to stop it: From 2007 to 2008 global emissions from fossil fuels increased by 2.2 percent. From 2003 to 2007, the average fossil emissions increased by 3.7 percent a year. "The financial crisis started in the latter part of 2008, so the full effect of the financial ...

China harnesses mountain wind power

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Various: Jerome Cartillier) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Various: In the mountains above the southwestern Chinese town of Dali, dozens of new wind turbines dot the landscape -- a symbol of the country's sky-high ambitions for clean, green energy. At an altitude of 3,000 metres (9,800 feet), Dali Zhemoshan is the highest wind farm in China, where renewable energy has become a priority for a government keen to reduce its carbon emissions and which has taken full advantage of the global trade in carbon credits. "Wind resources in Yunnan province ...

In the trenches on climate change, hostility among foes

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Washington Post: none given) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Washington Post: Electronic files that were stolen from a prominent climate research center and made public last week provide a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes battle to shape the public perception of global warming. While few U.S. politicians bother to question whether humans are changing the world's climate -- nearly three years ago the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded the evidence was unequivocal -- public debate persists. And the newly disclosed private exchanges ...

United Kingdom: A climate change dust-up

info@ecologicalinternet.org (LA Times: Jim Tankersley and Henry Chu) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

LA Times:

India challenges Western data linking climate change, Himalayan melt

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Washington Post: none given) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Washington Post: As countries around the world prepare to flex their negotiating muscles at next month's climate-change summit in Copenhagen, India has begun to question the Western model of computing global warming statistics. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh released a report last week that says there is no conclusive evidence that climate change has caused the melting of the Himalayan glaciers. The report says that not all of the glaciers are receding at alarming rates and that a few are even ...

Copenhagen conference holds hope for climate change progress

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Durango Herald: Richard Grossman) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Durango Herald: "I refuse to believe that it is too late, and that we cannot do anything about [global climate change]. Copenhagen is our date with destiny." - Mohamed Nasheed, president of Maldives Good news! We in the United States can decrease carbon emissions. In just two years we have cut our greenhouse gas generation by 9 percent. Last month's column outlined the goals of the United Nation's Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen next month. We are pinning our hopes on ...

Denmark says 65 leaders to attend climate talks

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: Denmark said on Sunday 65 world leaders had agreed to attend a U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December that will try to clinch a new global climate deal. Facing splits in the climate talks, Denmark 10 days ago formally invited the heads of state and government of 191 U.N. member states to come for the final two days of the Dec. 7-18 conference to push for a deal at the meeting, originally meant for environment ministers. Danish officials declined to provide a full list of ...

India: 'Creating Artificial Glaciers Is Simple, Easy and Replicable'

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Inter Press Service: His is a classic case of a man's fight against nature in this trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, as he battles climate change. In this region that seldom sees rains, the glaciers--for ages the fountainheads of water for this arid region--are receding at a rapid rate. Farmers find it difficult to grow crops in their agricultural lands, with water in extremely short supply when it is most needed to irrigate the fields. But 74-year-old Chewang Norphel, a former government civil ...

Glacier Man' Vows to Build More Artificial Glaciers

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Inter Press Service: Keya Acharya) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Inter Press Service: He is well known as India's 'glacier man', but for 74-year-old retired government civil engineer, Chewang Norphel, accolades have made little dent in his quiet determination to build more high-altitude water conservation systems, or 'artificial glaciers', to beat the lack of water from receding Himalayan glaciers. Over 70 percent of water in Ladakh district, India's northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, is sourced in springtime from the melting snows off glaciers, and is the sole ...

Greenpeace rallies to stop deforestation in Indonesia

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Agence France-Presse: 26 mins ago JAKARTA (AFP) -- Hundreds of Greenpeace activists rallied Saturday in support of a commitment by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation. About 200 people rallied in the capital displaying banners that said "Enough, stop destroying our forests" and "Stop talking, start acting". "We urge SBY to keep his promise in reducing emissions, especially from deforestation," Greenpeace Southeast Asia ...

Denmark says 65 leaders enrolled for climate talks (Reuters)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:38:44 GMT

Reuters - Sixty-five world leaders have confirmed they will attend next month's U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen which Danish officials hope will bring strong political commitment for a new treaty to combat global warming.

Gap between India, U.S. emissions goals grows wider (Reuters)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:07:09 GMT

Reuters - When President Barack Obama and Prime minister meet next week to talk about climate change the leaders will focus on green technologies rather than narrowing the global divide on greenhouse gas emissions goals, the chairman of the U.N.'s climate science panel said.

Central America demands billions in climate damages (AFP)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:41:30 GMT

AFP - Central American nations will demand 105 billion dollars from industrialized countries for damages caused by global warming, the region's representatives said on Friday.

Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate (AP)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:34:51 GMT

AP - Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online — stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change.

Wettest month makes this Britain's new Wild West

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: A farmer pulled me up on the lane approaching my village last week. We always stop to talk about the weather. I've written a book about it and he has a long memory. "Fearful night," he said. "Felt like I was sleeping in the Severn tunnel, and the train just kept on coming. This boy's a bad un. When's it going to end?" By "this boy" he meant the low-pressure system or depression that's been barrelling off the Atlantic and into western Britain for days, bringing rain, south-westerly ...

MEP clashes with bishop over 'climate alarmism'

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Independent (UK): none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Independent (UK): A controversial Conservative Euro MP has careered into a clash with a bishop over his claim that the Church of England has "abandoned religion" to preach the gospel of climate change. Roger Helmer, Tory MEP for the East Midlands, has infuriated the Church with the accusation that it is more interested in "climate alarmism" than its traditional teachings. The climate-change sceptic, who sparked fury recently by claiming homophobia did not exist, also questioned the Church's ...

Google - the new eye in the sky for protecting forests?

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Mongabay:

Central America demands billions in climate damages

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Agence France-Presse: Central American nations will demand 105 billion dollars from industrialized countries for damages caused by global warming, the region's representatives said on Friday. Central American environment ministers gathered in Guatemala to discuss the so-called "ecological debt" owed to them and to set out a common position ahead of climate talks in Copenhagen next month. Guatemalan environment minister Luis Ferrate said the 105-billion-dollar price tag was "an estimate" of the ...

INDEPENDENT.CO.UK: Fossil-fuel emissions up 2 percent in 2008, tracking worst trends

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Independent (UK): none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Independent (UK): Carbon emissions from fossil fuels rose two percent last year to an all-time high, leaving Earth on a worst-scenario track for global warming, scientists reported on Tuesday. They also voiced concern for the world's oceans and forests, saying the capacity of these fabled "sinks" to soak up dangerous greenhouse gases was fading. And they placed the spotlight on surging emissions by China and developing countries, explaining that a huge chunk of this carbon comes from exporting ...

Hacked Emails Show Climate Science Ridden with Rancor

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Wall Street Journal: Keith Johnson) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Wall Street Journal: The picture that emerges of prominent climate-change scientists from the more than 3,000 documents and emails accessed by hackers and put on the Internet this week is one of professional backbiting and questionable scientific practices. It could undermine the idea that the science of man-made global warming is entirely settled just weeks before a crucial climate-change summit. Researchers at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, England, were victims of a ...

Climate change to lash Britain with tropical storms

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Times (UK): Jonathan Leake) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Times (UK): BRITAIN should brace itself for more tropical-style deluges of the kind that wreaked havoc on Cockermouth, according to climate experts. They warn that, although no single event can be attributed to climate change, the warming of the atmosphere caused by greenhouse gases means such disasters will become more frequent. "We need to follow the example of tropical cities like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore where flooding is a regular event,' said Roger Falconer, professor of water ...

Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Independent (UK): none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Independent (UK): Thawing permafrost caused by global warming is costing Russian energy firms billions of dollars annually in damage control and shrinking Russia's territory, Greenpeace warned in a new study Friday. According to the report by the environmental watchdog, up to 55 billion roubles (1.9 billion dollars) a year is spent on repairs to infrastructure and pipelines damaged by changes in the permafrost in western Siberia. "For Russia, the biggest threat of the permafrost melt is to oil ...

Greenland ice loss behind a sixth of sea-level rise

info@ecologicalinternet.org (New Scientist: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

New Scientist: GREENLAND lost 1500 cubic kilometres of ice between 2000 and 2008, making it responsible for one-sixth of global sea-level rise. Even worse, there are signs that the rate of ice loss is increasing. Michiel van den Broeke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands and colleagues began by modelling the difference in annual snowfall and snowmelt in Greenland between 2003 and 2008 to reveal the net ice loss for each year. They then compared each year's loss with that calculated from ...

Turkey sticks to nuclear power plan

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Agence France-Presse: Turkey is determined to build a nuclear power plant and will launch a new project to replace a failed tender, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz was quoted as saying Saturday. "The fact that the tender was scrapped does not mean that the process is scrapped. Our determination on nuclear power plants is persisting," Yildiz said in Kizilcahamam town, near Ankara, Anatolia news agency reported. Energy authorities Friday cancelled a 2008 tender won by a Russian-led consortium to build ...

The scary math of warming

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Toronto Star: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Toronto Star: If new environmental campaigns take hold, you'll hear a lot about two numbers during the next few months. If they succeed, you could find yourself living, and thinking, differently. The numbers are 350 and 50. The first is a target for reducing the carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. The second refers to the minimum percentage of land and ocean that must be protected from development to ward off climate change and prevent the extinction of many plants and animals. Both ...

Carbon saturated ocean

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Living on Earth: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Living on Earth: YOUNG: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios in Somerville, Massachusetts - this is Living on Earth. I'm Jeff Young. Developments in both science and politics on climate change: The US and China agreed to cooperate on cleaner and more efficient forms of energy. But world leaders downplayed expectations about next month's climate summit in Copenhagen. So political leaders sent mixed messages, but climate science sent a clear signal. The international scientists of the Global Carbon ...

Children starve in parched southern Madagascar

info@ecologicalinternet.org (LA Times: Robyn Dixon) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

LA Times: Foreigners have come to Anjandobo village, a cluster of wooden huts on the desolate red dust of southern Madagascar. They're vaza -- outsiders. The vaza are sweating. They wear hats and carry cameras and plastic bottles of water. The sun exhausts the vaza: four journalists and a group of aid workers from UNICEF and the World Food Program. Scorpions bristle under rocks. There's little shade. A small Anjandobo child watches the vaza with their water bottles. "I'm ...

United Kingdom: Rainfall gets more severe as climate heats up

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Irish Independent: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Irish Independent: The record rainfall that caused yesterday's devastating floods cannot be blamed directly on climate change, experts said. But they warned we were likely to see more extreme weather of this kind in the coming years as a result of global warming. Climate change models suggest that the proportion of intense rainfall will increase as warmer air from rising temperatures means the atmosphere can carry more moisture. Roger Street, Oxford-based technical director of the UK ...

Canada: Momentum returning to oilsands

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Edmonton Journal: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Edmonton Journal: Oh, don't get too excited -- or aggravated, depending on how you feel about North America's biggest, messiest industrial project. The oilsands boom isn't coming back anytime soon. At least, not in its original, chaotic form. No one is predicting a sudden gusher of overlapping, poorly planned megaprojects, a brand new influx of tens of thousands of foreign temporary workers, or a rapid rebound to $147-US-a-barrel oil prices. In fact, another spike in prices(however ...

Middle East coastline faces devastation if climate warms by a single degree

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Daily Star: Patrick Galey) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Daily Star: Lebanon may see parts of its coastline vanish if climate change continues unabated, according to a landmark report on the evolving environment of the Arab world. The Impact of Climate Change on Arab Countries -- a document assembled by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development -- warns that an increase in global temperature of just a single degree "would directly impact 41,500 square-kilometers of the Arab coastal lands.' Sea level rise is a big risk, according to the report, ...

Shoppers going green despite struggling economy

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: Basil Katz) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: Despite the worst U.S. recession in decades, sales of organic and sustainable products have continued to grow, experts say, with shoppers willing to spend a few more dollars in a bid to become more green. U.S. supermarket sales of environmentally sustainable or "ethical" products -- from energy-efficient light bulbs to organic produce -- will rise about 8.7 percent in 2009 to nearly $38 billion, according to a recent study by Packaged Facts, a market research ...

Curbs to ship pollution would stoke global warming, study says

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: Alister Doyle) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: Shipping is slowing climate change by spewing out sunlight-dimming pollution but a clean-up needed to safeguard human health will stoke global warming, experts said Friday. "So far shipping has caused a cooling effect that has slowed down global warming," Jan Fuglestvedt, of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research Oslo (CICERO), told Reuters. "After some decades the net climate effect of shipping will shift from cooling to warming" because of cleaner ...

Clean-Energy programs booming at community colleges

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Greenwire: Dina Fine Maron) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Greenwire: For many students enrolling in alternative energy programs at community colleges, it's not about some greater environmental ethos. It's about jobs. That message has resounded at Lansing Community College, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit, where some students are former employees of now-shuttered General Motors Co. plants. Enrollment in the school's alternative energy programs has spiked this year, accounting for the campus's largest growth area. Over the last year alone, the ...

The wind may carry a solution for Kenya

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Washington Post: Christopher Vourlias) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Washington Post: Kenya's Chalbi Desert is a bleak, forbidding stretch of coarse sand and ash-gray ridges broken by clusters of tiny huts. It is also one of the windiest places on Earth, experts say, and it soon will be the site of Africa's largest wind farm. In January, a consortium of Dutch and Kenyan investors will begin construction on the $760 million project, which envisions more than 350 wind turbines towering over desert expanses near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. When completed in 2012, the ...

Expedition Investigates Climate Change, Alternative Fuels In Arctic

info@ecologicalinternet.org (redOrbit: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

redOrbit: Scientists from the Marine Biogeochemistry and Geology and Geophysics sections of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) organized and led a team of university and government scientists on an Arctic expedition to initiate methane hydrate exploration in the Beaufort Sea and determine the spatial variation of sediment contribution to Arctic climate change. Utilizing the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea as a research platform, three cross-shelf transects were surveyed and sampled off ...

Fish 'at risk' in acidified ocean

info@ecologicalinternet.org (BBC: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

BBC: Ocean acidification could cause fish to become "fatally attracted" to their predators, according to scientists. A team studying the effects of acidification - caused by dissolved CO2 - on ocean reefs found that it leaves fish unable to "smell danger". Young clownfish that were reared in the acidified water became attracted to rather than repelled by the chemical signals released by predatory fish. The findings were published in the journal Ecology ...

Australia: Defiant Turnbull to face climate backlash

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Daily Telegraph: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Daily Telegraph: MALCOLM Turnbull is preparing to stare down more than a dozen Liberal Party opponents who are threatening to destroy his leadership over his backing of Kevin Rudd's proposed climate-change laws. A defiant Mr Turnbull may strike a deal with the Government on its emissions trading scheme as early as tonight, setting up a spectacular showdown between Liberal heavyweights over the next few days. In the biggest test of his leadership to date, Mr Turnbull will tomorrow and on Tuesday ...

Solar water heating systems save electricity

info@ecologicalinternet.org (New Kerala: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

New Kerala: Haryana has installed Solar Water Heating Systems (SWHS) of about 13 lakh litres per day capacity in the state resulting in the peak load saving of 13 MW and reduction of Carbon Dioxide emission by 19,500 tonnes thus reducing the global warming and climate change. This was disclosed by Director of Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) Sumita Mishra while speaking in the 'Half-Day Workshop-cum-Exhibition on Promoting of Solar Water Heating Systems' for hospitals, hotels, ...

Obama and Jintao focus net attention on the environment

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Independent (UK): none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Independent (UK): President Barack Obama's November 17 meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao ahead of December's UN Climate Change Conference drove an increased worldwide interest in environmental topics, according to the Nielsen Company's Blogpulse analysis. Interest in the topic of 'Obama' rose by 50% between November 14 and 16, as did the buzz surrounding the word 'China'. Mentions of the word 'environment' followed the same upward motion with generated interest increasing by a third. All ...

Obama must step up on climate change

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Chicago Daily Herald: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Chicago Daily Herald: This December the whole world will be watching the United Nations in Copenhagen as world leaders build the framework for an international treaty to fight climate change. The Obama administration must take a firm stand in moving climate negotiations forward. The United States has shown that it wants to fight climate change by electing a president who is deeply committed to the same goal. President Obama has shown he wants to meet that goal by placing highly knowledgeable and equally ...

UN climate chief holds out hope for global pact

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Associated Press: John Heilprin) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Associated Press: The U.N. climate chief has a message for naysayers about the Copenhagen climate conference next month: It will succeed. Yvo De Boer, the U.N. official who is shepherding the talks, sought to assure reporters Thursday that the long-anticipated United Nations-led meeting Dec. 7-19 isn't a failure even before it's started. In large part, he said he was responding to news coverage that increasingly emphasized the long-shot odds for a deal, particularly given the lack of U.S. commitment to ...

Turnbull quiet on talk he'll sack dissenters

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Australian Broadcasting Corporation: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull is refusing to comment on reports that he will dump climate change dissenters from his front bench. The Federal Government wants the Liberals to agree to amended emissions trading legislation by Friday, but the party's divisions on the scheme are only growing. Mr Turnbull says he is very close to finalising negotiations but will not say whether he thinks his leadership will survive the division among his colleagues. "Running a ...

Hacked E-Mails Fuel Climate Change Skeptics

info@ecologicalinternet.org (New York Times: Andrew C. Revkin) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

New York Times: Hundreds of private e-mails and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university are causing a stir among global warming skeptics, who say they show that climate scientists conspired to overstate the case for a human influence on climate change. The e-mails, attributed to prominent American and British climate researchers, include discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual ...

Australia: Disunity damages deal on ETS: Combet

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Sydney Morning Herald: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Sydney Morning Herald: Disunity within the coalition is hobbling efforts by both sides of politics to achieve a deal on emissions trading, Labor's junior climate change minister Greg Combet says. Mr Combet says a lot of progress has been made in the negotiations between Labor and the opposition on an agreement to secure the passage of the government's emissions trading scheme (ETS) by next Thursday's deadline. However "one of the major complicating factors we're facing is the disunity of the ...

Land of the rising sea

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Sydney Morning Herald: none given) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Sydney Morning Herald: On the front line of climate change, the people of the Pacific Islands are desperately looking for higher ground. Adam Morton reports from Kiribati. When a coconut tree dies the decay starts at the top. The leaves fall, then the fruit. All that is left is a desiccated trunk, cut off at half-mast. In areas flooded with seawater, dead palms resemble tidal gauges, the high water mark visible on their stranded remains. They're plentiful in Tebunginako, a tiny village on an outer ...

Dusty thinking settles across wide brown land

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Sydney Morning Herald: Paddy Manning) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Sydney Morning Herald: "Human beings are fantastically adaptable and will adapt" to this warming period says Tony Howarth. Photo: Nick Moir HOW political is that. At the very climax of negotiations - about 2.30pm on Thursday, just after sceptical senator Nick Minchin rose to join the parliamentary debate - the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry put out a statement opposing ''unilateral adoption'' of a carbon pollution reduction scheme. Amid a pitched battle for the centre of the Liberal ...

Greenland ice loss behind a sixth of sea-level rise

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:00:00 GMT

The ice cap lost 1500 cubic kilometres of ice between 2000 and 2008, and the loss is speeding up

Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study (AFP)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:03:00 GMT

AFP - Thawing permafrost caused by global warming is costing Russian energy firms billions of dollars annually in damage control and shrinking Russia's territory, Greenpeace warned in a new study Friday.

German climate adviser optimistic about Copenhagen

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: Erik Kirschbaum) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: World leaders cannot afford to leave a U.N. summit in Copenhagen next month without a robust agreement to fight climate change, German government climate adviser Hans Joachim Schellnhuber said Friday. Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said he was convinced the 200 world leaders going to Copenhagen for the summit would be able to thrash out a deal -- possibly with the help of alcohol. "They can't afford to go back home without an ...

Fuel-efficient Goodyear tire available on Toyota

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Associated Press: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Associated Press: Goodyear said Friday the 2010 Toyota Prius now includes its fuel-efficient tire, Assurance Fuel Max, as standard equipment. The Assurance Fuel Max features a fuel-saving tread compound that helps reduce energy loss during use, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said. The tire also is available for the 2010 Ford Fusion S and 2011 Chevrolet Volt. As a strategy to boost sales, Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio, has said it will step up new product offerings, including its ...

Model predicts future deforestation

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Nature: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Nature: A computer model that predicts future changes in the world's forests could strengthen the case of Central African nations that are calling for compensation in exchange for protecting their natural resources. Forest management is expected to be a key point of discussion at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Countries will negotiate on how to reward rainforest nations for protecting their forests, a mechanism dubbed REDD for 'reducing emissions from ...

Are the Earth's oceans hitting their carbon cap?

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Time Magazine: Bryan Walsh) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Time Magazine:

Harnessing the Severn

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Living on Earth: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Living on Earth: YOUNG: It's Living on Earth – I'm Jeff Young. This year the European Union passed ambitious new energy standards -- 20 percent of total power from renewable sources by 2020. That's a challenge for the United Kingdom, which is one of Europe's worst performers on renewable energy. The UK government wants to tap into the country's great potential for wind, wave, and tidal power. But proposals to harness the River Severn are so far generating mostly controversy. At 220 miles, the Severn's ...

Climate goal needs more than technology: Shell

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: Gerard Wynn) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: Action to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius is beyond simply inventing new, low-carbon technologies and depends on wider changes to behavior and the way communities are built, said a Royal Dutch Shell executive. Oil major Shell was among nine firms which signed on Friday a letter addressed to head of the European Union's executive Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, calling for a "strong deal" on climate at a global U.N. meeting next month in Copenhagen. Climate scientists ...

As nuclear reactor fleet ages, engineers ask,' is 80 the new 40?'

info@ecologicalinternet.org (New York Times: Paul Voosen) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

New York Times: Could nuclear power plants last as long as the Hoover Dam? Increasingly dependable and emitting few greenhouse gases, the U.S. fleet of nuclear power plants will likely run for another 50 or even 70 years before it is retired -- long past the 40-year life span planned decades ago -- according to industry executives, regulators and scientists. With nuclear providing always-on electricity that will become more cost-effective if a price is placed on heat-trapping carbon dioxide ...

Scientific evidence supports carbon storage technique

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Yorkshire Post: Jack Blanchard) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Yorkshire Post: WHILE full carbon capture and storage systems have yet to be proven on an industrial scale, scientists say all the technology is in place for the technique to become a major player in the battle against climate change. More reports » Dr Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemists and a former oil industry consultant suggests fears about the "unproven" nature of CCS have been overblown, and the cost of installing the technology is likelier to be a bigger barrier than ...

Al Gore: Supercomputers can reverse climate change

info@ecologicalinternet.org (ARNnet: Jon Brodkin) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

ARNnet: Supercomputing technology, according to Al Gore, will help the human race reverse climate change, both by aiding the expansion of renewable energy use and by creating models that help people understand the severity of global warming. Speaking Thursday morning at the SC09 supercomputing conference in Portland, Ore., the former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner told researchers that their expertise can help convince the public and politicians that action is needed to reduce ...

Vehicle fuel efficiency up in 2008 model year

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Associated Press: Ken Thomas) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Associated Press: The fleet of new cars and trucks sold to U.S. consumers averaged 21 miles per gallon in the 2008 model year, a modest increase over the previous year, the Environmental Protection Agency reported Friday. New vehicle fuel efficiency improved 2 percent in 2008 from 20.6 mpg for the 2007 model year. The government projected it will improve slightly to 21.1 mpg in the 2009 model year. The EPA figures are based on real-world estimates for city and highway mileage found on window stickers ...

Climate crunch

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: John Harris) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: It's breakfast time in the biggest of Copenhagen's Scandic hotels. Over the obligatory croissants and coffee – and, for those who want it, an off-beam version of the English breakfast – 42 international delegations are preparing to go into a second day of talks. Phones tweet; hushed conversations within teams of negotiators form a low conversational hum. Look closely, and some of the outlines of modern geopolitics are clear. This morning, the Chinese and Indian delegations are seated ...

'Rain like this happens once every 1,000 years'

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Times (UK): none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Times (UK): The full and devastating impact of England's worst recorded day of rain was still emerging last night as tributes were paid to a policeman swept away by floodwaters while trying to save others. PC Bill Barker was helping motorists stranded on a bridge over the Derwent in the Cumbrian town of Workington when it collapsed. His body was discovered hours later on a nearby beach. The Environment Agency said that the flooding across the region was so severe that such an event was ...

Canadians chagrined over status as climate-change dawdlers

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Globe and Mail: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Globe and Mail: On the eve of major UN climate change talks next month in Copenhagen, a major survey of Canadians has found that more than three quarters of the public feel embarrassed that the country hasn't been taking a leadership role on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. The view that Canada is an international laggard when it comes to dealing with emissions blamed for global warming was felt across the country, even in oil-rich Alberta, the province that would likely bear the highest financial ...

United Kingdom: Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Washington Post: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Washington Post: Hackers broke into the electronic files of one of the world's foremost climate research centers this week and posted an array of e-mails in which prominent scientists engaged in a blunt discussion of global warming research and disparaged climate-change skeptics. The skeptics have seized upon e-mails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Britain as evidence that scientific data have been rigged to make it appear as if humans are causing global ...

Health at Risk

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Inter Press Service: Patricia Grogg) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Inter Press Service: The impacts of climate change on human health will require new approaches to development, based on mitigation and adaptation programmes in line with policies that ensure equal access to health care. That was one of the conclusions of a panel during the 2009 Global Forum for Health Research, which drew researchers, policy makers and representatives of development agencies and NGOs from Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland and the United ...

Don't ignore agriculture in climate talks, experts warn

info@ecologicalinternet.org (SciDev.Net: Naomi Antony) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

SciDev.Net: Leading agriculturalists have warned that failure to include agriculture in next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen will have disastrous consequences on food security. More than 60 leading agricultural scientists from around the world signed a statement this week (18 November) in response to the almost total absence of agriculture from preliminary discussions leading up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit in Copenhagen in December. Climate ...

Maize cell wall genes identified, giving boost to biofuel research

info@ecologicalinternet.org (ScienceDaily: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

ScienceDaily: Purdue University scientists have helped identify and group the genes thought to be responsible for cell wall development in maize, an effort that expands their ability to discover ways to produce the biomass best suited for biofuels production. The Purdue scientists, led by Nicholas Carpita, a professor of plant cell biology, published their findings on the 750 cell wall genes in the journal Plant Physiology on Thursday (Nov. 19). They also were co-authors on a study, published ...

Merkel, Sarkozy back Danes in last-minute climate diplomacy

info@ecologicalinternet.org (EurActiv: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

EurActiv: While it is still uncertain whether US President Barack Obama will attend the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, France and Germany rallied behind the Danish prime minister yesterday (19 November) "to make Copenhagen a success". Background: The global community is currently engaged in negotiations to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. An agreement on a new treaty is set to be reached at the Copenhagen climate conference in December, but ...

Paleontologists Find Extinction Rates Higher in Open-Ocean Settings During Mass Extinctions Daily

info@ecologicalinternet.org (ScienceDaily: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

ScienceDaily: For many years, paleobiological researchers interested in the history of biodiversity have focused on charting the many ups (evolutionary radiations) and downs (mass extinctions) that punctuate the history of life. Because the preserved record of marine (sea-dwelling) animals is unusually extensive in comparison, say, to that of terrestrial animals such as dinosaurs, it's been easier to accurately calibrate the diversity and extinction records of marine organisms. "Paleontologists now ...

Sustainable farming may help maintain healthy climate

info@ecologicalinternet.org (ScienceDaily: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

ScienceDaily: Sustainable farming, initially adopted to preserve soil quality for future generations, may also play a role in maintaining a healthy climate, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories. ORNL and LANL scientists are exploring the large potential of the earth's soils to sequester carbon, with estimates claiming that new land-use practices could greatly reduce U.S. carbon emissions by as much as 25 percent. But exactly which ...

Australia's Rudd faces showdown on carbon vote

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: James Grubel) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: Australia's parliament votes next week on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plan for a sweeping carbon trade scheme with hopes it will finally win approval after two years of divisive debate. Rudd wants the scheme passed in the last four parliamentary sitting days of the year to help generate momentum for global climate talks next month in Copenhagen, which are now unlikely to set legally-binding global greenhouse targets. The debate is being closely watched overseas, particularly in ...

Shun beef to stop climate change, says India

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Agence France-Presse: India, a stronghold of vegetarianism where the cow is a sacred animal for the majority Hindu population, has urged the rest of the world to give up eating beef to help reduce global warming. "The single most important cause of (carbon) emissions is eating beef," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said during a speech on Thursday, his office told AFP. "My formula is stop eating beef. This would stop the emission of methane," said the vegetarian minister. Ramesh, who ...

Indonesia: World Bank arm offers $200m in loans to reforest Indonesia

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Business Green: Yvonne Chan) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Business Green: The International Finance Corp (IFC) is offering loans to Indonesian companies that are interested in reforesting degraded land, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. The World Bank investment arm earlier this week pledged $75m-$200m (£45m-£120m) for its Sustainable Forestry Program, which aims to create plantation forests on grasslands and marshes over the next three to four years. The scheme envisages the transformation of degraded land into productive forests through the ...

Financial Crisis Is 'Green' For The Environment

info@ecologicalinternet.org (National Public Radio: David Kestenbaum) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

National Public Radio: RENEE MONTAGNE, host: And now to the global recession. If there is a silver lining to it, perhaps this is it: Studies are projecting that the world's carbon dioxide emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, will actually decrease this year. David Kestenbaum of our Planet Money team has the story. DAVID KESTENBAUM: Carbon dioxide emissions have been growing globally at three and half percent a year. But for 2009, emissions are expected to drop by about three percent. That's ...

Agriculture can adapt to climate change

info@ecologicalinternet.org (SciDev.Net: William D. Dar) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

SciDev.Net: Sustainable land and water management combined with innovative agricultural technologies could mitigate climate change and help poor farmers adapt to its impacts. New knowledge, technology and policy for agriculture have never been more critical, and adaptation and mitigation strategies must urgently be applied to national and regional development programmes. Without these measures developing countries will suffer increased food insecurity. For the 1.5 billion people engaged in ...

Sand dams voted best solution in water crisis debate

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: An ancient water-saving technique thousands of years old that could save millions of people from drought last night won the ringing endorsement of an audience at the Geographical Society in London. Sand dams, which are constructed out of concrete barriers 1-5m high and backfilled with sand, were voted as the best idea from five different proposals. Each idea had a champion who argued how they would use the virtual prize of $1bn at the Earthwatch debate entitled From tsunami to drought ...

Gender and Climate Change: Poor Women Bear Brunt of Global Warming

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Spiegel: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Spiegel: With the world struggling to come up with an agreement ahead of December's Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, one important fact has been overlooked: Women are hit hardest by the extreme weather shifts, according to a new UN report. When seas rise, droughts hit and glaciers melt, it is women from the developing world who are likely to come off worst, a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says. "Poor women in poor countries are among the hardest hit by climate ...

Industrialized nations unveil plans to rein in emissions

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

New York Times: With less than three weeks remaining before negotiators gather in Copenhagen to hammer out a global response to climate change, a rapid-fire succession of countries are unveiling national plans that serve as opening bids for reining in heat-trapping emissions. "The list of what is on the table is rather long," said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the sponsor of the meeting, which runs from Dec. 7 to 18 in ...

Canada: Ontario considers energy-hog flat screen TV crackdown

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Toronto Star: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Toronto Star: Ontario is looking at tougher energy efficiency rules for flat-screen TVs that suck electricity like SUVs guzzle gas, saving consumers money on their hydro bills but possibly forcing television prices higher. "We're always looking at ways we need to improve standards with appliances," Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said Thursday after California's energy regulator voted to require dramatically lower electricity use in flat-screen TV models starting in 2011. "Over the next few ...

Canada: Oil sands pipeline to West Coast gains backing

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Globe and Mail: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Globe and Mail: Commercial support is building for a new pipeline to carry oil sands crude on its way to Asia, as Canada's energy industry seeks diversification from the U.S. market and an escape valve from potentially punitive climate-change regulations. For years, two major West Coast oil pipeline projects have languished without enough momentum to build the multibillion-dollar infrastructure required to take bitumen from the Fort McMurray, Alta., region to tidewater. In 2005, when Enbridge ...

Energy leaders back climate change deal

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Agence France-Presse: Energy industry leaders on Thursday called for an international deal on climate change to tackle financial uncertainty and prevent potentially catastrophic global warming. "The climate framework is the top long term issue," World Energy Council (WEC) Secretary General Christoph Frei told a UN conference on energy security. "It's the most important driver for change," Frei added. The WEC said executives and officials in 93 countries now regard future climate change ...

Across the board, GOP Senate candidates shy away from cap and trade

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Greenwire: Alex Kaplun) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Greenwire: Republican senators in Washington are not the only ones that are overwhelmingly opposing efforts to move a cap-and-trade bill, as the next wave of potential GOP officeholders has near-unanimously come out against the legislation. In fact, there are virtually no major Republican Senate candidates running for office in 2010 that are in favor of the cap-and-trade climate bill. That Republicans in solidly conservative states would run on anti-cap-and-trade platforms comes as no ...

How storms can trigger earthquakes

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Climate Wire: Evan Lehmann) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Climate Wire: Scientists are increasingly pointing to storms as a trigger for earthquakes and mudslides. That's raising questions about the effects that climate change might have on one of the world's deadliest natural catastrophes, and to what extent, if any, insurers and governments could be adapting to the interplay between atmosphere and earth. So far, those answers are as mysterious as the timing of earthquakes, a question that has baffled humans -- and killed them -- for generations. But ...

Australia carbon deal failure may spur poll

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Wall Street Journal: Rachel Pannett) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Wall Street Journal: A senior Australian government minister said Friday that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd could call an early election if Parliament fails to pass his carbon trading program. The government is negotiating possible changes to the program with opposition lawmakers who control the upper house Senate. It is hopeful a deal can be brokered over the weekend. Parliament enters its final week of the year on Monday, leaving just days for the government to push through its carbon program before ...

UK climate unit's e-mails hacked

info@ecologicalinternet.org (BBC: none given) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

BBC: The e-mail system of one of the world's leading climate research units has been breached by hackers. E-mails reportedly from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), including personal exchanges, appeared on the internet on Thursday. A university spokesman confirmed the email system had been hacked and that information was taken and published without permission. An investigation was underway and the police had been informed, he added. "We are ...

Funding scheme to reduce rainforest destruction

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Business Green: Cath Everett) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Business Green: Efforts to reduce the destruction of tropical rainforests have received a boost following the creation of a five-year emergency funding scheme backed by 35 governments around the world. The plan was announced by the Prince of Wales at a meeting in St James' Palace, London and the aim is to seek initial financing of between £13.5bn and £22bn by 2014 from participating administrations. The US has already pledged to contribute $275m (£165m) towards the initiative next year and the ...

U.S. pledges $275M to rainforest conservation

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Mongabay: The U.S. pledged $275 million to a efforts to reduce deforestation in developing countries, reports Reuters. The commitment was announced by U.S. Ambassador Louis Susman during an event hosted by Prince Charles. The pledge was made in a letter from Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, chair of the US Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, to Prince Charles. The letter stated the funds are "to protect biodiversity and support sustainable landscapes in ...

United Kingdom: Emails from leading scientists leaked online

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: Leo Hickman and James Randerson) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian: Hundreds of private emails and documents allegedly exchanged between some of the world's leading climate scientists during the past 13 years have been stolen by hackers and leaked online, it emerged today. The computer files were apparently accessed earlier this week from servers at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, a world-renowned centre focused on the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change. Climate change sceptics who have studied the emails ...

UN climate chief seeks $10 bln rich-nations pledge

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: Patrick Worsnip) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: The U.N. environmental chief called on rich nations on Thursday to pledge $10 billion a year for three years at next month's Copenhagen summit to help poor states begin to tackle the impact of climate change. Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told a news conference that was a short-term figure and that in 10 or 20 years hundreds of billions of dollars would be needed annually to cope with global warming. The December 7-18 meeting in Copenhagen had long ...

India PM heads to U.S. in test of ties with Obama (Reuters)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:07:03 GMT

Reuters - India's prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama meet next week to strengthen ties, with the emerging Asian power increasingly playing a bigger role on global issues such as climate change and trade.

Shun beef to stop climate change, says India (AFP)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:39:13 GMT

AFP - India, a stronghold of vegetarianism where the cow is a sacred animal for the majority Hindu population, has urged the rest of the world to give up eating beef to help reduce global warming.

PM heads to U.S. in test of ties with Obama (Reuters)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:59:37 GMT

Reuters - Prime minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama meet next week to strengthen ties, with the emerging Asian power increasingly playing a bigger role on global issues such as climate change and trade.

Google Spyware Will Help Vigilantes Save Rainforests

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Times online (UK)-- Environmentalists across the world are to be enlisted as armchair detectives to monitor satellite images of rainforests and report any illegal logging. The images will be frequently updated and anyone with internet access will be able to make instant comparisons with historical images and spot destruction of rainforest almost as soon as it happens.

NY AG: AES Corp. agrees to pollution disclosures (AP)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:47:10 GMT

AP - AES Corp., which operates several coal-fired power plants in the U.S., has agreed to put more information about global warming in its public financial disclosures.

Germany calls for binding climate deal in 2010 (AP)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:40:25 GMT

AP - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Thursday for all countries to fix binding climate change targets next year at the latest, acknowledging that no such deal is likely at global talks in Copenhagen next month.

Q&A: Copenhagen climate change conference 2009

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Telegraph: Julian Kossoff) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Telegraph: What is the Copenhagen climate change summit? From 7 December 2009, the leaders of the world's 180 countries -backed by a 20,000-strong army of officials, advisors, experts and journalists - will attend a United Nations meeting in Copenhagen to thrash out a new international deal to tackle climate change. Whatever is agreed at Copenhagen will come into force on 1st January 2013, and supersede the last attempt to save the environment, the Kyoto protocol. Who are the key ...

EU ministers to outline expectations for Copenhagen

info@ecologicalinternet.org (EurActiv: none given) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

EurActiv: EU environment ministers will meet on Monday (23 November) to define what a successful outcome of Copenhagen's UN climate conference next month would entail. Background: The global community is currently engaged in negotiations to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. An agreement on a new treaty is set to be reached at the Copenhagen climate conference in December, but the talks have stalled on the developed countries' reluctance to commit to ...

A big loophole in cap and trade

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Business Week: Ben Elgin) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Business Week: Nearly 3,000 miles from the U.S. Capitol, where lawmakers are debating landmark climate legislation, a crucial aspect of the national campaign to limit greenhouse gas emissions is taking shape at the headquarters of Sierra Pacific Industries. Situated on the banks of the Sacramento River, Sierra Pacific is California's largest nongovernment landowner and timber harvester. The privately held company, which has estimated annual revenues of $1 billion, says it will manage trees on 60,000 ...

Behind the Copenhagen summit scenes with Ed Miliband

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: none given) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Guardian

Google spyware will help vigilantes save rainforests

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Times (UK): Ben Webster) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Times (UK): Environmentalists across the world are to be enlisted as armchair detectives to monitor satellite images of rainforests and report any illegal logging. The images will be frequently updated and anyone with internet access will be able to make instant comparisons with historical images and spot destruction of rainforest almost as soon as it happens. Every four seconds an area of rainforest the size of a football pitch is cut or burnt down for timber and paper or to clear land ...

Climate change causing 'corrosive' water to affect Arctic marine life

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Canwest News Service: Margaret Munro) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Canwest News Service: Scientists have uncovered a large expanse of "corrosive" water in the Canadian Arctic that is putting the marine food web at risk. The waters have been so altered by climate change and melting sea ice that plankton, shellfish and fish may have trouble building their protective shells and skeletons, an international team reports Friday in the journal Science. The oceanographers have documented a "rapid" drop in the levels of carbonate, a compound used to produce shells and ...

Seeking wind energy, some consider the sea

info@ecologicalinternet.org (New York Times: Henry Fountain) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

New York Times: LAST June in a fjord in southwestern Norway, a 213-foot-tall wind turbine did something large wind turbines normally don't do: it headed out to sea. Towed by tugboats, the newly built turbine, with three 139-foot rotor blades and a 2.3-megawatt generator atop the tower, which itself was bolted to a ballasted steel cylinder extending more than 300 feet below the waterline, made its way to a spot six miles off the coast. Once in position it was moored with cables to the seafloor, about ...

U.S. group sees worsening coastal flooding threat

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: Richard Cowan) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: Fast-melting ice from Greenland and Antarctica will lead to a much sharper rise in sea levels than previously estimated, touching off flooding that will radically alter U.S. East Coast cities from Miami to Baltimore, according to a new study. Climate change will cause a rise of at least 1 meter (39 inches) in sea levels by the end of this century, according to a review of scientific data by Clean Air-Cool Planet, an environmental group that calls itself nonpartisan. The ...

Melting sea ice dilutes water, endangers sea life

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Reuters: Melting of the Arctic sea ice due to global warming is diluting surface waters and this is endangering some species of shellfish which need minerals in the water to form their shells and skeletons, scientists have found. In a paper published in Science, they warned that this has serious implications for ecosystems in the Arctic. "Organisms that are likely to be affected are from the family of pteropods, also mussels and clams on the sea floor," said Fiona McLaughlin, research ...

John McCain slams 'horrendous' climate bill

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Politico: none given) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Politico: Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman have been working overtime to craft a climate bill that can attract significant GOP support. But they aren't exactly scoring points with their mutual best friend in the Senate, John McCain. "Their start has been horrendous,' McCain said Thursday. "Obviously, they're going nowhere.' McCain has emerged as a vocal opponent of the climate bill -- a major reversal for the self-proclaimed maverick who once made defying his party on global ...

Energy leaders back climate change deal (AFP)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:41:00 GMT

AFP - Energy industry leaders on Thursday called for an international deal on climate change to tackle financial uncertainty and prevent potentially catastrophic global warming.

Colo. local leaders urge action on climate change (AP)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:10:32 GMT

AP - Ski officials at one of the nation's most-visited resorts are calling on Congress to finish work on a climate-change bill.

Cabinet approves solar power programme (Reuters)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:10:11 GMT

Reuters - India's cabinet on Thursday approved its first solar power plan, pledging to boost output from near zero to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2020 as part of its plan to fight global warming.

Model Helena Christensen examines climate change in Peru (AFP)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:34:20 GMT

AFP - Supermodel-turned-photographer Helena Christensen urged politicians and world leaders to commit to real changes at the upcoming Copenhagen climate talks, as she launched a photo exhibition in London documenting climate change in Peru.

Global warming, 9/11, Obama top words of the decade (Reuters)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:12:44 GMT

Reuters - Concerns over the environment and terrorism have not only affected how people lived in the past decade but also their language, with "global warming" and "9/11" topping a list of the most used words of the 2000s.

Forest Service says trees can slow climate change (AP)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:35:41 GMT

AP - National forests can be used as a carbon "sink" with vast numbers of trees absorbing carbon dioxide to help slow global warming, the Forest Service chief said Wednesday, but that goal must be balanced.

As electric cars arrive, where will they plug in?

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Time Magazine: Joseph R. Szczesny) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Time Magazine: Already, utilities, retailers, hamburger joints and others are scrambling to prepare for the swarm of electric and hybrid vehicles, and several are market-testing on-site charging stations. The auto industry is doing its part, not only producing a burst of innovative vehicles, but also attacking some of the nitty-gritty issues, like the size of the plug. Thankfully, the plug challenge is nearly resolved. While no two cell phones can use the same charger, carmakers have agreed on the ...

Four ways to feed the world

info@ecologicalinternet.org (New Scientist: Debora MacKenzie) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

New Scientist: IT IS humanity's oldest enemy. Despite all our science, a sixth of people in the developing world are chronically hungry. At a summit in Rome this week, world leaders reaffirmed a pledge to end hunger "at the earliest possible date". The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) wanted them to promise to end hunger by 2025, but the delegates declined. They said instead that they would keep trying to meet their previous goal: to halve chronic hunger from 20 per cent of people in ...

Indigenous groups key in climate change debate: Zoellick (AFP)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:39:25 GMT

AFP - World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said Wednesday it was critical for indigenous people to be included in climate change talks, saying they were among groups most affected by global warming.

Slower population growth to help environment: UN study (AFP)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:35:23 GMT

AFP - Braking the rise in Earth's population would be a major help in the fight against global warming, according to an unprecedented UN report published on Wednesday that draws a link between demographic pressure and climate change.

UN: Fight climate change with free condoms (AP)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:21:53 GMT

AP - The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.

Copenhagen prep talks wrap up ahead of summit (AFP)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:46:27 GMT

AFP - Environment ministers from 44 key countries on Tuesday wrapped up closed-door talks aimed at laying the groundwork for a political agreement at next month's UN conference on global warming.

Copenhagen – how the Danes will salvage a deal

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:48:00 GMT

The organisers of the Copenhagen climate conference have conceded that it cannot deliver a legally binding deal. What is left for it to offer?

Indonesia to Propose its Own Pro-Poor Initiative

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Jakarta Post -- Hadi Haryanto, director general of forest production development at the Forestry Ministry, said that the pro-poor carbon initiative would pave the way for tribal communities managing forests to show their commitment to an emissions-cuts scheme, to get money from developed nations. “We have finished mapping areas of communal forests in Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java,” said Hadi, who is also the director general of forest production development at the Forestry Ministry. "Around 6.2 million hectares of communal forests are eligible for the carbon reduction scheme"

Climate change gives ancient trees growth spurt

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Rising temperatures are boosting the growth of the oldest trees on Earth, but the adolescent growth spurt may – or may not – benefit the climate, say scientists

On the Copenhagen Agenda, Reducing Deforestation May Still Succeed

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Time Magazine -- This month, Nature Geoscience published a study calculating that deforestation is responsible for about 15% of global carbon emissions, down from earlier estimates of 20%. Unfortunately, the study's findings couldn't be further from the truth. The authors' recalculation had less to do with a reduction in deforestation than with an unexpected increase in emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

Paradox lost: molecular collisions kept early Earth warm

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT

2.5 billion years ago, the sun was so faint, the oceans should have been ice. They weren't, and now a modelling study suggests the greenhouse effect, and nitrogen explain why

Ray Mears: We'll struggle to survive climate change

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Ray Mears is Mr Bushcraft. He wants people to be confident about surviving in the wild, but reckons most of us won't make it through a global climate crisis

Trees in far north provide biggest climate benefit

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:51:00 GMT

Planting forests in the tropics could be a waste of time and money, compared with planting them at high latitudes

Asia Governors Endorse U.N. Forest Carbon Scheme

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Reuters -- - Six provincial governors from Indonesia, Laos and the Philippines on Thursday backed an expanded U.N. scheme aimed at protecting and conserving forests in return for carbon credits. In a joint statement after a meeting on the sidelines of an annual gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders, the governors said the REDD+ held the promise of boosting livelihoods for local communities, a key step in curbing deforestation. But fair distribution of wealth was key

Invest in Nature Today, Save Trillions Tomorrow

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source; AFP --Investing billions today to protect threatened ecosystems and dwindling biodiversity would reap trillions in savings over the long haul, a UN-backed report explains. Carving out a major place in the deal for forests is cited as the most urgent of 10 recommendations, with less than a month before the Copenhagen climate summit tasked with forging a vital accord on climate change,

Sustainable Management of Forests and REDD+: Negotiations Need Clear Terminology

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: FAO -- There is still no clear consensus among Parties on what activities should or should not be eligible for incentives under a REDD+ instrument. There are, however, signs that the lack of a common understanding of the terms “sustainable management of forests” and “sustainable forest management (SFM)” is confusing the debate.

Trucks, Trains and Trees

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: New York Times -- No matter how many times you hear them, there are some statistics that just bowl you over [...]: Imagine if you took all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships in the world and added up their exhaust every year, the amount of carbon dioxide [that they] collectively emit into the atmosphere is actually less than the carbon emissions that result from the chopping down and clearing of tropical forests in places like Brazil, Indonesia and the Congo every year.

Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Detailed studies of ancient climate have revealed that the onset of Europe's "Big Freeze", 13,000 years ago, was anything but glacial

Indigenous Forest Leaders Prepare for COP-15, Stress Fair and Community-Focused Approach to REDD+

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: IPACC --Indigenous African leaders from East and Central Africa met in Bujumbura, Burundi to finalise a joint strategy and statement on climate change. In a surprise move, the conference strongly endorsed a statement that African Protected Areas should be funded by REDD+ financing mechanisms.

Indonesian Forests on Frontline of Climate Debate

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: AFP -- With the approach of global climate talks in Copenhagen, activists are hoping to draw world attention to their fight to save the last tropical forests on Indonesia's Sumatra island. In the complicated argot of climate negotiations, the idea is called REDD: Reducing Emmissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

Norway to Give Guyana up to $250M for Rainforest Conservation

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Mongabay.com -- Under the terms of the agreement, signed today, Norway will put $30 million into Guyana's "REDD+" development fund. Subsequent payments — up to $250 million in total — would be contingent of Guyana's ability to avoid future deforestation.

2009 Nobel Prize Elinor Ostrom and REDD

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: The Jakarta Post -- The 2009 Nobel prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Elinor Ostrom. Sharing with Oliver Williamson, Ostrom was acknowledged for her analysis of economic governance and principles for successfully managing common-pool resources, which have important implications for REDD implementation.

Fresh Bid to Protect Forests in Cambodia

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source : Phnom Penh Post --Cambodia has formally joined the UN-REDD Programme that helps nations develop the capacity to reduce emissions from deforestation, the United Nations confirmed Thursday. “Cambodia is the country in Southeast Asia with the most forest left. When we arrived in 2000, 60 percent of Cambodia’s ground cover was forested”, says Suwanna Gauntlett, president of Cambodian environmental NGO Wildlife Alliance, noting that a sequestration-based carbon credit system was ideally suited to the Kingdom.

REDD in Colombia: Using Forests to Finance Conservation and Communities in a Former War Zone

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Mongabay -- Ferguson, a Stanford University-trained anthropologist, explains how while NGOs have been working for decades in the Colombia Chocó to foster sustainable livelihoods, REDD could finally be the mechanism that generates sufficient funding to get projects off the ground.

Kenya: Wind power project hits snag

info@ecologicalinternet.org (Nation: Jaindi Kiserop) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Nation: The fate of Kenya's largest green energy project hangs in the balance after a potential financier pulled out of the deal. The Lake Turkana Wind Power project, the largest of its kind in Africa, was estimated to cost Sh46 billion and had the capacity to produce 300 megawatts of power or 17 per cent of the current national supply. However, shareholders in the company have had to go back to the drawing board as it emerges that the giant private equity player, Globeleq of the United ...

Study Suggests Peat CO2 Credits More Valuable

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Reuters --An Indonesia-based study shows carbon-rich tropical peat lands trap more greenhouse gases than first thought, driving up their potential value on the carbon market and strengthening a case for their protection.

It's a Market, but in Jungle Camouflage

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: the Australian -- Due diligence in the [REDD] game is not satisfied by the mere examination of a spreadsheet, it's done by going deep into rainforests, hugging trees (to test their width and carbon storage) and the depth of the peat. "We can look at satellite images but you are not going to know until you go there," says Yates of FFI. "It's all about proof."

Ambassador Kohona Calls for “Sufficient Incentives" to Preserve Sri Lanka’s Rain Forests

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Asian Tribune -- "We fully endorsed the work of UN REDD of which Sri Lanka has been admitted as a new member", said Ambassador Palitha Kohona. Speaking on the Agenda item ˜53 Sustainable Development” he pointed out that his country, despite its geographic limits as an island, and its high population density was still maintaining over 20% forest cover.

Mass extinction blamed on fiery fountains of coal

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:19:00 GMT

One of Earth's worst-ever mass extinctions may have been caused by carbon dioxide released by exploding mixtures of magma and coal

Indonesia Faces Tough Jobs to Set Correct Climate Change Policies

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Xinhua --With the ongoing rampant forest and peatland areas opening for private companies' plantations, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan islands, Indonesia has been a major carbon emitter country, with rampant and frequent forest and peatland fire. The country's primary forests are estimated to store around 230tons of carbon per hectare, while secondary forests store around 176 tons of carbon. The current rate of forest cover loss may significantly contribute to the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

Fix climate change or else, say military top brass

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:07:00 GMT

An international panel of military officers warns that climate change threatens global security and stability

Better REDD Than Dead

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Mother Jones -- Amid the blizzard of acronyms you're likely to hear a lot as global climate talks heat up is REDD, which is United Nations lingo for Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation. In other words, finding ways to pay for preserving forests and planting new trees—an issue that has set major political and financial interests on a collision course. Some of the key players:

Forest Protection Hinges on 10-Word Phrase

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: Reuters/Solve Climate --BARCELONA, Spain: Developing nations could end up being paid billions of dollars to raze rainforests and build palm oil plantations in their place if the current text of the Copenhagen climate treaty sticks, a group of advocates warned at the United Nations climate talks on Tuesday.

Pay Us Oil Money, Or The Rainforest Gets It

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Source: New Scientist --More than two years ago, Ecuador said it would abandon plans for drilling in Yasuni National Park, one of the few pristine regions of Amazon rainforest remaining, if it was paid half of the $7 billion that it expected to earn from tapping the oilfield. Ecuador's unprecedented offer to accept payment for not extracting oil from beneath the Amazon rainforest is beginning to draw interest.

Pay us oil money, or the rainforest gets it

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Ecuador's offer to refrain from drilling for oil in the Amazon rainforest in exchange for money could be a novel way of combatting climate change

We still have a chance to save polar bears

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:49:00 GMT

Polar bears and other ice-dependent species could survive if we act now to limit and manage human activity in the Arctic

China outperforms US on green issues

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:02:00 GMT

The country is doing more to tackle climate change than it gets credit for: in fact, it beats the US in some key environmental measures

Plan to protect polar bears' icy habitat

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:22:00 GMT

The US has proposed designating part of Alaska's coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears – but will it be enough to save the species?

Canada's tar sands may be just too dirty

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:12:00 GMT

Even carbon capture and storage may be unable to cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to make the Athabasca tar sands an environmentally friendly source of useable fuel

Obama says US in global race to develop clean energy

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:26:00 GMT

At a speech at MIT on Friday, the president said that "the nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy"

Stealthy wind turbines aim to disappear from radar screens

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:22:00 GMT

An innovative redesign of wind turbine blades could render them invisible to radar – making them more palatable to air traffic controllers and the military

How green is your pet?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:47:00 GMT

It's time to wise up to the ecological pawprint of your furry friend – it may be doing more environmental damage than an SUV

Adopt green tech by 2014 to avert climate calamity

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:02:00 GMT

The world will have to switch to a low-carbon economy within five years or risk runaway global warming, says WWF

We will be billions of dollars poorer when coral dies

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:34:00 GMT

The world's coral reefs "earn" $172 billion every year, but they're on the brink of collapse, economist says

Birth of the Appalachians triggered mass extinction

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:29:00 GMT

The birth of the US mountain chain may have led to a major ice age and a mass extinction

US steel-makers temper climate deal hopes

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:17:00 GMT

Lobbying has led to Congress considering tariffs on developing nations, which could be a deal-breaker at December's climate change talks in Copenhagen

Kew seed bank has 10% of all plants – and counting

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The Millennium Seed Bank has reached its initial target of collecting 10 per cent of the world's known wild plant species

Melting glaciers bring 1980s pollution revival

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:16:00 GMT

Alpine glaciers are now releasing nasty chemicals that settled on them decades ago and have since been banned

Roger Beachy: GM crop pioneer now US farm science chief

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:05:00 GMT

The head of the new National Institute of Food and Agriculture explains his links to the biotech industry and how farming can adapt to climate change

US climate bill feels the heat

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:46:00 GMT

A climate-change bill has at last been introduced to the US senate, but the opposition to the emission cuts it contains is huge