NewsRack: Genecampaign/Climate-Change/Greenhouse-Gases

Obama's Arctic strategy sets off a climate time bomb | Nafeez Ahmed - Guardian: Science

Nafeez Ahmed — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

US National Strategy for the Arctic Region prioritises corporate 'economic opportunities' at the expense of everyone else One week ago, the Obama administration launched its National Strategy for the Arctic Region , outlining the government's strategic priorities over the next 10 years. The release of the strategy came about a week after the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President at the White House Complex hosted a briefing with international Arctic scientists . Despite giving lip service to the values of environmental conservation, the new document focuses on how the US can manage the exploitation of the region's vast untapped oil, gas and mineral resources in cooperation with other Arctic powers. US hinges success of Arctic strategy on diminishing sea ice At the heart of the White House's new Arctic strategy is an elementary but devastating contradiction between what President Obama, in the document's preamble, describes as seeking "to ...

Global warming has not stalled, insists world's best-known climate scientist - Guardian: Environment

Damian Carrington — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Prof James Hansen warns public not to be fooled by 'diversionary tactic' from deniers Suggestions that global warming has stalled are a "diversionary tactic" from "deniers" who want the public to be confused over climate change, according to the world's best-known climate scientist. Prof James Hansen, who first alerted the world to climate change in 1988, said on Friday: "It is not true that the temperature has not changed in the two decades." Since 1998, when the Niño climate phenomenon caused global temperatures to soar, the rate of increase in warming has slowed, causing some sceptics to suggest climate change has stopped or that the effect of rising carbon dioxide levels on climate is not as great as previously thought. Prof Hansen, speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, rejected both arguments. "In the last decade it has warmed only a tenth of a degree compared to two-tenths of a degree in the preceeding decade, but that's just natural variability. There is no reason to be ...

Population growth and climate change explained by Hans Rosling – video - Guardian: Environment

Claire Provost, Claudine Spera — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Han Rosling demonstrates the dynamics of population growth, child mortality and carbon dioxide emissions

Claire Provost

Claudine Spera

Column: Carbon threshold crossed - Rediff: Business

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

While long term solution depends on each one of us altering our consumption patterns, the future depends on next generation technologists and entrepreneurs creating business models that naturally reduce the green house gas emissions.

UN highlights potential for generating clean energy in Africa - New Kerala: World News

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

New York, May 14 : Less than 1 per cent of all patent applications relating to clean energy technology (CET) have been filed in Africa, according to a new United Nations study, which also highlights the opportunity for the continent to leapfrog existing fossil-fuel energy sources and, in the process, cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve public health.

UN urges coordinated response to CO2 'danger zone' - New Kerala: World News

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

New York, May 14 : In the face of "clear and present danger," the United Nations climate change body is warning that a stepped-up coordinated response is needed to fend off the impacts of climate change after the world's carbon-dioxide concentrations surpassed their highest level in 4 million years.

India must develop own climate model: US expert - New Kerala: India News

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

By Richa Sharma, New Delhi, May 13 : India is amongst the countries most vulnerable to climate change and must develop its own model to study changes at the regional level and take necessary mitigation measures, a senior US scientist of Indian origin said.

One-third of animal species will be hit by climate change, scientists warn - The Guardian -- World Latest

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Plant and animal species could see dramatic losses as habitats become unsuitable and ecosystems collapse One-third of common land animals could see dramatic losses this century because of climate change, scientists predict. More than half of plants could be hit the same way as habitats become unsuitable for numerous species. The collapse of ecosystems would have major economic impacts on agriculture, air quality, clean water access, and tourism. Global temperatures are set to rise 4C above preindustrial levels by 2100 if nothing is done to stem greenhouse gas emissions. This could have a hugely destructive effect on thousands of common as well as rare and endangered species around the world, according to the researchers. An estimated 57% of plants and 34% of animals were likely to lose half or more of their habitat range. But the damage would be greatly reduced if emissions were scaled down in time, the study shows. Losses are reduced by 60% if global warming is cut to 2% ...

Climate change could leave hundreds of millions homeless - New Kerala: Andhra Pradesh

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

London, May 12 : It is increasingly likely that hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homelands in the near future as a result of global warming, according to an expert.

Climate change: swift political action can avert a carbon dioxide crisis | Observer editorial - The Guardian -- World Latest

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Carbon dioxide levels have reached an all-time high. But there is some hope if governments take the figures seriously The news that concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere reached a level of 400 parts per million last week might not appear to have immediate significance. The level is only a couple of units higher than last year, after all. Yet the development has undoubted importance. With the realisation that carbon dioxide levels have achieved that symbolic 400ppm figure, it is now clear that two decades of warnings from scientists have fallen on deaf ears and that our leaders have failed completely to curtail rising outputs of greenhouse gases across the world. Indeed, they have allowed them to accelerate. In the 1960s, levels rose at 0.7ppm a year. Today, they rise at 2.1ppm, as more and more nations become industrialised and increase outputs from their factories and power plants. As a result, the most conservative of scientific calculations suggest Earth now faces a 50-50 ...

Climate change 'will make hundreds of millions homeless' - The Guardian -- World Latest

Robin McKie — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Carbon dioxide levels indicate rise in temperatures that could lead agriculture to fail on entire continents It is increasingly likely that hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homelands in the near future as a result of global warming. That is the stark warning of economist and climate change expert Lord Stern following the news last week that concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere had reached a level of 400 parts per million (ppm). Massive movements of people are likely to occur over the rest of the century because global temperatures are likely to rise to by up to 5C because carbon dioxide levels have risen unabated for 50 years, said Stern, who is head of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change. "When temperatures rise to that level, we will have disrupted weather patterns and spreading deserts," he said. "Hundreds of millions of people will be forced to leave their homelands because their crops and animals will have died. The trouble will ...

Global carbon dioxide in atmosphere passes milestone level - The Guardian -- World Latest

Damian Carrington — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Climate warming greenhouse gas reaches 400 parts per million for the first time in human history For the first time in human history, the concentration of climate-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has passed the milestone level of 400 parts per million (ppm). The last time so much greenhouse gas was in the air was several million years ago, when the Arctic was ice-free, savannah spread across the Sahara desert and sea level was up to 40 metres higher than today. These conditions are expected to return in time, with devastating consequences for civilisation, unless emissions of CO2 from the burning of coal, gas and oil are rapidly curtailed. But despite increasingly severe warnings from scientists and a major economic recession, global emissions have continued to soar unchecked . "It is symbolic, a point to pause and think about where we have been and where we are going," said Professor Ralph Keeling, who oversees the measurements on a Hawaian volcano, which were begun by his father ...

Meteorite crater reveals future of a globally warmed world - Guardian: Environment

Damian Carrington — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Lake sediments recorded the climate of the Arctic during the last period when CO2 levels were as high as today The future of a globally warmed world has been revealed in a remote meteorite crater in Siberia, where lake sediments recorded the strikingly balmy climate of the Arctic during the last period when greenhouse gas levels were as high as today. Unchecked burning of fossil fuels has driven carbon dioxide to levels not seen for 3m years when, the sediments show, temperatures were 8C higher than today, lush forests covered the tundra and sea levels were up to 40m higher than today. "It's like deja vu," said Prof Julie Brigham-Grette, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who led the new research analysing a core of sediment to see what temperatures in the region were between 3.6 and 2.2m years ago. "We have seen these warm periods before. Many people now agree this is where we are heading." "It shows a huge warming – unprecedented in human history," said Prof Scott Elias, at ...

Academics warn Canada against further tar sands production - The Guardian -- World Latest

Suzanne Goldenberg — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Letter urges natural resources minister Joe Oliver to consider consequences of his support for controversial policy The Canadian government's promotion of the tar sands industry is setting the world on a course of catastrophic climate change, a group of climate scientists and economists have warned. In a letter made available to the Guardian, the academics urged Canada's natural resources minister, Joe Oliver, to consider the consequences of his support for expanding Alberta's tar sands production. Oliver has in recent months emerged as the main proponent for the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington and other capitals. He is due in London this week. The project would pump crude from the tar sands directly to refineries on the Texas Gulf coast, and so provide a much-needed outlet for Canada's crude. But the academics warned that unlocking Alberta's tar sands, which are thought to hold some 170bn barrels of recoverable oil, would put a dangerous amount of carbon into the atmosphere. ...

'Emissions plan could energise climate talks' - Guardian: Environment

Tue, 07 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The proposal for a climate deal by 2015 based on national 'contributions' gained traction UN talks in Germany last week The United States' proposal to let countries draft their own emissions reduction plans rather than working toward a common target can unlock languishing UN climate negotiations , the US climate change envoy said on Tuesday. The proposal that a global climate deal by 2015 should be based on national "contributions" gained traction at last week's round of UN talks in Germany , although China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, said it wanted far more binding commitments by wealthy countries. In the first public US statements on the plan, Todd Stern, the US State Department's special envoy on climate change, told reporters on Tuesday that the US approach was designed to bring as many countries as possible to the table through a form of peer pressure and break the impasse over a successor to the 1997 Kyoto protocol . "Countries, knowing that they will be subject to the ...

Carbon emissions 'rapidly acidifying' Arctic Ocean - New Kerala: Andhra Pradesh

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

London, May 7 : Global warming is making the Arctic Ocean acidic, according to a new report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP).

Pacific islands look for model to combat changes due to global warming - Guardian: Environment

Claudine Wéry — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Islanders must adapt as environmental impact of climate change affects centuries-old ways of life With islands and atolls scattered across the ocean, the small Pacific island states are among those most exposed to the effects of global warming: increasing acidity and rising sea level, more frequent natural disasters and damage to coral reefs. These micro-states, home to about 10 million people, are already paying for the environmental irresponsibility of the great powers. "Pacific islands are the victims of industrial countries unable to control their carbon dioxide emissions. The truth of the matter is that we have no option but to accept this and adapt," says Dr Jimmie Rodgers, the head of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), a regional development organisation. At the initiative of France's Research on Development Institute (IRD) and New Caledonia University , 30 or so scientists from the Pacific basin spent a week at the end of April discussing the design of a sustainable ...

Global warming could affect rainfall patterns - New Kerala: India News

Fri, 03 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Washington, May 4 : A NASA-led modeling study has provided new evidence that global warming could change future global rainfall patterns and increase the risk of both flooding and drought.

ADB may cut its lending to India: PC - New Kerala: India News

Fri, 03 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

New Delhi, May 4 : Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) might cut its lending to India.

Finance Minister Shri P Chidambaram’s Opening Address at the 46th Annual meeting of the ADB Board of Governors Today - Govt of india: PIB

Fri, 03 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Following is the text of the Union Finance Minister Shri P Chidambaram’s Opening Address at the 46th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors’ today at IECM, Greater Noida:

NASA study projects warming-driven changes in global rainfall - New Kerala: India News

Fri, 03 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Washington, May 3 : A NASA-led modeling study provides new evidence that global warming may increase the risk for extreme rainfall and drought.

Is China really a climate change leader? | Jennifer Duggan - Guardian: Environment

Jennifer Duggan — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A new report portrays China as a leader in tackling climate change but its emissions are still rising dramatically China's environmental woes have attracted a lot of attention internationally since the start of the new year. Air pollution was first up in January as levels in a number of cities, including the capital Beijing, hit lung clogging off the record levels. Dubbed the 'air-pocalypse' , hazardous smog left air pollution left cities enveloped in a thick layer of smog. And just last month water pollution took an unusual form in Shanghai after thousands of dead pigs were found floating in the city's main river which provides drinking water for up to 20 per cent of the city's 23 million residents. Concerns have also been raised about dangerous levels of soil pollution after heavy metals were found in soil samples. China's environment has suffered to help fuel its record-breaking economic growth. Its coal-powered factories and power stations pump out thick clouds of soot making it the ...

Energy secretary urges Michael Gove to reinstate climate change on curriculum - Guardian: Environment

Patrick Wintour — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Ed Davey asks education secretary in private letter to rethink plans to remove climate change from geography curriculum Ed Davey, the energy secretary, has written a private letter to Michael Gove, the education secretary, urging him to rethink his plans to downgrade climate change in the new national curriculum. Amid protests from environmentalists and some students, Gove has removed debate about climate change from the draft geography curriculum. Davey, a Liberal Democrat, argues that inclusion of climate change in the geography curriculum would safeguard the very important role teachers can have in teaching children about climate change. Gove is seeking to slim down the curriculum, but his critics claim the omission of climate change from key stage 3 geography is an attempt to downgrade its significance, and even its validity. In a Guardian interview on Wednesday Nick Clegg revealed he was now spending more time trying to broker deals with the Conservatives on green issues than ...

General Motors urges Obama and Congress to unite on climate change - Guardian: Environment

Suzanne Goldenberg — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Auto giant adds signature to Climate Declaration, which calls on government to pass climate laws that would help economy General Motors called on Barack Obama and Congress to work together on climate change on Wednesday, saying the effort would be good for business. GM, which makes the plug-in Chevy Volt, was the first of the big three car makers to sign on to a new push from the business world for greater action on global warming from Washington, the Climate Declaration . "We want to be a change agent in the auto industry," Mike Robinson, GM vice-president of sustainability and global regulatory affairs, said in a statement. The declaration, now endorsed by 40 companies, was launched in Washington last month with the aim of capitalising on public concern about climate change after Hurricane Sandy and Obama's re-election in the hope of pushing a climate law through Congress. More than half of Americans now blame climate change for the extreme weather of recent years, acccording to a ...

Infy, HCL Tech, Wipro among the GREENEST in BRICS - Rediff: Business

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Brazil's alternative energy company, Cemig, tops the list of Environmental Tracking (ET) BRICS 300 Carbon Ranking.