Saturday, 10 October 2009 13:02 UK; By Richard Black; Environment correspondent, BBC News website A new historical record of carbon dioxide levels suggests current political targets on climate may be “playing with fire”, scientists say. Researchers used ocean sediments to plot CO2 levels back 20 million years. Levels similar to those now commonly regarded as adequate to tackle climate change were associated with sea levels 80 feet to 130 feet. . . CONTINUE
UK E.R.C.: cheap oil is at an end Warning over global oil decline 02:50 GMT, Thursday, 8 October 2009 03:50 UK, BBC News There is a “significant risk” that global production of conventional oil could “peak” and decline by 2020, a report has warned. The report’s authors also state that the 10 largest oil producing fields in the world are all in decline. The UK Energy Research Council study says. . . CONTINUE
The Driving Sustainability ’09 conference and an intimate conversation with Icelandic President Olafur Grimsson. September 17, 2009 at 10:25AM by Jim Motavalli The setting was traditionally Icelandic, but the President is quite up to date about the fast-moving efforts–showcased at the “Driving Sustainability ’09” conference, where he spoke–to turn Iceland into a showcase for electric cars. Its unique combination of political will, a concentrated population of just 310,000 people and. . . CONTINUE
“Negligent Homicide” : 15+ deaths reported British trading giant agrees to pay millions to victims maimed and scarred by dumping of polluted sludge By Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter Thursday, 17 September 2009 Thousands of west Africans besieged local hospitals in 2006, and a number died, after the dumping of hundreds of tonnes of highly toxic oil waste around the country’s capital, Abidjan. Official local autopsy reports on 12 alleged victims. . . CONTINUE
Bank urges climate ‘action now’ Tuesday, 15 September 2009 By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News website Climate change will be a serious barrier to growth in poorer nations and must be curbed, says the World Bank. The bank’s World Development Report (WDR) urges a rapid scaling-up of spending on clean energy research and protection for poorer countries. Even a warming of 2C (3.6F) – the G8’s target – could. . . CONTINUE
Thursday, 3 September 2009, By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News website Arctic temperatures are now warmer than at any time in the last 2,000 years, research reveals. Changes to the Earth’s orbit drove centuries of cooling, but temperatures rose fast in the last 100 years as human greenhouse gas emissions rose. The result is a “hockey stick”-like sudden 90 degree turn, in which the last decade – 1998-2008 –. . . CONTINUE
By Phil Mercer, BBC News, Sydney; Thursday, 3 September 2009 Australia has experienced its warmest August on record amid soaring winter temperatures. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology says that August was a “most extraordinary month” with mean temperatures 2.47C above the long-term average. Blair Trewin, from the National Climate Centre, says the past month has brought unprecedented conditions. “Early last week we saw a number of locations in northern New South. . . CONTINUE
Wednesday, 2 September 2009 By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News Coral reefs do more than look pretty – they are nurseries for many fish [Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology says that by 2050, 98 percent of today’s coral reefs will be in waters too acidic to support their growth.] Current climate targets are not enough to save the world’s coral reefs – and policymakers urgently need to consider. . . CONTINUE
Aug 12, 2009 FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s first offshore wind power park, Alpha Venture in the North Sea, has begun the gradual commissioning of the first three of its total 12 turbines, a spokesman for the venture said on Wednesday. “I had information last night that the three have started running and full test production levels will be reached within days,” said the spokesman for DOTI — a joint venture. . . CONTINUE
Jay Yarow; Aug. 8, 2009, 7:35 PM; New York Times The military analysts the Times spoke to say that climate issues could destabilize regions, increase terrorism, and destroy governments. With extreme weather comes displacement. As people have to leave their homes, the government steps in with aid. Further, as new groups of people are forced to live together there’s a risk of warfare. CONTINUE
Opec monopoly is still on course to meet oil market challenge: cut production and drive up prices — keeping the world’s economies from recovering. Publish Date: Saturday,18 July, 2009, at 09:46 PM Doha Time Reuters/London A $10-a-barrel price slide, an unseasonable rise in motor fuel stocks and a slackening of output discipline have complicated, but not yet sabotaged, Opec’s quest to push oil prices higher. Since September last year, Opec. . . CONTINUE
TRACY DAUB, Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal Scientists are unsure how the toxic components of BFRs sprayed onto consumer products enter into the environment and into animal and human systems. What is certain, however, is that these chemicals are building up in humans, especially in breast milk, at a rate that concerns toxicologists. In response to increasing concerns about the safety of these compounds, many countries have begun to regulate. . . CONTINUE
WWF’s Dr. Neil Hamilton on Global Warming in the Arctic the Director of the International Arctic Program ice thickness has decreased dramatically since 2003: It’s now about half as thick. In its report “Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air,” the Union of Concerned Scientists slammed ExxonMobil for lying: “underwriting the most sophisticated disinformation campaign since the tobacco industry,” as well as for “funneling about $16 million between 1998 and 2005. . . CONTINUE
