Category: Archive

The UK Environment minister, David Miliband, floated the idea of a personal carbon trading scheme working across the UK.

"Imagine a country where carbon becomes a new currency. We carry bank cards that store both pounds and carbon points," he told the Audit Commission this week.

"When we buy electricity, gas and fuel, we use our carbon points, as well as pounds. To help reduce carbon emissions, the Government would set limits on the amount of carbon that could be used," he said.

The UK government is struggling against a Conservative Party that has successfully aligned concern about the environment with other conservative values, such as community, economic independence and protection for small business.

The story has received wide coverage in the UK press. See the Guardian article .

Historical records going back a century showed a strong link between the sun’s activity and droughts in eastern Australia, said University of New England associate professor Robert Baker, reported in The Courier-Mail (13 July 2006 p17).

Sun’s magnetic flip: Dr Baker said there appeared to be a correlation between dry spells and a 22-year-long pattern called the Hale Cycle, in which the sun’s magnetic field flipped between its north and south poles.

Droughts conincidental with phasing of solar activity: When the Hale Cycle was in a phase where the south pole was positive, as a few years ago or in the early 1980s, droughts often blighted the east coast. The droughts were particularly severe if the Hale Cycle coincided with periods when sunspot activity was low, or when the cycle was in step with long-term solar patterns lasting 1500 years or more.

Sunspots indicators of magnetic disruption: Sunspots are violent disturbances in the magnetic field on the sun’s surface which look black because they are cooler than surrounding areas.

Stargazing concerns: "The 1902-1903 and 1922-1923 droughts, which were particularly severe in Queensland, occurred during times when the solar minimum (the least intense part of the sunspot cycle) coincided with a stable part of this 1500-year cycle," Dr Baker said. Dr Baker said it was concerning that the sun was now entering a 500-year period of lower activity.

The Courier Mail, 13/7/2006, p. 17

Source: Erisk Net  

Why focus on peak oil? The world is running out of water, fish, land and trees in the same way that we are running out of oil. Have a look at this site for a shocking account of the state of the world’s fresh water.

At the dawn of the 21st century, a global water crisis is looming. According to the United Nations, 1.3 billion people in the world today lack access to clean water while 2.5 billion do not have adequate sewage and sanitation. No less than 31 countries are considered to be in water stressed areas. Worldwide demand for water is doubling every 20 years, twice the rate of population growth. By the year 2025, demand for fresh water is expected to outstrip global supply by 56 percent.