Kilimanjaro ice could vanish within 20 years, study suggests
Kilimanjaro ice could vanish within 20 years, study suggests
Global warming not local weather variations to blame for loss of up to 17 feet of ice, say scientists
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 November 2009 12.05 GMT
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An elephant grazes at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in the Amboseli national park, southern Kenya. Photograph: Finbarr O’Reilly/Reuters
The famous Snows of Kilimanjaro that cap Africa’s highest mountain are melting so fast they could be gone within two decades, according to a study of the mountain’s ice fields that used data going back nearly a century.
Scientists believe global warming rather than local weather changes is chiefly to blame for the rapid loss of ice from the Tanzanian peak.
African nations make a stand at UN climate talks
African nations make a stand at UN climate talks
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 November 2009 23.26 GMT
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African countries have said they are prepared to provoke a major UN crisis if the US and other rich countries do not start to urgently commit themselves to deeper and faster greenhouse gas emission cuts.
In a dramatic day in Barcelona, UN officials were forced to step in after 55 African countries, in an unprecedented show of unity, called for a suspension of all further negotiations on the Kyoto protocol until substantial progress was made by rich countries on emission cuts.
Earlier, the UN chair had been forced to abandon two working groups after the Africa group refused to take part.
Global warming could create 150 ‘climate refugees’ by 2050
Global warming could create 150 million ‘climate refugees’ by 2050
Environmental Justice Foundation report says 10% of the global population is at risk of forced displacement due to climate change
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 November 2009 00.05 GMT
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People displaced by Cyclone Nargis line up by their tents for a visit from UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon in 2008 in Kyondah, Myanmar. Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
Global warming will force up to 150 million “climate refugees” to move to other countries in the next 40 years, a new report from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) warns.
In 2008 alone, more than 20 million people were displaced by climate-related natural disasters, including 800,000 people by cyclone Nargis in Asia, and almost 80,000 by heavy floods and rains in Brazil, the NGO said.
President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, who presented testimony to the EJF, said people in his country did not want to “trade a paradise for a climate refugee camp”. He warned rich countries taking part in UN climate talks this week in Barcelona “not to be stupid” in negotiating a climate treaty in Copenhagen this December.
Carbon markets not working, says Deutsche Bank
Carbon markets not working, says Deutsche Bank Ecologist 2nd November, 2009 Carbon markets are not working and UK and US government policy is not encouraging investment in renewable energy, says a leading bank A report from Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division (DeAM) says that the carbon market is not likely to contribute to significantly cutting Continue Reading →
Climate expert Clive Splash ‘ heavied’ by CSIRO management
Climate expert Clive Spash ‘heavied’ by CSIRO management
Nicola Berkovic | November 03, 2009
A CSIRO economist whose research criticising emissions trading schemes was banned from publication said last night he had been subjected to harassment by the senior agency management.
Clive Spash also accused the agency of hindering public debate and trampling on his civil liberties by preventing the research being published in British journal New Political Economy.
Dr Spash defended the paper, The Brave New World of Carbon Trading, saying it was a dispassionate analysis of ETS policies and was not politically partisan.
He was told in February he could publish the work if it were peer reviewed. But in July, CSIRO management said it could not be published after it was cleared for publication.
This month, he was informed he could not publish it even in his private capacity, because it was “politically sensitive”. Within 24 hours, he also received a letter outlining a list of trivial instances in which he was accused of breaching CSIRO policy, for example not completing a leave form properly.
Copenhagen is only the start of climate change
Copenhagen is only the start of climate change
- The Observer, Sunday 1 November 2009
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THERE ARE five weeks left to the opening of the climate-change summit in Copenhagen. Virtually every national leader is expected to gather in the Danish capital in an attempt to hammer out a deal to bring unity to the battle against global warming. All that is required is an agreement to find a method to achieve one simple goal. Emissions of carbon dioxide from the planet’s factories, power plants, cars, planes and homes must be made to peak in a few years so that by 2020, a substantial decline in the world’s output of greenhouse gases will have begun.