Dust storms spread deadly diseases worldwide
Dust storms spread deadly diseases worldwide
Dust storms like the one that plagued Sydney are blowing bacteria to all corners of the globe, with viruses that will attack the human body. Yet these scourges can also help mitigate climate change
- The Observer, Sunday 27 September 2009
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A dust storm blankets Sydney’s iconic Opera House at sunrise. Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters
Huge dust storms, like the ones that blanketed Sydney twice last week, hit Queensland yesterday and turned the air red across much of eastern Australia, are spreading lethal epidemics around the world. However, they can also absorb climate change emissions, say researchers studying the little understood but growing phenomenon.
The Thaw at the Roof of the World
The Thaw at the Roof of the World
- PrintBy ORVILLE SCHELL
SPEAKING this week at the United Nations, President Hu Jintao of China declared that his country “fully appreciates the importance and urgency of addressing climate change.” As well it should. China is beginning to realize that it has a lot to lose from the carbon dioxide that the world so blithely emits into the earth’s atmosphere.
Mr. Hu’s words made me think back to a day not long ago when I found myself on a platform 14,000 feet above sea level, surrounded by throngs of Chinese tourists in colorful parkas. A chairlift had brought us that much closer to the jagged peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the glacier that cascades down its flank. People cheerfully snapped photos of the icy mass, seemingly unaware of the disaster unfolding before them.
Because of climate change, the roughly 1.7-mile-long Baishui Glacier No. 1 could well be one of the first major glacial systems on the Tibetan Plateau to disappear after thousands of years. The glacier, situated above the honky-tonk town of Lijiang in southwest China, has receded 830 feet over the last two decades and appears to be wasting away at an ever more rapid rate each year. It is the southernmost glacier on the plateau, so its decline is an early warning of what may ultimately befall the approximately 18,000 higher-altitude glaciers in the Greater Himalayas as the planet continues to warm.
Climate groups dimayed at G20
Climate groups dismayed at G20
September 26, 2009
CLIMATE change campaigners have expressed dismay after the leaders of the world’s most important economies failed to earmark funds to pay for a deal to cut carbon emissions.
States are due to hold a global summit – billed as the last chance to halt global warming – in Copenhagen in December in order to agree on ambitious new targets for cutting the production of greenhouse gases.
Emerging economies, led by a sceptical India, have insisted that they can not sign up to such a deal unless the rich-world nations whose industry caused the problem pay billions to finance their transfer to new clean technologies.
Campaigners had hoped that under the chairmanship of US President Barack Obama the Group of 20 summit might agree to set aside $US150 billion to pay for this work and convince emerging economies to sign the deal.
Millions at risk of flooding as river deltas sink
Millions at risk of flooding as river deltas sink
Deltas vulnerable to flooding will increase dramatically as sea levels rise, researchers find. From SciDev.net, part of the Guardian Environment Network
- guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 September 2009 11.35 BST
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A satellite image of the Ganges delta, the world’s largest delta, which is vulnerable to flooding. Photograph: Envisat/ESA
Most of the world’s river deltas are sinking relative to sea level, putting millions at risk of severe flooding, say researchers.
And human activity, such as dam-building, is the biggest reason, according to the study published last week in Nature Geoscience (20 September).
China and India are leading the way.Yes, I’m optimistic
China and India are leading the way. Yes, I’m optimistic
This week’s summit on climate change offered cause for confidence. But all nations now need to redouble their efforts
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- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 September 2009 21.30 BST
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This week’s summit on climate change at the United Nations in New York has given a strong boost to the negotiations over a major international treaty, but there remain a number of major obstacles that must be overcome before the crucial meeting in Copenhagen in December.
China, India and Japan, along with the private sector, all made positive and significant contributions at the summit.
UN climate summit: Leaders take small stps towards action on climate change.
UN climate summit: Leaders take small steps towards action on climate change
Outpouring of new pledges of action was precisely what UN chief Ban Ki-Moon intended when he called the summit
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- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 September 2009 01.50 BST
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Barack Obama speaks during a summit on climate change at the United Nations in New York. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters
For a man known for his diplomatic reserve, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, was unusually upfront about his frustration with the pace of talks for a treaty to stop global warming yesterday. “The world’s glaciers are now melting faster than human progress to protect them – or us,” he said at the opening session of his climate change summit.
Yesterday, though, the world leaders did begin to move, not as quickly as the UN chief would have liked, not entirely in the same direction or towards a clearly defined goal. But it was movement.