Category: Climate chaos

The atmosphere is to the earth as a layer of varnish is to a desktop globe. It is thin, fragile and essential for preserving the items on the surface.150 years of burning fossil fuel have overloaded the atmosphere to the point where the earth is ill. It now has a fever. Read the detailed article, Soothing Gaia’s Fever for an evocative account of that analogy. The items listed here detail progress on coordinating 6.5 billion people in the most critical project undertaken by humanity. 

The mammoth in the freezer

admin /6 June, 2009

The mammoth in the freezer

June 6, 2009 SMH

Policy makers regard official projections on sea-level rise as exaggeration, but the figures have been understated, argues John Collee.

Scientists are, by their nature, conservative creatures. A single unfounded claim can forfeit their credibility and professional reputation for life.

So it’s not surprising that, in order to avoid any accusations of bias, members of the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have taken pains to avoid making claims that may seem exaggerated or alarmist.

Obama calls for cooperation on clean energy abd green jobs in Mideast

admin /5 June, 2009

Obama calls for cooperation on clean energy and green jobs in Mideast 0

 

No one expected President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo today to focus on climate change, and it didn’t. Obama didn’t use the words “climate” or “environment,” but rather talked about the usual Middle East challenges—the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the distrust of American influence, and the struggles of democracy in the region.

The Middle East won’t be immune from the effects of climate change, however, and a hard-core environmentalist might argue Obama should have used this opportunity to remind the region that climate could exacerbate or trump all of its current problems.

Learning to live with climate change will not be enough

admin /4 June, 2009

Learning to live with climate change will not be enough


A leading environmentalist explains why drastically reducing carbon dioxide emissions now will be easier, cheaper, and more ethical than dealing with runaway climate destabilization later. By David W Orr of Yale Environment 360, part of Guardian Environment Network
From Yale Environment 360, part of Guardian Environment Network
Wednesday June 3 2009
guardian.co.uk

 The awareness that humans could alter the climate of Earth has dawned slowly on our consciousness. In 1896, Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius deflected his anguish over a failed marriage into remarkably tedious and, as it turned out, accurate calculations about the effect of CO2 emissions on climate. It was an oddly therapeutic thing to do, but it had no more effect on public attention than the smallest cloud on a distant horizon.

Climate change toll is crucial evidence

admin /3 June, 2009

Climate change toll is crucial evidence

With the deadly effect of global warming quantified, international law can be invoked and the perpetrators punishe 

It’s a tsunami every year. According to a report released today, a third of a million people die annually because of climate change – mostly because of malaria and malnutrition, although weather-related disasters are also taking a rising toll. The number of deaths is equivalent to the lives lost in the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster of 2004.

This report is the first effort to quantify global warming-related deaths since the World Health Organisation estimated in 2003 that 150,000 people die each year due to climate-related factors, mainly disease – but aggravated by shortages of food and clean water.

Analysis Finds Elevated Risk Risk From Soot Particles in the Air

admin /3 June, 2009

Analysis Finds Elevated Risk From Soot Particles in the Air

By FELICITY BARRINGER

Published: June 2, 2009

A new appraisal of existing studies documenting the links between tiny soot particles and premature death from cardiovascular ailments shows that mortality rates among people exposed to the particles are twice as high as previously thought.

Dan Greenbaum, the president of the nonprofit Health Effects Institute, which is releasing the analysis on Wednesday, said that the areas covered in the study included 116 American cities, with the highest levels of soot particles found in areas including the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles and the Central Valley of California; Birmingham, Ala.; Atlanta; the Ohio River Valley; and Pittsburgh.

The review found that the risk of having a condition that is a precursor to deadly heart attacks for people living in soot-laden areas goes up by 24 percent rather than 12 percent, as particle concentrations increase.

Big business ‘ failing to disclose climate risks ‘to investors

admin /3 June, 2009

Big business ‘failing to disclose climate risks’ to investors

Leading companies are offering only minimal information to shareholders on how global warming might affect their bottom line, research shows

 

 

The world’s major corporations are failing to provide a full account to investors of the risks and potential costs of climate change, a new report said today.

 

The report, from the Ceres network of green organisations and investors and the Environment Defence Fund, found companies offered only minimal information to their shareholders last year on how global warming might affect their bottom line..

 

It arrives at a time when there is growing support among US corporations for a push by Congress to pass the first US law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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