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.Â
A team of New Zealand scientists working in Antarctica has warned that the Ross Ice Shelf, a massive piece of ice the size of France, could break off without warning, leading to a dramatic rise in sea levels, according to a New Zealand Press Association report published in The Sydney Morning Herald (30 November 2006 Continue Reading →
France has threatened to tax imports from countries that have not signed the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (15 November 2006 p4).
Wants EU to throw its weight around: Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, told a meeting on sustainable development on 14 November: “Europe has to use all its weight to stand up to this sort of environmental dumping."
Proposes carbon duty: He continued: “I would like us to study now with our European partners the principle of a carbon tax on the import of industrial products from countries which refuse to commit themselves to the Kyoto Protocol after 2012."
Aust trade at risk: Australian exports to France were worth $781 million in 2004, making it the nation’s 23rd largest trading partner. Major exports include coal, iron ore and uranium.
Antarctic winds produced snow across Victoria at levels as low as 400 metres on 16 November 2006, just two weeks before the official start of summer, reported The Age, (16/11/2006, p.5).
White blanket all over the state: The snow hit the ground at Ballarat, Mount Macedon, Sovereign Hill, Mount Buninyong, the Dandenongs, Lorne, the Grampians and the Strzelecki Ranges.
As thick as 28cm in some places: In the alpine regions, as much as 28 centimetres of snow had ski resorts cringing – it was six weeks out of the ski season’s official end.
Capital drops down to 7.4 degrees: Melbourne recorded a maximum of 13.1 degrees and hit a low of 7.4 degrees before noon. The lowest recorded maximum temperature for November was 11 degrees in 1913.
Read the full story at The Age
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Source: Erisk Net
Brisbane is set to become the first Australian city to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. A special motion went before this afternoon’s City Council meeting, but the Labor-backed proposal fell short of the required two-thirds majority when the Liberals opposed it. The Labor councillors will now use their numbers in Cabinet Continue Reading →
Super-cold temperatures that may be a further indicator of global warming have helped produce an Antarctic ozone hole this year that rivals the largest, reported The Age (27/9/2006, p.7).
Ozone hole expands as temps hit 93 below zero: Temperatures fell to minus 93 degrees in the upper atmosphere over the frozen continent in August, and the man-made hole expanded this week to nearly 28 million square kilometres.
South Pole’s coldest air in 30yrs: The coldest air in 30 years of measurements was part of yearly weather variation over the South Pole that could also be linked to climate change, the CSIRO’s Paul Fraser said on 26 August.
How global warming causes cooling: "Under climate change scenarios, there is global warming at the surface and increased cooling in the upper atmosphere," said Dr Fraser, the leader of the CSIRO’s changing atmosphere research group.
The Age, 27/9/2006, p. 7
Source: Erisk Net
Super-cold temperatures, that may be a further indicator of global warming, have helped produce an Antarctic ozone hole this year that rivals the largest. More details