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
Tony Abbott’s scepticism will shock Liberal voters Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has said that Tony Abbott’s statedscepticism on climate change today will shock many Liberal voters. “And in a world where both big and small business understand the scienceof climate change and the need for appropriate action, Abbott’s commentswill also dismay most business operators,” Continue Reading →
ETS will cost families ‘little or nothing’, promises Rudd
FAMILIES will pay little or nothing for Labor’s emissions trading scheme, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has pledged.
The Daily Telegraph reports full or partial compensation for rising costs would be available for couples with children on an income up to $160,000, as well as for singles on $30,000 a year or less.
Mr Rudd acknowledged that the Government’s defeated ETS legislation, which will be brought back to Parliament in February, would add to household costs.
Average electricity bills would rise $208 a year, gas costs would go up $83 a year and food expenses would increase by $68 a year, according to Treasury estimates prepared last month.
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They are as numerous as they are picturesque. From the air, Australia’s Torres Strait islands are striking.
On the day I flew from Horn Island – just off the tip of Cape York – north toward the wilds of Papua New Guinea’s south-western coast, the sea was like aquamarine Venetian glass.
The cumulous clouds which hung above each of these varied islands were perfectly reflected, and the fine details of the scattered, shallow reefs were evident.
A single abandoned ship, marooned long ago on a reef in the centre of the strait, stood as evidence of just how treacherous these otherwise welcoming waters can be. That danger appears to be getting worse.
I was on my way to Boigu Island, which, unless I am mistaken, is Australia’s most northern frontier.
It, and nearby Saibai Island, are known as the mud islands – and for good reason.
Greenpeace greets world leaders with age-old lesson
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is one of a number of leaders aged by Greenpeace for the Copenhagen Climate Summit / AFP Source: AFP
IGNORE the science, go nuclear, think about working families – Australians have voiced their concerns about climate change and want their Prime Minister to listen up.
After two weeks of calling for comment, www.news.com.au has pulled together its Open Letter to Kevin Rudd from the People of Australia from hundreds of suggestions as to what we really want out of the two-week Copenhagen climate change summit which opens tonight in Denmark.
See the final draft of the Letter to Copenhagen from the People of Australia
There’s even a request for some Copenhagen cheese among the final 50 selected, which are on their way to his office and will hopefully give the Prime Minister some food for thought in Copenhagen.
Newspapers unite to demand climate action in Copenhagen
NEWSPAPERS in 45 countries have united to implore world leaders to take decisive action at the Copenhagen climate change talks, warning failure would bring calamity, the London-based Guardian said.
Fifty-six newspapers, including Le Monde in France, the Miami Herald in the US and the Gulf Times in Qatar, will publish the same editorial warning climate change will “ravage our planet” unless action is agreed, it said.
“We call on the representatives of the 192 countries gathered in Copenhagen not to hesitate, not to fall into dispute, not to blame each other but to seize opportunity from the greatest failure of modern politics,” it said.
Many of the newspapers will take the unusual step of publishing the editorial on the front page of today’s editions, the Guardian said, featuring the piece on its website.
The editorial, to be published in 20 languages including Chinese, Russian and Arabic, has been thrashed out by newspaper editors for more than a month ahead of the UN crunch talks starting today, the paper said.
The facts behind climate change are clear, despite a recent row over leaked emails from a key climate research unit in Britain, the editorial said.
The leaks sparked claims scientists were trying to suppress data which did not support the view that temperatures were rising.
“In scientific journals the question is no longer whether humans are to blame, but how little time we have left to limit the damage.
“Yet so far the world’s response has been feeble and half-hearted.”
Leaders must agree to take action to limit temperature rises to 2C, warning that commitments so far would see temperatures hit an unacceptable level of 3.5C, it said.
Politicians are rarely accused of focusing too much on the long term. Tomorrow’s headlines are always in view. In that context there is already something to celebrate from this week’s global summit in Copenhagen.
Not long ago a gathering to discuss carbon emissions would be attended by junior environment ministers with limited clout inside their own governments. No longer. This week climate change commands the attention of world leaders.
That is where the good news starts to run out. With so much diplomatic pressure on the negotiations, a commitment to fairly substantial cuts in carbon emissions is inevitable. But a deal is unlikely to match the recommendations of the UN inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC), and it will not be a binding treaty. Arguably even the framework for negotiations is flawed, since it embraces the old Kyoto treaty model of pricing carbon with tradable permits. That system is too complex and builds in perverse incentives and opportunities for financial fraud. A simpler and more effective tool would be a carbon levy that increases the cost of pollution for all.