Senior Chinese climatologist calls for reform of IPCC
Senior Chinese climatologist calls for reform of IPCC
Lü Xuedu says Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a young institution that needs to strengthen its credibility
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 17.17 GMT
- Article history
The deputy director general of the China National Climate Centre Lü Xuedu has called for reform of the IPCC. Photograph: Franz Dejon/IISD
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) should be reformed to prevent political interference, improve research and reduce western bias, a senior Chinese climatologist has told the Guardian.
Boots, KFC, MsDonalds ignore rainforest destruction survey
Boots, KFC, McDonalds ignore rainforest destruction survey Ecologist 10th February, 2010 Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s have been praised for disclosing their ‘forest footprint’ but experts say that consumers are still not aware of the impact of their daily diet A project has been lauched to inform consumers and investors about the link between corporate Continue Reading →
India bans planting of first GM crop food
India bans planting of first GM food crop
Campaigners welcome decision to put on hold cultivation of genetically modified (GM) aubergine crop, Bt Brinjal, until ‘safety of product’ established
India has banned the planting of the country’s first edible GM crop, a type of aubergine modified to produce Bt toxin.
The seed, developed by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company, which is part owned by US biotech giant Monsanto, was said to be more resistant to natural pests.
However, against a backdrop of protest from farmers and leaders of aubergine-growing states, the Indian Environment Minister said today that he was adopting a ‘cautious precautionary principal
Ice age coral could point to future sea levels
Ice age coral could point to future sea levels ABC February 11, 2010, 9:35 am Every day thousands of tourists flock to north Queensland to witness the Great Barrier Reef in all its glory. But soon a different group of travellers will visit the reef in order to dig up samples of ancient Continue Reading →
People who don’t want to live in glass houses should throw stones
People who don’t want to live in glass houses should throw stones
All right, two letters in the Herald last week mean I have to spell it out. Alan Miller is right to wonder how “an air-conditioned apartment with two car spaces in the basement has a smaller carbon footprint than the single storey bungalow and garden it replaced”.
He is also right to query whether “the four-to-six storey beige boxes along the Pacific Highway are the best solution for the sensitive context of Ku-ring-gai”. Just as Di Haskell is right to argue the “brutal reality of modern day medium density” is every bit as evident (and depressing) in European exurbia as in Sydney.
Both are right, but both are just expressing how badly Sydney has been let down by its architects, its planners, its politicians, and by modernism in general.
Let The Joyce Era Begin
satire
10 Feb 2010
Let The Joyce Era Begin!
Say what you like about Barnaby Joyce, it’s no easy job being shadow finance minister. It’s time to cut Australia’s greatest retail politician some slack, writes Ben Pobjie
What is “finance”? Does anybody really know? It’s a mysterious, nebulous concept, like “alternative music” and “feminism”. This is what makes it, without doubt, the most difficult portfolio in government.
After all, most ministers have some idea, in broad terms, of what their job involves: the Defence Minister is there to oversee the armed forces and to investigate naval sex parties; the Foreign Minister is there to deal with foreigners so the rest of us don’t have to; the Communications Minister is there to ruin the internet for everyone; the Environment Minister is there to provide something sturdy for Penny Wong to rest her feet on; and so on.