The Canberra Times, 30/4/2007, p.1
Source: Erisk Net
Author: admin
-
Howard’s plan: move nation’s food bowl
Identify new industries for north Australia: Taskforce members have also been asked to consider other new industries for northern Australia across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
The Australian, 2/5/2007, p.6
Source: Erisk net
-
Arctic ice to disappear completely
A review paper by Serreze and Julienne Stroeve of CU-Boulder’s NSIDC and Marika Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research titled "Perspectives on the Arctic’s Shrinking Sea Ice Cover" appears in the March 16 issue of Science.
The loss of Arctic sea ice is most often tied to negative effects on wildlife like polar bears and increasing erosion of coastlines in Alaska and Siberia, he said. But other studies have linked Arctic sea ice loss to changes in atmospheric patterns that cause reduced rainfall in the American West or increased precipitation over western and southern Europe, he said.
The decline in Arctic sea ice could impact western states like Colorado, for example, by reducing the severity of Arctic cold fronts dropping into the West and reducing snowfall, impacting the ski industry and agriculture, he said. "Just how things will pan out is unclear, but the bottom line is that Arctic sea ice matters globally," Serreze said.
Because temperatures across the Arctic have risen from 2 degrees to 7 degrees F. in recent decades due to a build-up of atmospheric greenhouse gases, there is no end in sight to the decline in Arctic sea ice extent, said Serreze of CU-Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. Arctic sea ice extent is defined as the total area of all regions where ice covers at least 15 percent of the ocean surface.
"While the Arctic is losing a great deal of ice in the summer months, it now seems that it also is regenerating less ice in the winter," said Serreze. "With this increasing vulnerability, a kick to the system just from natural climate fluctuations could send it into a tailspin."
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, shifting wind patterns from the North Atlantic Oscillation flushed much of the thick sea ice out of the Arctic Ocean and into the North Atlantic where it drifted south and eventually melted, he said. The thinner layer of "young" ice that formed it its place melts out more readily in the succeeding summers, leading to more open water and more solar radiation being absorbed by the open ocean and fostering a cycle of higher temperatures and earlier ice melt, he said.
"This ice-flushing event could be a small-scale analog of the sort of kick that could invoke rapid collapse, or it could have been the kick itself," he said. "At this point, I don’t think we really know."
Researchers also have seen pulses of warmer water from the North Atlantic entering the Arctic Ocean beginning in the mid-1990s, which promote ice melt and discourage ice growth along the Atlantic ice margin, he said. "This is another one of those potential kicks to the system that could evoke rapid ice decline and send the Arctic into a new state."
The potential for such rapid ice loss was highlighted in a December 2006 study by Holland and her colleagues published in Geophysical Research Letters. In one of their climate model simulations, the Arctic Ocean in September became nearly ice-free between 2040 and 2050.
"Given the growing agreement between models and observations, a transition to a seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean as the system warms seems increasingly certain," the researchers wrote in Science. "The unresolved questions regard when this new Arctic state will be realized, how rapid the transition will be, and what will be the impacts of this new state on the Arctic and the rest of the globe."
-
Pepsi makes largest renewable energy purchase
Pepsico makes largest corporate purchase of renewable energy certificates
Monday, April 30, 2007 –
Energy Certificates Offset 100% of Purchased Electricity Used by All PepsiCo US Facilities
With this purchase PepsiCo tops EPA’s list of top-25 green power purchasers, as well as becoming the top Fortune 500 purchaser. PepsiCo also becomes a member of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership, which is comprised of organizations that voluntarily purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use.
"America is shifting to a ‘green culture,’ with more and more businesses understanding that environmental responsibility is everyone’s responsibility," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By switching to alternative, renewable power sources, PepsiCo is proving that going green can be the choice of every generation."
PepsiCo, which formed its Environmental Task Force in 2001, and its divisions are actively involved in a variety of environmental initiatives and have been recognized for their efforts. For example, Frito-Lay and Gatorade operate two LEED GOLD certified facilities. The US Green Buildings Council LEED Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for evaluating sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere efficiency, material and resource selection and indoor environmental quality. Tropicana’s Ft. Pierce facility has partnered with St. Lucie County to burn landfill gas, a renewable energy source that displaces the use of natural gas, in its boiler.
Earlier this year PepsiCo was recognized as ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for outstanding energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division received the award in 2006.
PepsiCo is partnering with Sterling Planet on the purchase of the RECs. Sterling Planet, a leading retail provider of renewable energy, is identifying and acquiring the RECs for PepsiCo. The company will seek to source the RECs to model PepsiCo’s purchased electricity use geographically.
"We are pleased to join with PepsiCo to make history with this largest-ever purchase of clean, renewable energy certificates. Sterling Planet will be working closely with PepsiCo to support the strategic decision to match the RECs to their geographic use of electricity in the U.S.," said Mel Jones, president and chief executive officer, Sterling Planet. "This approach should help the local communities where PepsiCo has a presence to grow local renewable energy sources."
The Green-e program, administered by the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), will certify that the RECs meet stringent environmental guidelines and will verify that the renewable energy credits being purchased for PepsiCo are retired on PepsiCo’s behalf. CRS is a national non-profit organization working to promote sustainable resource solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.
"PepsiCo is demonstrating environmental leadership and innovation while inspiring other U.S. corporations to take action," said Dan Lieberman, Green-e program manager, Center for Resource Solutions. "This type of commitment from PepsiCo makes tremendous strides toward a clean, renewable energy future for all Americans."
PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with 2006 annual revenues of more than $35 billion. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. Its portfolio includes 17 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in annual retail sales. -
Greens catch Turnbull fudging figures
“What these figures will no doubt show is that the Howard Government has failed to tackle emissions from energy generation. And they still have no plan to do so.
“The strategy of both old parties appears to be to pin their hopes on cleaning up coal while dismissing renewable energy. There is no example anywhere in the world of fully operational carbon capture and storage from coal fired power. On the other hand, there are numerous examples of renewable energy supplying large amounts of baseload power across Europe and America.
“The Government’s strategy to push nuclear power in Australia is a dangerous distraction from the main game. Not only can it have no impact on reducing greenhouse emissions for at least 15 years – far too late to avoid runaway climate change – but it has already landed Australia the label of ‘a country of potential nuclear strategic concern’, along with such illustrious company as Syria, Libya and Kazakhstan.
“The irony is that Australia’s current reliance on coal makes it easy for us to reduce emissions fast using energy efficiency and renewable energy. Because our energy is currently so heavily polluting, small changes can have a very big impact indeed, as we set out in the Greens paper, Re-Energising Australia, last week.”
-
Asia unites against GE rice
The threatened introduction of GE rice raises important health, environmental and agricultural concerns for farmers and the global community. Farmers in the developing world are particularly concerned about the patenting of GE rice seeds by corporations. They are concerned that if GE rice was grown, widespread contamination would force them to purchase new seeds each year – resulting in increased production costs.
The attempt by global agribusiness to introduce GE rice is a further extension of its tactic to promote ‘high value’ market oriented crops in Asia. This has resulted in large profits for multinationals at a huge cost to Asian communities. The tactic has led to the decreased diversity of crop species and varieties which in turn has led to problems such food insecurity and malnutrition.
As the organiser of WORA in Bangladesh, Farida Akhter, points out – 40 years ago Bangladesh boasted as many as 15,000 different varieties of rice. Today, due to the Green Revolution, there are only 2,000 varieties left. Each rice variety exhibits unique nutritional benefits and cultural importance. For a region which relies on rice as its staple food, variety and diversity is crucial to health and well-being.
Click here to sign the petition