Full Coverage: Climate change

28.06.2006 The reaction of many to predictions for the coming century about climate change and its impacts is to feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the problem. They shrug their shoulders and say, "it seems more or less inevitable now whatever we do." But is that the reality? Can we still make a significant difference to the extent of climate change if we summon the will to act to reduce the emissions that are responsible?

28.06.2006 The US has perpetually been in denial about global warming, especially after the Earth Summit in Rio De Janerio held in 1992, but a recent report released by the US Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) may shake it out of its complacency. The report adds ammunition for lobbies within the US and forces outside it for pushing the worldÂ’s only superpower towards signing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

28.06.2006 Päästökauppajärjestelmä ei heikennä EU:n kilpailukykyä vaan päin vastoin on tehokkain tapa taisteulssa ilmastonmuutosta vastaan ja edullisin tapa Kioton sopimuksen ehtojen täyttämisessä. Lisäksi sillä voi olla positiivisia vaikutuksia Euroopan kilpailukykyyn, todetaan WWF:n tilaamassa Euroopan taloustutkimuskeskuksen raportissa.

27.06.2006 Ympäristöjärjestö Maan ystävät kritisoi EU-maiden hallituksia epäonnistumisesta suojella kansalaisia ilmastonmuutokselta. Nyt järjestö vaatii hallituksilta pikaisia toimia ilmastonmuutoksen torjumiseksi, kun uudet päästötiedot osoittivat, että EU-maiden kasvihuonekaasupäästöt ovat edelleen kasvaneet.

26.06.2006 La potenza eolica installata nel 2005 nel mondo è risultata doppia rispetta a quella nucleare e la previsione per il quinquennio 2005-2010 è addirittura che la potenza eolica sovrasterà quella nucleare di almeno 5-7 volte. Secondo il Kyoto Club "il nucleare è antieconomico, mentre il business delle rinnovabili frutta 40 miliardi di dollari l'anno". Intanto il vento made in Italy, soprattutto quello del Sud, fa sempre più gola a grandi colossi dell'economia extranazionale, tedeschi in testa. La Germania, con il colosso assicurativo Allianz, si è già accaparrata un parco eolico in Sicilia mentre si stanno muovendo Danimarca e Spagna. L'Italia si scopre così paese del vento, o meglio terra fertile per un'industria lanciata verso un attivo che nelle rinnovabili non è certo facile ottenere. È lo stesso vento che ha fatto muovere, questa volta in casa, i petrolieri Garrone (Erg), partiti all'attacco di Enertad, il quinto produttore nazionale di energia eolica: l'offerta è di quasi 300 milioni di euro per il 100% delle utility.

23.06.2006 The time is now ripe for the development community to engage with climate change, says Saleemul Huq, director of the climate change programme at the International Institute for Environment and Development, United Kingdom and chair of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies.

23.06.2006 Journalists in developing countries have a poor understanding of climate change, and this is holding back public debate on the issue, says a recent report. The solution, it suggests, lies partly in greater willingness on the part of both policymakers and scientists to ensure that climate change information is made readily available in a jargon-free form.

23.06.2006 Climate change and falling water tables are having a dramatic effect on the worldÂ’s water resources, says Satu Hassi of the Worldwatch Institute. She also cites the grassroots movement for rainwater harvesting in India and a phenomenon generating hope in these circumstances.

22.06.2006 from Treehugger:
"Someone must sell the products and services that will help companies meet emissions targets should they become law." Find out who is cashing in on the development and sale of new, green products and technologies.

21.06.2006 from Ecofriend:
World Cup organisers are attempting to offset some of the carbon produced by millions of fans and players by paying to replace coal-fired boilers with woodchip-fuelled boilers at a South African farm.

20.06.2006 "Buying carbon offsets is an expensive alternative to implementing energy saving measures and improving energy efficiency generally." Are you being conned by carbon offsets?

19.06.2006 From Green Skeptic:
More and more electricity used in the U.S. is coming from renewable energy, says a new report.

18.06.2006 The makers of the film of Al Gore's climate change lecture, which he has given more than 1,000 times, hope it will help sound the alert about the need to take urgent action on climate change.
+ OneWorld's Climate Justice campaign
+ Carbon countdown

16.06.2006 from Desmogblog:
Tobacco strategist meddles in the climate change debate.

14.06.2006 "Il clima minaccia più di Al Qaeda": è la conclusione che si trae da un recente rapporto pubblicato dal Centro Studi Oxford. «L'ossessione del governo per la guerra al terrorismo è controproducente e distrae i politici da questioni fondamentali per la sicurezza mondiale» - dice il rapporto inglese che sottolinea come pure gli esperti del Pentagono la pensino allo stesso modo, ovvero con grande allarme sulle conseguenze geo-politiche e sociali dei mutamenti climatici. Il documento ammonisce anche a non cedere alla suggestione nucleare come rimedio immediato per tagliare l'emissioni di gas serra. E prosegue mettendo in guardia l'Occidente ricco che «l'approfondirsi del divario economico è prevedibile che alimenti il consenso tra la maggioranza marginalizzata del mondo al supporto di una politica violenta ai danni della minoranza ricca del pianeta».

14.06.2006 From Eco-worrier:
"Keen recyclers rejoice. The UK government is toying with taxing us for our non-recyclable rubbish. If it follows the European example, we will be coughing up between 25p and 50p a kilo of rubbish or up to £10 a month."

13.06.2006 In developing countries like India, climate change could represent an additional stress on ecological and socioeconomic systems which are already facing tremendous pressures due to rapid urbanization, industrialization and economic development.

13.06.2006 from Gristmill:
‘The facts of climate change cannot be left to speak for themselves.’ Social scientists come up with ways to educate and motivate the American public on global warming.

10.06.2006 from Christian Science Monitor:
'I worry that [Al Gore's] movie is a little heavy on disaster scenarios,' but he basically gets it right.

08.06.2006 from Thinking Outside the Box:
'ExxonMobil is charging full steam ahead with refuting the science of global warming.' And many nations are not doing much better.