Climate Change archive

19.06.2006 Ancient roots and bones locked in long-frozen soil in Siberia are starting to thaw, and have the potential to unleash billions of tons of carbon and accelerate global warming, scientists said.

16.06.2006 The UK throws away two thirds of the energy it generates in its nuclear, coal and gas fuelled power plants - that's enough to meet the whole country's heating and hot water needs. What are we waiting for? – a new film by Greenpeace - explains exactly how decentralised energy could help the UK beat climate change.

15.06.2006 China’s government plans to create new fiscal policies to encourage the development of biomass energy – derived from plant matter like trees, agricultural crops, and a range of organic wastes and residues.

15.06.2006 All UK central government departments and their agencies will be carbon neutral within six years, Environment Secretary David Miliband pledged this week.

15.06.2006 Soaring temperatures have prompted a rash of medical alerts, amid fears that smog will choke British cities this summer.

14.06.2006 A British Airways plan to introduce a carbon dioxide emissions-trading scheme has been blocked by another airline.

14.06.2006 The government's obsession with the ‘war on terror’ is counterproductive and distracting politicians from more fundamental threats to global security, a leading UK thinktank warned.

14.06.2006 Research has highlighted that the UK's 200 largest publicly listed companies continue to disregard their environmental responsibilities by wasting electricity on poor practices.

13.06.2006 A new state of the art yacht, called Friends of the Earth, will set sail this week from Cape Town, South Africa to highlight the need for national and international action on climate change.

13.06.2006 In a meeting that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago, Israeli Environment Minister Gideon Ezra met with the German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Jerusalem last week.

13.06.2006 Trade union members have the power to influence employers and support government measures on climate change issues, according to Environment Minister Ian Pearson, speaking at the Trade Unions Congress conference.

13.06.2006 Some species of animals are changing genetically in order to adapt to rapid climate change within just a few generations, scientists believe.

12.06.2006 Acre, Brazil’s westernmost state, is preparing for yet another onslaught of out-of-control forest fires following one of its driest rainy seasons in years.
*E2 - Eye on Earth

12.06.2006 A U.N. scheme to promote renewable energy use in poor nations is growing sharply and will axe emissions of greenhouse gases by more than a billion metric tonnes by 2012, the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said.

12.06.2006 The United Nations is facing pressure from scientists and campaigners to acknowledge the potentially devastating effect of climate change on the world's most precious ecological sites.

09.06.2006 With its poor track record on poverty, should the World Bank play a role in resolving the climate crisis? asks Heidi Bachram.

09.06.2006 With its Green Goal programme, the organisers of the 2006 Football World Cup aim to reduce the environmental impact of the tournament that is expected to draw more than three million spectators in Germany from today (9 June). But environmental groups say the efforts will come up short.

09.06.2006 Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel can significantly reduce global dependence on oil, according to a new report.

09.06.2006 Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev’s advice to the British and other governments is: “Look - seven times – before you leap” into construction of nuclear power plants.

08.06.2006 Climate change in Africa's Sahel region challenges researchers and policymakers because the best models around predict opposite outcomes, reports Catherine Brahic.