tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182663892024-03-13T23:31:08.421+08:00Nature's KiddoAn Embrace of Eco-Culture and Sustainable Lifestyles. A Voice for Change and Hope.Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-3489348534664355672008-03-02T13:29:00.008+08:002008-03-02T13:54:31.729+08:00Shop Green<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R8pAxmd2QUI/AAAAAAAAAss/fHwptN-ZwBs/s1600-h/St%20davids.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173018342871941442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 215px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 144px" height="137" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R8pAxmd2QUI/AAAAAAAAAss/fHwptN-ZwBs/s200/St%2520davids.jpg" width="209" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#ffcc99;">Keeping the environment in mind when shopping is something we can all do to make our world healthier and safer and it’s often the simplest actions that have the greatest impact.</span> <div><div><div><br /><p><span style="color:#ffcc99;">You need to shop and you’re likely to be spending the rest of your life here on this planet. The choices you make in the first case can have direct effects on the quality of the latter. Here are 10 Tips for greener shopping:</span></p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;"><strong>Buy in Bulk</strong></span> </p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;">Size matters. When you buy the largest quantity of a product you can use, you help reduce the waste in packaging. About one third of America’s trash is just the packages all our stuff came in and about 10 cents of every dollar we spend goes to pay for the packaging we throw away.</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#9999ff;"><strong>Buy recycled products</strong> </span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#9999ff;">If there were no market for recycled products, there would be no incentive to recycle. Buying products made from recycled materials closes the loop. Shop made from </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/results/shp/?collID=3559,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" terget="new"><span style="color:#9999ff;">recycled products</span></a><span style="color:#9999ff;">.</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ffcccc;"><strong>Avoid single-use products</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ffcccc;">Disposable razors and cameras, plastic cups and plates — all good examples of the ways we enjoy convenience at the expense of the environment. All this stuff goes directly from the manufacturer to the landfill with only a brief stop at your home. Buy products that last (and don’t be afraid to do the dishes). Use cloth towels and napkins instead of the paper variety whenever possible and when you must use paper, make sure it’s made from 100% recycled material. Shop made from </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/results/shp/?collID=3560,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#ffcccc;">sustainable materials</span></a><span style="color:#ffcccc;">.</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;"><strong>Use rechargeable batteries</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;">Conventional batteries contain cadmium and mercury and must be treated as hazardous waste. Rechargeable batteries last longer, cost less to use and help keep toxins out of the waste stream. Shop </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/results/shp/?text=rechargable+battery,scId=3,SortBy=POP,Order=D,%20edt=1,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#99ff99;">rechargeable batteries</span></a><span style="color:#99ff99;">.</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ccccff;"><strong>Buy used or re-furbished products</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ccccff;">Used books save trees and re-furbished electronics save you money. When you shop online auctions or buy used products at sites like </span><a href="http://expo.live.com/default.aspx?s_cid=Shopping_homepagelinks_seeallcatsWindows,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#ccccff;">Live Expo</span></a><span style="color:#ccccff;">, you’re doing your part to help minimize waste by maximizing use. Shop </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/content/shp/?ctId=911,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="'new"><span style="color:#ccccff;">re-furbished products</span></a><span style="color:#ccccff;">.</span><span style="color:#ccccff;"><br /></p><p></span><span style="color:#ffcccc;"><strong>Buy low-flow showerheads</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ffcccc;">Using </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/allresults/shp/?text=aerators,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#ffcccc;">aerators</span></a><span style="color:#ffcccc;"> in your faucets and installing </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/results/showerheads/bcatid8418/forsale?text=low%20flow+category:showerheads,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#ffcccc;">low-flow showerheads</span></a><span style="color:#ffcccc;"> can cut your family’s water bills by 50% while helping to conserve our water supply.</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;"><strong>Buy energy-efficient appliances</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;">When it's time to replace a washer, dryer, refrigerator or any other household appliance, always look for the </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/allresults/shp/?text=energy+star,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#99ff99;">Energy Star</span></a><span style="color:#99ff99;"> label. It ensures that the product has met energy efficiency standards set by the EPA and Dept. of Energy. You'll not only help reduce carbon emissions, but you'll enjoy immediate savings on your power bill. </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/results/shp/?collID=3553,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#99ff99;">Shop energy saving solutions</span></a><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ccccff;"><strong>Buy compact fluorescent bulbs</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ccccff;">This is one of the easiest things you can do to save energy and money. </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/results/light-bulbs/bcatid5044/fluorescent/3868-5621310/forsale?text=category:light-bulbs+Lightbulbtype:Fluorescent,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#ccccff;">Fluorescent bulbs</span></a><span style="color:#ccccff;"> last ten times longer than the incandescent variety. Replacing three incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents saves $60 and 300 pounds of CO2 a year.</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ffcccc;"><strong>Try organic and non-toxic alternatives to household chemicals and pesticides</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ffcccc;">According to the EPA, the average American home is 2-5 times more contaminated than the area just outside of it, mostly due to the presence and residues of household cleaners and pesticides. Americans currently use 80-million pounds of pesticides a year, most of which drains into streams or seeps into the water table. Shop for </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/results/housewares/bcatid7860/forsale?text=non+toxic+category:housewares,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#ffcccc;">non-toxic cleaning products</span></a><span style="color:#ffcccc;"> and </span><a href="http://shopping.msn.com/allresults/shp/?text=non+toxic+pest+controlorganic,ptnrid=226,ptnrdata=24809" target="new"><span style="color:#ffcccc;">pest-control solutions</span></a><span style="color:#ffcccc;">.</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;"><strong>Buy tires with a long lifespan or buy retreads</strong></span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#99ff99;">There are over 3 billion discarded tires in the U.S. with over 200 million more added each year. They pollute landfills, present a fire hazard and waste oil. When you shop for tires, look for the longest-wearing types you can find and keep them properly inflated to reduce wear and save gas. Retreading saves about 400 million gallons of oil each year.</span> </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173016251222868258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 354px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="250" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R8o-32d2QSI/AAAAAAAAAsc/jGH4Z_vCxAA/s400/nm_plastic_bag_070808_ms.jpg" width="354" border="0" /><span style="color:#ffcc99;">There are hundreds of other ways you can help reduce pollution, conserve resources and fight global climate change, but if even half of us did half the things on this list, the benefits would be enormous — now and for generations to come.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Source : <a href="http://green.msn.com/">http://green.msn.com/</a></div><div>More eco & money saving tips: www.readersdigest.co.nz/.../GB_eco_shopping.gif</div></div></div></div>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-25084664571046626342008-02-26T10:48:00.004+08:002008-02-26T10:56:51.824+08:00Next president better than Bush on climate<span style="color:#ff6666;">OSLO (Reuters) - Any of the top three U.S. presidential hopefuls would be better than President George W. Bush at combating climate change, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc66cc;">"The trend is on the right side, but there is a lot of work to do," Barroso said of the outlook for U.S. policy on fighting global warming during a seminar on climate change and energy security in the Norwegian capital.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain all favour setting caps on U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases -- something Bush has so far rejected despite pressure from his allies.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc66cc;">"Any of the candidates: Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton or John McCain, will be more committed to combating climate change than the present administration," Barroso said in answer to a question.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">The United States is the only developed nation outside the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol after Australia's new Labor government signed up in December.</span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R8N-hJy9tpI/AAAAAAAAAsM/ns-bx5ZeCgw/s1600-h/2008-02-25T234547Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-321422-1-pic0.jpg"><span style="color:#ff6666;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171115905181922962" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R8N-hJy9tpI/AAAAAAAAAsM/ns-bx5ZeCgw/s400/2008-02-25T234547Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-321422-1-pic0.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R8N-hJy9tpI/AAAAAAAAAsM/ns-bx5ZeCgw/s1600-h/2008-02-25T234547Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-321422-1-pic0.jpg"><span style="color:#ffff99;">European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso delivers a speech during the 6th European Business Summit in Brussels</span> </a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R8N-hJy9tpI/AAAAAAAAAsM/ns-bx5ZeCgw/s1600-h/2008-02-25T234547Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-321422-1-pic0.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;"><strong>FLOODS AND DROUGHTS</strong><br /></span><span style="color:#33cc00;">Kyoto seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions by an average of at least five percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12 in a first step to stave off rising temperatures that the U.N. Climate Panel says will bring more floods, droughts and rising seas.<br /></span><span style="color:#3366ff;">U.S. emissions were 16 percent above 1990 levels in 2005. Emissions by many Kyoto nations are also far over goal -- Barroso's homeland Portugal is 43 percent above 1990 levels even though the EU overall is on target.</span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Barroso said he expects Europe "to again take the lead" at climate talks in Copenhagen in late 2009, when a global agreement to curb emission of greenhouse gases is expected. Bush will step down in January 2009.</span><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;">About 190 nations agreed at U.N. talks in Bali, Indonesia, in December last year to launch two years of negotiations on a new climate treaty to widen Kyoto with commitments for all nations, including developing countries such as China and India.<br /></span><span style="color:#33cc00;">The EU has a goal of cutting emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and will increase the cuts to 30 percent if other nations are willing.<br /></span><span style="color:#6666cc;"><span style="color:#3366ff;">Sen. Obama of Illinois, for instance, says he would introduce a cap and trade system that would help cut carbon emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.</span><br /></span><span style="color:#33cc00;">Sen. McCain of Arizona is the sponsor of one of the first bills to curb climate warming emissions.<br />And New York Sen. Clinton is a member of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Commission, which approved a first carbon-capping bill in December.</span>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-44416809710239781282008-02-26T10:46:00.000+08:002008-02-26T10:48:20.098+08:00Rich nations should agree 2020 carbon targets - U.N.<span style="color:#ff9966;">NEW YORK (Reuters) - The world's rich countries should set a goal of cutting planet-warming gases by 2020, not by 2050 as some have suggested, so businesses can get a clearer signal on actions they need to take to fight global warming, the U.N.'s top climate change official said on Monday.</span><br /><span style="color:#999900;">In U.N. climate talks in Bali late last year, Washington rejected stiff 2020 targets for greenhouse gas cuts by rich nations as part of a roadmap to work out a new global pact to fight climate change. The new pact would take effect in 2009, replacing the Kyoto Protocol.<br />Also last year, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed a global target to halve greenhouse gases by 2050. The target was shrugged off as too vague and lacking teeth without binding targets.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff9966;">But the 2050 date is still being discussed by some of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters as a target for imposing reductions. Such a target would be too far off for businesses to start taking meaningful action to fight climate change, Yvo de Boer, the head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said in a telephone interview.</span><br /><span style="color:#999900;">He said 2050 targets would be an easy way for politicians to push the hard work of cutting emissions into the future because most of them would be dead by then. "2050 is in a way committing the unborn, and I think that the signal that businesses are looking for is where rich nations intend to be in 2020," he said.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff9966;">Japan's current Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is set to host the Group of Eight summit in July. He is under pressure on climate change and is likely to urge major emitters to each set targets for reducing carbon dioxide to be achieved before 2050, Japanese media has said.</span><br /><span style="color:#999900;">De Boer said a 2050 goal is among the things being discussed by a group of major emitters led by the United States. But he said this could complicate the setting of a nearer goal that would spur businesses to start taking real steps on fighting climate change.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff9966;">"If it's hard to fix the nature of something for 2050 when most politicians will be under the ground, how much more difficult is it going to be to be clear on 2020?" said de Boer.<br />"I really hope that the Japanese G8 presidency can provide a breakthrough on that sense of direction." he said.</span>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-14828565952223981922008-02-04T13:30:00.000+08:002008-02-04T13:32:39.794+08:00Amazon rain forest to shrink 20 percent by 2030<span style="color:#ffcccc;">SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP): Two Brazilian research groups said the Amazon rain forest will shrink nearly 20 percent by 2030 as farming, road construction and poor government surveillance speeds deforestation, according to a study published Sunday.</span><br /><span style="color:#ccccff;">As many as 670,000 square kilometers (259,000 square miles) of forest may be destroyed in the next 22 years, according to the University of Minas Gerais and the Amazon Institute of Environmental Research, whose findings were reported by Rio de Janeiro's O Globo newspaper.<br /></span><span style="color:#99ff99;">"The damage to the Amazon and to the planet will be irreparable,'' said researcher Britaldo Silveira Soares, predicting reductions in biodiversity and rainfall, along with an increase in greenhouse gas emissions as trees are burned to clear land.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffcccc;">A government plan to boost highway construction in the Amazon region will also speed deforestation, while poor police surveillance allows illegal logging and other environmental crimes to continue, researchers warned.</span><br /><span style="color:#ccccff;">In the short term, preliminary figures from Brazil's Environmental Ministry show rain forest destruction accelerated between August and December, after three years of widely touted declines.</span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said research is under way to confirm those figures, and ordered extra federal police and environmental agents to monitor illegal forest clearing in 36 high-risk areas.<br /></span><span style="color:#ffcccc;">Officials vowed to block new logging permits and fine those who buy anything produced on illegally deforested land.<br /></span><span style="color:#ccccff;">Environmentalists say increased demand for soy and beef products has prompted farmers to carve fields and pastures from the Amazon, and Sunday's study cites illegal logging as a top cause of deforestation.</span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">Most of the world's remaining tropical wilderness lies in the Amazon, which covers about 4.1 million square kilometers (1.6 million square miles) and nearly 60 percent of Brazil. About 20 percent of the forest has already been razed.</span>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-82139269298810396282008-01-12T16:37:00.000+08:002008-01-12T16:46:15.610+08:00World warming despite cool Pacific, Baghdad snow<p><span style="color:#ffcc33;">OSLO (Reuters) - Climate change is still nudging up temperatures in the long term even though the warmest year was back in 1998 and 2008 has begun with unusual weather such as a cool Pacific and Baghdad's first snow in memory, experts said.</span><br /><span style="color:#66cccc;">"Global warming has not stopped," said Amir Delju, senior scientific coordinator of the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) climate programme.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Last year was among the six warmest years since records began in the 1850s and the British Met Office said last week that 2008 will be the coolest year since 2000, partly because of a La Nina event that cuts water temperatures in the Pacific.</span><br /><span style="color:#66cccc;">"We are in a minor La Nina period which shows a little cooling in the Pacific Ocean," Delju told Reuters. "The decade from 1998 to 2007 is the warmest on record and the whole trend is still continuing."</span><br /><span style="color:#ffcc00;">This year has started with odd weather including the first snows in Baghdad in memory on Friday and a New Year cold snap in India that killed more than 20 people. Frost hit some areas of Florida last week but orange groves escaped mostly unscathed.</span><br /><span style="color:#66cccc;">Iraqis welcomed snow as an omen of peace. "It's the first time we've seen snow in Baghdad," said 60-year-old Hassan Zahar. "I looked at the faces of all the people, they were astonished."<br />Last year, parts of the northern hemisphere were having a record mild winter with even Alpine ski resorts starved of snow.<br /></span><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Delju said climate change, blamed mainly on human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, would bring bigger swings in the weather alongside a warming trend that will mean more heatwaves, droughts, floods and rising seas.</span><br /><span style="color:#66cccc;">"The more frequent occurrence of extreme events all over the world -- floods in Australia, heavy snowfall in the Middle East -- can also be signs of warming," he said.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R4h-L4ZmkaI/AAAAAAAAAqM/rfenIm8kjVQ/s1600-h/2008-01-11T173048Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-313577-1-pic0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154508516108964258" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R4h-L4ZmkaI/AAAAAAAAAqM/rfenIm8kjVQ/s400/2008-01-11T173048Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-313577-1-pic0.jpg" border="0" /></a></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#ccccff;">The sun sets next to a smokestack from a coal-burning power station in Beijing January 9, 2008. Climate change is still nudging up temperatures in the long term even though the warmest year was back in 1998 and 2008 has begun with unusual weather such as a cool Pacific and Baghdad's first snow in memory, experts said.</span></span><br /></p><span style="color:#ff99ff;"><strong></strong></span><p><span style="color:#ff99ff;"><strong></strong></span> </p><p><span style="color:#ff99ff;"><strong>"UNEQUIVOCAL" WARMING</strong></span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">The U.N. Climate Panel said last year that global warming was "unequivocal". It said temperatures rose by 0.74 degrees Celsius in the 20th century and could rise by a "best guess" of another 1.8 to 4.0C by 2100.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffcccc;">The record year for world temperatures was 1998, ahead of 2005, according to WMO data. Among recent signs of the effects of warming, Arctic sea ice shrank last year to a record low.<br />Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the U.N. Panel that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, said he would look into the apparent temperature plateau so far this century.</span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">"One would really have to see on the basis of some analysis what this really represents," he told Reuters, adding "are there natural factors compensating?" for increases in greenhouse gases from human activities.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffcccc;">He added that sceptics about a human role in climate change delighted in hints that temperatures might not be rising. "There are some people who would want to find every single excuse to say that this is all hogwash," he said.</span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">Delju said temperatures would have to be flat for several more years before a lack of new record years became significant.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffcccc;">He noted 2005 was the second hottest year and that 1998 was boosted by a strong El Nino event which can raise temperatures worldwide in the opposite of the La Nina cooling.<br />Underscoring an underlying rise in temperatures, British forecaster Phil Jones said 2001-07, with an average of 0.44 Celsius above the 1961-90 world average of 14 degrees, was 0.21 degree warmer than the corresponding values for 1991-2000.</span></p><br /><div><span style="color:#cccccc;">By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent</span> </div>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-13431943916169447672007-12-15T12:07:00.000+08:002007-12-15T12:17:23.525+08:00Deal to fight deforestation agreed at climate talks<span style="color:#99ff99;">NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Climate talks in Bali reached a deal on Friday to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, hailed as a sign of developing nations' commitment to fighting global warming.<br /></span><span style="color:#ffccff;">The breakthrough might eventually allow poor but forested nations to turn conservation into a tradeable commodity, with the potential to earn billions of dollars selling carbon credits.<br />But one of the scheme's key architects warned that, if successful, it will create such large emissions reductions that carbon markets could collapse unless rich nations take on more stringent reductions targets.</span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">Destruction of forests produces about 20 percent of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, so their conservation is vital to limiting rises in global temperatures.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffccff;">Deforestation had been left out of previous climate deals because of concerns about how to work out which trees were threatened, and that any scheme would reward countries destroying forests rather than those protecting their resources.</span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">"Forests have been the elephants in the corner of the climate change process," said Andrew Mitchell, executive director of Global Canopy Programme, adding that markets were the only way to find the billions of dollars a year needed to protect forests.<br /></span><span style="color:#ffccff;">"We cannot expect philanthropy or governments to come up with this amount of money sustainably," he said.</span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">The new deal, which has been agreed but is yet to be formally approved, provides a framework for countries to start pilot projects and lay the groundwork for broader programmes.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffccff;">A planned $300 million World Bank fund will help pay for forest surveys and other groundwork, and finance the first projects but the scheme has been driven by developing nations.<br /></span><span style="color:#99ff99;">U.S. scientist Peter Frumhoff, Director of Science and Policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the project -- also known as reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) -- was a sign of poorer countries' sense of urgency about tackling global warming.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffccff;">"It sends a very powerful signal to my home country that developed countries are committed to reducing their emissions in a way that we in the United States must also be committed to."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cccccc;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R2NThYZmkZI/AAAAAAAAAqE/RmjgthMADKo/s1600-h/2007-12-14T185351Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-309914-1-pic0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144047032337863058" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 179px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 71px" height="64" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R2NThYZmkZI/AAAAAAAAAqE/RmjgthMADKo/s400/2007-12-14T185351Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-309914-1-pic0.jpg" width="170" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#ccccff;">File photo of the opening of the high-level segment of the UN Climate Change Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali island December 12, 2007. Climate talks in Bali reached a deal on Friday to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, hailed as a sign of developing nations' commitment to fighting global warming. (REUTERS/Supri)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cccccc;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">CARBON, DIVERSITY CONCERNS</span><br /><span style="color:#ffff99;">But Kevin Conrad, executive director of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations and Papua New Guinea's climate change envoy said that when the pace of programmes picked up, they would generate so many credits it would skew carbon markets.</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">At present under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, rich nations can pay for emissions' reducing projects in the developing world and earn credits to put towards domestic quotas. But Conrad said REDD required tighter targets.<br /></span><span style="color:#ffff99;">"The only way that we are going to bring in new supplies is if there are deeper cuts (for rich nations)," he told journalists on the sidelines of the U.N.-led climate talks.<br /></span><span style="color:#ccffff;">"We are not going to flood the market and then drop prices for everybody and not be able to overcome any of the opportunity costs," he added.<br /></span><span style="color:#ffff99;">Activists also say the deal does not contain a strong enough commitment to biodiversity or offer any way to help poor countries pay for conservation of already-protected forest.</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">"We will need to find a new mechanism that values standing forests," Mitchell said. "Because ultimately if this does its job, (deforestation) should go down to nothing."</span><br /><span style="color:#ffff99;">Also vital is preventing "leakage" of logging and deforestation to countries outside the scheme, which would make any carbon sequestration worthless.</span><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cccccc;">By Emma Graham-Harrison<br />Copyright © 2007 Reuters</span></p>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-6431886599011120202007-12-05T09:35:00.000+08:002007-12-05T09:37:49.354+08:00Fleeing rising seas, Pacific villagers seek help at Bali climate conference<p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> <b>KILU, Papua New Guinea (AP):</b> Squealing pigs lit out for the bush and Filomena Taroa herded the grandkids to higher ground last week when the sea rolled in deeper than anyone had ever seen. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> What was happening? "I don't know,'' the sturdy, barefoot grandmother told a visitor. "I'd never experienced it before.'' </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> As scientists warn of rising seas from global warming, more and more reports are coming in from villages like this one on Papua New Guinea's New Britain island of flooding from unprecedented high tides. It's happening not only to low-lying atolls, but to shorelines from Alaska to India. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> This week, by boat, bus and jetliner, a handful of villagers are converging on Bali, Indonesia, to seek help from the more than 180 nations gathered at the U.N. climate conference. The coastal dwellers' plight -- once theoretical -- appears all too real in 2007, and is spreading and worsening. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> Scientists project that seas expanding from warmth and from the runoff of melting land ice may displace millions of coastal inhabitants worldwide in this century if heat-trapping industrial emissions are not sharply curtailed. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> A Europe-based research group, the Global Governance Project, will propose at the two-week Bali meeting that an international fund be established to resettle "climate refugees.'' </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> Summarizing the islanders' plight, Ursula Rakova said: "We don't have vehicles, an airport. We're merely victims of what is happening with the industrialized nations emitting `greenhouse gases.''' </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> The sands of Rakova's islands, the Carteret atoll northeast of Bougainville island, have been giving way to the sea for 20 years. The saltwater has ruined their taro gardens, a food staple, and has contaminated their wells and flooded homesteads. The remote islands now suffer from chronic hunger. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> The national government has appropriated US$800,000 (euro545,479.34) to resettle a few Carteret families on Bougainville, out of 3,000 islanders. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> "That's not enough,'' Rakova told The Associated Press in Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby. "The islands are getting smaller. Basically, everybody will have to leave.'' </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> In a landmark series of reports this year, the U.N. climate-science network reported seas rose by a global average of about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) annually from 1993 to 2003, as compared with about 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) annually for the previous 10-year period. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> But a 2006 study by Australian oceanographers found the rise was much higher, almost 2.5 centimeters (one inch) every year, in parts of the western Pacific and Indian oceans. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> "It turns out the ocean sloshes around,'' said the University of Tasmania's Nathaniel Bindoff, a lead author on oceans in the U.N. reports. "It's moving, and so on a regional basis the ocean's movement is causing sea-level variations -- ups and downs.'' </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> Regional temperatures and atmospheric conditions, currents, undersea and shoreline topography are all factors contributing to sea levels. On some atolls, which are the above-water remnants of ancient volcanoes, the coral underpinnings are subsiding and adding to the sinking effect. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> The oceanic "sloshing'' is steadily taking land from such western Pacific island nations as Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands. In Papua New Guinea, reports have trickled in this year of fast-encroaching tides on shorelines of the northern island province of Manus, the mainland peninsular village of Malasiga and the Duke of York Islands off New Britain. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> International media attention paid to the Carteret Islands, the best-known case, seems to have drawn out others, said Papua New Guinea's senior climatologist, Kasis Inape. "Most of the low-lying islands and atolls are in the same situation,'' Inape said in Port Moresby. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> Here in Kilu on the Bismarck Sea, on a brilliant blue bay ringed by smoldering volcanoes, swaying coconut palms and thin-walled homes on stilts, the invading waves last year forced some villagers to move their houses inland 20 or more meters (yards) -- taking along their pigs, chickens and fears of worse to come. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> It did, on Nov. 25, when the highest waters yet sent them scurrying. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> "We think the sea is rising,'' said 20-year-old villager Joe Balele. "We don't know why.'' </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> The scene is repeated on shores across the Pacific, most tragically on tiny island territories with no "inland'' to turn to. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"> Preparing to head to Bali to present her people's case Tuesday at the U.N. climate conference, Rakova searched for words to explain what was happening back home. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> "Our people have been there 300 or 400 years,'' she said. "We'll be moving away from the islands we were born in and grew up in. We'll have to give up our identity.'' </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"> </p><p> <br /></p>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-40825362197475167942007-12-05T09:34:00.000+08:002007-12-05T09:35:17.386+08:00Greenpeace applauds New Zealand fossil fuel ban for power generation<span class="text"><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> <b>WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP):</b> New Zealand introduced legislation Tuesday to ban new power plants that burn fossil fuels for a decade, winning rare plaudits from environmental activist group Greenpeace. </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> The bill introduced to Parliament Tuesday also proposes an emissions trading scheme for reducing greenhouse gases. </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> New thermal electricity generation above 10 megawatts whose fuel source is more than 20 percent oil, coal or gas, will be banned under the 10-year plan, Climate Change Minister David Parker said. </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> Already 65 percent of the nation's electricity is generated from renewable resources, mainly hydroelectric plants. Wind, geothermal power and other renewable fuel sources will be key for future electricity generation, Parker said in a statement. </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> Greenpeace immediately congratulated New Zealand for "leading the way on renewable electricity.'' </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> "This is unprecedented internationally,'' said Greenpeace climate campaigner Susannah Bailey. "The ban sends a clear message to power generators that fossil fuels have no part to play in New Zealand's future.'' </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> Parker, who is also energy minister, said some exemptions will apply: The fuel source can contain more than 20 percent fossil fuels if the remainder is made up of waste, when the needs of isolated communities are "most logically'' met by thermal generation, or in time of emergency. He did not define emergency. </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> The emissions trading part of the legislation will establish New Zealand emission units, linked to Kyoto emission units for transfer to offshore buyers. </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> The scheme will apply to the forestry sector from January 2008, transport fuels from 2009, industry from 2010 and the agriculture and waste sectors from 2013. </p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> In early October, Prime Minister Helen Clark unveiled an ambitious plan to halve transport greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and generate 90 percent of New Zealand's electricity supply from non-carbon renewable resources by 2025. </p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"> The Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill must pass through four debating stages in Parliament, plus a study by a Select Committee, before it can become law. </span><br /></p></span>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-69196954478687555872007-12-04T10:50:00.000+08:002007-12-04T10:57:50.466+08:00Australia buoys hopes at Bali climate talks<b>By David Fogarty</b> <p style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"> BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Australia raised hopes of global action to fight climate change on Monday by agreeing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, isolating the United States at U.N.-led talks in Bali as the only rich nation not in the pact. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"> Australia's decision won a standing ovation at the opening of tough two-week negotiations on the Indonesian resort isle. The talks aim to pull together rich and poor countries around a common agenda to agree a broader successor to Kyoto by 2009. </p><p> <table align="right" border="0" width="20%"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://thestar.com.my/archives/2007/12/4/worldupdates/2007-12-03T170835Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-308013-2-pic0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></td></tr><tr style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><td><div class="caption"><span style="font-size:85%;">A Greenpeace activist dressed in a polar bear costume hugs a globe outside the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali island December 3, 2007. (REUTERS/Supri)</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"> "I think I can speak for all present here by expressing a sigh of relief," conference host and Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar told the opening session of Australia's steps to ratify the Protocol. </span></p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"> New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took the oath of office on Monday. His first official duty was signing documents to ratify Kyoto, ending his country's long-held opposition to the climate agreement that runs until 2012. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"> About 190 nations are in Bali seeking a breakthrough for a new global pact to include the United States and developing countries to fight climate change to avert droughts, heatwaves and rising seas that will hit the poor hardest. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"> "The world is watching closely," Witoelar told delegates at the Dec. 3-14 meeting. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"> "Climate change is unequivocal and accelerating," he said. "It is becoming increasingly evident that the most severe impacts of climate change will be felt by poor nations." </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"> A new treaty is meant to widen the Kyoto Protocol, which binds 36 industrial countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. </p><p style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> TOP EMITTER</span> </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> The United States, as the world's top greenhouse gas emitter, has been feeling the heat from developing nations demanding the rich make stronger commitments to curb emissions. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);"> Australia, the world's top coal exporter and among the world's highest per-capita greenhouse gas polluters, has been criticised for years for refusing the ratify Kyoto. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> "It was an emotional and spontaneous reaction to a very significant decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Secretariat, said of the ovation. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);"> The United States was unfazed. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> "We respect Australia's decision," Harlan Watson, head of the U.S. delegation, told reporters. "We're not here to be a roadblock. We're committed to a successful conclusion here." </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);"> The United States has backed voluntary targets to fight climate change, but was viewing a new deal with an open mind, Watson said, who didn't rule out legally binding commitments. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> De Boer told delegates rich nations had to agree to axe emissions from burning fossil fuels to encourage poor countries to start braking their own rising emissions. </p><p><span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);"> "Bold action in the north can fuel clean growth in the south," he said, urging a sharing of clean energy technologies such as solar or wind power. "I fervently hope you will make a breakthrough here in Bali by adopting a negotiating agenda."</span> </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Others urged caution. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);"> "At the opening ceremonies for the climate talks in Bali, there was lots of good will and optimism, but there is clearly a challenging road ahead," said Angela Anderson, at the Washington-based National Environmental Trust. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> And governments' opening remarks hinted at tough talks ahead. China insisted rich countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020, while Japan said China's active participation in a new climate deal was "essential". </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);"> Climate change talks have been bogged down by arguments over who curbs their fossil fuel use and carbon emissions most, and how to share that burden between rich and poor nations. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> China and India, among the world's top emitters and comprising more than a third of humanity, say it's unfair that they agree to targets when rich countries contributed most to the problem, and as they try to lift millions out of poverty. </p><p> </p><p style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);"> (Additional reporting by Alister Doyle, Gerard Wynn and Adhityani Arga in Bali and James Grubel in Canberra)<br /><br /><i>Copyright © 2007 Reuters</i></p>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-24223118166650615802007-12-04T10:26:00.000+08:002007-12-04T10:32:49.536+08:00Climate change may wipe some Indonesian islands off map<p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> JAKARTA (Reuters) - Many of Indonesia's islands may be swallowed up by the sea if world leaders fail to find a way to halt rising sea levels at this week's climate change conference on the resort island of Bali. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> Doomsters take this dire warning by Indonesian scientists a step further and predict that by 2035, the Indonesian capital's airport will be flooded by sea water and rendered useless; and by 2080, the tide will be lapping at the steps of Jakarta's imposing Dutch-era Presidential palace which sits 10 km inland (about 6 miles).</span> </p><p> <table align="right" border="0" width="20%"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://thestar.com.my/archives/2007/12/4/worldupdates/2007-12-03T190842Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-308043-1-pic0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></td></tr><tr style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><td><div class="caption"><span style="font-size:85%;">An aerial view of an unnamed Indonesian island in Riau province October 6, 2007. Many of Indonesia's islands may be swallowed up by the sea if world leaders fail to find a way to halt rising sea levels at this week's climate change conference on the resort island of Bali. (REUTERS/Yuli Seperi)</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> The Bali conference is aimed at finding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, on cutting climate warming carbon emissions. With over 17,000 islands, many at risk of being washed away, Indonesians are anxious to see an agreement reached and quickly implemented that will keep rising seas at bay. </span></p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> Just last week, tides burst through sea walls, cutting a key road to Jakarta's international airport until officials were able to reinforce coastal barricades. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> "Island states are very vulnerable to sea level rise and very vulnerable to storms. Indonesia ... is particularly vulnerable," Nicholas Stern, author of an acclaimed report on climate change, said on a visit to Jakarta earlier this year. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> Even large islands are at risk as global warming might shrink their land mass, forcing coastal communities out of their homes and depriving millions of a livelihood. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> The island worst hit would be Java, which accounts for more than half of Indonesia's 226 million people. Here rising sea levels would swamp three of the island's biggest cities near the coast -- Jakarta, Surabaya and Semarang -- destroying industrial plants and infrastructure. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> "Tens of millions of people would have to move out of their homes. There is no way this will happen without conflict," Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said recently. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"> "The cost would be very high. Imagine, it's not just about building better infrastructure, but we'd have to relocate people and change the way people live," added Witoelar, who has said that Indonesia could lose 2,000 of its islands by 2030 if sea levels continue to rise.</span> </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> CRUNCH TIME AT BALI</span> </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Environmentalists say this week's climate change meeting in Bali will be crunch time for threatened coastlines and islands as delegates from nearly 190 countries meet to hammer out a new treaty on global warming. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Several small island nations including Singapore, Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Caribbean countries have raised the alarm over rising sea levels which could wipe them off the map. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> The Maldives, a cluster of 1,200 islands renowned for its luxury resorts, has asked the international community to address climate change so it does not sink into a watery grave. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> According to a U.N. climate report, temperatures are likely to rise by between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius (2.0 and 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit) and sea levels by between 18 cm and 59 cm (seven and 23 inches) this century. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Under current greenhouse gas emission levels, Indonesia could lose about 400,000 sq km of land mass by 2080, including about 10 percent of Papua, and 5 percent of both Java and Sumatra on the northern coastlines, Armi Susandi, a meteorologist at the Bandung Institute of Technology, told Reuters. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country, has faced intense pressure over agricultural land for decades. </p><p style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Susandi, who has researched the impact of climate change on Indonesia, estimated sea levels would rise by an average of 0.5 cm a year until 2080, while the submersion rate in Jakarta, which lies just above sea level, would be higher at 0.87 cm a year. </p><p style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> A study by the UK-based International Institute for Economy and Development (IIED) said at least 8 out of 92 of the outermost small islands that make up the country's borders are vulnerable.</span> </p><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> TOO MANY ISLANDS TO COUNT</span> </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> Less than half of Indonesia's islands are inhabited and many are not even named. Now, the authorities are hastily counting the coral-fringed islands that span a distance of 5,000 km, the equivalent of going from Ireland to Iran, before it is too late. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> Disappearing islands and coastlines would not only change the Indonesian map, but could also restrict access to mineral resources situated in the most vulnerable spots, Susandi said. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> He estimates that land loss alone would cost Indonesia 5 percent of its GDP without taking into account the loss of property and livelihood as millions migrate from low-lying coastlines to cities and towns on higher ground. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> There are 42 million people in Indonesia living in areas less than 10 meters above the average sea level, who could be acutely affected by rising sea levels, the IIED study showed. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> A separate study by the United Nations Environment Programme in 1992 showed in two districts in Java alone, rising waters could deprive more than 81,000 farmers of their rice fields or prawn and fish ponds, while 43,000 farm labourers would lose their job. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> One solution is to cover Indonesia's fragile beaches with mangroves, the first line of defence against sea level rise, which can break big waves and hold back soil and silt that damage coral reefs. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> A more expensive alternative is to erect multiple concrete walls on the coastlines, as the United States has done to break the tropical storms that hit its coast, Susandi said. </p><p style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> Some areas, including the northern shores of Jakarta, are already fitted with concrete sea barriers, but they are often damaged or too low to block rising waters and big waves such as the ones that hit Jakarta in November. </p><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> "It will be like permanent flooding," Susandi said. "By 2050, about 24 percent of Jakarta will disappear," possibly even forcing the capital to move to Bandung, a hill city 180 km east of Jakarta.</span> </p><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </p><p><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);font-size:85%;" ><i>Copyright © 2007 Reuters</i></span></p>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-52343127139357887792007-11-24T16:00:00.000+08:002007-11-24T16:06:36.047+08:00Carbon dioxide at record high, stoking warming<p><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ff9966;"><span style="color:#cc9933;">OSLO- Levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted by burning fossil fuels, hit a record high in the atmosphere in 2006, accelerating global warming, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.<br />But concentrations of methane, the number two heat-trapping gas, flattened out in a hint that Siberian permafrost is staying frozen despite some scientists' fears that rising temperatures might trigger a runaway thaw.<br />"In 2006, globally averaged concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached their highest levels ever recorded," the WMO said. Carbon dioxide is the main gas from human activities blamed by the U.N. climate panel for stoking warming.</span> </span></p><br /><p><span style="color:#663333;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R0fauDRWniI/AAAAAAAAApI/A1exTWRRIkE/s1600-h/2007-11-24T000456Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-306595-1-pic0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136314384726269474" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/R0fauDRWniI/AAAAAAAAApI/A1exTWRRIkE/s400/2007-11-24T000456Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-306595-1-pic0.jpg" border="0" /></a></span></span></p><span style="color:#663333;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:#336666;">File photo shows smoke rising from a cement plant in Baokang, Hubei province August 6, 2007. Levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted by burning fossil fuels, hit a record high in the atmosphere in 2006, accelerating global warming, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday. (REUTERS/Stringer)</span></p><p><span style="color:#663333;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><p><span style="color:#663333;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><p><span style="color:#663333;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></p><p><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">The WMO said levels rose 0.53 percent from 2005 to 381.2 parts per million of the atmosphere, 36 percent above levels before the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century.<br />Levels of nitrous oxide, the number three greenhouse gas produced by burning fuels and by industrial processes, also rose to a record with a 0.25 percent gain in 2006. Levels are 320 parts per billion, 19 percent above pre-industrial times.<br />"Atmospheric growth rates in 2006 of these gases are consistent with recent years," the WMO said in a report. Rising levels could disrupt the climate, producing more heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising ocean levels.<br />But levels of methane, which comes from sources such as rotting vegetation in landfills, termites, rice paddies and the digestive process of cows, dipped 0.06 percent to 1,782 parts per billion in 2006.<br />"Methane levels have been flattening out in recent years," Geir Braathen, WHO's senior scientific officer, told Reuters. Still, methane levels are 155 percent higher than before the Industrial Revolution.<br />"A widespread melt of Siberian permafrost is a possibility but there is no sign of it in this data," he said, referring to some scientists' fears that frozen methane in the permafrost could be released by rising temperatures and accelerate warming.<br />"If it was happening it would turn up in these figures," he said.<br />Braathen also said the relative importance of carbon dioxide was increasing, contributing 91 percent of the total heating effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in the past five years from 87 percent in the past decade.<br />Emissions of some heat-trapping gases blamed for depleting the planet's protective ozone layer also dipped in 2006.<br />More than 190 nations will meet in Bali, Indonesia, from Dec. 3-14 to try to launch two years of negotiations on a new global treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the main U.N. plan for fighting global warming.</span> </p><p><br />Copyright © 2007 Reuters</span><br /><br /></p></span>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-52592151623954864842007-10-26T18:05:00.000+08:002007-10-26T18:08:28.945+08:00U.N. planetary report paints bleak regional picture<span style="color:#cc66cc;">LONDON (Reuters) - The world's scarce resources are being depleted at a wholly unsustainable rate despite urgent warnings sounded two decades ago, the United Nations' Environment Programme said on Thursday.<br />The following is a brief regional summary of UNEP's fourth Global Environmental Outlook report.</span> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/RyG8foiV33I/AAAAAAAAAo4/X73QTHsjOdU/s1600-h/3452.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125585102567759730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/RyG8foiV33I/AAAAAAAAAo4/X73QTHsjOdU/s400/3452.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p></p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">File photo of children walking along the polluted shoreline of Manila Bay October 9, 2007. (REUTERS/John Javella/Files)</span><br /></span><br /><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p><span style="color:#ffcc99;">AFRICA<br />Land degradation is the biggest threat to the region. It affects about five million square kilometres or one-sixth of the continent. Land is under pressure because of increased demand for resources from the growing population and natural disasters like drought and floods. Food production per head is now 12 percent lower than in 1981. This is exacerbated by unfair subsidies in developed nations. Climate change leading to forced migrations also makes the problems worse.</span> </p><br /><br /><p><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;"><span style="color:#66cccc;">ASIA AND PACIFIC<br />This region, home to 60 per cent of the world's people, is making progress in reducing poverty. It is also improving its ability to protect the environment, energy efficiency is increasing in many places, and drinking water provision has advanced a lot in the last decade. But increases in consumption and associated waste have contributed to the huge growth in existing environmental problems including urban air quality, fresh water stress, agricultural land use and the illegal traffic in electronic and hazardous waste. More than one billion people are exposed to outdoor air pollution.</span> </span></p><span style="color:#00cccc;"><br /><br /><p><br /></span><span style="color:#9999ff;">EUROPE<br />Europe has made great strides in the past 20 years in cutting many forms of pollution, but rising average incomes has led to higher emissions of greenhouse gases and are contributing to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, higher energy use, poor urban air quality, and transport problems driven by demands for increased mobility. The EU is emerging as a global leader in environmental governance. But there is still much room for improvement in the use of energy and resources. </span></p><span style="color:#9999ff;"><br /><br /><p><br /></span><span style="color:#ffcccc;">LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN<br />Crammed cities and wildlife loss are key problems for the region which must also act fast to reduce social inequalities. It has the world's worst income inequality, with 39 percent of the urban population living below the poverty line. Urban air pollution is also a problem. Only 14 per cent of the region's sewage is adequately treated. The region contains 23.4 per cent of the world's forest cover but is rapidly losing it. Trade, unplanned urbanisation and lack of land-use planning are driving their conversion to pasture and to monocultures for export and to provide biofuel. Deforestation affects water quantity and quality and is a big source of greenhouse gas emissions. </span></p><span style="color:#ffcccc;"><br /><br /><p><br /></span><span style="color:#ffff00;"><span style="color:#ffff99;">NORTH AMERICA<br />With only 5.1 per cent of the world's people, North America consumes just over 24 per cent of global primary energy. Energy consumption per head in both Canada and the United States has grown since 1987, with the total rising by 18 per cent. From 1987 to 2003, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels in North America increased 27.8 per cent. Other key issues include urban sprawl, and freshwater quality and quantity. But energy efficiency gains have been countered by the use of larger vehicles, low fuel economy standards, and increases in car numbers and distances travelled. It also continues to suffer increasing urban sprawl.</span> </span></p><span style="color:#ffff00;"><br /><br /><p><br /></span><span style="color:#cc9933;">POLAR REGIONS<br />The Polar Regions are already feeling the impacts of climate change. Two key global impacts are ocean circulation, driven by differences in sea water density which is determined by temperature and salt content, and sea level rise. The Greenland ice sheet is losing mass faster than it is replacing it. If it melts completely sea levels will rise by seven metres. The giant West Antarctic ice sheet is also vulnerable. Some scientists think its complete collapse this century is conceivable.</span> </p><br /><br /><p><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">WEST ASIA<br />The region has made progress in environmental governance in the past two decades. But continued population growth, military conflicts, and rapid development have resulted in significant increase in environmental challenges and pressures on natural resources. Key environmental issues are freshwater scarcity, degradation of land, coastal and marine ecosystems, urban management, and peace and security.</span><br />Copyright © 2007 Reuters</p>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-53999098500442622222007-10-26T18:02:00.000+08:002007-10-26T18:05:05.690+08:00Twenty years on, world in dire straits<p><span style="color:#ffcccc;">LONDON (Reuters) - Two decades after a landmark report sounded alarm bells about the state of the planet and called for urgent action to change direction, the world is still in dire straits, a U.N. agency said on Thursday.<br />While the U.N. Environment Programme's fourth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-4) says action has been successfully taken in some regions and on some problems, the overall picture is one of sloth and neglect.<br />"The global trends on climate, on ozone, on indeed ecosystem degradation, fisheries, in the oceans, water supplies ... are still pointing downwards," UNEP head Achim Steiner said in a short film accompanying the report's release.<br />The 540-page report calls for emissions of climate warming greenhouse gases to be cut by between 60 and 80 percent, and notes that 60 percent of the world's ecosystems have been degraded and are still being used unsustainably.<br />"We are facing an escalating situation. Partly because we have been very slow in reversing the degradation that we have documented and secondly because the demands on our planet have continued to grow during this period," Steiner said.<br />"That equation cannot hold for much longer. Indeed, in parts of the world it is no longer holding," he added.<br />The report is a litany of planet-wide death and degradation.<br />Two decades after former Norwegian premier Gro Harlem Brundtland warned that the survival of humankind was at stake, GEO-4 finds that three million people die needlessly each year from water-borne diseases in developing nations -- mostly children under five.</span> </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125584144790052706" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/RyG7n4iV32I/AAAAAAAAAow/_pVyRXzJU5g/s400/dfffff.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;color:#999900;">A man stands near a polluted river in Jakarta, September 21, 2007. Two decades after a landmark report sounded alarm bells about the state of the planet and called for urgent action to change direction, the world is still in dire straits, a U.N. agency said on Thursday. (REUTERS/Beawiharta/Files</span></p><p> </p><p><br /><span style="color:#9999ff;">EXTINCTIONS<br />Fishing capacity is nearly four times more than is sustainable, species are becoming extinct 100 times faster than fossil records show, and 12 percent of birds, 23 percent of mammals and over 30 percent of amphibians face extinction.<br />UNEP deputy head Marion Cheatle told a London news conference the world had suffered five mass extinctions in its history and was now undergoing a sixth.<br />The report, drawn together by 388 scientists and vetted by 1,000 others, praises international treaties on saving the ozone layer, desertification and biodiversity and actions in some cities on urban atmospheric pollution.<br />But it describes as "woefully inadequate" the global response to problems such as cutting emissions of carbon gases from power and transport that scientists say will boost average temperatures by up to four degrees Celsius this century.<br />"We do have solutions but we are just not applying them at the speed we need," said Cheatle. "Time and again we see not enough effort being put in."<br />Region by region the report highlights the good and the bad -- and in most cases the bad is winning.<br />In Africa it is land degradation exacerbated by climate change and conflicts, while in the Asia and Pacific air pollution is the major threat to life and in Europe it is profligate consumption and overuse of carbon-based energy.<br />In Latin America it is massive social inequality and deforestation, while in North America it is rising carbon emissions and urban sprawl and in the Middle East it is wars, poverty and growing water scarcity.<br />But all is not gloom and doom.<br />This year has been the one in which a combination of politics, natural events and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change established a momentum to fight global warming.<br />Steiner hopes that his report will have the same effect on the fight to save the planet's ecosystems.<br />"Our hope is that with this GEO-4 report UNEP can in a sense help to bring about a tipping point, just as we are seeing in 2007 with climate change," he said.</span><br />Copyright © 2007 Reuters</p><br /><div></div>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-76886089301508295822007-10-26T17:33:00.000+08:002007-10-26T17:45:52.346+08:00Green fuel solution lurks in pond scum<span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:100%;color:#660000;">NEW YORK (Reuters) - A plant scientist from West Texas believes one of the oldest, simplest life forms can help ease some of today's toughest energy and environment problems.<br />Algae converts carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, into a vegetable oil that Glen Kertz, a plant cell expert who used to work for oil companies, hopes can be economically turned into the renewable motor fuel biodiesel.<br />Algae doesn't need prime farmland, vast quantities of fertilizer, or large harvest vehicles to be grown and harvested, unlike corn which is the main U.S. feedstock for ethanol, the top alternative motor fuel.<br />The single-celled organisms, which are among the world's fastest growing plants, can prosper in small bags of water under the light of greenhouses.<br />"The more light I have, the more energy that I can capture and put back into the transportation system," Kertz, CEO of private company Valcent Products, said in an interview. He says he can quickly grow algae, sometimes known as pond scum, anywhere but a rainy place like Seattle.</span><br /></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/RyG0q4iV31I/AAAAAAAAAoo/jvQ1tdZ7MhQ/s1600-h/2007-10-26T053137Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-301666-1-pic0.jpg"><span style="font-size:0;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125576499748265810" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/RyG0q4iV31I/AAAAAAAAAoo/jvQ1tdZ7MhQ/s400/2007-10-26T053137Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-301666-1-pic0.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><br /><span style="font-size:0;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:0;"></span><br /><span style="color:#9999ff;">Children are seen playing beside an algae-filled pond in southwest China's Sichuan province in this March 31, 2007 (REUTERS/Stringer)</span><br /><span style="font-size:0;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:0;"></span><br /><br /><span style="color:#336666;"></span><br /><span style="color:#336666;"></span><br /><span style="color:#336666;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">FUNDS VENTURE IN<br />Venture capitalists are racing to invest in alternative energy sources as finding crude cheaply in places friendly to the United States becomes harder, oil prices hit record levels edging toward $100 a barrel, and worries about global warming escalate.<br />Industry watcher Cleantech Group said on Thursday venture capitalists sank $1 billion into alternative energy in North America in the third quarter of this year.<br />And Canadian venture capital fund Sweetwater Capital is helping fund Vertigro Energy, a joint venture between Kertz's Valcent and Global Green Solutions Inc that is building the pilot bioreactor and research laboratory in El Paso at a cost of $3 million. Kertz hopes Vertigro will be producing a small amount of vegetable oil that can be converted into biodiesel by the middle of next year. </span><br /><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="color:#cc9933;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Vertigro and other algae biodiesel companies like LiveFuels Inc. in California, and Greenfuel Technologies in Massachusetts, say algae greenhouses can produce far more vegetable oil per acre than soybeans, currently the top U.S. biodiesel feedstock.<br />Algae can produce 378,540 liters of oil an acre annually, compared with about 50 gallons per acre for soybeans, Vertigro says.<br />Certainly there are road bumps ahead in the journey that's barely begun for algae fuel, particularly a lack of infrastructure. The Colonial Pipeline, the main U.S. oil products pipeline from the Houston oil hub to New York, said it has no plans to pump biodiesel of any sort through its lines because it leaves residue in the system that could contaminate other fuels.<br />And the current energy system of ships, refineries, pipelines and pumps that has been built over a century, will not just evaporate, even if algae fuel becomes economical.<br />Defending algae, Kertz said removing glycerin from biodiesel can eliminate pipeline problems. But major oil companies have yet to shown interest in biodiesel, he said.<br />Still, the U.S. federal government has taken note of algae's potential. The main U.S. laboratory for alternative energy research, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which had an algae program until the 1990s, is preparing to reopen federal research on energy from pond scum within the next year, said spokesman Gary Schmitz.<br />And Kertz says algae companies, along with much bigger companies, will come together to lobby the government about the fuel's potential next year.</span><br /></span>Copyright © 2007 Reuters</span>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-66668614734458141132007-10-08T12:53:00.000+08:002007-10-26T17:47:00.915+08:00Egypt plan to green Sahara desert stirs controversy<span style="color:#006600;"><span style="color:#66ff99;">CAIRO (Reuters) - It looks like a mirage but the lush fields of cauliflower, apricot trees and melon growing among a vast stretch of sand north of Cairo's pyramids is all too real -- proof of Egypt's determination to turn its deserts green.<br />While climate change and land over-use help many deserts across the world advance, Egypt is slowly greening the sand that covers almost all of its territory as it seeks to create more space for its growing population.<br />Tarek el-Kowmey, 45, points proudly to the banana trees he grows on what was once Sahara sands near the Desert Development Centre, north of Cairo, where scientists experiment with high-tech techniques to make Egypt's desert bloom.<br />"All of this used to be just sand," he said. "Now we can grow anything."<br />With only five percent of the country habitable, almost all of Egypt's 74 million people live along the Nile River and the Mediterranean Sea. Already crowded living conditions -- Cairo is one of the most densely populated cities on earth -- will likely get worse as Egypt's population is expected to double by 2050.<br />So the government is keen to encourage people to move to the desert by pressing ahead with an estimated $70 billion plan to reclaim 3.4 million acres of desert over the next 10 years. Among the incentives are cheap desert land to college graduates.<br />But to make these areas habitable and capable of cultivation, the government will need to tap into scarce water resources of the Nile River as rainfall is almost non-existent in Egypt.<br />The plan has raised controversy among some conservationists who say turning the desert green is neither practical nor sustainable and might ultimately backfire.<br />Anders Jagerskog, director of the Stockholm International Water Institute in Sweden, questions the wisdom of using precious water resources to grow in desert areas unsuited to cultivation and where water will evaporate quickly under the scorching sun.<br />"A desert is not the best place to grow food," he said. "From a political perspective, it makes sense in terms of giving more people jobs even though it is not very rational from a water perspective," he added.</span> </span><div><span style="color:#006600;"></span></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/Rwm4m5qJfzI/AAAAAAAAAog/9nwTwuii5MI/s1600-h/2007-10-08T064711Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-298956-1-pic0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118825429935423282" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mXB28kQUEZQ/Rwm4m5qJfzI/AAAAAAAAAog/9nwTwuii5MI/s320/2007-10-08T064711Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-298956-1-pic0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#660000;">Workers till a field at the Desert Development Center in the Nile Delta, September 20, 2007. (REUTERS/Tara Todras-Whitehill)</span></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#9999ff;"><strong>REGIONAL TENSION?</strong><br />The scope of the reclamations could also add to regional tension over Nile water sharing arrangements as in order to green its desert Egypt might need to take more than its share of Nile water determined by international treaties.<br />Egypt's project to reclaim deserts in the south, called "Toshka", would expand Egypt's farmland by about 40 percent by 2017, using about five billion cubic metres of water a year.<br />That worries neighbours to the south who are already unhappy about Nile water sharing arrangements. Under a 1959 treaty between Egypt and Sudan, Egypt won rights to 55.5 billion cubic metres per year, more than half of the Nile's total flow.<br />Ethiopia, where the Blue Nile begins, receives no formal allocation of Nile water, but it is heavily dependent on the water for its own agricultural development in this often famine ravaged country.<br />"The Toshka project will complicate the challenge of achieving a more equitable allocation of the Nile River with Ethiopia and the other Nile basin countries," said Sandra Postel, director of the U.S.-based Global Water Policy Project.<br />"Egypt may be setting the stage for a scenario that's ultimately detrimental to itself."<br />But other experts suggest that in the delicate arena of water politics, it may be more of an imperative for Egypt's government to mollify its own population rather than heed its neighbours concerns.<br />Overcrowding is straining infrastructure in the cities and the government is worried that opposition groups such as the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which has a fifth of the seats in Parliament, might capitalise on discontent.<br />"The government feels it needs to reduce the number of people in high density areas, which puts a lot of pressure on resources like fertile land," said Mostafa Saleh, professor of ecology at Al Azhar University in Cairo.<br />"They are trying to spread the population to other parts of the country." </span></div><br /><div><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;"><strong>DESERT TOURISM</strong><br />Some critics say that Egypt should look at desert tourism rather than agriculture, which might not be sustainable or particularly profitable and could destroy fragile wildlife habitats that might otherwise be a drawcard for tourists.<br />A desert reclamation project last decade, south of Cairo, destroyed much of the Wadi Raiyan oasis and its population of slender horned gazelles.<br />"The price tag on these assets is huge, both as natural heritage and as a resource for tourism," said ecologist Saleh.<br />Saleh is vice president of an Egyptian firm that built an electricity-free ecolodge, consisting of rock salt and mud houses, amid olive and palm groves in the desert oasis of Siwa.<br />The lodge, which costs $400 per night and has attracted guests such as Britain's Prince Charles and Belgium's Queen Paola, shows that the desert would be better used for ecotourism than farming, he says.<br />"In Egypt, water is the most critical resource and we should be careful to use it to maximise revenue," Saleh explained. "Agriculture is not the best option for Egypt. Nature-based tourism could bring in much more money."<br />At the Desert Development Center, irrigation water comes through a canal connected to the Nile, about 15 km away, where it is used to keep crops flourishing and grass green for hardy hybrid cows to graze.<br />Experts at the centre believe greening the Sahara might be Egypt's best hope of bringing prosperity to its people.<br />Workers graft fruit-bearing plants onto the stems of plants that survive well in the desert. Favourite fruits are citrus as they flourish in hot climates and can land on supermarket shelves in Europe hours after harvesting.<br />Proximity to markets in Europe and a lack of pests, which usually thrive in humid environments, make desert farming economically viable, said Richard Tutwiler, director of the Desert Development Center at the American University in Cairo.<br />Water supply, Tutwiler said, shouldn't be an issue at least for the next ten years. It makes sense, he says, to expand agriculture onto land that was once useless.<br />"There is no frost and there is sun all the time here," he said. "Plants just go nuts." </span></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>By Will Rasmussen<br />Copyright © 2007 Reuters</div>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-52886231495393760922007-10-02T12:45:00.000+08:002007-10-26T17:44:11.646+08:00Hollywood slowly warming to conservation<span style="color:#663366;"><span style="color:#99ffff;">LOS ANGELES (AP) - From "green carpets'' at awards shows to organic fruit served to actors on sets, Hollywood is going all out to promote itself as being environmentally hip.<br />But is it all just show?<br />No amount of public service announcements or celebrities driving hybrid cars can mask the fact that movie and TV production is a gritty industrial operation, consuming enormous amounts of power to feed bright lights, run sophisticated cameras, and feed a cast of thousands.<br />Studios' back lots host cavernous soundstages that must be air-conditioned to counter the heat produced by decades-old lighting technology.<br />Huge manufacturing facilities consume wood, steel, paint and plastic to build sets that are often torn down and tossed out after filming ends.<br />The energy guzzling continues on the exhibition side, too, with multiplexes drawing millions of kilowatts to power old-school popcorn makers and clunky film projectors that cash-strapped theater owners are reluctant to replace.<br />A two-year study released last year by the University of California at Los Angeles concluded that special effects explosions, idling vehicles and diesel generators make the entertainment industry a major Southern California polluter, second only to the oil industry.<br />Still, financial and public pressures have resulted in many studios expanding their environmental efforts, doing everything from using a biodiesel fuel mixture to run the generators on the set of the Fox show "24'' to converting Warner Bros.' enormous set-building facility to solar energy.<br />"Public consciousness on this issue has changed dramatically,'' said Kyle Tanger, a principal at Clear Carbon Consulting.<br />"The talent themselves are requesting it from some of the studios. And a lot of these things make economic sense.''<br />Economic benefit can come to studios directly, by switching to more efficient lighting or cooling systems or driving hybrid cars on location, which can save gas.<br />Other projects, such as installing solar power, can take decades to pay off.<br />But there are other benefits that are harder to quantify. Besides the public relations angle, many performers and other employees want to work with eco-friendly companies, so it also helps in recruiting and retaining employees, Tanger said.<br />Form and function merged at this year's Primetime Emmy Awards show.<br />To symbolize its commitment to energy conservation, Fox had wanted to replace the traditional red carpet with a green one.<br />The tradition-bound Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which gives the awards, politely said "no.''<br />But the carpet that ended up cushioning the heels of such stars as Sally Field and America Ferrera was made from recycled plastic bottles and later cut into pieces and donated to several local schools.<br />"No doubt some efforts have been window dressing. But I actually think Hollywood is doing far more than people are giving it credit for,'' said Terry Tamminen, who served as an adviser to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before starting his own environmental consulting company.<br />One convenient yet controversial method is the purchase of carbon credits by studios and producers to offset the greenhouse gases from their production activity.<br />The credits attempt to counter such pollution by investing in environmentally friendly projects such as planting trees or funding wind power.<br />Studios and a growing number of other industries calculate their emissions, then write a check to one of several brokers who funnel the money to projects around the world.<br />The goal is to become carbon neutral by funding activities that reduce an equal amount of emissions.<br />The 2004 Fox film "The Day After Tomorrow'' and last year's Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth'' offset all or some of their pollution.<br />This year's "Evan Almighty,'' from Universal, donated money to the Conservation Fund to plant 2,000 trees, enough to "zero out'' the greenhouse gases produced.<br />But the practice has come under fire by some who say it is an easy way to avoid the hard work of directly reducing pollution.<br />Others question whether carbon credit payments are actually going to projects that make that much of a difference.<br />"If you're going to drive around in a big ol' Hummer and then buy carbon offsets to mitigate that, that's like getting drunk on the ends and throwing some money through the window of an AA meeting and thinking you're doing something,'' said Ed Begley Jr., who was a poster child for energy conservation long before Al Gore made it trendy.<br />The Federal Trade Commission, meanwhile, has begun examining claims made by the nascent multimillion-dollar carbon credit industry.<br />Warner Bros., which bought carbon credits for the 2005 film "Syriana,'' has also become more aggressive at reducing emissions during all phases of production.<br />In addition to solar-powered set-building, the studio is recycling sets, using recycled plastic lumber in the construction of some buildings, and printing double-sided scripts where feasible.<br />Pieces built for the 2001 film "Ocean's 11'' now sit in the Santa Monica offices of the National Resources Defense Council. Sets from this year's sequel "Ocean's 13'' were donated to decorate the halls of local community colleges.<br />"You have to start by measuring your own footprint, then reducing it, whether through using alternative fuels, reducing electrical loads or combining trips,'' said Shelley Billick, vice president of environmental initiatives at Warner Bros.<br />Entertainment. "It's too easy to write a check, pay thousands of dollars and say, 'I'm climate neutral.'''<br />Last year, Fox parent News Corp. set a goal of being carbon neutral by 2010.<br />To further that goal, Fox Broadcasting chose its popular "24'' series as a case study and to serve as a model for other television productions.<br />Diesel generators that power the show's lighting were switched to a mixture that uses 5 percent biodiesel fuel.<br />That percentage will be increased in coming years. The show also has secured energy from solar and wind generation from a local utility for its soundstages.<br />But News Corp. has a more ambitious goal than simply reducing its own carbon emissions.<br />"We knew from the beginning that if our goal is to make as many carbon reductions in the world as possible, probably the best way we can do that is through our audiences,'' said Rachel Webber, director of energy initiatives for News Corp.<br />The company concluded that worldwide, it produced the equivalent of 641,150 tons of carbon dioxide.<br />But a rough estimate revealed that the people who read its newspapers, watch its TV shows and browse its Web sites use about 7 billion tons.<br />"That's the greatest potential to reduce carbon, but we have to get our own house in order first,'' Webber said.</span><br /></span><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/fronts/BUSINESS?SITE=MYPSP&SECTION=HOME" target="_blank"><span style="color:#663366;">Latest business news from AP-Wire</span></a>Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18266389.post-61887526568734255602007-09-28T17:55:00.000+08:002007-09-28T17:56:15.251+08:00U.S. aims to support U.N. on climate change - RiceBy Deborah Zabarenko and Jeff MasonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S.-sponsored meeting of the world's biggest greenhouse gas polluters aims to support the U.N. process on climate change, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday, but some participants and environmentalists were skeptical. <br />In opening the two-day session, Rice expressed hopes of combating global warming without stifling growing economies. <br />U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talks during an interview with Reuters in New York, September 24, 2007. The U.S.-sponsored meeting of major emitting countries is aimed at supporting and accelerating the U.N. process on climate change, Rice insisted on Thursday. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)"It is our hope that we can make progress toward that goal in this meeting ... and that in doing so we will support and accelerate the broader processes now under way in the U.N. framework convention," Rice said. <br />Rice stated the consistent U.S. position that individual nations should set their own goals to curb climate-warming emissions, especially carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants and petroleum-fueled vehicles. <br />Critics, including chanting protesters gathered outside the State Department conference, questioned whether such national, voluntary targets would work. <br />"We appreciate the sentiments expressed by Secretary Rice, but the devil is always in the detail," South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk told Reuters. <br />"That is still the crux of the difference between the approach of the U.S. and the approach of the rest of the world," he said, referring to the split over national versus global targets for greenhouse gas emissions. "For us this meeting is obviously to determine if the U.S. is willing to change (its) approach on that issue." <br />Phil Clapp of the U.S. National Environmental Trust was openly skeptical: "We have heard all this before from the (Bush) administration and they continue to embrace voluntary measures under treaties that failed 15 years ago." <br />"A DISTRACTION, A SIDESHOW" <br />The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, ratified by more than 180 countries in 1992, including the United States, called for voluntary measures to reduce global warming emissions. When these proved ineffective, international negotiators framed the Kyoto Protocol which mandated caps on carbon dioxide emissions and envisioned a world carbon market. <br />The United States signed but never ratified the protocol and President George W. Bush rejected it in 2001, saying it unfairly exempts fast-growing economies like China and India while penalizing rich countries like the United States. <br />This meeting in Washington and an earlier one at the United Nations on Monday are preludes to a negotiating session in December in Bali, Indonesia, aimed at formulating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. <br />The United Nations meeting Monday drew more than 80 heads of state and government to focus on the problem of global warming. <br />The Washington meeting drew ministers from the world's biggest greenhouse gas polluters - including the United States and China. <br />By most counts, the United States is the No. 1 emitter of greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide produced by coal-fired power plants and petroleum-fueled vehicles. But at least one study this year indicated that fast-developing China is now in the lead. <br />Other participants were the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, India, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Australia, Indonesia and South Africa. <br />About 60 protesters, many of them from Greenpeace and other environmental groups, chanted anti-Bush administration slogans and held up placards outside the State Department while diplomatic security formed a line preventing them from getting into the building. <br />Chanting "Bush is a criminal," "Stop Global Warming Now" and "No war, no warming" some protesters staged a sit-in at the main diplomatic to the building. <br />Greenpeace campaigner Chris Miller said the U.S. conference was a waste of time and Bush should focus his energies instead on joining U.N. efforts to tackle global warming. <br />"We think this meeting is a distraction, a sideshow," he said. "What he (Bush) is proposing is wholly insufficient." <br />(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Sue Pleming) <br />Copyright © 2007 ReutersMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07428978108591538009noreply@blogger.com1