The Met Office has released data from 1300 weather stations around the world which show that the globe is getting warmer. We've extracted all the UK and US temperature change data for you
One after the other, the British Met Office and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) went public with their latest measurements, showing that 2009 is shaping up to be the fifth hottest year on record and - more importantly - that the 'noughties' are set to be much the warmest decade ever. But just a few miles away from the cavernous Bella Centre, climate sceptics were saying exactly the opposite at an alternative conference. They claim, as a central part of their case, that the world has been getting cooler since 1998. But the scientists will have none of it. "We are in a warming trend. There is no doubt about it," insisted Michael Jarraud, the Secretary General of the WMO.
One after the other, the British Met Office and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) went public with their latest measurements, showing that 2009 is shaping up to be the fifth hottest year on record and - more importantly - that the 'noughties' are set to be much the warmest decade ever.
But just a few miles away from the cavernous Bella Centre, climate sceptics were saying exactly the opposite at an alternative conference. They claim, as a central part of their case, that the world has been getting cooler since 1998. But the scientists will have none of it. "We are in a warming trend. There is no doubt about it," insisted Michael Jarraud, the Secretary General of the WMO.
The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.
The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.
The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.
... people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.
WOW! The wealthy/powerful are going to continue to screw over the poor/helpless. How novel! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
XMM-Newton, the most powerful X-ray observatory ever built and launched into space, marks its 10th anniversary on December 10th. XMM-Newton's observations have revolutionised the way we view the hottest and most extreme regions of the Universe.
The controversy over e-mails stolen from global-warming researchers at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at Britain's University of East Anglia has become so divisive that there is even disagreement over what to call it. Skeptics of global warming, who have long considered climate change a fraud, refer to the incident as "Climategate," with obvious intimations of scandal and cover-up. Advocates of action on warming call it "Swifthack," a reference to the 2004 character attacks on presidential candidate Senator John Kerry by the group then known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- in other words, an invented scandal propagated by conservatives and the media that does nothing to change the scientific case for climate change.
The controversy over e-mails stolen from global-warming researchers at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at Britain's University of East Anglia has become so divisive that there is even disagreement over what to call it.
Skeptics of global warming, who have long considered climate change a fraud, refer to the incident as "Climategate," with obvious intimations of scandal and cover-up. Advocates of action on warming call it "Swifthack," a reference to the 2004 character attacks on presidential candidate Senator John Kerry by the group then known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- in other words, an invented scandal propagated by conservatives and the media that does nothing to change the scientific case for climate change.
The claim was that Tamiflu could reduce the hospitalising of patients with swine flu by up to 60 per cent. But Channel 4 News can reveal that a key paper upon which this claim was based is being questioned. Email us your experiences of Tamiflu at news@channel4.com. Scientists attempting to peer review the paper requested vital data, and did not get it. Tonight we report a key plank of the evidence for Tamiflu's effectiveness is being called into question.
The claim was that Tamiflu could reduce the hospitalising of patients with swine flu by up to 60 per cent. But Channel 4 News can reveal that a key paper upon which this claim was based is being questioned. Email us your experiences of Tamiflu at news@channel4.com.
Scientists attempting to peer review the paper requested vital data, and did not get it. Tonight we report a key plank of the evidence for Tamiflu's effectiveness is being called into question.
Analysis A "world-renowned expert on carbon emissions" has stated that Western consumers must avoid five "eco crimes" committed every day in order to save the world. Dr Dave Reay's main assertion, in fact, is that we should stop washing so much - but the national press has chosen rather to highlight his assertion that drinking instant coffee is better for the environment than filter. Dr Reay, whose PhD and early training were in marine biology, is nowadays Edinburgh university's first ever Senior Lecturer in Carbon Management. He seems as much a campaigner as a researcher, devoting much time to running his greenhouse-gas website and writing books aimed at the lay audience - Climate Change Begins at Home and Your Planet Needs You! A Kid's Guide to Going Green.
Analysis A "world-renowned expert on carbon emissions" has stated that Western consumers must avoid five "eco crimes" committed every day in order to save the world. Dr Dave Reay's main assertion, in fact, is that we should stop washing so much - but the national press has chosen rather to highlight his assertion that drinking instant coffee is better for the environment than filter.
Dr Reay, whose PhD and early training were in marine biology, is nowadays Edinburgh university's first ever Senior Lecturer in Carbon Management. He seems as much a campaigner as a researcher, devoting much time to running his greenhouse-gas website and writing books aimed at the lay audience - Climate Change Begins at Home and Your Planet Needs You! A Kid's Guide to Going Green.
For some 300 years they have enjoyed peaceful obscurity, their atoll separated from the rest of the world by the deep blue of the South Pacific. Even the Second World War passed them by - for them, the bloody hand-to-hand fighting between American and Japanese troops on nearby Guadalcanal might as well have been taking place on another planet. That tranquil existence is now coming to end. The 2500 or so people who inhabit the tiny chain are set to become some of the world's first refugees from man-made global warming. Early next year, some 40 families will be uprooted and evacuated from homes which are now at risk of being swamped by the rising sea.
That tranquil existence is now coming to end. The 2500 or so people who inhabit the tiny chain are set to become some of the world's first refugees from man-made global warming. Early next year, some 40 families will be uprooted and evacuated from homes which are now at risk of being swamped by the rising sea.
According to by German public broadcaster WDR, the oil and gas industry has kept secret the dangerous amounts of radioactive waste produced. But experts like Harald Thielen of the Society for System and Reactor Safety acknowledge that the problem exists. "There is radioactive waste in the pipes from the oil and gas industry," he told WDR. "This waste is partly solid and partly sludge." The WDR report says that in Germany alone, up to 2,000 metric tons of naturally-occurring radioactive waste is sucked out of the earth every year and dumped in the surrounding countryside. By extrapolating these figures to oil production in the United States, which produces much more oil and has lower industry safety standards, up to 260,000 metric tons of radioactive waste could be produced there.
"There is radioactive waste in the pipes from the oil and gas industry," he told WDR. "This waste is partly solid and partly sludge."
The WDR report says that in Germany alone, up to 2,000 metric tons of naturally-occurring radioactive waste is sucked out of the earth every year and dumped in the surrounding countryside. By extrapolating these figures to oil production in the United States, which produces much more oil and has lower industry safety standards, up to 260,000 metric tons of radioactive waste could be produced there.
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency's declaration Monday that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions endanger the public's health could deeply impact Kentucky's coal economy. The announcement, which comes as an historic climate change conference gets under way in Copenhagen, could set the groundwork for broader cap-and-trade policies in the U.S. -- the kinds of policies the state's coal companies and most of the state's congressional delegation have long tried to block. "What his arbitrary administrative edict would do is what Congress has refused to do statutorily -- tell coal-burning utilities how much, or little, coal can be burned," said Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican whose district blankets coal-rich eastern Kentucky. "It could prove devastating to Kentucky's coal industry and cause havoc to our working men and women of eastern Kentucky." Meanwhile, Kentucky environmentalists lauded the EPA's announcement as a first step toward addressing global warming and curbing pollution. "We have chosen an energy source for our electricity," said Tom FitzGerald, director of the Kentucky Resources Council. "What was an economic development edge -- the allure of cheap power -- is about to become a significant liability."
The announcement, which comes as an historic climate change conference gets under way in Copenhagen, could set the groundwork for broader cap-and-trade policies in the U.S. -- the kinds of policies the state's coal companies and most of the state's congressional delegation have long tried to block.
"What his arbitrary administrative edict would do is what Congress has refused to do statutorily -- tell coal-burning utilities how much, or little, coal can be burned," said Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican whose district blankets coal-rich eastern Kentucky. "It could prove devastating to Kentucky's coal industry and cause havoc to our working men and women of eastern Kentucky."
Meanwhile, Kentucky environmentalists lauded the EPA's announcement as a first step toward addressing global warming and curbing pollution. "We have chosen an energy source for our electricity," said Tom FitzGerald, director of the Kentucky Resources Council. "What was an economic development edge -- the allure of cheap power -- is about to become a significant liability."
Electric cars to be exempt from company car tax for five years
