A study of computer models of the Arctic region has found that the vast expanse of floating sea ice that covers the region is far more vulnerable to rapid melting than earlier studies had assumed. The latest analysis found that virtually all the sea ice in the Arctic will have melted during the summer months by 2037, and that it may even disappear as soon as the summer of 2020. Previous studies had suggested that this was unlikely to happen until at least the end of the century.
Figures released on Wednesday (1 April) from the EU executive on the centrepiece of Europe's climate strategy - the Emissions Trading Scheme - show that carbon emissions for 2008 are down six percent on 2007, according to a preliminary analysis of the raw numbers by Point Carbon, an Oslo-based research institute. EU emissions dropped from 2.24 billion in 2007 to 2.11 billion in 2008... The institute said that this was the result both of the economic slump but also that the ETS was forcing companies to switch to cleaner technologies....Nevertheless, the sectors with the largest declines in greenhouse gas emissions are those that have been hit hard by the crisis, including the cement, lime and glass sector and pulp and paper producers, according to Point Carbon, both of which saw drops of nine percent in emissions....
Figures released on Wednesday (1 April) from the EU executive on the centrepiece of Europe's climate strategy - the Emissions Trading Scheme - show that carbon emissions for 2008 are down six percent on 2007, according to a preliminary analysis of the raw numbers by Point Carbon, an Oslo-based research institute.
EU emissions dropped from 2.24 billion in 2007 to 2.11 billion in 2008...
The institute said that this was the result both of the economic slump but also that the ETS was forcing companies to switch to cleaner technologies.
...Nevertheless, the sectors with the largest declines in greenhouse gas emissions are those that have been hit hard by the crisis, including the cement, lime and glass sector and pulp and paper producers, according to Point Carbon, both of which saw drops of nine percent in emissions.
...
"The fall in EU emissions is the product of falling production rather than emissions trading. This welcome news for the climate comes with an unsustainable social cost and should not divert us from the need for green public investment, better regulation, and a planned transition to a low-carbon future," Oscar Reyes, of Amsterdam-based environmental NGO Carbon Trade Watch told EUobserver. "The carbon market is incapable of achieving this, while the recent collapse of carbon prices has shown how counter-productive it is: Polluting industries were given a lifeline through cashing in their unwanted permits, while the 'price signal' that was meant to change their ways has been rendered largely meaningless. "In fact, if you study the 2008 data, the main beneficiaries from the ETS are the major emitters," he added. "ArcelorMittal, which has the most surplus credits, looks to have gained up to half a billion euros from the scheme last year. It has also been claiming credits for factories where temporary closures are in place, which is hardly the same as taking pro-active steps to reduce emissions."
"The fall in EU emissions is the product of falling production rather than emissions trading. This welcome news for the climate comes with an unsustainable social cost and should not divert us from the need for green public investment, better regulation, and a planned transition to a low-carbon future," Oscar Reyes, of Amsterdam-based environmental NGO Carbon Trade Watch told EUobserver.
"The carbon market is incapable of achieving this, while the recent collapse of carbon prices has shown how counter-productive it is: Polluting industries were given a lifeline through cashing in their unwanted permits, while the 'price signal' that was meant to change their ways has been rendered largely meaningless.
"In fact, if you study the 2008 data, the main beneficiaries from the ETS are the major emitters," he added.
"ArcelorMittal, which has the most surplus credits, looks to have gained up to half a billion euros from the scheme last year. It has also been claiming credits for factories where temporary closures are in place, which is hardly the same as taking pro-active steps to reduce emissions."
EUOBSERVER / LONDON - Amidst the tens of thousands of activists of various stripes targeting London's financial district as the G20 summit opened on Wednesday (1 April), one of the more colourful contingents of mostly youthful activists set up a 'Climate Camp' outside the European Climate Exchange, saying the same free-wheeling financial system that has led to the current economic crisis will not be able to save the planet from the climate crisis.
Everything is coming up roses! Everyone sing! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
The crisis should be a perfect opportunity to reduce the targets by as much as industrial production has fallen. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
AFP - Pfizer has agreed to pay 75 million dollars compensation over a 1996 drug trial that caused the death of 11 children in northern Nigeria, a source close to negotiations said Friday. "Pfizer has agreed to pay the sum of 75 million dollars in compensation and the Kano state government has agreed to the offer," said the source, who did not want to be identified. The source said a separate 6.5-billion-dollar suit lodged against the US drug firm by the Nigerian federal government will be dropped under the terms of the settlement.
A study into slumber has found that the nerve connections built up in the brain during a busy day are pruned back during the night in an attempt to keep the mind from overloading on junk information.The findings lend support to the idea that a good night's sleep is essential for consolidating important memories of the previous day and getting rid of things that would otherwise clog up the system.
A study into slumber has found that the nerve connections built up in the brain during a busy day are pruned back during the night in an attempt to keep the mind from overloading on junk information.
The findings lend support to the idea that a good night's sleep is essential for consolidating important memories of the previous day and getting rid of things that would otherwise clog up the system.
Rail passengers travelling between London and the North-west are set to enjoy new vistas over Easter. Instead of the humdrum landscapes punctuated by Hemel Hempstead, Bletchley and Rugby, they will drift through the Chiltern Hills, past picturesque villages. And they will have plenty of time to enjoy the view; the journey from Nuneaton to Euston is scheduled to take three hours - triple the typical trip time. After £9bn of investment, and years of disruption, the new timetable on the West Coast Main Line was brought in shortly before Christmas. Yet the key stretch of track between Rugby and Milton Keynes will be closed for engineering work over Easter, adding hours to many passengers' journeys and no doubt persuading some to switch from rail to road....The railway systems of Switzerland and Britain are similar: each has networks with trains at the same times each hour. Operations are split over operators. Fares are high for "walk-up" customers but there are alternatives. Yet while the Swiss believe trains should connect - cross-platform transfers are one or two minutes - in Britain the mindset is to disconnect.
Rail passengers travelling between London and the North-west are set to enjoy new vistas over Easter. Instead of the humdrum landscapes punctuated by Hemel Hempstead, Bletchley and Rugby, they will drift through the Chiltern Hills, past picturesque villages.
And they will have plenty of time to enjoy the view; the journey from Nuneaton to Euston is scheduled to take three hours - triple the typical trip time.
After £9bn of investment, and years of disruption, the new timetable on the West Coast Main Line was brought in shortly before Christmas. Yet the key stretch of track between Rugby and Milton Keynes will be closed for engineering work over Easter, adding hours to many passengers' journeys and no doubt persuading some to switch from rail to road.
...The railway systems of Switzerland and Britain are similar: each has networks with trains at the same times each hour. Operations are split over operators. Fares are high for "walk-up" customers but there are alternatives. Yet while the Swiss believe trains should connect - cross-platform transfers are one or two minutes - in Britain the mindset is to disconnect.
Just like windfarms, most people understand they are more necessary to our future than cars and coal, but politicians are still engaged in trying to snuff them out. keep to the Fen Causeway
As Docklands barricades come down and the winking lights of departing foreign leaders' jets fade into the dusk sky, Gordon Brown must move from one world back into another - ours.
Matthew Parris may be writing from a right wing perspective, but IMHO has a lovely turn of phrase.
But for Mr Brown this weekend, the few miles back from the ExCeL centre to Downing Street must be like the thousands traversed back from a lovely fly-now-pay-later foreign holiday. The sun has shone, the sea has sparkled, food came on trays borne by waiters, and it's all been grand. Now come the reality and the drizzle. The front door will barely open because of the bills accumulating on the doormat, weeds have overtaken the lawn, and a pile of neglected washing-up is sprouting mould in the sink.
But for Mr Brown this weekend, the few miles back from the ExCeL centre to Downing Street must be like the thousands traversed back from a lovely fly-now-pay-later foreign holiday. The sun has shone, the sea has sparkled, food came on trays borne by waiters, and it's all been grand.
Now come the reality and the drizzle. The front door will barely open because of the bills accumulating on the doormat, weeds have overtaken the lawn, and a pile of neglected washing-up is sprouting mould in the sink.
