TalkClimateChange

Philip Pullman, author of the excellent “His Dark Materials” trilogy, was recently quoted as saying with respect to energy and carbon rations, “We should have a fixed limit and if you use it all up in October, then tough, you shiver for the rest of the year“.  That doesn’t sound so good, but since […]

Last week, I wrote about the frustrations of being an environmentalist that questions the world around him. This Easter weekend, I was presented with an excellent example: the Observer Magazine published “The Climate Change Issue”. Edited by pop star Thom Yorke, with 94 pages at its disposal, this Issue comprehensively failed to mention World Water […]

I think we can all agree the unintended consequences of mandated levels of bio-fuels have had some really devastating results globally. The World Food Programme says the increase in food costs has devastated their 2008 hunger relief programs. Mono-agriculture has reduced crop diversity and added to the problems of nitrogen contamination of water systems as […]

The United Arab Emirates’ plan to build a completely carbon free city. Thirty kilometres from capital Abu Dhabi, Masdar (Arabic for ‘source’) will be home to approximately 40,000 people and accommodate a further 60’000 commuters within its 1,500 planned business premises.
Covering six square kilometres and making extensive use of public transport, solar energy and low […]

Unveiling its national climate change roadmap yesterday, India made it’s latest move in an ongoing stand-off against the US on Co2 emissions targets. The US has refused to set binding targets as long as rapidly developing nations remain unconstrained in their emissions outputs. Conversely, India is unwilling to reduce its emissions whilst the US […]

Aviation is usually near the top of the environmental hit list due to its rapid growth, damaging high altitude emissions, and the big impact it makes on personal carbon footprint calculators. But less often discussed is the impressive record of the aviation industry in emissions reduction and the continuing improvements which are likely in the […]

Yesterday the European Union announced a new energy emissions plan in its latest bid to fight climate change. As usual, nobody is happy, with businesses warning of higher prices and environmental groups claiming that the measures fall short of the actions needed.
In typical EU style, the plan aims to please everybody and is a […]

 
Billionaire, entrepreneur, serial adventurer and airline owner Richard Branson is the man behind an innovation which may take the sting out of one of climate change’s biggest sins.
Next month a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 will make the world’s first biofuel powered flight between London and Amsterdam. Testing a blend of 80% conventional aviation fuel and […]

The 15th of February 2008 will see the release of “The 11th Hour” in cinemas across the US. Produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie tells the story of mankind’s wanton disregard for our planet and outlines the tragedy and consequence of our actions.
We didn’t want to like this film. We fully expected to […]

Civilization is in trouble. So claims president of the Earth Policy Institute Lester Brown according to a recent article in Time.com, writing that demands on mother Earth already exceed capacity by 25% - not considering projected increases in population of 3 billion by 2050 and the increasing demands made by existing populations.
However,  Brown has a […]

2007 was a big year in Climate Change, which saw the US u-turn on climate policy (on the surface at least), the emergence of the EU and the UK as world climate leaders, continued climate record breaking as temperatures soared and the North West passage was opened up, the worldwide release of An Inconvenient Truth, […]

Call them extremists, alarmists or fanatics, the climate change debate suffers from its fair share of those who are counterproductive and prevent progress and understanding by the propagation of extreme views.
This is a serious issue in current times as our elected leaders begin to make important decisions which may have profound impacts on our future. The […]

The outcome of current climate treaty discussions will revolve around the resolution of the current deadlock between the US, China and India. What are the options for resolving this issue, and what’s behind it? We’ve had an idea..
The US rightly says that any action on their behalf is pointless when China opens a new coal […]

 
The good news is that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest fell by 20% between August 2006 and July 2007.
But hold the champagne…

Recent satellite images suggest deforestation is starting to rise again. The fall in deforestation has primarily been due to a drop on market prices for products such as soya and meat, and not due […]

The world’s longest running radio soap, The Archers, has been tackling the fallacy of bio-power this week. A brief synopsis follows;