Caribbean governments must prepare for global warming

The Caribbean Climate Change Centre fells regional governments they must prepare for global warming - February 28, 2008

THE CARIBBEAN Community Climate Change Centre (CCCC), the regional body with oversight authority for climate change, headquartered in Guyana, is issuing a stern warning to governments across the region to move swiftly to put measures in place to deal with the increasing risks posed by global warming.

Examining the impact and implications of climate change for the Caribbean and coastal states at a workshop being held in Barbados, hosted jointly by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Dr Ulric Trotz, science adviser to the CCCC, said the impact of climate change and its 'knock-on effects' are being felt here and now.

False perceptions

"We (the Caribbean) are plotting our own destruction on false perceptions. The natural variability of climatic change is being compressed into shorter periods of time as a result of global warming, and we have begun to see those changes," Trotz told senior journalists.
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Sumatran deforestation driving climate change and species extinction, report warns

February 27 2008.

The destruction of Sumatra's natural forests is accelerating global climate change and pushing endangered species closer to extinction, a new report warned today.

A study from WWF claims that converting the forests and peat swamps of just one Sumatran province into plantations for pulpwood and palm oil is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands, and is endangering local elephant and tiger populations. More >>>
[And we are the consumers, we are the ones driving this deforrestation, these extinctions. Editor]

China to Open a “Coal-to-Oil Plant “Within Weeks”

February 20, 2008 ·

China has beaten the U.S. in getting a coal-to-liquid fuel plant built, thus taking the trophy for “most ingenious and efficient method of hastening global warming”. The resulting fuel could power all manner of vehicles — a technology developed in Nazi Germany during WWII.

It also happens to be one of the dirtiest, most environmentally destructive methods of producing energy yet. Coal-to-liquids essentially doubles CO2 emissions, and this at a time when we desperately need to reduce them. And, like nuclear plants, the coal-to-liquids process consumes vast amounts of water.
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Dubai will be underwater in 50 years, alerts Branson

“The Palm and the World projects will disappear underwater..”
18 November 2007

The Palm and the World projects in Dubai will disappear underwater in 50 years if the issue of climate change fails to be addressed by governments, Sir Richard Branson has warned delegates at day one of Leaders in Dubai.

"Over the next 50 years we will see the Palm projects and the World flooded by water and disappear if the issue of climate change is not addressed by global governments," the Virgin Group chairman said. "We are continuing to create this blanket of carbon that is getting thicker and thicker every year and which will ultimately heat up to such an extent that every fish will die and the earth will become uninhabitable." More >>>
Also see Global warming to change map of region forever

Formal opening of the Doomsday seed vault

Life in the cold store

This week sees the formal opening of a vault designed to protect and preserve samples of valuable seeds. The "Doomsday" vault in Svalbard can store more than four million batches of seeds, including the world's major crop varieties. BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee is in Svalbard for the opening. The major underground vault that has been under construction the last couple of years in the Arctic and that will preserve crops from all over the world in case of future natural or man-made disasters will officially open Tuesday. Dignitaries such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai will be present as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opens its doors to millions of seeds from almost every countr More >>>

Global Warming, Up Close and Personal

You think you know climate change. You've seen An Inconvenient Truth. You've noticed the changing and warming weather patterns in your part of the world. You're beginning to suffer from acute ecoanxiety.
But to really see global warming in action, you'd need to travel to the Arctic, where climate change is already kicking into high gear.

Temperatures are increasing faster in the far north than they are in the more temperate zones in the world, and recent studies indicate that the North Pole could be underwater in the summer in less than 10 years. But seeing the Arctic firsthand isn't easy, unless you're handy with a dogsled — so Will Steger is going to take you there. More >>>

In March 2008, six emerging leaders, ages 21–28 from four countries, including the US, Norway, Great Britain and Canada, will join Will Steger on a 1,400 mile dogsled expedition across Ellesmere Island, in collaboration with National Geographic Society, the International Polar Year, Extreme Ice Survey and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
See http://globalwarming101.com/

First biofuel flight touches down

The Boeing 747 was partly fuelled by coconut and Brazilian babassu
The first flight by a commercial airline to be powered partly by biofuel has landed in Amsterdam.

Billed by Virgin Atlantic as a green fuel breakthrough, the firm's flight from Heathrow did not carry passengers. Earlier this month, Airbus used the world's largest passenger jet, the A380, to test another alternative fuel - a synthetic mix of gas-to-liquid.
Many environmentalists argue that cultivating biofuel is not sustainable and will lead to reduced land for food. Virgin's Boeing 747 had one of its four engines connected to an independent biofuel tank that it said would provide 20% of the engine's power. More >>>

[I would suggest that the answer lies in the direction of initiatives like Branson’s and curtailing the rampant expansion of the air transport industry. Ed]