Climate change

EU backs away from 30% emissions target. Again !

We have previously seen here that the European Union could easily achieve a 30 percent reduction of greenhouse gases emissions by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels). This would make a lot of sense both environmentally and economically. Yet the European Commission kept earlier this month on clinging to the 20 percent reduction targets by 2020 […]

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High food prices contribute to MidEast unrest

We saw that oil prices are now back above $100 a barrel. Most unfortunately, food prices are also increasing, and this is a problem for the poorest populations of the globe, and this includes Egypt, the world biggest wheat importer. As the leading blog Climate Progress noted recently : ” Leading experts, reported in the

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A short video illustrating climate change

Sometimes a short video does better at explaining things than a long text. This is again the case with a video showing the five-year average global temperature anomalies from 1880 to 2010. Using data collected by the NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the US National Climatic Data Center, the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the Met

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After Australia, floods in Brazil…

Just a couple of weeks after I was writing about the catastrophic floods in Australia, similar dramatic events claimed the lives of more than 500 people in the Rio de Janeiro State of Brazil. To the Telegraph, this makes it “ the country’s worst-ever natural disaster. “ What actually claimed most lives were mudslides as

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GHG emissions keep increasing: 2010 hottest year

To the World Meteorological Organization the main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – keep increasing in the atmosphere, and this despite the efforts and the economic recession. To the WMO : ” The report highlights concerns that global warming may lead to even greater emissions of methane from Arctic areas. To

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How India is threatened by climate change

To the Huffington Post : ” A new report says India could be 2 degrees Celsius warmer than 1970s levels within 20 years – a change that would disrupt rain cycles and wreak havoc on the country’s agriculture and freshwater supplies.” (…) ” More flooding, more drought and a spreading of malaria would occur, as

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Climate change unites Mediterranean nations

Will fighting climate change become the ultimate fight ? If the Palestinian Authority and Israel can sit at the same table to fight climate change I guess we can save ourselves from warming temperatures. To the AFP: ” Some 15 Mediterranean countries, including Israel and the Palestinian Authority, agreed Friday to work together to combat

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A single solution for three problems

Yesterday took place around the world 7,700 gatherings in over 180 countries to urge governments to embrace 350 : lowering the amount of carbon dioxide to 350 ppm (today’s levels are at 388). I already stated that we are facing a triple crisis with massive unemployment, climate change and decreasing energy supplies (peak oil and

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Coal will kill 13,200 people in the US this year

To a new report from the Clean Air Task Force coal will kill an estimated 13,200 people this year in America. It will also cause 9,700 hospitalizations and some 20,000 heart attacks. All this will cost $100 billions in additional health care bills. These are staggering figures that clearly show that even without carbon dioxide

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