global warming

Hungry in Copenhagen

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:43:46 -0500

by Bill McKibben

I'm sitting here in the crowded but wonderful 350.org office near Copenhagen's Central Square, surrounded by young people from America, New Zealand, India, Ecuador, Mexico, Fiji—all hunched over laptops, busy organizing. (International youth culture: Gmail). We're fighting to the last minute of this crazy conference, and then beyond.

Copenhagen: Only the Numbers Count – and They Add up to Hell on Earth

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:34:41 -0500

by Bill McKibben

The Bella centre is a swirl of chatter, the streets of Copenhagen are a swirl of protest. Depending on what hour you listen to the news bulletin, the UN climate negotiations have "come off the rails" or are "back on track" or have "stalled" or are "moving swiftly".

It's Time to Talk About Human Rights in the Climate Debate

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:07:50 -0500

by Steven Freeland

It is clear that climate change is having an effect on the lives of many people. Even though there may still be areas of disagreement among states, the scientific community and some politicians as to these precise effects (and the mitigating action needed), all agree that some form of legal regulation is necessary.

This is even more important given the impact that climate change has on human security, habitation and, ultimately, on human rights.

Vulnerable Nations at Copenhagen Summit Reject 2C Target

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:00:10 -0500

by John Vidal in Copenhagen

More than half the world's countries say they are determined not to sign up to any deal that allows temperatures to rise by more than 1.5C - as opposed to 2C, which the major economies would prefer.

But any agreement to reach that target would require massive and rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions combined with removal of CO2 in the atmosphere. An extra 0.5C drop in temperatures would require vastly deeper cuts in carbon dioxide and up to $10.5 trillion (£6.5tr) extra in energy-related investment by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

No Slowdown of Global Warming, Agency Says

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:02:58 -0500

by Andrew C. Revkin and James Kanter

COPENHAGEN - The decade of 2000 to 2009 appears to be the warmest one in the modern record, the World Meteorological Organization reported in a new analysis on Tuesday.

The announcement is likely to be viewed as a rejoinder to a renewed challenge from skeptics to the scientific evidence for global warming, as international negotiators here seek to devise a global response to climate change.

Why We Left Our Farms to Come to Copenhagen

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:31:13 -0500

by La Via Campesina

Copenhagen, 7th December 2009

Cap and Fade

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:23:14 -0500

by James Hansen

AT the international climate talks in Copenhagen, President Obama is expected to announce that the United States wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to about 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050. But at the heart of his plan is cap and trade, a market-based approach that has been widely praised but does little to slow global warming or reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. It merely allows polluters and Wall Street traders to fleece the public out of billions of dollars.

The Manufactured Doubt Industry and the Hacked Email Controversy

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:40:56 -0500

by Jeff Masters

In 1954, the tobacco industry realized it had a serious problem. Thirteen scientific studies had been published over the preceding five years linking smoking to lung cancer. With the public growing increasingly alarmed about the health effects of smoking, the tobacco industry had to move quickly to protect profits and stem the tide of increasingly worrisome scientific news.

Hot Under the Collar at Cold Shoulder for Global Warming

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:29:07 -0500

by Anne Johnstone

The Earth is flat. At least that used to be the universal view until about the fourth century BC. By medieval times, most Europeans accepted that it was spherical but old ideas die hard.

So it was that just 40 years ago members of the International Flat Earth Society dismissed the Apollo Moon landing as a hoax, staged by Hollywood and based on an Arthur C Clarke script.

Western Lifestyle Unsustainable, Says Climate Expert Rajendra Pachauri

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:29:06 -0500

by James Randerson

Hotel guests should have their electricity monitored; hefty aviation taxes should be introduced to deter people from flying; and iced water in restaurants should be curtailed, the world's leading climate scientist has told the Observer.

Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that western society must undergo a radical value shift if the worst effects of read more