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We really hate being the bearers of bad news but
on the climate front things keep going from bad to worse (and will continue to
do so until we seriously begin to address the issues of greenhouse gas
emissions, loss of the world's forests and climate change).
How Global Warming May Cause
the Next Ice Age
Possibly the greatest danger of all from
climate change could be a sudden shift into a new ice age for the northern
hemisphere. How this works is quite complex but here's a quick summary:
As atmospheric temperatures rise and the polar
ice caps continue to melt, the resulting cold water flows into the northern
Atlantic and eventually will shut down the Gulf Stream - this is the
macro-climatic pump that essentially which keeps Europe and North-Eastern North
America warm.
The worst-case scenario would be a full-blown
return of the last ice age - in a period as short as 2 to 3 years from its onset
- and the mid-case scenario would be a period like the "little ice
age" of a few centuries ago that disrupted worldwide weather patterns
leading to extremely harsh winters, droughts, worldwide desertification, crop
failures, and wars around the world. Scary stuff!
Click
here for more info
Sharp increase in
weather-related disasters
linked to climate change = higher premiums
Munich Re, the world's biggest re-insurance
company, has attributed a sharp increase in weather-related disasters around the
world to global warming.
In its latest annual report, the company -
which insures insurance companies - puts the combined cost of this year's global
natural disasters at more than US$60 billion, about $5 billion more than the
year before. Insured losses increased to about $15 billion, a jump of $3.5
billion from the previous year. The number of natural catastrophes recorded was
around 700, roughly same level as 2002.
The report also found that more than 50,000
people were killed in natural catastrophes worldwide, almost five times as many
as in the previous year. The company attributed the jump to the heat wave in
Europe and the earthquake in Iran, each of which claimed more than 20,000 lives.
Climate change may make one
third
of all species extinct by 2050!
Between 15 and 37 percent of the world's
existing plant and animal species could go extinct by 2050 as a result of global
warming, according to a major new study published in the journal Nature.
Led by Chris Thomas at the University of Leeds,
U.K., 19 scientists from around the world modelled the effects of global warming
(as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) on more than
1,100 species.
The low end of the estimated range of
extinctions assumes that many or most species will be able to migrate to new
habitats and survive as the world warms; the high end assumes that few or none
will. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle, says Thomas, who also warns
that global warming can interact with the other great eliminator of species -
habitat destruction - in unpredictable ways.
Click
here more
info
What
do the leaders of USA and Australia
have to say on the subject of climate change?
Firstly,
Mr Bush - In his recent State of the Union speech Mr Bush focused almost
entirely on Foreign policy (Iraq and the 'War on Terror'), dominating the first
half of the speech.
The
latter half of his speech, which focused on domestic policy, was bereft of new
proposals and lacked any mention of clean air, clean water, threatened species,
or public lands.
He
managed, however, to make time to discuss the evils of steroid use among
athletes - an issue entirely outside the purview of the federal US government.
President
Bush did not mention the environment, or the environmental challenges facing the
country, a single time in his speech!!
More
recently, he has hinted at plans to spend billions of dollars on building a
space station on the moon, sending manned missions to Mars and reviving the
discredited Star Wars scheme touted by Ronald Reagan nearly 20 years ago (now
dubbed Son of Star Wars).
Click
here for Bush's state of the union address
And
what of Mr. Howard? His government continues to reject the Kyoto Protocol –
the only truly global attempt to deal with climate change and a vital first step
in reducing greenhouse pollution. At the time Kyoto was negotiated, he claimed
it as a win for Australia.
He has recently torpedoed efforts to establish
a national carbon emissions trading scheme and has moved public servants working
on an international emissions trading scheme to other projects.
Mr Howard favours voluntary programs,
encouraging business to reduce greenhouse pollution without any binding targets.
These programs are failing - last year more than 75 companies left the voluntary
Greenhouse Challenge program.
Now he has committed Australian funds to George
Bush’s missile defence shield (Son of Star Wars) with little evidence that
Australia is under threat, strong doubts about the shield’s effectiveness and
concerns that it could lead to a new arms race.
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On
18 September the NSW Premier, Bob Carr, and the Minister for Energy and
Utilities, Frank Sartor, announced new water and energy use targets for all new
homes to be built in NSW. BASIX - the Building Sustainability Index - has been
developed by the NSW government in consultation with a wide range of
stakeholders to ensure compliance with these targets.
Most
of the products that end up being flushed down our sinks (kitchen and household
cleaning products, washing detergents, soaps, shampoos and conditioners) contain
a vast array of contaminants, petro-chemicals, chlorine, caustics, animal
ingredients, sodium lauryl sulfate or other harmful chemicals.
A great
day out 