Climate News Update

5th October, 2006

Townsville has been announced as Australia's second Solar City. With funding under the Australian Government’s $75 million Solar Cities initiative, the Townsville: Queensland Solar City consortium is working with industry, businesses and the local community to rethink the way they produce and use energy. This innovative ‘real world’ trial will include installation of solar panels and smart meters in both residential and commercial locations as well as energy efficiency advice to households and businesses. Solar Cities Initiative

Climate Action Now. A European network of Christian churches has launched a new plan called Climate Justice Now to tackle global warming from the standpoint of North/South equity. "We're trying to establish a whole new way of looking at climate change," said Gert de Gans, one leader of the climate plan supported by the European Christian Environmental Network

British warming report expected to urge action. An upcoming report by the British government on climate change is expected to warn that major action is urgently needed to rein in greenhouse gases before the consequences are too dire, environmental activists say. An outline of the report is set to be presented Tuesday before Group of Eight environmental ministers who are meeting in Mexico; the full report is due out later this month.

Carbon Trading Exposed. International negotiators are trying to find ways to further the carbon market in Africa at the November 2006 climate summit in Nairobi. A new book published this week exposes the dangers and promotes eco-friendly alternatives. The book argues that the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme are ineffective and unjust, and that carbon trading is particularly detrimental to African interests. Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power is available for download.

The century of drought. Drought threatening the lives of millions will spread across half the land surface of the Earth in the coming century because of global warming. London Independent

Global warming devastates sea ice in Arctic Circle. Sea ice in the Arctic last month melted to its second lowest monthly minimum in the 29-year record of satellite measurements. London Independent

Study warns of stark costs of failing to counter climate change as leaders meet. A ground-breaking study warns that the world faces paying multi-trillion pound economic costs if it does not move urgently to act on climate change. London Guardian

EU seeks second chance for carbon market from 2008. The European Union's executive will try in the coming weeks to revive its floundering carbon trading scheme from 2008, after a miscalculation on targets last year capsized its concept of driving emissions cuts. Reuters

Extreme droughts will spread, warn forecasters. Nearly a third of the world's land surface may be at risk of extreme drought by the end of the century, leading to mass migrations of "environmental refugees", climate experts warned yesterday. London Guardian

Farewell to snows on the equator? East Africa's snowcapped mountains may be just a dozen years from losing their snow crowns. Nairobi East African Standard

Arctic sea ice at all-time low, researchers say. The ocean area covered by Arctic sea ice last summer was as low as it has ever been, according to a study. Canadian Press

Demise of the world's most famous iceberg. It was hailed as a harbinger of global warming. And now, it has been revealed that the world's most infamous modern-day iceberg was broken up by a storm surge that swept the entire length of the Pacific Ocean. Nature

Climate change affects forest-floor ecosystem. To see how far-reaching climate change effects could be, you might try looking under your feet. In some regions, climate change models predict new rainfall patterns that may affect how leaves on forest floors decompose. Scientific American

Ozone hole matches record size. The "ozone hole" over Antarctica this year has matched the record size of 11.4 million square miles, the U.N. weather agency said Friday. Associated Press

Major hurricane danger over for year, forecasters say. The greatest danger to the United States from hurricanes this year is over, according to forecasters at Colorado State University who had predicted the Atlantic storm season would be one of the worst. Bloomberg News

Cut emissions now or pay, UK tells climate talks. Britain told the world's worst polluting nations on Tuesday that acting now to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases would be vastly cheaper in the long run than doing nothing. Reuters

Nations discuss global warming in Mexico. Representatives from 20 of the world's most polluting nations met behind closed doors in northern Mexico to discuss ways to combat global warming. Associated Press

Cost of climate change action manageable. A commissioned study on the economics of climate change will advocate taking action to combat global warming as soon as possible, seeing the costs of such action as manageable. Reuters

Wells Fargo going green. Bay Area banking giant Wells Fargo & Co.plans to buy wind-power certificates to offset 40 percent of its electricity consumption over a three-year period. Contra Costa Times, California. 4 October 2006.

Spain logs second year of drought. Rainfall in Spain was below average in the water year just ended after the worst drought in more than a century last year, official figures showed on Tuesday. Reuters

Zululand beaches shrinking. Zululand dunes and beaches are disappearing at an alarming rate, and there is little that can be done. Johannesburg Citizen

Asia's death toll from Typhoon Xangsane rises to 119, expected to go higher. Asia's death toll from Typhoon Xangsane rose Tuesday to 119 and was expected go higher as authorities fully assess the disaster in the Philippines and Vietnam, where officials said tens of thousands of people were displaced. Associated Press

Green(ish) power. The combination of South Africa's economic vulnerability to fossil fuels and environmental issues such as global warming has contrived to keep the search for appropriate renewable energy sources on the national agenda. Johannesburg Business Day

"If only because this planet's history, including its human history,has been so full of promise, hope, and creativity, it deserves a betterfate than what seems to confront it in the years ahead." - Murray Bookchin (1921 - 2006)