Climate News Update

20 October, 2006

Earth as a different planet. The earth is the warmest it has been in the past 10,000 years, according to a new analysis that warns of serious changes ahead. Environmental Science & Technology

Kyoto CO2 trade not ready for formal terms. Investment bank Barclays Capital has sparked a debate on how greenhouse gas emissions are traded between rich and poor nations and how to account for the fact that key infrastructure is not yet in place. Reuters

Refugees, disease big risk from global warming - UN. The world is not doing enough to combat global warming which, left unchecked, could trigger a mass movement of people and have serious consequences for security, the UN's environment chief said on Thursday. Reuters

Campbell opens 'Kyoto-funded' wind farm. A $300 million wind farm in China officially opened by Environment Minister Ian Campbell is entirely funded under the Kyoto Protocol. Australian Associated Press

Sino-Oz partnership energises environmental health programs. Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell is leading a group of 58 businesspeople selling renewable energy and energy-efficient products into Chinese markets.

Greenhouse Office budget 'underspent'. Australia's Labor party claims the government's Greenhouse Office is not doing its job because it has underspent its budget by $362 million. Australian Associated Press

Climate change blamed for legionnaires' disease surge. Britain has suffered its first deaths from infectious disease attributable to global warming, official figures suggest. London Independent

How close is runaway climate change? In an extract from his new book on global warming, Paul Brown looks at how close the planet is to irreversible damage London Guardian

Antarctic ice collapse tied to greenhouse gases. Scientists said on Monday that they had found the first direct evidence linking the collapse of an ice shelf in Antarctica to global warming widely blamed on human activities. Reuters

Scramble to plan for dire shortfall. Catastrophic new figures on water shortages in southeastern Australia have forced the Victorian Government to dramatically upgrade its policy to deal with dwindling supplies for most major cities in the state.

40 countries facing food shortages worldwide. Global warming has impacted cereal crops worldwide, leading to expected food emergencies in 40 countries, according to the Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.