Global Warming May Trigger Volcanic Eruptions

Researchers say the melting of polar ice sheets from global warming and the resulting stress placed on the earth's crust from rising sea levels will increase eruptions in the years to come.

University College London climate expert Dr Bill McGuire says there could also be an increase..Read on

Global Warming Threatens Grain Harvest

"The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization reports that the world's grain harvest is falling because of severe weather. Increasingly, animals compete with humans at the shrinking trough: Meat production is increasing and most of it is raised on grain.

Cline's study was released Wednesday by the Centre for Global Development and Peterson Institute for International Economics. A senior fellow at the privately funded Washington think tanks, he based his projections on temperature and rainfall models used by the pre-eminent scientific brain trust on the issue, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Sued by Environmental Group

"An environmental group sued the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Monday over what it called a deficient environmental study for a proposed new steel plant in northern Minnesota.

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) claims that the 400-page study needs to include information about global warming gases that will be produced to power the planned Minnesota Steel plant in Nashwauk.

MCEA attorney Kevin Reuther said that the $1.6 billion taconite mine-to-steel plant will require 450 megawatts of electricity -- equivalent to a medium-sized coal-burning power plant. That would produce 5 million tons of carbon dioxide gas per year, he said, a 13 percent increase in industrial emissions at a time when the state's goal is to reduce global warming gases 15 percent from 2005 levels by 2015 and 80 percent by 2050.

"The final EIS [study] does not analyze the greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed Minnesota Steel Project, evaluate any alternatives, or consider any mitigation measures that would reduce or eliminate the project's significant contribution to increased greenhouse gas emissions," according to the complaint, which was filed in Itasca County District Court.

A DNR spokesman said that top agency officials have not seen the lawsuit yet, but will be reviewing it this week. The agency is required to respond to the complaint within 20 days."

TOM MEERSMAN

The United Nations Calling For Action Against Global Warming

"United Nations has called for action to tackle both global warming and its affects such as the increasing vulnerability of agriculture which places developing countries at risk.

"Abnormal changes in air temperature and rainfall and the increasing frequency and intensity of drought and floods have long-term implications for the viability and productivity of world agro-ecosystems," UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Assistant Director General Alexander Miller said.

"FAO is already actively assisting its members, particularly developing countries, to enhance their capacity to confront the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture, forests and fisheries," Miller said.

This involves providing creative solutions and alternative approaches, such as introducing crop varieties that can tolerate heat and water stress, he said, calling for greater attention to forecasting extreme events and trends by collecting data and developing tools to produce on-hand information for adapting countries' agriculture.

Ways must be found to build up the resilience of people and of food production systems, he said told over 140 world experts meeting in Rome for a workshop on Adaptation Planning and Strategies.

He said developing countries, which are highly dependent on agriculture and have fewer resources and options to combat damage from climate change are at risk.

In the short term, as the global average temperature rises 1 to 3 degree Celsius, industrialised countries may well gain in food production potential, but at lower latitudes crop potential will most probably decline even with a minimal rise in global temperature, according to FAO."

Global Warming Should Not Be Ignored

"World leaders attending the APEC forum in Australia adopted the Sydney Declaration, which aims to slow global warming by boosting energy efficiency by 25 percent by 2030 and increasing the area of forests by 20 million hectares by 2020. Of the 21 member nations, the United States ranks first in terms of the volume of greenhouse gas emissions, followed by China. Japan ranks fourth, while Korea ranks 10th in that category. The APEC member nations together account for more than 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

At an EU summit in March, officials agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent of the 1990 level by 2020. And at the G8 summit in June, officials agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emission to less than half the present level by 2050.

Greenhouse gas emissions by Korea totaled 239 million tons in 1990. That rose to 482 million tons in 2004, the fastest rate of increase in the world. Over the same period, greenhouse gas emissions by the EU rose just 1.6 percent, by Japan 14.8 percent and the U.S. 19.8 percent. In terms of per-capita carbon dioxide emissions, Korea outranks Japan, whose GDP is twice ours. Korea has been wasting energy like there is no tomorrow.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol required only 38 advanced nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average 5.2 percent by 2012. At that time, Korea was classified as a developing country and was not required to make immediate reductions. But the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. This year, discussion is expected to begin on a post-Kyoto global agreement, to go into effect in 2013, that would regulate greenhouse gas emission levels. There is little chance that the 10th-ranked culprit will be let off the hook this time.

The EU has implemented a carbon trading scheme for businesses, while the U.K. is even considering putting emission limits on individuals. In Japan, the government leads a campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Korea can no longer remain an island as the world fights to reduce pollution. If it sits by idly, Korea’s economy may take a serious hit when it is required to drastically lower emission levels."

Global Warming Threatens Public Land

"The federal government needs to do a better job addressing how climate change is transforming the hundreds of millions of acres under its watch, according to a congressional investigative report to be released this week.

The 184-page Government Accountability Office report, which Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., requested in 2004, highlights the extent to which global warming already is affecting the nation's parks, forests, marine sanctuaries and monuments.

Looking at agencies ranging from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accountability office officials gathered reports of dramatic changes across the nearly 30 percent of U.S. land that lies under federal control. Since 1850, the glaciers in Glacier National Park have declined from 150 to 26; climate-triggered coral bleaching in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is eroding the area's tourist appeal.
on-native grasses are fast replacing native shrubs in the Mojave Desert, where the grasses also are fueling hotter and longer-lasting wildfires. Even pinyon pines hundreds of years old that have survived droughts before in the Southwest are dying off.

For the most part, the men and women overseeing these 600 million acres of land and 150,000 square miles of protected waters have little direction on how to respond to these shifts, according to the report.

The office said the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce departments have failed to give their resource managers the guidance and tools they need - computer models, temperature and precipitation data, climate projects and detailed inventories of plant and animal species - to cope with all the biological and physical effects from the warming.

It states these managers "have limited guidance about whether or how to address climate change and therefore, are uncertain about what action, if any, they should take. ... Without such guidance, their ability to address climate change and effectively manage resources is constrained."

In addition to the oceanic agency and the Forest Service, investigators for the General Accountability Office - an arm of Congress - examined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.

Interior Department spokesman Chris Paolino said he could not comment on the report because he had not read it, but he noted that Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne established "a department-wide task force" on climate change this spring and is awaiting a final report from the panel next month.

Kempthorne instructed the task force, Paolino said, "to look at the potential impact of climate change on Interior Department lands and to develop procedures and policies to proactively and reactively respond to those impacts."

Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh said that although he could not comment, "our research and development folks have been working on climate change for years and years, and will be eager to look at the report."

The GAO investigators looked at four representative areas: the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Alaska's Chugach National Forest, Montana's Glacier National Park, and grasslands and shrubs managed by Interior's Bureau of Land Management in northwestern Arizona.

From those studies, investigators concluded: "Climate change has already begun to adversely affect federal resources in a variety of ways. Most experts with whom we spoke believe that these effects will continue and likely intensify over the coming decades."

Kerry now wants legislation requiring more climate change science.

"We waited a long time for this report to confirm the daunting prospect that climate change is impacting our public lands from coast to coast, and this administration is ill-equipped to respond," Kerry said.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, who was director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Clinton administration and is now executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife, called the report an urgently needed call for the nation.

"Global warming is and will continue to contribute to species extinctions, flooding of coastal refuges and massive movements of wildlife populations in search of more hospitable habitat," she said. "Polar bears and other imperiled species, wildlife refuges, parks and myriad natural resources are at risk and Congress clearly needs to provide more legislative direction because the agencies have failed to do so.""

Sierra Club Pushes Federal Way, Washington To Become More Environmentally Friendly

"The push is under way to make Federal Way more environmentally friendly and conscious about global warming.

The Sierra Club, a grass-roots environmental conservation group operating in the United States, sent Federal Way Mayor Michael Park an e-mail Sept. 4. In the message, the club urged him to make Federal Way a Cool City — one that agrees to the terms of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and carries out an action plan to decrease greenhouse gas pollutants such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous dioxide.

The Sierra Club has spent the past two years investing in its Cool City Campaign. The club contacts U.S. city mayors and requests the city make a commitment to decrease its contributions to global warming by signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and enacting a four-step process to achieve the goals the agreement encompasses.

Once the agreement has been signed, the city is on its way to becoming a Cool City."

Australian Prime Minister Urges Others To Fight Against Global Warming

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper is warning major economies on the Pacific Rim to factor adequate climate change policies into their business development strategies, in order to prevent serious consequences for life on Earth.

In a speech prepared for delivery today, Harper urged political and business leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit to lay the groundwork for a new and effective global climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

On Wednesday, the Australian government announced it is joining the U.S.-led Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. It also urged Canada to use its influence as a major supplier of uranium to help set rules for the industry and to ensure the technology is used for peaceful purposes. Canada, however, has not yet indicated whether it will participate in a meeting of the partnership later this month."

Global Warming May Pose Threat To Heart

"If global warming is not controlled, it could lead to a surge in cardiovascular diseases in next few years, doctors warn.

Since it is a common belief that people have more heart problems when the temperatures begin to rise, experts at the European Society of Cardiology's annual meeting in Vienna this week said the issue of global warming deserves more attention."

Sustainable Brands Conference to be Held in New Orleans

"The countdown to Sustainable Brands ’07 continues, as more big brands and new green brands alike make plans to gather in New Orleans September 26-28. They are coming to support the rebuilding of New Orleans, honor the reality of corporate contribution to climate change and discuss rapidly emerging best practices associated with turning environmental and social responsibility into a new driver of brand value.

Dozens of well-known corporate brands such as AMD, Bosch/Siemens Home Appliances, Clorox, Dell, Nestle/Purina, IDEO, and Behr Paints are joining PR/Brand/Creative agencies and media companies like Leo Burnette, Celery Design and BBMG to learn from a stellar line up of presenters at SB07. More than three-dozen of the most experienced leaders in making sustainability pay are set to share their experience with the growing audience assembling for this landmark conference.

Rand Waddoups, Sr. Corporate Director Strategy and Sustainability, Wal-Mart and Act Now EVP, Judah Schiller whose sustainability collaboration is featured in the current Fast Company issue, are just two of those speaking.

Those interested in up-to-the-minute details on the event, including links to the complete list of speakers, the conference program, hotel and travel information and a look at who else is coming, should visit: http://www.sustainblebrands07.com">

"Sustainable Brands '07 is more than just a green marketing and PR conference," says KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, founder of Sustainable Life Media, the B2B media company organizing the event. "Truly sustainable brands take into account more than what you say, how you say it, and to whom. They start with an honest look at who you are, what you do and how you do it." SB07 was designed to help companies jump ahead to success in this rapidly evolving arena by developing a deeper understanding of the issues and opportunities involved, and how to take action.

WHY GATHER IN NEW ORLEANS? New Orleans was selected as the right backdrop for the launch of Sustainable Brands ’07 for two key reasons. First, it is centrally located, a fantastic destination and inexpensive to get to from both coasts. The French Quarter and the newly renovated Ritz Carlton New Orleans are open for business, better than new, and represent the travel bargain of the year. With airfares available for under $300 from many parts of the US, and room rates of $169/night at one of the country’s top hotels, it’s much cheaper (and more fun!) to visit NOLA than major metro areas.

Secondly, Hurricane Katrina was a major catalyst for many companies to think seriously about their impact on climate change, and New Orleans serves as a great reminder of the impact, positive or negative, business will have on our future. By holding the conference there, participants will have the opportunity to reconsider their own connection to our shared future, and to support the restoration of the NOLA economy."
CSRwire.com - News from Sustainable Life Media, Inc.: Countdown to Sustainable Brands '07 -- Early Reg. Deadline Friday. AMD, AT&T, IDEO, Kimberly Clark, HP, Nestle/Purina, More Join

Deputy Director of LSU's Hurricane Center Blames Army Corp of Engineer For The Levee Flowing Doing The Hurricane Katrina Disaster

"Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the LSU Hurricane Center, blamed Katrina's catastrophic flooding on decades of errors by the corps, saying some of the mistakes were so basic that "a first-year engineering student" shouldn't have made them."
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World Dams Are Contributing To Global Warming

"International Rivers Network executive director Patrick McCully today told Brisbane's Riversymposium rotting vegetation and fish found in dams produced surprising amounts of methane - 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide.

"Often it's accepted that hydropower is a climate friendly technology but in fact probably all reservoirs around the world emit greenhouse gases and some of them, especially some of the ones in the tropics, emit very high quantities of greenhouse gases even comparable to, in some cases even much worse than, fossil fuels like coal and gas," Mr McCully said.

He said when water flow was stopped, vegetation and soil in the flooded area and from upstream was left to rot, as well as fish and other animals which died in the dam."

World's dams are 'contributing to global warming' | NEWS.com.au

Building Green with LEED

"LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. USGBC's members, representing every sector of the building industry, developed and continue to refine LEED. LEED addresses all building types including new construction, commercial interiors, core & shell, operations & maintenance, homes, neighborhoods, and specific applications such as retail, multiple buildings/campuses, schools, healthcare, laboratories and lodging.



Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. LEED promotes expertise in green building through a comprehensive system offering project certification, professional accreditation, training and practical resources."

Energy Efficiency Federal Tax Credits

"Tax credits are available to buyers of hybrid gasoline-electric, diesel, battery-electric, alternative fuel, and fuel cell vehicles. The tax credit amount is based on a formula determined by vehicle weight, technology, and fuel economy compared to base year models. These credits are available for vehicles placed in service starting January 1, 2006. For hybrid and diesel vehicles made by each manufacturer, the credit will be phased out over 15 months starting after that manufacturer has sold 60,000 eligible vehicles. For vehicles made by manufacturers that have not reached the end of the phase-out, the credits will end for vehicles placed in service after December 31, 2010."

Visit the IRS website for more information.