Agence France-Presse

    Friday 16 February 2007

    New York - World temperatures in January were the highest ever recorded for that month of the year, US government scientists said.

    "The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the highest for any January on record," according to scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climate Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

    The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit (0.85 Celsius) warmer than the 20th-century average of 53.6 degrees F (12 C) for January based on preliminary data, NOAA said.

    The figures surpass the previous record set in 2002 at 1.28 F (0.71 C) above average.

    Land surface temperature was a record 3.40 F (1.89 C) warmer than average, while global ocean surface temperature was the fourth warmest in 128 years, about 0.1 F (0.05 C) cooler than the record established during the very strong El Nino climate phenomenon in 1998.

    By Alister Doyle
    Reuters

    Monday 12 February 2007

UN OKs CO2 injection into ocean floor; activists have concerns, however.

    Oslo, Norway - International rules allowing burial of greenhouse gases beneath the seabed entered into force on Saturday in what will be a step toward fighting global warming - if storage costs are cut and leaks can be averted.

    The new rules will permit industrialists to capture heat-trapping gases from big emitters such as coal-fired power plants or steel mills and entomb them offshore - slowing warming while allowing continued use of fossil fuels.

    "Storage of carbon dioxide under the seabed will be allowed from Feb. 10, 2007 under amendments to an international agreement governing the dumping of wastes at sea," the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization said in a statement.

    The new rules, agreed upon in November, amend the U.N.'s London Convention on dumping at sea. Its text had been unclear about whether carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted mainly by burning fossil fuels, counted as a pollutant.

    Oil Company Likes Rules

    The changes apply to oceans worldwide and could clear the way to more investment in future subsea carbon storage by governments and companies, despite criticism by environmentalists that there are few safeguards against leaks.

    "This removes a lack of clarity and doubt for investors," said Tore Torp, carbon dioxide storage adviser at Norwegian oil group Statoil, which opened the world's first commercial storage of carbon dioxide in the North Sea in 1996.

    By Zachary Coile
    The San Francisco Chronicle

    Wednesday 14 February 2007

They get a mixed reception on Boxer's Senate committee.

    Washington - California Sen. Barbara Boxer enlisted the help of several Fortune 500 company executives Tuesday to argue that mandatory greenhouse gas limits won't damage the U.S. economy.

    Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, called business leaders from PG&E, DuPont and BP America to testify before Congress about their support for economy-wide emissions limits to fight global warming.

    "All these companies agree that we need to act now to enact a mandatory program to address global warming," Boxer said at the hearing.

    The testimony comes at a key moment in the debate over climate change in Washington, when the fight over whether global warming is real is waning and the momentum for legislative action is growing.

    Congress is so keenly interested in the topic that there were three separate climate change hearings Tuesday on Capitol Hill. But lawmakers from both parties are still conflicted about how to regulate greenhouse gases without hurting U.S. businesses and consumers.

    Boxer set out to address those concerns by inviting corporate leaders who back legislative action. The executives at Tuesday's hearing were all members of U.S. Action on Climate Change, a coalition of 10 companies and four environmental groups that joined together last month to announce their strategy to combat global warming.

    By Tara Lohan
    AlterNet.org

    Tuesday 13 February 2007

Things are getting hotter in Congress around climate change, but can meaningful legislation be enacted to really turn the tide?

    A new commercial from the Ad Council begins with a pastoral scene. Leaves rustling on a branch. A gentle breeze. Curving train tracks surrounded by green grass. The camera stops on a middle-aged man.

    "Global warming," he says, and the camera cuts to a fast-moving locomotive. "Some say irreversible consequences are 30 years away," he continues as it suddenly becomes visible that he is standing on the tracks and the train is barreling down on him. "Thirty years? That won't affect me." Just as the train is about to reach him he steps out of the way, revealing a young girl behind him on the tracks.

    The commercial directs viewers to fightglobalwarming.com and then ends with the message "There is still time." That seems to be what environment groups are hoping to get across to the public - and their elected officials - that it's not too late to do something about global warming. Yes, the ball is rolling, climate change is happening, but it is also a snowball, and the quicker we slow the momentum, the better.

    However, there are some a big "ifs" involved. We can stop climate change if we take action and if that action is really meaningful. We are past the point of gesturing and in need of real action. That is why the 110th Congress has piqued so many environmental hopes. But will a Democratic-led legislature be able to bring about the necessary change - and will any meaningful laws that those houses pass make it through the final hurdle at the White House?

    By Jeremy Lovell
    Reuters

    Tuesday 13 February 2007

    London - Intensive diplomatic efforts to agree the elements of a framework by the end of the year for a new global climate change treaty are starting to make headway, according to a European official close to the negotiations.

    The tone of the debate has changed in the United States and Australia - key nations which rejected the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions - and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it a top target of her G8 presidency this year.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with only months left in office and keen to find a positive legacy to offset the damage done by Iraq, is using his weight to help secure a deal.

    He meets Merkel in Germany on Tuesday to discuss tactics.

    "We need to work for agreement by the G8 plus five on the elements of a post-Kyoto framework including a global stabilisation goal and a cap and trade system, a framework that includes not just the U.S. but also India and China," Blair's spokesman said on Monday.

    Kyoto only runs to 2012 and - given that it took two years to negotiate and eight more to bring into force - there is an urgency to efforts to extend its life and expand its scope and membership.

    By Kevin Sullivan
    The Washington Post

    Saturday 10 February 2007

Tycoon hopes to spur milestone research.

    London - British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, with former vice president Al Gore at his side, offered a $25 million prize Friday to anyone who can come up with a way to blunt global climate change by removing at least a billion tons of carbon dioxide a year from the Earth's atmosphere.

    Branson, saying that the "survival of our species" is imperiled by current environmental trends, said the prize was similar to cash inducements that led to some of history's most notable achievements in navigation, exploration and industry. A competition launched in the 17th century, he said, resulted in the creation of a method to accurately estimate longitude.

    "I believe in our resourcefulness and in our capacity to invent solutions to the problems we have ourselves created," said Branson, who has pledged to invest $3 billion in profits from his transportation companies, including Virgin Atlantic Airlines and Virgin Trains, to fighting global warming.

    "We are now facing a planetary emergency," said Gore, whose documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," has helped him become one of the world's leading voices on climate change issues.

    The former vice president will serve as a judge in the contest, known as the Virgin Earth Challenge. He said he hoped the contest would spur scientific innovation without distracting from more practical steps people can take to battle global warming, from using energy-efficient light bulbs to pressuring politicians to confront "the crisis of our time."