I will not be adding my comment on the original blog. Enough has been said already. But...
On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction
What... as in: 'this is an ex-Dodo. It is no more'?
Now, being that I hope soon to swap 20 degrees for 30 odd and the slim chance of getting a swim in some warm water, and that's double the increase in that headline....
Ah, headlines. I wonder if they get paid by the number on who clicked it. I did. How could I not?
Thing is, while there may be some smart insights into preparedness in there, I could not get past the idiocy of the headline.
Oh... and guess what? There's a book.
Just saw that. I will now be adding my comment.
BBC - NEW - Extinction 'by man not climate' - The Lord giveth... some other bloke slaughter away. So, it seems, by coincidence, that man is again the cause of all possibly natural ills. Subtle.
Showing posts with label EXTINCTION. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EXTINCTION. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, November 19, 2007
A world dying
That's the first part of a headline to an article in the Independent yesterday about how the warming planet threatens a huge number of the earth's species with extinction. Can we unite to save it? ..... That's the rest of the header. A good question to which I don't know the answer, but given the general lack of interest that the media has shown in the IPCC's latest outputs which is telling us to act now or else, I guess it will go unanswered anyway.
Now one of the supposed guaranteed methods of saving the earth from an untimely end is carbon sequestration, whereby CO2 is captured and pumped down into the earth in vast quantities. I'd always assumed that this was a safe and secure mechanism, but having read this from the Environment News Service, I'm not quite so sure now.
And to cap it all, we have Ol' Golden yet again being highly visible at talking the talk, but doing sweet Fanny Adams, as reported by Capital Radio. He seems excellent at big announcements and useless on action. "we must show leadership and take the first and largest responsibility". OK, if you are listening Gordon, if you really mean that, you could start by taking some of the £29.3 billion you have already pilfered in green taxes and using it to provide better insulation in the millions of UK houses that are inadequately covered at the moment - that could be a massive saving in CO2 emissions for a minor capital outlay. And while you're at that you could also stop providing real disincentives for renewables.
Fat chance!
Blogpost extension:
Hey! Perhaps Ol' Golden WAS listening - "the Prime Minister added that all houses would have to be zero-carbon by 2016, and that the Government would also give five million more homes discounted or free loft or cavity wall insulation". As reported in TimesOnline this very afternoon!
ADDENDUM (by Junkk Male, with a few highlights)
BBC - Brown to outline climate targets
High targets have been set for Britain's cut in emissions
Gordon Brown is due to give his first major speech on the environment, raising the prospect of tougher domestic targets on carbon emissions.
He will say action on climate change is urgent, but that new green industries could create thousands of jobs.
The prime minister is also expected to say that developed countries must lead the way in cutting carbon emissions.
Planned legislation sets a tough target of cutting Britain's emissions by 60% by 2050.
But Mr Brown believes there may be a case for going even further and may commit to what could be as much as a doubling of the targets to produce renewable energy by 2020.
It is understood he has been persuaded by the Department of the Environment's arguments that Britain must meet European obligations on wind, wave and solar power.
Mr Brown's spokesman said: "The prime minister is setting out his views on major issues in a comprehensive way."
BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said the prime minister would echo recent remarks that climate change is real and urgent.
Climate change will be discussed at a forthcoming summit of Commonwealth leaders, just ahead of a UN meeting in Indonesia where a new global deal on emissions will be considered.
Inspiring stuff, no?
No. As you've so rightly highlighted, it's all talk, might, could, expected to, considered, and yet more bloody targets! (Dave)
ADDENDUM 2 - Japan eyes demographic time bomb
ADDENDUM 3 (Dave) - And may we introduce yet another government sponsored quango, this time under the wing of the Energy Savings Trust. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you .... drum roll ....... the Green Homes Service. Ta da! Nice little budget though.
Now one of the supposed guaranteed methods of saving the earth from an untimely end is carbon sequestration, whereby CO2 is captured and pumped down into the earth in vast quantities. I'd always assumed that this was a safe and secure mechanism, but having read this from the Environment News Service, I'm not quite so sure now.
And to cap it all, we have Ol' Golden yet again being highly visible at talking the talk, but doing sweet Fanny Adams, as reported by Capital Radio. He seems excellent at big announcements and useless on action. "we must show leadership and take the first and largest responsibility". OK, if you are listening Gordon, if you really mean that, you could start by taking some of the £29.3 billion you have already pilfered in green taxes and using it to provide better insulation in the millions of UK houses that are inadequately covered at the moment - that could be a massive saving in CO2 emissions for a minor capital outlay. And while you're at that you could also stop providing real disincentives for renewables.
Fat chance!
Blogpost extension:
Hey! Perhaps Ol' Golden WAS listening - "the Prime Minister added that all houses would have to be zero-carbon by 2016, and that the Government would also give five million more homes discounted or free loft or cavity wall insulation". As reported in TimesOnline this very afternoon!
ADDENDUM (by Junkk Male, with a few highlights)
BBC - Brown to outline climate targets
High targets have been set for Britain's cut in emissions
Gordon Brown is due to give his first major speech on the environment, raising the prospect of tougher domestic targets on carbon emissions.
He will say action on climate change is urgent, but that new green industries could create thousands of jobs.
The prime minister is also expected to say that developed countries must lead the way in cutting carbon emissions.
Planned legislation sets a tough target of cutting Britain's emissions by 60% by 2050.
But Mr Brown believes there may be a case for going even further and may commit to what could be as much as a doubling of the targets to produce renewable energy by 2020.
It is understood he has been persuaded by the Department of the Environment's arguments that Britain must meet European obligations on wind, wave and solar power.
Mr Brown's spokesman said: "The prime minister is setting out his views on major issues in a comprehensive way."
BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said the prime minister would echo recent remarks that climate change is real and urgent.
Climate change will be discussed at a forthcoming summit of Commonwealth leaders, just ahead of a UN meeting in Indonesia where a new global deal on emissions will be considered.
Inspiring stuff, no?
No. As you've so rightly highlighted, it's all talk, might, could, expected to, considered, and yet more bloody targets! (Dave)
ADDENDUM 2 - Japan eyes demographic time bomb
ADDENDUM 3 (Dave) - And may we introduce yet another government sponsored quango, this time under the wing of the Energy Savings Trust. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you .... drum roll ....... the Green Homes Service. Ta da! Nice little budget though.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Mass extinction and the earth's vanishing biodiversity
Every now and again you come across something that really makes you sit up and take notice. This, by Julia Whitty, featured on the Mother Jones (MoJo) site, is one such.
Its a fairly long article, and one I somehow missed back in April, but which I thoroughly recommend.
A couple of extracts follow, but please do read the article in full.
"A poll by the American Museum of Natural History finds that 7 in 10 biologists believe that mass extinction poses a colossal threat to human existence, a more serious environmental problem than even its contributor, global warming, and that the dangers of mass extinction are woefully underestimated by most everyone outside of science."
"All these disappearing species are part of a fragile membrane of organisms wrapped around Earth so thin, writes E.O. Wilson, that it "cannot be seen edgewise from a space shuttle, yet so internally complex that most species composing it remain undiscovered." We owe everything to this membrane of life. Literally everything. The air we breathe. The food we eat. The materials of our homes, clothes, books, computers, medicines. Goods and services that we can't even imagine we'll someday need will come from species we have yet to identify. The proverbial cure for cancer. The genetic fountain of youth. Immortality. Mortality.
Its a fairly long article, and one I somehow missed back in April, but which I thoroughly recommend.
A couple of extracts follow, but please do read the article in full.
"A poll by the American Museum of Natural History finds that 7 in 10 biologists believe that mass extinction poses a colossal threat to human existence, a more serious environmental problem than even its contributor, global warming, and that the dangers of mass extinction are woefully underestimated by most everyone outside of science."
"All these disappearing species are part of a fragile membrane of organisms wrapped around Earth so thin, writes E.O. Wilson, that it "cannot be seen edgewise from a space shuttle, yet so internally complex that most species composing it remain undiscovered." We owe everything to this membrane of life. Literally everything. The air we breathe. The food we eat. The materials of our homes, clothes, books, computers, medicines. Goods and services that we can't even imagine we'll someday need will come from species we have yet to identify. The proverbial cure for cancer. The genetic fountain of youth. Immortality. Mortality.
The living membrane we so recklessly destroy is existence itself."
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