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Don't ask what they can do for nature, ask what you can do!

Don't ask what they can do for nature, ask what you can do!

A Heating Bill for the Planet

Spiegel Online reports here: Global warming is not just undesirable, it's also really expensive. Two reports released this week predict greenhouse gases will throw the world economy into a tailspin if not brought under control.

Warned of costs, world seeks way to fight warming

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: U.N. climate talks in Kenya next week will hunt for new ways to fight global warming, stung by a warning that long-term inaction may trigger a cataclysmic economic downturn.

Climate change 'hitting Africa'

BBC News reports here: Climate change is already affecting people across Africa and will wipe out efforts to tackle poverty there unless urgent action is taken, a report says.

Global warming could cost 20 percent of GDP

AFP writes here at Yahoo News: Lack of action by the world over climate change could cost countries up to a fifth of their gross domestic product, a former World Bank chief economist told the British cabinet, The Independent reported.

Farfán Panama

Got this via e-mail: Farfán - Howard, Attached you'll find a map of the "Area Economica Especial Panama Pacifico" destined to be a custom bonded area (free zone) in Farfan and Howard, which will be awarded in a public bid on November 14, 2006. As you can see these are considerable amount of hectares of virgin tropical rainforest which is home to many different types of mammals, plants, insects, etc. It is very disturbing to think that after November 14, 2006 all these natural resources will be replaced by warehouses, trucks and containers; we can have a free zone in the existing buildings of the previous Howard air force base, without including the rainforest which is the lung of our city as well as being an important source of water for the future of our canal. (more)

Pascua Lama - Chile

Got this via e-mail: "When the last tree is cut and when the last glacier (water shed) is destroyed we will have to drink gold or sulphuric acid......" Please read about this absolute atrocity that is happening in Chile. (more)

Ocean array acts as climate alert

BBC News reports here: Measurements from a series of monitors spanning the Atlantic offers an early warning of "sudden climate change".

Panama Hotel Is Imperiled Frogs' Lifeboat

Panamanian golden frogs of El Valle de Anton are in big trouble. They're on the run from a vicious fungus that has already wiped out as many as 120 species of amphibians in Central America. For more see this article here at the Washington Post website.

Eco house of the future

News.com reports here: Matsushita Electric thinks so. The Eco & UD House at Panasonic's technology showcase in Tokyo is a prototype of a home the company said could start being built by 2010. Using the appliances displayed there, a typical family of four could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, and knock heating bills down some 60 percent, according to the company. (Panasonic is Matsushita's lead brand in most markets.) (more)

Climate change, fungal disease threaten frogs

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: A deadly fungal disease linked to climate change is wiping out huge numbers of amphibians in Spain and could push some species to the brink of extinction, researchers said on Wednesday. The infectious illness that has already killed entire populations of frogs in Central and South America has now been spotted in Europe.

World's coral reefs in danger

The Associated Press reports here at Yahoo News: Researchers fear more than half the world's coral reefs could die in less than 25 years and say global warming may at least partly to blame.Sea temperatures are rising, weakening the reefs' resistance to increased pollutants, such as runoff from construction sites and toxins from boat paints. The fragile reefs are hosts to countless marine plants and animals.

Global ecosystems 'face collapse'

BBC News reports here: Current global consumption levels could result in a large-scale ecosystem collapse by the middle of the century, environmental group WWF has warned. (more)

Carbon trade 'to save' rainforest

Rainforests are disappearing at a rate of 5% every decade, BBC News reports here: Carbon trading can be used to protect endangered rainforests by compensating nations that avoid deforestation, the World Bank has said.

Britain tops energy waste league

BBC News reports here: British people are Europe's worst energy wasters, with bad habits such as leaving appliances on stand-by likely to waste £11bn by 2010, a study claims. (more)

Cool geo-whiz global warming ideas

US News reports here at Yahoo News: Ken Caldeira has a big idea. Really big. At a grim Washington conference on the melting Arctic, the acclaimed global ecologist took the stage not to spell out the effects of global warming but to prescribe a way of "fixing" them.

Antarctic ozone hole biggest on record

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: This year's ozone hole over Antarctica is bigger and deeper than any other on record, U.S. scientists reported on Thursday.

Global warming study predicts wild ride

AP reports here at Yahoo News: The world especially the Western United States, the Mediterranean region and Brazil will likely suffer more extended droughts, heavy rainfalls and longer heat waves over the next century because of global warming, a new study forecasts.
See also: U.S. Climate Extremes Index

U.N. says number of ocean "dead zones" rising fast

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: The number of "dead zones" in the world's oceans may have increased by a third in just two years, threatening fish stocks and the people who depend on them, the U.N. Environment Program said on Thursday.

World's Top Ten Worst Polluted Places

World's Top Ten Worst Polluted Places are:

Chernobyl, Ukraine
Dzerzhinsk, Russia
Haina, Dominican Republic
Kabwe, Zambia
La Oroya, Peru
Linfen, China
Maiuu Suu, Kyrgyzstan
Norilsk, Russia
Ranipet, India
Rudnaya Pristan/Dalnegorsk, Russia

for more info see this page here from The Blacksmith Institute.

Germany Prepares for Weather Extremes

Spiegel Online reports here: Heat waves, flooding, millions of euros in property damage and many deaths: A new study warns that the shifting global climate will bring massive change to Germany in the next few decades. But the government has a plan.

Nutrient pollution

BBC News reports here: The UK countryside is being altered by the continuing use of dangerous amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, according to a report. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said "nutrient pollution" was impacting on wildlife. The chemicals come from inorganic fertiliser, household detergents in sewage and fossil fuels, it said.

Toyota, Honda lead fuel-efficient list

AP reports here at Yahoo News: The 2007 Prius, with 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, ranked first while the Honda Civic Hybrid was second with 49 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy said Tuesday. Honda and Toyota made seven of the 12 vehicles listed in the top 10. The new Toyota Camry Hybrid made its debut at No. 3, with 40 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway. For more info see also www.fueleconomy.gov

UN to talk on climate adaptation

BBC News reports here: A climate summit in Nairobi will focus on plans to help poor nations adapt to climate change, a UK minister says.

Google to Convert HQ to Solar Power

The Associated Press reports here at the Washington Post website: Google Inc. is converting its renowned headquarters to run partly on solar power, hoping to set an example for corporate America.

Antarctic ice collapse tied to greenhouse gases

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: 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.

Domestic wind turbine power stations

Home wind turbines turn fashionable in Britain, News.com reports here: They're showing up even in London, and their use has gained the accolade of a scare story in the tabloid press.

Your Power Bill Is Standing By

David Serchuk from Forbes.com writes here at Yahoo News: If someone asked you to burn 10% of your cash, it's doubtful you'd comply. But this happens every month with your energy bill. The culprit: the many electronic devices in your home that are always on, even when you think they're off. (more)

Keeping track of sun's power

CNET News.com reports here: The San Jose, Calif.-based start-up, which plans to announce that it has raised $7 million in its first round of funding on Monday, has come up with a system for monitoring how much energy is being collected by solar panels on a roof. Fat Spaniel says the technology could change some of the economics around solar power.

Eruptions Displace Thousands in Indonesia

Spiegel Online reports here: First came the 2004 tsunami. Then Indonesia was afflicted by the Merapi volcano and a major earthquake in Yogyakarta. Now, a heavily populated region of East Java has been consumed by an unstoppable "mud volcano" that may have been caused by a gas- and oil-drilling project.

Climate change inaction will cost trillions

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Failing to fight global warming now will cost trillions of dollars by the end of the century even without counting biodiversity loss or unpredictable events like the Gulf Stream shutting down, a study said on Friday.

Africas mountains will lose ice caps

The Associated Press reports here at Yahoo News: Africa's two highest mountains Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya will lose their ice cover within 25 to 50 years if deforestation and industrial pollution are not stopped, environmentalists warned Thursday.

UK planning law on climate change

BBC News reports here: A climate change bill which could see regular targets put in place to cut UK carbon dioxide emissions is being considered by the government.

Technology needed to cut pollution

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: The world's top polluting nations agreed new energy-generating technologies are needed to curb global warming and developing countries asked rich states for training and know-how, a World Bank official said on Wednesday.

Q&A: Carbon clean-up

About 400 British companies have taken part in the 100 Days of Carbon Clean-Up challenge, for which they looked at ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. More here at the BBC News website.

New Scientist - Breaking News

Panama Plans Eight Renewable Energy Projects

Panamá will present 8 renewable energy projects according to this article (in Spanish) in La Presna.

Canada's Harper says new clean air act coming

AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government would unveil a tough law next week to curb air pollution and greenhouse gases that cause global warming, but only in the long term.

Planet enters 'ecological debt'

BBC News reports here: Rising consumption of natural resources means that humans began "eating the planet" on 9 October, a study suggests. (more)

Bush pushes environment moves but still draws ire

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: He's set up the world's largest protected marine reserve, raised air pollution standards and pledged to end damaging fishing, but President Bush still draws environmentalists' ire for his stance on global warming.

Smoke worsens in Southeast Asia

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Visibility plunged to 50 metres in parts of Borneo island on Saturday and Singapore recorded its highest pollution reading in nearly a decade as fires in Indonesia sent acrid smoke across Southeast Asia. (more)

Mixed outcomes at climate talks

BBC News reports here: Climate talks between the world's top 20 polluters have ended with an unusual level of agreement on the urgent need to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. But delegates at the Mexico talks also stressed the massive gap between the politics and science of climate change. Several said they had never known such a positive atmosphere. Nobody doubted the reality of climate science anymore.

All can play part in beating global warming

Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Everyone has a part to play in combating global warming -- whether simply turning off lights in an empty room or making their own electricity from the wind and sun, experts said on Friday. See also our ecotoolbox mainpage here on what you can do to safe energy. (more)

Scientist warns of species' extinction

AP reports here at Yahoo News: As many as half the world's species may face extinction by 2100 because of pollution, climate change, human population growth and other influences, a renowned scientist dubbed "the father of biodiversity" told an audience here.

Bumpy road to Amazon sustainability

Richard Black the Environment correspondent of BBC News reports here: It was one of the more bizarre contradictions you could think of: an organisation dedicated to saving the rainforest carrying to hospital someone who had just been trying to burn it.

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