10 May 2015, Climate News Network: Plant growth may speed up Arctic warming: Arctic plants may absorb more greenhouse gases as the region warms – but scientists say this could intensify the warming rather than moderate it. Green may not automatically mean innocent or planet-friendly after all. Korean and German scientists have identified a mechanism that could encourage plants to take up more carbon dioxide – and at the same time amplify Arctic warming by 20%. This counter-intuitive finding is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read More here
Yearly Archives: 2015
How will the reduced Renewable Energy Target affect investment? After months of uncertainty over the future level of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), the federal government and opposition have reached a compromise agreement to scale back the target. The deal will see the RET wound back to 33,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy by 2020, down from its previous level of 41,000 GWh. The government had earlier sought a target of around 27,000 GWh, but the new compromise was reached after the Labor opposition and the renewables industry each indicated they would be willing to agree on a level in the low-30,000s to end the stalemate. Read More here
8 May 2015, ClimateWire: New England city turns to its wastes to ensure year-round supply of fresh vegetables and fish. By this time next year, residents in Keene, N.H., will have year-round access to local and sustainable fish and vegetables, thanks to their municipal landfill. Keene’s city officials are partnering with an organization called the Local Farms Project with plans to construct a 1-acre greenhouse and a recirculating aquaculture system on the grounds of the closed Keene Landfill. Once it is fully operational, the Keene Energy and Agriculture Project is expected to produce 500,000 pounds of fresh lettuce and herbs and 66,000 pounds of live tilapia for local grocery wholesalers each year. Read More here
8 May 2015 One Million Women is seeking support: We have been campaigning over the past 12 months urging the World Heritage Committee to declare the Great Barrier Reef as ‘World Heritage in Danger’ to protect it from reckless industrialisation for dirty coal and coal seam gas, and from chronic climate change threats. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE We have over 40,000 signatures to our open letter to the World Heritage Committee but we want to get that to 100,000 by the end of the month! (NEXT MONTH the World Heritage Committee meets to rule on the Reef’s fate – whether or not to declare it ‘in Danger’ and protect it for future generations.) PLEASE SHARE our new 1 Million Women clip with all your networks and ADD YOUR NAME to protect the Reef (if you haven’t already)! To Give Support go here