June 29, 2008
A North Pole without ice?
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
It was only a few months ago that scientists were predicting that the North Pole may have an ice-free summer in the next five to ten years. If that wasn't scary enough, an article just published in National Geographic reports that these predictions have been revised forward to this summer.
June 17, 2008
China takes no.1 spot
Image source: gnn.tv
It's official. There was speculation that China would pass the US as the world's number 1 emitter of greenhouse gases some time last year, but now the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has confirmed this is, indeed, the case -- in absolute terms at least. Per capita, the US still leads the way; the average American being responsible for 19.4 tons, followed by Russia at 11.8 tons, Western Europe at 8.6 tons, China at 5.1 tons and India at 1.8 tons per person. The worrying thing is that the average Chinese aspires to an American lifestyle.
June 05, 2008
New Report on the Costs of Climate Change
Image source: nrdc.org
The Cost of Climate Change: What We’ll Pay if Global Warming Continues Unchecked is a study of the costs of inaction for the US economy by Frank Ackerman and Elizabeth A. Stanton, commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The report presents a detailed analysis of four major categories of climate costs, and a comprehensive modelling of the impacts of climate change on the economy as a whole.
Under business-as-usual conditions, with no new climate policies, the four cost categories – increased hurricane damages, residential real estate losses due to sea-level rise, increased energy costs, and water supply costs – will add up to $1.9 trillion (in today’s dollars), or 1.8 percent of U.S. output per year by 2100.
The modeling employs the PAGE model used in the Stern Report, a revised version of which forecasts even greater impacts of as much as 3.6 percent of U.S. GDP, or $3.8 trillion in today’s dollars, by 2100.
June 02, 2008
Time up for Tillerson?
Image source: exxonmobil.com
The Rockefeller family are taking on Rex Tillerson the Chair and Chief Executive of Exxon-Mobil. It was John D. Rockefeller who started it all with Standard Oil, and now his descendants are campaigning for a new strategic focus on renewable energy. Exxon has the reputation for being unapologetically ungreen, and has only recently acknowledged the existence of the threat of global warming. There are a number of resolutions coming up at the next shareholders' meeting proposed by members of the Rockefeller family, the most significant of which is the separation of the roles of Chair and Chief Executive. Tillerson currently occupies both positions. With their separation, there is the prospect of greater accountability. Whether this will be sufficient to appease shareholders disgruntled by Exxon's intransigence on climate change remains to be seen.