Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category
Who killed Copenhagen?
December 23rd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
“Copenhagen was a disaster. That much is agreed. But the truth about what actually happened is in danger of being lost amid the spin and inevitable mutual recriminations. The truth is this: China wrecked the talks, intentionally humiliated Barack Obama, and insisted on an awful “deal” so western leaders would walk away carrying the blame. [...]
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Seasons greetings from India
December 23rd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Seven years ago, we had a terrific holiday in India led by a wonderful guide, a sufi Muslim called Hamid Shah. We are still in touch with him thanks to the Internet and he has just sent us seasons greetings with this moving ecological message:
“May the year 2010 bring peace, love and joy over the [...]
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Common editorial on climate change
December 7th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
As representatives of all the world’s nations gather in Copenhagen for the climate change summit, today 56 newspapers in 45 countries using 20 languages take the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial on the need for an early and effective agreement.
You can read the text here.
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Word of the day: gyre
November 24th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
An oceanic gyre is any large-scale system of rotating ocean currents – a fuller definition in this page from Wikipedia.
Apparently, around the globe, there are five huge gyres that contain accumulated rubbish from the oceans in what represents an environmental disaster – more information in this article from the “New York Times”.
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Nothing lasts forever (2)
November 11th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
If we carry on fuelling world economic growth largely through the use of oil resources, one day the oil will run out. For years, people have talked of “peak oil” – the time when oil production levels start to fall. According to this story, oil reserves are not as high as was thought and we [...]
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How green is your supermarket?
November 9th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Some UK supermarkets are greening up their act and doing more to help customers shop green but others are lagging well behind according to new mystery shopping exercise by Consumer Focus on whose Board I sit.
The UK’s top nine supermarket chains were ranked on sustainability measures such as availability of UK in-season fruit and vegetables, [...]
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International Day of Climate Action
October 21st, 2009 by Roger Darlington
This Saturday 24 October is the International Day of Climate Action .
Already, over 4000 creative events are being planned in over 170 countries – from the slopes of Mount Everest to the underwater reefs of the Maldive Islands, to the parks and streets of your own communities. Activists will be uploading images of their events [...]
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A perfect storm of shortages
August 26th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
“As the world’s population grows, competition for food, water and energy will increase. Food prices will rise, more people will go hungry, and migrants will flee the worst-affected regions. That’s the simple idea at the heart of the warning from John Beddington, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, of a possible crisis in 2030.”
This is [...]
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20 ideas that could save the world
July 13th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
We’ve all heard a lot about the growing threat to the planet from the danger of climate change. But what are the answers? The “Guardian” newspaper today has a special four-page supplement in which it considers twenty possible solutions.
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World heading for “ecological credit crunch”
October 29th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
“The Living Planet report calculates that humans are using 30% more resources than the Earth can replenish each year, which is leading to deforestation, degraded soils, polluted air and water, and dramatic declines in numbers of fish and other species. As a result, we are running up an ecological debt of $4tr (£2.5tr) to $4.5tr [...]
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