Group items tagged

"Australia is belatedly waking up to the implications of the carbon budget, although the concept has been around for years. It simply says that if the increase in global temperature resulting from human carbon emissions is to be contained to a level which will prevent dangerous climate change, the world, henceforth, can only afford to emit a limited amount of greenhouse gases. According to the latest science, that limit will be exceeded if we burn more than 20 per cent of the world's proven coal, oil and gas reserves. This is confirmed in recent reports from the International Energy Agency and Australia's Climate Commission."

The FCRN's aim is to increase our understanding of how the food system contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and what we can do to reduce them

"As a result, British Columbia's greenhouse gas emissions fell 10 percent between 2008 and 2011, as compared to a 1.1 percent decline for the rest of Canada. The carbon tax was introduced right before the recession hit in 2008, so while Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell slightly between 2008 and 2011 in British Columbia, that change was on par with the small decline in Canada's GDP. Thus while it's inconclusive whether the carbon tax is helping or hurting British Columbia's economy, it's certainly not having the seriously damaging economic effect that alarmist opponents claim that carbon taxes will have."

"The Federal Government has sparked significant debate with the confirmation it intends to move from a fixed carbon price to an emissions trading scheme next year. But where is the description of the long term, low carbon future for Australia? Aside from the 90% renewable energy target proposed by the Greens, the major parties are slim on long-term vision."

"Australia's two major parties have promised to reduce the country's emissions by 5% by 2020, with two different approaches. Labor has used carbon farming as part of its approach; the Coalition is making it a centrepiece. But analysis of Labor's approach shows it is likely to fail, whoever pursues it."

"The food the world wastes accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any country except for China and the United States, according to a United Nations report."

"While the Coalition didn't release a 2013 election policy document explaining how they'd reduce emissions, they did release a document outlining how they'd axe the tax. The document is entitled The Coalition's Policy to Deliver Lower Prices by Scrapping the Carbon Tax. Within it is an excellent idea well worth supporting, in that it will highlight just how 'brilliant' the Abbott government's cost of living 'relief' will be when it axes the carbon tax. "

"One of the most common misunderstandings amongst climate change "skeptics" is the difference between short-term noise and long-term signal.  This animation shows how the same temperature data (green) that is used to determine the long-term global surface air warming trend of 0.16°C per decade (red) can be used inappropriately to "cherrypick" short time periods that show a cooling trend simply because the endpoints are carefully chosen and the trend is dominated by short-term noise in the data (blue steps).  Isn't it strange how five periods of cooling can add up to a clear warming trend over the last 4 decades?  Several factors can have a large impact on short-term temperatures, such as oceanic cycles like the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or the 11-year solar cycle.  These short-term cycles don't have long-term effects on the Earth's temperature, unlike the continuing upward trend caused by global warming from human greenhouse gas emissions."

"Bjorn Lomborg has a plan to help poor low-lying countries from Kiribati (featured above) to Bangladesh threatened by rising seas and worsening storm surges. Delay real climate action, but invest in R&D to develop artificial floating islands for them to live on. OK, that isn't literally his plan, but it is figuratively. Lomborg argues that: 1) there is a trade-off between efforts to fight poverty and efforts to fight climate and 2) the best way to fight climate change is to let emissions keep rising while spending gazillions of public dollars on R&D."

As it sheds a dirtier, oil-dependent past, Scandinavia has become a mecca for green energy, design and policy, boasting some of the world's most efficient buildings, lowest fossil fuel use and boldest emission targets.

"United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that the battle for global sustainability will be won or lost in the world's cities. Cities and urban areas are estimated to account for 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and more than half of the world's population live in them, so what we do in our urban centres will, to a large extent, define the future of our world. Governments are struggling to agree on action against climate change, but thankfully many city authorities are just getting on with tackling the problem as best they can. Element takes a look at what authorities in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch are expecting, how they are trying to minimise the damage and preparing for the worst, and how their plans shape up against those elsewhere."

"One evening in the small village of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire, England, someone started a conversation about climate change and energy at the local pub. It was 2005. Two years later, residents had cut their carbon dioxide emissions and energy costs by 20 percent. Ashton Hayes now aims to be England's first carbon-neutral community."

"You want to know what the biggest obstacle to dealing with climate change is? Simple: time. It will take decades before the carbon dioxide we emit now begins to have its full effect on the planet's climate. And by the same token, it will take decades before we are able to enjoy the positive climate effects of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions now. "

"The 'Pathways to Deep Decarbonisation in 2050: How Australia can prosper in a low carbon world' report, released 23 September 2014, presents an illustrative deep decarbonisation pathway for Australia - just one of many possible pathways - developed using a combination of well-established modelling tools to identify feasible and least-cost options.  This work finds that Australia can achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and live within its recommended carbon budget, using technologies that exist today, while maintaining economic prosperity. Major technological transitions are needed in some industries and many activities, but no fundamental change to Australia's economy is required. The technologies required for decarbonisation are currently available or under development. The analysis shows that deep decarbonisation requires neither substantial lifestyle changes nor large changes in Australia's economic structure."

"Remember carbon capture and storage? Five years ago, the idea of grabbing the carbon dioxide from coal and gas power plants and burying it deep underground was considered an essential technology for curbing the world's greenhouse-gas emissions. A diagram of how various sorts of carbon capture might work. (Congressional Budget Office) But carbon capture hasn't fared well in the years since. Since 2008, world governments committed at least $25 billion to fund large-scale demonstration projects, the Financial Times reports. And we have remarkably little to show for it so far."

"The Australian Greenhouse office (AGO) is the world's first government agency dedicated to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. It was established in 1998 as a separate agency within the environment portfolio to provide a whole of government approach to greenhouse matters. The AGO is also responsible for the energy star (http://www.energystar.gov.au) and energy rating (http://www.energyrating.gov.au) mandatory programs for buildings, domestic appliances and industrial equipment. "

"Businesses and organisations have a massive role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water conservation and waste management. Implementing sustainable practices in your business now will equip you for the challenges and opportunities ahead. "

"Everyone has a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Choosing an energy efficient appliance is one way to do this while saving money."

"LEDCentral.com.au is an Australian Owned and Operated Company, concerned with the environmental and economical impact standard lighting has on our planet today. Our goal is to save you money, whilst helping save our environment. Reduce your home and office lighting bills by up to 90% using one of the most efficient forms of lighting available. LED lighting uses approximately 10% of electricity than that of a standard light bulb. Energy efficient LED lighting creates less carbon emissions, which helps our environment as well as saving you money."

"Evidence of how our climate is changing is vital to encourage investment in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as coping with inevitable change. You can help discover how the climate could look by running our free software on your computer. The data generated is sent back to us and incorporated into the climateprediction.net projects. Our computer models simulate the climate for the next century, producing predictions of temperature, rainfall and the probability of extreme weather events. The more models that are run, the more evidence we gather on climate change. Get started and help us predict the climate."