Saturday, Nov 22nd
Last update09:21:52 AM GMT
Environmental Glance
Campaigners against global warming have drawn on an arsenal of visually startling tactics over the years, from posing nude on a Swiss glacier to scaling smokestacks at coal-fired power plants.
On Saturday, they tried something new with the goal of prodding countries to get serious about reaching an international climate accord: a synchronized burst of more than 4,300 demonstrations, from the Himalayas to the Great Barrier Reef, all centered on the number 350.
The world has less than five years to get carbon emissions under control or runaway climate change will become inevitable, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has warned.
Scientists generally agree that the world could keep temperature rises below a dangerous level of two degrees C (3.6 degrees F) if greenhouse gas emissions are halved by 2050. However a new report from the WWF found this will require a "green industrial revolution" by 2014, with heavy investment in moving from fossil fuels to 'low carbon alternatives' like wind, solar, nuclear and clean coal.
The 2007 draft suppressed until now calls for regulation of greenhouse gases, citing global warming as a serious risk to the U.S. A finding by the Obama administration is nearly identical.
Reporting from Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released a long-suppressed report by George W. Bush administration officials who had concluded -- based on science -- that the government should begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions because global warming posed serious risks to the country.
Scientists have warned of an alarming increase in the extinction of animal species, because of threats to biodiversity and ecosystems.
The threats are posed by pollution, climate change and urban spread. The comments come two days ahead of a meeting of the Diversitas group of global experts on biodiversity in the South African city of Cape Town.
The UN's climate chief has warned that time is running out for negotiators to agree on crucial targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
With two weeks of talks due to wrap up in Bangkok on Friday, Yvo de Boer said a deal at the Copenhagen summit in December may not be possible without commitments by developed countries to significant emissions cuts and financing for poorer nations to do the same.
The US threatened to derail a deal on global climate change today in a public showdown with China by expressing deep opposition to the existing Kyoto protocol. The US team also urged other rich countries to join it in setting up a new legal agreement which would, unlike Kyoto, force all countries to reduce emissions.
In a dramatic acceleration of forecasts for global warming, UK scientists say the global average temperature could rise by 4C (7.2F) as early as 2060.
The Met Office study used projections of fossil fuel use that reflect the trend seen over the last 20 years. Their computer models also factored in new findings on how carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans and forests.
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