Ominous Arctic Melt Worries Experts

Tue Dec 11, 2007 3:01 PM EST

By Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer (Clipped by John Fisherman)

An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that summer sea ice would be gone in five years.

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arctic-melt, melt, science

George Monbiot: The real answer to climate change is to leave fossil fuels in the ground

Seeded on Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:45 AM EST (Guardian Unlimited)

Most of the governments of the rich world now exhort their citizens to use less carbon. They encourage us to change our lightbulbs, insulate our lofts, turn our televisions off at the wall. In other words, they have a demand-side policy for tackling climate change.

politics, monbiot, climate-change, global-warming, fossil-fuels, peak-oil, bali

Progressive Change in Venezuela

Seeded on Sat Dec 8, 2007 4:39 PM EST (The Nation)

Seeded by Redruby (Clipped by John Fisherman)

The defeat of the Venezuelan government's proposed constitutional reforms last Sunday will probably not change very much in Venezuela. Most of what was in the reforms can be enacted through the legislature.

world-news, venezuela, chavez, reforms, progressive

Is it OK to fly?

Seeded on Fri Dec 7, 2007 11:16 AM EST (Guardian Unlimited)

How could planes be less damaging? We're still flying even though we know it's bad. Leo Hickman on whether we should be cutting back

politics, environment, global-warming, climate-change, airlines, emissions, uk

ARGENTINA: Building a Solidarity Economy

Seeded on Fri Dec 7, 2007 9:56 AM EST (ipsnews.net)

A solidarity economy is being built by thousands of workers in Argentina, in rural cooperatives, worker-run factories and small businesses linked by networks.

politics, argentina, solidarity, alternative-economy, alter-mundi, south-america

In Bali, Germany takes dramatic step on climate change | csmonitor.com

Seeded on Fri Dec 7, 2007 7:35 AM EST (Christian Science Monitor)

The country adopts legislation Wednesday to cut emissions 36 percent as delegates hammer out a post-Kyoto treaty.

politics, environment, climate-change, germany, bali, global-warming

Congress passes global warming bill

Seeded on Fri Dec 7, 2007 6:31 AM EST (Guardian Unlimited)

Congress yesterday defied the threat of a presidential veto and passed the first legislation aimed at curbing global warming, voting to impose higher automobile fuel standards for the first time in three decades.

us-news, climate-change, global-warming, us, bush, democrats, emissons

Israeli minister cancels UK trip in fear of arrest

Seeded on Fri Dec 7, 2007 2:43 AM EST (Guardian Unlimited)

An Israeli government minister has cancelled a trip to Britain next month after he was warned that he risked arrest on war crimes charges.

politics, israel, uk, war-crimes, imunity

A Sudden Change of State

Seeded on Thu Dec 6, 2007 7:40 AM EST (monbiot.com)

Reading a scientific paper on the train this weekend, I found, to my amazement, that my hands were shaking. This has never happened to me before, but nor have I ever read anything like it.

politics, environment, monbiot, climate-change, bali

What Is Progress?

Seeded on Thu Dec 6, 2007 7:34 AM EST (monbiot.com)

There is now a broad scientific consensus that we need to prevent temperatures from rising by more than 2°C above their pre-industrial level.

politics, environment, global-warming, monbiot, bali

Rudd acts to ratify Kyoto accord in Australia - International Herald Tribune

Seeded on Wed Dec 5, 2007 5:15 AM EST (International Herald Tribune)

CANBERRA: Australia's new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, signed the paperwork Monday to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, making good on an election promise to overturn Australia's decade-long opposition to the international global warming pact.

politics, kyoto, australia, rudd, global-warming, washington, bali, environment

Spain's foreign minister claims Aznar government supported Venezuela coup

Seeded on Tue Dec 4, 2007 7:59 AM EST (wsws.org)

Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has refused to retract his claims that the former Popular Party (PP) government under the leadership of Jose Maria Aznar supported the coup that temporarily ousted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias in 2002.

politics, venezuela, coup, aznar, chavez, 2002

ABC.es: nacional - politica - Zapatero recurre a tres Nobel y otros once extranjeros para su programa

Seeded on Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:03 AM EST (abc.es)

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero ha decidido «fichar» a catorce expertos internacionales «progresistas» de prestigio, tres de ellos premio Nobel, para dar lustre con sus aportaciones a un programa electoral «creíble, cumplible y financiable», según reveló ayer el Ministro …

spain, socialism, experts, politics

EUROPE: 'Biofuels Can Hurt the Poor'

Seeded on Fri Nov 9, 2007 4:15 AM EST (ipsnews.net)

BRUSSELS, Nov 6 (IPS) - A body tasked with shaping European Union policy on biofuels is dominated by companies with a vested interest in promoting this source of energy, environmentalists have claimed.

bio-diesel, eu, sustainability, energy, climate-change, oxfam, sustainabilty, bio-fuel, bio-diversity, environment

North-West Passage is now plain sailing

Seeded on Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:43 AM EDT (Guardian Unlimited)

The North-West Passage – the sea route running along the Arctic coastline of North America, normally perilously clogged with thick ice – is nearly ice-free for the first time since records began.

science, environment, global-warming, polar-ice

Why failure is the new face of success | Naomi Klein

Seeded on Wed Sep 12, 2007 2:15 AM EDT (Guardian Unlimited)

Why failure is the new face of success

iraq, politics, corporate-state

Neuroscientists Probe Psychedelic Psilocybin: Scientific American

Seeded on Wed Sep 5, 2007 4:48 AM EDT (Sciam)

Neuroscientist Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University and his colleagues tested the effects of psilocybin--a drug derived from certain mushrooms that appears to mimic the effects of serotonin in the brain--on 36 middle-aged Americans who had never tried psychedelics before.

health, mushrooms, psychoactive, psilocybin

Chávez deal to aid low-income Londoners

Seeded on Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:26 AM EDT (Guardian Unlimited)

Thanks to a deal between the Venezuelan government and the mayor of London, the English capital began offering half-price bus fares to poor residents of the city this week.

politics, energy, venezuela, chavez, uk, poor

Página de Sócrates na Wikipédia alterada em PC do Governo

Seeded on Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:27 AM EDT (Público)

Um cibernauta anónimo usou um computador do Governo para retirar da página da Wikipédia dedicada ao primeiro-ministro todas as referências ao caso da licenciatura na Universidade Independente (UnI).

universidade-independente, thought-control, wikipedia

Wikipedia 'shows CIA page edits'

Seeded on Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:16 AM EDT (BBC News)

An online tool that claims to reveal the identity of organisations that edit Wikipedia pages has revealed that the CIA was involved in editing entries. It also purportedly shows that the Vatican has edited entries about Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.

politics, bbc, police-state, thought-control, wiki

BIODIVERSITY: Scientists Foresee Extinction Domino Effect

Seeded on Tue May 22, 2007 2:25 AM EDT (ipsnews.net)

The loss of a few species in a forest or the oceans might not result in any obvious immediate changes, but scientists are beginning to connect the dots. One example of a cascade of impacts was recently documented by Canadian and U.S.

world-news, environment, ecosystems, biodiversity, climate-change, gloabal-warming, extinction, kyoto

The rich world's policy on greenhouse gas now seems clear: millions will die

Seeded on Tue May 8, 2007 3:57 AM EDT (Guardian Unlimited)

Our governments have set the wrong targets to tackle climate change using outdated science, and they know it

politics, climatic-change, european-union, environment, sustainability, monbiot, ipcc

Paper Industry Laying Waste to North American Forests

Seeded on Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:04 AM EDT (nrdc.org)

Kimberly-Clark and other top U.S. manufacturers are sacrificing US' most ecologically rich forests to make disposable tissue paper products.

politics, united-states, sustainability, rain-forest

George Monbiot: If we want to save the planet, we need a five-year freeze on biofuels

Seeded on Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:32 AM EDT (Guardian Unlimited)

Already we know that biofuel is worse for the planet than petroleum. The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022.

politics, environment, biofuel, global-warming, sustainability

Q&A: Nuclear disarmament. Nations pressure on developing and disarming WMD [BBC]

Seeded on Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:42 AM EDT (BBC News)

Are the nuclear states supposed to be disarming? What exactly does the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty say? Do the nuclear-weapon states have any intention of giving up nuclear weapons?

politics, nuclear, disarmament, nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty, wmd, middle-east, north-korea, iran, israel, india

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