UK kicks off one of the world's largest wind farm

As UK leads one of the largest coordinated global event 10:10:10, the Global day of Doing, this news sounds great. UK embraces renewable energy to a whole new level.

Details, basically this wind farm is one of the world's largest offshore wind farm situated off the Thanet in Kent. The project was at a cost of £780m ,and is expected to generate enough electricity to power 240,000 homes.

Read more about it.

Aviation requires planning to curb emissions

Nowadays it is said if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, plan before you leave your house so that you not only curb emissions, but save time,fuel and money. There are talks that to reduce emissions in the aviation industry, greener technology is required however a thought is given to in managing aka the control tower at each airport. How? By becoming more efficient in planning their schedules with planes.

It is not only the control tower, the ground people can quicken processes so that planes can land and fly faster. A good air traffic management must be established for both air and ground to make it successful.

The big month has arrived: COP15

The crucial month of this year has finally arrived. I know I am very late in updating the news but let me give a slight preview of what happened. Just before starting the most important climate summit in human history, a scandal had raised a lot of eyebrows, rumors and specially confusion among people, the Climategate. Hackers leaked out information from emails between scientists from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit that climate change was not caused by human activity. A perfect way to create a row between people,scientists and politicians so that anti-environmentalist, oil companies can gain from this.


The summit started on 7th December with a surprise in the sense that within the first two days, there has been a big contribution from the US. The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) stated that carbon dioxide poses a risk to public health and with this card in hand they are planning to bypass Congress to get a things moving in terms of reducing CO2 emissions. They should have thought of this couple of years ago.

In the mean time, the EU has pledged to give 7bn euros to all developing countries while a $10 billion has been allocated for countries affected by climate change.This $10bn will be given every year till 2012 and after 2012 it will be increased to $30bn. The members of AOSIS and the vulnerable countries at one point decided to walk out, as the adaptation fund was to less for their countries to sustain. My country, Bangladesh has asked for 15% of the total adaptation fund, as we are one of the major victims of climate change. Our Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina has made it clear that Bangladesh requires a large sum of the adaptation fund so that the country can combat against climate change. Bangladesh topped the list of the Global Climate Risk Index. In mist of the failure of proper talks, clashes broke out with over 900 people in trouble with the police.

It is expected that US President Barack Obama will attend the summit on 18th December 2009 and lets hope a decision can be made because time is really short.


In the mean time here are some things you could read.
Climate SOS: A minority report

The Copenhagen Concoction

I will try updating you about the Copenhagen summit.

There wont be a deal in Copenhagen- US climate envoy

"Its certainly possible that there wont be a deal in Copenhagen", US climate change envoy Todd Stern told Britain's Channel Four. So what does that mean? Is the US not participating in the summit? I was expecting that with the new US administration's motto of "Change" that tackling climate change was one of its top issues. However from this statement it signifies that US are expecting this Climate talks to collapse as well.

On the other hand Britain's climate secretary,Ed Milliband said he will be going "all out" in this Copenhagen summit. He also said that a new global climate treaty is "do-able".

It is still uncertain if any outcome will come about, but it is important that a treaty be made before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Grim past of Earth's climate reveals scary message

History of our Earth's climate reveals some scarier message that our current carbon emissions policies are to die for. According to a study, the current levels of carbon emissions and that of some 20 million years indicate that back then sea levels were about (25-40)m.

So if we were to keep the current CO2 emissions as a target to maintain, then we would be under (25-40)m of water. By current standards CO2 emissions are near 450ppm however countries like Maldives and the Association of Small Island States are backing for the 350ppm as a target of CO2 this December.

Also to support this 350.org has started a global campaign so that governments, head of officials bring the current emissions to 350ppm of CO2. I will be blogging about some of the activities which I will be doing to support this cause.

Extreme Engineering could become last resort

As discussions go on about climate change and with the Copenhagen Summit nearby tension is building as to what the summit could solve, whether if there will be quick decisions made and implemented.

A study by the UK Royal Society indicated that constructing engineering marvels could become the last resort and that such feats are feasible. At this point geo-engineering, engineering the environment we live in is the solution to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Projects like using scrubbers to clean the atmosphere, or using mirrors in space to deflect the Sun's rays from entering the atmosphere.

There were talks and I think it is in the implementation stage of trapping CO2 underground. The projects suggested are technically possible already would require decades to get them up but it is feasible.

The Great Coral triangle is on its last breath

The Great Coral Triangle shared between Indonesia and five other South-East Asian countries is said to dying out. Already 40% of the coral reefs present within this Coral triangle has been lost and the rest is feared to be lost very quickly if something is not done about it. Its presence can be compared with the Amazon rain-forest biodiversity. It plays a major role in providing biodiversity in the oceans. Read the article published by the BBC.

Artic chills all over Europe

The change in weather patterns all over Europe and the oil disputes between Russia and Ukraine have left most of Europe under a blanket of chilly cold wave. Even though the weather is quite cold, scientists are saying that global warming is still present and this is just a trend due to global warming. Get the full story here.


Also if you interested about the gas pipeline across Europe and how it has affected the people get the story here.

Nasa to launch CO2 mapper

NASA is to launch a satellite that will map CO2 emissions from all round the world. The objective would be to identify hot spots were there are high carbon emissions and also to monitor the carbon absorbers. It is known that the oceans absorb most of the emissions although with the help of this satellite other sinks can be detected. Read the article here.

Canada looses a large chunk of its ice shelf

A large chunk of ice shelf has broken away forming a floating ice sheet. Researchers are saying that warming temperatures and the lack of the Artic to cool itself such that ice freezes have played a major part to the ice shelf to melt and break away from its home.

To know more visit the source.

No Car Day in China

With the Olympics being held in China next year, China has declared No Car Day in over 100 cities hoping to reduce the smog produced by cars. China is now considered as the first country in the list of highest greenhouse gases emitted with the United States holding the second place. To know more visit the article here at BBC website.

A man and his family making a difference

A man making a difference, a quest if you call it, but to me these are the people who care for the environment and I am proud to say that he is a HERO. He has called himself the No Impact Man and has certainly hit the net by his no No Impact life. Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man decided to play his part to go green and for some going green is like saying "I will do those things later, leave it on the table" but he took it on by brute force. He and his family has changed their way of living. Having no electricity in their house (an apartment in Manhattan), roams around New York City by bicycles. He has literally by definition tried to stop his entire life and changed it so that his actions to do not harm the environment.

Anyways he has been interviewed by BBC and you can visit the article here. He also has a blog called the No Impact Man, so go and check it out.

Ontario's way of going green

Canada state,Ontario plans to depend on wind, solar, nuclear power and other renewable energy sources for the future. It urged its people to conserve power so that it could meet electricity demands and in doing so plans to shut down their coal-powered power plant which is their one of the main sources of power by 2014. The project is to cost about $60-billion. To know more visit the source here.

Another article from the BBC website, its headline "Climate flooding risk misjudged". Read it on the BBC website.

Climate Change camp set up in Heathrow airport

Some 3000 campaigners of Camp for Climate Change are to arrive and lay tents near a perimter around Heathrow airport. This protest is aimed at the airline industries as they a part of the rising carbon emissions. A campaigner quoted that

we are here not to disturb passengers but the BAA

. To know visit the article at BBC website

South Asia feeling effects of global warming and climate change

In the past two weeks, the monsoon has spread over Asia this year but this time the monsoon is not welcoming. Heavy rains in most countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal have left many as thousands of people stranded on water. In Bangladesh three-fourths of the country is under water. People in villages are left stranded, some of their houses damaged, main crops destroyed. Basically things are not good in Bangladesh. Water is entering the capital city Dhaka, but not like the rural areas.

Even if the rain had stopped, the Sun for some reason seems so concentrated, thats how I feel when I step outside the house. It seems like the Sun is burning my skin. Normally I felt this type of effect during the winter but never in summer. Other than Bangladesh, India and Nepal are heavily affected. In the mist of all these floods, fear of water-borne diseases is on everyone's mind. International organizations like WHO,Unicef ,are helping in the relief process. In Bangladesh, corporate companies like GrameenPhone, Banglalink, Warid Telecom, are helping in the relief programs. There are many more companies participating in the programs.

As most of you can guess, scientists are saying that global warming and the melting of ice in the Himalayia mountains have caused the flooding.

To know more visit these BBC sites
Health woes
Worst-hit areas
Flood Leasons
Pictures taken

A video posted by StefanSchmiederer on Youtube commented this year's flood as "South Asian floods 'worst in living memory'"



PS: I was saying in the previous posts that I will go for green hosting, unfortunately I would not be able to pay for it but in the mean time I will buy a domain and host it on a regular hosting company till I find it cost-effective to run on green hosting.

India plans to make climate change decision

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and several environmentalist experts are making a decision to bring a solution to control climate change. Since the Himalaya glaciers are melting India has to take action. To know more visit the BBC article.

Scientists blame climate change for vanishing lake in Chile

I mentioned last post that a lake in Chile just vanished. Well scientists are pointing the finger at climate change. To know more visit this BBC article.

Honda will make green diesel cars

Honda Motor Co. plans to become the first Japanese carmaker to produce passenger vehicles with low-pollution, fuel-efficient diesel engines. These vehicles emit 20-percent less carbon dioxide than petrol-powered ones while substantially reducing emissions of particulate matter and conventional diesel cars.

Although conventional diesel vehicles consume less fuel and emit less carbon dioxide than gasoline-powered cars, they do release harmful substances such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. But Honda has developed a highly advanced catalyst than can cut nitrogen oxides and other emissions to levels on par with petrol vehicles.

The car maker plans to release new diesel vehicles simultaneously in Japan and United States in 2009 or may be sooner. Although hybrids consume less fuel, the new cars are expected to be comparable because diesel is about 15% cheaper than petrol.

This article is copied from AFP.


On other news Google and Intel have decided to work together to bring green computers in the market. Google plans that this will reduce carbon emissions. To know more visit the source.

Global Warming to make billions refugees

A report released by an aid agency said that global warming will cause billions of refugees by 2050 as water shortages increase, lack of crop growth will force people to leave their homes which will then cause disputes over resources.

The agency blamed developed countries causing climate change pollution which affected the poor. The agency also said that the developed countries should help the victims affected by global warming.

Countries which are low-lying and are few metres above sea-level are already facing problems. As sea-levels rise these low lands are sinking into the ocean floor. Parts of India, even my country Bangladesh are sinking. When I was watching BBC climate watch, there was evidence of rising sea-levels. These countries are in trouble cause they will have to create a massive evacuation. As a result the citizens become refugees.

Deforestation: The hidden cause of global warming. This is an article from The Independent, giving some information about global warming.

UN's way of helping climate change

A study done by the United Nation's states that in the peril of climate change and catastrophic disasters, we humans are capable in the sense that we have the money and the knowledge to stop global warming. The study concludes that we can stop 26 billion tonnes of emissions by the end of 2030.

Experts are saying that such an action would cost billion of dollars to the economy over the past twenty years. I think such a drastic action must be taken. We are intelligent enough to create a slower economy just enough to sustain lower gas emmissions.

This is way out of the topic but i rather continue.

When going for such a scheme newer, better and efficient technology must been invented. I was watching climate watch on BBC a few days and a new type of scheme or business is sprouting which is "Carbon Offset" or "Offsetting Carbon". The theme of this scheme is to create an industry which has zero carbon emmissions. By offsetting carbon schemes, larger industries can create smaller industries which follow the zero carbon emissions. In the end the larger industries just continue their regular carbon emmissions, if people say anything the large industries will reply i have a zero carbon emmission industry.

There are also single entities, or just a single person. They showed a farmer, i think in the UK that he used cow's manure to produce methane gas, which he later converted it into electricity. Quite neat!