According to Foreign Policy magazine the world will remember 2005 for its natural disasters, the passing of a pope, and the ongoing insurgency in Iraq.
In terms of environmental issues that “fell through the cracks” the magazine focused on reduced greenhouse emission in the US and peak oil.
Reduced emissions in the US came in as no. 4 in terms of overall issues, it was reported as follows:
When it comes to emitting greenhouse gases, the United States is usually seen as the bad guy, content to belch out fumes at its pleasure. But reports released in late November show that U.S. emissions have fallen for the first time in more than a decade. Between 2000 and 2003, U.S. emissions fell by 0.8 percent. By contrast, global goody-two-shoes Canada saw a 24.2 percent increase in 2003 from its 1990 levels. Even the sanctimonious Europeans are set to miss their Kyoto targets by 6.4 percent. Uncle Sam’s emissions dropped partly because U.S. firms introduced clean coal technologies and reduced their methane emissions. So, is the United States turning into the Green Giant? Hardly. The most important reason for its drop in emissions was the migration of heavy manufacturing to industrializing countries such as China, the world’s second-biggest emitter.
At number nine was a peak oils story, reported as follows:
With oil prices soaring this year, the debate over the future of this precious commodity heated up. But lost in the mix was ExxonMobil’s report The Outlook for Energy: A 2030 View. The total oil output of non-OPEC producers, according to ExxonMobil’s projection, will peak around 2010, after which OPEC will have to add more than 1 million barrels per day, every year, to keep up with world demand by 2030. “In 2003, Algeria produced 1.1 million barrels per day,” wrote energy analyst Alfred J. Cavallo in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “A new Algeria would need to be brought on line in the Persian Gulf each and every year beyond 2010 just to keep up with the projected increase in demand.” That’s no easy prospect. To make matters worse, most OPEC countries, including vital “swing producer” Saudi Arabia, do not allow independent audits of their oil reserves, so we may have even less warning of any future shortfalls. Under OPEC’s quota system, members have every incentive to inflate their reserve figures: The more they claim to have, the more they can sell. The price of a barrel of black gold just went up-again.
So few Australian environmental stories are properly reported in the mainstream media. But which is the really big one that “fell through the cracks”?
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.