Democratic leaders in the US Senate said last night they may wait until next year to take up climate change legislation, jeopardising the prospect of reaching a deal to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of global warming. The delay would prevent Barack Obama from delivering on his promise of demonstrating firm US commitment on climate change action in advance of negotiations at Copenhagen next December. –Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, 16 September 2009 [via Benny Peiser]
News
Israel, Denmark and Renault Commit to Electric Cars
CAR manufacturer Renault has announced a commitment to the production of at least 100,000 electric cars by 2016.
The announcement was made at the Frankfurt Motor Show with the cars to be built for drivers in Israel and Denmark.
The success of electric vehicles will depend on the development of a network of charging points and swapping stations. The Danish and Israeli governments have apparently committed to this infrastructure working with electric-vehicle recharging specialists, Better Place.
Presumably Renault also believes that the price of oil will rise. [Read more…] about Israel, Denmark and Renault Commit to Electric Cars
US Rejects Kyoto Ahead of Copenhagen
Europe has clashed with the US Obama administration over climate change in a potentially damaging split that comes ahead of crucial political negotiations on a new global deal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. US negotiators have told European counterparts that the Obama administration intends to sweep away almost all of the Kyoto architecture and replace it with a system of its own design. Read more here (The Guardian) and here (German Press). via Benny Peiser.
Abiotic Oil (Part 3)
“RESEARCHERS at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have been able to prove that the fossils of animals and plants are not necessary to generate raw oil and natural gas. This result is extremely radical as it means that it will be much easier to find these energy sources and that they may be located all over the world.”
That’s according to their own media release which continues: [Read more…] about Abiotic Oil (Part 3)
Warming in Hawaii
WHILE it is generally agreed that there has been an increase in global temperatures over the last 150 years there is much debate as to how continuous or sporadic this warming has been. I have suggested that understanding could be aided by focusing on one or a few reference stations – particularly given trends in global average temperature is potentially an artefact of how data from stations across the world is combined and then adjusted.
A technical paper, Secular temperature changes in Hawai‘i, published just last year in Geophysical Research Letters indicates there has been recent warming on the island of Hawaii and this has been most evident at high elevations. While the text in the paper emphasis this warming and suggests a potential negative impact, the charts in the same paper suggest that despite the increase in temperatures over the last 30 years, Hawaii is no warmer now than it was in the 1930s. [Read more…] about Warming in Hawaii
Dishonest Egg Labelling
An analysis of egg industry data has confirmed there are not enough free-range layer hens in Australia to produce the number of eggs labelled free-range. Read more here. The picture shows Jennifer nursing a free range chicken.
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.