LNordstrom's Blog

Scientists Talk about Climate Collapse

lnordstrom — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:13:28 +0000

According to renowned geoscientists, the goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees C cannot be reached anymore. An increase of up to 2 degrees at the most could have kept the drastic climate change and its consequences within reasonable limits. In the study which has been presented in Bruxelles today, scientists claim that today’s concentration of green-house-gases in the atmosphere has already reached a level to result in an temperature increase of 2,4 degrees. As reductions of emissions cannot be implemented immediately, the concentration level will rise even more and are estimated to create an increase of 1,8-UP TO 4,0 DEGREES by the end of this century-depending on how intensively emissions will be reduced.

SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?! THIS IS NO MORE ABOUT PROFITS AND BARGAINING, ITS ABOUT OUR SURVIVAL!

source:

focus.de

Environmentalists Disappointed about Results of Bonn Conference

lnordstrom — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:05:06 +0000

According to Greenpeace, the industrialized nations are still far away from reasonnable results as regards reducing emissions. WWF stated that the conference in Bonn was “concluded without any substantial outcome”, “it was agreed upon the fact,that no one agrees on anything”. The delegates didn’t seem to have got anywhere, and this only 177 days before the Copenhagen Council in December where a final treaty is to be signed to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2013.

Most criticized were the USA, Canada and Japan for not making enough acknowledgements.

We can only hope that the next 3 councils anteceding the final meeting in Copenhagen will lead to more success…

source:

-focus.de

Round Table at the UniGeneve

lnordstrom — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:30:56 +0000

This year, the university’s 450th anniversary and the World Environment Day on June 5 coincided. Reason enough for the University’s directors to set up a round table conference in the Uni Dufour building.Guest speakers were Mary Robinson (UN),Bruno Oberle (OFEV), Harsha Vardhana Sing (WTO), Anthony Lehmann (UniGe), David Hiller (Conseil d’Ètat and Canton de Geneve), with an introduction by J.Christophe Bouvier (UNEP).

The perfect occasion for people from the private sector to make comments and ask questions, but I was suprised and disappointed to see that only a 100 people (average age 50) were present…

HOME all over the world

lnordstrom — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:13:11 +0000

Home, Arthus-Bertrand’s 90 minutes documentary which was taken entirely in the air, is the first movie to be published worldwide at the same day, TODAY’S WOLRD ENVIRONMENT DAY.

It is going to be broadcasted on many TV channels worldwide, als well as in cinemas, it is available on DVD and even on YouTube, in order to reach the most people as possible..The slogan:” on june 5 we all have a date with our planet.”

source:

-welt.de

-goodplanet.org

2nd round of climate change talks starts in Bonn

lnordstrom — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:50:02 +0000

Delegates of 182 nations and about 4000 participants are going to meet during the next 12 days to discuss negotiating texts which will serve to create a new climate treaty.The latter will be signed at the Copenhagen Council in december as the successor of the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012.

Results of Copenhagen Council

lnordstrom — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:13:52 +0000

After 3 days of discussing climate change and its effects on on the business world on the Copenhagen Climate Council, participents emphasized the necessity of an international climate treaty. Although concrete steps were not agreed upon, the Council created The Copenhagen Call -a concise statement, which sets out the elements business believes are required for an effective new global climate treaty to be forged.

source and picture credit

-CopenhagenClimateCouncil.com

www.copenhagenclimatecouncil.com

lnordstrom — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:45:57 +0000

The business climate summit began in Copenhagen today and will see leading business leaders and climate experts meeting to discuss the impact of business on climate and how the business community can improve in a climate-friendly way. The findings of the summit will be presented to politicians engaging in the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December.

source:

-Copenhagen Climate Council

picture credit:

-CopenhagenClimateCouncil

Land rising due to climate change?!

lnordstrom — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:47:23 +0000

-that’s what I heard in the news today…Did I mishear something?No,it is acutally true,in Alaska the land is rising due to the melting of the glaciers. But how does this work?

The geology is complex, but it boils down to this: Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land has risen much as a cushion regains its shape after someone gets up from a couch. The land is ascending so fast that the rising seas — a ubiquitous byproduct of global warming — cannot keep pace. As a result, the relative sea level is falling, at a rate “among the highest ever recorded,” according to a 2007 report by a panel of experts convened by Mayor Bruce Botelho of Juneau.

Conclusion: the consequences of the climate change are so diverse we will hardly be able to predict the overall impact on our lives.

sources:

-mmn.com

-nytimes.com

Roof gardens to fight urban climate change

lnordstrom — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:36:25 +0000

I just read an article published in a German periodical I found disturbing and interesting at the same time:

Cities in Japan cover their flat roofs with greenery to improve the urban climate.

The reason? On the concrete of the sky-scrapers’ roofs, temperatures can rise from 50 to 60 degrees in summer time.While the world temperature increased by approx. 0.6 degrees Celsius during the past 100 years, Tokio’s average temperature rose by about 3! This development,called the “Urban-Heat-Island-Effect”,forced the city council to take measures,among them to have greenery on at least 20% of the roofs of buildings with more than 1000 square metres surface.This leads to a temperature by 30 degrees celsius lower compared with plain roofs.

This measure created a entirely new business sector dedicated to designing and maintaining those artificial green spaces.Another nice synergy effect: companie’s employees and residents grow potatoes and all kinds of vegetables and fruit on those roofs,spending their free time gardening and meeting between their vegetable patches for harvest festivals.

I was sad about the fact that we already have to create such artificial green spaces in order to survive in our cities after having destroyed nature thoughtlessly.

However,one could also argue that it is thanks to climate change Tokio experiences a new sense of community…

check out cnn.com/goinggreen

lnordstrom — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:26:20 +0000

last weekend I watched CNN and was positively surprised about its interesting coverage on environmental conservation projects all around the world. On April 22, this year’s Earth Day (http://www.earthday.net),CNN International also set up a site called “going green” with a large number of videos and articles about “green” topics such as eco business,climatology and environmental protection…