Tiempo Climate Newswatch

President Putin has ordered his government to move ahead with ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. The government recently submitted the ratification documents for ministerial approval and ratification has now been approved by the Russian Cabinet. "This is a hugely important step," commented Alexei Kokorin, head of the World Wildlife Fund in Russia.

Ratification does not have total support. The Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov considers the treaty "ineffective, unfair, and disadvantageous", according to recent reports. Economic adviser Andrei Illarionov has argued that, without the involvement of the United States, there will be no market for carbon, reducing the attractiveness of the deal to Russia. The final decision will be taken by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. With a majority of Putin loyalists in the Duma, the house will likely follow the President's lead. European Union support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization is said to have ensured the decision to approve.

More information

• Terra Daily
• CNN
• Terra Daily
• BBC

It is feared that Tropical Storm Jeanne has killed over 2,000 people in Haiti. It struck over the weekend of September 18/19th. Flooding and landslides were responsible for the majority of the deaths, with the town of Gonaives hardest hit. The flooding was made worse by the extensive deforestation in the region. Valleys were unable to hold back the rainwater.

It is proving difficult to get aid and assistance into the region and disease threatens. "Trucking clean water into Gonaives is a logistical nightmare," according to Abby Maxman of CARE. Francoise Gruloos of the UN Children's Fund warned that "it's a critical situation in terms of epidemics, because of the bodies still in the streets, because people are drinking dirty water and scores are getting injuries from debris huge cuts that are getting infected." Reaching hurricane status, Jeanne moved on to strike the Bahamas and Florida the following weekend. Four hurricanes have now made landfall in Florida this season, a record not matched for over 100 years. Jeanne hit the Treasure Coast, the same area as Hurricane Frances three weeks ago.

More information

• Haiti, Yahoo
• Haiti, BBC
• Haiti, Terra Daily

• Florida, ABC
• Florida, BBC
• Florida, Terra Daily

The area covered by China's glaciers has shrunk by over five per cent since the 1960s, according to a new inventory. Yao Tandong, director of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, warns that as much as 64 per cent of China's glaciers may disappear by the end of the 2050s. While glacier melting may mean more water for the inhabitants of the neighbouring regions in the short-term, the end-result will be worsening desertification.

The collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002 has speeded up the flow of glaciers into the Weddell Sea, according to studies by US scientists. "If anyone was waiting to find out whether Antarctica would respond quickly to climate warming, I think the answer is yes," said Theodore Scambos from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado. The researchers have used imagery from American, Canadian and European satellites.

More information

• China, China Internet Information Centre
• China, Guardian Unlimited
• China, ABC

• Larsen B, Science Daily
• Larsen B, BBC
• Larsen B, NSIDC