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Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Week ending November 28th 2004



 

Featured sites

The Blue Carbon Portal brings together the latest knowledge and resources on the role of oceans as carbon sinks.

WalkIt provides walking routes between user-defined points in selected British cities, with an estimate of the carbon savings.

Joto Afrika is a series of printed briefings and online resources about adapting to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa.

And finally,

The CoolClimate Art Contest presents iconic images that address the impact of climate change.

More featured sites...

About the Cyberlibrary

The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary was developed by Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich on behalf of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development, with sponsorship from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

While every effort is made to ensure that information on this site, and on other sites that are referenced here, is accurate, no liability for loss or damage resulting from use of this information can be accepted.

The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will come into force on February 16th 2005. The Russian Federation handed ratification papers to the United Nations last week. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the development as a "historic step forward," ending a "long period of uncertainty." The Kyoto Protocol was drafted in 1997.

With the Protocol’s entry into force: 1) industrialized nations must meet quantitative targets for limiting their greenhouse gas emissions, reducing their combined emissions of six major gases to 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012; 2) the framework for an international carbon trading market will come into being; 3) the Clean Development Mechanism will move to full operation, encouraging investments in developing-country projects that limit emissions and are consistent with sustainable development goals; and 4) the Adaptation Fund will start preparations to assist developing countries cope with the impacts of climate change.

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The leaders of the Arctic peoples have slammed the United States for blocking international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. "The short-term economic policy of one country should not be able to trump the entire survival of one people," said Sheila Watt-Cloutier of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. She was speaking at an international conference that launched the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

The foreign ministers of the Arctic Council countries, including the United States, meet on November 24th to discuss the implications of the Arctic Assessment. Indigenous leaders have called for a "robust" and "strong" declaration from this gathering. "To be honest I don't expect a good declaration," warned Geir Tommy Pedersen of the Saami Council. "The United States is the big bad wolf when it comes to climate policy. It is blocking efforts to flesh out political recommendations."

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Tropical birds sing in response to cues in the environment. Climate change threatens to disrupt this behaviour and hence the breeding cycle, according to recent research. Scientists from Virginia Tech and the University of Washington, Seattle, compared the behaviour of the rufous-collared sparrow at two sites on either side of the Andes mountain range, only 25km apart but experiencing very different climatic conditions. The results showed differences in the timing of breeding and related variability in the song-control systems in the two populations.

Outside of the tropics, day-length triggers singing and the start of the breeding season, with testosterone the physiological cue. "We think it's probably still testosterone that causes tropical birds to sing," according to Ignacio Moore of Virginia Tech, but that, with day-length relatively constant, "the environmental cue is different." Climate change could be the reason for observed changes in breeding and migration in birds, he continued, "if the brain is truly sensitive to environmental cues, the changes due to global warming could have "effects we haven't thought of yet."

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Bright Ideas

GE cuts solar costs

General Electric plans to cut solar installation costs by half

Project 90 by 2030

Project 90 by 2030 supports South African school children and managers reduce their carbon footprint through its Club programme

Smart street lighting

Bath & North East Somerset Council in the United Kingdom has installed smart LED carriageway lighting that automatically adjusts to light and traffic levels

Longwood Gardens

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Public Gardens Association are mounting an educational exhibit at Longwood Gardens showing the link between temperature and planting zones

Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers

The energy-efficient Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel is powered by renewable and sustainable sources, including integrated solar photovoltaics and guest-powered bicycles

El Hierro

El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, plans to generate 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources

Remarkables Primary School green roof

The green roof on the Remarkables Primary School in New Zealand reduces stormwater runoff, provides insulation and doubles as an outdoor classroom

Weather Info for All

The Weather Info for All project aims to roll out up to five thousand automatic weather observation stations throughout Africa

SolSource

SolSource turns its own waste heat into electricity or stores it in thermal fabrics, harnessing the sun's energy for cooking and electricity for low-income families

Wave House

The Wave House uses vegetation for its architectural and environmental qualities, and especially in terms of thermal insulation

Mbale compost-processing plant

The Mbale compost-processing plant in Uganda produces cheaper fertilizer and reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Frito-Lay Casa Grande

At Casa Grande, Frito-Lay has reduced energy consumption by nearly a fifth since 2006 by, amongst other things, installing a heat recovery system to preheat cooking oil

More Bright Ideas...

Tiempo Climate Newswatch
Updated: April 12th 2013