Resources for a sustainable future

3/9/2010 Guardian Facebook has defended its environmental record. Read the rest of this entry »

3/9/2010 Guardian Photograph: Jonathan Watts for the
Guardian Like generations of Tibetan nomads before him, Phuntsok Dorje makes a
living raising yaks and other livestock on the vast alpine grasslands that
provide a thatch on the roof of the world.
But in recent years the vegetation around his home, the Tibetan plateau, has
been destroyed by rising temperatures, excess livestock and plagues of insects
and rodents.

Tibetan nomad Phuntsok Dorje outside his tent. The green prairie that used to surround it has become a brown desert.
The high-altitude meadows are rarely mentioned in discussions of global warming,
but the changes to this ground have a profound impact on Tibetan politics and
the world’s ecological security.
For Phuntsok Dorje, the issue is more down to earth. He is used to dramatically
shifting cloudscapes above his head, but it is the changes below his feet that
make him uneasy.
“The grass used to be up to here,” Phuntsok says, indicating a point on his leg
a little below the knee. “Twenty years ago, we had to scythe it down. But now,
well, you can see for yourself. It’s so short it looks like moss.”
The green prairie that used to surround his tent has become a brown desert. All
that is left of the grasslands here are yellowing blotches on a stony surface
riddled with rodent holes.
It is the same across much of this plateau, which encompasses an area a third of
the size of the US.
Desertification
Scientists say the desertification of the mountain grasslands is accelerating
climate change. Without its thatch the roof of the world is less able to absorb
moisture and more likely to radiate heat.
Partly because of this the Tibetan mountains have warmed two to three times
faster than the global average; the permafrost and glaciers of the “Third Pole”
are melting.
To make matters worse, the towering Kunlun, Himalayan and Karakorum ranges that
surround the plateau act as a chimney for water vapour – which has a stronger
greenhouse gas effect than carbon dioxide – to be convected high into the
stratosphere. Mixed with pollution, dust and black carbon (soot) from India and
elsewhere, this spreads a brown cloud across swaths of the Eurasian landmass.
When permafrost melts it can also release methane, another powerful greenhouse
gas. Xiao Ziniu, the director general of the Beijing climate centre, says
Tibet’s climate is the most sensitive in Asia and influences the globe.
Grassland degradation is evident along the twisting mountain road from Yushu to
Xining, which passes through the Three Rivers national park, the source of the
Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers. Along some stretches the landscape is so
barren it looks more like the Gobi desert than an alpine meadow.
Phuntsok Dorje is among the last of the nomads scratching a living in one of the
worst affected areas. “There used to be five families on this plain. Now we are
the only one left and there is not enough grass even for us,” he says. “It’s
getting drier and drier and there are more and more rats every year.”
Until about 10 years ago the nearest town, Maduo, used to be the richest in
Qinghai province thanks to herding, fishing and mining, but residents say their
economy has dried up along with the nearby wetlands.
“This all used to be a lake. There wasn’t a road here then. Even a Jeep couldn’t
have made it through,” said a Tibetan guide, Dalang Jiri, as we drove through
the area. By one estimate, 70% of the former rangeland is now desert.
“Maduo is now very poor. There is no way to make a living,” said a Tibetan
teacher who gave only one name, Angang. “The mines have closed and grasslands
are destroyed. People just depend on the money they get from the government.
They just sit on the kang [a raised, heated, floor] and wait for the next
payment.”
Many of the local people are former herders moved off the land under a
controversial “ecological migration” scheme launched in 2003. The government in
Beijing is in the advanced stages of relocating between 50% and 80% of the 2.25
million nomads on the Tibetan plateau. According to state media, this programme
aims to restore the grasslands, prevent overgrazing and improve living
standards.
The Tibetan government-in-exile says the scheme does little for the environment
and is aimed at clearing the land for mineral extraction and moving potential
supporters of the Dalai Lama into urban areas where they can be more easily
controlled.
Qinghai is dotted with resettlement centres, many on the way to becoming
ghettos. Nomads are paid an annual allowance – of 3,000 yuan (about £300) to
8,000 yuan per household – to give up herding for 10 years and be provided with
housing. As in some native American reservations in the US and Canada, they have
trouble finding jobs. Many end up either unemployed or recycling rubbish or
collecting dung.
Some feel cheated. “If I could go back to herding, I would. But the land has
been taken by the state and the livestock has been sold off so we are stuck
here. It’s hopeless,” said Shang Lashi, a resident at a resettlement centre in
Yushu. “We were promised jobs. But there is no work. We live on the 3,000 yuan a
year allowance, but the officials deduct money from that for the housing, which
was supposed to be free.”
Their situation was made worse by the earthquake that struck Yushu earlier this
year, killing hundreds. People were crushed when their new concrete homes
collapsed, a risk they would not have faced in their itinerant life on the
grasslands. Many are once again living under canvas – in disaster relief tents
and without land or cattle.
In a sign of the sensitivity of the subject, the authorities declined to
officially answer the Guardian’s questions. Privately, officials said
resettlement and other efforts to restore the grassland, including fencing off
the worst areas, were worthwhile.
“The situation has improved slightly in the past five years. We are working on
seven areas, planting trees and trying to restore the ecosystem around closed
gold mines,” said one environmental officer. The problem would not be solved in
the short term. “This area is particularly fragile. Once the grasslands are
destroyed, they rarely come back. It is very difficult to grow grass at high
altitude.”
The programme’s effectiveness is questioned by others, including Wang Yongchen,
founder of the Green Earth Volunteers NGO and a regular visitor to the plateau
for 10 years. “Overgrazing was considered a possible cause of the grassland
degradation, but things haven’t improved since the herds were enclosed and the
nomads moved. I think climate change and mining have had a bigger impact.”
Assessing the programme is complicated by political tensions. In the past year,
three prominent Tibetan environmental campaigners have been arrested after
exposing corruption and flaws in wildlife conservation on the plateau.
Infestation
Another activist, who declined to give his name, said it was difficult to
comment. “The situation is complicated. Some areas of grassland are getting
better. Others are worse. There are so many factors involved.”
A growing population of pika, gerbils, mice and other rodents is also blamed for
degradation of the land because they burrow into the soil and eat grass roots.
Zoologists say this highlights how ecosystems can quickly move out of balance.
Rodent numbers have increased dramatically in 10 years because their natural
predators – hawks, eagles and leopards – have been hunted close to extinction.
Belatedly, the authorities are trying to protect wildlife and attract birds of
prey by erecting steel vantage points to replace felled trees.
There is widespread agreement that this climatically important region needs more
study.
“People have not paid enough attention to the Tibetan plateau. They call it the
Third Pole but actually it is more important than the Arctic or Antarctic
because it is closer to human communities. This area needs a great deal more
research,” said Yang Yong, a Chinese explorer and environmental activist. “The
changes to glaciers and grasslands are very fast. The desertification of the
grassland is a very evident phenomenon on the plateau. It’s a reaction by a
sensitive ecosystem that will precede similar reactions elsewhere.”
Phuntsok Dorje is unlikely to take part in any study. But he’s seen enough to be
pessimistic about the future. “The weather is changing. It used to rain a lot in
the summer and snow in the winter. There was a strong contrast between the
seasons, but not now. It’s getting drier year after year. If it carries on like
this I have no idea what I will do.”
Additional reporting by Cui Zheng
Go to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/02/tibetan-plateau-climate-change

3/9/2010 BBC Openness urged on UK’s emissions by Roger Harrabin. Read the rest of this entry »

3/9/2010 BBC The French space agency balloons sampled the air up to an altitude of 35km. Read the rest of this entry »

2/9/2010 Guardian 75 months and counting …  Andrew Simms. Read the rest of this entry »

2/9/2010 Guardian Rajendra Pachauri, who leads the UN’s science panel on climate change, is coming under pressure to step aside as chair of the organisation after an independent review of the panel’s work called for tighter term limits for its senior executives. Read the rest of this entry »

2/9/2010 BBC Huge snowfall caused by rare clash of weather events by Pamela Rutherford. Read the rest of this entry »

1/9/2010 Guardian Ten days ago I received a letter from Cairn Energy, the British company at the centre of Greenpeace’s current direct action in the Arctic. Read the rest of this entry »

1/9/2010 Guardian For the last 40 years the American scholar and war critic Noam Chomsky has argued that there is a question missing in the perennial debates about whether the US should go to war Read the rest of this entry »

1/9/2010 Guardian  Sir David King, left, and Lord Lawson will speak at the CBI’s annual climate change conference in November. Read the rest of this entry »

1/9/2010 Guardian Most holidaymakers know about carbon offsetting – but few are using the schemes, the CAA found. Read the rest of this entry »

31/8/2010 Guardian  Bjorn Lomborg argues in his new book Smart Solutions to Climate Change that global warming should now be addressed ‘as a priority’. Read the rest of this entry »

31/8/2010 BBC The majority of biofuels sold in the UK do not meet an environmental standard. Read the rest of this entry »

31/8/2010 Independent  The world is heading for the next major climate change conference in Cancun later this year on course for global warming of up to 3.5C Read the rest of this entry »

31/8/2010 Guardian  Bjorn Lomborg: “This chapter accepts the reality of man-made global warming.”  Skeptical Environmentalist, 2001 Read the rest of this entry »

31/8/2010 Guardian   The world’s most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is “undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today” and “a challenge humanity must confront”, in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby. Read the rest of this entry »

31/8/2010 BBC Harrabin’s Notes: Reform ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

31/8/2010 BBC The IPCC came under fire after using the wrong date for Himalayan glacier melt. Read the rest of this entry »

30/8/2010 BBC Radio 4 (broadcast 9.0am and 9.30pm) Episode 1 Read the rest of this entry »

30/8/2010 Guardian The Homebuilders’ Federation says buyers will not be prepared to pay the premium for a new home added on by the zero carbon ruling. Read the rest of this entry »

30/8/2010 BBC The IPCC came under fire after using the wrong date for Himalayan glacier melt. Read the rest of this entry »

26/8/2010 New Scientist Editorial: Liability for climate change. Read the rest of this entry »

28/8/2010 Guardian  The head of the UN’s climate science panel did not abuse his position to enrich himself, according to an independent review of his finances by the accountants KPMG that was published publicly for the first time today. Read the rest of this entry »

28/8/2010   In a rare interview, zen buddhist master Thich Nhat Hahn warns of the threat to civilisation from climate change and the spiritual revival that is needed to avert catastrophe. Read the rest of this entry »

28/8/2010 BBC  Pilot whale hunting in the Faroe Islands has been going on for generations. Read the rest of this entry »

27/8/2010 Guardian How James Lovelock introduced Gaia to an unsuspecting world. Read the rest of this entry »

27/8/2010 Guardian Monday’s Climate Camp day of action against RBS looked like having all the classic ingredients: Read the rest of this entry »

27/8/2010 BBC The idea that the world needs to double its food production by 2050 in order to feed a growing population is wrong, says Isobel Tomlinson. Read the rest of this entry »

27/8/2010 Guardian  “How did you become an activist?” I was surprised by the question. Read the rest of this entry »

26/8/2010 Activist by James Hansen (the world’s most important climate scientist – Editor) http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/ Read the rest of this entry »

26/8/2010 Guardian  The amount of material used to make plastic bags has reduced by 39,700 tonnes per year since 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

25/8/2010 Guardian Forecasts that crude oil production will reach 150m barrels a day by 2030 have been described as ‘unrealistic’. Read the rest of this entry »

24/8/2010 BBC  There are many different approaches to geoengineering.Even the most extreme geoengineering approaches will not stop sea levels from rising due to climate change, a study suggests. Read the rest of this entry »

24/8/2010 www.realclimate.org Read the rest of this entry »

24/8/2010 Guardian it was Australia’s second climate change election. Climate change deposed the former leaders of both main parties: Read the rest of this entry »

24/8/2010 Guardian Besides generating about two thirds of the oxygen we breathe, oceangoing phytoplankton — Read the rest of this entry »

23/8/2010 Guardian  Climate scientists believe extreme weather events like the recent flooding in Pakistan will become more frequent. Read the rest of this entry »

22/8/2010 Observer Let’s address the air that you breathe: I’m afraid it’s not good. Read the rest of this entry »

18/8/2010 New Scientist Why let your waste go to waste when it could be powering your mobile phone – or even your car? Read the rest of this entry »

18/8/2010 BBC In an era when everything environmental – incuding biodiversity, waste, and fish stocks – is measured with indicators announcing that you will be the UK’s “greenest-ever government” Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 New Scientist  By colouring ocean waters, the microscopic plants encourage hurricanes and typhoons. Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 New Scientist Green machine is our weekly column on the latest advances in environmental technologies. Read the rest of this entry »

21/8/2010 BBC The amount of plastic in the Atlantic has not increased much recently. Read the rest of this entry »

19/8/2010 Independent It’s the burning issue Australia’s leaders dare not confront, even on the eve of a general election. Read the rest of this entry »

20/8/2010 Independent A huge expanse of floating plastic debris has been documented for the first time in the North Atlantic Ocean. Read the rest of this entry »

20/8/2010 Guardian  The Svartsengi geothermal power plant in Iceland. Read the rest of this entry »

20/8/2010 BBC Mangroves shelter some unique wildlife. Read the rest of this entry »

18/8/2010 Guardian  A Pakistani mother carries her children through flood water in Muzaffargarh
city, Punjab province. Read the rest of this entry »

11/8/2010 New Scientist The scandal of food waste is even worse when you consider how much energy is being thrown away Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 Guardian No one is immune to it; in some respects it is the foundation of our lives. Magical thinking is a universal affliction. Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 Guardian  A Scottish company has won the contract to build one of the world’s most advanced tidal energy turbines. Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 Guardian Is the UK coalition government now demoting the environment in light of its spending cuts? Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 New Scientist The next best thing to oil. Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 Guardian The reality of nuclear energy is inconsistent with dreams of a renaissance. Read the rest of this entry »

17/8/2010 Guardian Ahmed Djoghlaf says nations risk economic collapse and loss of culture if it does not protect the natural world. Read the rest of this entry »

16/8/2010 Guardian  David Cameron and Nick Clegg campaigned for carbon emission cuts at Kingsnorth
power station while in opposition. Read the rest of this entry »

13/8/2010 New Scientist CRUNCH time for the Kyoto protocol is fast approaching. Read the rest of this entry »

13/8/2010 Guardian Last week’s climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany reportedly marked movement backward on international climate cooperation. Read the rest of this entry »

15/8/2010 Observer The world’s leading climate scientists will gather this week in the United States to hammer out plans to set up an early warning system Read the rest of this entry »

14/8/2010 What Global Warming Looks Like by James Hansen Read the rest of this entry »

14/8/2010 Guardian  The AK- 1000 tidal energy turbine, developed by Atlantis Resources, is loaded onto a barge in Invergordon, Scotland. Read the rest of this entry »

14/8/2010 Guardian Plans to set up a network of marine conservation areas and safely build vast offshore windfarms and deep-sea oil rigs around the UK could be hampered or irreparably damaged by spending cuts, Read the rest of this entry »

30/7/2010 BBC The journal Nature this week debates one of the most important questions of our age: how can we feed the Earth’s growing population Read the rest of this entry »

14/8/2010 BBC The AK-1000 will be taken by ship from Invergordon to Orkney. Read the rest of this entry »

14/8/2010 BBC  During a solar minimum the Sun produces fewer sunspots and flares. Read the rest of this entry »

13/8/2010 New Scientist BY THE end of the century, up to 82 per cent of today’s tropical forests could be damaged by a combination of climate change and local destruction. Read the rest of this entry »

13/8/2010 New Scientist Russia has sweltered under an intense heatwave since mid-July, recording its highest ever temperatures. Read the rest of this entry »

13/8/2010 Guardian Burying charcoal produced from microwaved wood could offset as much as 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, research shows. Read the rest of this entry »

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming  by Oreskes, N & Conway E.M Read the rest of this entry »

12/8/2010 BBC Extreme heat and wildfires have led to a blanket of smog over Moscow. Read the rest of this entry »

12/8/2010 Guardian Temperatures in Moscow have now fallen to a more manageable 31C. Read the rest of this entry »

12/8/2010 Guardian In my opening statement at a debate the other night, I had 60 seconds to reach a half-drunk, half-interested
crowd. Read the rest of this entry »

12/8/2010 Guardian Lord Monckton argues that the House of Lords Act 1999, which excluded hereditary peers from
membership of the House of Lords, is ‘defective’. Read the rest of this entry »

11/8/2010 New Scientist When it comes to using plant waste to mitigate climate change, most people think of turning it into ethanol or biodiesel for use as a fuel. But Read the rest of this entry »

11/8/2010 New Scientist Raging wildfires in western Russia have reportedly doubled average daily death rates in Moscow. Read the rest of this entry »

1/8/2010 BBC Satellite images released by Nasa have captured the scale of the ice island that broke off the Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland on 5 August. Read the rest of this entry »

11/8/2010 Guardian  Greenland’s ice sheet could break up if the temperature rises by as little as 2C. Read the rest of this entry »

11/8/2010 Guardian The 50th ’superhome’ in Welwyn village. Read the rest of this entry »

10/8/2010 BBC Last year, there seemed to be an unwritten rule in enviro-circles: whenever two or more enviro-folks were gathered together in a place of meeting, talk must turn to biochar. Read the rest of this entry »

Mangroves shelter some unique wildlife.Healthy mangrove forests provide a huge range of environmental benefits Read the rest of this entry »

10/8/2010 Independent Fewer Australians believe that humans are responsible for climate change, Read the rest of this entry »

10/8/2010 Guardian  The smog caused by fires outside Moscow are another consequence of a rare meteorological pattern sweeping Eurasia. Read the rest of this entry »

9/8/2010 BBC Global warming is cutting rice yields in many parts of Asia, according to research, with more declines to come. Read the rest of this entry »

7/8/2010 What’s black, squidgy and exhausting to walk on? The answer is peat, the gunk that gives malt whisky its smoky taste and burns sweetly when it’s dried out. Read the rest of this entry »

6/8/2010 Guardian Groups including the Soil Association and Buglife are making a renewed call for an end to the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are among the most commonly used pesticides worldwide, after a new study linked them to a decline in bee in bee populations. Read the rest of this entry »

5/8/2010 Guardian  A breakaway group in the US Chamber of Commerce, which is sceptical about climate change, will push for stronger action on clean energy such as solar. Read the rest of this entry »

9/8/2010 Guardian  Huhne announced the plan to allow councils to sell electricity at the LGA conference in June. Read the rest of this entry »

9/8/2010 www.realclimate.org  Monckton makes it up. Read the rest of this entry »

7/8/2010 Guardian Scientists say the 100 square mile ice island, 600ft thick, is ‘very
unusual’ and the biggest formation of its kind since 1962. Read the rest of this entry »

7/8/2010 BBC Thousands of icebergs calve from Greenland’s glaciers every year. Read the rest of this entry »

7/8/2010 BBC Developing countries have promised to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Read the rest of this entry »

2/8/2010 New Scientist It’s bad enough forgetting to recharge your mobile phone overnight Read the rest of this entry »

14/6/2010 New Scientist SUNSPOTS come and go, but recently they have mostly gone. Read the rest of this entry »

6/8/2010 Guardian  Global heating: Emissions from cheap coal used to generate power will push up temperatures. Read the rest of this entry »

6/8/2010 Guardian  While the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has been capped, experts claim up to 75% of it is still in the water. Read the rest of this entry »

6/8/2010  Lord Stern, a member of the Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, warns of catastrophe if countries do not adopt low-carbon economies. Read the rest of this entry »

6/8/2010 Guardian High street stores will advise the government on energy savings to meet its 10:10 pledge. Read the rest of this entry »

6/8/2010 BBC The rapid growth in the global demand for bushmeat is leaving many African species facing the possibility of being eaten out of existence, Read the rest of this entry »

5/8/2010 Guardian   How much would you pay for the most biologically rich patch of land on Earth – some 675 sq miles of
pristine Amazon, Read the rest of this entry »

5/8/2010 Guardian Despite repeated pledges to phase out fossil fuel subsidies Read the rest of this entry »