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The case against expanding Heathrow airport (Video)
John Stewart, Guardian
Jowart of HACAN makes his case against expansion at Heathrow airport.
(15 August 2007)
More coverage from the Guardian in their envrionmental section.
Crematorium concern over carbon footprint becomes a burning issue
Steven Morris, The Guardian
Even the dead, it turns out, have a role to play in the battle to save the planet from environmental disaster. A crematorium in Bath is attempting to reduce its carbon footprint by “firing up” brand new burners only when there are enough bodies to justify the operation, it emerged yesterday. The measure means that bodies will sometimes be stored overnight at Haycombe crematorium, a move some funeral directors fear will upset mourners.
In a letter to funeral directors, Bath and North East Somerset council’s bereavement manager, Rosemary Tiley, said she hoped the policy would also make the modern burners last longer.
She wrote: “We need to manage our workload as effectively and as efficiently as possible, both to minimise gas usage as an environmental issue and to look after our new cremators, which we hope will last a long time.
“In order to do this we will fire up only one cremator if there are insufficient cremations to warrant both being used. We will store coffins overnight to achieve a balanced workload and gain the greatest efficiency from our cremators.”
(11 August 2007)
Isn’t there a better way than cremation? The process always sounded rather industrial to me – wasteful and anonymous. WorldChanging had a piece on the green burial movement in 2005: Cradle to Grave. -BA
Carbon market encourages chopping forests: study
Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters
The current carbon market actually encourages cutting down some of the world’s biggest forests, which would unleash tonnes of climate-warming carbon into the atmosphere, a new study reported on Monday.
Under the Kyoto Protocol aimed at stemming climate change, there is no profitable reason for the 10 countries and one French territory with 20 percent of Earth’s intact tropical forest to maintain this resource, according to a study in the journal Public Library of Science Biology.
The Kyoto treaty and other talks on global warming focus on so-called carbon credits for countries and companies that plant new trees where forests have been destroyed. Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas emitted by petroleum-fueled vehicles, coal-fired power plants and humans.
At this point, there is no credit for countries that keep the forests they have, the study said.
(13 August 2007)
Scientists warn Arctic sea ice is melting at its fastest rate since records began
Steve Connor, Independent
The sea ice of the Arctic will melt further and faster than at any time since records began nearly 30 years ago, according to the latest data collected by a satellite survey of the polar region.
Scientists warned yesterday that the sea ice is already approaching the record minimum set in September 2005, even with a further month of the summer melting season still remaining.
This year has seen one of the most rapid rates of sea ice melting, which began in spring after one of the most disappointing winters for ice formation. “Unless something unusual happens we’re definitely on track for a record loss of sea ice. We’re on track to shatter all records,” said Mark Serreze, an Arctic specialist at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre at Colorado University in Denver. “The rates of sea ice loss this year are really rather remarkable. Some of the daily rates of loss are the biggest we’ve ever seen. Things are happening really fast,” Dr Serreze said.
(15 August 2007)
