China has also over taken the United States for being the largest emitter of carbon dioxide on the planet.
Greenpeace said the top 10 companies, which provided almost 60% of China’s total electricity last year, burned 20% of China’s coal — 590m tonnes — and emitted the equivalent of 1.44 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

“China is suffering the pains of extreme weather events such as droughts, heat waves, typhoons and floods, worsened by climate change. These power companies can and must help China to prevent climate disaster by rapidly increasing efficiency and the share of renewable energy such as wind and solar,” said Yang Ailun, Greenpeace’s climate campaign manager, at the launch in Beijing of the Greenpeace report, Polluting Power: Ranking China’s Biggest Power Companies.

Greenpeace urged the Chinese government to impose energy and environment taxes on coal, encouraging increased efficiency and a move to renewable sources. It also called for a doubling of the national renewable energy target to 30% by 2020 and for stricter efficiency standards for coal-fired power stations.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, is currently drawing up plans for a massive “new energy” programme to cut emissions and ensure energy security. Reports in the domestic media and from foreign diplomats suggest the next decade could see between 1.4 trillion (US$200 bn) and 4.5 trillion yuan (US$600bn) investment in projects ranging from nuclear power, low carbon transport and clean coal technology to super-efficient electric grids.  Let’s see what happens!

Police also seized cell phone records, computers, chains and bolt cutters, said to be equipment used to organize and carry out plans against power plants around the country.

All were released yesterday after being forced to sign agreements not to approach any power plants or disrupt their operations. This action is making activists concerned about the tactics of officers policing environmental protests.

Shona Jainjuah, from the Camp for Climate Action, which yesterday denied planning the action, said: “First the police violently attack the climate camp during the G20, and now 114 people are arrested before they have actually done anything.  People should be very concerned about how the police are stepping over the line in the way they are targeting activists.”

An activist who did not want to be named added: “This is an attempt to silence a peaceful movement of young people trying to make people aware of the greatest threat to the world. This is madness.” Police are said to have technology that makes it easy to track people by their cell phones.  They can also keep track of peoples activities with the 4.2 million cctv’s that they have at their disposal.

The temperature has been minus 40 degrees Celsius.  They are taking measurements of  the ice in areas that would be impossible to return to and check periodically which does not make much sense.  Thirteen days of data was lost from one of the machines.  A portable radar device, known as Sprite, designed to make millions of measurements of the ice thickness, has been plagued by breakdowns. Another instrument, Sea-Cat, meant to measure the temperature and salinity of the water beneath the ice-cap, has broken down as well.

Their sleeping bags are wet now after deciding not to use vapor barrier liners in their sleeping bags. Martin Hartley has frostbite and the general consensus is that the results of any testing done will be questionable.  Some think that they have already lost reason and should be picked up regardless of their thoughts on the matter. 

What we do not understand is why expeditions like this need to happen when they jeopardize human life.  It seems that if governments around the world would show some kind of interest in global warming, they could fund some expeditions of their own.  Most militarys have enough equipment to do an expedition like this in relative comfort and with much less threat to human life.

Websites

Being Green is becoming popular everywhere you go.  It is amazing how many people are calculating their carbon footprint.  Many people are also talking about climate change and global warming.  Some people say “I don’t believe in trashing the planet but global warming is not happening.” Amazing how some people do not believe in global warming.  Fish dying, bee’s lost, trees dying, the list is too long.  In the end, we will all be Green or the planet will die.  Let’s hope we all come to the realization before it’s to late. 

Here is a video to make understanding global warming easier.  It’s called “Watch this video or the planet gets it”. 

“Let me be clear: Our goal is not to further burden an already struggling industry,” Obama said about the automobile industry. “It is to help America’s automakers prepare for the future.”

He has also renewed his promise to invest 15 billion in finding an alternative energy. That investment will include solar, wind and nuclear power, as well as advanced coal technology. Obama had this to say . ‘‘I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who’s willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House.  Any company that’s willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington.  And any nation that’s willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America.’’  If he does keep his word this will be a victory for the world not just the USA, as emissions affect the world not just where the emissions emanate. 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger seemed to be very happy with the actions of his chief saying:  “Of course I am very, very happy,” Schwarzenegger said. “This is so important for our country, because we have been the biggest polluters in the world, and it is about time that we as a country recognize that and that we work together with other nations in order to fight global warming.”

Once these reversals of Bush’s policies take effect, automobile companies will have to retool to produce vehicles that will get at least 35 miles to the gallon. There are  a lot of vehicles that already meet that challenge, but if the USA wants to stay in the race, they need to think a little greener from now on.  The auto companies are complaining, saying that they will have to produce two different types of cars.  One type that meet the new regulations and another polluting type for the other states.  It is difficult to believe that they would actually still plan on making vehicles that pollute more in other states because they can get away with it. The U.S. company that makes saving money, gas and the environment its priority, will be the one that will still be here in the years to come.

The event has attracted quite a bit of backing by UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), The WWF, Lloyds and the Catlin Group underwriters , and the Prince of Wales, to the tune of three million pounds. The expedition will be fully equipped with ground breaking technology like the Ice Penetrating Radar and a data up-link so that the information gathered can be sent immediately to the scientists.  Hadow feels that during their freezing trek to the Pole that they will amass a huge amount of data and perform a million tests along the way. Upon completion of the expedition the information will be handed over to international decision-makers gathering at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties, at Copenhagen, in 2009.

Here is a quote from Pen Hadow:

“Our physical efforts hauling the equipment over the surface will amass data in unprecedented detail. I have come to recognise by working with our scientific partners that the Arctic Ocean is not only an astonishingly beautiful place but a globally unique environment of immense significance to the balance of the Earth’s whole eco-system.”

Professor Wieslaw Maslowski, from the US Naval Postgraduate School said:

“We’ll be integrating the survey’s actual observations with same-day weather data to obtain near real time model estimates of sea ice conditions on a daily basis.”
“In this way we can test the accuracy of our modelling of the ice’s thickness and re-assess our projections as to how long the surviving thicker ice is likely to last as a perennial feature.”

The survey program that the team will undertake during their trek includes:

10 million surface measurements of the sea ice using a specially-built radar;
Measurements of the water column under the sea ice and density. measurements of the snow and ice.
Taking samples of the water, snow, ice and air.
Supplementary measurements of the thickness and density of both the ice and overlying snow layers by manually drilling through the sea ice.
In advance of their departure, the team has begun a rigorous physical and psychological training program that includes exercise sessions in a  minus 50 degrees centigrade climate chamber, recreating Arctic conditions.

The Caitlin Group has also had a lot to do with the financing of the expedition.  Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group, said:

“As a speciality insurance/reinsurance company, the potential effects of global warming will have a direct impact on our business.”

“Catlin is a company that manages risk based on hard facts, so we believe that this information is vital. The Catlin Arctic Survey will help inform all those who must plan for the potential effects of global warming.”

When Insurance companies start spending money, to foresee disasters due to global warming in our future,  we think it is time everybody started to pay attention to the consequences of global warming and think about how to resolve this pending disaster to our planet and all of us.

Dave Britton of the UK Met Office said. “That makes sense.  Clouds form around particles and dust in the air, so cleaner air brings clearer skies.”  Making “darned if you do and darned if you don’t ” a useful saying in the environmental communities. 

When I lived in London, as a child, the fog was so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.  Fog is a trademark of the London area and wouldn’t be the same place without it.  So how can this situation be fixed? There is no fix unless Britain starts to pollute again which is not an option.

Scientists are calling this phenomenon “global brightening,” the opposite of “global dimming”.  Some experts say that the true extent of global warming may have been hidden in the cooler temperatures of global dimming and with clearer skies, temperatures could heat up quickly.

The glaciers, which regulate the water supply to the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Thanlwin, Yangtze and Yellow rivers is receding at a rate of 35 to 50 feet per year.  China who is also building a new coal fired power plant every ten days can see first hand the effects of these plants and other greenhouse gas emitting factories.

There are approximately 2.000.000 people that will be affected by water shortages and drought if the melting continues.  If there is no water those people will have to move.

Tibet Is Melting And Turning Into A Desert:>

Melting Himalayan Glaciers:>

James Hansen’s ultimate goal is to get started reversing our CO2 emissions while we still can because we are at a tipping point, but  once we start tipping, it will be impossible to tip back the other way.  He does all this for his grandchildren and all others because he has the information to save the planet. We have the technology now to get our planet back on track.  Just using the technology and getting the rest of the world to follow is going to be difficult.  Maybe with a new leader like Barack Obama at the helm and with the help of scientists like James Hansen, we stand a chance of all our grandchildren and their grandchildren will have a nice planet to grow up on.

Jim Hansen’s Requests:

• Moratorium on and phasing out of coal power stations without carbon capture, what Hansen calls the “sine qua non for solving the climate problem”. Coal CO2 emissions are the same as those of other fossil fuels combined.

• Raising the price of emissions via a “carbon tax and 100% dividend”. This is a tax mechanism to “decarbonise” the economy without a net take from taxpayers. Low carbon users are rewarded while high users are punished.

• Urgent research on “fourth generation” nuclear power with international co-operation. This offers one of the best options for nearly carbon-free power, according to Hansen.  It would also help to solve the nuclear waste problem by using that material as fuel.

Hansen’s calculations are very easy to follow. The current atmosphere contains particulates and based on a million particulates there are currently 385 co2 particulates per million. Hansen is saying that we are at the tipping point right now and we need to keep the particulates where they are now. If we add trees to our forests and have less meat consumption than we can slowly creep backwards.  We need to be at 350 part per million to stop the melting of the ice fields.  If the ice fields melt, it could mean an 80 foot rise in the worlds oceans. That would be catastrophic for all of us around the globe.

Jim Hansen On 60 Minutes:>

Jim Hansen On Climate Change:>

Jim Hansen Q&A:>