David Adam
Guest Author
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/ 31 October 2007

‘Eight years to curb CO2’

Scientists warned this week that global warming will be "stronger than expected and sooner than expected", after a new analysis showed carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere much faster than predicted. Experts said the rise was caused by soaring economic development in China, and a reduction in the amount of carbon pollution soaked up by the world’s land and oceans.

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/ 2 April 2007

Is a meltdown unavoidable?

A critical meltdown of ice sheets and severe sea level rise could be inevitable because of global warming, the world’s scientists are preparing to warn their governments. New studies of Greenland and Antarctica have forced a United Nations expert panel to conclude there is a 50% chance that widespread ice sheet loss "may no longer be avoided" because of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

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/ 24 July 2006

Putting a cork in carbon

A radical plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions by rationing the carbon use of individuals is being drawn up by British government officials. The scheme could force consumers to carry a swipe card that records their personal carbon allocation, with points knocked off each time they buy petrol or tickets for a flight.

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/ 22 May 2006

Permission to over-pollute?

European officials are under mounting pressure to tighten the pollution limits on European industry in the second phase of its flagship emissions trading scheme. Such a move is essential, critics said, to restore the scheme’s credibility and to make a meaningful contribution to tackling climate change.

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/ 10 April 2006

UK anger at water restrictions

Flowerbeds and hanging baskets are banned, but patios are legitimate. The driveway is allowed, although the car parked there is off limits. And commercial vehicles can still be cleaned, except for taxis, which count as private motorcars. Confused? Millions of home-owners in the United Kingdom were recently, as sweeping hosepipe bans came into force across London.

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/ 27 March 2006

Natural born killers

Humans have provoked the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65-million years ago, according to a United Nations report that calls for unprecedented worldwide efforts to address the slide. The report paints a grim picture of life on Earth, with declining numbers of plants, animals, insects and birds across the globe.

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/ 24 October 2005

Fish in hot water

Scientists working in Antarctica have discovered an alarming rise in sea temperature that threatens to disrupt populations of penguins, whales, seals and a host of smaller creatures within a few decades. The new study shows the ocean west of the Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by more than a degree since the 1960s