Rising Tide Australia

Sending signals across skin could make it much easier to monitor a person's vital signs round the clock outside hospital

Reuters/Planet Ark: The White House is finalizing rules on the first U.S. greenhouse gas emission standard for automobiles, which would raise average fuel economy 42 percent by 2016 in a bid to slash oil imports and fight climate change.

The Sydney Morning Herald: AUSTRALIA's two leading scientific agencies will release a report today showing Australia has warmed significantly over the past 50 years, and stating categorically that ''climate change is real''.

New York Times (blog)Let's Talk About It: Discussing the Science and Politics of Global WarmingNew York Times (blog)Despite the discovery of at least two mistakes in scientific work published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming is ...Darwin Foes Add Warming to TargetsNew York TimesGetting global warming rightLos Angeles TimesWhat should schools teach about global warming?USA TodayFOXNews -Chicago Tribune -Wall Street Journalall 194

NEWS.com.auClimate change is real and it's here: reportSydney Morning Herald... Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings showing human processes, such as burning fossil fuels, was the main cause of global warming. ...Climate snapshot reveals things are heating upSydney Morning Heraldall 18

There's this crazy effect in sub-atomic Physics, where bits and bobs (to give them their proper names) get quantum entangled under certain scenarios, and can affect each other at a distance, immediately, without any apparent need of communication. This effect seems to happen in the Media, too. Perhaps journalists talk to each other. They certainly all read the same Press Releases and draw research from each others articles. This must explain why the Daily Telegraph repeats all the errors of other articles this week about the Amazon and Climate Change :- [link]earth/environment/climatechange/7437016/UN-climate-change-claims-on-rainforests-were-wrong-study-suggests.html [link]2010/03/12/amazongate-redux-jonathan-leake-still-misguided/

The Royal Statistical Society publishes a truly readable magazine called Significance , and until today I hadn t realised it's available online. The front cover of the March 2010 Volume 7 Issue 1 edition shows an artist's mock-up of severe drought and the headline question is After Copenhagen : What can be done ? The magazine contains three really helpful articles on Climate Change :- [link]cgi-bin/fulltext/123300803/PDFSTART Copenhagen 1 : Climate change : making certain what the uncertainties are [link]cgi-bin/fulltext/123300799/PDFSTART Copenhagen 2 ...

The Pentagon is going full steam ahead on a massive renovation project focused on efficiency, recycling, and conservation.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Buried below the tundra of China`s Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a type of frozen natural gas containing methane and ice crystals that could supply energy to China for 90 years. China discovered the large reserve of methane hydrate last September, and last week the Qinghai Province announced that it plans to allow researchers and energy companies to tap the energy source. Although ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Premier Wen Jiabao hit back on Sunday at critics who blamed China for the feeble outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference, saying he was not even invited to a key meeting he was accused of skipping.

[More]

Governments rich and poor have failed to support smallholder farmers in the developing worldSovereign African governments are complicit in the new scramble for Africa ("How food and water drive a new foreign land grab in Africa", News). The result will be recently disenfranchised farmers working for wages. Oil supplies are being depleted and soon the major land grab in Africa will be to grow sugar cane and palm oil to keep the gas guzzlers running. The African governments may call it development but the fact is they are selling off their resources to line their own pockets " just as the chiefs once sold off their human resource.Vali JamalNairobi, KenyaOne billion people live with hunger and there are more than 100 million hungry people today than there were 18 months ago.

Drax has shelved its biofuel plans, yet still boasts publicly about 'undertaking the largest biomass co-firing project in the world'Drax is Britain's biggest power station. In fact, it is western Europe's biggest. It produces 7% of the country's electricity. By burning coal. For years, it has promised to replace some of that coal with locally grown biomass. But last week, its chief executive, Dorothy Thompson, appeared to tear up those plans.If you travel north on the train from London towards York, you will have seen Drax. It is one of three gigantic power stations near the River Trent, in an area of lowland often called Megawatt Valley.

Most people know that the release of carbon dioxide into the air from human sources has contributed to rising global temperatures and massive increases in the rate of melting of the ice at the poles and on Greenland. One of the major consequences they may not know about is the acidification of the oceans.The chemistry is quite straightforward. It's the same process that occurs when bottled water is carbonated. Most of the carbon dioxide simply dissolves in the water. But some of it reacts with the water to form carbonic acid. And, that's what's happening in the world's oceans as humans release more and more carbon dioxide into the air.Climate change deniers love to dispute climate modeling, to talk about short-term weather phenomena, and to pick on minor citation errors in official reports.

Daily Comet: The conveyances room of the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse used to bustle with abstractors researching potential lease properties for oil-and-gas companies. Today, the room is much quieter, and veteran abstractor David Toups spends less time there. Instead, he`s providing the same service from his office, looking at similar records electronically from north Louisiana parishes like Caddo and Red River. He estimates that 20 to 30 percent of his business is researching natural gas ...

Sydney Morning Herald: AUSTRALIA's two leading scientific agencies will release a report today showing Australia has warmed significantly over the past 50 years, and stating categorically that ''climate change is real''. The State of the Climate snapshot, drawn together by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology partly in response to recent attacks on the science underpinning climate change, shows that Australia's mean temperature has increased 0.7 degrees since 1960. The statement also finds average daily ...

Independent (UK): Imagine U2 clambering on to a train to take them to a sold-out stadium; Keith Richards swigging from a bottle of organic, Fairtrade booze while Bon Jovi recycle their post-gig waste. Unlikely as it sounds, it may yet come to pass as rock'n'roll's tradition of painting the town red fades to an ethical shade of green. Polluting private jets, excessive dressing room demands and arena-busting tours are no long sustainable, according to the biggest study so far on the effect of the live ...

Nanoscale polyethylene fibres conduct heat better than pure iron – good news for circuit board designers

Humans and rattlesnakes have similar receptors – for us they detect taste but in the snakes they sense heat from potential prey

Wen Jiabao warns US on currency and defends China's place on world stage, saying his conscience is clear on climate deal

The Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, today launched a robust defence of his country's place on the world stage, including a sharp rebuttal of what he called "baffling" criticism of his country's role at the Copenhagen summit.

Acknowledging "serious disruption" in ties with the US and rising criticism of Chinese assertiveness on the climate, currency, trade and other issues, the premier said he wanted to set the record straight.

"Some say China has got more arrogant and tough. Some put forward the theory of China's so-called 'triumphalism'. You have given me an opportunity to explain how China sees itself," Wen said.

In a press conference marking the close of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament, Wen said the country was still developing and would never seek hegemony even when fully modernised, but had always sought to uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said China was a "responsible" nation that took an active part in international co-operation on major issues.

In the angry aftermath of the Copenhagen climate conference, China was accused of wrecking a deal by blocking emission reduction targets for 2050 and failing to send its most senior delegates to key meetings. In his most detailed public comments yet about the conference, Wen responded to critics.

"My conscience is untainted despite rumours and slanders from outside," he said. "It still baffles me why some people are trying to make the issue about China. Climate change is about human survival, the interest of all countries, and issues of equity and justice in the international community."

He accused foreign leaders of a shocking breach of protocol in their attempt to press him, with advance warning, into an unscheduled meeting after a welcome banquet. "Why was China not notified of this meeting? So far, nobody has explained. it is still a mystery to me," he said.

The final deal was the best that could be achieved in the difficult circumstances, he said, promising China's support for the Copenhagen accord.

Asked about other areas of friction, particularly with the US, the premier responded: "The responsibility for the serious disruption in US-China ties does not lie with the Chinese side but with the US."

He cited Barack Obama's recent meeting with the Dalai Lama, the announcement of US arms sales to Taiwan and disagreements over exchange rates and trade. "We are opposed to the practice of engaging in mutual finger-pointing or taking strong measures to force other countries to appreciate their currencies. That is not in the interest of reform of the renminbi's exchange rate regime," the premier said.

There is growing pressure for revaluation from the US and Europe, where many analysts argue that the renminbi is massively underpriced. Chinese experts have also argued that a rise in the currency would be in the country's own interests.

Wen told reporters: "I understand some countries want to increase their exports – what I don't understand is the practice of depreciating one's own currency and attempting to press other countries to increase theirs, just to improve exports. In my view that is a protectionist measure."

He went on to warn the US on its own currency, as he did at his last news conference. China holds more US treasury debt than another country.

"If I said I was worried [about the US dollar] last year, I still want to make the same remark this year," he said. "We cannot afford any mistake, however slight, when it comes to financial assets ... I hope the US will take concrete steps to reassure investors."

Turning to domestic issues, the prime minister warned that China faced "an extremely difficult task" in promoting steady and fast growth while restructuring the economy and managing inflationary expectations. Inflation, corruption and unfair income distribution taken together would be "strong enough to affect social stability and even the stability of state power," he said.

The government is seeking to gradually withdraw from the massive stimulus that helped to see China through the global slump, particularly given soaring property prices and rising inflation, which hit 2.7% in the year to February. But it must do so without damaging confidence.

The premier warned of the risk of a double-dip in the global economy and said that while the domestic economy had stabilised, many Chinese businesses were still reliant on the stimulus measures.

• China
• Currencies
• Climate change

Tania BraniganJonathan Watts
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