Ice Declining Faster Than Expected In Both Arctic And Antarctic Glaciers

ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2009) — Multidisciplinary research from the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 provides new evidence of the widespread effects of global warming in the polar regions.

Snow and ice are declining in both polar regions, affecting human livelihoods as well as local plant and animal life in the Arctic, as well as global ocean and atmospheric circulation and sea level.

These are but a few findings reported in “State of Polar Research”, released February 25 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Council for Science (ICSU). In addition to lending insight into climate change, IPY has aided our understanding of pollutant transport, species’ evolution, and storm formation, among many other areas.

The wide-ranging IPY findings result from more than 160 endorsed science projects assembled from researchers in more than 60 countries. More >>>

Green Globe International, Inc. Announces Support for WTTC Leadership on Climate Change

February 23, 2009: Green Globe International, Inc. the worldwide owner of the Green Globe brand, today announced its support for World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and its recent statement setting out the vision and commitment of travel and tourism industry leaders to tackle climate change.

The WTTC, the business leaders' forum for the travel and tourism industry, is a 5% common stock owner of Green Globe International.

Issued by the WTTC on February 18, 2009, the report was titled "Leading the Challenge on Climate Change." The first phase of the WTTC's environmental initiative, the report was endorsed by a large number of WTTC members, which include the Chairs and CEOs of the industry's foremost travel and tourism companies. According to the WTTC, its next steps include the development of a web portal, which will promote information on reducing carbon emissions and will share best practice examples already initiated across the world. The WTTC plans to use the web portal and the report launched today to inform commercial and public policy-makers. More >>> Green Globe International

2009 Will Be a Year of Panic

January 29, 2009: I'm always impressed by people's behavior during massive panics. They rarely believe or admit that they are panicked. Instead they assure one another that at last the wool has been lifted from their eyes. They are seeing the clear daylight of rationality after years of delusion.

"Once people lose faith in the institution of insurance — because insurance can't be made to pay in climate-crisis conditions — we'll find ourselves living in a Planet of Slums."

But a delusion that lasts for decades is not a delusion. It's an institution. And these, our institutions, are what now fail us. People no longer know what they value. They don't know what to believe. And unfortunately, it's part of the human condition to believe and invest in things that are demonstrably not true.

As 2009 opens, our financial institutions are deep in massive, irrational panic. That's bad, but it gets worse: Many other respected institutions have rational underpinnings at least as frail as derivatives or bundled real-estate loans. Like finance, these institutions are social constructions. They are games of confidence, underpinned by people's solemn willingness to believe, to conform, to contribute. So why not panic over them, too? More >>>

ADB Funds Energy Efficiency Lighting in the Philippines

2 February 2009: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a US$31.1 million loan for an energy-efficiency project in the Philippines that will provide 13 million energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) to homeowners and businesses as part of a government push to save about US$100 million every year in fuel costs, and a deferral of an investment of US$450 million in power generation and associated network capacity.

Each CFL is expected to save customers 400 pesos (approximately US$8.50) each year for the next 7 to 10 years. The project will also retrofit government office buildings and public lighting systems with other efficient lighting options and establish an energy service company (ESCO) that will provide financial and technical support to companies planning to reduce energy consumption. [ADB Press Release]