16 - Wednesday 16th November
This archive of news stories on energy related topics came from RSS feeds from the most relevant government institution. These press releases date from 16th November 2011 and no guarantee can be provided on the accuracy of these stories from the Green Deal Group. Click on the relevant links for more information and the corresponding article.
- Early Detection of COPD could help prevent lung cancer
Detection of COPD could allow for the early detection of lung cancer. The term COPD covers various diseases of the lungs which cause airway obstruction and narrowing. The most common are chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Wed 16th Nov 2011 12:01am - Skanska tops list of green construction companies
Engineers WS Atkins, BAM and Carillion all highly rated in first government poll of firms’ carbon measurment
Wed 16th Nov 2011 4:33pm - Stranded polar bears in Alaska
Dozens - possibly hundreds - of polar bears are becoming stranded on the north Alaskan coast because they cannot reach the retreating sea ice
Wed 16th Nov 2011 8:00am - Weatherwatch: Extreme weather includes supercell thunderstorms
Severe thunderstorms brought strong winds, flash flooding, hail and tornadoes over the southern Great Plains in the US last week. A lowpressure system pushed a cold front eastwards over Oklahoma and northern Texas, generating supercell thunderstorms. This in turn spawned numerous tornadoes, the strongest of which occurred just east of Tipton, Tillman County, in southern Oklahoma on Monday. The tornado ranked as an EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the first time such a big tornado has occurred in Oklahoma in November since records began in 1950. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to have been between 166mph and 200mph.
Storms brought heavy rain, strong winds and golf ball sized hail across Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday afternoon and evening, with 37.8mm being recorded at Viewbank between 7pm and 11pm local time. A cold front gave strong gusts of wind and heavy rainfall across British Columbia on Friday. Gusts reached 62mph at Solander Island, cancelling ferries and causing widespread power outages.
Finally, the western coast of Alaska was hit with its worst storm since 1974 last Wednesday. A storm surge as high as 3 metres above normal caused coastal flooding, whilst winds reached maximum gusts of 89mph in Wales along the western coast. Blizzards were also reported, with 19cm of snow being recorded at Kotzebue, breaking the previous 9 November record of 12cm.
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Wed 16th Nov 2011 3:00pm - Ban Ki-moon calls for climate fund to be finalised at Durban
UN secretary general expects Kyoto compromise at forthcoming climate summit in Durban
The global economic crisis is no excuse for countries to delay an international fund to help countries combat the effects of climate change, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has said.
Speaking at a conference in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka yesterday, Ban called on governments to make a concerted effort at the forthcoming Durban climate summit to establish the $100bn Green Climate Fund, which was first agreed at Copenhagen in 2009.
"Governments must find ways – now – to mobilise resources up to the $100bn per annum as pledged," he said. "The fund needs to be launched in Durban. An empty shell is not sufficient. Even in this difficult time we cannot afford the delay."
The fund has proved politically contentious, with governments from developing and developed nations repeatedly clashing over the scale of the fund, how the new finance will be raised, and how it will be distributed.
The Durban summit will also address the thorny issue of how to impose emissions reduction targets once the Kyoto Protocol expires next year.
Fears are mounting that any failure to agree a new deal could see the Kyoto Protocol lapse, removing binding emissions targets for many countries and the regulatory backbone for international carbon markets, which could be thrown into disarray once the legal basis for trading is removed.
Countries including Japan, Russia, Canada and the US have already signalled that they will not support the extension of the Kyoto Agreement, but China and 77 other developing nations have said they will not countenance an end to the treaty and are calling for a second commitment period to be agreed.
Despite UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres playing down the likelihood of a successor to Kyoto being agreed at Durban, Ban said he thought a "compromise" would be possible.
"In Durban I expect governments to find a compromise on the Kyoto Protocol so we can maintain important institutions and make a broader comprehensive climate agreement possible in the future," he said.
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Wed 16th Nov 2011 10:54am - Smaller, cheaper and greener Toyota Prius c
Toyota is unveiling its new hybrid electric Prius c, which can travel more than 50 miles on a gallon of fuel, even in the city.
Wed 16th Nov 2011 8:52pm - Climate change spells food disaster unless we act now argue top scientists
With the population shooting up, the climate changing and agriculture a mess which loses up to a third of its food production the time to act on food security has come argues a powerful panel of major international scientists.
Wed 16th Nov 2011 7:15pm - Ban smoking in cars, say doctors
The British Medical Association says smoking in cars causes serious health issues and should be banned. The BMA has produced research to showing how smoking in vehicles exposes others to toxins from secondhand smoke.
Wed 16th Nov 2011 6:39pm - A new weapon against invasive species
The proposed Joint Work Programme to improve communication strategies in the global biodiversity community.
Wed 16th Nov 2011 6:22pm - The Drawbacks of Antibiotic Overuse
New research on the drawbacks of antibiotic overuse. According to the findings, Americans have grown increasingly reliant on antibiotics to treat a range of ailments that could be just as easily cured in other ways.
Wed 16th Nov 2011 5:51pm - Preventing bycatch shark loss
The sharks of the North Atlantic and elsewhere have been caught by mistake (shark bycatch) for too long. With 860,000 blue sharks alone being killed and discarded and an equal number caught deliberately. PEW have set out some changes that could help mitigate these devastating losses.
Wed 16th Nov 2011 2:43pm