Blog for a Better World

Global warming is disrupting wildlife and the environment on every continent, according to an unprecedented study that reveals the extent to which climate change is already affecting the world’s ecosystems. Scientists examined published reports dating back to 1970 and found that at least 90% of environmental damage and disruption around the world could be explained by rising temperatures.  Big falls in Antarctic penguin populations, fewer fish in African lakes, shifts in American river flows and earlier flowering and bird migrations in Europe are all likely to be driven by global warming, the study found.  This is the first to formally link some of the most dramatic changes to the world’s wildlife and habitats with human-induced climate change.

Coal is finally getting a bad rap.  For example, in America, a judge in Georgia has cancelled a permit for a new coal power station citing carbon dioxide emissions concerns. Environmentalists think this is the beginning of the end of conventional coal-fired power plants, because of the enormity of their emissions.  In the UK, a think tank is recommending a minimum two-year block on coal-power investment. The Institute for Public Policy Research says this is needed to hit Europe’s 21% reduction in heavy industry greenhouse emissions by 2020.  Finally, in Australia, eco-campaigners have decried a new AU$750 million coal power plant as “complete madness”.