Will the Magnetic North Pole move to Siberia?

Interesting animation of the magnetic North Pole’s movement towards Russia...
http://www.agu.org/eos_elec/2007/29-293.html

MIT Club lecture

Nous sommes heureux de vous inviter à un Dîner-Débat sur le thème "L'EXPEDITION SAGAX - CROISADE BLANCHE POUR UNE CAUSE VERTE" le mardi 18 mars à 20 heures dans les salons du Club Iéna.
Nous aurons l’occasion d’échanger en direct avec :

Luc HARDY
Fondateur et Président de SAGAX
Aventurier, Auteur, Explorateur, Philanthrope

Durant l’été 2007, Luc Hardy a mené, conjointement avec le GREA et Green Cross International, une expédition de neuf personnes, dont des scientifiques et des enfants, au Groenland. Leur mission: évaluer l’impact du réchauffement climatique sur la faune et la flore arctique. Pour cela ils ont effectué des prélèvements, balisé des oiseaux, observé des animaux, interviewé des populations locales...
Pour notre dîner-débat, Luc interviendra, photos à l'appui, sur les signes concrets de réchauffement climatique qu'il a pu observer directement lors de son expédition au Groenland l'été dernier. Il pourra nous parler aussi de l'impact du réchauffement sur la géopolitique de la région, et du rôle des ONGs elles aussi engagées dans ces processus.

Pour détails contacter: greenland@sagax.com

Oil rush?

A 2-employee Las Vegas-based company claims to have legal rights to Arctic oil and gas. hummmm.... Market cap of the company: $288 million (yes!). Judge for yourself at: www.arcticoag.com

“Arctic Oil & Gas Corp. (Pink Sheets: AOAG) is an oil exploration venture company that has filed for the exclusive exploitation, development, marketing and extraction rights to the oil and gas resources of the seafloor and subsurface contained within the ”Arctic Claims“.

An Exclusive Rights Claim to the Hydrocarbon Resources of the Arctic Oceans Commons was formally lodged by the Company and its partners with the United Nations and the five Arctic countries on May 9th 2006....”

Claims to the Arctic seabed?

Front page of today’s New York Times, more news and intrigue on what will become a dramatic geopolitical issue in the next few years. One that Green Cross International is addressing through various efforts, including a series of Arctic educational expeditions in the Arctic. More on this soon... Full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/world/europe/...

Biofuels INCREASE Greenhouse gases...

Contrary to popular belief..:

Published Online February 7, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1151861

Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land Use Change
Timothy Searchinger 1*, Ralph Heimlich 2, R. A. Houghton 3, Fengxia Dong 4, Amani Elobeid 4, Jacinto Fabiosa 4, Simla Tokgoz 4, Dermot Hayes 4, Tun-Hsiang Yu 4


* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Timothy Searchinger , E-mail: tsearchi@princeton.edu

Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of the feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland to replace the grain (or cropland) diverted to biofuels. Using a worldwide agricultural model to estimate emissions from land use change, we found that corn-based ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, nearly doubles greenhouse emissions over 30 years and increases greenhouse gases for 167 years. Biofuels from switchgrass, if grown on U.S. corn lands, increase emissions by 50%. This result raises concerns about large biofuel mandates and highlights the value of using waste products.

Cool statistics... real time

I love this site. some of the statistics are dizzying... see for yourself:
http://www.worldometers.info/fr/

Green Cross’ Gorbachev Rebukes Putin...

MOSCOW — Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union, sharply criticized the state of Russia’s electoral system in remarks published Monday and called for extensive reforms to a system that has secured power for President Vladimir V. Putin and the Kremlin’s inner circle.

“Something is wrong with our elections, and our electoral system needs a major adjustment,” the former Soviet leader said.

The remarks, made in a telephone interview on Sunday but held for a day by the Interfax news wire service, followed the Russian government’s rejection of the only serious opposition candidate in the March 2 presidential election.

The timing was pointed and provocative, and the remarks were the most vocal criticism to date by a prominent Russian political figure of the state of the country’s politics as Mr. Putin prepares to pass power to a chosen successor. They were ignored by Russian television news broadcasts, which are controlled by the Kremlin. The opposition candidate, former Prime Minister Mikhail M. Kasyanov, was denied a place on the ballot on Sunday by the Central Election Commission, which said 13 percent of the more than two million signatures submitted with his registration documents were invalid.

Mr. Kasyanov has said that the signatures are valid and that the Kremlin ordered the commission to block his candidacy as a means of ensuring the election of Dmitri A. Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister and the candidate selected by Mr. Putin.

Mr. Kasyanov’s campaign had previously said that his supporters had been harassed and bullied by Russian authorities, who threatened them with incarceration or dismissal from the jobs.

Mr. Gorbachev’s remarks did not address Mr. Kasyanov directly, although Mr. Gorbachev’s aide Pavel Palazhchenko said they had been in response to a journalist’s question about the end of the Kasyanov candidacy.

Mr. Palazhchenko, in a telephone interview from London, where Mr. Gorbachev is traveling, also said Interfax had called the former Soviet leader to confirm the accuracy of his quotations before publishing them.

Mr. Gorbachev, in the published statements, said the election’s result was “predictable from the outset” and “predetermined by the enormous role that Vladimir Putin played.”

Mr. Putin, who under Russian law cannot serve a third term, has said he will serve as prime minister under Mr. Medvedev — a decision that means he will not necessarily be yielding power.

Mr. Gorbachev has often been publicly supportive of Mr. Putin, and credited him with undoing much of the disorder of the 1990s under President Boris N. Yeltsin, a bitter rival of Mr. Gorbachev’s.

But he has also taken independent positions, including supporting Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper that fiercely criticizes Russian officials and has not spared Mr. Putin.

Mr. Gorbachev has said investigative journalism and criticism of officials are essential to the country’s health. He has also previously denounced the state of elections here. His latest remarks put him squarely on record opposing the administrative and electoral means by which Mr. Putin has ensured that his circle will remain in power, and calling for more strict civilian control over Russia’s elections.

Among the changes Mr. Gorbachev recommended was the end of exclusively party-list elections for Parliament, which prevent individual candidates from running for the legislature and keep the assignment of seats in the hands of party leaders. United Russia, the largest party, is controlled by Mr. Putin.

Mr. Gorbachev also suggested a return to direct public elections for governors; the selection of governors now rests with the president, giving citizens no vote.

“The issue concerning governors’ elections should also be raised,” he said, “so that people are able to take a more active part in social and political life.”

World Food Supply Shrinking...

ROME — In an “unforeseen and unprecedented” shift, the world food supply is dwindling rapidly and food prices are soaring to historic levels, the United Nations’ top food and agriculture official warned Monday. (NYT - Dec. 18, 2007)

Carbon-Dioxide

Global concentrations of CO2 in 2006 have reached the highest level since record keeping began in 1958... concentrations not seen in 650,000 years...

Australia

Australians emit the most CO2 per person: 10 tons. Americans follow with 8.2 tons. The Chinese emit 1.8 tons

Sagax Arctic 2008

We are planning to be back in the Arctic in the summer of 2008: This time to try to “Save the Arctic” - stay tuned for more information in the weeks to come.

GreenFacts

Through my friend and Antarctic partner Larry, I recently met Jacques de Selliers, founder of GreenFacts. I like what GF does: communicate unbiased scientific information on environmental and health topics.
Visit their website and see for yourself: http://www.greenfacts.org/

BALI Global Warming conference

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Cobbling a global treaty to slow the planet's warming may require an unprecedented agreement between the U.S. and China, the world's largest greenhouse gas polluters.

Delegates, lawmakers and scientists from 187 countries gathering in Bali, Indonesia, for the next two weeks aim to set a deadline for replacing the global warming treaty signed 10 years ago in Kyoto, Japan, that expires in 2012. The accord, which prescribes emissions cuts for industrialized nations, didn't require mandatory reductions for developing countries such as China, and the U.S. refused to sign it.

Global Green USA Awards

Last night, at New York's Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park, I attended Global Green USA 8th Annual Designing a Sustainable and Secure World Awards dinner which honored leading innovators for their extraordinary contributions.
-- LH

“For the first time, all of our honorees are leaders from the corporate world,” said Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green USA, “In a year when an unprecedented number of companies are deciding on going green, American companies should look to this year’s award winners and the innovative results they have achieved through a balanced approach to sustainability which have also proven to be profitable.”

report from: http://www.ecorazzi.com/2007/12/04/global-green-usa-lights-up-nyc-with-sustainability-awards/

Anchorwoman Katie Couric arrived fashionably late for the red carpet entrance but the host of the Global Green USA’s Designing a Sustainable and Secure World Awards had to first deliver the CBS Evening News to the American public.

The awards event was held at the Ritz Carlton Battery Park City and was packed with eco-friendly celebs, active environmentalists and green innovators. Speakers included actors Josh Lucas, Josie Maran, playwright Eve Ensler, and the beautiful and talented Glenn Close. Other notable celebs in attendance were comedian Chevy Chase, actress Kyra Sedgewick, CNN contributor Jeff Greenfield, and Matt Peterson, President & CEO, Global Green. Josie Maran, who recently launched a green beauty product line, proudly also announced that her baby wears G Diapers. She shared and interesting green fact that I was unaware of: flying on a red eye gives off more carbon gas than other flights so she tries to avoid doing so.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg excitedly shared the details and video of plans for the city’s first Green School in the Lower Manhattan. Sloan & Roger Barnett, owners or Shaklee Corp. and winners of the Organizational Design Award, explained how they got started. Their son was diagnosed with severe asthma. After extensive digging they discovered no family history of asthma and realized their son must have gotten asthma from the environment. They urged for every school to use natural cleaning products.

Pratt Industries earned the Industrial Design Award and was accepted by Anthony Pratt, CEO & Chairman. This year’s winner for the Green Building Design Award Media and Entertainment Design Award given to Discovery and accepted by David Zaslav, President & CEO. The Founder Award was given to Scott Seydel, President, EVCO.

The night included a silent Eco-Auction and contributors included BOSCH, Citizen Watch, Farm 2 Market, EDUN. My personal favorite was the ME & Ro bracelet. During the delicious, organic dinner I had a chance to talk to some attendees and a heard repeated sentiment about the great Brad Pitt. Most agreed he has been doing a stellar job getting people aware, but several people expressed mild disappointment that he did not even mention the name Global Green on the Today show interview yesterday in New Orleans.

Climate Change Election

Congratulations to Kevin Rudd for his election as Prime Minister of Australia and for creating a new Ministry of Climate Change!