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climate change > features
JAMES LOVELOCK INTERVIEW:
The End of Eden
by Michael Powell
James Lovelock, eminent scientist, inventor, author and originator of the Gaia hypothesis that the earth is in effect a living, self-regulating organism, was the subject of a recent revealing interview by Washington Post staff writer Michael Powell. In this he explains just why he believes this time, that we have pushed the earth too far. The interview is reproduced here in full with the author's permission. ... more
Climate talks adrift
by Rod Harbinson
Experts at the climate change conference in Nairobi agree that radical action is required, yet the political response has fallen short. Rod Harbinson explains why the summit has been a let-down for developing countries, and warns of a looming climate communication crisis. ... more
Scratching the bare earth for food
by Ochieng’ Ogodo
Africa faces the greatest immediate dangers of climate change, according to a recent UN report, timed to coincide with the world climate change conference in Nairobi. The report warns that Africa could face a large loss of wildlife habitat and falling crop yields in less than a generation. But tens of millions of poor rural Africans are already experiencing the grim realities of global warming says Kenyan journalist, Ochieng' Ogodo, in this first hand report. ... more
What future for India's monsoons in a warmer world?
Climate change poses different problems in different parts of the world. In India one pressing concern is the impact of global warming on the precious monsoon rains, as Sunita Narain explains in these extracts from the latest editorial comment in the magazine Down to Earth. ... more
'Africa must plan for climate change'
by Lori Pottinger
Africa already has extreme variability of rainfall, and an uneven distribution of water resources. Climate change is expected to increase this variability, with direct impact on river flows and rain-fed agriculture. New policies towards water use on the continent are urgently needed says Lori Pottinger. ... more
Katrina signals start of climate exodus
by Lester R. Brown
Those of us who track the effects of global warming had assumed that the first large flow of climate refugees would probably be in the South Pacific with the abandonment of Tuvalu or other low-lying islands. We were wrong. The first massive movement of climate refugees has been that of people away from the Gulf Coast of the United States. ... more
Measuring the true cost of heat waves
The recent heatwaves in Europe and California are a reminder that extreme weather events are expected to become ever more frequent as the planet heats up. But what were the real consequences of the last European heat wave in 2003? Health officials now believe they were even more serious than previously thought. Janet Larsen reports. ... more
Warming Siberia could change the planet
by Joshua K Hartshorne
The Lena River is the ninth-longest river in the world and it flows through one of the world’s iciest lands, where the sun is seldom seen during winter. Nearly 80 per cent of the watershed is continuous permafrost – earth that never thaws fully, even in summer. However, climate change is reaching this remote outpost; with consequences not just locally but, probably, for the rest of the world as well. ... more
'Climate change is undeniably real, caused by human activities, and has serious consequences'
by Lord Robert May
In his final address as Present of the Royal Society, Britains national academy of Science, Lord May pulls no punches in warning about the dangers of runaway greenhouse gas emissions. The following excerpt on climate change is taken from the Annual Anniversary Address given by Lord May. ... more
COMMENT:
Katrina comes home to roost
by Sidney Blumenthal
President Bush is to blame for the scale of the disaster as a result of his administration's policies and actions, says former Clinton adviser, Sidney Blumenthal. ... more
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