[Environment] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Environment > Climate Change]
Australian Senate rejects curbs on greenhouse gases
Kevin Rudd's government vows to push legislation through despite setback
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 August 2009 10.20 BST
Article history
Australia's Senate today voted to reject legislation that would have curbed the amount of greenhouse gas pollution the country emits, but the government said it would resurrect the bill later this year.
Climate change minister Penny Wong said the government would continue its campaign to push the legislation through the Senate, in a move that could trigger an early election if the opposition-controlled chamber rejects the measure a second time.
"We may lose this vote, but this issue will not go away because we ... understand Australia cannot afford climate change action to be unfinished business and we will not let it be," Wong told the Senate before the vote, which the government lost 42 votes to 30. "We will press ... on with this reform for as long as we have to," she added.
The government plan would institute a tax on carbon emissions from industry starting in 2011 and limit Australia's overall pollution. The government wants to slash Australia's emissions by up to 25% compared with 2000 levels by 2020 if tough global targets are agreed at the Copenhagen summit in December.
If the Senate rejects legislation twice in three months, Australia's constitution allows prime minister Kevin Rudd to call a snap election before his three-year term has expired.
Such an early election fought on the issue of climate change is expected to favour Rudd's center-left Labor Party, which opinion polls suggest remains far more popular than the centre-right Liberal party opposition.
Analysts expect that if the Senate knocks back the legislation again in November, Rudd could call an election early next year.
Senate Liberal leader Nick Minchin, who commands the largest voting bloc in the upper house chamber, said the bills should be put "in the deep freeze" until after the Copenhagen meeting and a US Senate debate on American emissions permit trading.
Wong said the government wants the legislation passed before the Copenhagen meeting to avoid sending the message that Australia is "going backward on climate change".
Business groups including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government and opposition to quickly reach a compromise. Among environmental groups, the Climate Institute described the vote as a "tragic postponement".
Friends of the Earth argued that the proposed legislation was too weak and would have locked Australia into a high-polluting economy.
[Environment > Travel and Transport]
Gas-guzzling cars top US 'cash for clunkers' trade-ins
SUVs and pick-up trucks make up 83% of the 316,189 cars that have been traded under the scheme
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 August 2009 18.50 BST
Article history
Are Americans really over their love of big, gas-guzzling automobiles? Not entirely, but there is a chill coming on, as 83% of the top trade-ins under the Obama administration's "cash for clunkers" scheme have been SUVs or pick-up trucks.
The two-week-old scheme to boost auto sales has been popular, with 316,189 cars worth $1,326m (£802m) turned in as of 7am today. Statistics provided by the Department of Transport suggest that Americans are now fleeing from SUVs, which reached their peak in popularity in the middle of this decade.
Six of the top 10 trade-ins were SUVs, with two mini-vans and two pick-up trucks rounding off the list. The reject list did not include any sedan model cars.
The scheme, which was designed primarily to boost auto sales rather than green America's roads, does not require purchasers to make a radical improvement in fuel-efficiency in their new car.
But the Obama administration claimed that the programme was getting the dirtiest vehicles off America's roads, saying that customers were going home from dealerships with new cars that were on average 63% less polluting.
However, environmentalists say it's far from clear whether the scheme will significantly reduce the carbon emissions from cars and – even if it does – it's a very costly way to achieve such benefits, at about $500 for each tonne of carbon eliminated.
"We think there will be some emissions reduction but it will just be a very small percentage of emissions from transportation," said Chris Ganson, a transport analyst at the World Resources Institute (WRI). "It's still just a drop in the bucket."
An analysis by WRI found that the scheme would save less than two days' worth of carbon emissions between now and 2019.
The scheme pays customers up to $4,500 to turn in their old, polluting vehicle, and the replacement vehicle only has to achieve a 4mpg improvement on the clunker.
Much of the benefit cited by the Obama administration is short-term. New fuel regulations due to come into effect will force auto makers to produce vehicles that get an average 27 miles per gallon – five more than required by the clash for clunkers programme.
In addition, the WRI analysis noted that drivers tend to use new cars much more heavily than clunkers.
Even so, there are some encouraging signs of greener car purchasing habits – because of the sharp spikes in petrol prices over the last few years and more general greening of purchasing patterns.
All but two of the cars on the top 10 list of purchases are sedans, and the fourth most popular car purchased under the scheme is the Toyota Prius.
Top 10 Trade-in Vehicles
1. Ford Explorer 4WD
2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD
3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD
4. Jeep Cherokee 4WD
5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD
6. Ford Explorer 2WD
7. Chevrolet Blazer 4WD
8. Ford F150 Pickup 4WD
9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD
10. Ford Windstar FWD Van
Top 10 New Vehicles Purchased
1. ToyotaCorolla
2. Ford Focus FWD
3. Honda Civic
4. ToyotaPrius
5. Toyota Camry
6. Hyundai Elantra
7. Ford Escape FWD SUV
8. Dodge Caliber
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevrolet Cobalt
[Environment > Mountains]
Scientists reveal why world's highest mountains are at the equator
Ice and glacier coverage at lower altitudes in cold climates more important than collision of tectonic plates, researchers find
Alok Jha
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 August 2009 18.00 BST
Article history
Scientists have solved the mystery of why the world's highest mountains sit near the equator - colder climates are better at eroding peaks than had previously been realised.
Mountains are built by the collisions between continental plates that force land upwards. The fastest mountain growth is around 10mm a year in places such as New Zealand and parts of the Himalayas, but more commonly peaks grow at around 2-3mm per year.
In a study published today in Nature, David Egholm of Aarhus University in Denmark showed that mountain height depends more on ice and glacier coverage than tectonic forces. In colder climates, the snowline on mountains starts lower down, and erosion takes place at lower altitudes. At cold locations far from the equator, he found, erosion by snow and ice easily matched any growth due to the Earth's plates crunching together.
Egholm used radar maps of the Earth's surface, created by Nasa in 2001, to examine the height of all the world's mountains at a single point in time. The analysis showed that mountains had a significant land area up to their snowlines, after which it dropped rapidly. In general, mountains only rise to around 1,500m above their snow lines, so it is the altitude of these lines — which depends on climate and latitude — which ultimately decides their height.
At low latitudes, the atmosphere is warm and the snowline is high. "Around the equator, the snowline is about 5,500m at its highest so mountains get up to 7,000m," said Egholm. "There are a few exceptions [that are higher], such as Everest, but extremely few. When you then go to Canada or Chile, the snowline altitude is around 1,000m, so the mountains are around 2.5km."
"What we show is that, once the mountain is pushed up across the snow line, a very effective erosion agent comes into play and that is represented by glaciers," said Egholm. "It's so effective that it can keep pace with any tectonic uplift rate that we have on the Earth today." Below the snowline, rivers and rock falls are the main erosion agents.
[Environment > Climate Change]
Australian Senate rejects curbs on greenhouse gases
Kevin Rudd's government vows to push legislation through despite setback
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 August 2009 10.20 BST
Article history
Australia's Senate today voted to reject legislation that would have curbed the amount of greenhouse gas pollution the country emits, but the government said it would resurrect the bill later this year.
Climate change minister Penny Wong said the government would continue its campaign to push the legislation through the Senate, in a move that could trigger an early election if the opposition-controlled chamber rejects the measure a second time.
"We may lose this vote, but this issue will not go away because we ... understand Australia cannot afford climate change action to be unfinished business and we will not let it be," Wong told the Senate before the vote, which the government lost 42 votes to 30. "We will press ... on with this reform for as long as we have to," she added.
The government plan would institute a tax on carbon emissions from industry starting in 2011 and limit Australia's overall pollution. The government wants to slash Australia's emissions by up to 25% compared with 2000 levels by 2020 if tough global targets are agreed at the Copenhagen summit in December.
If the Senate rejects legislation twice in three months, Australia's constitution allows prime minister Kevin Rudd to call a snap election before his three-year term has expired.
Such an early election fought on the issue of climate change is expected to favour Rudd's center-left Labor Party, which opinion polls suggest remains far more popular than the centre-right Liberal party opposition.
Analysts expect that if the Senate knocks back the legislation again in November, Rudd could call an election early next year.
Senate Liberal leader Nick Minchin, who commands the largest voting bloc in the upper house chamber, said the bills should be put "in the deep freeze" until after the Copenhagen meeting and a US Senate debate on American emissions permit trading.
Wong said the government wants the legislation passed before the Copenhagen meeting to avoid sending the message that Australia is "going backward on climate change".
Business groups including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government and opposition to quickly reach a compromise. Among environmental groups, the Climate Institute described the vote as a "tragic postponement".
Friends of the Earth argued that the proposed legislation was too weak and would have locked Australia into a high-polluting economy.
[Environment > Travel and Transport]
Gas-guzzling cars top US 'cash for clunkers' trade-ins
SUVs and pick-up trucks make up 83% of the 316,189 cars that have been traded under the scheme
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 August 2009 18.50 BST
Article history
Are Americans really over their love of big, gas-guzzling automobiles? Not entirely, but there is a chill coming on, as 83% of the top trade-ins under the Obama administration's "cash for clunkers" scheme have been SUVs or pick-up trucks.
The two-week-old scheme to boost auto sales has been popular, with 316,189 cars worth $1,326m (£802m) turned in as of 7am today. Statistics provided by the Department of Transport suggest that Americans are now fleeing from SUVs, which reached their peak in popularity in the middle of this decade.
Six of the top 10 trade-ins were SUVs, with two mini-vans and two pick-up trucks rounding off the list. The reject list did not include any sedan model cars.
The scheme, which was designed primarily to boost auto sales rather than green America's roads, does not require purchasers to make a radical improvement in fuel-efficiency in their new car.
But the Obama administration claimed that the programme was getting the dirtiest vehicles off America's roads, saying that customers were going home from dealerships with new cars that were on average 63% less polluting.
However, environmentalists say it's far from clear whether the scheme will significantly reduce the carbon emissions from cars and – even if it does – it's a very costly way to achieve such benefits, at about $500 for each tonne of carbon eliminated.
"We think there will be some emissions reduction but it will just be a very small percentage of emissions from transportation," said Chris Ganson, a transport analyst at the World Resources Institute (WRI). "It's still just a drop in the bucket."
An analysis by WRI found that the scheme would save less than two days' worth of carbon emissions between now and 2019.
The scheme pays customers up to $4,500 to turn in their old, polluting vehicle, and the replacement vehicle only has to achieve a 4mpg improvement on the clunker.
Much of the benefit cited by the Obama administration is short-term. New fuel regulations due to come into effect will force auto makers to produce vehicles that get an average 27 miles per gallon – five more than required by the clash for clunkers programme.
In addition, the WRI analysis noted that drivers tend to use new cars much more heavily than clunkers.
Even so, there are some encouraging signs of greener car purchasing habits – because of the sharp spikes in petrol prices over the last few years and more general greening of purchasing patterns.
All but two of the cars on the top 10 list of purchases are sedans, and the fourth most popular car purchased under the scheme is the Toyota Prius.
Top 10 Trade-in Vehicles
1. Ford Explorer 4WD
2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD
3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD
4. Jeep Cherokee 4WD
5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD
6. Ford Explorer 2WD
7. Chevrolet Blazer 4WD
8. Ford F150 Pickup 4WD
9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD
10. Ford Windstar FWD Van
Top 10 New Vehicles Purchased
1. ToyotaCorolla
2. Ford Focus FWD
3. Honda Civic
4. ToyotaPrius
5. Toyota Camry
6. Hyundai Elantra
7. Ford Escape FWD SUV
8. Dodge Caliber
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevrolet Cobalt
[Environment > Mountains]
Scientists reveal why world's highest mountains are at the equator
Ice and glacier coverage at lower altitudes in cold climates more important than collision of tectonic plates, researchers find
Alok Jha
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 August 2009 18.00 BST
Article history
Scientists have solved the mystery of why the world's highest mountains sit near the equator - colder climates are better at eroding peaks than had previously been realised.
Mountains are built by the collisions between continental plates that force land upwards. The fastest mountain growth is around 10mm a year in places such as New Zealand and parts of the Himalayas, but more commonly peaks grow at around 2-3mm per year.
In a study published today in Nature, David Egholm of Aarhus University in Denmark showed that mountain height depends more on ice and glacier coverage than tectonic forces. In colder climates, the snowline on mountains starts lower down, and erosion takes place at lower altitudes. At cold locations far from the equator, he found, erosion by snow and ice easily matched any growth due to the Earth's plates crunching together.
Egholm used radar maps of the Earth's surface, created by Nasa in 2001, to examine the height of all the world's mountains at a single point in time. The analysis showed that mountains had a significant land area up to their snowlines, after which it dropped rapidly. In general, mountains only rise to around 1,500m above their snow lines, so it is the altitude of these lines — which depends on climate and latitude — which ultimately decides their height.
At low latitudes, the atmosphere is warm and the snowline is high. "Around the equator, the snowline is about 5,500m at its highest so mountains get up to 7,000m," said Egholm. "There are a few exceptions [that are higher], such as Everest, but extremely few. When you then go to Canada or Chile, the snowline altitude is around 1,000m, so the mountains are around 2.5km."
"What we show is that, once the mountain is pushed up across the snow line, a very effective erosion agent comes into play and that is represented by glaciers," said Egholm. "It's so effective that it can keep pace with any tectonic uplift rate that we have on the Earth today." Below the snowline, rivers and rock falls are the main erosion agents.
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