Antarctica Appeal

We produce around 32 billion tons of CO2 each year .Out of that about 15 actually stays in the atmosphere contributing to climate change. The oceans, forests, vegetation and soil store the rest of that CO2. So obviously if this current storage facility starts declining we are in more trouble than before. Out of these carbon sinks about a quarter of the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans... and the biggest ocean for this is the Southern Ocean which surrounds Antarctica.

Recently scientists have reported that this large volume of water now only able to absorb a fraction of the CO2 it use to. CO2 needs to be stored at below 300 metres to stay there permanently. It is reckoned that the stormy seas being whipped up by higher wind speeds which are themselves a by-product of the changing climate is causing the mixing of deep water with the shallower water which absorbs less of this greenhouse gas. I

t is like some vicious circle - which we are looking desperately to address. While doing so we must galvanize ourselves and our Governments to work harder on reducing emissions.

To Russia With Love From Denmark

Russia has begun to work on modernising its inefficient power plants and that's thanks to The Danes. The good news about this is that Russia is one of the world's highest emitters of green house gases. Much of this however is due to antiquated inefficient industrial centres. Supplying heat and hot water for the public sector, accounts for a staggering 45 per cent of Russia’s domestic energy usage. So any clean up operation like the Danish venture in Kirov which will reduce emissions form 100 of these leaky power stations is a step along the right path.

So what's in it for Denmark? Well, they're in fact buying emissions reductions units from Russia which is providing the investment for this venture and this will allow them...Denmark...expansions within their Kyoto agreements.

Now.. not only will this operation reduce CO2 emissions from Russia obviously it will also conserve to some degree some natural gas. Russia is in fact the largest exporter of natural gas in the world. ..but with only about fifty years of supply left ..in the pipeline.. so to speak it is not only in the interests of the Russian people to rejuvenate their plants and so waste less of this precious resource but aso it will keep the cost of gas to Europe at a lower price.

Well... no incentives maybe then for Europeans to cut usage with cheaper gas you, may well say... But surely over all this is a positive move and a sign of Russia's endorsement of initiatives to halt climate change.

High Rivers Run Low

Not only are the rivers at the lowest point on earth that's the Dead Sea - under threat because of global warming but also those that run from higher up ... particularly the Tibetan Plateau. That's the largest, highest area in the world today and the source of many major rivers in Asia .rivers which flow from China to Pakistan.

Over the past 40 years the glaciers on this plateau have been melting. In fact they have receded nearly 200 square kilometres due to rising temperatures. The knock -on effect is that rivers are starting to run lower.

One example is the River Yangtze.... China's longest river. Scientists have calculated a loss of nearly 1 billion cubic metres of water. This is not a short term problem because the melting glaciers actually replenish these rivers. However, long term the effects will become more obvious leading to a change in the ecosystem of the area which is of grave concern to us all.

With Tibet the only true source of fresh water to Asia China’s is responding by building a range of reservoirs to catch the glacial melt..the precious, needed water that would otherwise run off into the desert and be wasted…. but long term it seems that global cooperation on solutions to halt climate change by reducing emissions now....is imperative for all of us.

More Fusion Research Jobs

Firstly the fact that America is committed to leading the way on green issues is commendable and exciting because how America behaves has always influenced others. Some form of fusion has the true potential to solve the world’s energy crisis. So far decades of research have generated little more than fascination with its possibilities and yet there are those who believe that we could be a lot closer to a breakthrough on this advanced technology than we think....with all the clever brains in America it would be great to see more investment and focus on this essential research Also with the public now quite rightly a bit sceptical about the feasibility of providing energy for everyone using wind and solar, biofuels because of our rapidly expanding world population and with the concern about the future conflicts that may erupt over land use it would be good to put together a strategic team who could draw up a fifty to one hundred year power plan to work to.. .how their recycling and weatherboarding is generally going to help come up with some long-term solution. Mr Obama and your good self campaigned brilliantly with the phrase 'we can' and many of us believe that yes, you can! You can come up with answers to the world's energy crisis. So good luck!