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Lacunae in the current Clean Development Mechanism framework has slowed down efforts to address greenhouse gas mitigation and sustainable developmental objectives, according to a FICCI report calling for a CDM-friendly regime.

In its report released today, Climate Change Task Force deliberated in detail on the lacunae in the present CDM system which otherwise it noted was a “most effective, positive action mobilising industry engagement in mitigation action.”

“Despite the growth of the Indian project pipeline, there have been difficulties along the way due to cumbersome, lengthy approval process for CDM projects. The mechanism needs to be transformed from an offsets to offsets plus reduction mechanism. Also a healthy demand and supply balance of Carbon credits needs to be ensured,” former union environment secretary Pradipto Ghosh, who chaired the task force told reporters.

He said speedy clearance of projects at the international level, greater efficiency and transparency in CDMs in the process and governance, more service providers in the market through relaxation of designated entities (DoEs) eligibility criteria as well stability of demand for carbon credits.

For instance as there are only seven DoEs globally while as many as 2148 projects are waiting for approval of which around 748 are from India, Ghosh said.

The task Force also called for reforms in technology transfer as well as financial sector to help developing nations tackle threats from climate change.

“There is a need for reforms in IPRs regime and setting up of a publicly funded global venture fund besides technology sharing among developing countries,” Ghosh said.

FICCI chairman Amit Mitra said the exhaustive report which presents Indian business perspectives on climate change negotiations will be presented to the government for further action.

Torrential rains caused flooding and left thousands of homes without power across the southeast of Australia’s tropical Queensland state, just days after cyclonic storms lashed the region.One woman was missing after storms dumped 250 millimeters (9.8 inches) of rain over the state capital Brisbane and nearby cities in six hours, prompting authorities to evacuate homes as police warned of flash floods and possible landslides.

“Last night I activated the disaster management act which gives very extensive powers of evacuation to deal with public safety,” Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts told state radio.

The floods in some areas were the worst since 1974, Ipswich city Mayor Paul Pisasle said. At least 14 people were rescued after attempting to drive through fast-rising waters.

Cyclone-like storms ripped across the same area on Sunday night, killing one man, destroying houses and leaving more than 230,000 homes and businesses without electricity, and prompting the national and state governments to declare an emergency.

Energy company Energex said it was working to restore power to about 6,000 customers from Brisbane to the nearby tourist havens of the Gold Coast, with troops and emergency services workers still cleaning up in the area after the last storm.

Roads had been closed to the public to allow emergency vehicles better access, police said, while other roads and major highways had been cut by flooding.

Australian weather bureau Senior Forecaster Geoff Doueal said more rain was expected in coming days after widespread falls deluged much of eastern Australia, including drought-stricken crop areas in Queensland and adjacent New South Wales state.

Tiger population in 30 Tiger reserves in the country have dwindled to 1,411 at present from the 1,800 in 1972, according to statistics.

The country had 40,000 tigers in 1900, statistics released by CPR Environmental Education Centre (CPREEC), which is organising an exhibition titled “Tiger Tiger”, today said.

“The habitats have been lost due to severe deforestation, contributing to the dwindling tiger numbers,” it said.

Non-forestry activities, fragmentation of forest patches were the major causes for the dwindling tiger population, it said. The exhibition sought to raise awareness about the need to save the tiger.

“This would also provide a complete overview of the National animal–its evolution, behaviour, social structure, cultural role, ecological significance, human impact upon it and what should be done to conserve it,” it said.

The CPREEC is a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment and Forests established jointly by the Ministry and CP Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation.

A Sydney aquarium released seven sharks bred in captivity and tagged with acoustic tracking devices into the waters off a city beach on Tuesday to study if it is feasible to breed sharks to restock dwindling wild numbers.

The two-year-old wobbegong, or carpet sharks, measuring up to 80 cms in length, are bottom-dwelling sharks and regarded as harmless but can grow to three meters (10 feet) in length.

The study will provide an insight into the feasibility of releasing aquarium-bred sharks to restock populations in local areas, as well as the role marine parks can play in protecting species, said Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund Coordinator Claudette Rechtorik.

By monitoring the sharks, marine scientists will learn more about their growth patterns and behavior and how long they spend in protected waters.

“Shark populations are being depleted because of practices such as over-fishing, shark-finning and the use of shark nets at beaches, so we’re keen to raise awareness about the need to protect sharks, particularly those which are found mainly in Australian waters like wobbegongs,” Rechtorik said.

Mars had floods from time to time, a new study has suggested. Astronomers claim to have found evidence that ancient features on the surface of Mars, called valley networks, were carved by recurrent floods during a long period when martian climate may have been much like that of some regions on Earth.

“Precipitation on Mars lasted a long time — it wasn’t a brief interval of massive deluges,” the study’s lead author Charles Barnhart said.

In fact, in their study, Barnhart and colleagues at the University of California used sophisticated computer models to simulate the processes that actually formed these features on planet Mars.

“Our results argue for liquid water being stable at the surface of Mars for prolonged periods in the past,” the ‘Journal of Geophysical Research — Planets’ quoted Barnhart as saying.

The team has estimated that the valley networks on Mars were carved out more than 3.5 billion years ago.

Global warming is likely to boost the power of the strongest tropical cyclones, a study released Wednesday says.

An additional one degree Celsius in sea temperatures in tropical regions where cyclones breed could lead to a nearly one-third rise in the number of the most powerful storms, it says.

“As the seas warm, the ocean has more energy to convert to tropical cyclone wind,” say authors of the paper, released by London weekly Nature.

Previous research, based on observations over the past 30 years, has already suggested that hurricanes - as cyclones in the Atlantic are known - have become more intense as a result of warmer seas.

But the observational record for the Atlantic is more detailed and goes back farther than for storms in the Indian Ocean, known as cyclones, or those in the Pacific, which are called typhoons.

Seeking to fill in the blanks, a trio of US scientists crunched satellite data for the period of 1981-2006 in all of these storm basins.

They totted up the number of storms and the maximum wind speeds attained during each event, and compared this with sea-surface temperatures.

Over the 25 years under scrutiny, they saw no increase in the overall number of storms.

But there was a significant increase in wind speed among the most powerful storms, or those in roughly the top quarter for intensity.

Global warming could be the next factor to affect property values, at least in areas near ski resorts, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.Homes in ski resort areas where winter temperatures are already hovering near the crucial freezing mark needed for snow could suffer price declines as great as 56 percent if average temperatures warm by 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the San Francisco Fed said in its latest economic letter.

By contrast, house prices in resorts where extremely cold weather is now the norm could gain as the number of unpleasant days declines in favor of days that are more enjoyable for hitting the slopes, said a team led by Rob Valletta, economist and research advisor at the San Francisco Fed.

Less snow, more rain and generally lower-quality conditions for skiing and snowboarding have been apparent in the western areas of North America for decades, and conditions stand to get worse as temperatures creep up.

The researchers also said that any benefits from the potential flipside — a longer season for, say, mountain-biking — were likely to be minor.

A warming of temperatures by 2C, which is well within the range of current environmental projections, could cause the value of homes near ski resorts in the western United States to fall by an average of 24 percent, the study found.

In areas where winter temperatures are already often close to the freezing mark, home values could decline as much as 31 percent to 56 percent. That would include ski centers in parts of New Mexico, Idaho, Montana and Arizona, the study said.

By contrast, resorts with more favorable climates, such as many of those in Colorado, will likely see little change in housing values.

Our investment so far has been away from solar and back into fossil fuels. Politics determines where we invest R&D money. Go to your local big box store and look where our solar products are made. The bulk of them are imports from countries whose governments subsidized building factories to produce them. Our government would rather rely on imported oil and imported solar cells than invest in solar development.

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Large scale solar energy operations are very expensive to build. Costs to make industrial/commercial grade solar panels are actually going up. Then you also have the problem that not every day is going to be sunny and you can’t make electricity at night.

I was watching it on you-tube, how a lot of people put it in there cars, and it seems to really work, just people who have tried it, let me know how it went, please. Please also list before and after mileage if able

on one side, you’re going to get people who tell you it’s great.
and post a website, where you can send your money.

on the other side, what should you expect?

how many do you expect to come out and say, “Yeah, i spent $1000 and it just ruined my car.”
how many people do you hear brag, “hey, i just got back from Vegas and lost $1000.”
or do you really think that everyone who comes back is a winner?
i mean, that’s the only thing you hear.

get real.
they’re not going to tell you they’re stupid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Mey…
http://waterpoweredcar.com/stanmeyer.htm…
which do you BELIEVE?
someone trying to get money from you?
or a judge who found that it’s a lie?

My goal for this school year is to become more active in helping preserve the environment. I’m already starting to spend more on the organic stuff and less on the other stuff, and my family is going to start recycling soon once we get in contact with the nearest company. What else can I do to help though?

Become a volunteer helping to clean beaches,parks etc.,recycle,use public transportation and assist in organized groups that have ongoing events to do such. Study classes like horticulture, marine biology and read books and literature pertaining to our enviornment. Learn about Global Warming and what U can do.