Reuters: A small aboriginal village downstream from Alberta’s massive oil sands plants is calling for a moratorium on new projects in the region after a study found high levels of heavy metals and carcinogens in its fish and drinking water. The village of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, a one-time trading post on the northeast shore of Lake Athabasca with a population of 1,400, says oil sands developments may be responsible for rare types of cancer in the community, poor water quality and other …

Independent (UK): Asia will be hit especially hard by climate change, from China and India to tiny Pacific islands, and decades of human development across the continent will be pushed into reverse, a powerful coalition of aid and green groups reports today. With more than 60 per cent of the world’s population, Asia is where the human drama of global warming will be played out, according to the report from the alliance of 23 of Britain’s leading poverty and environmental campaigning groups, from Oxfam …

Wall Street Journal: To understand the deadlock in the debate on global climate change, take a look at your iPod. The vast majority of the world’s MP3 players are made in China, where the main power source is coal. Manufacturing a single MP3 player releases about 17 pounds of planet-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. IPods, along with thousands of other goods churned out by Chinese factories, from toys to rolled steel, pose a question that is becoming an issue in the climate-change debate. …

Financial Standards: The Chinese Government has formed its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) fund as part of its strategy to foster and finance projects for climate change. Inline with its Kyoto Protocol obligations, China’s CDM fund was launched last week and will use revenue from the country’s carbon trading to invest in climate change projects. The fund is the first of its kind, according to Financial Times, and follows the fact that 60 per cent of world’s carbon reduction projects are in …

CanWest News Service: Canadian motorists could save about $37 billion over the next decade if car manufacturers were forced to meet California’s fuel consumption standards for new cars, suggests a new report released by an environmental consultant. The study, produced for ClimateforChange.ca, said consumers might face additional costs to purchase cars with better technology, but that those expenses would be offset by significant savings in reduced fuel costs, economic spinoffs and a decrease in the …

Agence France-Presse: ENVIRONMENTAL groups condemned today an Australian company’s plan to dump hundreds of tonnes of fertiliser into Philippine waters as part of an experiment to combat climate change. The groups, including Greenpeace and civil society organisations, called on the Philippine Government to stop the experiment, known as "ocean fertilisation". "This is not a solution and is a dangerous diversion to the real solutions to address climate change," said Jasper …

Telegraph (UK): The Red Cross has just dropped off an emergency supply of drinking water. Now Tony Reames hands it out - one case per household - to the grateful townsfolk who come to his office. By dusk it has all gone and Mr Reames, the local mayor, drives up a dusty road to begin his daily ritual of turning on Orme’s water supply at 6pm. The sleepy community is suddenly a hive of activity as residents scramble to wash clothes, flush lavatories, take showers and store water for cooking and …

Having recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [search] is meeting in Spain Monday to finalize the landmark Fourth Synthesis Report on global warming. Scrutiny and criticism of the IPCC’s processes is growing [ark] despite their new found fame, and we share these concerns. The synthesis report may be badly out of date before it is even printed, past IPCC reports have been shown to be too conservative in their assessment of the climate threat, some current trends are already at the upper range of current IPCC projections, and even these conservative outdated finding will not be updated in 5 years.

The IPCC scientific process, like international and national government’s policy making processes, is falling dangerously behind with what’s happening to Earth’s climate systems and what must be done in response. Consider that:

The new report notably fails to take into account a batch of dramatic recent evidence, including the shrinkage of the Arctic ice cap, glacier loss in Greenland, a surge in levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and an apparent slowing of Earth’s ability to absorb greenhouse gases… Taken together… these phenomena suggest climate change is be occurring faster than expected — and may even unleash “tipping points” that could uncontrollably accelerate the damage.

The IPCC must get more involved in policy than generally concluding “to get ready for a warmer world and reduce emissions”. They must stop shying away from controversy, and resist relentless political pressure to water down drafts as they are finalized. Policy-makers need the best science truthfully and powerfully presented them, in order to set mid-term sizable emission reductions.

I concur that while the panel’s caution and rigor has built awareness and given credibility to climate change, it is now “time for the IPCC to move to a faster and more assertive track.. The issue now is what to do and how fast it needs to be done.” And first and foremost is to build the case for immediate and mid-term emissions reductions, rather than putting off the pain. It is rather nonsensical to speak boldly of far-off 80% GHG reduction targets for 2050, when in fact we need ambitious yet achievable carbon and other GHG emission reductions of 25% by 2015 and/or 35% by 2020. The longer we wait, the more change and possibility of a truly catastrophic outcome.

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A new poll finds mllions of people around the world are willing to make personal sacrifices [ark] to help address climate change. Ecological Internet has long noted there is little chance of addressing climate change and related global ecological crises without some degree of personal and societal sacrifice [search]. For this we have often been ridiculed and called naive — as many asserted there is no way the public would support this. A new BBC poll suggests otherwise [ark]. They found that substantial majorities in all countries (83% overall) are ready to make personal sacrifices in their lifestyle and behavior, including paying more for their energy, to help address climate change. And some 50% supported taxes on energy such as oil and coal — 77% if the revenues was used to promote energy efficiency or developing cleaner fuels. Approximately 22,000 people were polled across 21 countries.

Why are our leaders including Mr. Gore [search] not picking up on this sentiment and leading by example while asking for shared sacrifice to address climate change and achieve global ecological sustainability? Important personal sacrifices that need to be encouraged immediately are a willingness to pay more for renewable energy, to consume less and more equitably, and to have smaller families. Societally it is clear that clearing and burning — that is first-time logging of ancient forests and the burning of fossil fuels that emit into the atmosphere (particularly coal) — must end as soon as possible. Anyone that suggests that much of the world can continue to live wasteful excessive lifestyles (while the others aspire to do so) is either dangerously misinformed or a charlatan, and regardless, doing great harm to the Earth and humanity’s prospects.