NEW DELHI The Indian National Commission on Farmers suggested last week (10 January) that India should form a ‘bioshield’ against coastal storms and tsunamis by planting a belt of vegetation along its coastlines.

M. S. Swaminathan, head of the commission and chair of the Chennai-based M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, said plantations of mangrove forests, palms, bamboos and other plants that tolerate high levels of salt could play a double role.

Complete article: ‘Bioshield’ proposed to protect India’s coast (SciDev)

UK and Japanese scientists will join forces at the British Embassy in Tokyo to formalise a collaboration that it is claimed will significantly advance the science of predicting climate change for the 21st century.

The aim of this five year partnership is to combine the brainpower of top UK and Japanese climate science experts with cutting edge supercomputing technology in Japan. The UK is investing A$1.4 million in the initiative.

Complete article: Experts in climate change study (icKent)

Tony Blair’s commitment to tackle climate change was questioned yesterday by opposition MPs who condemned his “scandalous” attempt to block an EU-wide target to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Minutes of meetings from the Council of Ministers in Brussels last month which were released this week showed that Britain tried to delete a proposal for developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 to 80 per cent by 2050. At the meeting, Britain, backed by a handful of other EU countries, including Poland and Portugal, made a formal move to replace the target with an aspiration for increased reduction efforts.

Complete article: Blair’s greenhouse gas policy ’scandalous’ (The Independent)

Even the deep sea is not off-limits to atmospheric carbon dioxide. As levels of the greenhouse gas soar, some is making its way into the upper ocean.

Now, the deep sea is being looked at as a possible storage site for carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels. On Tuesday, a team of researchers set sail from Moss Landing to learn more about what that might mean for deep-sea animals.

Complete article: Researchers studying effects of carbon dioxide on ocean (Monterey Herald)

Hansen, a lifelong government employee who heads NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, has inspired both anger and awe in the nation’s scientific and political communities since publicly denouncing the Bush administration’s policy on climate change last year.

Speaking in the swing state of Iowa days before the presidential election, Hansen accused a senior administration official of trying to block him from discussing the dangerous effects of global warming.

Complete article: Putting Some Heat on Bush (Washington Post)

A case can be made, not a certain one but a strongly persuasive one, that Canada would have done a lot more good for the cause of global climate control by not signing the Kyoto treaty, which comes into effect in just four weeks.

Having signed on (and having endlessly congratulated ourselves for doing more than those selfish, rapacious Americans), our government finds itself in the embarrassing position that there’s quite obviously no way we can fulfill the Kyoto commitments we’ve taken on.

Complete article: We’re faking and fibbing on Kyoto (The Star)