::::: klima climate change center :::::

Site hits:

Ethanol as Gas Alternative Being Pushed by House
07 April 2005 (The Manila Times) - The House committee on energy has approved a consolidated bill calling for the formulation of Fuel Ethanol Program that would promote the use of ethanol derived from local sugar cane as an alternative transport fuel.

Canada and Auto Industry Sign Emissions Deal
06 April 2005 (Reuters/Planet Ark) - OTTAWA - Canada's auto industry has entered into a voluntary agreement with the federal government to cut greenhouse gas emissions in new vehicles, in an effort to help Canada meet its targets under the Kyoto protocol.

Air Rules Take Aim at Idling Trucks, Buses
06 April 2005 (The Telegraph) - Bus and truck drivers may have to cut off the air conditioning while they're parked this summer, if state and local officials succeed at creating new rules to limit engine idling.

Rice Output Forecast Cut on El Niño Impact
05 April 2005 (The Manila Times) - THE Department of Agriculture has set a rice production growth target of 3 percent to 4 percent this year, or lower than last year's 7.3-percent output hike.

Nine Million Chinese Face Drinking-Water Shortage
05 April 2005 (Reuters/Planet Ark) - BEIJING - Drought in China has left over nine million people facing drinking water shortages and could take a heavy toll on spring planting around the country, the China Daily reported on Monday.

Forecaster Predicts Active Atlantic Hurricane Season
04 April 2005 - MIAMI : Like last year, the coming Atlantic hurricane season will be fiercer than normal, with a heightened probability of a major hurricane making landfall in the United States, a noted forecaster said on Friday.

Japanese companies take lead in sustainable development
03 April 2005 - TOKYO:Corporate Japan is making strides in sustainable development, slashing the use of lead and other toxic substances in industry, embracing solar energy and making biodegradable plastic out of sugar beets.

UK CO2 Emissions Rise Again, May Miss Kyoto Target
01 April 2005 (Reuters/Planet Ark) - LONDON - Britain's carbon dioxide emissions rose by 1.5 percent last year mainly because of an increase in pollution from industry and the transport sector, the government said on Thursday.

Pagasa Says Expect Hotter Days Ahead
30 March 2005 (The Manila Times) - EXPECT hotter days ahead because of a high-pressure area that is weakening the cold front at the north of the country, the weather bureau said Tuesday.

PNOC Unit to Spend $40M on Geothermal Proj in Negros Oriental
30 March 2005 (Philippine Star) - PNOC-Energy Development Corp., a subsidiary of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), is planning to spend as much as $40 million for a geothermal development project in Dauin, Negros Oriental.

Japan Government Panel Approves Proposal to Cut Emissions under Kyoto Protocol
30 March 2005 (Environmental News Network) - TOKYO — A Japanese government panel on Tuesday approved a preliminary plan that aims to lower emissions from cars, buildings and factories over the next five years to meet targets set by the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

Earth's Health is Deteriorating as Growing Human Demands for Food, Water Strain Ecosystems, U.N. Study Finds
30 March 2005 (Environmental News Network) - TOKYO — Growing populations and expanding economic activity have strained the planet's ecosystems over the past half century, a trend that threatens international efforts to combat poverty and disease, a U.N.-sponsored study of the Earth's health

Air Pollution Presents Health Challenge for China's Children
30 March 2005 (VOA News) - China has some of the worst air pollution on the planet - some experts say 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in China. That dirty air is affecting the country's health - respiratory diseases are a leading cause of death in China,

Haze Hangs Over Singapore as Air Quality Worsens
30 March 2005
SINGAPORE - A layer of smoke descended over Singapore on Thursday, blown from Southeast Asia's pockets of raging bush fires and causing the island's

INTERVIEW - Kyoto Protocol Tough For Emerging Economies
29 March 2005
SEOUL - It will be impossible for emerging industrial powers such as China and South Korea ever to comply with the UN Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas

5 Airlines Cancel 28 Domestic Flights to Visayas Due to ‘Auring'
18 March 2005 (The Manila Times) - Hundreds of people were left stranded when five airlines canceled their domestic flights to and from Manila Thursday after typhoon “Auring” made landfall in the Visayas.

Haribon Paints Grim Scenario for RP Forest
18 March 2005 (The Manila Times) - THE country's forest cover by 2010 will dip to a critical 6 percent from the present 23.9 percent, environmentalists warned on

Thai Farmers Pray For Rain as Drought Bites Hard
18 March 2005 (Reuters/Planet Ark) - PHIMAI, Thailand - Like millions of Thai farmers, Luen Proongruan is desperate for rain to revive her rice crop and ease her perpetual battle against poverty.

Climate Change Inevitable in 21st Century
17 March 2005 (EurekAlert) - BOULDER--Even if all greenhouse gases had been stabilized in the year 2000, we would still be committed to a warmer Earth and greater sea level rise in the present century, according to a new study by a team of climate modelers at the National Center for

Mount Kilimanjaro Without Snow
16 March 2005 (The Daily Telegraph) - MOUNT Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, has been photographed stripped of its millennia-old snow and glacier peak for the first time, in a move used by environmentalists to show the perils of global warming.

Asian Water Shortages Forecast as Himalayan Glaciers Melt
15 March 2005 (Environment News Service) - GLAND, Switzerland, March 15, 2005 (ENS) - As the climate warms, Himalayan glaciers are melting more rapidly with each passing year, and that means first floods and then droughts

100 Water Trucks Tapped for Rationing
14 March 2005 (Malaya) - MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. (MWSI) started water rationing yesterday to counter the effects of El Nino and the decreasing level of water

Thai Drought Seen Hurting 2005 GDP Growth
14 March 2005 (Planet Ark) - BANGKOK - A severe drought in Thailand is threatening to weigh on economic growth this year, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Sunday after announcing new

Climate Threat Still With Us
10 March 2005 (Bangkok Post) - Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry Mario J. Molina has warned of an increasing severity of climate change and called on governments to step up efforts to cut use of fossil

Cold Nights Attributed to Global Warming
07 March 2005 (The Manila Times) - Global warming is causing the unusually cold nights that have gripped Metro Manila during the past days, the weather bureau

Global Warming on CNN
03 March 2005 (Malaya Newspaper) - FROM Alaska to the South Pacific, CNN Presents unravels the debate over climate change in a new hour-long documentary, "A Rising Tide: The Threat of Global Warming"

Don't Burn Your Trash
03 March 2005 (Malaya Newspaper) - BURNING garbage even in your own backyard is hazardous to your and other people's health. It becomes an even more serious problem

Local Gov'ts Urged to Take Lead in Clean Environment Efforts
23 February 2005 (Malaya Newspaper) - POORLY planned development, poor law enforcement of environmental rules, and lack of resources

Singapore Hit By Worst Dry Spell in 29 Years
23 February 2005 (Reuters/Planet Ark) - SINGAPORE - Singapore is suffering its worst dry spell in 29 years, sparking rare bush fires in the densely populated

ADB Vows Funds for Clean Energy
17 February 2005 (ABS-CBN News) - ADB vows funds for clean energy By DAVE LLORITO TODAY Research Head The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Hope is Kindled
17 February 2005 - Malaya - Greenpeace Southeast Asia A NEW dawn. This is our collective hope as we rise to meet the opening hours of February 16 - the historic day the climate treaty known as the Kyoto Protocol

Wind, Hydro Power: Energy of the Future
31 January 2005 (inq7.net) - IT WILL take more time, but the future may well be in alternative sources of energy.

Frost Damage in Benguet Costs P46M – Report
31 January 2005 (The Manila Times) - LA TRINIDAD, Benguet: Farmers here have lost an estimated P46,020,509.50 worth of crops because of frost, according to a report released by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.

Smoke Belchers Pollute DENR-LTO Relations
28 January 2005 (inq7.net) - THE implementation of the Clean Air Act of 1999, or Republic Act 8749, has become a tug of war between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Land Transportation Office.

Farmers Adjust After Frost Destroys Crops
28 January 2005 (The Manila Times) - BAGUIO CITY: Benguet farmers might consider making adjustment in planting their crops to avoid losing millions of pesos owing to frost brought by the extreme-cold climate

Poverty Top Issue at World Economic Forum
28 January 2005 (inq7.net) - DAVOS, Switzerland -- The problem of poverty tops the agenda of this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in this resort town.

Logging Did Not Cause Calamity, Says Expert
26 January 2005 (inq7.net) - LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines -- While government officials are trading barbs on who is to blame for the December landslides in Luzon, a team of forestry experts from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), yesterday said

Frost Destroys P35M Worth of Veggies
26 January 2005 (inq7.net) - LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Philippines -- After millions of pesos were lost on vegetable importation and recently from traders who refused to buy upland vegetables because of the