Archivo etiqueta «Medio ambiente»
By Heherson Alvarez, a former Philippine senator and environment secretary, and is currently Commissioner of the Philippine Climate Commission, and John Topping, Jr., President of the Washington, DC-based Climate Institute and a co-author of Sudden and Disruptive Climate Change (Project Syndicate, 23/11/11):
In 1997, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Kyoto Protocol – an agreement among signatory states to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. In 2012, however, the Clean Development Mechanism, a system of carbon credits in which each credit represents a country’s right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide (CO2), is set to … Seguir leyendo
By John Ashton, the Foreign Office’s special representative for climate change (THE GUARDIAN, 14/11/11):
The lesson the world is learning the hard way from the financial crisis is that there is only one boat and we are all in it. To stay afloat, we need rules tough enough to stop systemic risks becoming systemic collapses. This lesson is as true for the environment as it is for the economy.
A key battle in the campaign to build an effective system of global rules will shortly take place in Durban, where the UN climate negotiations reopen at the end of … Seguir leyendo
Por Joaquín Araújo, naturalista. Premio Global 500 de la ONU y dos veces Premio Nacional de Medio Ambiente (EL MUNDO, 24/10/11):
Lo que relata la basura es verdad. Y entre otras muchas cosas nos cuenta que somos lo que desechamos. Sí, así. Porque si bien prácticamente todo individuo, y por extensión toda sociedad, es una multiplicidad de propósitos -y sólo algunos logros-, lo que mejor nos define es lo que producimos en mayor cantidad. Obviedad tan olvidada como en absoluto deseable.
Claro está que todos quisiéramos ser nuestro mejor deseo y no el resultado final de un bulímico modo de devorar … Seguir leyendo
Por Rolando Fuentes-Bracamontes, director general de Verde Economista, empresa de consultoría dedicada a temas de Energía y Medio Ambiente en México (REAL INSTITUTO ELCANO, 15/09/11):
Tema: En este ARI se estudian las principales consecuencias del cambio climático para algunos países clave de Latinoamérica. Se presentan además las políticas de mitigación, adaptación y las posiciones asumidas en las negociaciones internacionales sobre cambio climático. Derivados de los resultados alcanzados en COP16 –los Acuerdos de Cancún– se presentan también los avances más reseñables en las negociaciones internacionales rumbo a COP17, que se celebrará en Durban, Sudáfrica.
Resumen: América Latina no se … Seguir leyendo
By Gernot Wagner, an economist at the Environmental Defense Fund and the author of the forthcoming But Will the Planet Notice? (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 08/09/11):
You reduce, reuse and recycle. You turn down plastic and paper. You avoid out-of-season grapes. You do all the right things.
Good.
Just know that it won’t save the tuna, protect the rain forest or stop global warming. The changes necessary are so large and profound that they are beyond the reach of individual action.
You refuse the plastic bag at the register, believing this one gesture somehow makes a difference, and then … Seguir leyendo
By Frances G. Beinecke, the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council who served on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 18/08/11):
About 55,000 gallons of oil have escaped into the North Sea since last week from a leaky pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell, about 100 miles off Scotland.
Last year, Americans watched in mounting fury as the oil industry and the federal government struggled for five disastrous months to contain the much larger BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.
Now imagine the increased danger and … Seguir leyendo
By Leighton Steward, a geologist, environmentalist, author and retired energy industry executive. He currently heads the organization Plants Need CO2 (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 11/08/11):
Al Gore, the world’s foremost pseudo- scientist, is blasting skeptical scientists for their adherence to the centuries-old scientific method. Having tested the man-made global warming hypothesis with empirical observations, many scientists have come to different conclusions, causing Mr. Gore to become the Lenny Bruce of the environmental extremist gang. Speaking at the Aspen Institute on Aug. 4, Mr. Gore blasted alternative climate-change theories, publicly labeling them “bulls-t” – his words, not mine.
Having already … Seguir leyendo
By Juliet Eilperin, the national environmental reporter for The Washington Post and the author of Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks (THE WASHINGTON POST, 05/08/11):
Ten years ago, it seemed as if the nation was living a real-life version of “Jaws,” in which every beach harbored a potential threat. It started on July 6, when 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast had his arm bitten off by a bull shark off Pensacola, Fla. The incident was both horrifying and dramatic: Arbogast’s uncle pulled the shark to shore, allowing emergency medical personnel to get the boy’s arm out of the … Seguir leyendo
By Heidi Cullen, a scientist at Climate Central, a journalism and research organization and the author of The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes From a Climate-Changed Planet (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 20/07/11):
Enjoying the heat wave?
The answer is probably no if you live in Abilene, Tex., where temperatures have been at or above 100 degrees for 40 days this summer. It’s been a little cooler in Savannah, Ga., where the mercury hit 90 or more for 56 days in a row. Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma are coping with their driest nine-month … Seguir leyendo
By David Rothbard, president of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow and Craig Rucker, CFACT’s executive director (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 28/06/11):
As the United Nations wrapped up its recent climate conference in Bonn, talks organizer Christiana Figueres proclaimed that climate change is the “the most important negotiation the world has ever faced.” Faced with real problems – financial meltdowns, unemployment, war and genuine human suffering – the world no longer agrees.
It’s a good thing human productivity doesn’t threaten the global thermostat the way the U.N. would have us believe. If it did, we’d be cooked. Countries rich … Seguir leyendo
By Thomas E. Lovejoy, professor of science and public policy at George Mason University and biodiversity chairman at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 11/06/11):
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are pushing 400 parts per million (p.p.m.) — up from the natural pre-industrial level of 280 p.p.m. Emissions for last year were the highest ever. Rather than drift along until a calamity galvanizes the world, and especially the United States, into precipitous action, the time to act is now.
The biology of the planet indicates we are already … Seguir leyendo
Por Achim Steiner, Director Ejecutivo del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente, Helen Clark, ex Primera Ministra de Nueva Zelanda y Administradora del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo, y Kandeh Yumkella, Director General de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Industrial. Traducido del inglés por Carlos Manzano (Project Syndicate, 09/05/11):
La energía renovable desencadena opiniones profundamente polarizadas. Para algunos, es un trasto inútil y costoso; para otros, es la salvadora de la Humanidad, que promete liberarnos a nosotros (y nuestro medio ambiente) de la “locura” de los combustibles … Seguir leyendo
By Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and the author of Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming (THE WASHINGTON POST, 20/04/11):
As the world’s factory floor, China is not an obvious environmental leader. It is beleaguered by severe pollution and generates more carbon emissions than any other nation. Yet many have trumpeted it as an emerging “green giant” for its non-carbon-based energy production and its aggressive promises to cut carbon emissions. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman described China’s “green leap forward” as “the most important thing to happen” at the end … Seguir leyendo
Por Lara Lázaro Touza, investigadora, Real Instituto Elcano (REAL INSTITUTO ELCANO, 21/03/11):
Tema: Las ciudades emiten entre el 60% y el 80% de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) a nivel mundial, y consumen aproximadamente esos mismos porcentajes de la energía mundial. Además, tienen un gran potencial de mitigación. Estas características hacen que la ciudad sea un espacio clave en la consecución de futuros compromisos climáticos.
Resumen: Este ARI estudia las características clave de las ciudades como principales emisores de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) y consumidores de energía. Además, hace un repaso de las fuentes y … Seguir leyendo
By Sarah Stephens, executive director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, an independent organization focused on U.S.-Cuba relations and U.S. relations with Latin America (LOS ANGELES TIMES, 14/03/11):
Cuba and its foreign partners will begin exploring for oil this year in the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling will take place as close as 50 miles from Florida and in sites deeper than BP’s Macondo well, the source of last year’s disaster. About 5 billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas lie beneath the gulf in land belonging to Cuba, according to the U.S. … Seguir leyendo