Helping you to reduce your carbon footprint

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. 

The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Here's a list of simple things you can do immediately:

Turn it off when not in use (lights, television, DVD player, Hi Fi, computer etc. etc...)

Turn down the central heating slightly (try just 1 to 2 degrees C).

Turn down the water heating setting (just 2 degrees will make a significant saving). 

Check the central heating timer setting - remember there is no point heating the house after you have left for work.

Fill your dish washer and washing machine with a full load - this will save you water, electricity, and washing powder.

Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need.

Do your weekly shopping in a single trip?

Hang out the washing to dry rather than tumble drying it.

 Sign up to a green energy supplier, who will supply electricity from renewable sources (e.g. wind and hydroelectric power) - this will reduce your carbon footprint contribution from electricity to zero.

 

Armed Men Attack Tajik Police Checkpoint

RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports that an unknown number of gunmen attacked a police checkpoint last night near the eastern Tajikistan town of Tavildara, which lies only about 12.5 miles from the Afghan border.

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By Planet Data

U.S. Frees 5 Iranians Held in Iraq for Over 2 Years

The U.S. military turned five Iranians over to Iraqi officials Thursday after detaining the men for more than two and half years. The Iranians were captured in January 2007 in the Kurdish-controlled city of Irbil. The U.S. accused them of being members of the elite Iranian Quds Force, and claimed they were in Iraq to arm Shiite militants. Iran claims the men are diplomats.

The exact reason for the release of these Iranians remains unclear. But, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari did tell the Los Angles Times, "There wasn't any deal. It was part of the agreement for the Americans, part of withdrawing and handing over security responsibilities." Presumably by "deal" Zebari means there is no prisoner swap deal in place between the U.S. and Iran.

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By Planet Data

New Monkey Discovered In Brazilian Amazon

Researchers have discovered a new sub-species of monkey in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest, a U.S.-based wildlife conservation group said on Tuesday.

The newly found monkey was first spotted by scientists in 2007 in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and is related to the saddleback tamarin monkeys, known for their distinctively marked backs, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said.

The small monkey, which is mostly gray and brown and weighs 213 grams (0.47 pound), has been named the Mura's saddleback tamarin after the Mura Indian tribe of the Purus and Madeira river basins where the new sub-species was found.

It is 240 millimeters (9.4 inches) tall with a 320 millimeter (12.6 inch) tail.

This newly described monkey shows that even today there are major wildlife discoveries to be made," Fabio Rohe, the lead author of a study confirming the new discovery, said in a statement released by the WCS.

The study found that the monkey is threatened by development projects in the region, including a major highway through the forest that is being paved and which could fuel deforestation.

This discovery should serve as a wake-up call that there is still so much to learn from the world's wild places, yet humans continue to threaten these areas with destruction.

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Chimps' Break For Lunch Forces Public From UK Zoo

Chester Zoo, Britain's most popular wildlife attraction, was evacuated on Sunday after 30 chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure.

The animals made their escape at lunchtime and found their way into a keeper area where their food is normally prepared.
Visitors were asked to leave the 110-acre zoo as keepers rounded up the chimps.
"We had an army of chimps eating their way through the keeper's kitchen and the decision was taken, quite rightly, to evacuate," a spokeswoman said.
"By around 4 pm we had managed to get all the chimps back in their enclosure, some of them with very full bellies."
There were no injuries to members of the public or staff and the zoo said the decision to evacuate was taken as a precautionary measure. It apologized for the incident and an investigation was underway into how the animals escaped.
Chester Zoo, in Cheshire, north west England, is home to more than 7,000 animals and attracts more than a million visitors each year.

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Taliban Hit Hard by 3 Suspected U.S. Drone Attacks

In the last two days there have been three suspected U.S. drone strikes targeting the Taliban in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region. Local officials tell the BBC the death toll is at least 40 people.

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By Planet Data

Nuclear Reactor Operator Admits Error, Fires Plant Chief

This past Saturday (7/4) a technical failure forced the shutdown of a nuclear power station in northern Germany. Deutsche Welle now reports that Vattenfall, the plant's Swedish operator, has admitted a mistake was made with the failed piece of equipment, and the director of the plant has been fired.

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By PLanet Data

How Much Energy Does It Take to Make Bottled Water?

Producing, packaging and transporting a liter of bottled water requires between 1,100 and 2,000 times more energy on average than treating and delivering the same amount of tap water, according to a peer-reviewed energy analysis conducted by the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Oakland, California.

Producing, packaging and transporting a liter of bottled water requires between 1,100 and 2,000 times more energy on average than treating and delivering the same amount of tap water, according to a peer-reviewed energy analysis conducted by the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Oakland, California.

Bottled water has become so popular that it now outsells both milk and beer in the United States. Carbonated soft drinks are the only bottled beverage that U.S. consumers buy in greater quantities than bottled water, and per-capita sales of bottled water are rising while per-capita sales of milk and soft drinks are going down. The irony here, of course, is that a lot of bottled water is little more than tap water, which costs very little and is much better regulated and more rigorously tested than bottled water.

By about.com

Kim Jong-il Makes Public Appearance

Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made a brief public appearance Tuesday at the ceremony to commemorate the 15th anniversary of his father's death. This is only the second confirmed appearance of Kim since he suffered a suspected stroke last August.

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By Planet Data

EACH PERSON'S EMISSIONS

By counting the emissions of all the individuals likely to exceed this level, world leaders could provide target emissions cuts for each country. Currently, the world average for individual annual carbon emissions is about 5 tons; each European produces 10 tons and each American produces 20 tons.

With international climate talks set to start this week in Italy among the countries that pollute the most, the authors hope policymakers will look at the strong link between how rich people are and how much carbon dioxide they emit.

Rich people's lives tend to give off more greenhouse gases because they drive more fossil-fueled vehicles, travel frequently by air and live in big houses that take more fuel to heat and cool.

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By Planet Tarc

Israel Has Not Asked U.S. for Permission for Iran Attack

 According to what The Washington Times is reporting today, Israel has not asked the Obama administration for its permission for a possible military attack on Iran's nuclear program. On the flip side to this, U.S. VP Biden on Sunday, and U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly yesterday made it clear that if Israel acts militarily against Iran then that's Israel's business and the U.S. won't dictate Israeli actions.

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By Planet Data

British Policing of G20 Protests Criticized, Reform Necessary

The UK's Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has completed its review of the policing operation at this past Spring's G20 summit in London. Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, called for the independent review after widespread public criticism of police tactics employed during demonstrations at the event. 

In general, the HMIC review finds that the MPS needs to significantly overhaul its policing operations for large events where demonstrations are expected. The Times' piece about the review highlights the need for the MPS to get its reforms in place before London hosts the 2012 Olympics.

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By Planet Data

U.S. Officers Targeted in Tunisian Terror Plot

 Reuters is reporting that Tunisian authorities have arrested and charged nine men over an alleged plot to kill American military officers visiting Tunisia for a joint military exercise. Two of the accused are Tunsian Air Force officers.

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By Planet Data

Toyota, sponsored National Tree Day

National Tree Day, proudly sponsored by Toyota, is Australia's biggest community tree-planting event. Since Tree Day started in 1996 more than 2 million volunteers have planted over 13 million native trees and shrubs.

To find more visit the

national tree day website

Chinese Floods Kill 15, Displace 550,000

- Flooding and heavy rain in southern China have forced 550,000 people to evacuate their homes and killed at least 15, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

The heavy rains that have raged for four days across southern provinces have destroyed houses, flooded crops, cut power, damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow.

Worst hit was Guangxi, where 285,800 people were moved out of their homes. Parts of the region were experiencing the worst flooding since 1996.

Workers dug sluices to relieve pressure on the Kama reservoir dam in Guangxi's Luocheng county, where a 13.5 meerr (44 ft) section gave way under the weight of the water on Saturday.

Chen Zhangliang, vice chairman of Guangxi region, said the sluices should alleviate the danger from the dam in a few days.

Crops on 103,400 hectares were damaged and 3,600 homes had collapsed by 11:40 p.m. EDT on Sunday, with total damage in Guangxi estimated at 1.34 billion yuan ($196.5 million), Xinhua said, citing the regional civil affairs department.

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By Planet Tarc

More Than 140 Dead in Western China Unrest

 In western China's Xinjiang province on Sunday a wave of violent protests by ethnic Uyghurs broke out in the provincial capital of Urumqi. More than 140 people are dead and hundreds more are injured. Exactly what is going on is difficult to determine as Chinese authorities are controlling local media reports, and restricting the amount of coverage available from local independent sources via Internet sites, like YouTube and Twitter, reports the BBC.

A report from China's state-run Xinhua news agency ties Sunday's violence to an incident last weekend in Shaoguan City in which a massive fight between ethnic Uyghurs and ethnic Hans broke out at a factory. Two Uyghurs died in the brawl, and dozens of people from both groups ended up in the hospital.

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By Planet Data

Italy Has Emergency Plan in Place for G8 Summit

The Italian government has announced it has an evacuation plan in place for the G8 Summit that begins Wednesday (7/8) in L'Aquila. It was necessary to disclose details of the emergency contingency plan after a 4.1 magnitude earthquake hit the town on Friday (7/3). L'Aquila is the site of the devastating April earthquake that left more than 300 people dead and tens of thousands homeless.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi decided to relocate the Summit from a Sardinian island to the town in order to honor the victims, and to better reflect the somber mood of global economy.

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By Planet Data

Suicide Bomber Targets Kandahar Airport

 A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden van detonated his payload at the main gate of Kandahar airport in Afghanistan Monday (7/6). At least 2 people died and more than a dozen were injured.

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By Planet Data

Australia Discovers 3 New Large Dinosaurs

Fossils of three new species of dinosaurs have been discovered in Australia, including a meat-eater larger than Velociraptor from the Jurassic Park movies, suggesting Australia may have a more complex prehistoric past.

The two plant-eating and one carnivore dinosaurs, the first large dinosaurs unearthed since 1981, were found in Queensland and date back 98 million years to the mid-Cretaceous period.

"It not only presents us with two new amazing long-necked giants of the ancient Australian continent, but also announces our first really big predator," paleontologist John Long, head of sciences at Museum Victoria said on Friday.

Paleontologist Ben Kear at La Trobe University in Melbourne said the discovery will pave the way for new studies on Australian dinosaurs and their environments.

"Australia is one of the great untapped resources in our current understanding of life from the Age of Dinosaurs," Kear said. "The discoveries...will definitely reinvigorate interest in the hitherto tantalizingly incomplete, but globally significant record from this continent..."

Australia's dinosaur fossil record has been extremely poor compared with North America, South America and Africa.

The new dinosaurs were unearthed during joint Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum and Queensland Museum digs at Winton in outback Queensland.

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By Planet Tarc

Cyprus Water Crisis Highlights Climate Change

The sun-baked earth in the empty pit at Kouris is a sign of the unprecedented water crisis facing the Mediterranean island. As climate change takes effect, authorities face the dilemma of how much to use energy-intensive desalination to beat the shortage.

"It's bad. Very bad," says Vlassis Partassides, head of water management at Cyprus's water development department. "If the drought continues for a fourth year, the consequences will be very severe," he told Reuters.

Reservoirs are less than 9 percent full and residents -- accustomed to treating water as a precious commodity -- are braced for another dry winter.

Cypriots' water bills come with graphs showing monthly consumption, and authorities are swift to alert households to abnormal spikes in use.

"I water my garden with water I have used for mopping up, and think twice about putting on the washing machine if I don't have a full load. It is something that worries us all," said Eleni Ioannou, 43, a resident of the Cypriot capital Nicosia.

Two desalination plants running at full capacity are not enough. Plans include emergency drilling to tap precious underground water deposits, further cuts to agriculture and a new desalination unit to come on stream next July.

With one of the highest concentrations of reservoirs in the world, Cyprus is no stranger to water shortages. While hydrologists can factor in inevitable periods of drought, the island can do little to arrest climate change.

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By Planet Tarc