09/03/2011 by admin.

A report on the BBC News website, from research shown in Geophysical Research Letters, says that ice loss from Greenland and Antartica has accelerated over the last 20 years.

Between them, Greenland and Antartica were losing 475 BILLION tonnes of ice per year by 2006, but the average loss from Greenland is increasing by 22 billion tonnes a year, and that from Antartica an additional 14.5 billion tonnes a year.

If these increases carry on, sea levels could rise by 15cm by 2050 due to melted ice from the polar ice sheets.

(A combination of melt water from mountain glaciers and thermal expansion of sea water could see an additional similar rise.)

Projecting this forward to 2100, sea levels could rise by 56cm just by the ice melting from the two polar caps.

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04/02/2011 by admin.

In 2005 a drought in the Amazon region was so severe it was called a ‘once in a century event’.

Normally, the Amazon rain forest will absorp about 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, but scientists think that the drought will actually ADD 5 billion tonnes of CO2 due to trees that dies starting to rot, and also less trees to absorb the CO2.

In 2010 there was another Amazon drought, this time potentially even worse than the 2005 one. Initial estimates put the additional CO2 from the 2010 drought at 8 billion tonnes. To put this in perspective, in 2009 the US emitted about 5.4 billion tonnes of CO2.

So much for a ‘once in a century event’…

Unfortunately, these droughts could become more common with climate change, and ultimately could make the Amazon basin a net carbon emitter instead of a valuable carbon sink. More info at the BBC and Yahoo wbesites.

As more and more evidence is found to show that climate change is happening and is a real concern, we all need to do our bit for the environment. To help you get started, there are lots of easy green tips on the Green Saving Expert website. Take a look, and let all your friends, family and colleagues know. Together we can make a difference.

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24/01/2011 by admin.

The British Met Office, using data from it’s Hadley Centre and the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, says that 2010 was the second warmest year on record, only being beaten by 1998.

The UN’s World Meteorlogical Organisation (WMO), which uses this data as well as that from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says that 2010 was the warmest year on record, but statistical margins of uncertainity make it a tie with 2005 and 1998.

The ten hottest years on record have all been since 1998.

Part of the reason for the high temperatures was due to El Nino conditions, and 2011 is likely to be down slightly due to La Nina conditions, but there is no denying the fact the underlying average is on an upwards trend.

More information can be found on the BBC News website (which includes a graph showing the average temperature since 1850), and on the Guardian website.

Don’t forget that there are lots of tips on how you can reduce your carbon footprint on the Green Saving Expert website - please pass this on to everyone you know. Thanks!

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15/01/2011 by admin.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have said that 2010 was the joint warmest year on record, based on global surface temperatures. Both 2010 and 2005 were 0.62C above the 20th century average.

Other points to note are:

1) 2010 was also the wettest year on record based on global average precipitation

2) The Atlantic has the second highest number of hurricanes on record, and the third highest number of  storms

3) The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 390 ppm, the highest level for at least 800,000 years, and 40% higher than pre Industrial Revolution levels.

More info can be found on the Yahoo news website.

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21/12/2010 by admin.

I have just come across the World View Of Global Warming website, which is a ‘Photographic view of climate change’.

The page I have linked to shows different glaciers with ‘then and now’ images showing how they have shrunk.

Please let me know if you come across any other websites with great photos.

 Talking about photos, if you have ever thought about making money from your photos, or have wanted to get into stock photography (specifically microstock photography), there is a very good beginner’s guide on the TakeStockPhotography website.

Finally, wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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28/11/2010 by admin.

According to the World Meteorlogical Organization, 2009 (the latest year they have figures for) reached record levels for the greenhouse gases.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is now 386.8 ppm (pre-industrial era level was 280 ppm)

Methane (CH4) is now 1803 ppb (pre-industrial era level was 700 ppb)

Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is now 322.5 ppb (pre-industrial level was 270 ppb)

You can see all the details in the WMO document here.

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27/11/2010 by admin.

NASA are saying that 2010 looks likely to be the hottest year on record.

The British Met Office thinks it will be the second hottest year, but is very confident that it is down to man-made global warming. The previous record was for 1998, when there was a strong El Nino event, but this has been much weaker this year.

More information can be found on the BBC News website, and the Telegraph website. 

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25/11/2010 by admin.

The Centre for Alternative Technology has created a web-based Solar PV Calculator for the UK.

You enter basic information such as Panel Size, Location, and Roof Orientation and Slope, and it gives rough figures for the amount of energy generated and savings produced. You can find the calculator here.

This calculator is based on a more detailed European version, PVGIS, which can be found here.

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25/11/2010 by admin.

There have been a few reports on carbon emissions this week.

Because of the recession, carbon emissions actually dropped in 2009, but not by as much as had been predicted.

Overall, global emissions dropped by 1.3% in 2009, but in previous years had been growing at about 3%/year, and is now expected to carry on growing at that rate. More details can be found here.

Under the Copenhagen Accord, 80 countries agreed to cut emissions by 2020. However, even if ALL these cuts are met, it will only provide about 60% of the cuts that are needed to stop temperatures rising by 2C. In fact, we could be on course for temperatures to increase by 4C by the end of the century.

Global emissions are currently running at about 48 GIGATONS/year.

If countries just carry on as normal, this will increase to 56 gigatons by 2020.

If all the pledges are met, this will result in emissions of 49 gigatons by 2020.

However, if we want to keep the temperature rise to 2C, emissions will have to fall to just 44 gigatons by 2020….

More info can be found on the BBC News website and the Daily Telegraph website.

Finally, shops have been criticised for leaving their doors open with the heating on, and using twice as much fuel for heating as necessary. More information can be found here.

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20/08/2010 by admin.

New research suggests that simple energy saving measures at home could cut Britain’s CO2 emissions by a third (40 megatonnes a year). This is much higher than previously thought by the government, as the original figures were based on an average emissions rate for all the different types of power station, whereas the power stations that respond to extra demand are usually the higher carbon coal and gas ones.

This new research comes from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, and more details can be seen on the Independent website.

Of course, if you want a good list of energy saving ideas in the home, all you need to do is visit the Green Saving Expert website.

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18/08/2010 by admin.

The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has provided a calculator for anybody to use to see what effect different policies would have on the UK’s energy supply in 2050. The government had set a target of reducing CO2 emmissions by 80% by 2050.

The calculator can be found here.

You can also see how Michael McCarthy at the Independent newspaper got on with the calculator here.

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15/08/2010 by admin.

A worrying report suggests that rice yields in Asia could fall with global warming.

Researchers have shown that as night time temperatures increase, rice yields drop.

More details can be found here.

As world population continues to grow, climate change could have a big impact on future food supplies. It is a time bomb just waiting to happen and could have disastrous effects later this century.

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13/08/2010 by admin.

The first seven months of 2010 had the highest global temperatures since records began in 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They also said that the majority of evidence shows that humans are impacting global warming. More information can be found on Yahoo.

Global climate change is also partly to blame for the Russian heatwave and wildfires around Moscow, according to experts at the UK Met Office and WWF Russia. See the BBC News website for more information.

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01/08/2010 by admin.

In order for the UK to meet energy demands in the coming years, and to meet it’s climate change targets, energy costs will have to rise. Electricity costs could go up by a third, and gas prices could go up by a fifth. More details can be found on the Telegraph website.

The government has said that people will have to make ambitious cuts in their own consumption in order to offset this. Remember that you can find lots of tips on saving energy on the Green Saving Expert website.

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01/08/2010 by admin.

A report compiled by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Met Office has shown that the world is definitely warming. More than 100 scientists from 20 institutions have compiled data for 10 key indicators and all point to the same result. Each of the last three decades has now been warmer than the decade before.

More information can be found on the Telegraph website and the Met Office website.

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16/06/2010 by admin.

The BBC News website shows the breakdown of CO2 emissions in UK homes as follows :

Space Heating = 47%

Hot Water = 22%

Lighting = 6%

Fridges and Freezers = 6%

Consumer Electronics = 6%

“Wet” Appliances = 5%

Cooking = 4%

Phones, wi-fi, etc = 4%

 It would be interesting to see how much this varies from house to house, but at least it gives an idea of where to start with energy savings. The graph of the above can be found here.

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16/06/2010 by admin.

The Energy Saving Trust has created an online Water Energy Calculator which estimates how much water you use, how much energy is used to heat that water, and much CO2 is emitted to heat that water.

The calculator can be found at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/watercalculator/flashcalculator

Once you have given it the required information, it gives advice on how you can save water and energy.

Give it a go and see what you think.

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23/04/2010 by admin.

It is now getting quite common on the motorways and dual-carriage ways in the UK to have long stretches of roadworks, with average speed cameras over the distance (normally set to 50mph). Keeping everyone at a steady speed usually helps the traffic flow smoothly. Although no-one likes being help up, even for a few seconds by driving slower, what impact does this have from a green point of view? A steady speed of 50 mph is probably very efficient for all types of vehicles on the road.

Let’s make some rough assumptions :

Length of roadworks = 5 miles

Number of vehicles = 20000/day

Average miles-per-gallon at ‘normal’ speeds = 35 mpg

Average miles-per-gallon at steady 50 mph = 45 mpg 

 CO2 emissions = 10.9 Kg/gallon

So, normally , the emissions over this 5 mile stretch = 20000 * 5 / 35 * 10.9 = 31142 Kg CO2

At steady 50 mph, the emissions are 20000 * 5 / 45 * 10.9 = 24222 Kg CO2

This gives a reduction of 6920 Kg CO2 every day that this is in place. When you think that these large roadworks are normally in place for months at a time, this adds up to massive CO2 reductions. Something to bear in mind next time you hear someone moaning about the roadworks. It may take them slightly longer to drive the route, but it will save them money and help the environment.

For more tips on greener driving, don’t forget to take a look on the Green Saving Expert website.

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31/03/2010 by admin.

The confused.com website has come up with a list of the Top 10 Energy Saving Gadgets.

Some are more useful that others… take a look here to see the list.

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31/03/2010 by admin.

The people over at 10:10 have a campaign to keep the UK’s clocks one hour ahead all year round, so winter would be GMT +1 hour, and summer would be GMT +2 hours. This would move one hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, when most people would be awake to enjoy it.

You can find more info, and can sign up, on the 10:10 Lighter Later website.

What has this to do with Green Saving?

They have listed many benefits of this change, but the main one is cutting at least 447,000 tonnes of CO2 pollution each year. The list of benefits can be found here. Another key benefit is that it will save 100 lives each year by making the roads safer.

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