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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

The calculator can be found here.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.