Explore Our Planet

According to current issue of Financial Times London a series of concerts is planned in July this year.

The event, scheduled for July 7, will feature co-ordinated film, music and television events in seven cities including London, Washington DC, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Kyoto, with major broadcasters and media owners aiming to extend the reach of public awareness of global warming.

There is a whisper telling Al Gore will announe these events tommorow.

More: Climate change concerts ‘to dwarf Live Aid’
Via: Climate Change Action

Update: The concerts are still not confirmed. Instead in an interview with CBS News Early Show Al Gore announced new ‘Virgin Earth Challenge’. The price is funded by tycoon Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group. For the most innovative way of sucking harmful greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere you’ll get $25 million.

cbsnews.com: Gore, Branson Announce Climate Prize

In 2004 the US Department of Defense commissioned a report prepared by GBN titled: An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security

Violence and disruption stemming from the stresses created by abrupt changes in the climate pose a different type of threat to national security than we are accustomed to today.

Military confrontation may be triggered by a desperate need for natural resources such as energy, food and water rather than by conflicts over ideology, religion, or national honor.

The shifting motivation for confrontation would alter which countries are most vulnerable and the existing warning signs for security threats.

Asking 5,800 adults in 20 countries: “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? - Damage to the environment must be reduced, even if it means slower economic growth.” Angus Reid Strategies and Maclean’s got following results:

via:
Angus Reid Global Monitor - U.S. Out of Step With World on Environment
Methodology details

The US, world’s biggest polluter and emitter of carbon dioxide and Australia, biggest coal exporter, are still refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Both bring forward the argument that unless China and India are not included, it would have negative impact on their economy.

Wednesday evening during the final meeting the EU delegation in particular Irish EU delegate Avril Doyle said the European Commission considers a punitive tariff on imports from countries guilty of gross environmental irresponsibility.

EU Environmental Minister Stavros Dimas confirmed that the commission in Brussels was looking into punitive tariffs. A study on “the pros and cons of such a measure” is in preparation.

The punitive tariffs will “balance out” economic irregularities in the “struggle against climate change,” according to Dimas. Countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol are faced with extra costs connected with the global trading of pollution certificates, which means they’re subject to rising prices on their products.

Earlier this week French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin rattled some nerves in Nairobi when he threatened to impose a carbon tax on the US and Australia for refusing to join Kyoto.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said: “Well that is a thoroughly silly proposal and is totally out of touch with reality”.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday ridiculed the French tax proposal, running a photograph of a mushroom cloud from a French nuclear test in the South Pacific in 1971, with a headline “Back off, Frogs”.

Spiegel: Pollution Penalties for the US?

Daily Telegraph: Hopping mad over French sneer

Le Monde: “Taxe carbone” européenne : l’Australie enrage

sea level global warming climate change greenhouse Kyoto

Though far away from a quantitative tool Google Trends allows some qualitative analysis. Live picture above shows how often Google was used for searches with environmental relevant english keywords.

It seems digital Zeitgeist does not mind the dynamic and delicate state of our Planet. Except one or two light blue peaks probably caused by hurricane season 2005. And the rising trend of ‘global warming’ since Christmas 2005 gives reason for cautious optimism.

If you like to get an impression about the numbers in total, click the picture, go to the real site and replace ‘kyoto’ with ‘weather’ or ‘environment’.

Update:blogpulse generates similar graph over blog posts using Nielsen BuzzMetrics data.