No reason to assume cold European winter ahead – too many sunspots

The cold winter of 2011-2012 that some meteorologists have predicted for Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark is in fact to be called unlikely.

European winter forecast 2011-2012
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CO2 highlights of new IEA report

New IEA energy report on fossil fuel CO2We already know the downturn of 2009 led to a 4 day CO2 emissions pause and (thanks to another IEA release) that 2010 brought a new fossil fuel CO2 emissions record (of 30.6 Gt) – which contributed to a record-high increase of atmospheric CO2 concentrations (+2.6 ppm).

We are now of course in anticipation of 2011 figures. But it is also worthwhile to better analyse the previous years – and get to the nitty-gritty of energy-related emission sources, as the World Energy Outlook 2011 does.

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IEA World Energy Outlook 2011: ‘we need to invest 10,000,000,000,000 dollars in oil’

IEA World Energy Outlook 2011On Wednesday the International Energy Agency will release the 2011 edition of the World Energy Outlook. Some energy investment figures from the new IEA report have already been made available though – including a proposed 10 trillion dollar investment in oil production, which would be required between now and the year 2035.

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Indian aerosol pollution stimulates tropical cyclones over Arabian Sea – because of monsoon disturbance

cyclones Arabian Sea India monsoonWhite sulfur aerosols cool the climate; black carbon soot warms the climate. So when you mix the two kinds of aerosol pollution up in the Asian brown cloud, one would expect climate effects to even out.

Unfortunately in our physical world things are never that simple.

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Carbon nanotubes have unexpected negative impact on environment

Algae and carbon nanotubesCarbon nanotubes are stronger than steel, harder than diamond, light as plastic and conduct electricity better than copper.

It is no wonder they can be found in an increasing range of products, ranging from tennis rackets to solar cells and consequently end up in the environment in increasing quantities.

But much is still unknown about the effect of these nanotubes on the environment. Especially aquatic systems are of interest since that is where most nanoparticles eventually end up. New research now shows that carbon nanotubes at least are not toxic for green algae. Good news for the algae. Or is it?

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UNEP hands world homework for Earth Summit 2012

Among green geopolitical milestones there are a few true megaliths. Probably one can count in the world assemblees in Copenhagen and Kyoto, but the real foundations for international environmental cooperation were laid decades before.

UNEP report Rio Summit
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