Following on from yesterday's damning revelations about the World Bank, another Bretton Woods institution is telling us that we can all relax. The IMF say that it is all going to be fine. "Climate change is a potentially catastrophic global externality and one of the world's greatest collective ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in April 2008, about Industry & Business, Politics & Government, Weather
Big corporations have not been slow to recognise the potential business opportunities in the warmer Arctic. As the ice reduces, it becomes a whole lot easier to mine, extract and deforest commercially -- and local indigenous groups are getting a bit worried. One particularly scary scenario involves a fight over the ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in April 2008, about Coal & Oil, Industry & Business, Politics & Government, War, Water, Weather
Senegal is a small country in West Africa of about 12 million people. According to UNDP figures, only 39% of adults are literate, the average person earns about US$1,800 per year and life expectancy is a little over 62 years. So it is not really the sort of ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in April 2008, about Agriculture & Food
The updated London Congestion Zone charges will lead to increased carbon dioxide emissions, according to emails Celsias has been sent from a 'green' insurance company and their PR company and is reported on the UK Clean Green Cars website. Given it is April 1, so we are particularly conscious of ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in April 2008, about Transport
Thankfully Paddington Bear wasn't travelling this last weekend! (he still has his suitcase, and sandwich) We have been away for a few days to attend a friend's wedding. In that time it has been hard to avoid news of Heathrow's Terminal 5. According to the airport's ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in March 2008, about Transport
Source: Flickr It sounds like something from a fairy tale: one particularly stupid pig built a house made from newspaper. But this is what the artist Sumer Erik has built in a London suburb. The idea is to highlight the issue of the massive volume of free newspapers thrown away ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in March 2008, about Architecture
Today is five years since the invasion of Iraq This post is part of the March 19 Iraq blogswarm Other posts in today's series are here and here In the early 1990s, Saddam Hussein had a plan. He would drain the marshes, forever changing the traditional lives of the ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in March 2008, about Agriculture & Food, Environment & Wildlife, Politics & Government, War, Weather
I've decided I need a bit of a break. I quite fancy seeing more of Europe, so first I am flying to Ireland for a few days, then to Sweden and Norway. I'm looking forward to it. These three return flights from London have cost me about $12 ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in March 2008, about Consumerism, Transport
A farmer from Augusta sued the Agriculture Department after hundreds of his cows died of poisoning. Last week, he won a settlement worth $1.5 million from the city. The interesting thing about this story is that the farmer had been spreading sewage sludge onto his land and this was ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in March 2008, about Agriculture & Food
The main environmental news of the last month was the Svalbard Seed Bank. Svalbard, a bunch of islands off the North of Norway, is cold. Really, really cold. The idea is that this dark and desolate natural freezer is the perfect place to store the world's botanical heritage. Great ... keep reading
Written by Joe Turner in March 2008, about Agriculture & Food
