Increasing amounts of ice mass have been lost from West Antarctica and the Antarctic peninsula over the past ten years, according to research from the University of Bristol and published online this week in Nature Geoscience.

Meanwhile the ice mass in East Antarctica has been roughly stable, with neither loss nor accumulation over the past decade.

Professor Jonathan Bamber at the University of Bristol and colleagues estimated the flux of ice from the ice sheet into the ocean from satellite data that cover 85% of Antarctica’s coastline, which they compared with simulations of snow accumulation over the same period, obtained using a regional climate model.

They arrived at a best estimate of a loss of 132 billion tonnes of ice in 2006 from West Antarctica – up from about 83 billion tonnes in 1996 – and a loss of about 60 billion tonnes in 2006 from the Antarctic Peninsula.

Professor Bamber said: “To put these figures into perspective, four billion tons of ice is enough to provide drinking water for the whole of the UK population for one year.”

The authors conclude that the Antarctic ice sheet mass budget is more complex than indicated by the evolution of its surface mass balance or climate-driven predictions. Changes in glacier dynamics are significant and may in fact dominate the ice sheet mass budget. This conclusion is contrary to model simulations of the response of the ice sheet to future climate change, which conclude that it will grow due to increased snowfall.

The ice loss is concentrated at narrow glacier outlets with accelerating ice flow, which suggests that glacier flow has altered the mass balance of the entire ice sheet.

Over the 10 year time period of the survey, the ice sheet as a whole was certainly losing mass, and the mass loss increased by 75% during this time. Most of the mass loss is from the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica and the northern tip of the Peninsula where it is driven by ongoing, pronounced glacier acceleration. In East Antarctica, the mass balance is near zero, but the thinning of its potentially vulnerable marine sectors suggests this may change in the near future.

A project to clear 60,000 hectares of  rainforest on biodiversity rich Woodlark Island in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, and to replace it with an oil palm plantation for biofules have been shelved after the developers Vitroplant withdrew.

PNG’s Minister for Agriculture and Livestock says no oil palm development will take place on Woodlark Island.

Intenational protest is said to have embarrassed the PNG government and highlighted the contradiction of their support of carbon payments for avoided deforestation.

Following the direction of local peoples, Ecological Internet’s Earth action network was able to generate nearly 50,000 protest emails from 3,000 people in 72 countries.

“We welcome reports that the Woodlark oil palm project is dead,” states Ecological Internet’s President Dr. Glen Barry. “Yet campaigning highlighted the hypocrisy of their support of carbon payments for avoided deforestation and will continue until Woodlark is legally removed from consideration for agricultural deforestation, and the land is returned to its residents.”

“The power of networks of informed Earth citizens to support local conservation action and an end to ancient rainforest logging has again been demonstrated. The forces of ecological destruction must be confronted and defeated,” asserts Dr. Barry.

Ecological Internet’s PNG rainforest campaign seeks legally binding assurances that palm oil and other biofuels will not be developed on currently forested lands, and the elimination of PNG’s industrial log export industry. Only then will payments for rainforest protection be justified.

More info

Get Energy Efficient Windows

If you’re home is single glazed or your double glazing was installed prior to April 2002 then you could be losing heat and therefore money, literally out of the window. However, by switching to Energy Efficient Windows (EEW’s) you can save energy and reduce your household bills by as much as *£461 per year.To help make choosing Energy Efficient Windows easier for householders, the British Fenestration Ratings Council (BFRC), has launched a ratings system, based on the energy label found on all new washing machines and tumble dryers. All windows are rated from ‘A’ to ‘E’ with ‘A’ being the most energy efficient. This labelling allows householders to simply and quickly compare the energy efficiency of competing products.So what are Energy Efficient Windows? They are windows that help to contain and conserve heat within your home during the winter, cool it in the summer, keep out wind and resist condensation. They can be made using any frame you choose, timber, PVCu or aluminum.

If you live in a single glazed house and install Energy Efficient Windows, you could reduce the energy you use by 0.30 tonnes or 18% - almost reaching the Government target of 20%. Add to this other energy saving measures and you could be making a real impact in reducing your carbon footprint.

On the weekend of the 26-27 January 2008, the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch takes place. It’s the world’s biggest bird survey and the RSPB’s biggest event of the year!

Last year over 400,000 people took part by counting the birds in their garden for an hour. It’s really simple to do so you don’t have to be an expert and it gives the RSPB a vital snapshot of the UK’s birds each winter. Over a period of just one hour, participants are asked to record the highest number of each bird species seen in their garden (not flying over) at any one time. Then all you do is note them on the counting sheet provided and send it in to the RSPB. Scientists can then use the information and patterns in bird numbers to help prioritise our bird conservation work.

 Last year over 400,000 people, ranging from beginners to experts took part and it is the sheer quantity of records that has enabled the RSPB to monitor and understand more about population trends of UK garden birds.  Since the survey started in 1979 the number of house sparrows have fallen by 56% and starlings by a staggering 76%, however as the RSPB point out ‘it isn’t all bad news – chaffinches and great tits have both seen their numbers increase since 1979 by 36 and 52 per cent respectively’. 

Get involved here

Sustainable Value: How Mainstream Companies Do Well by Doing Good

Published 31 January 2008

A small but influential group of mainstream global industry leaders are now reinventing the role of business in society. They are shifting the focus away from minimizing negative impacts to offering new solutions to global problems that the public sector has been unable to tackle alone. In this new competitive environment, societal challenges such as climate change or the alleviation of global poverty are not only risks, but huge business opportunities, not only for niche players, but for mainstream business.

These leaders are creating ‘Sustainable Value’. They are creating it through the provision of value to both their shareholders and their stakeholders — an ever-growing list of diverse constituents impacted by the social, environmental, and financial performance of global business. In short, they are doing well by doing good.

In this outstanding book, Chris Laszlo defines, illustrates, and shows how business can action ‘Sustainable Value’ in three profoundly different ways. First, a management fable looks at the experiences of a dynamic business leader as she grapples with the new business realities of managing stakeholder, as well as shareholder pressures. Second, with the real thing — inside stories from some of the largest corporations in the world that are successfully integrating sustainability into their core activities, not only from a sense of moral correctness, but because it makes good business sense. And, finally, with frameworks, tools, and methods that will make sustainable value creation concrete for business practitioners everywhere.

This book is a masterful synthesis — part novel and part executive briefing — a refreshing kind of prophetic pragmatism, helping leaders anticipate and see the future in the context of the actual. In ‘Sustainable Value : How Mainstream Companies Do Well by Doing Good’ Chris Laszlo speaks with resounding clarity to the living challenges, the real dilemmas, and haunting questions of CEOs everywhere.

Publication Date: January 31, 2008

Pre Order your copy of: Sustainable Value: How Mainstream Companies Do Well by Doing Good

Chris Laszlo is the author of The Sustainable Company: How to Create Lasting Value through Social and Environmental Performance, published by Island Press in October 2003 (paperback July 2005). more…  US / UK
A co-founder and partner of Sustainable Value Partners, he has trained thousands of Fortune 500 executives in “sustainability for business advantage” inside companies and at leading business schools around the world. He is a partner of Blu Skye Sustainability, the leading strategy consulting firm.

Take part in The Climate Change Summit 2008.

Climate Change has raced to the head of the global agenda in the wake of the important IPCC reports and Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Hear about how your business is going to be affected in 2008 and beyond.

The climate change debate has shifted from whether we need to act to what we must do and how best to do it.

The window of opportunity to avoid the devastating consequences of doing nothing, while also making the most of potentially lucrative opportunities, is closing much faster than anticipated.

Learn how to prepare for the enormous changes that lie ahead. And discover how to make a virtue out of necessity.

Key topics include climate initiatives that achieve both environmental and business objectives… crafting climate change messages that win over the most sceptical consumers… an A to Z of using offsets and taking advantage of carbon trading…. how to report on your climate change objectives and achievements for maximum impact… and how to manage the many risks of climate change.

• The Climate Change Bill: What will it mean for businesses operating in the UK?
• European and international legislation: what’s happening now and is about to happen in the major business sectors
• Post Kyoto regulations: What’s anticipated – and how to prepare your business
• Nuclear power: Is it responsible to source nuclear energy for your business to cut carbon

The list of speakers already includes senior executives from Tesco, ASDA, HSBC, Cadbury Schweppes, Procter & Gamble, Lehman Brothers, Timberland, Walkers, CEMEX, IBM, British Gas, AXA Insurance, The Co-operative Group, and many more. Join them as they discuss how to adapt to climate change, 12-13th February, London

 The two previous climate change events from ethicalcorp were both sell-outs.

Early registration discounts for the Ethical Corporation’s Climate Change Summit 2008  expire son.

Register by Friday 18^th Januaryand get up to£150 off your ticket price!

For the full programme and the latest speaker line-up and to book your place visit EthicalCorp

Have you switched to green renewable energy yet?
If you’ve been with the same energy supplier for a while then you could save yourself money and your carbon footprint by checking out the green, renewable energy market. Many suppliers offer some kind of green, renewable electricity tariff, and many consumers are wasting money by not checking out the renewable energy market on a regular basis.

This advanced renewable electricity comparison and switching tool the only one dedicated solely to renewable energy and has been developed from an extensive pilot with 30,000 customers. This tool compares the environmental credentials, prices and service rating of ALL the renewable energy tariffs available to you. However it only compares the ones that have been proven to draw their electricity directly from renewable sources. You can find out how much you can save by going green, with out any obligation.

In just a few minutes you can reduce your CO2 footprint by up to 2 tonnes/year and cut your home fuel bills by up to £150/year.

Even if your already on a green, renewable energy tariff you may well find a better deal by switching. When we checked we found we could to pay less than a standard ‘dirty energy’ tariff.

Reduce your carbon footprint and your bills. Check it out. You may be pleasantly surprised. You can save money on your phone & gas as well.

Switch to clean, green, renewable electricity now

Learn more about Renewable energy:

Renewable Energy: Find Green, Renewable Energy Videos & other environment videos
Further reading: Find Renewable Energy Books

ACTION ALERT Save Bialowieza Forest, Europe’s Last Primeval Temperate ForestDemand the Polish government stop exploitation of the ancient Bialowieza forest, preserve the whole complex as a national park, and end permanently extensive logging that threatens Europe’s last remnant old-growth northern temperate forests.
Situated on the Polish/Belarussian border, the Bialowieza Forest is a priceless relic of lowland European forests, a place where the last fragments of primeval temperate old- growth forest on the Central European lowland have survived.It is home to many species extinct elsewhere including the European Bison, the largest terrestrial mammal of Europe; and also contains lynx, wolves and other threatened wildlife and plants. Yet approximately 90% of the forest remains unprotected. For many years environmental NGOs, scientists, concerned citizens in Poland and abroad have asked successive Polish governments to protect the forest, asking them to ban cutting of old growth and for enlargement of the Bialowieza National Park to protect the whole forest complex. UP till now there has been little success. After the autumn elections Poland has a new government, so campaigners are trying anew. Please help influence Polish politicians by sending the protest email below. After doing so please note the exciting update on our New York City rainforest timber campaign.Forestry Further readingTAKE ACTION NOWSave an acre of rainforest!
Whilst were on the topic of forests what if you could save an acre of rainforest from the loggers axe, helping to keep the trees breathing and absorbing carbon dioxide? You think it a good idea, right? We do too. Click here for more details…