Results of research conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) backed ‘World Glacier Monitoring Service’ (WGMS), based at Zurich University, show that ice loss in glaciers reached record levels in 2006. The high levels of thawing are attributed to climate change.

Researchers measuring nearly 30 glaciers across the world found that on average the ice masses shrank by 1.4 metres in 2006, up from half a metre in 2005.

“The latest figures are part of what appears to be an accelerating trend with no apparent end in sight,” WGMS director Wilfred Haeberli said in a statement.

UNEP warned that the thaw could disrupt future water supplies. “Millions if not billions of people depend directly or indirectly on these natural water storage facilities for drinking water, agriculture, industry and power generation during key parts of the year.” explains UNEP’s executive director Achim Steiner.

Examples of areas that could be affected by dramatic results for water supplies include India, where rivers are fed by Himalayan glaciers & the west coast of North America,  where water is sourced from glaciers in the Rockies mountains and the Sierra Nevada.

“There are many canaries emerging in the climate change coal mine,” UNEP’s executive director Achim Steiner stated. “The glaciers are perhaps among those making the most noise and it is absolutely essential that everyone sits up and takes notice.”

On average, the glaciers shrank by 4.9 feet in 2006, the most recent year for which data are available. The most severe loss was recorded at Norway’s Breidalblikkbrea glacier, which shrank 10.2 feet in 2006. Between the years 2004 and 2006 the average rate of melting & thinning of the galciers measured more than doubled.

Achim Steiner stressed the need for governments to agree emission reductions at the international conference at Copenhagen, next year. “Otherwise, and like the glaciers, our room for manoeuvre and the opportunity to act may simply melt away,” he added.

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.

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

Canadian wave energy firm Finavera wins a license for a wave power electricity generation project in Makah Bay, Washington State.

This ‘hydrokinetic’ energy project is planned to begin generating enough electricity to supply at least 150 homes by 2011. The company is now seeking investors.

The aquabuoy wave power generator is an innovative design.
Learn more by watching the wave power generator videos & see the technology in action:

Wavepower Video

Checkout: Useful Links
Aquabuoy wave power generator animation

Renewable energy: More Videos: Wave power videos

Renewable energy: Further reading: Wave power books & articles

We all know Al Gore’s inconvenient truth: global warming is real. Nobel-winning professor Mark Jaccard reveals what he believes is the second inconvenient truth. We have to pay for our emmissions

Climate Change: Further reading

The very funny Blue Man Group do their take on global warming. This really made me Laugh!

Climate change may be happening much faster than we imagine. Global dimming appears to be masking the true extent of the global warming that is underway. The prestigious BBC programme ‘Horizon’ reports on ‘Global Dimming: the phenomenon by which the earth is cooled by man-made particulate pollution in the atmosphere,  inlcuding the vapour trails left behind by aircraft, which spread out and reflect sunlight, keeping the planet cooler. As we clean up our emmissions we may find that warming has been masked, leading to a faster rise in global temperatures than previously expected.

Get the facts: Watch the Horizon programme on Global dimming online now

More Climate Change Videos