GET WITH THE PROGRAMME

2007

UK: Climate Camp begins!

Climate Camp Starts at Heathrow between between the villages of Sipson and Harlington.

Protesters have quietly occupied a field, before BAA or the police could stop them. After the bitterness of the court fight, in which BAA secured only a partial injunction to restrict demonstrations, green activists are preparing with military And legal precision for the imminent showdown.

Several days of activities will be held including a day of action next Sunday against the "root causes" of climate change.

More than 1,500 people from across the UK and other parts of Europe are set to join the camp, which is officially due to open on Tuesday. But organisers announced they had already set up the camp on a site north of Heathrow between the villages of Sipson and Harlington.

[video here: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378069.html ]

[Climate Camp site: http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/ ]

AUSTRALIA: Youth Climate Conference planned for October

*** Calling all climate activists! ***

There is *excitement* brewing as plans are made for Australia’s first ever
large-scale youth climate conference. The conference is a joint project of the Australian Students Environment Network (ASEN, www.asen.org.au) and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC, www.youthclimatecoalition.org). At the moment we are just beginning to visualise the form the conference may take, and although we
have definite dates and a definite will to make it happen, we want YOU on board!

The conference will be from Wednesday 10th October – Saturday 13th. This is the second week of NSW school holidays, and attempts to facilitate the involvement of uni students and working people by being later in the week.

We don’t yet have a confirmed venue. Do you know of any venues that would be suitable for 200 people in NSW, preferably close-ish to Sydney? Please let us know and we’ll be deciding on venue in the next week!

Nor do we have a definite name – ‘Switched On’ has been a suggestion. If you have a brilliant name, please let us know!

The conference is aimed at informing, skilling up, empowering and inspiring young people to get active to combat dangerous climate change. We can learn about barriers to and opportunities for climate action, through a variety of workshops, discussions and practical-based activities. The conference may also comprise workshops on existing AYCC and ASEN initiatives – generally aiming to build a
dynamic, effective climate movement driven by young people!

There are numerous tasks involved in organising the conference including
promotion, program, facilitation and finances – we would love to have you involved in the organising collective for the conference! The collective will have weekly phone-link ups Mondays 5-6pm and also communicate via email. Please email your interest to Wenny and Emma at climateconference@gmail.com. We look forward to having you on board!

Even if you can’t be involved in the organising process, it would be great if you could help promote the conference and come along!! Speak to you soon =)

For a Clean Energy Future,

Emma Kefford and Wenny Theresia
Conference Collective Convenors

Greenhouse Gases Hit New High

OSLO (Reuters) - Greenhouse gases widely blamed for causing global warming

have jumped to record highs in the atmosphere, apparently stoked by rising emissions

from Asian industry, a researcher said on Friday.

"Levels are at a new high," said Kim Holmen, research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute

which oversees the Zeppelin measuring station on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard about 1,200

Sun is Seen Through Exhaust. .

He told Reuters that concentrations of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted largely by burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars, had risen to 390 parts per million (ppm) from 388 a year ago.

Levels have hit peaks almost every year in recent decades, bolstering theories of warming, and are far above 270 ppm before the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. Climate scientists say the heat-trapping gas is blanketing the planet.

Holmen said the increase of 2 ppm from 2006 reflected an accelerating rise in recent years. "When I was young, scientists were talking about 1 ppm rise" every year, he said. "Since 2000 it has been a very rapid rate."

"The large increases in release rates are definitely in the Asian economies," led by China, he said. China is opening coal-fired power plants at the rate of almost one a week.

Carbon dioxide concentrations peak just before the northern hemisphere spring, when plants start soaking up the gas as they grow. Southern hemisphere seasons have less effect since there are fewer land masses -- and plants -- south of the equator.

The Zeppelin station is run in cooperation with Stockholm University and is one of the main measuring points along with a station in Hawaii. Remoteness from industrial centres helps.

Scientists say the concentration of carbon dioxide, according to the modern records, is at its highest in the atmosphere in at least 650,000 years.

The world's top climate scientists said in a report on February 2 they were more than 90 percent certain that human activities, led by burning fossil fuels, were to blame for warming. That was up from 66 percent certainty in a previous report in 2001.

The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that temperature rises were set to accelerate and could gain by between 1.1 and 6.4 Celsius (2.0-11.5 Fahrenheit) by 2100, bringing more floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

Apart from human emissions from burning fossil fuels, he said there were other factors that could affect carbon dioxide levels in future.

On the one hand, plants may grow more in a warmer world, soaking up more carbon dioxide. But if the soil gets warmer, dead plants and leaves may rot more in winter, releasing more carbon. Any heating of the oceans may means less absorption of carbon dioxide, partly because the greater buoyancy of warmer water inhibits a mixing with deeper levels.

Farmer Doug Turner looks over the remains of a pole barn at his farm in Waitsfield, Vt., Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007. Heavy snow made the building collapse on the 21 cows inside. Five have died and two remain in serious condition. At least 10 barns have collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, killing 21 animals across Vermont, authorities said. AP Photo/Toby Talbot