Australia’s winter turns into summer

Normally, August is one of the coolest months in Australia, but not this year. Some regions had their warmest 2009 day in the winter month of August - hotter than any summer day. Now the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a "special climate statement", confirming that the month of August is set to be the hottest August ever recorded, and if weather forecasts for the next few days are correct, ”August 2009 is almost certain to be Australia’s warmest August on record,” it says in the statement. August 2009 has seen highly abnormal heat over large parts of Australia and average minimum temperatures have been above normal in all states. According to Perth Now, the hot weather is caused by a lack of cold outbreaks bringing air from the Southern Ocean, as well as clear skies and a lack of moisture.

Indonesia is ready for a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

In most countries, the CO2 emissions are caused by coal-fired power plants and the burning of fossil fuels. In Indonesia, four-fifths of the emissions come from the degradation of peatland and the logging of forest cover. However, if the country receives international support, it is ready to slow down the cutting of its trees, pursue reforestation and protect peatland areas. Preserving forests is cheap compared with cutting emissions from industry and electricity generation, the Financial Times reports. According to the newspaper, Indonesia has held out a conditional promise of a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. The promise would be a far more ambitious target than other developing countries have considered and on a par with the most ambitious rich nations. Next week, Indonesia is expected to release a draft strategy on reducing emissions, ahead of December's climate change conference in Copenhagen, the Financial Times reports.

100 days to go: UN calls for climate action

With exactly one hundred days to go to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen (COP15), the United Nations calls for millions of online signatures for a climate petition and launches the first-ever Global Climate Week as part of its Seal the Deal! campaign. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading the call for communities around the world to take advantage of Global Climate Week from September 21-25 to encourage leaders to seal a fair, balanced and effective climate agreement. "Time is running out. Scientists warn that climate impacts are accelerating. Now more than ever, we need political leadership at the highest level to ensure we protect people and the planet, and to catalyze the green growth that can power the 21st century economy,” Ban said in a statement on Friday. "With just 15 negotiating days remaining before the start of COP15, now is the time for people in every corner of the world to urge their governments to seal a fair, effective and ambitious deal in Copenhagen,” he added. Professor Nicholas Stern, Economist and author of the influential Stern Report on the Economics of Climate Change, said:'The United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 will be the most important international gathering since the end of the Second World War. We have now just 100 days left before that meeting to put in place all of the elements of a strong international agreement."WWF on Friday issued a statement saying that “with only 15 scheduled negotiating days left and 170 pages of draft text still a long way from becoming a final proposal, momentum from outside the climate negotiations is going to be crucial”. "World leaders, many of whom will meet several times next month, need to take charge of the process on the basis that climate change is an economic, development and security issue as much as an environmental one," said Kim Carstensen, Leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative. According to Reuters, environmental organizations, trade unions, religious groups, scientists, anti-poverty campaigners and others representing tens of millions of people teamed up on Friday to put pressure for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions."Time is running out," said Kumi Naidoo, chair of the Global Campaign for Climate Action of the "TckTckTck" campaign, meant to refer to the sound of a clock ticking as the UN meeting draws closer.

Historical weather data loses significance

Climate change has made historical weather data an inaccurate guide to fisheries, forestry, transport and tourism, as well as efforts to fight diseases such as malaria. "The past is no longer a good indicator of the future," says Michel Jarraud, director-general of the World Meteorological Organization according to Reuters. "This traditional knowledge is no longer adapted. It's exactly because your grandfather did this that you shouldn't do it, because the context has changed... this is something completely new - to make decisions not on facts or statistics about the past, but on the probabilities for the future," he says. Next week, about 1,500 policy-makers, researchers and corporate leaders will meet at the third World Climate Conference. The overarching theme of the conference is "Climate prediction and information for decision-making".

Every second Copenhagener will ride a bike in 2015

In Copenhagen, one in three citizens commute by bicycle to work or school every day. However, the goal is even higher, city officials say. The conference city has just announced its vision to become the world's best city for cyclists, and the Danish capital will inspire even more Copenhageners to use their bikes. In 2015 at least half the population of the city will cycle to work or their place of education every day, predictions say. "For people here, going on a bicycle is a bit like brushing your teeth, you don't think much about it!" says Andreas Rohl, who is in charge of the city's cycling program. According to the BBC, the city has worked consistently to improve conditions for cyclists. "We are very focused on the safety. Since the mid-1990s, we have reduced the risk of having an accident when you travel by bike by 65 percent. The health effect of going on a bicycle is seven times higher than the actual risk of going on a bike," Andreas Rohl tells BBC.

Chinese Vice Health Minister to Fight SARS in South

To prevent a winter return of the deadly SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus, a senior Chinese health official will visit southern Guangdong province this month to map out measures such as banning civet cat from menus, a newspaper said this week.
Initiatives to be hammered out by Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde and provincial officials would include banning restaurants from cooking and serving high-risk animals such as civet cats, said Hong Kong's pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po.
Chinese health experts have concluded that the civet cat, considered a delicacy in the south, was a primary source of last year's SARS epidemic.
Thousands of civets were killed in Guangdong province in January because of fears they may carry a form of the virus that can jump to humans.
Guangdong would be the focus of Wang's move, and the measures for civet cats there would not be extended to the whole country, the newspaper said.
The civet is a small carnivorous mammal found in Asia and Africa. The brown, furry creature with a catlike body, long tail, and weasel-like face has long been coveted by those who believe its tender flesh will improve their health and complexion.
SARS emerged in Guangdong in November 2002 and was soon spread by travelers. The disease eventually killed some 800 people around the world and infected about 8,000, some two-thirds of them in China, and dealt a severe blow to several Asian economies.
A top Chinese health official warned of the increased risk of infectious diseases such as SARS and bird flu jumping across the border to Hong Kong in 2005 as more Chinese travel to the southern city for work and play.
Speaking after a two-day meeting with health officials from Hong Kong and Maçau, Chinese Vice Minister for Health Huang Jiefu stressed the need for surveillance and sharing of information sharing to control the spread of infectious diseases.

Could Catching Swine Flu Be Good For You?

When word came in April that an entirely new, highly infectious disease--swine flu--was spreading beyond Mexico, this was the most paranoid city in the world. Land at the airport with a fever and runny nose, and you'd risk being quarantined for a week, just in case you'd brought the new disease with you.
People in this city, scarred by the SARS epidemic, still shudder when they hear someone cough. For Hong Kongers, the sound brings back memories of the scary time when the city nearly shut down and residents feared death from a new mystery disease. Schools were closed. When people left their homes--which wasn't often--many wore medical masks to reduce their exposure to anyone who might be sick

Fast-forward. If you catch the flu in Hong Kong today--or in most places--you won't be rushed to the isolation ward just in case it proves to be the new swine flu. You'll be told to go home and rest and not cough on anyone. "Everyone has finally realized that this is going to spread," said Dr. Anthony Mounts, a flu specialist at the World Health Organization.
What a change.
That's because SARS and swine flu are proving such opposites. Both are new diseases, which means that none of the 6 billion people on the planet had immunity to them when they came on the scene. The World Health Organization feared that if they developed into full-blown pandemics and raced around the world, millions would die, defenseless against new strains.