New York and Countries of the World

  Should we dim the sun? Why we need to talk about solar geoengineering Injecting reflective particles into the atmosphere could turn down the heat on Earth, but research has been controversial.   Quotes from above article: ".... Nature is the best geoengineer, and volcanic eruptions are their own form of solar radiation management. During an eruption, plumes of smoke filled with sulfates can dim the sun. The Pinatubo eruption, the second largest in the 20th century, dropped planetary temperatures by half a degree in 1991...." ... Moratoriums and moral hazards Paul Crutzen, a Dutch chemist and Nobel laureate, broached the idea of stratospheric aerosol injection  in an essay 15 years ago, igniting a debate over SRM that continues to this day. Even though solar geoengineering had been floated for decades already (some trace it back to US President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s), scientists barely spoke about it. They certainly weren't co...

This info is from UNEP/TEEB NEWS RELEASE The Natural Capital at Risk: the Top 100 Externalities for Business Report at http://www.teebforbusiness.org New Study Shows Multi-Trillion Dollar Natural Capital Risk Underlining Urgency of Green Economy Transition LONDON / NEW DELHI, 15 April 2013 – A new report by the TEEB for Business Coalition estimates the global top 100 environmental externalities are costing the economy world-wide around US$4.7 trillion a year in terms of the economic costs of greenhouse gas emissions, loss of natural resources, loss of nature-based services such as carbon storage by forests, climate change and air pollution-related health costs. The report, “Natural Capital at Risk – The Top 100 Externalities of Business”, was released today during the Business for the Environment summit in New Delhi. Planetary boundaries are being approached at a reckless pace, and some argue that global biodiversity, nitrogen and climate thresholds have already been breached....

The report of the Pacific Environment and Climate Change Outlook, is available at: http://www.unep.org/pdf/PEECO.pdf It covers vital information: such as from efforts to improve waste management, to community participation in conserving marine areas, the report highlights many actions already underway in Pacific Island communities to tackle environmental degradation. However, the current scale of action is insufficient to meet the growing challenges posed by climate change. This is primarily due to a lack of funds, skills, and important environmental data. The report lays out a number of recommendations to improve the climate resilience of Pacific countries and territories, including: · Need to implement and deliver commitments made under multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), plans and strategies. Many countries have endorsed, but not yet implemented, agreements covering hazardous wastes, pollution, invasive species, and many other areas · Successful impl...

The full report will be available at http://sefi.unep.org/english/globaltrends , the executive summary will be available as well in French, Chinese and Japanese. Clean Energy Investments Charge Forward Despite Financial Market Turmoil With end of cheap oil, renewables and energy efficiency attracts fast-growing interest; New investment surpasses $148 billion in 2007, a 60% rise from 2006, growth continues in 2008, UNEP study says Check out the UNEP Finance Initiative Website