By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

AN EXECUTIVE from the Asian Development Bank said that an Asia-wide action to alleviate the effects of climate change is not only an obligation but also a moral imperative.

Speaking at the Carbon Forum Asia in Singapore, ADB vice president Ursula Schäfer-Preuss said the private sector should cooperate in reducing the effects of global climate change.

She noted in her speech that Asia today accounts for 27 percent of the world’s energy-related greenhouse emission, compared to just about 10 percent in the 1970s.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

GREENPEACE is calling for the Senate to pass the Renewable Energy Bill in an effort to fend off the effects of climate change.

The group, wearing alarm clocks to signify the time pressure to pass the bill, held a short rally at the Senate building in the hopes of convincing legislators make an effort before the upcoming First National Communication on Climate Change to be held in Indonesia.

Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Jasper Inventor told INQUIRER.net that the bill has been languishing for years, despite strong support from different senators and congress.

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By Agence France-Presse

COPENHAGEN–The ice cap in the northern hemisphere is melting a lot more rapidly that scientists thought, according to new research published Thursday by the Danish National Space Center.

“Until 2004, the glacier mass in the southeastern part of the island lost about 50 to 100 cubic kilometers (12 to 24 cubic miles) per year. After this date, the melting rate accelerated to 300 cubic kilometers per year. It’s a jump of 400 percent, which is very worrying,” National Space Center head researcher and project chief Abbas Khan told AFP.

The ice cap, located in Greenland, is currently melting four times more rapidly than at the beginning of the decade according to the study. Glaciers in southeastern Greenland release icebergs into the sea, corresponding to a giant ice cube measuring 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) per side.

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By Agence France-Presse

SHILLONG, India–Three thousand Indian tribal chiefs in one of the world’s wettest regions have invited ex-US vice president Al Gore to pick up an award for creating awareness about climate change.

The prize will be presented on October 6 near Shillong, capital of northeastern Meghalaya state, at a ceremony expected to be attended by 300,000 people, organizers said.

Top Indian economists and green campaigners are also likely to be present.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

“THE PROBLEM is that an integrated plan (on climate change) does not yet exist,” according to World Wildlife Fund Philippines climate change officer Rean Tirol, referring to a set of strategies to manage the effects of the drastically changing climate.

Tirol, in a statement, cited a report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that up to 30 percent of plant and animal species could be extinct even with a temperature change of just 2 degrees Celsius.

Moreover, the increase in temperature could affect people from rising sea water as the polar ice melts.

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