An Answer to the Bee Die-Off?

Scientists have discovered that bees imported from Australia may have started a massive die-off of in the United States, according to an article from ABC online excerpted below:

Australian honey bee exports to the US may be in danger thanks to colony collapse disorder suspicions. The US Agriculture Department has pointed the finger at Australian bees as possible carriers of a virus that they say is causing the collapse of the honey bee industry in the United States and Europe.
The claims are likely to harm the Australian industry and could lead to a ban on the import of Australian bees.
The failure to find what has caused the honey bee crisis is an ongoing headache for the industry, which in the US is worth about $17 billion.
The name for the mysterious problem, Colony Collapse Disorder, sums up its devastating effects for beekeepers.
Daniel Weaver, the president of the American Beekeeping Federation says it is also causing alarm for producers in other industries.
"The farmers and orchardists that produce the fruits and nuts and melons and berries and all the other tasty things for the table that depend upon honey bees for pollination," he said.
He says the latest research on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) will harm Australian bee exports. Genetic research has found that Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus turned up regularly in hives affected by CCD.
The US Agriculture Department has also pointed the finger at Australian bees as a possible source.
Mr Weaver says Australian bees will not be quite as welcome in America now.
"It's likely that some beekeepers in the US who might have been contemplating using Australian bees might take a second look at that option now, wishing to avoid any excess risk," he said.
"So they may not import Australian bees that they would have otherwise imported without this report."

Fox Goes Green

Grist features a Q and A with Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Fox network, about his plan to make that organization carbon neutral in the next three years. Here is an excerpt:

Q: What motivated you to implement your climate plan? Was there a "conversion moment" when you realized this needed to be a priority?
A:I grew up in Australia, which is facing its worst drought in 100 years -- that has struck a personal chord for me. I've read about the climate issue over the years, but I was probably a bit more skeptical than my son, James, who's a complete convert, and who converted me. I saw what he did at [British Sky Broadcasting] and we said, well, let's make it company-wide.
Q: So this is an example of younger-generation sensibilities trickling up?
A:Well, more twisting my arm, at first. But I've become more enthusiastic day by day. I don't think there's any question of my conviction on this issue -- I've come to feel it very strongly. The more I've looked into it, the more I've been able to see what we can do, not just from an operations standpoint but by subtly introducing [the climate issue] into our content.
Q:What do you intend to achieve with your climate plan, and how will you meet your goals?
A:We want to help solve the climate problem. We'll squeeze our own energy use down as much as we can. We'll become carbon neutral for our own emissions within three years, and be entirely transparent throughout the process, publicly reporting our reductions and offsets. But that's just a start. Our audience's carbon footprint is 10,000 times bigger than ours, so clearly that's where we can have the most influence.

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Aussie Coal Lobby Fights Spoof Site

A coal lobby in Australia has twice shut down "Rising Tide," a website satirizing the Australian coal industry. The website makes fun of NSW Minerals Council's big-budget campaign to promote the coal industry. According to the Perth Independent Media Center, "Australia does not have adequate ‘fair use’ exemptions in copyright law nor has a Bill of Rights protecting freedom of speech, limiting civil lawsuits alleging a private citizen or corporation has violated the civil rights of a protester or satirist."

"Rising Tide" has set up shop offshore.

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Going Fluorescent Down Under

According to Business Week,

The Australian government on Tuesday announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country.
Legislation to gradually restrict the sale of the old-style bulbs could reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tons by 2012 and cut household power bills by up to 66 percent, said Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

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World Responds to Climate Report

While the Bush Administration endorsed the UN Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change report released February 2, they rejected demands for mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, the administration said President Bush would rely on his plans to develop more renewable fuel and require more efficient vehicles, according to the Mecury News.

Meanwhile, according the Australian publication The Age, Prime Minister John Howard has used the report to push his nuclear plan.

And in France, President Chirac called for "a revolution," according to the Canadian publication The Gazette.
“Faced with this emergency, the time for half measures is finished,” Chirac said at the opening session of an international conference on the environment.
“It is time for a revolution,” the French president added. “A new industrial revolution, that of sustainable development, lies before us.”
Chirac proposed that this revolution would be led by transforming the existing United Nations Environment Program into a new United Nations Environment Organization, with a political mandate to propose common efforts to deal with climate change.
“We must build global governance for the environment,” Chirac said. “Multilateralism is the key to sustainable development.”
Sir Nicolas Stern, a British expert on climate change applauded Chirac's proposal, saying, “a global problem requires a global response.”

According to the Jackson Hole Star Tribune from an AP report,

Officials in Indonesia and the Maldives, two archipelagos threatened by rising sea levels, said they feared for the future of their lands. Others said the threat was not simply to the environment, but to international peace, prosperity and development.South Africa's Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said failure to act would be "indefensible."

India, which along with China is developing rapidly with a quickly-expanding population, faces the challenge of how to develop economically without ruining its environment. A senior ecology official noted that the climate change panel is "a network of scientists" that cannot set policy."This is a group of climate experts attempting to reach a scientific consensus. It doesn't commit governments to any course of action," said the official, Pradipto Ghosh, of India's Ministry of Environment and Forests.

But beyond the responses of world leaders, perhaps the most eloquent response to this report in the AP article came from a mother in Spain.

"I am worried for him more than anything," said Maite Leon, gesturing toward her 6-month-old. "By myself I cannot do anything, but if we each do our little bit, maybe we can change things. We have to do it all together."

On the NPR radio program Talk of the Nation, several segments dealt with energy alternatives.
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Climate Change: Action Required, Miracle Desired

A street poll by Australia's Sunday Age, asking people if they see weather as the new enemy, uncovered high levels of anxiety about climate change among the general population.

Psychologist Suzie Burke is working on a "tip sheet" for people emotionally distressed by climate change and their fears of catastrophe. When completed, the list will be accessible through the Australian Psychological Society website.

She says there is a growing acceptance that "global warming is inevitable". "(It) will be fairly catastrophic, is bringing up strong emotions in people: generally anxiety and helplessness and disillusionment."

Pentecostal Pastor Danny Nalliah, from the Catch the Fire Ministry, says...They're saying to me, 'You guys have to do something'. There is a widespread sense of oppression about what's going to happen in the future if this weather continues," he says. "It is being seen as a sign, that we're an abundant nation that has abandoned God. That's what the God-fearing farmers of Victoria are saying to me: 'Danny, as a nation we have to repent and pray.' "

Pastor Nalliah's ministry has organised a multidenominational prayer meeting on Australia Day. Thousands of Christians are expected to ask the Almighty for miraculous help on a range of matters.

Climate change didn't get much of a mention in the front-page coverage of the prayer meeting. The attention went to Prime Minister John Howard's DVD message of goodwill to Catch the Fire. The prayer meeting will be the starting point of a 40-day nationwide fast. The idea is to get God's attention focused on fixing the climate.
The fast will end in the second week of March, about the time scientists are predicting the drought-causing El Nino system will lose its grip and we'll see some decent rain.

As for Suzie Burke's tip sheet: "The main thing is for people to talk about their anxieties and to find constructive ways to help solve the problem. And there's a lot of advice about how to live in a more environmentally friendly way. The challenge there is for people to accept that it may take a while to see results. So it becomes a matter of faith."

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Climate Change: Winners and Losers?

A project to outline the "benefits" and challenges of climate change will be launched at the Oxford Farming Conference in the UK, according to the BBC news.

Meanwhile, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology is claiming that it is the country suffering the most from climate change, according to ABC News Online, while a government report in China says that the nation will likely suffer a drop in agricultural output due to climate change.

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Australia's Big Dry

Australia is in the midst of one of its worst droughts ever, and environmentalists are trying to convince the general public that it is a result of climate change. The drought has lasted for over five years, and some worry that it could continue for decades.

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Australian Scientists Use Butterflies to Gauge Climate Change

In an Article in Australia's The Age, Australia's Monash University lead researcher Paul Sunnucks said studying butterflies is a good way to measure climate change. "They are cold-blooded, so that makes them very responsive to temperatures," he said. "A couple of degrees can make the difference between life and death."

Starting next month, researchers from Monash, Melbourne and La Trobe universities will visit 28 areas to study the brown butterfly, which is common along the eastern seaboard.
Dr Sunnucks said international research had found that butterflies were dying out in warmer places. "They are moving away from the equator … trying to get to where it's cooler."

Britain's Stern report on climate change, published in October, predicted that up to one quarter of Australia's butterflies would be threatened by a 2 degree global temperature rise.

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Aussie Evangelicals Back Climate Change Action

A story in the Sydney Morning Herald about how the Austrialian Evangelicals are jumping on the Climate Change action bandwagon along with U.S. and U.K. evangelicals. The story includes an editorial cartoon about faith and climate change.

Future Trade Agreements linked to Climate?

The need to link climate change rules with global trade agreements has been highlighted at a meeting of academics and diplomats in Sydney.

The European Union is hosting a forum on strengthening international environmental governance. Read the full story here.