We all love our cars. They give us the freedom to come and go aswe please, to get to work, to visit family and friends, to goshopping...on our own schedule. But automobiles also effect theenvironment by polluting the air we breathe and, in the largerscope of life, by creating unusual climate changes.
But there is a simple thing you can do to offset the negativeenvironmental effects of driving your car, and It costs lessthan $100 a year.
HOW DRIVING YOUR CAR AFFECTS THE ENVIRONMENT
If you drive a standard American automobile, your car emitsabout 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. That'sthree times the weight of the car! If you drive an SUV, your caremits around 20,000 pounds of CO2 each year.
CO2 is a major "greenhouse gas." Back around 1800, before therewere cars and industry, the CO2-concentration in the air wasabout 280 ppm (1 ppm CO2= one molecule of CO2 per one millionmolecules of air). Today, as the result of human activities, theCO2-concentration in the air is about 370 ppm, and increasing by1.7 ppm every year. And we're adding CO2 faster than itdecomposes. Every molecule of CO2 we add to the atmosphere staysthere for about 100 years.
Many scientists are warning that this increase in CO2 is raisingthe average temperature of the planet, known as the "greenhouseeffect." The widely respected WorldWatch Institute has warnedthat severe could include major shifts in weatherpatterns and agricultural zones, resulting in droughts andfloods. A wide range of human and natural systems could bedisrupted, displacing long-standing economic and social systemsas well as established ecosystems.
Twenty percent of the carbon dioxide released into theatmosphere every year comes from driving cars. That is asignificant percentage. This won't be changed by internationalprotocols or government regulations. But each one of us can makea difference by reducing our own CO2 emissions.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS PRODUCED BY DRIVING YOURCAR
CO2 emissions come primarily from the burning of fossil fuelsfor energy. When you drive your car, use public transportation,use electricity in your home or at work, or fly on an airplane,you are contributing CO2 emissions into the air. Most consumerproducts you buy are made with energy from burning fossil fuelsthat produce CO2.
But there are also other ways to make energy. Renewable energysources such as solar, wind, and biomass are called "clean"energy sources because they don't produce CO2.
Today, various products are available that allow you to offsetthe CO2 you produce by purchasing an equivalent amount of energyfrom renewable sources that do not produce CO2. This CO2-freeenergy flows into a local or national grid, eliminating the needto burn fossil fuels that would create the same amount of CO2.So while your car is still adding CO2 to the atmosphere, yourpurchase of renewable energy is subtracting the same amount ofCO2 that would have gone into the atmosphere someplace else.
TerraPass is one organization that has a program to purchaserenewable energy to offset the CO2 produced by your car. Yousimply choose the TerraPass that corresponds to the type of carand number of miles you drive. Terra Pass guarantees the moneyfrom your membership will result in a reduction of carbondioxide that counterbalances the pollution from your car throughthe purchase of renewable energy certificates. You get aTerraPass decal for your car and the good feeling that you aredoing something to keep our climate as nature intended. Myhusband and I each purchased a TerraPass for our cars. ATerraPass for my husband's efficient Geo Metro was only$39.95/year and my TerraPass for my Honda Del Sol was$49.95/year. A small price to pay to do something real andpractical to protect our beautiful planet.
About the author:Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra LynnDadd has been a leading consumer advocate for products andlifestyle choices that are better for health and the environmentsince 1982. Visit her website at http://www.dld123.com to learnmore about her new book Home Safe Home, to sign up for her freeemail newsletters, and to browse 100s of links to 1000s ofnontoxic, natural and earthwise products.
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Science Weekly podcast: The Guardian's new environmentally friendly headquarters
<p>As Guardian News & Media moves into its new home at Kings Place in the King's Cross area of London, we look at the measures taken to ensure the building lives up to the company's sustainability goals. </p><p>We speak to <strong>Jeremy Dixon</strong> and <strong>Richard Thompson</strong> from architects <a href="http://www.dixonjones.co.uk/">Dixon Jones</a>. </p><p>The Guardian's environmental manager <strong>Claire Buckley</strong> discusses how the company's waste and energy is being managed. </p><p>Feel free to post your comments about this programme on the blog below. </p><p>You can also join <a href="http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2261841960">our Facebook group</a>, where you can scrawl your thoughts on our wall.</p>
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Nasa climate expert makes personal appeal to Obama
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/81811?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Nasa+climate+expert+makes+personal+appeal+to+Obama&ch=Environment&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Climate+change+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironment%2CWorld+news%2CBarack+Obama+%28News%29%2CScience%2CCarbon+emissions+%28Environment%29%2CCarbon+offset+projects+%28Environment%29%2CMichelle+Obama+%28News%29%2CNuclear+issues+%28non-military%29%2CUS+news%2CObama+White+House+%28News%29%2CJames+Hansen+%28Science%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CUS+Elections%2CEthical+Living&c6=James+Randerson&c7=2009_01_02&c8=1141058&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Climate+change&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FClimate+change" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>One of the world's top climate scientists has written a personal new year appeal to Barack and Michelle Obama, warning of the "profound disconnect" between public policy on climate change and the magnitude of the problem.</p><p>With less than three weeks to go until Obama's inauguration, Professor James Hansen, who heads Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, asked the recently appointed White House science adviser Professor John Holdren to pass the missive directly to the president-elect.</p><p>In it, he praises Obama's campaign rhetoric about "a planet in peril", but says that how the new president acts in office will be crucial. Hansen lambasts the current international approach of setting targets through "cap and trade" schemes as not up to the task. "This approach is ineffectual and not commensurate with the climate threat. It could waste another decade, locking in disastrous consequences for our planet and humanity," the letter from Hansen and his wife, Anniek, reads.</p><p>The letter will make uncomfortable reading for officials in 10 US states whose cap and trade mechanism - the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - got under way yesterday. The scheme is the first mandatory, market-based greenhouse gas reduction programme in the US.</p><p>Hansen advocates a three-pronged attack on the climate problem. First, he wants a phasing out of coal-fired power stations - which he calls "factories of death" - that do not incorporate carbon capture. "Nobody realistically expects that the large readily available pools of oil and gas will be left in the ground. Caps will not cause that to happen - caps only slow the rate at which the oil and gas are used. The only solution is to cut off the coal source," the Hansens wrote.</p><p>Second, he proposes a "carbon tax and 100% dividend". This is a mechanism for putting a price on carbon without raising money for government coffers. The idea is to tax carbon at source, then redistribute the revenue equally among taxpayers, so that high carbon users are penalised while low carbon users are rewarded.</p><p>Finally, he urges a renewed research effort into so-called fourth generation nuclear plants, which can use nuclear waste as fuel.</p><p>Hansen argues that the current emphasis on reduction targets combined with carbon trading schemes make it too easy for countries to wriggle out of their commitments. He cites the example of Japan's increasing coal use, which it has offset by buying credits from China through the clean development mechanism - an instrument set up by the Kyoto protocol - yet China's emissions have continued to increase rapidly. China has overtaken the US as the biggest polluter in the world.</p><p>Hansen has been one of the most prominent advocates of action to tackle climate change since he first spoke on the issue in the 1980s. His testimony to the Senate featured in Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth and he has received numerous honours for his work on the issue, including the WWF's top conservation award.</p><h2>Professor's wish list</h2><p>? Moratorium on and <strong>phasing out of coal</strong> power stations without carbon capture, what Hansen calls the "sine qua non for solving the climate problem". Coal CO2 emissions are the same as those of other fossil fuels combined. </p><p>? Raising the price of emissions via a "<strong>carbon tax</strong> <strong>and 100% dividend</strong>". This is a tax mechanism to "decarbonise" the economy without a net take from taxpayers. Low carbon users are rewarded while high users are punished. </p><p>? Urgent research on "fourth generation" <strong>nuclear power</strong> with international co-operation. This offers one of the best options for nearly carbon-free power, according to Hansen. It would also help to solve the nuclear waste problem by using that material as fuel.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/barackobama">Barack Obama</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbonemissions">Carbon emissions</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbonoffsetprojects">Carbon offset projects</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/michelleobama">Michelle Obama</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nuclear">Nuclear issues</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa">United States</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-white-house">Obama White House</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/hansen">James Hansen</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600332010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600332010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Slowdown of coral growth extremely worrying, say scientists
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/19505?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Slowdown+of+coral+growth+extremely+worrying%2C+say+scientists&ch=Environment&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Environment%2CScience%2CWorld+news%2CEndangered+habitats+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29&c5=Climate+Change%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CEthical+Living&c6=James+Randerson&c7=2009_01_01&c8=1141033&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Endangered+habitats&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FEndangered+habitats" width="1" height="1" /></div><p><strong></strong><strong></p><p></strong>Coral growth across the Great Barrier Reef has suffered a "severe and sudden" slowdown since 1990 that is unprecedented in the last four centuries, according to scientists.</p><p>The researchers analysed the growth rates of 328 coral colonies on 69 individual reefs that make up the 1,250 mile-long Great Barrier Reef, off north-east Australia. They found that the rate at which the corals were laying down calcium in their skeletons dropped by 14.2% between 1990 and 2005.</p><p>Corals around the world are severely threatened by coastal pollution, warming seas and over-exploitation, but the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/10/road-to-copenhagen-poznan" title="Fifth of world's coral reefs dead, say marine scientists">most probable explanation</a> for the drop in the growth rate of the corals' calcium carbonate skeletons is acidification of the water due to rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. More acid water makes it more difficult for the coral polyps to grab the minerals they need to build their skeletons from the sea water.</p><p>"Our data shows that growth and calcification of massive <em>Porites</em> in the GBR [Great Barrier Reef] are already declining and are doing so at a rate unprecedented in coral records reaching back 400 years," wrote Dr Glenn De'ath from the <a href="http://www.aims.gov.au/" title="http://www.aims.gov.au/">Australian Institute of Marine Science</a> in Townsville, Queensland, and his colleagues in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/" title="Science magazine">Science</a>. "Verification of the causes of this decline should be made a high priority."</p><p><em>Porites</em> corals can be centuries old and grow into 6m tall mounds. Rather like a tree ring, each year's growth is visible as a band, so by drilling into the corals the scientists could examine the extent of growth in specific years. The team used x-rays and a technique called gamma densitometry to measure annual growth and skeletal density, which then allowed them to calculate the amount of calcification annually. They found that the calcification rate rose 5.4% between 1900 and 1970, but this dropped by 14.2% between 1990 and 2005. The drop was mainly due to a growth slowdown from 1.43cm a year to 1.24cm. The researchers measured the same effect in both nearshore and offshore reefs, suggesting it is not due to pollution from the land.</p><p>"This study has provided the first really rigorous snapshot of how calcification might be changing," marine biologist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the University of Queensland in Australia told Science. "The results are extremely worrying."</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/endangeredhabitats">Endangered habitats</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600368010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600368010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Longannet is at the centre of Scottish Power's plans to prove coal can provide Britain and other countries with a key component in the pursuit of energy security, affordability and sustainability
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/66988?ns=guardian&pageName=Business%3A+A+giant+chemistry+set+on+the+Firth+of+Forth&ch=Business&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=UK+Coal+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CAlternative+energy+%28Environment%29%2CEnergy+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironment%2CEnergy+efficiency+%28Environment%29%2CFossil+fuels+%28Environment%29%2CPollution+%28Environment%29%2CScience%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CChemistry+%28Science%29%2CTechnology%2CGreen+technology+%28Technology%29&c5=Climate+Change%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CEnergy%2CEthical+Living%2CCorporate+IT&c6=Mark+Milner&c7=2009_01_02&c8=1141007&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Business&c12=UK+Coal&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FUK+Coal" width="1" height="1" /></div><p><strong></strong><strong></p><p></strong>On the banks of the Firth of Forth, the Longannet power station dominates the wintry horizon, a massive box in the shadow of its skyscraper chimney stack.</p><p>Conceived more than 40 years ago and completed at the beginning of the 1970s, long before climate change became a central tenet of the energy debate, Longannet was designed with stunning industrial simplicity and symmetry.</p><p>Britain's second-largest coal-fired power station was a product of a time when electricity generation was based on a technology now dismissed by modern engineers, not entirely without affection, as "burn and boil". You burned the fossil fuel, and used the heat to boil water, which drove the turbines to generate electricity.</p><p>Today, Longannet is at the centre of its owner ScottishPower's plans to demonstrate there is more to coal than burn and boil; that despite opposition from environmentalists, it has a future in providing Britain and other countries with a key component in the pursuit of energy security, affordability and sustainability, and is not, as some critics argue, a 19th-century nightmare haunting the 21st century.</p><p>In trying to make Longannet a centre for technological excellence, ScottishPower is turning it into a giant chemistry set. More than 1,000 contractors are putting the finishing touches to flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) equipment in three of the plant's four turbines.</p><p>Fitting FGD brings Longannet into line with the European Union's large combustion plant directive on reducing sulphur dioxide emissions. Without FGD, it would run for only limited hours, and would have to close in 2015.</p><p>Life extension does not come cheap. According to John Campbell, director of energy wholesale at ScottishPower, the company is investing about £170m in FGD, while associated investments to extend the plant's life have lifted the bill to £250m.</p><p>The scheme does have local benefits. Last year ScottishPower signed a five-year deal, worth up to £700m, with Scottish Coal to provide coal for Longannet and its smaller coal plant at Cockenzie.</p><p>At the time the deal was signed, Ignacio Galán, the chairman and chief executive of ScottishPower's Spanish parent, Iberdrola, made clear his ambitions for coal and Longannet: "Coal generation has a significant contribution to the security of electricity supply in the UK today."</p><p>The next stage is to fit Longannet with equipment to reduce emissions of nitrous oxides (NOX) to conform with impending legislation. The process uses ammonia and a vanadium pentoxide catalyst to turn the NOX into water and nitrogen. Fitting the equipment will cost "several hundred million pounds" and require greater political clarity, according to ScottishPower executives. Work is also under way on a 25-megawatt biomass plant, using wood chip, peanut husks and dried waste.</p><p>The big issue, however, is carbon capture and storage (CCS). For fossil fuel burners, this is a kind of holy grail, though one not yet available on a commercial scale. The theory is simply: carbon dioxide is collected, transported and buried in holes in the ground.</p><p>The government is keen, and is running a competition to encourage the development of CCS. It could help the UK cut emission levels and be sold to power generators around the world.</p><p>But as Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, said in a speech last month, CCS is vital to reconciling the continuing use of coal with Britain's emission targets.</p><p>He told a conference at Imperial College London: "Clean fossil fuels are a less sure prospect because of uncertainties around carbon capture and storage, the great prize of clean coal and gas.</p><p>"What is clear is that we cannot say that in 20 years' time we will be building unabated coal-fired power stations and that we will meet our carbon budgets. It's not credible," he said.</p><p>It is a view that ScottishPower and Iberdrola appear to accept. As Galán said last year: "Iberdrola is committed to developing the best technologies that will deliver low-carbon generation in this country.</p><p>"Through our existing co-firing capability of biomass with potential advances in carbon capture and storage technologies, we are ready to provide the flexible generation needed to support the UK's growth goals in renewable energy and at the same time ensure security of supply."</p><p>If he gets his way, and if CCS does prove commercially viable, Longannet will brood over the Firth of Forth for some years to come. Some might say that is a big if; it will certainly be an expensive one.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/ukcoal">UK Coal</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/alternativeenergy">Alternative energy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/energy">Energy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/energyefficiency">Energy efficiency</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/fossilfuels">Fossil fuels</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/pollution">Pollution</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/chemistry">Chemistry</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/greentech">Green technology</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600464010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600464010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
British engineers have developed a new environmentally friendly cement that is carbon-negative
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/53000?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Revealed%3A+The+cement+that+eats+carbon+dioxide%3Cbr+%2F%3E&ch=Environment&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Carbon+emissions+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CChemistry+%28Science%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CEnvironment%2CPollution+%28Environment%29%2CConstruction+industry+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CUK+news%2CScience&c5=Business+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living&c6=Alok+Jha&c7=2009_01_02&c8=1140768&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Carbon+emissions&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FCarbon+emissions" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Cement, a vast source of planet-warming carbon dioxide, could be transformed into a means of stripping the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, thanks to an innovation from British engineers.</p><p>The new environmentally friendly formulation means the cement industry could change from being a "significant emitter to a significant absorber of CO2," says Nikolaos Vlasopoulos, chief scientist at London-based Novacem, whose invention has garnered support and funding from industry and environmentalists.</p><p>The new cement, which uses a different raw material, certainly has a vast potential market. Making the 2bn tonnes of cement used globally every year pumps out <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/oct/12/climatechange">5% of the world's CO2 emissions</a> - more than the entire aviation industry. And the long-term trends are upwards: a recent report by the French bank Credit Agricole estimated that, by 2020, demand for cement will increase by 50% compared to today.</p><p>Making traditional cement results in greenhouse gas emissions from two sources: it requires intense heat, and so a lot of energy to heat up the ovens that cook the raw material, such as limestone. That then releases further CO2 as it burns. But, until now, noone has found a large-scale way to tackle this fundamental problem.</p><p>Novacem's cement, based on magnesium silicates, not only requires much less heating, it also absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens, making it carbon negative. Set up by Vlasopoulos and his colleagues at Imperial College London, Novacem has already attracted the attention of major construction companies such as Rio Tinto Minerals, WSP Group and Laing O'Rourke, and investors including the Carbon Trust.</p><p>The company has just started a £1.5m project funded by the government-backed Technology Strategy Board to build a pilot plant. If all goes well, Vlasopoulos expects to have Novacem products on the market within five years.</p><p>Jonathan Essex, a civil engineer at the building consultancy Bioregional who also sits on the environment and sustainability panel for the Institution of Civil Engineers, welcomed Novacem's ideas to tackle the carbon impact of cement. "In the UK the climate bill commits us to reduce CO2 emissions, and every sector should play its part. The construction industry needs to take greater responsibility for its own environmental impact." Essex said that, if Novacem can make their cement at a competitive price, the next step could be to take even more CO2 emissions out of the process by using renewable energy to fire the furnaces.</p><p>According to Novacem, its product can absorb, over its lifecycle, around 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement. This compares to carbon emissions of about 0.4 tonnes per of standard cement. "From that point of view, it's attractive," said Rachael Nutter, head of business incubators at the Carbon Trust. "The real challenge is what is the supply chain, who do you need to partner with to take it to market? The million-dollar question is what are the applications of it? If it ends up as decorative applications such as floor tiles, it's quite interesting but not as much as if you get into load-bearing structural stuff."</p><p>Previous attempts to make cement greener have included adding more aggregate to a concrete mixture, thereby using less cement. But this still does not tackle the problem of the carbon emissions from making the cement in the first place. Other systems use polymers in the mix, but none have yet made a significant impact on the market.</p><p>A spokesperson for the British Cement Association expressed a sceptical note, saying that though there was much ongoing laboratory work on new types of cement, there were also problems. "The reality is that the geological availability, and global distribution, of suitable natural resources, coupled with the extensive validation needed to confirm fitness-for-purpose, make it highly unlikely that these cements will a be realistic alternative for volume building."</p><p>Vlasopoulos responded that magnesium silicates are abundant worldwide, with 10,000 billion tonnes available, according to some estimates. "In addition, the production process of our cement is of a chemical nature, which means it can also utilise various industrial byproducts containing magnesium in its composition." He is confident the material will be strong enough for use in buildings but acknowledged that getting licenses to use it will take several years of testing.</p><h2>Explainer: Ecofriendly vs traditional cement</p><p></h2><p>Standard cement, also known as Portland cement, is made by heating limestone or clay to around 1,500C. The processing of the ingredients releases 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement. When it is eventually mixed with water for use in a building, each tonne of cement can absorb up to 0.4 tonnes of CO2, but that still leaves an overall carbon footprint per tonne of 0.4 tonnes.</p><p>Novacem's cement, which has a patent pending on it, uses magnesium silicates which emit no CO2 when heated. Its production process also runs at much lower temperatures - around 650C. This leads to total CO2 emissions of up to 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement produced. But the Novacem cement formula absorb far more CO2 as it hardens - about 1.1 tonnes. So the overall carbon footprint is negative - ie the cement removes 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne used.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbonemissions">Carbon emissions</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/chemistry">Chemistry</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/pollution">Pollution</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/construction">Construction industry</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600569010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600569010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Editorial: Green futures
Editorial: Politicians hope green revolution can rescue jobs and economy, as well as the planet
Nasa hunts for rubber ducks used to track melting of Arctic icecap
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/59428?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Nasa+hunts+for+its+rubber+ducks&ch=Environment&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Climate+change+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CGlaciers+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironment%2CScience%2CUS+news%2CWorld+news&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living&c6=Andrew+Clark&c7=2008_12_22&c8=1137868&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Climate+change&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FClimate+change" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Sailors, fishermen and cruise passengers should be on the alert. If anybody spots a yellow rubber duck bobbing on the ocean waves, Nasa would like to know.</p><p>The US space agency has yet to find any trace of 90 bathtub toys that were dropped through holes in Greenland's ice three months ago in an effort to track the way the Arctic icecap is melting. Scientists threw the ducks into tubular holes known as "moulins" in the Jakobshavn glacier on Greenland's west coast, hoping they would find their way into channels beneath the hard-packed surface, to track the flow of melt water into the ocean.</p><p>"We haven't heard anything from them yet," Nasa robotics expert Alberto Behar told the BBC.</p><p>Also missing is a football-sized floating robotic probe equipped with a GPS positioning transmitter and powered by hi-tech batteries. It has failed to communicate its position. "We did not hear a signal back, so it probably got stuck under the ice somewhere," said Behar. </p><p>The experiment was intended to examine the movement of glaciers, which has speeded up in recent years. Scientists believe that melting water lubricates the bases of glaciers. </p><p>Although low-tech, the $2 ducks were chosen for their buoyancy and for their ability to withstand low temperatures. Nasa is offering a modest prize of $100 to the first person who finds a duck. The ducks have an email address stamped on them, together with the word "reward" in three languages, including Inuit.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/glaciers">Glaciers</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa">United States</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600652010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600652010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Obama appoints climate change expert John Holdren as chief scientist
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/62179?ns=guardian&pageName=World+news%3A+Obama%27s+revolution+on+climate+change&ch=World+news&c3=The+Observer&c4=Obama+White+House+%28News%29%2CGreen+politics%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CEnvironment%2CScience%2CUS+news%2CPolitics%2CWorld+news%2CObserver&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living%2CUS+Elections&c6=Edward+Helmore&c7=2008_12_21&c8=1137657&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=World+news&c12=Obama+White+House&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FObama+White+House" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Barack Obama ushered in a revolution in America's response to global warming yesterday when he appointed one of the world's leading climate change experts as his administration's chief scientist.</p><p>The president-elect's decision to make Harvard physicist John Holdren director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy reveals a new determination to draw a line under eight years of US policy that have seen George Bush steadfastly reject overwhelming evidence of climate change.</p><p>News of the appointment was hailed by scientists around the world, including former UK chief government scientific adviser Sir David King. "This is a superb appointment," he told the Observer. "Holdren is a top-rate scientist and his position on climate change is as clear as you could get. This is a signal from Barack Obama that he means business when it comes to dealing with global warming."</p><p>Obama also used his weekend radio address to announce that respected climatologist Jane Lubchenco is to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The appointments follow Obama's selection of Steven Chu, a Nobel prizewinner, to the Department of Energy, where he has been directed to lead the development of alternative energy sources.</p><p>"Today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation," Obama announced. "It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and ... worked to restore America's place as the world leader in science and technology."</p><p>In one telling remark, he added that respect for the scientific process was not "just about providing investment and resources. It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted nor obscured by politics nor ideology."</p><p>Obama's appointments are outspoken proponents of the need for urgent action over climate change, and they come after eight years of inaction, during which the Bush administration resisted international emission-reduction accords and the introduction of US laws to protect threatened species. </p><p>Holdren, whose expertise runs from nuclear-weapons proliferation to global warming, recently warned in a speech at Harvard that he considered "global warming" to be a misnomer. "It implies something gradual, something uniform, something quite possibly benign, and what we're experiencing is none of those. There is already widespread harm ... occurring from climate change. This is not just a problem for our children and our grandchildren."</p><p>As he pointed out, new figures point to a rapid acceleration in the loss of Arctic sea ice, as well as dramatic acidification of the ocean.</p><p>With the international community looking to America for leadership, Obama has made it clear that, despite the global economic crisis, the success of his presidency will hinge on a revolution in America's use and production of carbon-based energy. The selection of marine expert Lubchenco underscores that. She has warned that even if the world abruptly shifts away from fossil fuels, the oceans will continue to soak up carbon dioxide and become more acidic. She recommends protecting marine life by reducing overfishing, cutting back on nutrient run-off and creating marine reserves to protect marine eco-systems.</p><p>"The Bush administration has not been respectful of the science," she said earlier this year. "I am very much looking forward to a new administration that does respect scientific information and considers it very seriously in making environmental policies."</p><p>In another signal of his determination to move on the environment, Obama appointed Carol M Browner as his climate tsar last week. She was quoted as saying: "Time and time again, when the nation has set a new environmental standard, the naysayers have warned it will cost too much. But, once we have set those standards, American ingenuity and innovation have found a solution at a far lower cost than predicted."</p><p>For Obama, the creation of this green team is part of a broader push toward economic and environmental self-enlightenment. He has expressed hope that engaging technology with environmental and energy policy will lead to significant job creation.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-white-house">Obama White House</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/greenpolitics">Green politics</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa">United States</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=News&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600730010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=News&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600730010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Climate change: 'We need to unleash the power of the masses'
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/57522?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Climate+change%3A+%27We+need+to+unleash+the+power+of+the+masses%27&ch=Environment&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Environment%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CActivists+%28Environment%29&c5=Climate+Change%2CEthical+Living&c6=Richard+Wilson&c7=2008_12_19&c8=1137027&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Climate+change&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FClimate+change" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Ed Miliband is right to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/08/ed-miliband-climate-politics-environment" title="">call for a popular mobilisation on climate change</a>. There is undoubtedly "an opportunity and a need" for this mass mobilisation in order to provide elected decision makers with a mandate to act decisively.</p><p>But a Make Poverty History-type campaign is not the right route for climate change. Climate change is a much more diffuse and socially embedded problem than international development. A commitment to action on climate change may mean changing your choice of transport, holidays, shopping and the way you run your home too. We will need both a much higher degree of political mobilisation and a greater degree of personal action and behaviour change in order to succeed.</p><p>It is therefore not so much a campaign that is required but an engaging mobilisation which creates the political action that Ed Miliband speaks of and also builds the social foundations that sustain action and dialogue within and between communities across the world.</p><p>We have yet to have the serious conversation as a nation or in our communities on how we want to live in a carbon-constrained future. At present most of us are not consistently willing to take personal action, in either our behaviour or support for political action. However, there is extensive evidence that we are more willing to do so when we are part of a physical or virtual community or network that allows us to take action with others.</p><p>This evidence is found in consumer behaviour research, community development or the transition towns movement, which use a social-psychological model of change through mutually supportive groups and networks. Research by both Ipsos-Mori and the Henley Centre also back up the need for us to be engaged as groups to give us the support to shift our actions and opinions.</p><p>Achieving mass mobilisation hinges upon reaching out to people who are currently not engaged or passionate about climate change issues. This means working with civil society groups that have a wide and broad reach such as faith groups and trusted established bodies such as the Scouts and Women's Institute.</p><p>It also means creating structures that both support meaningful dialogue across, not simply within interest groups and give individuals a voice through mechanisms such as e-petitions. The conversation and the vote must be brought together, to ensure voice is the product of these all important conversations not the usual isolated opinion.</p><p>To harness the wisdom of crowds we must create structures for that wisdom to be shared. Involve has come together with the Centre for Social Markets (New Delhi) and AmericaSpeaks (Washington DC) supported by the Rowntree Trust to do just this. Each of us has a tradition in our countries of engaging large numbers of people meaningfully in the issues that affect their lives.</p><p>Whatever we do will nevertheless be new and challenging. We will be unleashing the power of the masses, and that's fraught with uncertainties and opportunity. It surely though can not be as risky as politics and campaigning as usual, since that is what has brought us tom the brink of this crisis.</p><p>? Richard Wilson is the director of <a href="http://www.involve.org.uk/climate" title="">Involve</a></p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/activists">Activists</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600752010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600752010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Keeping weather records used to be fun, and then came climate change
Keeping weather records used to be fun, and then came climate change, writes Robert Henson
Audio: Sea levels may rise faster than expected
<p>James Randerson looks at a new study predicting sea levels will rise faster than previous estimates suggested</p>
Sea level rise could top 1.5m by 2099, experts warn
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/81033?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Sea+level+could+rise+by+150cm%2C+US+scientists+warn&ch=Environment&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Climate+change+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CEnvironment%2CWorld+news%2CCarbon+emissions+%28Environment%29&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living&c6=James+Randerson&c7=2008_12_17&c8=1135145&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Climate+change&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FClimate+change" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Sea level rise due to global warming will "substantially exceed" official UN projections and could top 150cm by the end of the century, according to a report from the US Geological Survey on the risks of abrupt climate change. Such a rise would be catastrophic, seeing hundreds of millions of people affected by flooding.</p><p>Many scientists now fear the warming world is on the verge of "tipping points", in which climate change and its effects accelerate rapidly. The science is evolving quickly and the new report updates the most recent findings of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was released in 2007.</p><p>Some observers have called for an update of the science before the UN talks on a global deal on greenhouse gases emissions reach their finale in December 2009. The <a href="http://www.climatescience.gov/default.php" title="">US report</a> considers four scenarios for abrupt change, and delivers bad news on two.</p><p>On sea level, the report found models used by the IPCC in 2007 do not take into account recent information on how fast glaciers slide into the oceans, particularly from Greenland and the West Antarctic ice sheets. The report says the south western states of the US will enter a "permanent drought state".</p><p>But the risk of the ocean circulation in the Altantic shutting down ? freezing the coasts of America and Europe, as in the film The Day After Tomorrow ? is rated as low by the report. It predicts a slowdown of around 25% to 30%. The chance of a catastrophic release of methane from frozen sub-sea stores at high latitudes is also rated low. The report is part of a series by the US Climate Change Science Program, which collates all US federal research on the subject. It was presented tonight at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.</p><p>The IPCC predicted that sea level would rise by 28cm to 42cm by the end of the century. ,The authors cite a 2007 study by Prof Stephan Rahmstof at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Research which predicted a sea level rise of between 40cm-150cm by 2100. But even this much higher estimate will "likely need to be revised upwards" because it does not fully capture the ice flow processes.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbonemissions">Carbon emissions</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600835010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600835010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Coolest year since 2000 but trend still shows global warming
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/91248?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Coolest+year+since+2000+but+trend+still+shows+global+warming&ch=Environment&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Environment%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CWeather+UK+%28News%29%2CWorld+news&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living&c6=James+Randerson&c7=2008_12_16&c8=1135036&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Climate+change&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FClimate+change" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>The last 12 months have been the coolest since 2000, according to an analysis by Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The meteorological year - which runs from December 2007 to November 2008 - was 0.42C warmer than the global average temperature between 1951 and 1980.</p><p>Nasa's calculations agree closely with a similar analysis by the UK Met Office which was released officially this morning, but<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/05/climate-change-weather" title=""> reported by the Guardian</a> earlier this month. According to Met Office figures for the last 11 months, the global mean temperature for 2008 is 14.3C, which is 0.14C below the average temperature for 2001-07. That makes 2008 the tenth hottest year on record.</p><p>Climate scientists had predicted that 2008 would be relatively cool compared with recent years because at the beginning of the year there was a strong La Niña event - characterised by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.</p><p>Professor Phil Jones head of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Norwich said that El Niño and La Niña events have a profound impact on yearly temperature fluctuations. "The most important component of year-to-year variability in global average temperatures is the phase and amplitude of equatorial sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that lead to La Nina and El Nino events."</p><p>The influence of La Niña can be clearly seen in Nasa's analysis. Its researchers have <a href="http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2008_temp/fig1a.pdf" title="">produced a world map</a> showing which regions of the planet were above and below their average temperature during 1951 to 1980. While much of the equatorial Pacific was 1C below average, the Antarctic Peninsula and parts of Siberia were over 2.5C above average. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies is led by the US climate scientist Prof James Hansen.</p><p>Although 2008 is cool by recent standards, it still fits with a warming trend. The 10 warmest years have occurred since 1997 and world average temperatures for the current decade are nearly 0.2C warmer than the average for the last decade.</p><p>"Human influence, particularly emission of greenhouse gases, has greatly increased the chance of having such warm years. Comparing observations with the expected response to manmade and natural drivers of climate change it is shown that global temperature is now over 0.7C warmer than if humans were not altering the climate," said Dr Peter Stott of the Met Office.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/weather">Weather</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600868010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600868010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Climate change may make Humboldt squid easy prey
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/94208?ns=guardian&pageName=Environment%3A+Climate+change+may+make+Humboldt+squid+easy+prey&ch=Environment&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Environment%2CWildlife+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CWorld+news%2CPortugal+%28News%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CBiodiversity+%28science%29%2CZoology%2CScience&c5=Environment+Conservation%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living&c6=Ian+Sample&c7=2008_12_16&c8=1134495&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Environment&c12=Wildlife&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FWildlife" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>One of the most formidable predators in the Pacific ocean, the Humboldt squid, may become more vulnerable to attacks from other marine beasts as changing water conditions make them more sluggish swimmers, a study has found.</p><p>As human activities increase the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the level in the oceans also rise. Scientists believe this will make the squid lethargic, and so less able to outswim their own predators, including sperm whales that feed heavily on the creatures.</p><p>Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) can grow up to 2m long and hunt in shoals of more than a thousand. Scientists have recorded the creatures, which are found in waters from Alaska to Patagonia, swimming at more than 20kmh (13mph).</p><p>In the daytime, the squid are forced to dive deep to prey on lantern fish, but because deeper waters are starved of oxygen, the squid must return to the surface at night to recover.</p><p>Rui Rosa at the University of Lisbon netted Humboldt squid off the coast of California and transferred them to water tanks aboard the team's research vessel to examine how they coped with different levels of carbon dioxide in water.</p><p>Rosa found that when the squid swim in oxygen-starved waters, they survive by slowing down their metabolism by up to 80%.</p><p>When Rosa simulated carbon dioxide levels predicted for oceans at the end of the century, he found the squid slowed their metabolism again, by around 30%, and became almost half as active.</p><p>"Their metabolism will drop with ocean acidification because there is more carbon dioxide in the water," Rosa said.</p><p>"The squid will be more lethargic and so more vulnerable to their predators because they won't be able to escape them any more." The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.</p><p>Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen from pre-industrial levels of 280 parts per million to more than 380ppm today, much of which is absorbed by the oceans.</p><p>Rosa said more acidic waters will also constrict the habitat of the Humboldt squid, by making them less able to hunt at depth, or in surface waters, which could have serious knock-on effects for the wider marine ecosystem.</p><p>"These squid will probably have to migrate to find more suitable waters, and since they are the main prey for sperm whales, that could significantly alter the marine foodweb," Rosa said.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/wildlife">Wildlife</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/portugal">Portugal</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange">Climate change</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/biodiversity">Biodiversity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/zoology">Zoology</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600949010603040249871"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Environment&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231210600949010603040249871" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
