The next sentence is the beginning of an email I received today.

“Good Morning- Happy Wednesday. It is going to be almost 90 degrees in New York today. Love this Global Warming!”

I was appalled! It rates with a comment I had from a very prominent internet marketing expert. “I am not interested in green issues, but I wrote you a song”. I hope he feels comfortable saying that to his kids in 20 years.

Without wanting to sound alarmist the latest predictions are that all the arctic ice will be gone in 23 years. 20% is gone already and as there is less shiny white ice to reflect the sun, the remaining dark sea absorbs heat. I find this very alarming. All the predictions so far have actually been conservative and have been reached sooner than predicted.

I worry for the children. Climate change is a very real issue and we MUST take it seriously.

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Do people realise how fast this is happening now? The changes are speeding up. Any doubts about whether the changes are caused by carbon dioxide or not are nonsense. If climate change was caused by changes in solar radiation, we would expect the outer atmosphere to be heating faster than the inner atmosphere. This is NOT the case. The outer atmosphere is much cooler because there is a thick insulating blanket of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxides (mainly carbon dioxide) that does not allow the heat on earth to leave so we are getting hotter.

Venus is surrounded by an atmosphere of carbon dioxide which makes it VERY hot. We do not want this as our model.. Venus is the second planet from the sun. When viewed from a telescope Venus exhibits phases similar to that of the moon. Venus rotates on an axis like earth but slower and in a direction opposite Earth’s. The atmosphere on Venus is comprised mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a small percentage of the atmosphere is nitrogen. Venus has many clouds, which are made up of high concentrations of sulphuric acid.

Water and water vapour are extremely rare on Venus due to its high surface temperature that can approach 758 K (900 °F). This extreme temperature is caused by the greenhouse effect. As sunlight heats Venus’ surface, the surface radiates infrared energy that is kept from escaping the planet by dense carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Now what is happening here? The artic ice is melting – 20% has gone already and as more goes the dark coloured surface of the sea absorbs solar radiation heating the water faster. Where there is ice, the while surface reflects the solar radiation so there is less warming.

What I find scary, is that at the current predicted rate, in 23 years, all the artic ice will be gone. What is even scarier is that the predicted dates have been consistently too conservative and things are actually happening faster. STOP and THINK – where will your family be in 20 years. What problems will your children and grandchildren be facing. This is the source of my passion for my life’s work. That passion together with my deep understanding of how management systems can help business to save money while they manage their problems is why I set up Enviro Action and my Easy to be Green training system.

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Last week I went to Sydney and lunch with Al Gore. Intimate really with only another 600 or so people there! Never-the-less, I found him to be an inspiring man. What I loved was his passion.

Hi talk was tailored to Australia and although he is not a scientist he has put the work in and he knows his stuff. The depth of knowledge shown in question time was impressive. He knows the science and he is up to date.

On Sunday I lunched with some of my oldest friends – the group I studied science at University with – we won’t mention how long ago! One of these old friends is now a leading international climate change expert based in the USA who comes beck to Australia to provide advice to government on this issue. He was saying that Al Gore meets with the leading scientists so he really does have the latest facts. He has breakfasted with my friend on some of his fact finding sessions.

I was glad I went. I found it a valuable day. We need so much more of this passion to face up to the changes that must be made if we are to be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye in 20 years time!

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It is 11am and I have just stopped for a coffee and a piece of fruit. I decided go outdoors on my terrace and soak up the sun while is early in the day and I can get Vitamin D and warmth without getting skin cancer in the middle of the day.

It was a lovely break! Yesterday was hot and very windy then overnight a front came though with quite good rain and the world looks so clean.

This morning the rain stopped while I walked to my gym and stayed away until I returned then gave another burst. At present the sky is blue, the sun is out, the bees are busy around my lemon tree which is in flower and there ware birds investigating the potted garden and using the birdbath. I truly enjoyed sitting in the fresh air and watching the world.

I moved to an apartment about 2 years ago and I live two storeys up with another six above me but I have a 6metre x 8metre terrace and I have filled it with a potted garden – some fruit trees, some vegetables and herbs as well as lovely ornamentals like a frangipani tree I have had in a pot for around six years and potted roses. Most of my plants are very drought and heat tolerant and those that were not did not make it through last summer. Most of them are favourites that I have had in my last 3 houses but they have grown some.

Initially I was concerned about how I would cope with the reduced space but it is a large apartment and the terrace garden actually gives me a better feeling of space than my previous house because of the borrowed landscape I can see from 2 floors up. The old house felt buried in the suburbs. The apartment is within easy walking distance of the city centre across a park and it is very well insulated so I use minimal heating and cooling. I added a verandah over my north facing windows to give me some dry outdoor space but also to keep out the summer sun while letting winter sun stream in.

With the verandah and two large café umbrellas to give me privacy from above, I have an idyllic space complete with a sand pit and totem tennis for grandchildren. I love apartment living and it is very energy efficient.

My only regret is my dream of having a totally eco house that retains all its own water and makes all its own power. To find this so close to the edge of the city, close to family and with a view, is so unlikely that I guess I will settle happily for the apartment and terrace and work on the Strata Corporation to allow us to have solar panels.

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Former Port Moorowie resident Jean Cannon is passionate about the environment, and so much so has recently released her book, “It is easy being green”.

Jean Cannon, author of “It is easy being green”, dedicated the book to her grandchildren – “who have to live in the world we leave them!”
Quite apart from refuting Kermit, Jean has used the frog in her work because they are an indicator species for environmental, and especially water, pollution.

“Frogs are now endangered in many places and like the canary in the mine indicating air quality, we ignore this at our peril,” she says, explaining that the book provides simple steps to help businesses help the world. (more…)

Last week I talked about some of the ways that urban water is management in my home city, Adelaide. I had a challenging comment on how water should be freely available. It was interesting today to read what Professor Mike Young of the University of Adelaide and the SA Government’s Sustainability Roundtable said. I really like his view point. This is summarised in several dot points below:

• Water management has become highly political and used simultaneously to pursue equity objectives.
• The main role of price is to reveal value and setting the price of water according to value, stimulates innovation.
• Governments are currently crowding out private investment in water management and this has led to a lack of innovative solutions to water management.
• Having water as a tradeable commodity generates an extremely strong interest. People generally want to be able to buy water and be free of water restrictions.
• Discussion about water at the moment focuses on shortages but if an urban water management system was based on its value, this could open up opportunities for innovation and investment.
• Government is reluctant to allow private enterprise to enter the system. Under the current system, business is hesitant to enter the water market because it is too risky to compete with government monopolies. Water is still a political football.
• The current water management system is based on a grant/subsidy culture. Governments have subsidised and controlled water management systems in Australia rather than looking for alternative solutions and allowing business investments.

Perhaps not so popular politically with some sections of society but this is the direction we need to move.

One of the problems identified as the EcoForum I attended in Sydney 2 weeks ago was that while we need companies to compete and innovate to enable us to come up with the new technology we so desperately need, 50% of our population is philosophically opposed to competition. Here is another debate we have to have.

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Abu Dhabi has a project underway to create the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste city. And since the plan was announced, an initiative at the Penang Global City Centre in Malaysia was launched to challenge Abu Dhabi’s claim to be the first zero carbon city in the world.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
The Masdar Initiative (”source” in Arabic) was launched in Abu Dhabi by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to create a city that will be car-free and powered by renewable energy, with services digitally managed and a compact network of streets to encourage walking.

Surrounding land will contain wind, photovoltaic farms, research fields and plantations intended to make the city entirely self-sustaining.

This is really impressive because the UAE is the fourth largest OPEC oil producer and one of the highest per capita emitters of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.
They will be constructing buildings with environmentally sustainable materials and technologies, and having a high enough ratio of green spaces to neutralise the built-up area. Planners envisage a city that employs alternative energy and mass recycling programs, with residents driving electric cars.

Apparently the design for the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) was launched this week by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. So it is a competition.

Here is an example for us all!

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Novel renewable energy technologies have been given a shot at a major contract after WA Water Corporation said it would support them to power a planned desalination plant.

The Water Corporation called for tenders yesterday to supply 200GWh a year of renewable energy for the planned Southern Seawater Desalination Plant in Binningup in the state’s south-west.

Some 160GWh would be supplied from tried and tested renewable energy sources, such as wind farms. But the authority wants up to 40GWh per year to come from technology not yet commercially proven on a large scale.

Meanwhile, an independent report into the environmental impact of the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant in Kwinana showed oxygen levels in Cockburn Sound have not been affected by the discharge from the plant.

My firm believe is that if we are to save the energy we need to, government needs to encourage private enterprise to experiment, compete and to think of new solutions outside the box. Well done WA!

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The week before last I went to Sydney to a pre-APEC EcoForum and updated on global warming issues.

Then last week I spoke to University of South Australia Students for an our on global warming, green initiatives and how small to medium businesses are coping with this, or not as the case often is.

This week I was the speaker at a breakfast for Eastside Business Enterprise Centre.

Next week I shall be in Sydney again on Wednesday for lunch with Al Gore!

In my spare moments I have two new books out this week:

• “Green Your business; the Do-It-Yourself Manual”
  I plan to get a print version next year but at this stage, it is an eBook only and comes with an accompanying e-Workbook
• The other book is one where I am a contributing author and it is very flattering to have been asked to be part of it. It is called “Secrets of Top Business Builders Exposed”.

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World leaders attending the APEC forum in Australia adopted the Sydney Declaration, which aims to slow global warming by boosting energy efficiency by 25 percent by 2030 and increasing the area of forests by 20 million hectares by 2020. Of the 21 member nations, the United States ranks first in terms of the volume of greenhouse gas emissions, followed by China. Japan ranks fourth, while Korea ranks 10th in that category. The APEC member nations together account for more than 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

At an EU summit in March, officials agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent of the 1990 level by 2020. And at the G8 summit in June, officials agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emission to less than half the present level by 2050.

Greenhouse gas emissions by Korea totalled 239 million tons in 1990. That rose to 482 million tons in 2004, the fastest rate of increase in the world. Over the same period, greenhouse gas emissions by the EU rose just 1.6 percent, by Japan 14.8 percent and the U.S. 19.8 percent. In terms of per-capita carbon dioxide emissions, Korea outranks Japan, whose GDP is twice Australia’s. Korea has been wasting energy like there is no tomorrow.

he 1997 Kyoto Protocol required only 38 advanced nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average 5.2 percent by 2012. At that time, Korea was classified as a developing country and was not required to make immediate reductions. But the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. This year, discussion is expected to begin on a post-Kyoto global agreement, to go into effect in 2013, that would regulate greenhouse gas emission levels. There is little chance that the 10th-ranked culprit will be let off the hook this time.

The EU has implemented a carbon trading scheme for businesses, while the U.K. is even considering putting emission limits on individuals. In Japan, the government leads a campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Korea can no longer remain an island as the world fights to reduce pollution. If it sits by idly, Korea’s economy may take a serious hit when it is required to drastically lower emission levels.

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