Also by jossg

A U-turn on airport expansion could cost the coalition

Posted by jossg - 27 March 2012 at 5:20pm - Comments

Greenpeace activists climb onto the top of a plane at London Heathrow Airport

"The road to economic recovery isn't a road - it's a flight path." That's the message currently plastered all over the London underground, courtesy of Heathrow owners BAA. The company's new campaign to reopen the third runway debate is a self-serving effort to play on people's economic anxieties at a time of fear, that much is obvious. But more than that, it's a con - both politically unrealistic and, more importantly, economically incoherent.

Article tagged as: BAA, british airports authority, british airways, conservative, heathrow, third runway

Budget 2012: A polluters’ charter that puts fossil fuels in the tank of the British economy

Posted by jossg - 21 March 2012 at 4:05pm - Comments

Osborne has given the oil industry £3bn of taxpayers' money for risky deep water drilling off the Shetland Islands (pic: BP's Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010)

Before the election George Osborne said, “Instead of the Treasury blocking green reform, I want a Conservative Treasury to lead the development of the low carbon economy and finance a green recovery.”

Article tagged as: budget2012, climate change, gas, investment, oil, osborne, renewables

In awe of people power after major tar sands success

Posted by jossg - 23 February 2012 at 2:48pm - Comments

Tar sands mine in the boreal forest of Canada

A major success for people power as a vote on tar sands oil in the EU today

I’m having one of those moments when I’m genuinely in awe of what people power can do when there’s enough of us working together to take on the most polluting companies in the world.

Article tagged as: canada, climate change, EU, go beyond oil, oil, tar sands

Big six CEOs: Failing customers, failing the climate

Posted by jossg - 17 February 2012 at 4:35pm - Comments

Millions of us are feeling the economic squeeze just now - not least because of the astronomical rise in our energy bills. The average household energy bill rose from £605 in 2004 to £1060 by 2010 and since then it’s risen even further. Secratary of Sate Ed Davey needs to stand up to the energy bosses and put people and the climate before profits.

Article tagged as: big six, bonuses, british gas, climate change, EDF, energy, energy bill, eon, npower, scottish power, sse

Exposed: Heartland's climate disinformation campaign

Posted by jossg - 15 February 2012 at 12:41pm - Comments

Leaked documents from inside one of America’s most powerful thinktanks have revealed a multi-million dollar systematic disinformation campaign to cast doubt on the science of climate change.

Article tagged as: climate change, deniergate, deniers, global warming policy foundation, heartland institute, nigel lawson

“For God’s sake, look after our people”

Posted by jossg - 18 January 2012 at 11:47am - Comments

Scott, writing his journal in the Cape Evans hut, winter 1911

Staring out at the bright, open, broken plains of Arctic sea ice back in September, more than once I was struck by the thought of the early explorers who first trekked across similar icescapes at both frozen ends of the planet. My first time stepping down onto the floating Arctic ice was exciting enough; hard to comprehend what it was like for those who were pushing the boundaries of where humans had previously explored.

Article tagged as: antarctica, arctic, climate change, exploration

A frozen planet under threat

Posted by jossg - 26 October 2011 at 11:14am - Comments

An iceberg weathered by the strong Arctic winds and currents floats in Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, Greenland

Like millions of people I have the next few Wednesday evenings mapped out already - I’ll be watching David Attenborough’s groundbreaking new series Frozen Planet. In the tradition of Planet Earth and Human Planet, this new BBC production is bringing extreme environments into living rooms across the world, with unforgettable sequences that take the viewer to the ends of the earth and into the habitats of extraordinary species.

Article tagged as: arctic, climate change, david attenborough, frozen planet, go beyond oil, oil

An evening of Narnia moments

Posted by jossg - 19 September 2011 at 1:46pm - Comments

At about a quarter to eight, still sitting in the Mess having just cleaned off Ronnie's lasagne, we got a call from Paul, the first mate, over the ship's tanoy system. "There's a big polar bear to our starboard."

Article tagged as: arctic, arctic sunrise, climate change, polar bears, wildlife

Another ordinary day in the Arctic...

Posted by jossg - 13 September 2011 at 11:19am - Comments

Polar bear cub plays with science equipment near the Arctic Sunrise

This afternoon I was on watch. Bear watch.

Whenever there are people out on the ice, it's necessary for a couple of people at least, and more if there's fog, to be keeping a look out. On these occasions there's usually one person up on the wings of the bridge, another person up in the crow's nest, and somebody else out on the helipad. There's a rota so nobody has to stand for hours on end and get too cold, but today I did an hour in the heli slot.

Article tagged as: arctic, arctic sunrise, climate change, go beyond oil, polar bears, research, science

A meeting with “the Elvis of sea ice science”

Posted by jossg - 12 September 2011 at 9:08am - Comments

Two crew members get their first sight of sea ice from the bow of the Arctic Sunrise, in waters off Arctic Svalbard

A few months ago I took the train down from London to Cambridge with my colleague Frida Bengtsson, who is leading this expedition, so that we could meet up with Professor Peter Wadhams. As head of the University’s ‘Polar Ocean Physics Group’, it’s fair to say Peter knows a thing or two about Arctic sea ice. Friends at Greenpeace like to call him ‘the Elvis of sea ice science.’

Article tagged as: arctic, arctic sea ice, arctic sunrise, climate change, climate impacts, peter wadhams

Greenpeace UK