Gareth Renowden • Nov 25, 2009 •
The government’s amendments to the Emissions Trading Scheme became law this afternoon, thanks to support from the Maori Party [Stuff, Herald, Reuters]. Nick Smith called the changes “workable and affordable” and said that they struck “the right balance in protecting the future of our economy and our environment”, but Labour climate spokesman Charles Chauvel was [...] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Nov 23, 2009 •
New Zealand’s glaciers are continuing to lose mass according to this year’s aerial survey of the Southern Alps by NIWA scientists. The figures released today show that over 2008-9 the glaciers lost much more mass through melt and calving than they gained from snowfall. From the press release: NIWA Snow and Ice Scientist Dr Jordy Hendrikx [...] … Read More
Shaun Hendy • Nov 17, 2009 •
One of the interesting things we can do with the OECD patent database is look at how those patents are distributed among applicants. The applicant for a patent is often the organisation or company that employs the inventors rather than the inventors themselves. By looking at the distribution of patents among applicants we are looking at the size distribution … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Nov 13, 2009 •
And so it begins: the rest of the world is starting to notice the major disconnect between New Zealand’s much advertised “clean and green” image and the National-led government’s piecemeal demolition of sensible climate policy. In yesterday’s Guardian, one of Britain’s leading quality newspapers, Fred Pearce devotes his “greenwash” column to New Zealand: …my prize for [...] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Nov 10, 2009 •
The 10:10 emissions reduction campaign launched in the UK earlier this year is likely to arrive in New Zealand soon — perhaps before the end of the year. Speaking on Chris Laidlaw’s RNZ Sunday Morning show [mp3], organiser Daniel Vockins confirmed that discussions were underway with interested parties(*) in NZ, and promised that if 1,000 [...] … Read More
Shaun Hendy • Oct 27, 2009 •
In an earlier post I looked at the 2008 CRI co-author network. Now let’s turn to the University network. Using the Thompson Reuters Web of Science again, I found 5116 publications in 2008 with authors from New Zealand universities. In total 13930 authors contributed to these papers. The network is shown on the right. Again, a … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Oct 23, 2009 •
350.org’s planetary day of action is well under way, with schools actions happening all over New Zealand — that’s Remuera Intermediate above, taking their jumpers off for climate action. Tomorrow’s the big day, with over 130 350 Aotearoa actions scheduled all round the country. You can find one near you at 350.org.nz. Lend a hand. [...] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Oct 14, 2009 •
The UK’s Committee on Climate Change, established to advise the British government on emissions targets and to report to Parliament on the progress being made towards achieving those targets, has just published its first annual report: Meeting Carbon Budgets – the need for a step change. It warns that the current rate of emissions reductions, [...] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Oct 09, 2009 •
In a hard-hitting article in today’s New Zealand Medical Journal, a group of senior health professionals call for NZ to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The spokesperson for the recently formed Climate and Health Group, Dr Alex Hamilton says: Climate change has been described as the biggest global health threat of the 21st century, [...] … Read More