The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Study shows forests have bigger role in slowing climate change
- Strauss-Kahn won't negotiate, says New York lawyer
- FACTBOX - Republicans who may take on Obama in 2012
| Study shows forests have bigger role in slowing climate change Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:15 AM PDT SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) - The world's forests can play an even greater role in fighting climate change than previously thought, scientists say in the most comprehensive study yet on how much carbon dioxide forests absorb from the air.
The study may also boost a U.N.-backed programme that aims to create a global market in carbon credits from projects that protect tropical forests. If these forests are locking away more carbon than thought, such projects could become more valuable. Trees need large amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) to grow, locking away the carbon in the trunks and roots. But scientists have struggled to figure out exactly how much CO2 forests soak up in different parts of the world and a global total for how much is released when forests are cut down and burned. The study released on Friday in the latest issue of the U.S. journal Science details for the first time the volumes of CO2 absorbed from the atmosphere by tropical, temperate and boreal forests. The researchers found that forests soak up more than 10 percent of carbon dioxide from human activities such as burning coal, even after taking into account all of the global emissions from deforestation. "This analysis puts forests at even a higher level of importance in regulating atmospheric CO2," said Pep Canadell, one of the authors and head of the Global Carbon Project based at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia. "If you shut them down, you're not only losing the carbon stock into the atmosphere, you're losing a very active sink which removes the carbon dioxide," he told Reuters from Canberra. Canadell and an international research team combined data from forest inventories, models and satellites to construct a profile of forests as major regulators of atmospheric CO2. Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and deforestation are rising rapidly, with growth being largely driven by surging coal, oil and gas consumption in big developing nations. Emissions grew 5.8 percent last year to 33.16 billion tonnes, as countries rebounded from economic recession, a BP report said in June. China's emissions totalled 8.33 billion tonnes, up 10 percent from the year before. MAJOR SURPRISE The researchers found that in total, established forests and young regrowth forests in the tropics soaked up nearly 15 billion tonnes of CO2, or roughly half the emissions from industry, transport and other sources. But the scientists calculated that deforestation emissions totalled 10.7 billion tonnes, underscoring that the more forests are preserved the more they can slow the pace of climate change. A major surprise was the finding that young regrowth forests in the tropics were far better at soaking up carbon than thought, absorbing nearly 6 billion tonnes of CO2 -- about the annual greenhouse gas emissions of the United States. "This is huge and the relevance for REDD is here you have a huge sink that is bigger than the established tropical forests," said Canadell, referring to the U.N.-backed scheme reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation. REDD aims to reward poorer nations that preserve their carbon-rich rainforests with a market-based scheme in which carbon credits are given for every tonne of carbon locked away. Many REDD projects currently being developed focus on peat-swamp forests because these contain the most carbon. Tropical regrowth forests could represent a new investment opportunity, Canadell said. "Unfortunately, some countries have not looked on forest regrowth as a component of REDD, and so are missing a very important opportunity to gain even further climate benefits from the conservation of forests," he said. (Editing by Ed Lane) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| Strauss-Kahn won't negotiate, says New York lawyer Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:15 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will not plead guilty to minor charges or cut a deal in the sexual assault case against him in New York, his lawyer said in remarks published on Thursday. Strauss-Kahn, who was the Socialist Party's leading candidate for the French 2012 presidential election, was arrested by New York police in mid-May on charges of attempting to rape a hotel maid.
"We will not negotiate on any point and will not plead guilty to a misdemeanour charge in this case," William Taylor was quoted as saying in Le Figaro newspaper. "The only acceptable conclusion to this (for the defence) is the complete dropping of all charges." Strauss-Kahn has repeatedly denied the charges. New York prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed on Monday to postpone the next court date to Aug 1 to give both sides more time to investigate. Taylor said no decision was likely at that meeting. "It's a routine appearance and the two sides will explain where their investigations stand," Taylor told Le Parisien newspaper. "The judge should say 'thank you and you can come back in three weeks or September.'" (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| FACTBOX - Republicans who may take on Obama in 2012 Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:15 AM PDT July 14 (Reuters) - Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says she will decide whether to join the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination in August or September, potentially adding her name to the list of contenders. Here is a look at Republicans who could win the party nomination and face Democratic President Barack Obama in the general election.
MITT ROMNEY Romney, 64, who lost the nomination to John McCain in 2008, leads many polls of potential Republican candidates and is viewed as the party's early front-runner. He declared his candidacy on June 2 after spending months creating a network of supporters and wealthy donors, particularly in early voting states including New Hampshire. In May, he raised $10.25 million in Las Vegas in a single day. Romney, who co-founded private equity firm Bain Capital, has pushed his business experience as a way to attack Obama's handling of the U.S. economy. His fortune has been estimated at up to $250 million. Critics say he cut jobs as a corporate raider. A former Massachusetts governor, Romney is also known for righting the scandal-plagued 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. A vulnerability of his candidacy is the healthcare plan he helped develop in Massachusetts that became a model for the 2010 Obama healthcare law that conservatives want to scrap. Romney has defended the state law while attacking the federal version. He has said he would repeal Obama's plan. A Mormon, Romney might struggle to win support from evangelical Christians. JON HUNTSMAN Huntsman annoyed the White House by resigning in April as Obama's U.S. ambassador to China to consider whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination. Huntsman, 51, entered the race on June 21 and, like Romney, has roots in Utah and is a Mormon. A former governor of Utah, Huntsman is a moderate, which may make it hard for him to win over conservatives who play a key role in the nominating process. Huntsman's name recognition is low and his biggest immediate hurdle among Republican voters is his service to the Obama administration. Huntsman paints his knowledge of China, America's main global commercial rival and foreign lender, as a strength. SARAH PALIN Palin, 47, the party's vice presidential nominee in 2008, has not said whether she will run but told an interviewer that she expects to make a decision in August or September. She has star power and can afford to enter the race relatively late because of her broad name recognition. Palin made herself a millionaire with two books, the TV show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" and paid speaking engagements. A leading voice in the conservative Tea Party movement, Palin enhanced her influence by campaigning for its candidates in the 2010 congressional elections. Palin is not a favourite of establishment Republicans who fear her low approval ratings with the broader electorate could doom the party in a general election matchup with Obama. She remains vulnerable to public gaffes, most recently saying the American patriot Paul Revere "warned the British" not to mess with the colonists. Revere's famous ride was to warn colonial militias that the British were coming. MICHELE BACHMANN A leader of the Tea Party movement, Bachmann has joined the upper tier of candidates after a strong performance in the first major debate on June 13 in New Hampshire. She was only 1 point behind first-place Romney in a June 26 Iowa poll. Bachmann, 55, is a former tax lawyer who is a conservative both fiscally and socially, and is strongly opposed to gay marriage and abortion. In 2006, she became the first Republican woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota. Bachmann has been seen as someone who would benefit if Palin decided not to run, as the two are similar in politics and appeal to many of the same voters. She is expected to do well at the caucus in Iowa, where she was born and where conservatives are strong. But she might struggle in primaries in New Hampshire and Florida. TIM PAWLENTY The former Minnesota governor joined the national stage in 2008 when his name showed up on John McCain's short list to be the Republican vice presidential candidate. "T-Paw" -- as he is known by supporters -- was a popular two-term governor in a swing state, giving him credibility as a Republican who can attract vital support from independents. He won plaudits for eliminating a $4.3 billion state budget deficit without raising taxes. But critics say he used short-term patches to paper over budget holes and blame him for a multi-billion deficit that took shape after he left office. Pawlenty, who stepped into the race in May, has been a staunch voice against abortion and human embryonic stem-cell research. As a presidential hopeful, Pawlenty, 50, has tried to raise his national profile with Republican voters by promising "hard truths" about U.S. fiscal woes, yet offering generous tax cuts. Critics say he lacks charisma, a concern undiminished by a debate performances in New Hampshire and South Carolina. NEWT GINGRICH Leading members of Gingrich's campaign team resigned on June 9 in a blow to his 2012 election hopes. His campaign has sputtered from the beginning and the mass exodus could scare off would-be financial contributors and other supporters. The former speaker of the House, 68, was the main architect of the 1994 Republican congressional election victory and author of the "Contract with America" political manifesto. Gingrich ended his 20-year congressional career after Republican losses in 1998 elections. He has tried to ease concerns among the religious right about his personal life. Gingrich is married to his third wife, with whom he had an affair while married to his second wife. After announcing his candidacy, Gingrich flew straight into trouble by criticizing a House Republican Medicare reform plan. He apologized after being criticized by fellow conservatives. Then came revelations that Gingrich and his wife had a large credit line at Tiffany's. Gingrich then disappeared from the campaign trail and went on a Greek cruise with his wife. RICK SANTORUM Santorum, 53, once a leading Senate Republican, was badly defeated in his 2006 re-election bid. A favourite of social conservatives, he made a name for himself a decade ago by opposing abortion rights and gay marriage while backing welfare reform. He has campaigned hard to enhance his profile in early voting states. RON PAUL An anti-war Republican congressman from Texas who ran unsuccessfully for the party's 2008 nomination, libertarian Paul, 75, is known as "the intellectual godfather of the Tea Party." His calls for steep cuts in the federal deficit and the size of government have moved to the mainstream of debate in Congress since last November when the fiscal conservative movement swept Republicans back into power in the House. An obstetrician, Paul has also gained new prominence as chairman of a congressional panel that oversees the Federal Reserve, a system he wants to abolish. HERMAN CAIN A radio talk show host and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, Cain, 65, was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's board of directors and has never been elected to political office. (Reporting by David Morgan, Ros Krasny, Steve Holland, Alistair Bell, John Whitesides, Patricia Zengerle) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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