Green House Gas Emissions Rapidly Increased

In a revelation that will come as a surprise to Northern Ireland’s minister for the environment Sammy Wilson, it has been suggested that rather than having little effect, the curse of global warming is set to turn out worse than scientists had first said. Leading climatologist Chris Field says that over the coming century, the severity of the crisis is only going to get worse, and that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has actually underestimated the rate at which the climate is set to change.

Professor Field made his remarks while speaking to an American Science conference in Chicago. In his speech he revealed that recently revealed data shows that greenhouse gas emissions in the eight-year period from 2000 to 2007 actually increased a good deal more rapidly than had been expected. The result of this is that the climate will change far more severely over the course of this century than anyone had previously forecast. The associated dangers to the global environment are set to be much more dire than anything that has previously been seriously mooted.

The IPCC report of 2007 forecast that climate change would see a rise in temperatures between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius, but according to Prof Field this seriously underestimates just how bad things will get. The higher level of emissions, says the Professor, is largely down to the increase in use of coal for electric power in the emerging superpowers, India and China. Without immediate, effective action we could be in for a very troublesome future. Field added that while the overall impact on temperatures is as yet impossible to forecast accurately, the change is likely to accelerate much faster than predicted.

As a result of the change in temperatures, forests in tropical areas will dry out and become more prone to wildfires, and the world’s permafrost is also likely to melt at a higher speed – resulting in a huge increase to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. The knock-on effects of this mean that the problem, far from having been overstated, is likely to snowball in a way that no-one has foreseen.

This latest release on the extent of the problem comes in the aftermath of a controversy in Northern Ireland, where the Minister for the Environment recently blocked the transmissions of advertisements from the environmental campaign Act on CO2, saying that they were “unwelcome”.

Wilson’s previous public pronouncements on the issue have marked him out as a Climate Change skeptic, amounting to suggestions that the problem was natural rather than man made, and in his latest controversial statements he has referred to global warming as a “hysterical pseudo-religion.” The latest controversy has seen Wilson subject to a vote of no confidence from within the Northern Ireland Executive, with a view on climate change that differs from most people’s. As we write, Wilson holds on to his position, but it seems that his credibility as Environment Minister must have suffered wounds that, if not lethal, will prove deeply detrimental to his ability to discharge his future duties.

Let The Green Journey Begin

I believe it was Kermit the Frog who first said, “It’s Not Easy Being Green”. And he had a point, too, because it seems like hardly a day goes by without new information coming to light about something that we had previously considered to be perfectly acceptable, rendering that thing now completely beyond the pale. Trying to do our best by the planet is a tough job, but it’s also worthwhile. Fighting the good fight and keeping our planet in some sort of condition that we will be happy to hand over to our gran dkids, though far from easy (we hear you, Kermit!), is something that, with a bit of forethought, can be done very efficiently, and can even be a lot of fun.

We will look to bring to light different ways of keeping yourself environmentally sound. Knowing how to harness things that are already freely available and use them in a different way can make you more environmentally friendly. There is also a certain amount of myth busting to be done – where people pay lip service to green issues and swear that they are environmentally aware, they should be made to put their money where their mouth is.


“Green Energy” is a big buzz phrase right now. With car companies looking to plant their flags on green territory by developing hybrid vehicles, and some going as far as to develop fully electric cars, it is dawning on everybody that we are living in changed times, and that the change is not over yet. What are the most environmentally friendly companies? Who are the most environmentally friendly governments? How can we ensure that we are doing everything possible to make the future environmentally sound? These are all things that we will hope to illuminate for you.

As well as all of this, we plan to provide a bit of a different slant on the Green world. How to eat Green, drink Green, travel Green – sure, we will have all of this, but there will also be tips on how to bring a green tinge to every other part of your life while not hurting your pocket and not having any less fun. Green issues may not have caught everybody’s imagination just yet, but as people come to realize that a Green life is compatible with the way they want to live their life, things will come naturally.

So welcome, and let us know what your views are on these issues and any others that play a part in the environmental debate. We want to know what you think, and what you want to see and read here. Do you find it easy being green, or do you find that it’s too hard to live a green life in a world that has gone so far down another path? We do not claim to have all of the answers, and if you have any that we do not, then we’re always happy to hear from you.