In our May 2 e-newsletter we said (sign up on the home page):
Believe it or not, when officials in Beijing kept about 800,000 cars off the road for three days last year, it could be seen from space! The amount of nitrogen oxide pollution entering the air dropped almost instantly by 40 percent. Harvard professor Michael McElroy said it could be observed by a NASA satellite.
Nitrogen levels, which are key ingredients in ozone, rose back to "normal levels" shortly after the restrictions were lifted. What’s striking about this to me is the enormous, immediate impact our actions have on the environment.
How difficult would it be to declare one Sunday a month car-free?
Well, China has done just that. The country will have it’s first car-free day in Shanghai and over 100 other cities on September 22.
Private cars will be banned, forcing people to walk, use public transport or get back on the bicycles for which Chinese cities used to be famous.
Meanwhile, over officials from over 100 world governments are meeting in Bonn today for the start of a 2-week session, May 7-18, to look at how to widen the UN’s Kyoto Protocol.
"There is really no excuse not to act," Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretatiat in Bonn, told Reuters.
The third report by the UN climate panel, released Friday, said combating global warming would mean at worst a 3% cut in world gross domestic product in 2030. Less stringent measures could even slightly boost world growth.
"We have the instruments to deal with it in a cost-effective way," de Boer said.
The talks will also prepare for annual negotiations among environment ministers in Bali, Indonesia, in December. Debate will cover issues such as helping developing nations to protect forests and promoting clean technology transfer.
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