For those of you who have been to one of my climate change presentations, you will be familiar with the following story.

Ten years ago scientists were predicting that there would be no more ice in the north pole during the northern hemisphere summer by 2100.

Five years ago scientists came out and admitted that they had underestimated the rate of melting, mainly due to the positive feedback effects of increased heat absorpotion due to light-coloured ice converting to dark-coloured water. Their estimate at that stage was that the ice would be gone by 2070.

Last year, the scientists came out again, and said that they had underestimated the rate of melting yet again. This time they predicted that the ice would be gone by 2032.

During the summer of 2007, the loss of north polar sea ice extent was 25% greater than the previous record. The video below shows the loss of polar sea ice from 1979 to 2007.

Scientists are now saying that the ice may be all gone by the end of the next northern hemisphere summer. This has profound implications for the planet serves as yet another wake-up call to the planet about the reality of climate change. Read more in the report on thruthout.org http://www.truthout.org/article/no-ice-north-pole

Today's EcoChange segment on Wakeup WA focussed on the climate change outcomes from the 2020 summit.

Click here to view the video footage from the segment.

For some time I have been telling people that diesel cars produce less Greenhouse Gas emissions than their petrol equivalents.

I was staggered to find (by accident) recently that this is simply not the case.

I was looking at the various factors used by the on-line emissions calculator at www.carbonneutral.com.au and found that a diesel vehicle emitted more greenhouse gases than a petrol vehicle of the same type and size. When I quizzed Carbon Neutral about this they confirmed this and stated that their factors come from the Australian Greenhouse Office's Forms and Factors Workbook.

Interestingly, LPG is significantly better than petrol.

So, don't run out to replace your petrol car with a diesel car if you are doing this thinking that you are going to reduce your emissions. You won't. They will actually go up slightly. This is because diesel has a higher emissons factor than petrol (CO2 emissions per litre of diesel consumed), which more than offsets the benefits of better fuel economy of diesel. It gets worse because it is thought that particulate emissions from diesel vehicle might exacerbate global warming. See article.

I'm devastated as I deliberately bought a diesel utility thinking that I would be minimising my impacts on the environment. The good news is that our decision to buy a Prius has been vindicated. It is still the greenest family car on the market. See Green Vehicle Guide.

If you are struggling to sleep at night, or are questioning the AGO numbers, then you can check out their Forms and Factors workbook here. 

This year's Conscious Living Expo has the theme "Climate Change and You".

It is on at the Robinson Pavillion at the Claremont Showgrounds this Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 7pm each day.

Sarah Bishop and I will be manning a booth at this year's Conscious Living Expo.

I will be participating in a panel discussion at 10:30am on the Saturday.

Please come along and see us there.

Check here to check out the Expo website.