Planetary Ruin

THE icy weather of snow, hail and heavy rain that has swept across South Africa over the past few days has set 54 weather records.

The South African Weather Service said 34 new records were set on Monday and another 20 yesterday. Almost all records were for the lowest maximum and minimum daily temperatures in towns across the country.

Plettenberg Bay and Tsitsikamma both recorded their highest daily rainfall, at 68mm and 71.2mm respectively, on Monday. Plettenberg Bay recorded its lowest minimum temperature, 5.6°C, yesterday. Tsitsikamma had its lowest maximum temperature on Monday, 12.1°C, and its lowest minimum yesterday, 6.3°C.

The lowest minimum temperature recorded was -6°C in Welkom, while the lowest maximum temperature was a mere 1.7°C in Barkly East. Both were recorded on Monday night.

None of this week’s records reached the lowest temperature yet recorded in South Africa – -18.6°C recorded at Buffelsfontein in the Eastern Cape in 1996.

Other towns and areas recording their lowest minimum temperatures yet included: Carolina (-5.5°C), Vanwyksvlei (-4.3°C), Ventersdorp (-3.9°C), Witbank (-3.7°C), Gariep Dam (-3.7°C), Pofadder (-3.5°C), Upington (-3.1°C), Marken (-2.9°C), Taung (-2.5°C), Oudestad (-1.7°C) and Nieuwoudtville (-0.1°C).

Kuruman, Kathu and Gariep Dam all recorded their lowest maximum temperatures on Monday and lowest minimums yesterday.

Kuruman went from a high of 9.2°C to a low of -5.1°C, Kathu from 10.1°C to -5.1°C, and Gariep from 6.9°C to -3.7°C.

There was snow on all high-lying areas of the Eastern Cape, and on some of the low-lying areas, said Weather SA’s regional manager for the province, Hugh van Niekerk.

He said the Lootsberg pass on the N9 between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg and the Penhoek pass on the N6 between Queenstown and Aliwal North were closed due to heavy snowfalls.

Van Niekerk said there had been snow in “just about the whole of the Eastern Cape” except the coastal region – on the Bamboesberge, at Joubertina, on the Tsitsikamma and Kouga mountains, at Hogsback, on the Outeniqua and Winterberg mountains, in the Barkly East and Molteno area, at Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg.

“There’ll still be a few snowfalls overnight tonight. It should start improving today,” said Van Niekerk.

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A CONTROVERSIAL British documentary which claims global warming is a lie will be shown by the ABC.

The Great Global Warming Swindle, to be aired by the national broadcaster in July, is the ideological opposite to Al Gore’s acclaimed movie An Inconvenient Truth.

The documentary rebuts mounting scientific evidence that global warming is caused predominantly by human activity, and says it’s the result of changes in radiation from the sun.

The film’s credibility, some of its contributors and its maker, Martin Durkin, came under heavy questioning by scientists and the media after it aired on Britain’s Channel 4 in March.

Channel 4 defended the film, as has ABC director of television Kim Dalton, on the basis that all sides of the hotly contested global warming debate deserved to be represented.

“Currently the issue of global warming is being debated around the world,” Mr Dalton said.

“This documentary presents a controversial side to that debate.”

Expert commentators supporting the film’s claims include Patrick Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace who has spent the past 21 years as a critic of the environmentalist organisation, and oceanography professor Carl Wunsch, who was interviewed but later claimed his views had been misrepresented.

The ABC bought the rights to the international version of the hour-long program which had previously been passed on by the Nine Network.

“There are people who still question the link between human activity and global warming. I believe it’s important that these views are heard and debated,” Mr Dalton said.

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a group of House members are planning to go to Greenland and Europe next week as part of what her critics have dubbed the “Global Warming Tour.”

Pelosi will be joined by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-S.D.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), John Larsen (D-Conn.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and David Hobson (R-Ohio) on the trip, according to a draft itinerary of the trip circulating among House insiders and obtained by my Crypt-mate, Patrick O’Connor.

Markey is the chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, a post he was appointed to by Pelosi earlier this year, and the other Democrats on the trip also serve on the panel.

Pelosi and her group are scheduled to arrive in Greenland on Saturday and after a tour of a glacier (we’re not saying which one for obvious security reasons), she will leave for London, including a dinner at the U.S. embassy there, followed by a stop in Brussels (and Berlin is possible if there’s time). Pelosi and the other lawmakers will hold talks with English and European Union leaders on the issue of global warming and what needs to be done, or even can be done, to counter it.

House Republicans are privately claiming that Pelosi, with this trip in mind, will sign off on a deal for the long-stalled Iraq-funding bill, but the Speaker’s aides say don’t count on it.

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Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has warned that humans face extinction because of global warming.

The heartthrob has made a film, the 11th Hour, warning that the human race could be wiped out as a result of the environmental crisis.

After a screening of the movie at the Cannes Film Festival, The Blood Diamond actor, 32, attacked US President George Bush, saying: “It’s very simple. He’s done very little for the environmental movement.”

The Titanic star’s film, which he narrates, follows another environmental warming documentary by former US Presidential candidate Al Gore, shown at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

Today DiCaprio defended Gore from criticism over the amount of energy he has been reportedly using to jet around the world and to run his home.

“Don’t shoot the messenger”, he said. “This person is trying to relay a message to the public and the way that he travels should not be splayed out like that.”

DiCaprio said it should be oil companies that come under scrutiny and that the Government should make systematic change.

The US star said he took steps in his own life to reduce global warming, telling the famous film festival: “I do try to live my life in a green manner.

“I have installed solar panels in my house and the car that I drive is a hybrid one. But it’s more about the day-to-day things, being conscious about being a consumer, about looking to endorse green technology. People ask, ‘what can a hybrid car do?’ It’s not about that. It’s about being a consumer, the choices you make everyday.”

The 11th Hour features interviews with a host of eminent scientists and political thinkers, including Cambridge university professor Stephen Hawking.

DiCaprio, who said he flew on a commercial plane rather than a chartered jet to the press conference, added: “I’m not an expert on this issue. I’m taking the role of concerned citizen like everybody else.”

He added: “This is really a worldwide movement. Every country in the world should be aware of the issue. In the US certainly, we should set an example to the rest of the world.

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Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders are urging President George W. Bush and Congress to take action against global warming, declaring that the changing climate is a “moral and spiritual issue.”

In an open letter to be published on Tuesday, more than 20 religious groups urged U.S. leaders to limit greenhouse gas emissions and invest in renewable energy sources.

“Global warming is real, it is human-induced and we have the responsibility to act,” says the letter, which will run in Roll Call and the Politico, two Capitol Hill newspapers.

“We are mobilizing a religious force that will persuade our legislators to take immediate action to curb greenhouse gases,” it says.

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Environmental activists are building a replica of Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat—where the biblical vessel is said to have landed after the great flood—in an appeal for action on global warming, Greenpeace said Wednesday.
Turkish and German volunteer carpenters are making the wooden ship on the mountain in eastern Turkey, bordering Iran. The ark will be revealed in a ceremony on May 31, a day after Greenpeace activists climb the mountain and call on world leaders to take action to tackle climate change, Greenpeace said.

“Climate change is real, it’s happening now and unless world leaders take urgent, decisive and far-reaching action, the next decades will see human misery on a scale not experienced in modern times,” said Greenpeace activist Hilal Atici. “Those leaders have a mandate from the people … to massively cut greenhouse gas emissions and to do it now.”

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Leonardo DiCaprio sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and a handful of select film publications at the Hotel du Cap in Cannes on Saturday to discuss his upcoming environmental documentary “The 11th Hour.” The film, which premiered in a special Out of Competition screening Saturday at the Festival de Cannes, uses a barrage of images and reams of interviews with the world’s top environmental scientists to paint a bleak but still optimistic picture of the fate of our planet. “Hour” was directed by sister Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Petersen, who wrote the script with DiCaprio. 

Q: People see films like “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The 11th Hour” and they wonder, ‘What can I do’? What would you tell them?

A: It’s voting, in a twofold way. You have voting at the booth for politicians that support green policies and endorsing by voting with your dollars. Endorsing new technologies, if you can, endorsing these companies to come up with cheap alternatives for the future. That’s why personal action is important to a very large degree. I mean look at the sort of revolution with the Toyota Prius. I mean that has shown specifically to automakers that there is a demand for alternative vehicles and it has propelled the auto industry into the future with knowing that we can not go on with business as usual, with gas-guzzling vehicles. It’s supply and demand ultimately.

Q: With “The 11th Hour” are you hoping to reach a different audience than Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” just because of who you are and the kind of attention this film will get because of your involvement with it?

A: “Yes, I guess you could call it a different audience. I mean, I didn’t want to make this an overly political film, where just because of your political affiliation, you think you are somehow responsible for this and are somehow to blame. There are political overtones in the movie, we do point the finger. But ultimately, it is not about preaching to the choir, about reaching an audience that already gets it and already wants to become active. It’s about, I suppose — and this is just about me following the lead of what the scientists and the experts have been saying — it’s the cultural transformation that needs to happened. It’s a swelling up from the ground level from people that are going to have to demand action. It goes beyond whether you are a democrat or republican in the United States. It goes beyond that. It goes into the realm of every politician having to be responsible because there is such a cultural awareness about global warming and environmental issues that they have to deal with it.”

Q: Are you worried that, because you are a celebrity, people could dismiss this movie simply because of who you are?

A: “I am completely aware of the fact that being someone from quote-unquote Hollywood will garner certain amount of skepticism and criticism as why should we listen to this person? I wanted to pose myself as a concerned citizen, not as an expert. I ask the questions and allow these people (the scientists) to give the answers. But you can also talk about the Hollywood community and about how they have traditionally been a part of a lot of great movements in the United States, going back to the civil rights movement or the peace movement. I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with that. As long as I don’t pretend to be somebody who does have a degree, you know what I mean? But rather as a concerned citizen. Hopefully a larger audience will watch the film as opposed to if I wasn’t involved with it.

Q: The film doesn’t pander to a populist level. You get into a lot of pretty complicated detail in the film.

A: Well that comes down to the fact that these are extremely complicated issues and can’t be put into a format of predigested baby food that is spoon-fed (the audience). These are complicated issues to wrap your head around, and we knew that. But ultimately the most important thing to us was whether you were emotionally moved at the end of the movie. And on a personal level, I believe that has been accomplished. Yes, a lot of the science is very hard to wrap your head around. But I was very clear in the movie. I want the public to be very scared by what they see. I want them to see a very bleak future. I want them to feel disillusioned halfway through and feel hopeless. And then when we get into the entire section in the second half when we talk about cultural transformation and a new way of looking at things and the alternatives or green technology and all these things, you realize there is great hope and there are options on the table. And hopefully the audience is moved and galvanized to do something about it. Hopefully.

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Leonardo DiCaprio hit back at charges of hypocrisy Saturday as he unveiled an eco-documentary he wrote, produced and narrated at the Cannes film festival.
Asked after the premiere of “The 11th Hour” whether he had taken a fuel-guzzling jet on his way to the French Riviera, the “Titanic” star spat back sarcastically: “No, I took a train across the Atlantic.”

When the British journalist followed up, saying that many stars used emission-heavy private jets while touting environmental protection, a testy DiCaprio countered that he had taken a commercial flight from New York.

“I try to travel commercial as much as I can,” he said.

DiCaprio later came back to the reporter, saying that he was irritated with the media for going after prominent environmentalists such as former US vice president Al Gore (whose own film on global warming “An Inconvenient Truth” picked up an Oscar this year) for supposed inconsistency in their private lives.

“We’re all trying the best we can, truly, we really are,” he said.

“Attacks on Al Gore for example I think are misdirected. Don’t shoot the messenger, you know what I’m saying? If you’re going to attack somebody on the way they conduct their life, let’s talk about the big picture, let’s see what big oil companies are doing.

“This person is truly trying to relay a message to the public and the way he travels and the way he leads his life should not be splayed out like that.”

DiCaprio, who described himself as an environmentalist for the last decade, got into hot water in 2000 when activists charged that part of a Thai national park was damaged during the shooting of his film “The Beach.” The crew denied the accusations.

“The 11th Hour” presents a dozen experts arguing that human society will be wiped out if global warming continues unabated.

The film picks up many of the themes of “An Inconvenient Truth,” which was also an unexpected box office hit. DiCaprio credited the picture with pushing the environment to the top of the US agenda.

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The fairways here are flecked, the greens mottled brown. PGA National doesn’t look like a marquee golf course under the most severe water restrictions in South Florida history.

“We’ll talk to people about it in the pro shop when they check in and say, ‘You might notice things are a little bit browner today.’” said Joel Paige, managing director at the course.

South Florida is in an 18-month drought, and signs of the problem are everywhere – from the links to the nursery and sugar cane industries.

Lake Okeechobee, the region’s primary reservoir, is down to 9.3 feet above sea level – less than half a foot above its record low. Farmers and the area’s 600 golf courses must use 45 percent less water in the hardest-hit areas, and home sprinkler use is restricted to once a week.

Other Southeastern states, like Georgia, are also experiencing drought. Florida officials say theirs is comparable to one in 2001 that caused an estimated $400 million in agricultural losses.

“We can honestly say this is one of the most severe droughts that we have dating back to when records started in the early 1900s,” said Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District.

The $15 billion landscaping and nursery industries, which comprise Florida’s largest agricultural sector, may be the hardest hit. Most growers are concentrated around Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties on the rain-starved Atlantic Coast.

“We can make drought-tolerant and water-efficient plants, and we can put the right plants in the right place, but we have yet to figure out how to make it rain,” said Ben Bolusky, executive vice president of the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association.

Growers are concerned that few people will buy the plants, not that the plants won’t survive, Bolusky said. He said residents are inclined to postpone new yard installments if they don’t think they can water them. Many people don’t realize they are allowed under the restrictions to water new landscaping for a month, he said.

The cane sugar industry is also bracing for big losses. U.S. Sugar Corp. spokeswoman Judy Sanchez said crops were already worse than the 2001 drought, which caused $100 million to $200 million in damages around Lake Okeechobee. The company is the nation’s leading producer of cane sugar. A cold weather spell earlier this year didn’t help matters.

“We had probably three freeze spells in winter that knocked some of the young cane back to the ground,” Sanchez said. “It did not have adequate water, so some of the cane that was frost-damaged has not recovered its growth.” Consumers may not see much change in sugar prices because producers elsewhere could fill the void.

Florida’s citrus industry could also be affected, but consumers are unlikely to notice until next year. Much of the current harvest is already picked, but the dry weather stresses blooming fruit, said Mike Sparks, head of the grower’s group Florida Citrus Mutual.

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Toyota’s commitment to hybrid automobiles was on full display Thursday when it unveiled its most expensive gasoline-electric vehicle yet—the $124,000 luxury sedan Lexus LS.

Executives at Japan’s No. 1 automaker are fully convinced that hybrid cars are the way of the future. And they’re betting that growing consumer concern about the environment—and higher gas prices—will lure even wealthy buyers to the new model, which went on sale Thursday in Japan for 15 million yen and will arrive later elsewhere.

Executive Vice President Masatami Takimoto denied hybrids were “a transitional technology” that will be replaced by more advanced ecological technology in the future.

“As long as cars exist, the need for hybrid technology will remain,” Takimoto said.

Toyota Motor Corp., which introduced its first hybrid, the Prius, 10 years ago, sold about 300,000 hybrids worldwide last year, and it plans to sell a million hybrids a year sometime after 2010.

Although all the world’s automakers are working on hybrids, Japan’s No. 1 automaker has dozens of patents on the technology and has sold more hybrids than any other automaker.

The most common hybrids today switch between a gas engine and electric motor to deliver better mileage and reduce emissions that cause global warming.

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