The Palestinian leadership question

Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas has called for new elections to try and heal the divisions between Fatah and Hamas. Such a move is vital if the Palestinians are to create a peaceful environment within which to enter President Bush's proposed peace talks in the Autumn, should they happen.

Hamas oppose such elections since they currently control Gaza and won the previous elections of the now dissolved party. This will be a vital few weeks for the prospects for peace.

Cosmic Rays and global warming - the end of the debate?

New research claims to show that cosmic rays are not responsible for our warming climate. Author of the research Mike Lockwood of the UK's Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory said "This should settle the debate". There is also an interesting pair of graphs - see right - to prove his point, showing how cosmic ray activity has been in decline since 1997, despite a constantly rising global temperature. read the full article on the BBC news site.
Interesting stuff!

56% believe scientists are still questioning climate change

According to an Ipsos Mori poll of 2000 people in June, some 56% of those polled said that they thought scientists were still questioning climate change and what was causing it, with many saying that global warming was exaggerated, perhaps to make money from it. The head of environmental research, Phil Downing, said the survey showed there was "still a lot to do" in encouraging "low-carbon lifestyles". Read the full story on the BBC news site.

This makes interesting reading alongside the AOL poll conducted in conjunction with the 'Open to debate' section from Pocket Issue, Global Warming. After 4000 votes the poll stated that 71% felt that global warming was a natural occurrence. After 8,000 votes, and much publicity, that figure now stands at 43%. Nevertheless 43% is still a lot of people who remain unconvinced.
We can also assume that the unconvinced will not be visiting the UK government's new carbon counter? Perhaps giving people the facts instead of a carbon counter would help?

Globeman