Weekly newsletter - Monday 23rd of August 2010

Marketplace Sustainability
As consumers we have very little and often no information about the environmental and ecological impacts of the products we buy. Full life cycle analysis for products can take months and cost many thousands of pounds, some larger companies such as Google, Walmart and Unilever have started to do this. The latest idea being developed by the “Group of Ten” is to create a supply chain transparency system, an open source database in which data on the environmental impacts of products are recorded. The current system Earthstar is to be developed into E2 Turbo, which will become an open source database. As more companies add their data this will be a great resource for consumers and allow companies to assess the eco-impacts of their operations.
Full article here.

Antarctic Sea Ice Mystery
Satellite data has shown that over the past 30 years Arctic sea ice has declined whereas Antarctic sea ice has expanded, despite a rise in average global temperature. The increase in Antarctic ice recently found to be due to natural variation, but it is thought that if global temperatures rise further precipitation will fall more often as rain and accelerate the melting of the ice. Scientists predict that a transition from natural variability to global warming driven melting will begin within a century. An increase in ice melting will have a significant impact on the Antarctic marine ecosystem and affect the balance of global ocean currents.
Read the full story here.

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