Hi all,

Not really about weather but many here have an interest in "Global
Warming" so I thought I'd let you know about a C4 programme showing
tonight at 8pm - it's a Dispatches programme called 'the Great Green
Smokescreen' - which promises to dissect some of the 'solutions' to
global warming:

http://www.channel4.com/news/article...escreen/589267

Overview of programme content below. Not going to comment on how fair
and balanced it is until I've seen it (although good to see that their
Science Correspondent has 'discovered' that direct personal action might
make a difference......!).

Neil


Days after Live Earth partied for the planet, Dispatches reveals how
attempts to buy our way out of climate crisis may not be delivering.
Channel 4 News' Science Correspondent Tom Clarke dissects the many
'solutions' to global warming - from carbon off-setting to green energy
tariffs.

Jetting off on holidays and mini-breaks - we're increasingly turning to
off-setting to alleviate our environmental guilt. It's a boom industry,
with dozens of new companies springing up each year to offset everything
from weddings to babies' nappies.

The UK's biggest players have a collective turn-over in excess of £2m.
And now big business is in on the act with Barclays, HSBC and Sky
off-setting themselves and Dell and BP selling offsets to their customers.

But are offsets really the answer in the fight against global warming?
Clarke investigates a number of projects - from tree-planting in the UK
to pig manure in Mexico - all of which are supposed to cancel out our
carbon footprint. But do these projects stand up to scrutiny?

So what else should consumers consider? Green energy tariffs look
appealing, but research commissioned for Dispatches shows they often
don't make a watt of difference.

Carbon labelling is being talked up a storm, but scientists tell
Dispatches that labelling may not be a credible reality for some time to
come.

One way of making a difference, Clark discovers, might be to take direct
personal action to lower our own carbon emissions. But given the small
amount of savings each of us can make as individuals, is that any more
than a token gesture?