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Day out on the Rainbow Warrior

Getting the Rainbow Warrior ready for visitors

The Rainbow Warrior in London. © Will Rose / Greenpeace

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I have never been on any Greenpeace ship. So when Greenpeace veterans would tell me stories of the Rainbow Warrior or of the Esperanza, all I could do was to listen in awe and imagine them in my head. But today was different, as I set out on my journey to see our ship, the Rainbow Warrior in action at South Quay in East London.

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Nein Kingsnorth!

UK Climate campers take their message to E.ON HQ in Munich UK Climate Campers taking their message to E.ON's Munich headquarters

I hope you remember this year's Climate Camp in the shadow of Kingsnorth coal plant in Kent. All the police intimidation, direct actions and ultimately the acquittal of our Kingsnorth six. The events in the past few months should have been enough for E.ON to see the level of public unease at their plans for Kingsnorth. But the giant energy utility is still insisting on building Britain's first coal-fired power station in over 30 years there. So, this time climate campers decided to take their message to E.ON on its own turf in Munich, Germany.

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Google going green?

Google

Image by tuexperto_com5, licensed under Creative Commons

Google rules the virtual world but if it ruled the real one, would things be a bit different? Google.org which is the philanthropic arm of Google blogged that it wants to see America weaned off fossil fuels by 2030 for its electricity. Also, Google's own energy efficiency initiatives will be equivalent to shutting down 10-20 coal-fired power stations by 2010 if they are successful.

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Flashmob to stop London City Airport expansion

BA plane taking off from Heathrow

First it was Heathrow, then Manchester and now it's time to flashmob London City Airport. Looks like the government still doesn't understand the danger posed to the climate from the plans to expand airports across the country. So join the next flash mob on October 8 at 5.45pm outside Newham Town Hall, East Ham wearing your red t-shirts to tell Newham Council to scrap airport expansion plans.

The flashmob will overlap with the planning meeting that will decide on increasing flights to and from London City Airport by up to 50 per cent. Pressure is mounting on Gordon Brown after the Conservatives boldly called for Heathrow's third runway plans to be scrapped. Come along and show your support for local group Fight the Flights.

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Modern art is (made from) rubbish

The Rainbow Worrier, made from 5,000 plastic bags It's been an arty week for me. After the polar bear sculptures in the US, an outdoor art group in Devon - Trail Recycled Art in Landscape (Trail) - has made a trawler boat out of 5,000 plastic bags and named it Rainbow Worrier after our legendary ship the Rainbow Warrior. They even filled it up with plastic fish in fishing nets to highlight how plastic is destroying marine ecosystems.

Plastic waste isn't just what you see on beaches and coast lines. A plastic dump in the Pacific Ocean as large as Texas is constantly swirling in a massive gyre that is referred to as the 'trash vortex'. Other unflattering names include Asian trash trail and the Eastern Garbage Patch where six kilos of plastic swirls for every kilo of plankton.

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Street art to save polar bears

Residents of Washington DC were given a first hand experience last week of what climate change is doing to the polar bears. Scattered across the city, puzzled onlookers stopped in their tracks to see, touch and sometimes kiss polar bears in homeless garb. By portraying polar bears as homeless and destitute, Greenpeace USA has managed to humanise their plight and raise concerns about climate change which is melting the arctic sea ice polar bears depend on.

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E.ON boss's 'joke' falls flat

Power plants

When Mark Owen-Lloyd, head of power trading at energy company E.ON said last week that the worst-case scenario for his company in the current difficult economic conditions was "more money for us", he was quick to assure people that he was only joking. If so, against a background of rapidly rising fuel bills and predictions of a harsh winter on the way, it's a joke that seemed to many people to be in spectacularly bad taste.

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CarrotMob in the UK

Yay - the CarrotMob's coming to London! If you're confused as to my sudden outburst of joy, you'll be happy to know that some people have come up with a plan to save the planet where everyone wins (including businesses). CarrotMob has turned consumerism on its head for the benefit of the environment.

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Can cutting down forests affect deep water fish?

ForestIn a word, yes. A marine ecologist in New Zealand has won a top award by showing how deforestation has affected marine ecosystems such as cutting down of the once intact rainforest in the country's South Island. As this latest research shows, not only do forests regulate the climate but also provide for plant and animal species in the water as well as on land.

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Not far from an ice-free Arctic

Polar Bear

I am no doomsayer but the American National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has recorded a fall in the Arctic ice to its second lowest level since satellite monitoring began 30 years ago. The consequences of fast melting ice are not just dire for the polar bears but also for coastal regions that will be submerged if sea levels rise. Add to that the displacement of people dependant upon the Arctic for survival and other Arctic fauna like seals who may see their natural habitat gone by as early as 2013.

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