According to the study, although global warming is a key threat to biodiversity there has been little assessment of just how big the threat is, specifically on a global scale. So, focusing on 25 representative biodiversity hotspots, researchers projected global warming-based habitat changes over 100 years. Using major vegetation types (biomes) to represent natural habitats, and factoring in “doubled-CO2”climates over the course of a century, the research team calculated changes in habitat areas and the associated extinction rate of endemic plant and vertebrate species. They factored in biome specificity, global vegetation, and migration.

Projected extinctions ranged from 1 to 43 per cent the more specific the biome, the greater the influence on estimates.

“Especially vulnerable hotspots were the Cape Floristic Region, Caribbean, Indo-Burma, Mediterranean Basin, Southwest Australia, and Tropical Andes, where plant extinctions per hotspot sometimes exceeded 2 000 species,” the report says.

The study lends weight to the significant proportion of the scientific community that has been warning of the threat posed by global warming. The steady increase in global temperatures has been blamed on increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide caused by burning of fossil fuels.

The gloomy conclusion: “Under the assumption that projected habitat changes were attained in 100 years, estimated global-warming-induced rates of species extinctions in tropical hotspots in some cases exceeded those due to deforestation, supporting suggestions that global warming is one of the most serious threats to the planet’s biodiversity.”

While Europe has managed to drastically cut some, but not all, of the most noxious pollutants over the past 20 years, emerging nations experienced the opposite trend with their fast economic growth, scientists at the UN’s meteorological agency said.

Their comments came ahead of World Meteorological Day on Monday, which this year has the theme “the air we breathe”.

Fine particles or microscopic dust from coal or wood fires and unfiltered diesel engines are rated as one of the most lethal forms or air pollution caused by industry, transport, household heating, cooking and ageing coal or oil-fired power stations.

The World Health Organisation estimates that about two million people die prematurely every year as a result of air pollution, while many more suffer from breathing ailments, heart disease, lung infections and even cancer.

Of great concern is the rate at which worldwide deforestation is occurring. Currently, 12 million hectares of forests are cleared annually – an area 1,3 times the size of KwaZulu-Natal! Almost all of this deforestation occurs in the moist forests and open woodlands of the tropics. At this rate all moist tropical forest could be lost by the year 2050, except for isolated areas in Amazonia, the Zaire basin, as well as a few protected areas within reserves and parks. Some countries such as Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Indonesia are likely to lose all their tropical forests by the year 2010 if protection is not enforced.

“According to a survey in this week’s Time magazine, 85% of Americans think global warming is happening. The other 15% work for the White House.”

“This also means one unit of power at each of our small power stations was saved,” he said.

In Melville, Johannesburg a few restaurants opted for candlelight. The Johannesburg skyline looked decidedly dimmer, although the Vodacom advert on top of the Ponte tower still flashed merrily.

Earth Hour was started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 by the World Wide Fund for Nature. About two million people participated.

Two years later tourist attractions including Table Mountain in Cape Town and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil had their lights switched off.

The Sydney Opera House, the Burj al Arab Hotel in Dubai, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff as well as one of the world’s tallest buildings, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan joined in the campaign.

What might be surprising about this light bulb is that it’s not new. It was actually developed back in the 70’s during the oil crisis. Even though they are more energy efficient, the cost at that time didn’t help it succeed in the marketplace.

The cost of the fluorescent light bulb has been high for several years but is now coming down in price from upwards of  R140  to as low as R15 today. You might think that it is still too expensive but the savings far out way the cost. These bulbs can last up to 10 times longer than your standard incandescent bulb. For every 10 standard bulbs you buy, you only need 1 fluorescent bulb. That’s a significant savings!

Fluorescent bulbs also use a lot less electricity too which contributes less to global warming. A 25 watt fluorescent bulb uses the same amount of electricity and emits the same amount of light as a 100 watt bulb. That’s a big energy saver. Most of our electricity is produced from coal whose burning is a big contributor to global warming so the less electricity we use, the less coal is burned.