AGORACOM News Flash

AGORACOM Maintenance Alert: Going Offline Tonight, and Friday night for about an hour

Dear Members.

AGORACOM will be updating our server framework tonight and tomorrow night. As a result our discussion forums will be down for 1 hour or less.

These problems stemmed from our recent switch to a new web host and some issues with our DNS records (the settings that tell your web browser where our website is located). We believe we have squashed these bugs and are looking forward to pushing these updates through.

In anticipation of this scheduled maintenance we suggest the following:

1. If you are going to post any long and intensive material after 6PM either tonight or on Friday night, save a copy. We don’t expect to lose any data from the last 2-3 hours but better to be safe than sorry

2. Our blog (which you are reading right now) and Twitter account will be unaffected during the downtime, so feel free to contact us at either if you have any issues and can’t reach us through the site.

Best thing to do is to post comments on our blog. Alternatively you can reach us by emailing contactagora@agoracom.com

3. We expect the migration to be very smooth but please let us know if you have any issues.

4. If you are in Toronto, or the GTA, enjoy the weather! Summer is here so go out and have some fun!

We trust the above to be satisfactory as we strive to continually provide you with a great AGORACOM experience.

Thanks,
George and the AGORACOM Team

Message: Russia's 'Climate Doctrine' Outlined

tectol

Rank: [?]

Vice President

Points: [?]

7012

Rating: [?]

Votes: 95 Score: 3.2

Currently 3.3/5 Stars.

Your Vote:

Please Log In to Vote

Did you know? You can earn activity points by filling your profile with information about yourself (what city you live in, your favorite team, blogs etc.

Russia's 'Climate Doctrine' Outlined

posted on Apr 23, 09 12:27PM

'Climate Doctrine' Outlined

23 April 2009By Anatoly Medetsky / The Moscow TimesThe Natural Resources and Environment Ministry wants to see steeper penalties for environmental violations as part of a "climate doctrine" that it composed, a policy paper predicting that parts of Russia may go underwater after 2025, Minister Yury Trutnev said Wednesday.

The Presidium, a scaled-down version of the Cabinet, is scheduled to consider the doctrine Thursday.

Fines for air pollution may increase up to twentyfold, Trutnev said at a news conference. Fines for some other types of pollution could increase fivefold to fifteenfold, he said.

The document also addresses why the climate is changing and contains forecasts about the effects of global warming and ways to adapt to the changes, Trutnev said. The document is intended to be a reference for other ministries and agencies, he said.

Even if carbon emissions were to stop immediately, air temperature would continue rising through 2050, Trutnev said.

"The economy will develop in different climatic conditions in the future," he said. "That's why climate changes need to be taken into account."

Global warming, caused by higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, may lead to rising sea levels and flooding, including in Russia from 2025 to 2050, Trutnev said, citing the doctrine. The negative effects would also include more droughts and forest fires.

On the upside, Russia would gain farmland, be able to generate more electricity at its hydropower stations and enjoy easier access to the Arctic shelf.

Trutnev also said the government should not reject the idea of auctions for licenses to develop natural resources in favor of the less transparent competitions, even if companies are currently too cash-strapped for vigorous bidding.

The Federal Subsoil Resources Use Agency was able to hold only 10 percent of the planned auctions in the first quarter of this year because potential bidders showed little interest.