US$6 cooker made from a cardboard box wins the FT Climate Challenge prize...

"It's the simplest idea I could find," says Jon Bohmer, the man behind the 'Kyoto Box'.

London's Financial Times newspaper and Hewlett Packard sponsored the US$75,000 Climate Challenge prize - which was organised by Forum for the Future, a UK sustainable development charity.

The Kyoto Box is named after the 1992 Earth Summit Kyoto Protocol which strives to limit and stabilise the concentration of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere in order to combat long-term dangers to global climate.

A simple design, it's made of two interlined cardboard boxes, foil lining the interior, paint and straw for further insulation and heat capture and all topped off with an acrylic cover that lets the sun's rays in then traps the heat.

For some of the poorest people in the world, the invention promises to reduce the reliance on wood and charcoal for cooking food and boiling water.

Bohmer, the inventor of the Kyoto Box plans to use the prize money to roll-out mass trials of the product in 10 countries, including South Africa, India and Indonesia.

Bohmer envisions the box being given away for free to those who need it.  And if the Kyoto Box is eligible for carbon credits, then it may result in a net profit for the individuals operating it, enabling them to replace the solar cooker with another within 4-5 years.

30,000 - 40,000 lose homes overnight

The earthquake struck at 0330 local time, with it's epicentre close to the medieval city of L'Aquila.  Residents rushed into the streets as a university dormitory, churches and a bell tower collapsed in the town.  Other towns and cities in the mountainous region have reported damage and casualties as well.

The Italian peninsula lies on two fault lines in the earth's crust where the Eurasian and African tectonic plates meet.  One part of the plate runs east to west south of Rome - and the other north to south alongside the Apennine mountains.  L'Aquila is located in a valley within the central Appenines.

While seismologists are able to gather data which can be used to make predictions on the possibility of an earthquake in a region - so far the ability to predict or forecast when and exactly where a quake may take place has not been possible.

At the time of this post, 179 people have been reported killed by the quake and 1,500 injured.

Earlier estimates of 90 years until an ice-free arctic ocean during summer may be optimistic...

New research indicates that once the extent of arctic ice at the end of summer is below 4.6 million square kilometres that a rapid decline in ice coverage during succeeding summers occurs. 

In 2007 the summer arctic ice measured 4.3 million km2 - during 2008, it was 4.7 million km2. 

According to new research by Muyin Wang of the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean based at the University of Washington, and James Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory the trend could result in potentially only 1 million square kilometres of summer ice cover during the summer in as little as 11 to 30 years.

Wang and Overland based their research on studying 23 models which were capable of predicting the extent of arctic ice.  When the scientists discarded simulations which did not match the actual measurements of ice during recent years, six models remained.  Statistically averaged together, the six models indicate a nearly ice-free arctic in 30 years - with some of the more pessimistic indicating that his could occur in as little over a decade.

While an ice-free arctic during summertime may be a boon to shipping and to those who are looking to exploit oil and mineral resources in the region, the consequences to the local and global environment will be catastrophic.

Chinese leader tells the developed world to share knowledge, turn the lights out and tighten belts...

Speaking at a two-day conference on climate change in Beijing, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called for rich developed countries to share clean energy technologies with developing nations as well as changing "unsustainable lifestyles."