Air pollution hotspots. If you live in the Highveld region of eastern Gauteng and western Mpumalanga in the towns of Witbank, Standerton, Boksburg and Benoni, amongst others (although we can’t tell from the article just which towns these others are), you’re living in an air pollution hotspot. No apologies from the government for letting you know that if you live here, you “do not enjoy air quality that is not harmful to your health” (a euphemism for: you’re breathing really bad quality air that could harm you)! You’ll no doubt be relieved to learn that a plan to tackle the problem could take up to two years just to develop, never mind alleviate the problem. [IOL]

Africa’s desert sun brings power to Europe. In another fine example of how South Africa could be exploiting its natural resources for energy instead of relentlessly pursuing nuclear energy, the Jordanian prince is backing a £5bn solar power plan along the Mediterranean desert shores of northern Africa and the Middle East, which could provide the EU with a sixth of its electricity needs. [guardian]

Climate summit opens in Bali. World governments are meeting to talk about whether binding targets are needed to cut emissions. It’s the first such meeting, since the IPCC concluded that climate change was ‘very likely’ caused by human activity in Feb this year. The two-week gathering in Bali will also debate how to help poor nations cope in a warming world. [bbc]

A laugh a minute – George Bush’s take on global warming. If you haven’t already seen this rather refreshing take on Bush’s response to global warming on youtube.