news
3D Mapping Reveals Climate Impact of Logging
9/9/2010
Scientists using a combination of satellite imagery, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys to create three-dimensional high resolution carbon maps of the Amazon rainforest have documented a surge in emissions from deforestation and selective logging following the paving of the Trans-Oceanic Highway in Peru.
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Top Climate Skeptic Reverses Course
9/3/2010
Bjørn Lomborg may not be a household name around here, but that's through no fault of his. In November 2001, this Danish environmental author and economics professor was selected "Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum. Lomborg was selected as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people of 2004. In June 2002, Business Week named Lomborg one of the "50 Stars of Europe" in the Agenda Setters category. The magazine noted, "No matter what they think of his views, nobody denies that Bjørn Lomborg has shaken the environmental movement to its core."
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Journal About Climate Change to Launch in 2011
8/31/2010
Launching in April 2011, Nature Climate Change will be a monthly journal providing in-depth coverage of the impacts and wider implications of the Earth's changing climate.
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Pakistan's Climate Change Floods, Seen From Above
8/27/2010
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What is Your Water Footprint?
8/24/2010
We live in a watery world, with the average American lifestyle fueled by nearly 2,000 gallons of H2O a day.
What may come as a surprise is that very little of that—only five percent—runs through toilets, taps, and garden hoses at home. Nearly 95 percent of your water footprint is hidden in the food you eat, energy you use, products you buy, and services you rely on.
Find out your water footprint, then pledge to dry it out, joining other nationalgeographic.com users who have already committed to saving thousands of gallons.
The more we save, the more water we leave for healthy ecosystems and a sustainable future.
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Infrared Maps Highlight Energy Consumption
8/20/2010
Thermographic infrared maps are being used in Antwerp, Belgium to put the spotlight on buildings' energy consumption, Reuters reports.
The birds-eye view offers residents the ability to compare their energy conservation with that of their neighbors, and often prompts those with poor findings to seek out home remodeling efforts that will better conserve energy, such as new insulation.
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In Weather Chaos, a Case for Global Warming
8/16/2010
The floods battered New England, then Nashville, then Arkansas, then Oklahoma — and were followed by a deluge in Pakistan that has upended the lives of 20 million people.
The summer’s heat waves baked the eastern United States, parts of Africa and eastern Asia, and above all Russia, which lost millions of acres of wheat and thousands of lives in a drought worse than any other in the historical record.
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Hollywood Greens Up with Environmental Database
8/13/2010
Television and movie makers have no excuse for not jumping on the "green" movement bandwagon. A new website with resources on everything from recycling sets to cruelty-free mascara makes it simple to do so.The Producers Guild of America on Wednesday unveiled www.greenproductionguide.com -- a database of environmentally-friendly products and services from vendors across the United States.
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Indiana State Fair Includes Climate Change Exhibit
8/10/2010
The Indiana State Fair will include a Purdue University science lesson tackling the hot topic of climate change. Fairgoers visiting the "Altered Earth" exhibit can learn how humans are contributing to climate change and how they can help reduce global warming.The display will explore climate, weather and global warming with the "Climate Kids."
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Not Enough Hours in the Day for Endangered Apes
8/6/2010
A study on the effect of global warming on African ape survival suggests that a warming climate may cause apes to run 'out of time'. The research, published today in Journal of Biogeography, reveals that rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns have strong effects on ape behavior, distribution and survival, pushing them even further to the brink of extinction.
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Here Come the Electric Cars: "Leaf" and "Volt"
8/3/2010
The Plug-In 2010 Conference in San Jose was the site of major announcements by major auto manufacturers Nissan and General Motors
. During their Tuesday morning speeches last week, both Nissan North America’s executive vice president, Carlos Tavares, and General Motors vice president of U.S. marketing, Joel Ewanick, announced that their much-anticipated products would be available in only a limited number of cities, at first, and that both companies will begin delivering cars by the end of the year.
Even though there are many similarities and differences, both Nissan and GM are betting that U.S. auto buyers will embrace the plug with open arms. The Leaf and the Volt are the first mass-market plug-in electric vehicles to be sold in the U.S. The LEAF is a "pure" battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, and has no gasoline motor whatsoever. Its range is approximately 100 miles.
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Warming of Oceans Will Reduce and Rearrange Marine Life
7/30/2010
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Climate Change Equals More Mexican Migration
7/27/2010
Continued climate change will drive Mexican farm workers to migrate to the United States in greater numbers, environmental experts predicted on Monday.For every 10 percent of lost crop yields, 2 percent more Mexicans will leave and most will try to come to the United States, Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University in New Jersey and colleagues predicted.
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Transitioning to Cool Roofs
7/22/2010
In the effort to slow the pace of global warming, researchers and policy makers are encouraging the use of lighter colors for rooftops and streets worldwide. Dark, non-reflective surfaces which are common for asphalt and asphalt shingles, absorb heat from the sun and create a "heat-island" effect, plus a greater need for air conditioning. Lighter surfaces would reflect the sun’s rays back to outer space, reducing ground-surface temperatures and overall energy requirements.
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World Simmers in Hottest Year So Far
7/19/2010
The world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a U.S. national weather analysis, causing droughts worldwide and a concern for U.S. farmers counting on another bumper year.
For the first six months of the year, 2010 has been warmer than the first half of 1998, the previous record holder, by 0.03 degree Fahrenheit, said Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate analysis at the federal National Climatic Data Center.
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Arctic Ice Hits Lowest Record for June
7/16/2010
In June the average sea ice extent in the Arctic was the lowest on record for that month, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Measured by satellites, the seasonal movements of Arctic ice have been tracked since 1979 with a dramatic decline observed over the last 30 years. This decline is linked by experts to climate change.
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Sierra Club's Guide to Carbon Offsets
7/12/2010
You’ve seen it in the news: Celebrities are flying all over the globe in private jets, then assuaging their guilty consciences by paying a fee to a company to “offset” their emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-altering greenhouse gases. Or maybe you’ve passed a Hummer on the highway with a bumper sticker reading, “My vehicle is carbon neutral.” If that’s not galling enough, there are reports of some of the carbon-offset companies making obscene profits and contributing less than 20% of revenues to emissions-reduction projects. So are carbon offsets nothing but “greenwash”?
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British Report ClearsClimate Scientists of Exaggeration
7/8/2010
Leading climate scientists on Thursday welcomed a British report that cleared researchers of exaggerating the effects of global warming and said they hoped it would restore faith in the fight against climate change.
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Starbucks Program Recycles Cups into Napkins
7/5/2010
This fall, stores in Chicago will start sending used cups to a Green Bay, WI, paper mill, where a Georgia Pacific facility will turn them into napkins. The program will start small but is a significant step to address the company’s devouring of 3 billion paper cups
and 1 billion plastic cups annually. Starbucks wants recycling at all of its stores by 2015 and the company's leadership is focusing on two approaches: first, recycling bins at all of its stores, and second, finding a market for all those dirty cups that otherwise end up in a landfill.
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Conroller Gives Smart Homes a Command Center
7/1/2010
Cisco has made a big push into the smart grid industry recently, first with two pieces of substation gear for utilities and now with a home energy display that allows users to monitor power use. The Home Energy Controller--Cisco's first piece of equipment for smart meter-equipped homes--will be tested this summer with Duke Energy customers in Charlotte, North Carolina and Cincinnati, Ohio.
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More Fraud Within the Clean Development Mechanism
6/29/2010
A consortium of North American and European activists have demanded sweeping changes to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) after charging that up to one-third of all CERs ever sold may have been illegitimate.
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Telepresence Could Cut CO2 Emissions by 5.5 Million Tons
6/25/2010
According to a new study of large companies using telepresence technology, U.S. and U.K. businesses that substitute some business travel with telepresence can cut CO2 emissions by nearly 5.5 million metric tons in total — the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing more than one million passenger vehicles from the road for one year — and achieve total economy-wide financial benefits of almost $19 billion, by 2020.
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The Risk of Afghanistan's Resources
6/23/2010
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What's Your Country's "Greendex"?
6/18/2010
You've heard about it for years now—everyone’s interested in being green. But do you really know how your personal choices are adding up? What about the choices of your fellow citizens? What behaviors are people adopting globally that have a positive impact on environmental sustainability? What has changed—and what hasn’t—in the past few years?
This is the third year National Geographic has partnered with GlobeScan to develop an international research approach to measure and monitor consumer progress towards environmentally sustainable consumption. The key objectives of this unprecedented consumer tracking survey are to provide regular quantitative measures of consumer behavior and to promote sustainable consumption.
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Restaurant Tells Diners to Eat Up or Else
6/14/2010
An Australian restaurateur fed up with the waste left by diners has ordered her customers to eat everything on their plates for their sake of the earth or pay a penalty and not return.
Chef Yukako Ichikawa has introduced a 30 percent discount for diners who eat all the food they have ordered at Wafu, her 30-seat restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, that describes itself as "guilty free Japanese cuisine."
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Energy,Climate Change - But No Cap and Trade
6/9/2010
The latest proposal to deal with energy and global warming came Wednesday from Senator Richard Lugar, a moderate Republican from Indiana, whose plan seeks to cut energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions without creating a new market in carbon credits or taking a big bite out of the economy.
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Lemurs Offer Clues to Global Warming Impact
6/8/2010
Global warming may present a threat to animal and plant life even in biodiversity hot spots once thought less likely to suffer from climate change, according to a new study from Rice University.
Research by Amy Dunham, a Rice assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, detailed for the first time a direct correlation between the frequency of El Niño and a threat to life in Madagascar, a tropical island that acts as a refuge for many unique species that exist nowhere else in the world. In this case, the lemur plays the role of the canary in the coal mine.
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Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton the Recipient of 2010 Indianapolis Prize
6/4/2010
With a simple Google search, Iain Douglas-Hamilton knows that victory in his five-decade fight to save his beloved elephants remains uncertain.On the Internet, one can find ivory knife handles, $45; ivory gun grips, $600; ivory elephant tusks, $18,500.
Twenty-one years after a worldwide ban on ivory trade helped stop the slaughter of African elephants, the demand for ivory seems to be making a comeback -- prompting some African countries to propose the sale of tons of stockpiled ivory, while giving poachers a new incentive to slaughter elephants for their valuable tusks.
"Their existence is hanging on a thread," said Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of Save the Elephants, who today will be named the winner of the 2010 Indianapolis Prize for conservation, which includes a $100,000 award -- the largest gift of its kind in the world.
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Countries Partner to Reduce Deforestation Emissions
6/1/2010
At the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference in Norway on Friday, over 50 developed and developing countries signed a "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation" (REDD) partnership, committing to spend over $4 billion in the next three years to reduce emissions from deforestation activities.
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Powering the Earth
5/28/2010
Ever wondered how much CO2 the world emits from the power it uses? Take a look at this interactive graph. It shows you each region's population, their electrical consumption, and CO2 emissions.
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Climate Fears Turn to Doubts Among Britons
5/25/2010
Last month hundreds of environmental activists crammed into an auditorium in London to ponder an anguished question: If the scientific consensus on climate change has not changed, why have so many people turned away from the idea that human activity is warming the planet?
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Redford Calls for Clean Energy Now
5/21/2010
In a powerful new ad released today by NRDC, Robert Redford describes with candor the true nature of the Deepwater Horizon crisis and calls on President Obama to show bold leadership on clean energy and climate solutions for America.
“The Gulf disaster is more than a terrible oil spill,” he explains. “It's the product of a failed energy policy...one that puts oil company profits ahead of people and the environment.”
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US Could Lose 250,000 Jobs Without Clean Energy and Climate Change Legislation
5/18/2010
The U.S. could miss out on 100,000 clean energy manufacturing jobs by 2015 and 250,000 by 2030 if current industry trends continue, according to a new report by the Apollo Alliance and Good Jobs First. The report, Winning the Race: How America Can Lead the Global Clean Energy Economy, estimates that 70 percent of the nation’s renewable energy systems and components are currently being manufactured abroad.
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Brick Could Reduce World's CO2 Emissions by 800 Million Tons/Year
5/13/2010
Metropolis magazine has announced the winner of its 2010 Next Generation contest: A brick that doesn't have to be baked or fired, but rather, can be grown.
The Next Generation contest awards designs that tackle the world's problems, and the humble brick is a Big Problem. As our own Suzanne LeBarre writes:
Tossing a clay brick into a coal-powered kiln, then firing it up to 2,000°F, emits about 1.3 pounds of carbon dioxide. Multiply that by the 1.23 trillion bricks manufactured each year, and you’re talking about more pollution than what’s produced by all the airplanes in the world.
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WA$TED!: A Reality Show Worth Watching
5/10/2010
Think that in order to go green, the changes to your lifestyle must be extreme? Think again! This eye-opening half-hour reality series makes shrinking your ecological footprint appealing and virtually effortless.
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US Cuts Its CO2 Emissions by 7% Last Year
5/6/2010
The world can be a thoroughly depressing place. It seems like bad news is all we ever get, like oil spills destroying wildlife, killer hurricanes, economic collapse, and terrorists with bombs in their underwear. However, bad news is not always so bad. It motivates us to act, to learn from our mistakes, and eventually become better for it. Good news does not teach us anything, except how much better good news feels than bad news. However, it offers a glimmer of hope, a reminder that hard work can actually show results. Yesterday, we received that good news from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), an independent federal statistics and analysis agency. They reported that the US achieved a record setting seven percent decline in CO2 emissions in 2009.
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Plan B: California Braces for Climate Change
5/4/2010
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EPA Confirms Climate IS Changing
4/29/2010
In another display of the sea change that has occurred at the US Environmental Protection Agency under the current administration, a new report was issued yesterday regarding indicators of climate change. The report, entitled "Climate Change Indicators in the United States," measures 24 separate indicators showing how climate change affects the health and enrivonment of US citizens.
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Good Bacteria Eat Bad Greenhouse Gas
4/27/2010
A small rectangular window on the front of the fermenter shows bubbling liquid inside. If it is clear, then that means it is only solution. If it is foggy, then bacteria have been added. Today, the liquid looks milky grey. It fizzes and froths as the correct amount of air and methane is added, which grows and feeds the bacteria inside.
This solution is more than just bacterial soup; it could hold the answers to some of the world's most complex problems, including how to mitigate global warming and how to clean up toxic waste in the environment.
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Middle-Age: Earth Day Hits 40
4/23/2010
Forty years ago, when Sen. Gaylord Nelson launched the first Earth Day, the United States was an environmental disaster area. Air pollution was unchecked — cars and factories filled our skies with toxic smoke. The same was true of waterways. Lake Erie was so polluted it was declared dead. The oil-slicked Cuyahoga River in Cleveland had caught fire a year earlier. Vehicle fuel efficiency was a novel idea.
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Zoo and Lowe's Plant 100 Trees at Local School
4/20/2010
The staff of the Indianapolis Zoo was privileged to participate in a special program on Friday, April 16, as they joined the students of Robey Elementary School in Wayne Township for an "Acres for the Atmosphere" event. Polar Bears International and zookeepers from across the country recently gathered in the Arctic and created the "Acres for the Atmosphere" program to combate the warming climate and shrinking Arctic sea ice, the number one threat to the survival of the polar bears.
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Earth's Missing Heat a Concern
4/16/2010
The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth's climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday.
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6 Conservationists in Running for $100,000
4/13/2010
Today, six of the world's foremost conservationists will be named finalists for the 2010 Indianapolis Prize, a $100,000 award given out every two years. Funded by the Lilly Foundation and initiated by the Indianapolis Zoo, it is the largest such prize for animal conservation in the world.
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Did Climate Change Drive Human Evolution?
4/9/2010
There's a plan afoot among evolutionary scientists to launch a big new project — to look back in time and find out how climate change over millions of years affected human evolution.
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Wind Power Soared Past 150,000 Megawatts in 2009
4/7/2010
"Even in the face of a worldwide economic downturn, the global wind industry posted another record year in 2009 as cumulative installed wind power capacity grew to 158,000 megawatts," says J. Matthew Roney, Staff Researcher for the Earth Policy Institute, in a recent release, "Wind Power Soared Past 150,000 Megawatts in 2009." "With this 31 percent jump, the global wind fleet is now large enough to satisfy the residential electricity needs of 250 million people. Wind provides electricity in over 70 countries, 17 of which now have at least 1,000 megawatts installed."
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Sea Lions Pups Starving in California
3/31/2010
Starved and emaciated sea lion pups are beaching themselves along the Pacific Coast. A strong El Nino tropical weather pattern is to blame. Unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the western Pacific are moving east, forcing the sea lions' natural food sources — squid, hake, herring and anchovies — to seek out cooler waters.
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Animators Team Up to Fight Climate Change
3/29/2010
Almost two-dozen designers are donating their time, to create an animated film about global warming.
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Death of Coral Reefs Could Devastate Nations
3/26/2010
Coral reefs are dying, and scientists and governments around the world are contemplating what will happen if they disappear altogether. The idea positively scares them.
Coral reefs are part of the foundation of the ocean food chain. Nearly half the fish the world eats make their homes around them. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide — by some estimates, 1 billion across Asia alone — depend on them for their food and their livelihoods.
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Human Health Linked Directly to Forest Health
3/23/2010
Environmental degradation is causing serious detrimental health impacts for humans, but protecting natural habitats can reverse this and supply positive health benefits, according to a new WWF report.
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Arctic's Biodiversity Down 26% Since 1970
3/19/2010
Mammals, birds and fish living in the High Arctic experienced an average 26 percent drop in their populations between 1970 and 2004 due to the loss of sea ice, according to a new report from The Arctic Species Trend Index, "Tracking Trends in Arctic Wildlife."
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Climate Change Bedtime Story Causes Stir
3/16/2010
Britain's independent advertising watchdog agency has criticized a government ad campaign that highlights the dangers of climate change. An Advertising Standards Association spokesman says nearly 1,000 complaints about the ads have been received.
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100% Clean Coal-Fired Power?
3/11/2010
If you combine CO2 with seawater, or any kind of briny water, you produce CaCO3, calcium carbonate. That is not only the stuff of corals. It is also the same white, pasty goop that appears on your shower head from hard (calcium-rich) water. At its demonstration plant near Santa Cruz, Calif., Calera has developed a process that takes CO2 emissions from a coal- or gas-fired power plant and sprays seawater into it and naturally converts most of the CO2 into calcium carbonate, which is then spray-dried into cement or shaped into little pellets that can be used as concrete aggregates for building walls or highways — instead of letting the CO2 emissions go into the atmosphere and produce climate change.
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Lugar Drafting Practical Energy Plan
3/9/2010
On March 9, 2010, Senator Dick Lugar announced that he is drafting a practical energy plan that would meet many climate improving goals, without cap and trade, by conserving energy and saving people, businesses and government money.
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Starbucks and Conservation International Make It Easy for Customers to be Green
3/8/2010
With a simple swipe, Starbucks SBUX customers can join Conservation International (CI) to help protect forests and the life that exists within them - as well as fight climate change. Starting March 9 and through December 31, 2010, every time a customer pays with their new Conservation International Starbucks Card at participating stores in the U.S., Starbucks will donate five cents to CI to help protect forests.
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Coffee Industry Hit Hard by Climate Change
3/4/2010
The latest industry to get clobbered by climate change is coffee, according to the International Coffee Organization (ICO). The organization, which represents 77 coffee-producing countries, says that the temperature has risen half a degree in coffee-producing countries over the past 25 years--five times faster than in the previous 25 year period. That change has led to a panic among countries reliant on coffee.
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Americans Cool with Global Warming?
3/1/2010
Almost half of Americans in the Yale Project on Climate Change's new study on global warming said strong action needs to be taken. But the amount who think it's all a hoax has doubled. Nearly everyone, however, supports regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
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iPhone Apps to Shut Up Climate Change Doubters
2/23/2010
If you've got a friend, relative, or famous radio personality who makes a point of doubting the effects or even the existence of climate change--especially if that person cites a snowstorm as evidence--we've got a few apps that'll learn 'em good, and then teach 'em how to make up for the damage they've done.
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Americans Like Conservation, But Few Practice It
2/19/2010
The results of a national survey by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities has revealed that most Americans like the idea of conservation, but few practice it in their everyday lives.
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Site Simulates World's CO2 Emissions in Real Time
2/16/2010
Take a look at this fascinating real-time simulation of the world's CO2 emissions in addition to the birth and death rates.
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East Coast Blizzard Tied to Climate Change
2/11/2010
As the blizzard-bound residents of the mid-Atlantic region get ready to dig themselves out of the third major storm of the season, they may stop to wonder two things: Why haven't we bothered to invest in a snow blower, and what happened to climate change? Brace yourselves now - this may be a case of politicians twisting the facts. There is some evidence that climate change could in fact make such massive snowstorms more common, even as the world continues to warm.
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Recycled Electronics Used in Olympic Medals
2/9/2010
Sustainability is one of the three pillars of the Olympic movement, which means that Vancouver, the host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, will do as much as it can to reduce, reuse and recycle. In a particularly creative move, the Vancouver Olympic Committee is recycling post-consumer electronics for the material in Olympic medals
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Arctic Ice Not Growing as Fast as Usual This Winter
2/5/2010
Scant ice over the Arctic Sea this winter could mean a "double whammy" of powerful ice-melt next summer, a top U.S. climate scientist said on Thursday.
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New Climate Change Art Exhibit Opens in Michigan
2/2/2010
A new exhibition that explores climate change is opening at the Cranbrook Institute of Science. "Cape Farewell: Art & Climate Change" opens to the public Sunday and runs through June 13 at the museum in Bloomfield Hills.
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Lugar: Energy Reform and the Military
1/28/2010
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Courts as Battlefields in Climate Fights
1/27/2010
Tiny Kivalina, Alaska, does not have a hotel, a restaurant or a movie theater. But it has a very big lawsuit that might affect the way the nation deals with climate change.
Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo village of 400 perched on a barrier island north of the Arctic Circle, is accusing two dozen fuel and utility companies of helping to cause the climate change that it says is accelerating the island’s erosion.
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Polar Bear Poop Helps with Superbug
1/22/2010
Polar bear droppings are helping scientists shed light on the spread of deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
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Purdue Professor Brings Arctic Stories to the Web
1/19/2010
Paul Shepson has been traveling to the Arctic since 1988. The Purdue University professor's research spans the fields of atmospheric chemistry and climate change. Shepson launched a Web Site called Arctic Stories at www.arcticstories.net The site uses a rich collection of video, photos and text to explain what and who the Arctic is.
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Underwater Rocks Could be Used for Carbon Storage
1/8/2010
Considering it is unlikely that global carbon emissions
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US Car Fleet Shrinks for the First Time
1/6/2010
Americans scrapped more automobiles than they bought last year as the ragged economy reduced demand and some major cities expanded mass transit service, according to a new report.
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Recycle a Can, Offset a Journey
12/31/2009
According to new information from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) when partygoers recycle six aluminium cans they are effectively offsetting a 25 kilometre train journey, a 17 kilometre bus ride or ten kilometre trip in an average size car.
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Ecosystems Shift 1/4 mile/Year to Keep Pace with Climate Change
12/28/2009
Earth's various ecosystems, with all their plants and animals, will need to shift about a quarter-mile per year on average to keep pace with global climate change, scientists said in a study released last week.
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Main Points of the Copenhagen Accord
12/21/2009
U.S. President Barack Obama reached a climate agreement on Friday with India, South Africa, China and Brazil. The deal outlined fell far short of the ambitions for the Copenhagen summit.
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Investors Give Cautious Thumbs Up to Climate Deal
12/21/2009
Businesses and investment analysts cautiously welcomed a climate deal struck in Copenhagen on Friday, but complained that it was unclear how its commitments would be translated into law.
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Moderate Global Warming to Wipe Out Many Species
12/18/2009
Up to a fifth of all species of animals and plants risk extinction even if the world manages to limit global warming to levels widely viewed as safe, the head of the Convention on Biological Diversity said.
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What CEO's Want From Copenhagen
12/18/2009
Business leaders are watching Copenhagen climate talks, which might launch new, bigger carbon markets, help drive investment in green technologies and change the way they do business.
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Coral Reefs and Climate Change - A Message For Copenhagen
12/11/2009
Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse habitats of the oceans and face extinction due to climate change by 2050 ... We're hoping that the politicians and heads of state who attend the UNEP 2009 climate change conference in Copenhagen will make positive amendments to global environmental policy and help save coral reefs and ultimately protect the amazing planet we live on. Check out our video.
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The Psychology of Climate Change Denial
12/11/2009
Even as the science of global warming gets stronger, fewer Americans believe it’s real. In some ways, it’s nearly as jarring a disconnect as enduring disbelief in evolution or carbon dating. And according to Kari Marie Norgaard, a Whitman College sociologist who’s studied public attitudes towards climate science, we’re in denial.
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Antarctic May Be Shielded By Ozone Hole
12/1/2009
Antarctica has been protected from the most damaging effects of climate change by the impact of one of the worst environmental disasters of the 20th century, the hole in the ozone layer, research published today revealed.
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Dalai Lama Says Climate Change Needs Global Action
12/1/2009
Tibet's exiled Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama entered the climate change debate on Monday, urging governments to take serious action and put global interests ahead of domestic concerns.
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Kids' WWF Video Urges Obama to Help Enact Global Climate Treaty
11/13/2009
On December 7, 2009, more than 192 nations will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a fair and binding global treaty to reduce emissions and save our planet from the worst impacts of climate change.
Join us in urging the President to lead the U.S. into making a global climate treaty a reality. Learn more about Copenhagen and hear from some who have the most at stake in solving this issue—our kids.
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Experts Predict Great Barrier Reef Could be 1st Ecosystem to Collapse
11/13/2009
The Great Barrier Reef will be so degraded by warming waters that it will be unrecognizable within 20 years, according Charlie Veron, former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, at a conference in London: “There is no way out, no loopholes. The Great Barrier Reef will be over within 20 years or so. They would be the world’s first global ecosystem to collapse. I have the backing of every coral reef scientist, every research organization. I’ve spoken to them all. This is critical. This is reality.”
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Girl 'Inspired and Passionate' After a Trip to See Polar Bears
10/28/2009
Courtney Freyhauf was not exactly at the top of the world, but she may as well have been. The 16-year-old Nordonia High School junior spent a week in late September and early October watching polar bears in their natural habitat Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay.
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Fewer Believe in Global Warming Than 3 Years Ago
10/28/2009
The number of Americans who believe there is solid evidence that the Earth is warming because of pollution is at its lowest point in three years, according to a survey released Thursday.
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Why a Coal Guy is Going Green
10/22/2009
Of all the companies in the U.S., Duke Energy is the 3rd largest emitter of CO2. Of all the companies in the world, Duke is the 12th biggest emitter. And if North Carolina-based Duke were a country, it would rank No. 41 in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of entire nations in Europe, Africa and Asia.
And yet...Jim Rogers, Duke's longtime president, CEO and chairman, is pushing as hard as anyone in corporate America to get a climate-change bill passed by Congress. His company helped the U.S. Climate Action Partnership get going, and he was key in getting some (but not all) utility-company CEOs to support carbon regulation.
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Frightfully Fun Green Halloween Costumes
10/16/2009
Check out 19 frightfully fun homemade Halloween costumes made from recycled materials. Hopefully, you'll be inspired to make your own!
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Fight Climate Change by Protecting Forests
10/16/2009
On October 7, the Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests unveiled a report highlighting a cornerstone of the climate change policy debate: We cannot win the battle against climate change without protecting our forests.
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iPhone Apps for Green Shopping, Eating, Travel, and Fun
10/16/2009
About a year ago, we (treehugger.com,) put together a list of 20 iPhone apps that would help you live a greener life. The number of apps we've seen come across the radar since then has exploded to the point where we wonder how on earth anyone can keep track of them.
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Apple Launches Major Green Effort
10/2/2009
In recent years, Apple (AAPL) has been hammered by several environmental groups. Greenpeace singled it out for its use of toxic chemicals in 2007, and it has done poorly in rankings of the greenest corporations. The criticism is jarring for a company with a cool, progressive image and Mr. Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, on its board.
Now, Apple is set to launch its most aggressive effort yet to counter green critics. On Sept. 24, the company released more of the details environmental groups have been clamoring for, on its Web site and elsewhere. Apple, for example, revealed its annual corporate carbon emissions for the first time.
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Green Roofs Could Help Put Lid on Global Warming
10/2/2009
"Green" roofs, those increasingly popular urban rooftops covered with plants, could help fight global warming, scientists in Michigan are reporting. The scientists found that replacing traditional roofing materials in an urban area the size of Detroit, with a population of about one-million, with green would be equivalent to eliminating a year's worth of carbon dioxide emitted by 10,000 mid-sized SUVs and trucks.
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Holyfield Tackles Global Warming
9/25/2009
Evander Holyfield has no intention of hanging up his gloves. In fact, he'll have a new nickname the next time he climbs into the ring. The Real Deal is now the Lean Green Fighting Machine.
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River Turbines Could Electrify New York City
9/25/2009
A network of floating docks could harness clean energy for New York City and provide new space for parks, researchers now propose.
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Lugar Speaks on Energy Security and Climate Change
9/21/2009
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Arctic May Be Changed Forever
9/18/2009
The dramatic changes sweeping the Arctic as a result of global warming aren't just confined to melting sea ice and polar bears — a new study finds that the forces of climate change are propagating throughout the frigid north, producing different effects in each ecosystem with the upshot that the face of the Arctic may be forever altered.
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Electricity Harvested From Trees
9/18/2009
Researchers have figured out a way to plug into the power generated by trees.
Scientists have known for some time that plants can conduct electricity. In fact, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that plants can pack up to 200 millivolts of electrical power. A millivolt is one-thousandth of a volt.
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Lugar Hails Appointment of International Energy Coordinator
9/15/2009
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More Wildfires in West a Consequence of Climate Change
9/8/2009
Among scientists who study wildfires a broad consensus is developing that global climate change -- caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- is increasing the risk of these sorts of fires in the West.
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Weeping Glacier Cries a River
9/3/2009
A photo of a melting glacier dubbed "Mother Nature in Tears" has been seized by environmentalists as the latest sombre reminder of the effects of climate change.
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EU Starts Stamping Out Energy Guzzling Light Bulbs
9/3/2009
Europe started eradicating traditional energy-guzzling light bulbs on Tuesday, angering some consumers who had grown attached to their warm glow and cheap price.
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Indianapolis Zoo Taking on Global Warming
8/21/2009
The Indianapolis Zoo is taking on the crisis of global warming one Hoosier household at a time.
The MyCarbonPledge initiative began last year with a simple request of Indiana families and businesses: switch out incandescent light bulbs for energy-saving CFLs.
This year, the zoo has issued another challenge, encouraging people to unplug unused appliances in an effort to cut "phantom" power, the energy wasted even when electric items aren't in use.
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Toxic Soup: Plastics Could be Leaching Chemicals into Ocean
8/21/2009
Although plastic has long been considered indestructible, some scientists say toxic chemicals from decomposing plastics may be leaching into the sea and harming marine ecosystems.
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Record Month for Renewable Energy in the U.S.
8/18/2009
A monthly report released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows net U.S. electrical generation from renewable sources (biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro, and wind) reached an all-time high in May of 2009, comprising 13% of the total electrical generation for the month.
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Airlines Will Be First U.S. Industry to Confront Cap & Trade
8/18/2009
The first U.S. industry to face a cap on its greenhouse gas emissions is not, as may be expected, the coal-burning power utilities. It's not the oil refineries, churning through crude. It's not the automakers, manufacturing again.
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Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security
8/10/2009
The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.
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Why Americans Don't Act on Climate Change
8/10/2009
Three-quarters of Americans think climate change is an important issue, a recent Pew Research Center survey found. But they don't see it as an immediate threat and so aren't keen to act to change the status quo. The issue ranked last on a list of 20 compelling issues, behind things like terrorism and the economy.
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Culling the Gas Hogs
8/7/2009
The “cash for clunkers” program seems to be doing its job: people flocked to dealerships to use the rebates and trade in their old vehicles for new, more efficient ones. Dealers estimate they sold nearly a quarter million cars under the plan, almost exhausting the program’s $1 billion budget in about 10 days. The new cars achieved 10 miles per gallon more, on average, than the trade-ins.
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Fate of Climate Change Bill in Congress
8/7/2009
The fate of U.S. climate control legislation is in the hands of the Senate, where it faces an uphill climb. Democratic leaders hope to put it to a vote in October.
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Hacking the Planet: The Only Climate Solution Left?
7/27/2009
In a room in London late last year, a group of British politicians were grilling a selection of climate scientists on geoengineering - the notion that to save the planet from climate change, we must artificially tweak its thermostat by firing fine dust into the atmosphere to deflect the sun's rays, for instance, or perhaps even by launching clouds of mirrors into space.
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Earth Bears Scars of Human Destruction
7/27/2009
A Canadian astronaut aboard the International Space Station said on Sunday it looks like Earth's ice caps have melted a bit since he was last in orbit 12 years ago.
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Could $20/Gallon of Gasoline Make us Happier?
7/24/2009
When it's time to fill up the gas tank, many fear the price of gas will return to the $4-a-gallon days of last summer. But according to author Chris Steiner, our lives would be a lot happier and healthier if gas prices rose into the double digits.
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Boiling the Frog
7/24/2009
Is American on its way to becoming a boiled frog? I’m referring, of course, to the proverbial frog that, placed in a pot of cold water that is gradually heated, never realizes the danger it’s in and is boiled alive. Real frogs will, in fact, jump out of the pot — but never mind. The hypothetical boiled frog is a useful metaphor for a very real problem: the difficulty of responding to disasters that creep up on you a bit at a time.
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Can Computer Software Account for Climate Change
7/24/2009
Microsoft had trouble solving the problems with its Vista operating system, so what are its chances of fixing climate change? The global software firm has created an online tool called Project 2 Degrees for cities across the world to monitor their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and, the hope is, then do something about them.
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Reducing Your Carbon Footprint Lets You Earn Money
7/10/2009
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Obama Urges Nations to Fight Global Warming
7/10/2009
President Barack Obama said Thursday the global recession makes it harder to strike an international agreement to battle dangerous temperature increases, but he urged the poor emerging economies that rejected specific clean-energy goals to "fight the temptation toward cynicism" and embrace them soon.
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Wildlife Crisis Worse Than Economic Crisis
7/10/2009
Life on Earth is under serious threat, despite the commitment by world leaders to reverse the trend, according to a detailed analysis of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.
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Warming Will Spread Hunger
7/6/2009
Chronic hunger may be "the defining human tragedy of this century," as climate change causes growing seasons to shift, crops to fail, and storms and droughts to ravage fields, an advocacy group said.
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The Zoo is IPL's Largest Consumer of Green Power
6/30/2009
The Zoo is IPL’s largest consumer of green power, and as of spring 2009, taking advantage of this option has helped the Zoo reduce CO2 emissions by over 30 million pounds.
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Energy Legislation Could Bring Deep Change
6/30/2009
Congress has taken its first step toward an energy revolution, with the prospect of profound change for every household, business, industry and farm in the decades ahead.
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Alaska Polar Bear Numbers Declining
6/22/2009
Polar bear populations in and around Alaska are declining due to continued melting of sea ice and Russian poaching, according to reports released Thursday by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Obama Beating Path to China to Talk Climate Change
6/19/2009
Officials from the Obama administration have been beating a steady path to China’s door to talk about climate change.
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U.S. Climate Report Details Energy and Agricultural Harm
6/19/2009
Climate change has already caused "visible impacts" in the United States and poses particular risks to the U.S. agriculture and energy industries, a new government report said on Tuesday.
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Carbon 'Pedometer' Helps Volvo Cut Commute's Footprint
6/5/2009
Using a mobile phone-based software program has enabled a test group of Volvo employees to cut the greenhouse gas emissions of their daily commute by more than 30 percent.
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World CO2 Up 39% by 2030 without New Policy
6/5/2009
Global emissions of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide will jump more than 39 percent by 2030 without new policies and binding pacts to cut global warming pollution, the top U.S. energy forecast agency said on May 27, 2009.
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Climate Change Making Everest Ascent Harder
6/5/2009
A Nepali sherpa who holds the world record for climbing Mount Everest said on 5/25/09 rising temperatures were melting snow and turning the slopes barren, making it even harder to scale the world's tallest peak.
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Drop in CO2 in U.S. and Power Use in China
6/5/2009
Not surprisingly, given the depth of the recession, emissions of carbon dioxide from fuel burning in the United States declined 2.8 percent last year, the biggest annual drop since the early 1980’s, according to a preliminary estimate released by the Energy Department.
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Climate Change and its Human Toll
5/29/2009
The first comprehensive report into the human cost of climate change warns the world is in the throes of a "silent crisis" that is killing 300,000 people each year.
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What is the Environmental Impact of the Indy 500?
5/28/2009
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway recycles 20 tons of cans, plastic and cardboard in May, plus all its motor oil, brake fluid and transmission fluid. Its golf course is certified as environmentally friendly by Audubon International. Its trash gets converted to energy.
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Indiana is in the Center of Climate Fight
5/28/2009
Indiana Republicans are warning of dire consequences for Hoosiers if the federal government caps greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming.
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Lugar Supports Greater Fuel Efficiency and Flexible Fuel Standards
5/22/2009
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Envrionmental Alarms Raised Over Home Electronics
5/22/2009
Charge your iPod, kill a polar bear? The choice might not be quite that stark, but an energy watchdog is alarmed about the threat to the environment from the soaring electricity needs of gadgets like MP3 players, mobile phones and flat screen TVs.
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Indiana Says 'No Thank You' to Cap and Trade
5/20/2009
This week Congress is set to release the details of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act, a bill that purports to combat global warming by setting strict limits on carbon emissions. I'm not a candidate for any office -- now or ever again -- and I've approached the "climate change" debate with an open-mind. But it's clear to me that the nation, and in particular Indiana, my home state, will be terribly disserved by this cap-and-trade policy on the verge of passage in the House.
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Carter Speaks at Energy Security Hearing
5/13/2009
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Energy Security Historical Perspectives and Monder Challenges, Senator Lugar discussed energy security with former President Jimmy Carter, FedEx President Fred Smith and General Charles F. Wald, USAF (Ret.).
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Lugar Balancing Security and Climate
5/11/2009
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Shrimp at Risk Due to Climate Change
5/11/2009
A $500 million North Atlantic shrimp fishery may be vulnerable to climate change that could disrupt the crustaceans' life cycle and mislead them into hatching when food is scarce, scientists said.
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US Climate Bill Unlikely to Pass This Year
5/11/2009
US climate change legislation is unlikely to pass this year due to concerns about the recession and contention over the implementation of the program, according to energy and carbon market experts.
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China Outpaces US in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants
5/11/2009
China’s frenetic construction of coal-fired power plants has raised worries around the world about the effect on climate change. China now uses more coal than the United States, Europe and Japan combined, making it the world’s largest emitter of gases that are warming the planet.
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Lugar Introduces Legislation for Clean Energy
5/4/2009
Senator Lugar joined with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski, and others in introducing legislation to improve and extend federal support for clean energy projects.
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Indianapolis Zoo's Conservation Station at Earth Day Indiana
4/24/2009
Come visit the brand new Indianapolis Zoo’s Conservation Station, an interactive exhibit for kids! We’ll be at the Earth Day Indiana Festival at the American Legion Mall on Saturday, April 25, from 11am-4pm.
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Stay Slim to Save the Planet
4/24/2009
Overweight people eat more than thin people and are more likely to travel by car, making excess body weight doubly bad for the environment, according to a study from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
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Obama Climate Chief: U.S. Law Vital to Global Deal
4/24/2009
President Barack Obama's top climate negotiator warned on Wednesday that international efforts to tackle global warming are doomed unless the United States enacts laws to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
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Lugar Delivers Statement at Climate Change Hearing
4/22/2009
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Arctic on Thinner Ice
4/7/2009
Arctic sea ice, a key component of Earth's natural thermostat, has thinned sharply in recent years with the northern polar ice cap shrinking steadily in surface area, government scientists said on Monday.
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Cows and Climate Change?
4/3/2009
Farmers of the future will have to use cattle and sheep that belch less methane, crops that emit far less planet-warming nitrous oxide and become experts in reporting their greenhouse gas emissions to the government.
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Concrete is Remixed with Environment in Mind
4/3/2009
Concrete suppliers are going green. “The new twist over the last 10 years has been to try to avoid materials that generate CO2,” said Kevin A. MacDonald, vice president for engineering services of the Cemstone Products Company. Some engineers and scientists are going further, with the goal of developing concrete that can capture and permanently sequester CO2.
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Scientists Help Map US Rocks That Soak Up CO2
3/20/2009
Certain rocks abundant on the US East and West coasts may one day be coaxed to absorb emissions of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide at a rate that could slow climate change, scientists say.
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Disney Sets Plan to Cut Carbon Emissions to Zero
3/20/2009
The Walt Disney Co said March 9, 2009 that it planned to cut carbon emissions from fuels by half by 2012, and ultimately to achieve net zero direct greenhouse gas emissions at its office and retail complexes, theme parks and cruise lines.
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US Climate Change Takes Center Stage in Congress
3/20/2009
With climate change legislation a top U.S. priority for Democrats this year, lawmakers began zeroing in on March 12 on ways to ease the financial burden it could impose on the poor, especially in the midst of a deep economic recession.
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Polar Bears At Risk, Climate Deal Needed
3/18/2009
"Climate change has overtaken hunting as the most significant threat to the polar bear," Norway's Environment and Development Minister Erik Solheim told a meeting of the five states rimming the Arctic where the white bears live.
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Lugar Re-introduces Energy Compact
3/12/2009
U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar today introduced a bill that would expand energy security cooperation between the United States, Brazil and other nations in the Western Hemisphere.
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Scientists: Flaw in Ice Assertions
3/6/2009
The office of former Vice President Al Gore complained about my story on climate exaggeration the other day, writes Andrew Revkin, and now George Will, the other (very different) example in that piece, has weighed in as well with a column, “Climate Science in a Tornado,” defending his accuracy and questioning my competence. I’ll leave the competence judgment to readers.
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Climate Change in a Video Game?
3/6/2009
Climate change in a video game?? We'll admit it's different, but this game works.
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Penguins Facing Longer Commute for Food
2/20/2009
A penguin species found in Argentina is under threat because climate change is forcing the birds to swim farther to find food, researchers are saying.
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Polar Seas Are No Biological Desert
2/20/2009
The polar oceans are not biological deserts after all. A recently released marine census documented 7,500 species living in the Antarctic and 5,500 in the Arctic, including several hundred that researchers believe could be new to science.
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EPA to Review Bush Rule on Warming Emissions
2/17/2009
The Obama administration on Tuesday agreed to review whether it should regulate carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, portending a major reversal of the Bush administration's policy on global warming.
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Climate Change Will Be Major Driver of Extinctions
2/13/2009
Approximately 20 to 30% of plant and animal species are likely to be at increasingly high risk of extinction as global mean temperatures exceed warming of 2 to 3 oC above preindustrial levels, according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Fourth Assessment Report). Global warming has already been implicated in hundreds of documented cases of species declines across marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems globally, including in the loss of amphibian species such as the Golden Toad. Climate change will be one of the major drivers of species extinctions in the 21st century.
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Starbucks Fights Climate Change
2/11/2009
Starbucks recently announced their participation in a new coalition of consumer brands advocating for action on the issue of climate change. Starbucks is a founding member along with other leading responsible companies Nike, Timberland, Levis, and Sun Microsystems. They join together to advocate for stronger climate change and clean energy policy.
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Wind Jobs Outstrip Coal Mining
2/6/2009
Here’s a talking point in the green jobs debate: The wind industry now employs more people than coal mining in the United States.Wind industry jobs jumped to 85,000 in 2008, a 70% increase from the previous year, according to a report released from the American Wind Energy Association.
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Climate Bill Possible "In Weeks"
2/5/2009
The Senate's top environmental lawmaker offered a preview on Wednesday of major component of climate change legislation she said could be introduced "in weeks, not months." "We are not sitting back and waiting for some magic moment," Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters. "We're ready to go."
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Gore Urges Passing Stimulus Deal to Aid Climate
2/5/2009
Climate crusader Al Gore said the first step toward restoring U.S. "economic and moral leadership" is to pass President Barack Obama's stimulus package -- and the second step is putting a price on carbon.
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Raise the Gas Tax
2/4/2009
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Lugar Hosts Gore at Climate Change Hearing
1/28/2009
Senator Lugar and Senator Kerry host former Vice President Al Gore today for a hearing on climate change. Lugar advocates that climate and energy security concerns be engaged together because they have many of the same solutions and causes.
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Cops Replace Gas Guzzlers with Greener Cruisers
1/26/2009
Police Chief Richard Watson of Cahokia, IL admits his department's newest patrol car is a curious departure from its big-horsepower Ford Crown Victorias. But the four-cylinder Pontiac Vibe GT has plenty of pep for policing, he said, and gets twice the gas mileage.
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Surveyed Scientists Agree Global Warming is Real
1/26/2009
Human-induced global warming is real, according to a recent U.S. survey based on the opinions of 3,146 scientists. However there remains divisions between climatologists and scientists from other areas of earth sciences as to the extent of human responsibility.
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Climate Change Threatens Pacific, Arctic Conflicts
1/9/2009
Climate change and rising sea levels pose one of the biggest threats to security in the Pacific and may also spark a global conflict over energy reserves under melting Arctic ice, according to Australia's military.
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Japan to Monitor Greenhouse Gases from Space
1/9/2009
Japan's space agency will launch a satellite later this month to monitor greenhouse gases around the world, officials said Wednesday, hoping the data it collects helps global efforts to combat climate change.
The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT), to be launched on January 21, will enable scientists to calculate the density of carbon dioxide and methane from 56,000 locations on the Earth's surface, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.
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Carbon Sequestration: What's the Point?
12/10/2008
We share two very different views on the "hot" topic of capturing carbon being freed by fossil fuel-burning power plants and injecting it deep underground.
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Obama Climate Goals Not Enough: China, India
12/10/2008
Developing nations welcomed Obama's plan for tougher goals than President George W. Bush but said Obama's target of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020 was not enough to avoid dangerous global warming.
China and the United States are top emitters ahead of India and Russia. But U.S. emissions per capita are almost five times those of China and developing nations say the rich have spewed out most heat-trapping carbon since the Industrial Revolution.
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As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions
12/10/2008
Livestock = living smokestack?? It may sound strange, but it's true. Livestock spews incredibly large amounts of methane into the air everyday. But some innovative farmers-turned environmentalists have a way to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
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Indiana Lands on Group's Top 50 List of Mercury Emitters
11/24/2008
Three Indiana power plants have landed on an environmental group's tally of the 50 facilities in the nation that emit the greatest amount of poisonous mercury into the air and water.
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Obama Will Act Quickly on Climate Change
11/24/2008
President-elect Barack Obama will act against climate change early in his presidency, an environment adviser said on November 12th amid doubts that a US carbon-capping program will be in place before 2010.
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Walmart in Wind Energy Deal with Duke Energy
11/24/2008
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday that it had entered into a partnership with Duke Energy to have wind power supply up to 15 percent of its energy load for roughly 360 of its stores and facilities in Texas.
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Greenhouse Gas 4 Times More Than Thought
11/6/2008
Levels of a powerful greenhouse gas are four times as high as previously thought, according to new measurements released on 10/23/08.
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Science Advice for the Next President
11/6/2008
Hundreds of organizations are urging the next president to appoint a White House Science adviser by Inauguration Day, and give the position a cabinet level rank. There is broadening concern that the White House has not been sufficiently stressing science.
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A Final Campaign Focus: Coal & CO2
11/6/2008
The potential political costs of capping carbon dioxide from coal burning were on full display in the final hours of the presidential campaign.
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Greenorexia??
10/24/2008
Using a homemade composting toilet, unplugging the refrigerator and using iceblocks as coolants, producing your own food?? Some would call these people greenorexics, but they are going to extraordinary measures to seriously reduce their carbon footprint.
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Global Warming Leading Tigers to Attack
10/24/2008
Wildlife experts say endangered tigers in the world's largest reserve are turning on humans because rising sea levels and coastal erosion are steadily shrinking the tigers' natural habitat.
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GE Stepping Up Push for Battery Powered Cars
10/24/2008
General Electric Co is stepping up its investment in developing new battery technologies for autos as it looks to increase its role in electrifying cars -- one of the key strategies to boost autos' fuel efficiency.
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Windy City's Climate Plan
10/6/2008
Chicago is aiming for more than the nickname - the windy city. It hopes to become "the greenest city in America." And the Chicago Climate Action Plan is definitely a step in the right direction. The plan is aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 25% below 1990 levels.
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First US Greenhouse Cap-and-Trade Market
10/6/2008
Ten states in the US Northeast kicked off the country's first cap-and-trade market on greenhouse gas emissions on 9/25/08, gaining accolades from environmentalists and many businesses but also eliciting concerns about how the states will spend the money the plan raises.
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Biden & Palin square off on CO2 caps & clean coal
10/6/2008
Just where do Biden and Palin stand on climate change, CO2 caps, and clean coal? Based on the VP debate on 10/2/08, here's what they have to say.
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Arctic Sea Ice Second-Lowest Ever
9/7/2008
Arctic sea ice shrank to its second-lowest level ever, US scientists say, with particular melting in the Chukchi Sea, where polar bears were recently seen swimming far off the Alaskan coast.
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Mobile Phone Software Tracks Your CO2
9/7/2008
A new mobile phone software has been created that allows users to use smart phones to track and reduce mobile carbon footprints.
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Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grids Limits
9/7/2008
Dirty secret of clean energy - while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.
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Oil Mogul Pushes for Wind Power
8/4/2008
T. Boone Pickens, American business man who chairs the hedge fund BP Capital Management, says drilling for oil is not the answer. "A nation holding less than 3% of the world's oil reserves while guzzling 20% of the world's production will never be able to drill its way out of its dependency on foreign oil. His answer is surprising - wind power!
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MIT Develops Way to Bank Solar Energy at Home
8/4/2008
A US scientist has developed a new way of powering fuel cells that could make it practical for home owners to store solar energy and produce electricity to run lights and appliances at night.
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Solar "Trees" Help Light Streets
8/4/2008
Going green can do more than protect the environment. Solar-powered streetlamps also serve as pieces of modern art.
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Indianapolis Company Goes Green with Wind Power
7/20/2008
The Time Factory, a corporation on the leading edge of environmental awareness and energy efficiency, to host Wind Turbine event.
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Bridging the Gap on Climate Change
7/20/2008
Senator Richard Lugar and Henry Paulson Jr., secretary of the Treasury, encourage other politicians to support multilateral initiative to help finance the deployment of commercially available clean technology to the developing world.
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Penguin Populations Plunge
7/20/2008
Penguin populations have plummeted at a key breeding colony in Argentina mirroring declines in many species of the marine flightless birds due to climate change, pollution and other factors, a study shows.
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Extreme Weather on the Rise
7/3/2008
Floods, droughts and severe storms are likely to occur even more frequently in North America as a result of the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a U.S. government study.
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A Green Coal Baron?
7/3/2008
Chief Executive of Duke Energy, Jim Rogers, is not your typical power company CEO. He lives to brainstorm about clean energy technologies. And his latest idea is pretty radical...
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Humans Still Loading Climate Dice
7/3/2008
Dr. James E. Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies revisits his startling testimony he gave before the Senate Energy Committee in 1988 - that the buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels and forests was already influencing Earth's climate. Watch his interview.
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Mounting Costs Slow the Push for Clean Coal
6/20/2008
Just what is clean coal? As strange as it may sound, it involves taking the carbon dioxide emitted from coal-burning power plants and pumping it back into the ground. Sounds easy enough, right? But find out what some of the biggest obstacles are.
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U.S. Climate Bill Dies; Hope for 2009
6/20/2008
On June 6th, a U.S. bill aimed at curbing climate change died in the Senate. But there is still hope as the bill's supporters look to the next president to enact a climate change law as soon as 2009.
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Melting Arctic Ice Could Spur Inland Warming
6/20/2008
Think polar bears are the only ones to feel the effects of climate change? Think again. A study released on June 10, 2008 suggests it could cause warmer temperatures hundreds of miles inland.
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Lowe's Partners with the Zoo
4/18/2008
The Zoo is very pleased to partner with Lowe’s on mycarbonpledge.com. Lowe’s is the primary partner of the site. “This will truly be the greatest partnership I have come across in my years at Lowe’s….and the difference we will make together will be PHENOMENAL,” says Priscilla Woodrum, District Manager for Lowe’s.
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Latest Article
section: Climate Scientist
title: How Do We Know What We Know About Climate Change?
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