High-carbon ice age mystery solved.
New Scientist 08 Mar
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Other NewsEditorialsEx-goalie offside on oilsands.Hardly a day goes by without some misinformed demonization of Alberta's oilsands. The latest comes from former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter, who blamed the lack of snow at the Vancouver Olympics on global warming caused by "dirty oil" from Alberta. Calgary Herald 12 Mar Climate of fear.The integrity of climate research has taken a very public battering in recent months. Scientists must now emphasize the science, while acknowledging that they are in a street fight. Nature 11 Mar Compost and climate change: how they are related.Amateur gardeners take note: your choice of compost could be contributing to climate change. Why? It's all to do with peat. London Guardian 09 Mar Climate change is not a matter of faith.The science of global warming has taken a severe hit in terms of the public's credulity. Yet as the latest scientific research makes clear, the evidence is, if anything, stronger than it ever was about the role of humans in the observable increase in global temperatures. London Independent 05 Mar Getting global warming right.Sen. Inhofe and others are waging a calculated misinformation campaign, seizing on every error or gap in scientific knowledge to cast doubt on research findings and portray scientists as villains. Los Angeles Times 03 Mar More errors in temperature data.As the frigid winter days pass and the scandals mount, it becomes clear that claims of man-made global warming aren't based on scientific methods at all. The hysteria is based on fraud. Washington Times 19 Feb A complicated argument.If the Maldives and lower Manhattan are destined to go under water, we won’t be able to avert that outcome with a Copenhagen greenhouse gas policy. When and if such threats become real, we’ll be obliged to take protective action for the particular problems at hand. Columbia Tribune 17 Feb With stakes this high.Given the complexity and urgency of climate change - and its vulnerability to political posturing - scientists engaged in the issue must avoid personal agendas and be intellectually vigilant and above reproach. New York Times 17 Feb OpinionA message for climate change skeptics.Is global warming happening? The likelihood is more than 90 per cent that elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are heating the planet. Can we know for certain? No. But playing Russian Roulette with nine of 10 chambers loaded with live bullets is a fool's game. Canwest News Service 12 Mar Interesting times for marine N2O.Although present in minute concentrations, nitrous oxide is a highly potent greenhouse gas. For the past 400,000 years, changes in atmospheric N2O appear to have roughly paralleled changes in CO2 - and to have had modest impacts on climate. But this may change. Science 12 Mar Noel Kempff project is 'saving the forest' by forcing destruction elsewhere.One-off carbon offsetting projects do not deliver real benefits to the atmosphere unless governments undertake much wider efforts to curb deforestation. London Guardian 12 Mar Climate change "quagmire."That it should be left to a politician from a developing country to make that point - while his counterparts in the West push for Rube Goldberg solutions to a "crisis" that may not even exist - goes far toward explaining the state of the climate debate today. Wall Street Journal 11 Mar Climate-change deniers take a lesson from anti-evolution activists.The similarities between the anti-evolution movement and climate change-denial seem to get more numerous by the day. Washington Post 10 Mar Wanted: An eco prophet.People are drifting into a lethal slumber on climate change; more of the same won't wake them up. We need to be taught to believe by a true believer in a world where belief is the fatal, missing ingredient. London Guardian 08 Mar What would our world be like without coal?Even though Congress hasn’t followed through on the promise of bringing the hammer down on fossil fuel industries, many feel the Obama administration is marching in that direction, prompting the question: What would the world be like without coal? Beckley Register-Herald 08 Mar The heat over bubbling Arctic methane.One of the great challenges in assessing the meaning of changes in Arctic climate and other environmental conditions is putting today’s observations in long-term context. New York Times 06 Mar |
Energy: A foot on the gas.Policymakers have faced a trilemma: how to make energy supplies secure, affordable and clean. Now an abundance of gas appears to provide the answer to all three problems at once. However, there are two problems that could prevent gas from being the “long-term energy solution.” London Financial Times 12 Mar PepsiCo tests fertilizer to cut Tropicana CO2 emissions.How green is your orange juice? An effort to size up the carbon footprint of Tropicana found that the single biggest contributor to its carbon footprint wasn't the transport of the juice to stores. It was the fertilizer being used to grow the orange trees. Time Magazine 12 Mar Natural gas: An unconventional glut.A gasified American economy would have profound effects on both international politics and the battle against climate change. Economist 12 Mar China unsure on warming cause, to stick with CO2 cuts.China's top climate negotiator said on Wednesday that the cause of global warming was still not clear but the problems it was creating were so serious that the world must anyway act to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Reuters 12 Mar Arctic ocean methane.New research indicates the Arctic seabed is releasing methane at a rate higher than all the other oceans of the world combined - raising concerns about the pace of global warming. Environment Report 12 Mar Deforestation conference to turn plans to action.French President Nicolas Sarkozy will open a daylong conference Thursday of some 40 nations to start turning plans into action to save the world's forests and help rein in the noxious gases blamed for climate change. Associated Press 11 Mar Water vapour warming.A loss of water vapour in the Earth's upper atmosphere may have slowed the rate of global warming over the past decade, suggests new research. Although the decade 2000–2009 was the warmest on record, average global temperatures leveled off during this period despite a continued rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Nature 11 Mar Clarity on clouds.
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Clouds are one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate models. That's because global climate models cannot explicitly capture cloud formation. However, new research suggests that clouds should be explicitly represented in climate models for more accurate simulations of the climate. Nature 11 Mar China environment worsening, may miss energy goals.China's environment is "still deteriorating", a senior official said Wednesday, as the booming nation burnt record amounts of coal and lagged behind in meeting its energy-saving goals. Agence France-Presse 11 Mar Solar minimum won't slow warming: Study.A dimming of the Sun to match conditions in the 'Little Ice Age' of the 17th century would only slightly slow global warming, according to new research. Reuters 11 Mar Sun won't stop global warming if dims as in 1600s.A dimming of the sun to match conditions in the "Little Ice Age" of the 17th century would only slightly slow global warming, a study indicated on Wednesday. Reuters 11 Mar West worries about Russia turning to coal.European efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions could be undermined by Russian plans to dramatically increase energy production from coal, Western experts said in Brussels yesterday. Euractiv 10 Mar Clean coal? Obama funds research to capture carbon.Can coal really be clean? Environmentalists may be skeptical, but President Obama is moving ahead with efforts to create non-polluting coal. USA Today 10 Mar California to regulate most potent greenhouse gas.Starting in 2011, California will regulate emissions from electric utility equipment of the gas sulfur hexafluoride — commonly called SF6, which has 23,900 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas. New York Times 10 Mar EPA: U.S. saw record decline in greenhouse gas emissions in 2008.High gasoline prices, a slow economy and - ironically enough - a cool summer caused U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to fall nearly 3% in 2008 from 2007 levels, the Environmental Protection Agency reported today. Los Angeles Times 10 Mar Methane from Arctic Ocean.Far more of the greenhouse gas methane is seeping from seabed deposits in the Arctic shelf into the atmosphere than previously thought, a new study shows. Chemical & Engineering News 10 Mar EU 'imports' a third of its carbon emissions.US-based researchers used a global trade database to track goods and services, and assigned emissions to the countries where they were used. Nearly a quarter of China's emissions come from goods exported to the West. BBC 10 Mar When goods get traded, who pays for the CO2?
Steven Davis/Carnegie Inst. for Science
Popularly, China is a villain in climate change. But while China may be leading the world in carbon emissions, that output is in large part due to the fact that it is using energy to make clothes, cars and toys for the rest of us, a new study finds. Time Magazine 09 Mar World’s pall of black carbon can be eased with new stoves.
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With a single, concerted initiative, the world could save millions of people in poor nations from respiratory ailments and early death, while dealing a big blow to global warming - and all at a surprisingly small cost. Yale Environment 360 09 Mar Counting outsourced emissions.
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One of the stickiest points in international climate change negotiations is how to account for CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions produced to make goods that are then sold for export. Should the producing country or the consuming country be held accountable for those emissions? New York Times 09 Mar Gardeners urged to stop using peat-based compost.Yesterday the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced a new target to phase out the use of peat compost in amateur gardens by 2020. Its extraction in the UK not only disturbs rare wildlife but also releases an estimated million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. London Independent 09 Mar Conversation about growth in global energy demand begins with China.China is already the world's largest producer of heavily polluting coal, and the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. But the Asian giant also "could well become the world's largest market for clean energy," said global energy expert Rob Barnett. Fort Worth Star-Telegram 09 Mar Coal-burning power firm turns to trees.Delta Electricity, operator of the Wallerawang power station west of Sydney, has begun planting more than 200,000 Mallee eucalypt trees in a scheme to create carbon-neutral fuel and cut its use of coal by 20 per cent. Australian Associated Press 09 Mar US still responsible for most CO2 emissions.Europeans import nearly twice as much carbon dioxide per head as US citizens – but the US still holds the dubious distinction of being the world's largest emitter. New Scientist 09 Mar UK import emissions are the highest in Europe, figures show.Britain's demand for imported goods is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions abroad than any other European country, according to a new study published today. London Guardian 09 Mar For developing nations, exports boost CO2 emissions.A new study finds that worldwide, about a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions are the result of imported and exported goods and services. All Things Considered 09 Mar Consumption habits cause rich countries to outsource emissions.Over a third of the carbon emissions related to the consumption of goods in wealthy nations actually occur in developing countries, according to a new analysis by researchers with the Carnegie Institution. Mongabay 09 Mar Closing coal plant a numbers game.Members of several conservation groups opposed to coal mining have contributed to a report saying the owners of Navajo Generating Station in Page would be best off financially if they closed the coal plant. Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun 08 Mar |