Environment and Climate

NASA Finds Thickest Parts Of Arctic Ice Cap Melting Faster

2012-03-02T08:41:00.001-08:00

GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new NASA study revealed that the oldest and thickest Arctic sea ice is disappearing at a faster rate than the younger and thinner ice at the edges of the Arctic Ocean's floating ice cap.The thicker ice, known as multi-year ice, survives through the cyclical summer melt season, when young ice that has formed over winter just as quickly

House Vote Today on San Joaquin Valley Water Bill Sets Bad Precedent

2012-03-02T08:14:00.003-08:00

California Congressman's Bill Would Preempt State's Water Laws, Groups Says(Washington, DC - Feb. 29, 2012) The House of Representatives' scheduled vote today on California Congressman Devin Nunes' "San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act" (H.R. 1837) would set a bad legal precedent of Congress preempting state water laws, according to Environmental Defense Fund. The White House issued a

NASA Finds Sea Ice Decline (a.k.a. global warming) Driving Rise in Arctic Air Pollutants

2012-03-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Drastic reductions in Arctic sea ice in the last decade may be intensifying the chemical release of bromine into the atmosphere, resulting in ground-level ozone depletion and the deposit of toxic mercury in the Arctic, according to a new NASA-led study.The connection between changes in the Arctic Ocean's ice cover and bromine chemical

Restore Hetch Hetchy Announces Ballot Initiative seeking sustainable water use

2012-03-02T08:07:00.003-08:00

San Francisco proposition calls for water reform planSAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Yosemite Restoration Campaign (YRC), sponsored by Restore Hetch Hetchy (RHH), today files papers with the San Francisco Department of Elections, beginning the process of qualifying an initiative for the November 2012 San Francisco ballot. The initiative requires the city to develop a

Capitalism, Energy, and Climate Change (Occupy Boston FSU)

2011-12-10T19:06:00.001-08:00

Climate change is one of the most dangerous effects of corporate greed. Huge profits result from the ever-growing use of coal, oil, and natural gas, supported by a business-environment. Yet if current trends are allowed to continue, global warming will cause rising temperatures and sea levels, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events, undermining the environment that our lives

Amy Goodman on Up w/Chris Hayes Discusses Climate Change

2011-12-10T18:51:00.001-08:00

democracy now's amy goodman dicusses global warming with chris hayes, from the convention on climate change in durban, south africa. http://www.democracynow.org/

What happened to the urgency about Climate Change? No interest of Politicians and Media?!

2011-12-10T18:30:00.001-08:00

As countries negotiate a climate change treaty in Durban, South Africa, North American media and politicans appear to have little interest in the problem.

Newt Gingrich was pro-Climate-Change in 2007

2011-12-10T18:21:00.001-08:00

Newt Gingrich, at a 2007 forum with Senator John Kerry, talks about the need for ugency in addressing global climate change.

Alstom at COP17: Highlighting the role of business in the climate change challenge

2011-12-10T18:13:00.001-08:00

Alstom highlights the role of business in addressing the climate change challenge at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in Durban from November 28 to December 9, 2011.

The European Climate Foundation's principles for systemic change

2011-12-10T17:40:00.001-08:00

The necessary principles for systemic change and action on climate change according to Johannes Meier, CEO of the European Climate Foundation, who was speaking at the Carbon Disclosure Project's 2011 Global Forum. To view event highlights, or the CDP Global Forum in its entirety, please visit www.cdproject.net

Rich Polluters — Including U.S. — Should Face Sanctions for Rejecting Binding Emissions Cuts

2011-12-10T17:03:00.001-08:00

Talks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference are in their second to last day, but little progress appears to have been made on the key issues of extending the Kyoto Protocol or forming a Green Climate Fund. The United States is refusing to accept any deal involving binding emissions cuts before the year 2020 despite dire warnings that the world can't afford to wait. Democracy Now!

Pres Obama is the best friend of climate change deniers, delaying effective climate change policies

2011-12-10T17:00:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday, a group of climate change deniers praised the Obama administration's refusal to support an extension of the Kyoto Protocol or an agreement on binding emissions cuts. Democracy Now! caught up to Marc Morano, publisher of the Climate Depot, at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa. "They [the Obama administration] have kept the exact same principles and

Oxfam on Climate Change politics at COP17

2011-12-10T16:43:00.001-08:00

OxfamUK takes a look at the policy work that goes into tackling climate change at UN Summits. In 2011 Oxfam was at COP17 in Durban and they want to show you the politics, the thinking and how to get out ideas out there from inside the conference centre.

From the youth of the world to the rest of us - SOLVE CLIMATE CHANGE NOW

2011-12-10T16:05:00.001-08:00

We have five years MAXIMUM to avoid irreversable climate change. But the climate change conference currently underway in South Africa is trying to be "reasonable" or "politically possible" with a goal of 10 years to make serious change. The climate change conference is about to fail (or has already failed) to make a proper agreement, and the Kyoto Protocol (as flawed as it is) is about to

Clean Earth, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Kleen Soil in Moore Haven, Florida

2011-11-14T13:35:00.001-08:00

This strikes me as one of those "it's cool that someone is doing this, sad that it has to be done, and troublesome to think of soil being treated as a product that gets recycled". The announcement below concerns a merger between two companies that recycle soil. Yes. Recycle. Soil. Two words I hadn't thought to put together as a phrase, but there it is. What Clean Earth says about themselves

Arctic Sea Ice Continues Decline, Hits Second-Lowest Level

2011-10-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Last month the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record. Satellite data from NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder showed that the summertime sea ice cover narrowly avoided a new record low. The Arctic ice cap grows each

Copenhagen Update: European Countries Agree to Construct Offshore Wind Supergrid | Sustainability | Fast Company

2011-09-16T00:11:00.027-07:00

Nine European countries--Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Ireland--signed the "North Seas' Countries Offshore Grid Initiative," a plan to create an offshore wind power supergrid in the North and North West seas. The plan means interconnection between the power grids in Europe allowing for electricity sales. In this case it's wind power in Ireland being

Codexis Aims to Bridge Biotech and Carbon Capture

2011-09-16T00:11:00.026-07:00

Codexis, a Redwood City, Calif.-based startup with oil giants Shell and Chevron among its backers, is in the business of so-called evolved biocatalysts: It takes a natural microbe or enzyme and tweaks the DNA sequences to create new variants, then searches for the variants best suited to development of new, potentially cheaper drugs (Pfizer used Codexis enzymes to produce Lipitor) and non-ethanol

U.S. Energy Secretary Announces $350M for Clean Energy Tech in Developing World

2011-09-16T00:11:00.025-07:00

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced an international agreement that will see developed nations give $350 million to developing nations. The Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (REDI), plan will fund technology in the developing world, including solar lanterns, standards and labels for energy efficient appliances, and online clean energy communication tools. Huh? Is this

The Energy Collective | NATURE: Sea level rise may exceed worst expectations

2011-09-16T00:11:00.024-07:00

A brand new paper released in Nature suggests that the polar ice sheets are more vulnerable to global warming than previously feared. 2 degrees Celsius of global warming could commit us to 6-9 meters (20-30 feet) of long-term sea level rise. The study is based an extensive database of geological indicators for the last interglacial period, roughly 125,000 years ago, when polar temperatures were

What the Frack? Poisoning our Water in the Name of Energy Profits | Water | AlterNet

2011-09-16T00:11:00.023-07:00

One of the promising sources of natural gas is shale formations. There has been many articles recently claiming our energy problems are solved by shale gas. However this Alternet article points out that shale gas extraction involves piping water into the shale formation. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique that releases natural gas trapped in underground shale formations by

Op-Ed Contributor - We Have a Real Emergency - NYTimes.com

2011-09-16T00:11:00.022-07:00

"As the climate change summit meeting moves forward in Copenhagen, it is increasingly clear that more than just the environment is at stake. The global environmental crisis is at the heart of practically all the problems now confronting us, including the need to create a global economic model grounded in the public good. It is directly linked to security issues and to increasingly dangerous

Faces of Climate Change: Women on the Front Lines - MORE Magazine

2011-09-16T00:11:00.021-07:00

Imagine having to walk six hours for a drink of water. Or being surrounded by so much rising water your ancestral homeland is sinking before your eyes. Or that the ice that has literally supported your community for untold generations is cracked, splitting and swallowing your loved ones, along with their way of life. Original Author: reikiman

Princeton University - Study: Earth's polar ice sheets vulnerable to even moderate global warming

2011-09-16T00:11:00.020-07:00

A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approach that reveals the planet's polar ice sheets are vulnerable to large-scale melting even under moderate global warming scenarios. Such melting would lead to a large and relatively rapid rise in global sea level. According to the analysis, an additional 2

Copenhagen climate summit: Gordon Brown says 'future of humanity' at stake - Telegraph

2011-09-16T00:11:00.019-07:00

Arriving in Copenhagen, Mr Brown said: "Over the next three days the leaders of almost every nation on earth will gather in Copenhagen. Their role; their opportunity; their responsibility: to shape the future of humanity. It is a defining moment." To win around developing nations who are resisting limits on their carbon emissions, Mr Brown could back a deal for rich countries to give more money.