Climate News and Resources

The business leaders of 150 global companies have today published a communiqué to world leaders calling for a comprehensive, legally binding United Nations framework to tackle climate change.

Fossil fuel combustion and the consequent release of carbon dioxide continues as the dominant cause of increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Each year the United States releases into the atmosphere over 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide, roughly a quarter of global emissions. After years of inaction on this problem, Congress now appears poised to seriously debate legislation designed to reduce greenhouse emissions.

By Keith Crane and James Bartis, courtesy of the Washington Post

An outbreak in Europe of an obscure disease from Africa is raising concerns that globalization and climate change are combining to pose a health threat to the West.

By Maria Cheng of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

A new United Nations report warns that progress toward prosperity in the world’s poorest regions will be reversed unless rich countries promptly begin curbing emissions linked to global warming while also helping poorer ones leapfrog to energy sources that pollute less than coal and oil.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

The controversial process of turning sewage into drinking water is getting a close look in several American cities.

By Randal C. Archibold, courtesy of the New York Times

New Business Models, Technology Tap Into Trend

Thomas M. Rainwater spent 25 years in what people today call the traditional, old-fashioned energy business. An engineer by training, he worked at nuclear and coal-fired power stations, was a marketing executive for a natural gas producer and pipeline, and finally a top strategist for a Canadian power-generation company with a market capitalization of $5.5 billion.

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of the Washington Post

The good news on climate change is that the world wants to do something. It's no longer just the Europeans and a few fellow travelers; a recent survey suggested that 96 percent of South Koreans and 66 percent of Ukrainians regard global warming as an important threat. The latest report from the Nobel-anointed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change got the blanket media coverage it warranted. In the United States, business and congressional leaders have decided action is inevitable.

By Sebastian Mallaby, courtesy of the Washington Post

The latest news from the climate front isn't good.

The Arctic ice cap melted this summer to the greatest extent on record. Scientists say oceans are losing some ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, the chief industrial emission blamed for warming. And the world's power plants, factories, automobiles and jetliners are spewing carbon at a faster rate than anticipated.

By Charles J. Hanley of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Australia's Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd took advice Sunday on how to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and fielded phone calls from world leaders -- starting in on work the day after a sweeping election victory.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

Britain’s largest companies are pledging to offer greener products and invest in research and technology as part of a wider push to reduce carbon emissions.

By Julia Werdigier, courtesy of the New York Times

For many years, the battle over what to think and do about human-caused climate change and fossil fuels has been waged mostly as a yelling match between the political and environmental left and the right.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

According to a study commissioned by the United Nations Foundation, leading industrial nations--the G8 and Plus 5 countries in particular--could avert the most serious climate effects by reducing carbon levels, simply by cutting wasted energy. The report says that the world's most powerful nations need to double their annual rate of improvements in energy efficiency to 2.5 percent per year. If they do that, the report says, the global amount of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalents in the atmosphere could be kept below 550 parts per million (ppm). The report finds that an investment of 3.2 trillion in energy efficiency programs, technologies and upgrades would be needed, but $ 3 trillion in new power plants could be avoided. The difference--the $200 billion--would be made up by reduced energy bills. Energy efficiency improvements would pay for themselves in 3-5 years, meaning businesses and consumers would quickly see lower energy bills.

On November 20, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by industrialized countries have broken new records. In 2005, the total emissions of greenhouse gases by this group "rose to an all-time high," the UNFCCC said. "The increases in emissions came from both the continued growth in highly industrialized countries and the revived economic growth in former East Bloc nations," it said. Transport accounted for the biggest growth in emissions of any sector. By the end of 2005, the United States emitted 16.3 percent more greenhouse gases than in 1990. Australia was 25.6 percent above the 1990 benchmark.

Alarming UN report on climate change too rosy, many say

Some climate experts, including some of the authors of the latest IPCC report, say it may still be too optimistic. "The IPCC is a five-year process and the IPCC is struggling to keep up with the data-we are all being inundated with new evidence and new science," said Hans Verolme, director of the Global Climate Change Program at the World Wildlife Fund.

Developments that affect the IPCC predictions, scientists said, include faster than expected industrial development in China and India. Economic growth has a huge effect because these countries' industries are largely powered by electricity from burning coal, a cheap but highly polluting source of energy. "The IPCC report never imagined the world would move back to a coal- based energy economy--and that's essentially what we've done," said Gernot Klepper an economist who studies climate change at the Kiel Institute in Germany. "If you extrapolate from that we're running into a disaster."

Chicago’s effort to redo its alleys with sustainable road-building materials is one of the most ambitious public street makeover plans in the country.

By Susan Saulny, courtesy of the New York Times

When the Chinese government announced a campaign to cut energy use two years ago, some local officials got to work: not to comply, but to devise schemes to evade the requirements.

By Howard W. French, courtesy of the New York Times

A California decision on fuel-economy standards for vehicles should help persuade Congress that the time for denial on global warming is long past.

A New York Times Editorial

In releasing a report on climate change, the U.N. secretary general called on the U.S. and China to play "a more constructive role."

By Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

A meeting of the heads of state of the OPEC countries ended on a political note, with two leaders blaming the weakness of the U.S. dollar for high oil prices.

By Jad Muawad, courtesy of the New York Times

Two proposed zero-carbon energy projects are exposing the hard place that communities like Fort Collins, Colo., are likely to confront in years to come.

By Kirk Johnson, courtesy of the New York Times

In its final and most powerful report, an international panel details mounting risks in specific and forceful language, scientists said.

By Elizabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

Three Western governors will appear in a nationwide television advertising campaign trying to generate public and political support for climate change legislation.

By John M. Broder, courtesy of the New York Times

Five Connecticut environmental groups recently called on the state to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050. They promise a proposal in time for the next legislative session that would, if passed, impose mandatory caps on fossil fuel emissions to combat global warming.

An editorial, courtesy of the New York Times

Just a few steps behind green tech, green chemistry is the latest movement that's both a source of technology innovation and a rallying cry for environmentalists.

By Martin LaMonica, for News.com, courtesy of the New York Times

he U.N.'s top climate official warned policymakers and scientists trying to hammer out a landmark report on climate change that ignoring the urgency of global warming would be "criminally irresponsible."

By Arthur Max of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Mitch Mandich proudly showed off his baby, a 150-foot contraption of tanks, valves, hoppers, augers and fans. It hissed. It gurgled. An incongruous smell wafted through the air, the scent of turpentine.

By Matthew L. Wald, courtesy of the New York Times

For many years, the battle over what to think and do about human-caused climate change and fossil fuels has been waged mostly as a yelling match between the political and environmental left and the right.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

A proposal in Congress to put a price tag on greenhouse-gas emissions could overturn the economics of energy.

By Matthew L. Wald, courtesy of the New York Times

The prospect of triple-digit oil prices has redrawn the economic and political map of the world.

By Mark Lander, courtesy of the New York Times

U.S. states such as California and New York joined forces with New Zealand, Norway and a slew of European countries and Canadian provinces to form the International Carbon Action Partnership to battle climate change.

From GreenBiz.com

The Energy Department has fallen behind on its plans to consolidate storage of nuclear bomb fuel and other high-risk materials, according to a government report.

By Matthew Wald, courtesy of the New York Times

People around the world – including in the United States – are willing to make personal sacrifices – for example, paying more for energy -- to help address global warming, according to two recent polls. In the U.S., three of four respondents now consider climate change an important issue in the presidential election race.

For more information, go to these links:
Yale University/Gallup Poll: http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/07-10-01-03.all.html
Program on International Policy Attitudes: http://www.WorldPublicOpinion.org

A summit convened by the U.S. Conference of Mayors presented two main themes: the federal government must do more to fight global warming; and in the meantime, cities must take up the slack.

By William Yardley, courtesy of the New York Times

On October 25, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said the international community must respond more quickly to climate change, species extinction, dwindling supplies of fresh water and other threats to the Earth. Prepared by 390 experts over five years, the UN says the study is its most comprehensive ever on the environment. It comes 20 years after a commission headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland published "Our Common Future," a landmark report calling for sustainable development.

From Frank Griffith of the AP

On October 22, the InterAcademy Council, whose 15 members include the national science academies of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Brazil, China and India, published a report finding that energy poses one of the greatest threats facing humanity this century and highlighting the peril of oil wars and climate change driven by dependence on fossil fuels.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

On October 31, top faith leaders from the US Catholic Conference of Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, and the Union of Reform Judaism emphasized the need for US funding of adaptation efforts in the world's poorest countries, which emit relatively little carbon dioxide but may be hardest hit by global warming because of their locale and lack of infrastructure and money.

By Josef Hebert of the AP, courtesy SeattlePI.com

One hundred of the nation's mayors convened November 1-2 in Seattle to participate in the 2007 Mayors Climate Protection Summit.

From the AP, courtesy of The Environmental and Energy Study Institute

California wildfires released nearly 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere in a week, the equivalent of about 25 percent of the average monthly emissions from all fossil fuel burning throughout California.

From Reuters, Courtesy of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute

Xcel Energy is shelving for at least two years a decision on building a widely hailed clean-coal power plant that would have been the first in the nation to capture its carbon emissions and inject them underground.

By Steve Raabe, courtesy of The Denver Post

A coalition of religious leaders urged Congress on Wednesday to ensure that the poor and most vulnerable are protected from the effects of climate change.

By H. Josef Hebert, courtesy of the Washington Post

FOR many customers in the Whole Foods Market on the Lower East Side last Friday night, just spotting the word "organic" on recycled packaging would have been reason enough to grab a bottle of moisturizer. But not Erin Schrode, 16, a founder of Teens for Safe Cosmetics, a nonprofit in Marin County, Calif. She was there to play host to a rally-cum-marketing-event she had organized with her mother, Judi Shils, the group’s executive director.

By Virginia Sole-Smith, courtesy of the New York Times

Global warming’s foes rarely cite ski resorts and golf courses among its victims.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times