Top Stories
Pace of climate change exceeds estimates.
The pace of global warming is likely to be much faster than recent predictions, because industrial greenhouse gas emissions have increased more quickly than expected and higher temperatures are triggering self-reinforcing feedback mechanisms in global ecosystems.
Washington Post.
15 February 2009
Is America ready to quit coal?
With concerns over climate change intensifying, electricity generation from coal, once reliably cheap, looks increasingly expensive.
New York Times.
15 February 2009
Coal at centre of fierce new climate battle.
The debate over the impact of fossil fuels has been reignited by the imminent approval of a power plant at Kingsnorth, Kent. Could advances in technology provide ways of capturing dangerous emissions and make coal safer?
London Observer.
15 February 2009
The end of certainty.
As Australia reels from the toll in the bushfires, climate scientists are trying to carefully assess what lessons can be learnt from the unprecedented heatwave of 2009 and the deadly fires that accompanied it. All signs point to the climate becoming more extreme.
Sydney Morning Herald.
14 February 2009
A new gang comes to Los Angeles: Solar-panel installers.
In the race to train America's "green-collar" work force, a group composed mostly of former Los Angeles gang members on parole is an early participant.
Wall Street Journal.
14 February 2009
Blooms away: The real price of flowers.
Sending the roughly 100 million roses of a typical Valentine's Day produces some 9,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from field to U.S. florist.
Scientific American.
14 February 2009
Bleak forecast on fishery stocks.
The world's fish stocks will soon suffer major upheaval due to climate change, scientists have warned. Marine biologists used computer models to forecast the future of 1,066 commercially important species from across the globe.
BBC.
13 February 2009
Penguins in peril as food search turns into marathon.
Penguins from the largest colony on mainland South America are being forced to swim the equivalent of two marathons farther to find food because of the effects of climate change.
London Times.
13 February 2009
Govt to allow peatland plantations.
The Agriculture Ministry will issue a decree to allow businesses to dig up the country's millions of hectares of peatland for oil palm plantations, a move that many say will further damage the country's environment and release huge amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Jakarta Post.
13 February 2009
Google's power play.
Just as it imposed order on an unruly Web, Google is hoping to make sense of an always-on electricity grid. The company is investing tens of millions of dollars to reorganize America’s antiquated energy infrastructure in the image of the internet: decentralized, distributed, disembodied.
Conde Nast Portfolio.
12 February 2009
Big science role is seen in global warming cure.
Steven Chu said Wednesday that solving the world’s energy and environment problems would require Nobel-level breakthroughs in three areas: electric batteries, solar power and the development of new crops that can be turned into fuel.
New York Times.
12 February 2009
Oil industry ready to work on global warming.
Confronted with a sharp change of priorities in Washington, international oil executives are expressing an eagerness to work with President Obama to fashion new policies to tackle global warming.
New York Times.
12 February 2009
World Bank's carbon finance program no tilting at windmills.
The presence of the wind farm resonates beyond its placid realm, creating an even bigger story: The emergence of the Philippine carbon market that may yet revolutionize renewable energy financing in the country.
BusinessMirror.
11 February 2009
U.S. prepares to broach hard issues with China.
The Obama administration plans to realign the United States’ relationship with China by putting more emphasis on climate change, energy and human rights--widening the focus beyond the economic concerns of the Bush years.
New York Times.
11 February 2009
Less water, more heat forecast for state.
More people dying from heat stress. Less drinking water. A quadrupling of the acreage burned statewide in wildfires. Those are a few of the effects projected in the first comprehensive look at how climate change is likely to affect Washington state by the end of the century.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
11 February 2009
'Smart cities' mean rivalry in power, construction.
The idea of energy self-sufficient cities is gaining currency in the European Union, which has set itself the ambitious task of cutting carbon dioxide emissions to a fifth below 1990 levels by 2020 -- the biggest cuts anywhere in the world.
Reuters.
10 February 2009
Australia fires point to risks of shifting population.
The wildfires that have so far claimed more than 170 lives in Australia highlight the vulnerabilities in countries where populations are spilling into rural areas already under stress from sometimes extreme weather conditions.
Wall Street Journal.
10 February 2009
Carolina wren, others nudged north.
The Carolina wren — the state bird of South Carolina — has turned into a Yankee. It’s among more than half of 305 bird species in North America that are spending the winter about 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago, according to an Audubon Society study to be released today.
Associated Press.
10 February 2009
Fires, floods pressure Australia on climate.
Australia's deadliest bushfires, and devastating floods in the nation's tropical north, will increase pressure on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to take firmer action on climate change, environmentalists said on Monday.
Reuters.
09 February 2009
Climate change takes a mental toll.
There is evidence that extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, cyclones, and hurricanes, can lead to emotional distress, which can trigger such things as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, in which the body's fear and arousal system kicks into overdrive.
Boston Globe.
09 February 2009
