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Wed, 29 Feb 12
More Americans believe in climate change: poll
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hXv72I7nx7ZTg_QuI3Ix1c3i3uXw?docId=CNG.dca855da9e6c393c07dda475a1590504.e41
Agence France-Presse: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that climate change is real -- the highest level in two years -- as the public trusted its own observations of rising temperatures, a poll said Tuesday. The growing acceptance of global warming comes despite fierce political division over the issue in the world's largest economy, with proposals to mandate cuts on carbon emissions failing in Congress. Sixty-two percent of Americans agree that there is solid evidence that the Earth's average temperature...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Expect severe climate change, German envoy tells Nigerian farmers
http://allafrica.com/stories/201202280338.html
Vanguard: German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs. Dorothee Janetzke-Wenzel, has declared that Nigeria will be affected by severe climate change than many other countries in Europe. Dorothee said this, yesterday, at a workshop on legal and regulatory frameworks for agricultural insurance reform in Nigeria for protecting Nigerian farmers from climate change in Abuja. She noted that the workshop was organised to find ways to ameliorate the impact of climate change in the country. Dorothee stressed further that...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
A first glimpse inside Fukushima
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17192215
BBC: For almost a year, it had been the focus of the fears of the Japanese people. Now the Fukushima Daiichi plant was right up ahead, glimpsed between the pine trees that surround it through the windscreen of our bus. We were being driven right to the plant, the first group of foreign journalists allowed in since the nuclear crisis began. The journey had begun as it does for the 3,000 men who work there each day - those who do not sleep at the plant itself. At J-Village - once Japan's national...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Japan's nuclear disaster: a long half-life
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/28/japan-nuclear-disaster-fukushima-editorial
Guardian: As the people of Pripyat, a once bustling Soviet city built for the workers of Chernobyl, will tell you, evacuation from a nuclear disaster is a one-way ticket. Nearly 26 years later, time is frozen. The hammer-and-sickles still hang from the lamp-posts as they did on the day the town's residents were told to get on the buses. A similar fate awaits many of the 80,000 evacuated a year ago from Fukushima. The Japanese government is raising hopes of an early return to the evacuation zone, and there...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Poll: US belief in warming rises with thermometer
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46562046
Associated Press: Americans' belief in global warming is on the rise, along with temperatures and surprising weather changes, according to a new university poll. The survey by the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College says 62 percent of those asked last December think the Earth is getting warmer. That's up from 55 percent in the spring of that year and 58 percent in December 2010. It's the highest proportion in two years. Nearly half the people who say they believe in global warming base that on personal...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
EPA Greenhouse Gas Limits Scrutinized by Federal Judges in Two-Day Hearing
http://webfarm.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-28/epa-greenhouse-gas-limits-face-appeals-court-challenge-over-public-danger.html
Bloomberg: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyâ€™s limits on vehicle and industrial emissions of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide are being scrutinized by U.S. judges as a two-day court hearing began in Washington. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals is considering challenges to the agencyâ€™s finding that greenhouse gases are pollutants that endanger human health, and to rules determining when states and industries must comply with regulations curtailing their use. Companies...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Michael Mann's counterstrike in the climate wars
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2012/02/mann-climate.html
LA Times: Climate change may have dropped off the national political agenda, but unfortunately that doesn't mean the problem has gone away. As of January, the Earth's atmosphere contained 393 parts per million of carbon dioxide. And rising. To understand why that's a very sad number, it helps to know that from the dawn of human civilization until the 19th century, the concentration was about 275 parts per million, and that many scientists believe 350 parts per million is a sort of tipping point: Irreversible...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Heartland associate taught 'biased' climate course at Ottawa university
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/28/heartland-associate-climate-scepticism-ottawa-university
Guardian: An associate of the Heartland Institute, the thinktank devoted to discrediting climate change, taught a course at a top Canadian university that contained more than 140 false, biased and misleading claims about climate science, an expert audit has found. The course at Ottawa's Carleton University, which is being accused of bias, was taught for four terms from 2009-2011 by Tom Harris, a featured expert at the Heartland Institute. Heartland's core mission is to discredit climate change, and it...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Possible embezzlement halts WWF-run REDD project in Tanzania
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0228-hance_corruption_redd.html
Mongabay: Two conservation and community projects in Tanzania have been halted after the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) reported possible corruption. WWF is running the projects with funds from the Norwegian government. One of the projects is a pilot REDD project, a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in tropical, developing countries. "We have had an issue with fraud in two programs in Tanzania and when we had a basis for acting, there was a firm response....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
New research links crop disease and climate change
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-links-crop-disease-climate.html
Physorg: "Currently, there is considerable debate about climate change adaptation and mitigation in relation to controlling crop disease, while also maintaining sufficient food production," said Professor Fitt, a leading authority on plant pathology. "Government policy and the agricultural industry need to prepare for the impacts of climate change particularly where food production is likely to be adversely affected. Strategies for adaptation to climate change are needed to maintain good disease control and...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Santorum is at odds with his own church on environmental issues
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/28/v-fullstory/2665088/santorum-is-at-odds-with-his-own.html
LA Times: It has long been a maxim that mixing religion and politics can spell trouble. So when Rick Santorum told a partisan crowd in Columbus, Ohio, recently that President Obama's worldview was based on a "phony theology" that drives "radical environmentalists," he must have known his comments would reverberate far beyond his conservative political base. Santorum was speaking of efforts to forestall the worst effects of climate change through controls on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Natural Gas Our New Savior? Not So Fast . .
http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/natural-gas-our-new-savoir-not-so-fast?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%253A+climatecentral%252FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: Remember how ethanol was going to save us? It was the perfect solution to not one, but two different problems. The first was energy security: since it's a type of alcohol distilled from home-grown corn, ethanol would replace the gasoline made from oil imported from Bad People in places like Iran. The second was climate change. Ethanol emits heat-trapping CO2 like gasoline does, but the corn sucks in CO2 while it's growing, so it's mostly a wash. That was the sales pitch, anyway, and for a while,...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Canadian firm to proceed with southern leg of Keystone pipeline
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-keystone-20120228,0,2584770.story
LA Times: The Keystone XL battle isn't over. The Canadian company behind the controversial pipeline announced Monday that it would proceed immediately with a shorter version of the project south of Oklahoma - even as it seeks a new permit for the segment through the northern U.S. Opponents immediately vowed to fight on both fronts. "TransCanada is hell-bent on bringing tar sands, the world's dirtiest oil, through America to reach foreign markets. They can't wait for a fair, scientific environmental review...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Determining the environmental impact of a product is a complex process
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/determining-the-environmental-impact-of-a-product-is-a-complex-process/2012/02/07/gIQA0APSeR_story.html
Washington Post: As concerns over climate change and resource depletion grow, comparing the environmental impact of various products has become something of a pastime: Paper towels or hot-air hand dryers? Paper or plastic grocery bags? Plane, train or automobile? Environmental scientists can give pretty good answers to those questions using a technique known as life-cycle analysis, or LCA, which is an attempt to quantify a product's effects on the planet, from greenhouse gas emissions to acid rain. Companies order...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Obama angers green businesses with support for Keystone Plan B
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2155616/obama-angers-green-businesses-support-keystone-plan-b?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Obama+angers+green+businesses+with+support+for+Keystone+Plan+B
Business Green: President Barack Obama has angered green businesses and NGOs by throwing his weight behind a new plan that could see work start on the controversial KeystoneXL tar sands oil pipeline in the next few months, crushing hopes that the administration would permanently block the project. Pipeline developer TransCanada announced yesterday it will start construction of the southern section of the pipeline, running from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur, Texas. It will also reapply for permission to construct...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
A Climate Warrior Puts it All On the Line â€” Including His Life
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2107747,00.html?iid=tsmodule
Time: The climate war -- the public opinion battle between skeptics of man-made global warming and those who believe in the scientific consensus -- escalated to a new level of ferocity this past month. First a series of memos allegedly from the Heartland Institute -- a libertarian think tank that has long supported climate skepticism -- surfaced on the Internet, detailing the group's previously anonymous corporate funding and outlining its plan to fight action on global warming. Then came the news last...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
A climate window in the Southern Ocean
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-climate-window-southern-ocean.html
Physorg: But what goes down must come back up, and it's been a mystery where, and how, deep waters circulate back to the surface. Filling in this missing piece of the circulation, and developing theories and models that capture it, may help researchers understand and predict the ocean's role in climate and climate change. Recently, scientists have found evidence that the missing piece may lie in the Southern Ocean -- the vast ribbon of water encircling Antarctica. The Southern Ocean, according to observations...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Cassava 'best for climate change'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17190622
BBC: The cassava plant could help African farmers cope with climate change, a scientific report says. "It's like the Rambo of the food crops," report author Andy Jarvis, of the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture, said. He told the BBC: "Whilst other staples can suffer from heat and other problems of climate change, cassava thrives." The root crop is already one of the most widely consumed staple foods on the continent. But the report also stresses the need for more...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Reduction In Carbon Emissions Attributed To Cheaper Natural Gas
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112482709/reduction-in-carbon-emissions-attributed-to-cheaper-natural-gas/
redOrbit: Lower emission from power plants in 2009 was driven by competitive pricing of natural gas versus coal In 2009, when the United States fell into economic recession, greenhouse gas emissions also fell, by 6.59 percent relative to 2008. In the power sector, however, the recession was not the main cause. Researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have shown that the primary explanation for the reduction in CO2 emissions from power generation that year was that...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Respected voice of climate change has his own meltdown
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120227/A_OPINION0619/202270302/-1/NEWSMAP
San Francisco Chronicle: Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and a prominent climate change expert, admitted recently that he lied. He pretended to be someone else to obtain documents from the Heartland Institute, which has challenged mainstream scientific consensus on the role of man in climate change. Earlier this month, Gleick was the chairman of the American Geophysical Union's Task Force on Scientific Ethics. Now he isn't. As New York Times blogger Andrew C. Revkin weighed in, "Gleick has admitted to...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
EU vote expected to back plan to prop up carbon price
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2155565/eu-vote-expected-plan-prop-carbon-price?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=EU+vote+expected+to+back+plan+to+prop+up+carbon+price
Business Green: EU parliamentarians are today expected to back action to stimulate carbon prices in the bloc's emissions trading scheme (ETS) as part of a wider vote on energy efficiency. With prices of EU Allowances (EUAs) hitting record lows over the past few months, politicians are considering proposals to set aside a number of emissions permits due to be sold from 2013 in a bid to reduce an estimated surplus of a billion allowances in the carbon market. The impact of the world-wide recession left carbon...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
EU politicians approve plan to withhold carbon permits
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2155588/breaking-eu-politicians-approve-plan-withhold-carbon-permits?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Breaking%3A+EU+politicians+approve+plan+to+withhold+carbon+permits
Business Green: A European Parliamentary committee has voted through proposals to support fragile carbon prices by setting aside a number of permits in the next phase of the EU's emissions trading scheme. As expected, the committee backed an amendment to the Energy Efficiency Directive that would let the Commission take measures that "may include withholding of the necessary amount of allowances" from the 2013-2020 phase of the EU market. The move is designed to reduce a surplus of allowances in the carbon...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Scotland's spectacular scenery 'being wrecked by windfarm vultures'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/28/windfarm-opposition-scotland
Guardian: Scotland's spectacular mountain scenery is being wrecked by "windfarm vultures" making millions on the back of government subsidies, an environmental group says. The warning follows a decision by the Scottish government to approve a 59-turbine windfarm on the Glenfiddich estate on Speyside, south of Dufftown. The estate is owned by Christopher Moran, a multi-millionaire London financier whose insurance and property business is said to be worth more than Â£200m. Critics allege that he is now...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Indonesia: Mesuji Violence Should Be a Warning: Indonesian NGO
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/mesuji-violence-should-be-a-warning-indonesian-ngo/501073?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jgnewsletter
Jakarta Globe: The police heightened security in the conflict-riven district of Mesuji in Lampung on Monday following weekend violence against a plantation company that activists say should be taken as a sign of things to come. Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution, a spokesman for the National Police, said hundreds of local officers and Mobile Brigade (Brimob) members had been dispatched to secure the plantation. He said offices, employeesâ€™ dormitories, a warehouse and a security post of plantation company Barat...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Wind turbines bring in 'risk-free' millions for rich landowners
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/28/windfarms-risk-free-millions-for-landowners
Guardian: The boom in onshore wind power, likened to a "new industrial revolution", is being dominated by a small number of private landowners who will share around Â£1bn in rental fees over the next eight years. Rental payments vary and are secret but, say property agents speaking in confidence to the Guardian, landowners can now expect Â£40,000 a year "risk-free" for each large turbine erected on their land. Those set to benefit include senior members of the royal family and the Forestry Commission in Wales...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Who is in charge of Britain's energy policy?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/28/britain-energy-politics
Guardian: The battle over how the UK should meet its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 is at its most feverish in the energy sector. Lobbying by energy companies to channel government policy towards serving their best interests is intense. This would not be a problem if ministers and civil servants wielded their power to base policy on evidence rather than influence, but Britain has moved well past this point. There is genuine uncertainty about who is in control of the overall energy...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rebound 3.3 percent
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/28/us-carbon-us-idUSTRE81R0E920120228?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Higher energy consumption and warmer weather drove up total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 3.3 percent to 6.866 billion tonnes between 2009 and 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in its latest emissions inventory report released Monday. After declining in both 2008 and 2009, greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel consumption rose 3.6 percent in 2010, according to the report. "This trend is attributed to an increase in energy consumption across all economic sectors, due to...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
EU politicians poised to back carbon, energy action
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/28/us-eu-efficiency-carbon-idUSTRE81R0FE20120228?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: European Union politicians are expected on Tuesday to back action to prop up the collapsed carbon market, as part of a wider debate on energy saving, putting pressure on the EU executive to tackle a huge surplus of pollution permits. Anticipation of a positive vote in the European Parliament has helped to drive up EU carbon allowances from a low of less than 7 euros in December to above 9 euros. Supporters of market intervention span the political divide and include industry as well as the...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Australia releases rules for $9.2 bln CO2 price support
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/28/australia-carbon-idUSL4E8DS28M20120228
Reuters: The Australian government on Tuesday released rules governing$8.6 billion ($9.2 billion) in free carbon permits to polluting industries, a key part of a package of sweeteners needed to win support for a nationwide price on carbon emissions from July. The carbon-pricing programme, only the second of its type outside Europe, has proved deeply divisive in Australia, with miners, manufacturers and the energy sector saying it will hurt earnings and cost jobs. To win over industry, the government...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
EU Industry Emissions Rise Slightly In 2011: Analysts
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/64806
Reuters: European Union industrial carbon emissions rose by up to 2.4 percent last year, analysts surveyed by Reuters estimated, below the market cap and keeping the 27-nation bloc on track to meet its 2020 climate target. The EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) limits the emissions of over 12,000 installations, including power plants and factories, and covers over 40 percent of the 27-nation bloc's total emissions. The EU Commission publishes emissions data for the scheme in April each year, which...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Prince Charles to get funding from 'blot on the landscape' windfarms
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/28/prince-charles-windfarm-funding
Guardian: Prince Charles is set to benefit from the erection of onshore windfarms in England and Wales despite once declaring them a "horrendous blot on the landscape". Under a change in funding arrangements for the royal household due to come into effect next year, the upkeep of his London home, Clarence House, and the costs of his official trips on private charter jets and the royal train will be funded through income from the crown estate, which leases out land for the largest onshore windfarm in the...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Climate-change deniers cannot change the facts
http://blogs.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/opinion/open-letters/33200-climate-change-deniers-cannot-change-the-facts?cmpid=bcpanel6
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: In his Feb. 26 column ("The Great 'Warmist' Caper"), Jack Kelly maligned my scientific work and repeated other discredited climate change myths from fossil fuel groups and the ideologues they fund. Back in 2005, after an oil-funded politician had attacked my co-authors and me, Rep. Sherry Boehlert, R-N.Y., asked the National Academy of Sciences to review studies like mine that examined the Earth's past temperature. Despite Mr. Kelly's false claim to the contrary, the NAS reaffirmed our original...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
EU politicians back proposal to withhold EU carbon permits
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/28/us-eu-carbon-idUSTRE81R0L320120228?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A senior European Union parliamentary committee backed a proposal on Tuesday to allow the EU Commission to cut the supply of carbon permits in the bloc's emissions trading scheme in a bid to prop up low prices. The industry committee of the EU Parliament passed an amendment to the Energy Efficiency Directive that would let the Commission take measures that "may include withholding of the necessary amount of allowances" from the 2013-2020 phase of the EU market. Before becoming law the bill...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Japan: BBC goes inside Fukushima plant
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17188373
BBC: International journalists have been allowed inside Japan's Fukushima plant for the first time since the tsunami that devastated the nuclear plant last year. Blasts occurred at four of the six reactors, after key cooling systems were knocked out. The BBC's Roland Buerk is one of those who have been allowed access.

Wed, 29 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Campaign calls for link between Â£4bn carbon tax and Green Deal
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2155419/campaign-calls-link-gbp4bn-carbon-tax-green-deal?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Campaign+calls+for+link+between+%C2%A34bn+carbon+tax+and+Green+Deal
Business Green: Using the expected Â£4bn a year in revenues that will be raised from carbon taxes to fund energy efficiency retrofits would create 200,000 jobs and quadruple projected carbon emission cuts. That is a conclucion of a major study released to coincide with the launch of a new campaign, dubbed the Energy Bill Revolution, which is calling on the government to link green taxes to low carbon investment programmes. The report warns that without a significant injection of additional financial support,...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Report: 1950s lighting technology costing UK industry Â£1.4bn a year
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2155327/report-1950s-lighting-technology-costing-uk-industry-gbp14bn?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Report%3A+1950s+lighting+technology+costing+UK+industry+%C2%A31.4bn+a+year
Business Green: UK industrial and manufacturing firms could save themselves up to Â£1.4bn a year by switching to new lighting technologies, according to a major new study undertaken by one of the UK's leading energy efficient lighting firms. The report from Vita Energia, a start-up that specialises in new light fittings and retrofit projects that promise to slash energy use, is based on on-site surveys of more than 500 companies, each employing over 100 people. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report makes the case...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Keystone breakthrough may muffle Republican attack on Obama
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/28/us-usa-politics-keystone-idUSTRE81R03C20120228?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A Canadian company's decision on Monday to proceed with part of a U.S. pipeline might end up muffling one of the Republicans' loudest arguments in this election year: that President Barack Obama has pursued failed energy policies. TransCanada Corp announced it intended to begin work on the southern leg of the $7 billion Keystone XL project, from Oklahoma to Texas, leaving for later another run at the more controversial, and complicated, northern segment. For months, Republicans have hammered...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Much to savor, and worry about, amid mild winterâ€™s early blooms
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/nyregion/amid-winter-blooms-wondering-what-that-means-for-spring.html
New York Times: At the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, an experimental plot was in full flower on a recent February afternoon, as the thermometer edged toward 60. The Japanese camellias, which typically bloom in early spring, have displayed their rose-hued flowers continuously since December. Honeybees, a rarity before late March, were nursing the tiny pink clusters on a Dawn viburnum, while the Adonis amurensis, a ground-hugging spring ephemeral, was a profusion of yellow. â€œThis is the earliest Iâ€™ve seen...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice Linked to Snowier Winters?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/120227-arctic-sea-ice-global-warming-winter-weather-science-environment/
National Geographic: Rapidly shrinking Arctic sea ice could be behind the recent unusually cold and snowy winters in the Northern Hemisphere, a new model suggests. From 2007 to 2011, large parts of the U.S., northwestern Europe, and northern and central China experienced early or abnormally heavy snowfall. Some scientists have speculated that such harsh winters might be a result of disappearing Arctic sea ice, which reached a record low in 2007 due to global warming, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Caribbean to use loans to ready for climate change
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gfxVWxKVhyji6F3MtLxaojWlBSHQ?docId=54d10906343344268db54b776d911bf5
Associated Press: International lenders will give $65 million in concessionary loans to 18 Caribbean nations to help the islands defend their coasts and fragile economies from the impact of climate change. The European Investment Bank will channel its lending through the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank, which announced the initiative Monday. The program will provide low-cost funds for public and private sector projects that deal with climate change adaptation or help reduce carbon emissions. The U.N....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Climate change is set to shake the earth
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-change-is-set-to-shake-the-earth-20120228-1tzr2.html
Sydney Morning Herald: The idea that a changing climate can persuade the ground to shake, volcanoes to rumble and tsunamis to crash on to unsuspecting coastlines seems, at first, to be bordering on the insane. How can what happens in the thin envelope of gas that shrouds and protects our world possibly influence the potentially earth-shattering processes that operate deep beneath the surface? The fact that it does reflects a failure of our imagination and a limited understanding of the manner in which the different physical...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
TransCanada Renewing Request to Build Keystone Pipeline
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/science/earth/keystone-pipeline-permit-request-to-be-renewed.html
New York Times: TransCanada said Monday that it would reapply for a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline from Canadian oil sands formations in Alberta to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, assuring that the fiercely contested project will remain a source of political heat throughout the presidential campaign. The company also said it would seek immediate permission to move ahead with the southernmost portion of the project, from Cushing, Okla., to the gulf, in the hope that that part of the pipeline could be...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Xena Rainbow Warrior Princess arrested in oil-ship protest
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/xena-rainbow-warrior-princess-arrested-in-oilship-protest-7447320.html
Independent: Lucy Lawless, best known for her star role in Xena: Warrior Princess, and five Greenpeace activists were arrested yesterday, four days after scaling a tower on a Shell oil exploration ship to stop it leaving Taranaki. Police removed the protesters from their perch atop a 174-foot drilling tower on the Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki. Chartered by oil company Shell, the ship had been due to leave over the weekend to drill five exploratory wells in the Arctic. Lawless and six activists climbed...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Indigenous peoples at forefront of climate change offer lessons on plant biodiversity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120227132839.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Humans are frequently blamed for deforestation and the destruction of environments, yet there are also examples of peoples and cultures around the world that have learned to manage and conserve the precious resources around them. The Yanesha of the upper Peruvian Amazon and the Tibetans of the Himalayas are two groups of indigenous peoples carrying on traditional ways of life, even in the face of rapid environmental changes. Over the last 40 years, Dr. Jan Salick, senior curator and ethnobotanist...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
What happens if the Keystone XL pipeline isn't built?
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/26/147451538/what-happens-if-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-isnt-built
National Public Radio: Part two of a two-part series on the Keystone XL pipeline Gas isn't like a rare bottle of wine that fetches a high price just because it's rare. But at the same time, no one can agree what drives gas prices. Demand for gasoline in the U.S. is at its lowest point in more than a decade; domestic oil production is at an eight-year high. There's no simple explanation for why most people are spending $3.60 for a gallon of regular, unleaded gas. But many critics of President Obama's energy policy...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Carbon taxes 'to ease fuel poverty'
http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/02/27/carbon-taxes-to-ease-fuel-poverty/?icid=money%7CDL_1_link
Press Association: Research for the "energy bill revolution" campaign suggests 6.4 million households are in fuel poverty in the UK, forced to spend more than a tenth of their income on bills to keep their houses warm. Based on projections for costs of gas and take-up of Government policies to improve energy efficiency of homes, the study warned the number of households in fuel poverty could rise by 40% to 9.1 million by 2016. This would mean one in three homes was suffering from fuel poverty in the year the Government...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
A cool future for brook trout
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/02/27/3048033/a-cool-future-for-brook-trout.html
Charlotte Observer: A spot of good news is surfacing for North Carolina's brook trout, and the anglers who hold their speckled brookies so dear. Not so long ago, scientists forecast that much of what remained of eastern brook trout habitat would be severely affected by climate change. In fact, it was thought the only native trout in the Eastern United States might vanish from large parts of its southern range, leaving only a few populations concentrated mostly in western North Carolina. But a new study in progress...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Americans support Keystone XL pipeline, poll says
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/02/24/americans-support-keystone-xl-pipeline-poll-says/
Fuel Fix: Americans who have heard about the Keystone XL pipeline overwhelmingly support the proposal to carry Canadian oil across the United States to Gulf Coast refineries, according to a Pew Research poll released Thursday. Among those who knew about the pipeline, 66 percent said the federal government should approve the project. The poll found only 23 percent opposed it. The Obama Administration rejected TransCanada`s application to build the controversial pipeline last month, saying a February deadline...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Scientists say cassava will thrive in climate change, best bet for African farmers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/scientists-say-cassava-will-thrive-in-climate-change-best-bet-for-african-farmers/2012/02/27/gIQAdvDodR_story.html
Associated Press: JOHANNESBURG -- Calling cassava "the Rambo of food crops,' scientists Monday said the long-neglected root becomes even more productive in hotter temperatures and could be the best bet for African farmers threatened by climate change. Cassava is the second most important source of carbohydrate in sub-Saharan African, after maize, and is eaten by around 500 million people every day, scientists said. Personal Post The root outperformed potatoes, maize, beans, bananas, millet and sorghum in...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Pollution row after minister deems air quality goals too costly
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/pollution-caroline-spelman
Guardian: The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, has rejected key sections of a critical report on air pollution by a committee of MPs, arguing the government cannot comply with EU laws and deadlines because it would cost too much. In a formal response to the environmental audit committee (EAC), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it did not dispute evidence presented in November that air pollution was the second biggest public health risk in Britain after smoking,...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Wind power still gets lower public subsidies than fossil fuel tax breaks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/wind-power-subsidy-fossil-fuels
Guardian: Public subsidies for the development of wind power in the UK are dwarfed by the tax breaks enjoyed by fossil fuels, a new Guardian analysis has revealed. Financial support for fledgling renewable energy industries has increasingly come under attack in recent months, but the new data shows that the older industries benefit to a far greater extent. Gas, oil and coal prices were subsidised by Â£3.63bn in 2010, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , whereas...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
TransCanada chops up Keystone XL to push it ahead
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-keystone-idUSTRE81Q1II20120227?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: TransCanada Corp said on Monday it will build the southern leg of its $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline first, skirting a full-blown U.S. review and giving President Barack Obama ammunition to hit back at Republicans who have blasted his energy policy. Building the portion of the contentious pipeline that would run to Texas refineries from the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub before the northern section would help remove a pinch-point that has led to deep price discounts for U.S. and Canadian...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
E.P.A. proposes streamlining CO2 permitting for heavy industry
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-usa-epa-carbon-idUSTRE81Q1JG20120227?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. environmental regulators have proposed a new rule that limits requirements for factories to hold permits for greenhouse gas carbon emissions to the largest sources such as big coal-fired power plants and big manufacturers. The Environmental Protection Agency's chief Lisa Jackson signed on Friday the third step of a so-called "tailoring rule" on carbon emissions which proposes to keep greenhouse gas permitting at current levels of at least 100,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide equivalent....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Indigenous peoples at forefront of climate change offer lessons on plant biodiversity
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-indigenous-peoples-forefront-climate-lessons.html
Physorg: The Yanesha and Tibetans are dramatically different peoples living in radically dissimilar environments, but both cultures utilize and highly value plant biodiversity for their food, shelters, clothing and medicines. "Both cultures use traditional knowledge to create, manage and conserve this biodiversity, and both are learning to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change," said Salick. "They have much to teach and to offer the world if we can successfully learn to integrate science...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Judge Dismisses Organic Farmers' Case Against Monsanto
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/02/27/147506542/judge-dismisses-organic-farmers-case-against-monsanto?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: A New York federal court today dismissed a lawsuit against agribusiness giant Monsanto brought by thousands of certified organic farmers. The farmers hoped the suit would protect them against infringing on the company's crop patents in the future. The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association and several other growers and organizations do not use Monsanto seeds. But they were betting that the judge would agree that Monsanto should not be allowed to sue them if pollen from the company's patented...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Will the courts kill the EPA's climate rules?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/will-the-courts-kill-the-epas-climate-rules/2012/02/27/gIQAa7rDeR_blog.html
Washington Post: Congress isn't planning to tackle climate change anytime soon, which means the Environmental Protection Agency is now the last line of defense. But could the EPA's new rules on carbon pollution get tossed out by the courts? We're about to find out. To regulate or not to regulate? (David Spencer - Associated Press) On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear two days of oral arguments from industry groups that are challenging the EPA's authority to regulate carbon dioxide....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Americans listening to politicians, ignoring climate scientists
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/02/americans-listening-to-politicians-more-than-climate-scientists.ars?clicked=related_right
Ars Technica: US public opinion about climate change has been riding a roller coaster over the past decade. After signs of growing acceptance and emphasis around 2006 and 2007, a precipitous decline brought us back to where we started, with fully a quarter of the public not even thinking that the planet has warmed up. It's not shocking that concerns about climate change would take a back seat to the economic recession, but that doesn't explain why some are skeptical that global warming is even real. Since economic...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
E.P.A. greenhouse gas rules face new legal challenges
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-usa-epa-court-idUSTRE81Q1Y120120227?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. limits on greenhouse gas emissions face a challenge in federal court this week from more than 100 industry groups and several U.S. states, the latest high-profile effort to halt or overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's rules. Three federal judges will hear arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday at the D.C. Court of Appeals from groups seeking to overturn the regulations and also convince the judges that the science used by the EPA is wrong. The EPA's raft of recent clean air rules...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Melting Arctic link to UK snows
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17143269
BBC: The progressive shrinking of Arctic sea ice is bringing colder, snowier winters to the UK and other areas of Europe, North America and China, a study shows. As global temperatures have risen, the area of Arctic Ocean covered by ice in summer and autumn has been falling. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a US/China-based team show this affects the jet stream and brings cold, snowy weather. Whether conditions will get colder still as ice melts further is unclear....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Analysis: Mexico in no rush to exploit shale oil bonanza
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-mexico-shale-idUSTRE81Q20Q20120227?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Mexico may be sitting on a vast untapped reserve of shale oil just south of the Rio Grande, but state monopoly Pemex is showing little urgency to exploit their share of the bounty. While U.S. energy companies are racing to drill more wells in the oil-rich Eagle Ford shale play that geologists say extends well south of the border, Mexican energy officials and Pemex executives appear unrushed. Mexico has the world's fourth-largest reserve of shale gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
BP may settle with Deepwater Horizon oil spill victims as trial postponed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/bp-may-settle-deepwater-horizon-victims
Guardian: BP may be close to a legal settlement on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster â€“ but many of the tens of thousands of victims still want to drag the oil company through the courts. Judge Carl Barbier ordered a week-long delay in the civil trial, which was due to start on Monday. The delay, ordered after a conference call with lawyers from all the main parties on Sunday afternoon, was seen as a sign that BP was close to a settlement with those who lost their livelihood as a result of the oil disaster....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Obama supports TransCanada's bid to push ahead with part of oil pipeline
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/obama-transcanada-keystone-xl-pipeline
Guardian: Barack Obama helped put the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline back on track on Monday, endorsing construction on a key southern portion of the controversial project. The White House support for construction of a southern portion of the pipeline, running from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur, Texas, essentially unravels its rejection of the entire project just one month ago. The move was seen by environmental campaigners as a betrayal. The Sierra Club described the revival of the pipeline project...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Abigail Borah: COP-ping an Attitude on Climate Change
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/abigail-borah-cop-ping-an-attitude-on-climate-change?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: SPOTLIGHT: One in a series of profiles on people who are on the front line of climate change. For a young person who cares about the environment, Middlebury College is the place to go for all sorts of reasons. The college created the nation's first degree in environmental studies way back in 1965; it boasts uber-activist Bill McKibben, hero of the anti-Keystone-XL pipeline movement as Scholar in Residence; and it probably has more tree-huggers per acre than any campus on the planet. The only downside:...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Peter Gleick lied, but was it justified by the wider good?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/peter-gleick-heartland-institute-lie
Guardian: A lie is a lie. There may be other considerations, but that's main motivation behind the condemnation of Peter Gleick, the scientist who used an assumed name to obtain documents produced by the Heartland Institute. He's been criticised for a lack of scientific integrity, and those who fund his post are "concerned about any allegations of unethical conduct". Everyone is having a go at Gleick, including Gleick: he called his actions a lapse of "professional judgment and ethics". Are his actions...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Has the wind revolution stalled in the UK?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/has-wind-revolution-stalled-in-uk
Guardian: Visit the biggest coal-fired power station in western Europe, and the first things to notice are the wind turbines slowly wheeling round next door. Twelve have now been built, their slender white poles and delicate blades dwarfed by the massive cooling towers of Drax power station belching clouds of steam into the Yorkshire sky â€“ old and new energy in striking juxtaposition. But though the plain next to a huge industrial complex â€“ burning millions of tonnes of coal a year â€“ may seem the perfect...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Time for a rethink on climate change, say top environmental economists
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-rethink-climate-environmental-economists.html
Physorg: Examples could include firing sulphates into the atmosphere, Iron fertilisation of the oceans or oceanic 'heat pipes'. A ten point consensus, published this month in a book edited by two top environmental economists at The University of Manchester, argues that among other things, policy makers should 'think outside the box' to tackle climate change. Also, argues the consensus, greenhouse emissions should be taxed or capped to help consumers, businesses and governments account for the social...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
EU urged to â€œrefurbish Europeâ€ through more ambitious efficiency goals
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2155267/eu-urged-refurbish-europe-ambitious-efficiency-goals?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=EU+urged+to+%E2%80%9Crefurbish+Europe%E2%80%9D+through+more+ambitious+efficiency+goals
Business Green: The European Union (EU) has been urged to step up its ambition for making homes and businesses more energy efficient, following the release of a major report from the University of East Anglia (UEA) highlighting the economic benefits that would accrue from more ambitious energy efficiency goals. Researchers Bruce Tofield and Martin Ingham from the Build with CaRe project at UEA, today launched a report recommending EU member states to set an ambitious goal to reduce energy demand by 40 per cent...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Fire rages at RWE's UK biomass power plant
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-britain-fire-idUSTRE81Q0ZO20120227?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: RWE npower said on Monday that a fire had broken out in a fuel storage area at its wood-pellet-fired Tilbury power station, which is located to the east of London and is Britain's largest dedicated biomass plant. The company said no injuries had been reported in the fire that broke out at 0745 GMT, and added that police and 100 fire-fighters were at the plant, which only began generating power last month. "The fire involves some 4,000 tonnes of fuel in storage cells. At least two are very well...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Climate change alters bird migration patterns
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com//articleshow/12053838.cms
Indo-Asian News Service: Rising temperatures, triggered by climate change, are forcing birds to alter their migration patterns. The finding is based on data from eBird, a database containing 10 years' worth of observations from amateur birdwatchers. Since 2002, eBird has collected more than 48 million bird observations from roughly 35,000 contributors. Allen Hurlbert, assistant professor of biology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and his team analyzed when 18 different bird species arrived at various...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Climate Change Could Make Everest Unclimbable, Says Sherpa
http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/climate-change-could-make-everest-unclimbable-warns-sherpa.html
Tree Hugger: Tower 29,029 feet above sea level, the formidable Mount Everest has served to tested the strength and perseverance of humanity's boldest souls -- but, due to the warming effects of climate change, ascending the world's highest peak may become more difficult yet. Nepalese climbing guide Apa Sherpa has scaled Everest a record twenty-one times and likely knows better than anyone that mountain's rugged terrain, though he says it's becoming increasingly unrecognizable. Like many people living in the...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Thai king: punish corrupt officials who allowed logging
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0227-thai_king_floods.html
Mongabay: Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej urged the Thai government to punish officials who allowed illegal logging which he blamed for worsening floods last year that left more than 1,000 people dead. "Hardwood forests that are destroyed are difficult to recover," he told Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and members of the Strategic Formulation Committee for Water Resource Management last Friday, according to the Bangkok Post. "The blame lies with some civil servants who are greedy and crave...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
On climate change, society trails science
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20120227_On_climate_change__society_trails_science.html
Philadelphia Inquirer: Recent revelations are highlighting the corrosive nature of our national dialogue about climate change. Bloggers recently published what appear to be internal documents from the Heartland Institute, a group that has long sought to undermine public understanding of climate science. The documents detail the organization's plan to introduce misleading information about climate change to science classrooms as part of a larger campaign to constrain the American response to the problem. And last week,...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Climate change threatens S.Africa's rooibos tea
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gFv0slAAygjBy932nI5nmW0Z9Uqg?docId=CNG.87d4d787f2795d94f289f37a4a98522b.221
Agence France-Presse: Farm workers swing their sickles through red branches, bundling them up before laying them out in the sunshine to dry. The annual harvest at Groenkol Rooibos tea estate, in South Africa's Western Cape helps quench the world's growing thirst for "red bush" tea, but farmers fear that climate change could destroy the delicate eco-system that their crop depends on. Annual exports of rooibos have quadrupled in the last 13 years. The tea is popular for its perceived health benefits as well as its...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Indonesia's moratorium will not significantly reduce emissions, but has other benefits, finds analysis
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0227-indonesia_moratorium_wri.html
Mongabay: Indonesia's moratorium on new forest concessions alone "does not significantly contribute" to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent from a projected 2020 baseline, concludes a new analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI). However the study says the moratorium does support the target in the long-term by creating a window for enacting governance reform needed to stop destructive business-as-usual approaches to forest management. "Although there are 43.3 million hectares...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Taking a human rights approach to climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/taking-human-rights-approach-climate-change-102347227.html
IRIN: Many of the countries that have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions will be the worst affected by global warming, a â€œclimate injusticeâ€ that highlights the link to human rights, experts told a Human Rights Council gathering in Geneva. â€œAs we take steps to address climate change, we must not do so at the cost of the most vulnerable and discriminated [against] members of the worldâ€™s communities,â€ UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said during the 23-24 February seminar....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Do wind turbines kill birds and bats?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/wind-energy-myths-turbines-bats
Guardian: Studies (here, here and here) of windfarms built in California and Spain in the 1980s have shown an "excessive" number of fatalities among six raptor species, including eagles and vultures. The evidence suggests that poor planning and outmoded turbine design was largely responsible and the current thinking is that fewer, but much large turbines sited away from known migratory paths of birds can significantly decrease the risk of bird strikes. Bats, despite their ability to use sonar to avoid moving...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Windfarms axed as UK loses its taste for turbines
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/27/windfarms-axed-uk
Guardian: The government and energy industry have quietly shelved plans for windfarms equivalent to four large traditional coal and nuclear power stations, amid growing public and political anger over the cost and sight of the turbines. A report by the Electricity Networks Strategy Group (ENSG), which is the most up-to-date view of government officials, the regulator Ofgem, and leading industry investors, estimates that 28.3GW of onshore and offshore wind power may have been built by 2020. The estimate...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Malaysia protest over rare earths
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17169601
BBC: People living near a planned refinery for rare earth elements in Malaysia have held a demonstration to try to halt its construction. The protesters in the eastern city of Kuantan say there is a risk of dangerous radiation from the plant. The refinery will process precious metals used in the production of mobile phones and flat-screen TVs. Regulators insist that the plant will pose no health risk to people living in the area, in Pahang state. However the BBC's Jennifer Pak in Pahang says...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
I Believe: 'A movement is building'
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120226/GREEN01/120224021/I-Believe-movement-building-?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
Burlington Free Press: A U.N. police officer, left, escorts American protester Abigail Borah, right, after she disrupted U.S. lead negotiator Todd Stern's speech during the climate conference in Durban, South Africa, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. The conference is focusing on efforts to move toward a future agreement to legally bind all nations to emissions targets, including China and the United States. The two-week climate conference is in the final push before Friday's scheduled closing. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) More...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Genetically Engineered Bacteria Could Help Fight Climate Change
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/02/genetically-engineered-bacteria-.html?ref=hp
Science Now: As humans warm the planet by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some researchers believe that capturing CO2 and trapping it in buried rocks could lower the risk of catastrophic climate change. Now a team of researchers has shown that bacteria can help the process along. They can even be genetically modified to trap CO2 faster, keeping it underground for millions of years. When CO2 is pumped into underground porous rocks, it combines with metal ions in the salty water that fills the...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Warm weather, lack of snow turning state's ski season into a bust
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ski-season-bust-20120225,0,1311877.story
LA Times: It's February and the weather outside is frightful -- for ski resorts. With unseasonably toasty temperatures in parts of the Southland, skiers and snowboarders who would normally head for the slopes at this time of year are instead visiting the beach. "It's hard to think about skiing when it's like 80 degrees in town," said Wendy Brennan, an avid skier who helps organize two ski clubs based in Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach. "It's particularly hard to get people away from the beach and up...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Clouds dropping closer to Earth
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-25/clouds-dropping-closer-to-earth/3852530
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: New research has found clouds are dropping closer to the Earth, with scientists measuring their height for the first time on a global basis. Experts from the University of Auckland suggest the change in cloud altitude could be the Earth's way of dealing with global warming. In 1999, NASA launched its Terra satellite into space. On board was a Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR). It uses nine cameras at different angles to produce a stereo image of clouds around the world, allowing...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Israel nixes solar energy for Palestinians
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/24/4289803/israel-nixes-solar-energy-for.html#storylink=omni_popular
Sacramento Bee: Electricity from solar panels and wind turbines has revolutionized life in rural Palestinian herding communities: Machines, instead of hands, churn goat milk into butter, refrigerators store food that used to spoil and children no longer have to hurry to get their homework done before dark. But the German-funded project, initiated by Israeli volunteers, is now in danger. Israeli authorities are threatening to demolish the installations in six of the 16 remote West Bank communities being illuminated...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Ranchers' land becomes ground zero in energy fight
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/25/147413520/ranchers-land-becomes-ground-zero-in-energy-fight
National Public Radio: Part one of a two-part series on the Keystone XL pipeline Gas prices are spiking once again; the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded is about 12 percent higher than it was a year ago. But winter typically isn't the time for a rise in gas prices. Demand for gasoline is at a 14-year low and domestic oil production is at an eight-year high. Some analysts link the increase in gas prices to the tensions in Iran and speculators on Wall Street. Others point to policy decisions limiting drilling in...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
When Idaho's unpredictable weather becomes normal
http://magicvalley.com/news/local/when-idaho-s-unpredictable-weather-becomes-normal/article_061242db-f777-5fc8-8526-3b27e473fbe1.html
Magic Valley: Come rain, wind or clear skies, Clark Kauffman records it in a small notebook he keeps close at all times. â€œI keep a log of whatâ€™s going on so I can go back year after year and see what to expect,â€ said the Filer wheat farmer. When he reads over his notes, there arenâ€™t that many drastic changes, rather small, slow variances here and there. The tricky part is keeping the long-term trend in mind when the weather changes daily. â€œI have a friend that says he doesnâ€™t have 40 years of experience,...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Iran warns Israel not to attack its nuclear facilities
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/25/iran-warns-israel-attack-nuclear
Guardian: Iran has warned Israel against mounting an attack on its nuclear facilities amid rising international tension over its uranium enrichment programme. General Ahmad Vahidi issued a statement warning Israel that an attack would lead to the collapse of the Jewish state. The warning on Iran's state-run Press TV website came after a UN report said Iran had tripled its production rate of enriched uranium over the past three months. The confidential report to member states, seen by the Guardian,...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Short term solution for climate change
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=12-P13-00008&segmentID=1
Living on Earth: Reducing short-lived air pollutants like methane and soot could limit global temperature increase by as much as 25 percent. Johan Kuylenstierna coordinated two UN reports on the topic. He tells host Bruce Gellerman that the US State Department will begin working with other countries to implement change. Transcript GELLERMAN: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios in Somerville, Massachusetts, it's Living on Earth, I'm Bruce Gellerman. Carbon dioxide gets most of the attention when it comes...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Global opposition grows against EU emissions law
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,817426,00.html
Spiegel: Many countries are angry about the EU's new airline emissions fees. The rest of the world is furious at the EU's plan to impose emissions fees on airlines flying to Europe. This week, representatives of almost two dozen countries met in Moscow to sign a joint protest. Some say that a trade war may be imminent. A European Union law to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from airlines traveling to and from Europe has drawn a joint protest from 23 non-EU countries and sparked talk of a global trade...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
China: Renewable energy riding high
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/us/2012-02/25/content_14691226.htm
China Daily: If William Latta has his way, Beijing may soon have only clear blue skies. In his corner office on the 11th floor of a high-rise building near the capital's Sanlitun Village, Latta, the managing director of the US clean-coal company LP Amina LLC, said his company is working with coal-fired plants in China to reduce carbon emissions. "See the smog out there? We can help with that," he said. Latta is just one of the many next-generation Western technocrats and entrepreneurs who are helping China...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Wind power industry hits political turbulence in U.K
http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/02/24/2
ClimateWire: The wind power industry in the United Kingdom has come in for a political spanking in recent weeks over costs, aesthetics and necessity, but it has shrugged it off and gone on with its ambitious program. There has always been a well-organized, vocal campaign against onshore wind farms here, with opponents calling the giant wind turbines unsightly and a blight on England's green, rolling countryside. But objections escalated earlier this year when more than 100 parliamentarians from the senior...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Obama pitches a clean energy plan with no 'silver bullet' for high gas prices
http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/02/24/1
Evan Lehmann: President Obama accused Republican lawmakers yesterday of being dishonest when blaming him for the rise in gasoline prices and promised to strengthen investments in fossil fuel replacements like algae and other renewable sources. The speech at the University of Miami's Industrial Assessment Center marked a new aggressiveness by the president, who has faced sharpening attacks about climbing gas prices, and positioned his message on clean energy as a comparison to GOP policies favoring expensive...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Old king coal
http://www.economist.com/node/21548237
Economist: â€œOUR civilisationâ€, wrote George Orwell over 70 years ago, â€œis founded on coal.â€ Unlike Europeâ€™s, Asiaâ€™s still is. In 2010, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a think-tank, coal accounted for just one-fifth of primary energy supply in the OECD countries. But, in the world as a whole, coal accounted for almost half of the increase in energy use from 2000-10. Coal, says Edward Cunningham of Boston University, is experiencing an â€œhistorically incredibleâ€ resurgence, and may even overtake...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Poll shows support for Keystone pipeline, environmental regulations
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/212375-poll-shows-support-for-keystone-pipeline-environmental-regulations
The Hill: New polling data shows strong support for approving the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline that the Obama administration rejected in January, a decision that unleashed a torrent of GOP attacks against President Obama. The Pew Research Center poll released Thursday finds 66 percent who have heard about the issue say the proposed pipeline to bring oil sands from Alberta, Canada, to Gulf Coast refineries should be approved, while 23 percent say it shouldnâ€™t. The data reveals a partisan split but substantial...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Climate change to hurt food security
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=223968
Daily Star: Bangladesh must improve its financial management to obtain a significant share of funds available globally to combat climate change impacts and ensure food security, said an eminent climatologist yesterday. â€œThe developed countries are ready to release billions of dollars to the affected countries. It is not impossible for Bangladesh to collect $2 to 3 billion, as the country is in the forefront of the fight against the climate change impacts,â€ said Prof Ainun Nishat, a senior adviser to International...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Himalayan Sherpas lament climate change devastation
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/13017533/himalayan-sherpas-lament-climate-change-devastation/
Agence France-Presse: Climate change is altering the face of the Himalayas, devastating farming communities and making Mount Everest increasingly treacherous to climb, some of the world's top mountaineers have warned. Apa Sherpa, the Nepali climber who has conquered Mount Everest a record 21 times, said he was disturbed by the lack of snow on the world's highest peak, caused by rising temperatures. "In 1989 when I first climbed Everest there was a lot of snow and ice but now most of it has just become bare rock....

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Wind power is worth the investment of $2 a month for Maryland households
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/wind-power-is-worth-the-investment-of-2-a-month-for-maryland-households/2012/02/24/gIQAMGleaR_story.html
Washington Post: Nonetheless, the political reality is that the General Assembly won't vote for wind power just to protect the planet. Instead, the way to sell the project is to stress that it will create more than 1,000 new manufacturing jobs and put Maryland on the ground floor of a new industry with great potential. Then legislators from blue-collar districts in Baltimore start dreaming of big orders for steel, concrete and the port to put their constituents to work. That's a lesson learned by Gov. Martin...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Animal diseases increasingly plague the oceans
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j5nPqLZLuLwMvph_Fw14tWlAz6oQ
Agence France-Presse: 6 days ago VANCOUVER -- When dead sea mammals started washing ashore on Canada's west coast in greater numbers, marine biologist Andrew Trites was distressed to find that domestic animal diseases were killing them. Around the world, seals, otters and other species are increasingly infected by parasites and other diseases long common in goats, cows, cats and dogs, marine mammal experts told a major science conference. The diseases also increasingly threaten people who use the oceans for recreation,...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Could global warming turn us all into hobbits?
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0224/Could-global-warming-turn-us-all-into-hobbits
Christian Science Monitor: It's been long known that the Earth's rising surface temperatures portend mass extinction, prolonged droughts, extreme weather, and rising seas. Now we can add a new worry: Humanity could be transformed into a race of hobbits. How global warming created tiny horses World's tiniest chameleon: How did it get so small? Did giant storks once dine on hobbits? New research reveals the extent to which global temperatures can influence the evolution of the size of mammals. Hot weather tends to make...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Canada: Radical environmentalists discredit their cause with extreme claims on oilsands
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1136691--radical-environmentalists-discredit-their-cause-with-extreme-claims-on-oilsands
Toronto Star: Developing Alberta's oilsands poses big environmental problems for the province, and the whole country. But it does not involve, quite literally, the end of the world as we know it. A common sense conclusion, if ever there was one. But when an eminent climate researcher published a study this week making these seemingly balanced and even banal statements, it made a splash -- precisely because climate science is such an intensely politicized field where balance is the hardest thing to find. And...

Wed, 29 Feb 12
Drought will push up price of food, farmers warn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/26/drought-push-up-price-food
Guardian: Farmers in drought-stricken areas of the country are facing crucial decisions in the next few days and weeks over what to grow this year â€“ and their plans could mean rising food prices for hard-pressed consumers this summer. Most of the south-east of England was officially declared to be in drought last week, and large swaths of the Midlands and south of England were confirmed as "at risk", with hosepipe bans and other restrictions likely to be introduced soon. Farmers are particularly at risk...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Shifting Ocean Current Made Earth Spin Faster?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/120222-earth-spin-faster-time-oceans-el-nino-science/
National Geographic: Did it feel like time flew in November 2009? It turns out the days were actually going a wee bit faster for part of that month, according to a team of NASA and European scientists. Earth spun about 0.1 millisecond faster for a two-week stretch, said study co-author Steven Marcus, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The planet's speedier spin appears to have been due to a slowdown in an ocean current that whips around Antarctica. "The Earth speeding up...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
India: Sacred natural sites and climate change threat
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Nepal/Sacred-natural-sites-and-climate-change-threat/Article1-815560.aspx
Hindustan Times: Sacred natural sites are areas of land or water having special spiritual significance. And the Eastern Himalayas is home to many such sites like Mount Kailash (Tibet), Lumbini (Nepal), Taksang (Bhutan), Gosaikunda (Nepal), Gurudongmar Lake (Sikkim). These sites besides having spiritual and religious significance also have biodiversity conservation value due to restrictions on cutting of trees and desecration of environment around them. Surveys have found high level of biodiversity in these areas....

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Scientist admits taking, leaking think-tank papers
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_THINK_TANK_LEAKS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-02-22-15-06-48
Associated Press: Ethicists are criticizing a prominent scientist for misrepresenting himself to obtain and then leak sensitive documents from a conservative think tank that campaigns against mainstream global warming science. Peter Gleick (GLEEK), president of a California water research institute and winner of a MacArthur genius grant, admitted Monday night in a blog posting that he pretended to be a board member to get fundraising, budget and other documents from the Heartland Institute in Chicago. He said he...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Drax mixes up biomass plan with mooted Â£700m co-firing project
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2154224/drax-mixes-biomass-plan-mooted-gbp700m-firing-project?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Updated%3A+Drax+mixes+up+biomass+plan+with+mooted+%C2%A3700m+co-firing+project
Business Green: Drax's game of brinkmanship with the government over biomass subsidies has intensified, after the owner of the UK's largest coal-fired power station said it had scrapped plans to build a dedicated biomass plant, but would invest Â£700m in co-firing biomass-coal technology depending on the outcome of a major subsidy review. Announcing its preliminary final year results, Drax chief executive Dorothy Thompson, yesterday revealed the company had cancelled plans for a 290MW biomass plant in Selby, North...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Confessions of a climate gate-opener
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17126699
BBC: I don't normally do requests, as they say - but I've a lot of messages via emails, blog comments and Twitter asking for a follow-up post on the Heartland Institute, and am happy to oblige. Many thanks for all your messages - nice to know one's thoughts are in such demand! So what's happened since last week's post, flagging up and analysing the contents of documents obtained through subterfuge from the leading US climate sceptic lobby group? First, we saw a request from the institute that all media...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Pollution goes against God's will, say church leaders in Ash Wednesday message
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9098421/Pollution-goes-against-Gods-will-say-church-leaders-in-Ash-Wednesday-message.html
Telegraph: Rowan Williams has joined Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, among other church leaders, in signing a declaration which says reducing dependence on fossil fuels is "essential" to Christian discipleship. The launch declaration comes on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, traditionally a period of penitence, prayer and reflection for Christians in the run-up to Easter. The declaration will be marked by a service in central London this evening. Many Christians receive...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Sea level rise poses flood risk
http://www.delta-optimist.com/news/level%20rise%20poses%20flood%20risk/6189342/story.html
Delta Optimist: Planning needs to be done now to address the future sea level rise in South Delta, say researchers that provided ominous visuals of what could unfold. Current estimates have the sea level rise for South Delta at approximately 1.2 metres by 2100. However, at a science symposium in Vancouver on the weekend, a pair of researchers made a more dire prediction, contending the original estimates might be too conservative. David Flanders of the University of B.C and Simon Fraser University professor...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
U.K. seeks permission from Supreme Court to appeal solar ruling
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-21/u-k-seeks-permission-from-supreme-court-to-appeal-solar-ruling.html
Bloomberg: The U.K. government said today it's seeking permission from the Supreme Court to appeal against decisions by two lower courts that its planned early cuts to solar subsidies are unlawful. The High Court ruled in December that plans for a Dec. 12 cut in the so-called feed-in tariffs paid for electricity from solar panels were illegal. The government then lost a case at the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision. The Department of Energy and Climate Change said today in an e-mailed statement that...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Greenhouse gas battle could reap billions in auctions
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=10dfpvfw8sjtlp7&xid=10dfn6vkwnv1z7e&done=.10dfpvfw8sk5lp7
Capitol Weekly: As Californiaâ€™s attempt to curb climate-changing greenhouse gases ramps up, critical pieces of the landmark law remain uncertain, including the impact of the all-important auctions of hundreds of millions of so-called â€œemission allowancesâ€ that will serve as the spur for utilities, refiners and others to comply. Over the next eight years, the quarterly auctions by some estimates are projected to raise between $8 billion and $41 billion, with the money going to everything from helping balancing...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Australia: Drilling begins for possible pollution solution
http://www.bunburymail.com.au/news/local/news/general/drilling-begins-for-possible-pollution-solution/2464320.aspx
Bunburgy Mail: DRILLING for a unique carbon emission storage project, the first of its kind in Western Australia, recently got underway near Harvey. The South West Hub project aims to determine whether carbon dioxide can be safely stored underground. Drilling began last fortnight. The $8.5million study is the second undertaken in the nation and if suitable, is expected to capture more than 300,000 tonnes of annual CO2 emissions from industrial sites such as Worsley and Kemerton. Department of Mines...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Canada: As Arctic sea ice declines, polar bear patrol gets busy
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/as_arctic_sea_ice_declines_polar_bear_patrol_gets_busy/2497/
Yale Environment 360: Last Nov. 11, Jerry Cowley was fast asleep when he was wakened by the sound of someone violently banging on the front door of his bungalow in the Hudson Bay port town of Churchill, Manitoba. Thinking that it was his son coming home from a night at the bar, Cowley was going to scold him for losing his keys. Yet when he opened the door, Cowley was greeted not by his son, but by a large polar bear about to enter his living room. â€œI told it to bug off!â€™â€ Cowley recalled the next day. â€œThatâ€™s the first...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Extension is sought for expiring wind tax credit
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73133.html
Politico: Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers still aren't giving up on extending the wind production tax credit, which expires at the end of the year. Supporters had hoped an extension could be included in the payroll tax cut deal that cleared Congress on Friday, probably the last must-pass bill of the year. Now they're looking for other opportunities. "There's very strong support for it, and we still have time to deal with it,' Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said last week. "I wish we would have...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Berkeley-based scientist causes ethics storm over climate change documents
http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_20011750
Inside Bay Area: For the past two decades, Peter Gleick has earned a reputation as a nationally known expert on water and climate issues, winning a MacArthur "genius award," penning a long list of scientific articles and testifying before Congress. But over the past two days, the 55-year-old Berkeley resident has found himself at the center of a national maelstrom of his own making: using a false name to obtain confidential documents from a pro-industry think tank known for minimizing the risks of global warming....

Thu, 23 Feb 12
How to engage with farmers over GM crops
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/opinions/how-to-engage-with-farmers-over-gm-crops-1.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: Farmers are more likely to use GM crops if they are involved in crop development in the right way, say Obidimma Ezezika and Justin Mabeya. The rapid uptake of genetically modified (GM) crops in developing countries poses a dilemma for agri-biotech programmes: when and how should researchers engage farmers in the process of developing crops? If farmers are engaged too early, they are likely to develop high expectations that the projects may not be able to meet. Engaging them too late may lead to...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Don't cloud young minds
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328533.600-dont-cloud-young-minds.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: THERE is a strong sense of dÃ©jÃƒ vu about what is emerging over leaked emails from the Heartland Institute. The US libertarian think tank, which argues that global warming is not primarily caused by humans, intends to develop teaching material that would cast doubt on the scientific consensus on climate change. Its approach is sadly reminiscent of fogging tactics employed by the tobacco industry and creationists. Children should be taught honestly what we know about climate change, as well as what...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Encroaching deserts threaten life along Tibet's longest river
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/encroaching-deserts-threaten-life-along-tibets-longest-river
AlertNet: Rising temperatures, reduced rainfall and excessive numbers of grazing animals are worsening desertification and drying up grasslands in western Tibet, says a Chinese geologist who has explored one of the region's uncharted rivers. Yang Yong said he had observed desertification in parts of the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, and believes this could be caused by climate change as well as human activity. The Yarlung Zangbo (also called the Yarlung Tsangpo) is Tibet's largest river,...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
GDP 'not sufficient' for measuring economic wealth
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/gdp-not-sufficient-for-measuring-economic-wealth.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: A group of the world's top environmental scientists have backed calls for replacing the gross domestic product (GDP) as a sole measure of a nation's economic wealth with more inclusive indicators that would consider the impact of economic growth on the well-being of the environment. Relying only on GDP ignores important aspects of a nation's well-being such as sustainable development and threats to the environment, they said in a report presented at the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) 12th special...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
IMO to discuss CO2 curbs for ships, industry frets
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/22/us-carbon-shipping-idUSTRE81L1KN20120222?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The International Maritime Organization will next week debate market-based measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions from ships, but the world's major shipping associations on Wednesday said the timing is not right for such measures to be applied. While the IMO's Marine and Environment Protection Committee is not expected to reach any conclusions on market-based measures at a week-long meeting in London, the U.N. agency has been under pressure to tackle international shipping emissions. The...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
German ministers agree to speed up solar cuts
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/22/us-germany-solar-idUSTRE81L1LY20120222?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The German government has agreed to accelerate the next round of cuts in state-mandated photovoltaic incentives by three months to April 1 after a record-breaking expansion of solar power in 2011, government and industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday. The environment and economy ministries have also agreed to deepen the next round of reductions in the feed-in tariff (FIT) to between 20 percent for smaller rooftop power plants to as much as 30 percent for larger plants. The cuts were more...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
GDP inadequate as climate cost gauge-Stern
http://af.reuters.com/article/idAFL5E8DL8PT20120222
Reuters: The cost of global warming can no longer be quantified solely in terms of gross domestic product as the changes the world will experience and the resulting loss of life will be so immense, climate economist Nicholas Stern said on Wednesday. In 2006, Stern published a major report on the economics of climate change which said average global temperatures would rise by 2 to 3 degrees centigrade in the next 50 years and could reduce global consumption per head by up to 20 percent. "That particular...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Virginia Paper Company Linked With Rainforest Destruction
http://wamu.org/news/12/02/22/virginia_paper_company_linked_with_rainforest_destruction
WAMU: The World Wildlife Fund issued a surprising plea last week, asking consumers to take care when buying toilet paper. The organization says a Virginia firm and its sister company are destroying rainforests to make a cheap paper products. Paper company faces accusations By some estimates, the world is losing 50 million acres of tropical rainforest a year -- an area double the size of Virginia. On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, much of the destruction has been traced to a Chinese Company called...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
GOP Politicians Not Listening To Even Conservative Scientists On Climate Change
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/22/429973/gop-politicians-not-listening-to-even-conservative-scientists-climate-change/?mobile=nc
Think Progress: A number of prominent U.S. climate scientists who identify themselves as Republican say their attempts in recent years to educate the GOP leadership on the scientific evidence of man-made climate change have been futile. Now, many have given up trying and the few who continue notice very little change after speaking with politicians and their aides. "No GOP candidates or policymakers want to touch the issue, and those of us trying to educate them are left frustrated," Kerry Emanuel, an atmospheric...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Scientist Peter Gleick admits he lied to get climate documents
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-climate-documents-20120222,0,7220518.story
LA Times: A noted California scientist and environmental activist has admitted that he assumed a false identity to obtain and distribute internal documents from a libertarian group that questions climate change. In a statement published on the Huffington Post, Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and a MacArthur "genius" grant recipient, revealed his role in disseminating a batch of recent fundraising and board meeting documents last week from the Heartland Institute in Chicago. The documents...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Gleick hurt by ethics lapse over climate papers
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/22/BA0R1NAEQI.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: The latest national uproar over climate change science has damaged, if not ruined, the reputation of one of the Bay Area's most prominent scholars and raised serious questions about ethics during what has become a roiling political and ideological debate. Peter Gleick, a MacArthur Foundation fellow and co-founder and president of Oakland's Pacific Institute, admitted Monday that he had posed as someone else and obtained confidential internal papers from the Heartland Institute, a libertarian group...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Russian Heatwave Made More Likely by Climate Change
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/partner-news/climate-change-increased-likelihood-of-russian-2010-heatwave
Guardian: The extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely because of man-made climate change, according to a study led by climate scientists and number-crunched by home PC users. But the size of the event was mostly within natural limits, said the scientists, laying to rest a controversy last year over whether the extreme weather was natural or human-induced. A woman digs out potatoes from her former garden, ravaged by one of the hundreds of wildfires sparked during the 2010 Russian...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Climate sceptics may find fertile ground in US schools
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328534.600-climate-sceptics-may-find-fertile-ground-in-us-schools.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: THE political battle over whether human activity is changing Earth's climate is heading for US schools. A conservative organisation is working to develop teaching materials that sow doubt on the scientific consensus over climate change, according to documents leaked last week from the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Chicago. What's more, a separate informal poll of nearly 2000 Earth science teachers suggests that a significant proportion may prove receptive to contrarian...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Farmers warn food prices could go up because of drought
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9096299/Farmers-warn-food-prices-could-go-up-because-of-drought.html
Telegraph: Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union, said ongoing drought in the South East and Anglia, the "bread basket of Britain', will cut yields and force up prices. "As sure as night follows day if it doesn't rain, food prices will go up. I can guarantee you that,' he said. "If there is less water across bigger areas of northern Europe food will cost more money.' Drought-afflicted areas need 120 per cent of normal rainfall between now and March to avoid drought but the Met Office...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Cut all fossil-fuel use: scientists
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fossil+fuel+scientists/6188770/story.html
Montreal Gazette: Two Canadian climate-change scientists from the University of Victoria say the public reaction to their recently published commentary has missed their key message: that all forms of fossil fuels, including the oilsands and coal, must be regulated for the world to avoid dangerous global warming. "Much of the way this has been reported is (through) a type of view that oilsands are good and coal is bad," said climate scientist Neil Swart, who co-wrote the study with fellow climatologist Andrew Weaver....

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Inter-ministerial groups to fine-tune India's climate change stance
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Inter-ministerial-groups-to-fine-tune-Indias-climate-change-stance/articleshow/11983322.cms
Times of India: In a consolidation of the Durban results, the environment and forests ministry has notified inter-ministerial groups that will advise on key elements of India's stance on climate negotiations for future. The groups, with officials from various ministries including power and renewable energy, will advise and guide the negotiating team through issues which are to be taken up through the year and at the full meeting of all countries in Qatar. The groups have been formed on three critical areas...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
The Heartland Affair: A Climate Champion Cheats â€” and We All Lose
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2107364,00.html
Time: Late last year, Peter Gleick -- the president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security; and a respected expert on water-and-climate issues -- co-authored a paper on the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) task force on scientific ethics and integrity. Gleick and his co-author Randy Townsend of the AGU wrote that advancing scientific work to create a sustainable future would only be possible if scientists had the trust of the public and policymakers. And that trust,...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
5 Years on, Heart of Borneo Faces Big Conservation Challenges
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/5-years-on-heart-of-borneo-faces-big-conservation-challenges/498312
Jakarta Globe: In February 2007, the three countries that share Borneo, the worldâ€™s third-largest island, signed on to a conservation and sustainable forest development program initiated by the World Wildlife Fund to protect a vast swath of forest. Fives years on, officials concede that the Heart of Borneo program faces daunting challenges. In its latest status report on the area, the environmental organization notes that lowland forest in the 220,000-square-kilometer zone stretching across the island is under...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Russia fires first shot in EU aviation emissions trade war
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2154216/russia-fires-shot-eu-aviation-emissions-trade-war?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Russia+fires+first+shot+in+EU+aviation+emissions+trade+war
Business Green: Simmering tensions between the EU and the group of countries opposed to the bloc's expansion of its emissions trading scheme (ETS) to include aviation increased further today, after officials signalled that the so-called "coalition of the unwilling" had agreed a package of retaliatory measures. Speaking following a meeting in Moscow of the group of 26 countries opposed to the new EU carbon pricing mechanism, Russia's deputy transport minister Valery Okulov told reporters diplomats had agreed a...

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Forest clearing blamed on local govt
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/16/forest-clearing-blamed-local-govt.html
Jakarta Post: Local government officials may have accepted bribes from logging, mining and plantation companies in exchange for permission to clear forests, a top official has said. The Forestry Ministryâ€™s director general of forestry business development, Iman Santoso, said bad governance had undermined efforts to halt Indonesiaâ€™s deforestation. â€œItâ€™s possible it happens with bribery and permits, because as we know, if there is mismanagement in our natural forest it must be from be bad governance,â€ said Iman....

Thu, 23 Feb 12
Tanzania: Norway suspends funding to WWF
http://dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/2155-norway-suspends-funding-to-wwf
Daily News: Norwegian Embassy Advisor, Mr Simon Milledge told the 'Daily News' on Tuesday that reports of fund mismanagement were revealed by the WWF last December. At the centre of the matter are two projects, one of which is Strengthening Capacity of Environmental civil society Organizations, worth over 25 million Norwegian Kroners (approx. 7bn/-) signed in April 2008. The second project to support implementation of REDD project (enhancing Tanzanian Capacity to Deliver short and Long term data on Forest...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
From Rocky Flats to Fukushima: this nuclear folly
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/feb/21/rocky-flats-fukushima-nuclear-folly
Guardian: In March 2011, novelist Kristen Iversen's memoir, Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, was waiting sedately among piles of other manuscripts at various publishing houses. Then, Japan was hit by a tsunami, and the cooling systems of the Fukushima nuclear reactor were overwhelmed, giving the world apocalyptic images of toxic floods and floating cars, of whole provinces made uninhabitable. Immediately, Iversen's book was auctioned, and the timing of its publication,...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
All fossil fuels must be cut to avoid global warming, scientists say
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fossil+fuels+must+avoid+global+warming+scientists/6186765/story.html
Montreal Gazette: Two Canadian climate change scientists from the University of Victoria say the public reaction to their recently published commentary has missed their key message: that all forms of fossil fuels, including the oilsands and coal, must be regulated for the world to avoid dangerous global warming. "Much of the way this has been reported is (through) a type of view that oilsands are good and coal is bad," said climate scientist Neil Swart, who co-authored the study with fellow climatologist Andrew...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Iowa Scientists Call For State To Address Climate Change
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Iowa-Scientists-Call-For-State-To-Address-Climate-Change-139898543.html
KCRG: Forty-four scientists from 28 Iowa colleges and universities have issued a joint call for Iowa legislators to acknowledge and address climate change. The letter was sent to all Iowa legislators on Tuesday. It calls for candidates for public office at the national, state and local levels to acknowledge the overwhelming balance of evidence for the underpinning causes of climate change, to develop appropriate policy responses, and to develop local and statewide strategies to adapt to near-term changes...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
GleickGate: Climate change activism takes a big step backward
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFa1TZnMMW2lOeizA2_V9PyeSfw-A&url=http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2012/02/gleickgate-climate-change-activism-takes-a-big-step-backward/
Houston Chronicle: It`s been a few days since the controversial leak of internal Heartland Institute documents, which revealed what we already knew: This is a partisan organization keen on sowing dissent about the prevailing scientific view of climate change. However this story has taken an explosive turn as Peter Gleick has revealed himself as the originator of the documents. Writing on his blog, he says: At the beginning of 2012, I received an anonymous document in the mail describing what appeared to be details...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Prominent Climate Scientist Admits to Leaking Heartland Documents
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46468195
LiveScience: A water and climate scientist with decades of research in his field has admitted to deceiving the free-market conservative Heartland Institute into leaking confidential documents about their donors, fundraising efforts and plans to spread doubt about climate change. Peter Gleick, the president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security in Oakland, Calif., issued a statement on the Huffington Post on Monday admitting to using a false name to trick Heartland into...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Strong Reactions to Scientistâ€™s Role in Heartland Case
http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/strong-reactions-to-climate-scientists-leak-in-heartland-institute-case?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%253A+climatecentral%252FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: Last week's publication of leaked documents detailing the finances and strategic planning of the Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank based in Chicago that has played a prominent role in promoting climate change skepticism, took an unexpected turn late Monday when a prominent climate scientist confessed to being the source of the leak. Amid growing suspicion of his possible role in the leak, Peter Gleick, a leading scientific authority on climate and water issues, admitted to being the...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
'If A Tree Falls' Explains Earth Liberation Front's Rise
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/21/147163544/if-a-tree-falls-explains-earth-liberation-fronts-rise?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Before 9/11, the FBI labelled a radical environmental group America's number one domestic terrorism threat. In the documentary If A Tree Falls, director Marshall Curry tells the story of the rise and fall of the Earth Liberation Front. Between 1995 and 2001, members of the group operated in separate anonymous cells, committing acts of arson across the Western United States. The group targeted ski resorts, lumber companies, SUV dealerships and Forest Service ranger stations. Web Resources See The...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
United States: Earth First! activist Nathan Coe: radical cultural shifts required to stave off ecological collapse
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0221-coe_interview_ryking.html
Mongabay: Many ideals, actions, and movements considered as fringe or radical by the standards of mainstream culture have gained prominence as global biodiversity withers and the biogeochemical cycles of the entire Earth System are upset by human activities. As endangered species and ecosystems are increasingly threatened, direct confrontation between activists and the entities that drive environmental damage seems also to be increasing. At the same time, concern that present global governance and distribution...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Gleick apology over Heartland leak stirs ethics debate among climate scientists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/21/gleick-apology-heartland-leak-ethics-debate
Guardian: The outing of the researcher who exposed the Heartland Institute's efforts to discredit climate change has thrown the scientific community into tumult, with fierce debates raging on Tuesday over whether to brand his actions heroic, or misguided. Peter Gleick, a water scientist and president of the Pacific Institute, admitted in a blogpost on Monday night to using a false name to dupe the thinktank into sending him confidential board materials, which he then forwarded to campaigners and journalists....

Wed, 22 Feb 12
UN climate chief turns to CEOs for action
http://news.yahoo.com/un-climate-chief-turns-ceos-action-194317069.html
Associated Press: SAs governments bicker over who should do what to slow the pace of global warming, the U.N.'s climate chief is increasingly looking to business leaders to show the way forward to a low-carbon future. Christiana Figueres told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her efforts to reach out to high-profile executives from companies such as Coca-Cola, Unilever and Virgin Group represent "a deeper recognition of the fact that the private sector can contribute in a decisive way." Since the start of...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Why Peter Gleickâ€™s sting of the Heartland Institute hurts the climate change cause
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/why-peter-gleicks-sting-of-the-heartland-institute-hurts-the-climate-change-cause/2012/02/21/gIQAqqGkRR_blog.html
Washington Post: Peter Gleick violated a principle rule of the global-warming debate: Climate scientists must be better than their opponents. Gleick, the president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, admitted Monday night that he dishonestly obtained fundraising and strategy documents from the Heartland Institute, an obnoxious anti-climate science think tank. In the process, he's done more to discredit himself and his work than he has to expose cynicism and collusion...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Airlines and tar sands proxy for bigger climate battles
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17112187
BBC: It's shaping up to be a crucial week in climate politics. At the centre stands the EU, cast, in this guise, as climate champion - determined to take a small step towards charging airlines for the full environmental costs of flying, and to tax highly-polluting forms of fossil fuels. Attacking the EU from every side is a large number of countries with serious clout. At a two-day meeting in Moscow, 26 countries opposed to the EU putting aviation inside its Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) are...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Scientist admits ruse that exposed institute's climate-change agenda
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/scientist-admits-ruse-that-exposed-institutes-climatechange-agenda-20120221-1tlv1.html
Sydney Morning Herald: A PROMINENT scientist and author has admitted duping conservative US think tank The Heartland Institute into releasing sensitive documents about its budget and its payments to climate-change sceptics. Peter Gleick, a widely published US scientist and water researcher, said he emailed a staff member at the institute pretending to be someone else and was sent a set of eight documents that included the names of hundreds of companies that had donated to the institute, details of the group's strategies...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Scientists Urge Reform for a Broken Global System
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106835
Inter Press Service: Unless governments work actively to build a brighter future for humanity, climate change, poverty and loss of biodiversity will worsen and continue to exacerbate existing global problems, top scientists warned ministers at the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) governing council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday. Replacing GDP as a measure of wealth, ending damaging subsidies, and transforming systems of governance are some possible steps they can take, the scientists said. "The...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Canada: Scientists Denounce Climate Change Denial, Censorship
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106834
Inter Press Service: Amid revelations of a well-funded U.S. organisation's plans to deliberately distort climate science, scientists and journalists at a major scientific conference called on the Canadian government to stop its muzzling of scientists. For the past four years, the Canadian government has been denying timely access to government scientists even when their findings are published in leading scientific journals, said scientists and journalists in a special session of the American Academy for the Advancement...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
United States: Apple polishes green credentials with giant 20MW solar array
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153893/apple-polishes-green-credentials-giant-20mw-solar-array?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Apple+polishes+green+credentials+with+giant+20MW+solar+array
Business Green: Apple has revealed plans to build a giant 20MW solar array to help power its North Carolina data centre, as part of its latest efforts to reduce the firm's environmental footprint. The computing giant unveiled the plan in a facilities 2012 report launched this week, which claimed that once built the system will be the largest user-owned onsite solar array in the US. The array will be installed on 100 acres of land surrounding Apple's recently opened Maiden data centre in North Carolina, which...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Carbon capture can curtail CO2 emissions, conference hears
http://www.canada.com/business/Carbon%20capture%20curtail%20emissions%20conference%20hears/6182032/story.html
PostMedia News: Carbon capture and storage won't save the world from global warming, but it can play a significant role in curtailing global emissions of carbon dioxide, say experts. At the American Association for the Advancement of Science convention that wrapped up Monday in Vancouver, specialists in carbon capture and storage indicated that the technology can work on a global scale to cut CO2 emissions by 25 per cent over the next century. Speakers representing carbon capture projects in Germany, Illinois...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Scepticism over Hazzard's audit of wind farm noise
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/scepticism-over-hazzards-audit-of-wind-farm-noise-20120220-1tjke.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE state government will conduct a six-month noise audit at three wind farms, despite protests from the industry and opposition that doing so is unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money. The Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, yesterday announced the audit of the three wind farms - Capital, Cullerin Range and Woodlawn Wind Farm, all in southern NSW, because of regular complaints from residents. He said he asked for it because it was important people had confidence the farms were complying with...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
: Wind developers wait for tax deals
http://www.omaha.com/article/20120221/NEWS01/702219922
Omaha World-Herald: Like pearly white stick figures striding across the horizon, 81 wind turbines slowly spin on the hills surrounding Petersburg. The electricity they generate makes this northeast Nebraska farm town of 372 people the state's wind-energy capital. Signs of prosperity are connected to the new jobs and the lease payments provided by the two wind farms: a new housing development, a wind farm headquarters building, a new message-board town sign and a handful of new businesses. The grocery store...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
United States: Portland forum to seek readiness for higher seas
http://www.pressherald.com/news/portland-forum-to-seek-readiness-for-higher-seas_2012-02-21.html
Portland Press Herald: Property owners, city officials, architects and researchers will gather Friday to discuss ways to save Bayside from rising sea levels, such as erecting a hurricane barrier under Tukey's Bridge to shield Back Cove from storm surges. But despite dire predictions of flood waters swamping Marginal Way, there won't be discussions about what is causing the world's oceans to rise. "We don't want to talk about global warming," said Sam Merrill, an associate research professor at the Muskie School of...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
EU oilsands policy could spark trade complaint
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/02/20/oil-sands-crude-eu.html
CBC: Canada has threatened the European Union with action at the World Trade Organization if the bloc's plan to classify oilsands crude as more harmful to the environment than other fuels goes ahead. David Plunkett, the ambassador to the EU, wrote in a December letter to the bloc's commissioner for climate action that "Canada would not accept oilsands crude being singled out." "Canada will explore every avenue at its disposal to defend its interests, including at the World Trade Organization," Plunkett...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Sea level rise underestimated, say B.C. scientists
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/02/20/bc-sea-levels-rising.html
CBC: Some scientists at an international symposium in Vancouver warn most estimates for a rise in the sea level are too conservative and several B.C. communities will be vulnerable to flooding unless drastic action is taken. The gathering of the American Association for the Advancement of Science heard Sunday the sea level could rise by as little as 30 centimetres or as much as one metre in the next century. But SFU geology professor John Clague, who studies the effect of the rising sea on the B.C....

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Santorum Takes Climate Change Denial To A Biblical Level
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/santorum-goes-biblical-with-climate-change-denial.php
TPM: Climate change denial has become a litmus test for modern Republicans, but Rick Santorum, in his fondness for melding faith and government, has become one of the precious few to cite the Bible as evidence that the science-accepting crowd has it all wrong - and apparently the first to bring that thinking to the presidential stage. "We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth, to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit not for the Earth`s benefit,"...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Strategies of climate attack exposed in leak
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/21/heartland-institute-leak-climate-attack
Guardian: After the leak from the Chicago-based thinkthank the Heartland Institute, much attention is now being focused on the alleged deception used by the water scientist Peter Gleick to obtain the sensitive internal documents. And while acts of deception cannot be condoned, it is also important to note that the documents obtained by Gleick provide an insight into how some of those groups that are fundamentally opposed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases attempt to convey the impression that their...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Europe-US partnership creates huge new market for organic foods
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153702/europe-partnership-creates-huge-market-organic-foods?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Europe-US+partnership+creates+huge+new+market+for+organic+foods
Business Green: It may not be a victory for local food activists, but a new deal brokered last week between the US and the European Union marks a big step forward for expanding organic agriculture. Under a deal announced last Wednesday by trade representatives for each region, products certified as organic by either the US Department of Agriculture or the EU's Agriculture and Regional Development department are authorised for sale in either Europe or the US. "To help reduce paperwork and expenses, the arrangement...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Putting Agriculture at the Center of Climate Talks
http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/agriculture/Putting-Agriculture-at-the-Center-of-Climate-Talks-139760603.html
Voice of America: This June in Brazil, delegates will mark the twentieth anniversary of what is commonly known as the Earth Summit. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development took place in Rio de Janeiro in nineteen ninety-two. One of the issues that the delegates plan to discuss in June at Rio+20 is the role of agriculture in climate change. A recent article written by a team of scientists says agriculture should be a top priority in climate change negotiations. It says there was some progress...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Water, water... nowhere
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/water-water-nowhere-7237428.html
Independent: On the River Kennet in Berkshire conservationists are resorting to stunning fish using electric probes and rescuing them from the dwindling trickle of water. Farmers across East Anglia are considering ditching entire crops while at nature reserves springs have dried up, leaving creatures from water voles to marsh harriers struggling to find food. It might sound like a picture from the height of a dry summer but this was the reality across a swathe of England in late winter yesterday after 18 months...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Coal bigger climate change threat than oilsands, says study
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1134231--coal-bigger-climate-change-threat-than-oilsands-says-study
Canadian Press: One of the worldâ€™s top climate scientists has calculated that emissions from Albertaâ€™s oilsands are unlikely to make a big difference to global warming and that the real threat to the planet comes from burning coal. â€œI was surprised by the results of our analysis,â€ said Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria climate modeller, who has been a lead author on two reports from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. â€œI thought it was larger than it was.â€ In a commentary published...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Coal bigger threat to climate change than oilsands: study
http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Coal+bigger+threat+climate+change+than+oilsands+study/6183969/story.html
Times Colonist: Surprising figures from a study by renowned climate scientist Andrew Weaver show that burning all the oil from the Alberta oilsands would have a relatively minor effect on global warming and that coal is the biggest villain in raising global temperatures. However, Weaver, a University of Victoria professor, wants to make it crystal clear that the research should not be seen as support for a fossil-fuel-based economy in any form. "We were trying to address some of the rhetoric we heard back...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Climate change increased likelihood of Russian 2010 heatwave â€“ study
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/21/climate-change-russian-heatwave
Guardian: The extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely because of man-made climate change, according to a study led by climate scientists and number-crunched by home PC users. But the size of the event was mostly within natural limits, said the scientists, laying to rest a controversy last year over whether the extreme weather was natural or human-induced. The 2010 heatwave broke all records for Russia â€“ temperatures in the central region of the country, including Moscow, were around...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Four-minute showers will help dried-out areas beat drought
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9094470/Four-minute-showers-will-help-dried-out-areas-beat-drought.html
Telegraph: Two water companies are sending out waterproof "egg timers' to encourage residents not to linger in the shower. Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, was forced to declare drought in the most populated area of Britain after two dry winters in a row left reservoirs dangerously low. The Anglia region is already in drought, meaning that more than half of the population of Britain faces hosepipe bans in a matter of weeks. There could be restrictions in London, where thousands of extra litres...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
EU to vote on oil sands pollution
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17102027
BBC: European Union officials are expected to vote on draft legislation that would label Canadian fuel as more polluting than oil from other parts of the world. Oil extracted from "oil sands" is regarded by some as energy intensive and environmentally damaging. The vote came as native groups sued the provincial and federal governments for breaching a treaty designed to preserve their way of life. The EU is set to vote on the matter on 23 February. The proposal from the EU's executive would...

Wed, 22 Feb 12
Opponents discuss 'countermeasures' to EU's aviation CO2 plan
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153544/opponents-discuss-countermeasures-eus-aviation-co2-plan
Business Green: A group of 26 nations opposing EU plans to tackle aviation emissions will reportedly discuss a "basket of countermeasures" at a meeting in Moscow this week, raising the possibility of a global trade war over the controversial scheme. The so-called "coalition of the unwilling" previously called on Brussels to drop measures that require airlines to carry carbon allowances covering every tonne of CO2 they emit on flights in and out of EU airports during a summit in India last year. But strengthened...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate change reduces genetic diversity
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/02/20/Climate-change-reduces-genetic-diversity/UPI-22521329781110/
United Press International: Global warming has forced alpine chipmunks in California to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species' genetic diversity, researchers say. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, say their study of chipmunks in Yosemite National Parks is one of the first to measure the impact on the genetic diversity of a species whose geographic range changes because of climate change. The decline in the chipmunk's genetic diversity occurred in the relatively short span of 90...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Mexico, U.S. sign cross-border deep water oil deal
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/20/us-mexico-oil-us-idUSTRE81J1G020120220?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Mexico and the United States signed an agreement on Monday to help U.S. firms and Mexican oil monopoly Pemex exploit deep water oil resources in the Gulf of Mexico that straddle the countries' maritime boundaries. The deal, negotiated last year, will lift the moratorium on oil and gas exploration and production for 1.5 million acres in the Gulf and sets up legal guidelines for companies to jointly develop any trans-boundary reservoirs. "These reservoirs could hold considerable reserves ......

Tue, 21 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Take an 'egg timer' into the shower say water companies as South East declared in drought
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9094138/Take-an-egg-timer-into-the-shower-say-water-companies-as-South-East-declared-in-drought.html
Telegraph: Residents are being sent waterproof "egg timers" so they don't linger in the shower, in attempt to preserve dwindling waters stocks by reducing consumption. Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, was forced to declare drought in the most populated area of Britain after two dry winters in a row left reservoirs dangerously low and fish dying in rivers. The Anglia region was already in drought, meaning more than half of the population of the UK faces hosepipe bans in a matter of weeks. ...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Forget Logic, It's Just Climate Schizophrenia
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-rigg/climate-change-policies_b_1288473.html?ref=climate-change
Huffington Post: "When our political leaders can't agree on whether climate change is a threat, the majority of people can't either. The public is divided because our political leaders are polarized." This is the upshot of a recent study on U.S. public attitudes towards climate change according to one of its lead authors, J. Craig Jenkins of Ohio State University. The research suggests it was no coincidence that Americans were most concerned about the threat of climate change at a time when at least some leaders...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Building sustainable future needs more than science, experts say
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/building-sustainable-future-needs-more-than-science-experts-say
Inter Press Service: Contrary to popular belief, humans have failed to address the earth's worsening emergencies of climate change, species' extinction and resource overconsumption not because of a lack of information, but because of a lack of imagination, social scientists and artists say.At a conference for the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) here in Vancouver, British Columbia, experts argued that the path to a truly sustainable future is through the muddy waters of emotions, values, ethics,...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Australia: Carbon price does not deter rise in coal exploration
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/carbon-price-does-not-deter-rise-in-coal-exploration-20120219-1th4q.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Nearly $3 billion was spent on mineral exploration in 2010-2011. THE impending carbon price has done nothing to deter investment in the coal industry, with spending on exploration surging faster than any other mineral commodity. Coal exploration spending in Australia rose by 62 per cent last financial year as the industry dominated corporate activity in terms of inbound investment and mergers and acquisitions. Investment in searches for new coal deposits reached $520 million, pushing it...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Scientists suggest looking into history to learn climate lessons
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-02/20/c_131421061.htm
Xinhua: A group of international scientists met here on Sunday to discuss the impact of climate change, one of the biggest issues facing the world today. The scientists, all members of the Global Human Ecodynamics Alliance, suggested looking back into history to learn lessons and better respond to the current and future challenges. They believed archeology can play a contributing role in helping make better climate change policies, "because it investigates long sequences of social and climate change...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Campaign against Canadian Keystone XL pipeline driven by US foundation millions
http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/20/campaign-against-canadian-keystone-xl-pipeline-driven-by-us-foundation-millions/
Daily Caller: A Powerpoint presentation obtained by The Daily Caller shows that during a July 2008 meeting, the $789 million Rockefeller Brothers Fund proposed to coordinate and fund a dozen environmental and anti-corporate activist groupsâ€™ efforts to scuttle pipelines carrying tar sands oil from Canada to the United States. The most recent incarnation of that pipeline plan, the Keystone XL project, was the subject of intense public controversy until the Obama administration rejected it in January. The 2008...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Meausuring China's pollution from space
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/20/measuring-china-pollution-from-space
ChinaDialogue,: The Great Wall may not, after all, be visible from space -- but Chinese air pollution is. My team of researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities, along with Battelle Memorial Institute, recently used satellite readings to produce data on fine particulate concentrations in Chinese provinces. While these satellite measurements are not perfect, they provide the first estimates of ground-level annual average concentrations of the pollutant PM 2.5 for all of China over the last decade. PM 2.5...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Civilisation faces 'perfect storm of ecological and social problems'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/20/climate-change-overconsumption
Guardian: Celebrated scientists and development thinkers today warn that civilisation is faced with a perfect storm of ecological and social problems driven by overpopulation, overconsumption and environmentally malign technologies. In the face of an "absolutely unprecedented emergency", say the 18 past winners of the Blue Planet prize â€“ the unofficial Nobel for the environment â€“ society has "no choice but to take dramatic action to avert a collapse of civilisation. Either we will change our ways and build...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
For some animals, climate change offers a chance to flourish
http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/02/20/1
ClimateWire: Imagine a planet where jellyfish rule the seas, giant rodents roam the mountains and swarms of insects blur everything in sight. It may sound far-fetched, but enough global warming is likely to change the distribution of wildlife on Earth. While species that are under threat, such as the polar bear, seem to get all the attention, others are beginning to thrive like never before. In the past three months, new studies have been published about killer whales, wandering albatross and trumpeter swans...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Firms urged to save water as South East drought declared
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153682/firms-urged-save-water-south-east-drought-declared?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Firms+urged+to+save+water+as+South+East+drought+declared
Business Green: Water companies have today agreed to step up efforts to limit the effects of a looming "super-drought" across three UK regions, following a crisis summit hosted by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman today chaired the summit between government and businesses as the South East became the second area to be declared officially in drought, alongside the Anglian region. Spelman urged water companies, businesses, and domestic customers...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate denial in the classroom
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-climate-20120220,0,3564279.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+(L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories)
LA Times: The culture wars have been fought in the classroom for decades, waged over such issues as school prayer, the teaching of evolution and whether the Pledge of Allegiance should include the phrase "under God." But the conflict usually pits backers of religious instruction against secularists. The latest skirmish, by contrast, is centered on a scientific issue that has nothing to do with religious teaching: climate change. Leaked documents from the Heartland Institute in Chicago, one of many nonprofits...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Russia could block airlines from emission trading
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/20/us-russia-airlines-idUSTRE81J10T20120220?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Russia may prohibit its airlines from carbon emission trading in protest against a European Union law it says is unfair, state carrier Aeroflot said on Monday. A group of nations will gather in Moscow this week to debate possible retaliation to the law, which raises the risk of a trade war by forcing all airlines to pay for their carbon emissions. "The Russian government is now reviewing a bill prohibiting Russian airlines to participate in emission trading: it means considering a retaliatory...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Indian minister 'shocked' CO2 emissions cuts seen as U.N. goal
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/indian-minister-shocked-co2-emissions-cuts-seen-as-un-goal
AlertNet: India's rural development minister has slammed a United Nations report which includes reducing C02 emissions as a development target agreed by poor countries, saying it was a "mistake" and that the international body was "sending the wrong signal". Jairam Ramesh, a former environment minister, was India's voice - echoing that of many developing nations - in refusing to commit to legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions in international climate change negotiations. Developing...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
EU Ministers Mull Climate Aid From Airlines, Ships, Draft Shows
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-20/eu-ministers-mull-climate-aid-from-airlines-ships-draft-shows.html
Bloomberg: European Union finance ministers will ask the blocâ€™s regulator to analyze how putting a price on carbon from aviation and shipping could help raise funds to fight climate change, according to a draft EU document. Finance ministers from the 27-nation EU are scheduled to meet in Brussels tomorrow, after a gathering of euro-area ministers scheduled to start later today. One of the issues on the agenda is financing the battle against global warming after a United Nations conference in Durban, South...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Six nations, including U.S., set up climate initiative to target short-term greenhouse gases
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0220-hance_un_blackcarbon.html
Mongabay: With global negotiations to tackle carbon emissions progressing interminably, nations are seeking roundabout ways to combat global climate change. U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, announced in India last week a new six nation initiative to target non-carbon greenhouse gases, including soot (also known as "black carbon"), methane, and hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs). Reductions of these emissions would not only impact short-term climate change, but also improve health and agriculture worldwide...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
NASA map reveals the heights of the world's forests
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0220-hance_nasa_forestheight.html
Mongabay: The height of a forest is important in a number of different ways. First the taller a forest, the more likely there are important niche habitats in the canopy providing homes to unique species. In addition, a forests' height says something about its ability to sequester carbon: the taller a forest the more carbon it can hold. Now a team of researchers, led by NASA, has created the world's first global map showing the height of the world's forests (click here for interactive map), publishing their...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Coal, not oilsands, the true climate change bad guy says study
http://news.yahoo.com/coal-not-oilsands-true-climate-change-bad-guy-195225148.html
Canadian Press: One of the world's top climate scientists has calculated that emissions from Alberta's oilsands are unlikely to make a big difference to global warming and that the real threat to the planet comes from burning coal. "I was surprised by the results of our analysis," said Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria climate modeller, who has been a lead author on two reports from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "I thought it was larger than it was." In a commentary published...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Heartland Republicans: Investigate Heartland
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/a-siegel/heartland-republicans-inv_b_1287351.html
Huffington Post: From the heartland, a group of Republicans have made an open call for a serious investigation of the leaked heartless Heartland Institute documents. In the press release (reproduced in full, absent specific contact information, here), they emphasize the need for conservatives and conservative institutions to engage in truthful discussion of climate science issues and a move away from anti-science syndrome "as William F. Buckley once said, "Conservatism implies a certain submission to reality." While...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Australia: Squeezed Into Smaller Spaces, Koalas Now Face Deadly Disease
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/science/queensland-koalas-hit-by-chlamydia-infections.html
New York Times: The koala, one of Australiaâ€™s most treasured creatures, is in trouble. Faced with habitat loss, climate change and bacterial disease, koalas are being pushed into smaller and smaller regions of the country. In Queensland, the vast state in Australiaâ€™s northeastern corner, surveys suggest that from 2001 to 2008, their numbers dropped as much as 45 percent in urban areas and 15 percent in bushland. And while climate change and habitat loss are affecting many other uniquely Australian animals, too...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Saudis Yet to Approve Renewable Energy Strategy, Official Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-19/saudis-yet-to-approve-renewable-energy-strategy-official-says.html
Bloomberg: Saudi Arabia has yet to approve the countryâ€™s renewable energy strategy that aims to reduce crude oil used for domestic power generation and water desalination, an official said today. The strategy which includes new regulations and financial incentives for private investors to develop the countryâ€™s renewable energy sources have been submitted to the Cabinet for approval, Maher al-Odan, a consultant with the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, said at a conference in Dhahran, Saudi...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Revealed: the new species threatened by deep-sea mining
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1252002/revealed_the_new_species_threatened_by_deepsea_mining.html
Ecologist: Before the late nineteenth century, most people believed the deep sea was a barren wasteland, unable to support life even in its simplest form. After several expeditions by naturalist Charles Wyville Thompson, the world came to realise life not only exists, but prospers in the depths of the ocean. His three-year voyage on the HMS Challenger produced detailed illustrations of alien-like sea cucumbers, ethereal jellyfish and strange corals all thriving at 3,000 fathoms below. Even after such discoveries,...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Canada threatens trade war with EU over tar sands
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153599/canada-threatens-trade-war-eu-tar-sands?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Canada+threatens+trade+war+with+EU+over+tar+sands
Guardian: Canada has threatened a trade war with European Union over the bloc's plan to label oil from Alberta's vast tar sands as highly polluting, the Guardian can reveal, before a key vote in Brussels on 23 February. "Canada will not hesitate to defend its interests, including at the World Trade Organisation," state letters sent to European commissioners by Canada's ambassador to the EU and its oil minister, released under freedom of information laws. The move is a significant escalation of the row...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Research confirms climate warming for yellow cedar death
http://www.katu.com/news/national/Research-confirms-climate-warming-for-yellow-cedar-death-139576398.html
Associated Press: U.S. Forest Service researchers have confirmed what has long been suspected about a valuable tree in Alaska's Panhandle: Climate warming is killing off yellow cedar. The mighty trees can live more than 1,000 years, resisting bugs and rot and even defending themselves against injury, but their shallow roots are vulnerable to freezing if soil is not insulated by snow. And for more than a century, with less snow on the ground, frozen roots have killed yellow cedar on nearly a half-million acres in...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Animals can't keep up with climate change
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2012/02/19/jun03.asp
Sunday Observer: Animal and insect species in Europe are losing the fight to keep up with rapid changes in climate in a new phenomenon dubbed "climatic debt", according to an international study. More than 11,000 bird and butterfly species were analysed over 20 years by scientists in the largest study of its kind. Releasing some of the data for the first time, scientists reveal how species are failing to keep up as warmer temperatures move north. The findings saw birds lag behind their normal climate zones, on...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Foreign aid cash spent tackling climate change
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/9090830/Foreign-aid-cash-spent-tackling-climate-change.html
Telegraph: The Department for International Development (Dfid) has spent the total on projects which they say will either reduce carbon emissions abroad or attempt to deal with the effects of predicted changes in the earth's climate. In the past four years Dfid has spent Â£900 million on climate change projects with nearly two thirds of that being spent in the past financial year under the Coalition. A further Â£533 million has already been committed up to 2013. The biggest recipients of the climate change...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate health costs: Bug-borne ills, killer heat
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/women/Climate+health+costs+borne+ills+killer+heat/1638902/story.html?id=1638902
Reuters: Tree-munching beetles, malaria-carrying mosquitoes and deer ticks that spread Lyme disease are three living signs that climate change is likely to exact a heavy toll on human health. These pests and others are expanding their ranges in a warming world, which means people who never had to worry about them will have to start. And they are hardly the only health threats from global warming. The Lancet medical journal declared in a May 16 commentary: "Climate change is the biggest global health...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Warm Winter Is Casting a Chill on Ice Fishing
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/us/warm-winter-is-casting-a-chill-on-ice-fishing.html
New York Times: In winter, little shacks appear seemingly out of nowhere here along frozen Lake Minnetonka, shelters for a die-hard group that does not let the small matter of season get in the way of fishing. These fish houses, which have grown ever more elaborate with features like televisions and ovens, are hauled onto the ice every year. But this year there are fewer of them. Ice-fishing tours and sales of bait and the special short rods used for fishing inside shelters have slipped as well, merchants around...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Cameron, Sarkozy to sign nuclear deal; Rolls-Royce benefits
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-17/cameron-sarkozy-sign-nuclear-deal-benefiting-rolls-royce.html
Bloomberg: U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron signed an accord in Paris on civilian nuclear cooperation with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, paving the way for the construction of a new generation of power stations in Britain. Relations between Britain and France have been strained by Cameron's refusal in December to back a European Union accord to strengthen the euro and by Sarkozy's push for an EU-wide financial-transaction tax. After their initial meeting today, the two leaders said they had focused...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Emissions trading small help to California budget plan â€“ report
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL2E8DGEQX20120216
Reuters: California Governor Jerry Brown may only get a fraction of the revenue for the state budget from a greenhouse-gas emissions trading program that he expects, a budget watchdog agency said in a report on Thursday. The report by the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office said Brown's plan "likely overestimates the magnitude of potential General Fund relief" that revenue from the program would provide California's budget, which faces a deficit of $9.2 billion. Brown's budget plan for the fiscal...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Plotting a road map for a low-carbon future
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/plotting-a-road-map-for-a-low-carbon-future/article2341616/
Globe and Mail: The idea that scientists will lead humanity through our most daunting challenges is an appealing one. Faced with threats of catastrophic climate change, new global pandemics and a growing food crisis, researchers around the world are pursuing technological advances that would, if fully deployed, allow us to contain those risks. And in the process, sleep easier. Last June, a high-powered group of scientists and thinkers gathered in Waterloo, Ont., to explore how science and technological innovation...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Scottish and Southern Energy's Â£800m vision for hydro dam in Great Glen
http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/scottish_and_southern_energy_s_800m_vision_for_hydro_dam_in_great_glen_1_2121666
Scotsman: ENERGY giant Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has revealed ambitious plans to build Scotland`s biggest hydro-electric scheme in the heart of the Great Glen. The companyâ€™s green energy division, SSE Renewables, has submitted a planning application to the Scottish Government to construct a 600-megawatt power scheme above Loch Lochy, with depths of 230ft the third deepest loch in Scotland. Under the plans for the new â€œpumped storageâ€ hydro-electric scheme, a 300ft high dam would be built at Coire...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Businesses defend donations to anti-climate group
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/businesses-defend-donations-anti-climate-group
Marketplace: Transcript Kai Ryssdal: On the better-than-even chance that you've never heard of the Heartland Institute based out of Chicago, it's a free market think tank that is opposed to environmental regulation. This week, somebody posing as a Heartland insider leaked a bunch of company documents. Among other secrets, the paper trail listed Heartland's donors -- many of them well-known corporations. Corporations which are now on the environmental defensive. Marketplace's Amy Scott reports. Amy Scott:...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Lack of expertise blamed for Bolivia's lithium delays
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/lack-of-expertise-blamed-for-bolivia-s-lithium-delays.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: Delays in Bolivia's efforts to capitalise on its rich lithium supplies are being partly blamed on a lack of relevant scientific expertise in the country. Strong global demand for lithium carbonate in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones and laptops has tripled its price in less than a decade to around US$6,000 per tonne. But a pilot plant due to start producing lithium carbonate for research purposes in 2009 has been postponed until May 2012. And the first plant to industrialise lithium...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Moscow air talks to debate measures against EU: draft
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-eu-airlines-idUSTRE81G11B20120217?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Nations opposing a European Union law that forces all airlines to pay for their carbon emissions will next week debate an array of counter-measures, a draft agenda seen by Reuters on Friday showed, raising the risk of an aviation trade war. The agenda also refers to the formal dispute procedure under the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, although some airline representatives and analysts have said the meeting would be unlikely to decide on whether to invoke that for now. China,...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Barbados Looks to Beaches as First Line of Defence
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106795
Inter Press Service: Like most of its neighbours in the English-speaking Caribbean, Barbados's main economic asset is its coastal zone. So it is no surprise that coastal instability due to climate change and an increasing frequency of disasters has caught the attention of officials on the tiny island where sandy beaches, coral reefs and other coastal ecosystems distributed along 97 kms of shoreline and a warm tropical climate create optimal conditions for a tourism industry. The coastal zone is also central to...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Nuclear power is an expensive gamble that may (or may not) pay off
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/17/nuclear-power-expensive-gamble
Guardian: Britain's energy future starts in Paris with David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy signing formal agreements for the UK and France to work together on nuclear power. Attention will soon shift to a 500-hectare (1,250-acre) plot in Somerset where the French state energy giant EDF hopes to start work on Hinkley C. If all goes to plan, the first nuclear power station to be built in Britain since 1995 will generate 2,000MW of electricity a year by 2018-2019. The reality is that few, if any, of the world's...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate change leads to pollution of indigenous people's water supplies
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-climate-pollution-indigenous-people.html
Physorg: These are the preliminary findings of Sherilee Harper, a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar in Aboriginal People's Health at the University of Guelph, who says that there has been a significant increase in the incidence of diarrhea and vomiting following these weather events. Harper is undertaking a comparative study of how extreme weather events affect waterborne diseases in the Arctic and in southwestern Uganda--and is finding plenty of similarities between health issues faced by indigenous groups...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Indonesia: Large Area of New Guinea Stripped of Protection for Agribusiness
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/large_area_of_new_guinea_stripped_of_protection_for_agribusiness/3337/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: The MIFEE project government-based agribusiness project, according to a new report. In an analysis of revisions to Indonesiaâ€™s moratorium on new forest concessions -- including a comparison of maps from when the moratorium was published in May 2011 and after revisions were adopted in November 2011 -- the Jakarta-based NGO Greenomics-Indonesia found that 406,718 hectares of previously protected land have been excised for use by The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE), a massive agricultural...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Canada: Risks of placing scientists 'on message'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16881087
BBC: It is more than a little embarrassing for the Canadian government to be accused of "muzzling" its own scientists when it is hosting one of the world's largest scientific conferences in Vancouver. The allegation made at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting is that there has been unprecedented interference by the Canadian government in the free flow of scientific information. Speakers at the meeting talk of the government's actions as going beyond the general...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Obama bypasses Congress again on climate change
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2012/02/obama-bypasses-congress-on-climate-change/1
USA Today: President Obama, who said last month that divisions in Congress are "too deep" to tackle climate change, bypassed Capitol Hill again this week with another effort to reduce climate-warming emissions. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Thursday, accompanied by officials from Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico and Sweden, a joint effort to curb the short-lived emissions of pollutants including soot (also called black carbon), methane and hydrofluorocarbons that account for 30% to...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Air Pollution Ups Risk Of Stroke, Impaired Memory
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/17/147047547/air-pollution-ups-risk-of-stroke-impaired-memory?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: IRA FLATOW, HOST: This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. You probably know that smog is bad for you, or you could just feel it. But the effects of air pollution can go way beyond damaging your lungs, right to your brain, possibly speeding up memory loss, sort of making your brain age faster or upping your risk of stroke if you're out on an especially smoggy day. That's the conclusion of two studies published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Jennifer Weuve is an assistant professor...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Only the heavens can prevent a dreadful drought in England
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/countryside/9089030/Only-the-heavens-can-prevent-a-dreadful-drought-in-England.html
Telegraph: Writing about impending drought, in my experience, is a dicey business. The last time I did so -- in June 2011, after the second driest spring on record -- a wet summer duly followed. And I well remember, as a young reporter, interviewing Denis Howell, the newly appointed Minister for Drought, in the long dry summer of 1976: within days the heavens opened and he was made Minister for Floods. Yet last summer's rains only provided brief relief and the country is now facing the biggest water crisis...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Heartland Institute faces fresh scrutiny over tax status
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/17/heartland-institute-fresh-scrutiny-tax
Guardian: The Heartland Institute, the libertarian thinktank whose project to undermine science lessons for schoolchildren was exposed this week, faces new scrutiny of its finances â€“ including its donors and tax status. The Guardian has learned of a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service about Heartland's 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. There was also a call from a group of climate scientists who have personally been on the receiving end of attacks from Heartland and bloggers funded by...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
A 'TouchÃ©!' From Climate Scientists
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/a-touche-from-climate-scientists/
New York Times: A group of climate scientists has written a letter to the Heartland Institute urging the nonprofit group to â€œrecognize how its attacks on science and scientists have helped poison the debate over climate change policy,â€ The Guardian newspaper reports. The institute found itself in a quandary this week when its own internal documents were leaked online by an anonymous party. Among other things, the documents described a plan by Heartland to promote a school curriculum casting global warming as a...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
House Republicans seek more documents in Solyndra probe
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-solyndra-idUSTRE81G26K20120217?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Republican lawmakers alleged on Friday that the Energy Department used a loan guarantee to a massive rooftop solar project as part of a last-ditch effort to bail out Solyndra, a solar panel maker that later failed. The Energy Department denied the claims. The White House has said House Republicans are distorting the facts in the interest of politics. The House Energy and Commerce Committee asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu to provide internal documents about the relationship between Solyndra...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate change making for more low-oxygen zones off BC coast, says expert
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Climate+change+making+more+oxygen+zones+coast+says+expert/6171764/story.html
Vancouver Sun: The warming of the world's oceans due to climate change is resulting in an expansion of low-oxygen zones, negatively affecting marine life, such as groundfish, off the British Columbia coast, according to a U.S. expert. "Pacific groundfish distributions have changed in recent years," said Lisa Levin, a marine scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. "They're moving shallower and further northward in response to declining oxygen levels." Predictions are that these...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate change may increase risk of water shortage in US by 2050: study
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/world-news/18992/climate-change-may-increase-risk-of-water-shortage-in-u-s--by-2050--study.html
Xinhua: More than one third of the counties in the United States could face a "high" or "extreme" risk of water shortage due to climate change by 2050, according to a study published Wednesday. The new study, carried in the Journal of Environmental Science & Technology, also concluded that 70 percent of the more than 3,100 U.S. counties could face "some" risk of shortage of fresh water for drinking, farming and other uses. Population growth is expected to increase the demand for water for municipal...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Biomass isn't carbon neutral, study finds
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/02/15/Biomass-isnt-carbon-neutral-study-finds/UPI-17841329310805/
United Press International: Burning wood for electricity instead of using fossil fuels might increase levels of atmospheric carbon, a study of the U.S. Southeast determined. A study conducted for the National Wildlife Foundation and the Southern Environmental Law Center concluded that using wood for large-scale power plants could lead to higher levels of atmospheric carbon for the next half century. "This study brings us to the crux of the matter regarding biomass electric power and atmospheric carbon, which is that consideration...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Australia to assess development pressure on Barrier Reef
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/18/us-australia-environment-idUSTRE81H05U20120218?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Australia will carry out a comprehensive assessment of development pressure on the Great Barrier Reef to help preserve the world's largest coral reef system, ministers said Saturday. The assessment will take into account how development along Australia's northeast coast is affecting the reef, Environment Minister Tony Burke said in a joint statement with the Queensland state government. In 2010, part of the reef was damaged when a Chinese-owned coal ship, the Shen Neng 1, ran aground on it....

Tue, 21 Feb 12
U.S. Tentatively Approves Shell Spill Plan for New Arctic Drilling
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/science/earth/us-tentatively-approves-shell-spill-plan-for-new-arctic-drilling.html
New York Times: In a crucial step toward the ultimate approval of new oil drilling off the North Slope of Alaska, the Interior Department on Friday tentatively approved Shellâ€™s plans for responding to a potential spill in the frigid Arctic waters. Shell still needs to cross several more regulatory barriers before it will be permitted to begin drilling as many as six exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea in July. But the green light from the Interior Department on the companyâ€™s oil spill response plan is a clear...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Philippines: New climate change risk study
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/351766/new-climate-change-risk-study
Manilla Bulletin: An international conservation group is set to lead a new climate change vulnerability assessment of six cities in the country to prepare for the devastation caused by natural disasters. The World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines) will partner with the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation in conducting the Climate Change and Business Risk Assessment studies in the cities of Laoag, Dagupan, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Lucena and Zamboanga. The study, which will begin...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Dying yellow cedars
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=12-P13-00007&segmentID=6
Living on Earth: Something is killing the majestic Yellow Cedars of southeastern Alaska and parts of British Columbia. Scientists have been baffled for decades but now they have an answer. Paul Hennon, a researcher at the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, tells host Bruce Gellerman what's going on. Transcript GELLERMAN: To the Native people of Southeast Alaska, yellow cedar is more than just a tree. It's deeply rooted in their culture and mythology. They use yellow cedar to fashion canoes...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Green taxes add 15 percent to your bills
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2102848/Green-taxes-add-15-bills-At-admission-families-paying-energy.html
Daily Mail: Electricity prices are 15 per cent more expensive than they should be because of green policies, Whitehall officials have admitted. Energy costs for hard-pressed consumers have been pushed up by extra charges imposed to help the Government meet pledges to cut carbon emissions. Projections in Whitehall show that by 2020, the burden for electricity will be an astonishing 27 per cent more than it would otherwise have been. The figure for gas will be 7 per cent higher. The added expense could...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
If you thought it was hot last summer . .
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/unusually-hot-summers-becoming-more-likely-study-finds/
Climate Central: If you thought last summer was hot, just wait. What are now considered to be unusually hot summer temperatures are likely to be the new normal in just a few decades. In a trend that fits with manmade global warming, a new study shows the odds of unusually warm summers have already increased in much of the United States, and will rise much more in the near future. Other studies have looked at changes in short-term heat waves, but this is the first to look at the odds of changes in average summer...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Pollutants: 6 nations tackle a far-flung and dirty array of problems
http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/02/17/2
CllimateWire: In India, researchers are exploring how to finance zigzag brick kilns. In Peru, policymakers are trying to put teeth into weak laws regulating landfills. And from China to Vietnam, scientists are working with farmers to aerate rice paddies. This is what reducing methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbon emissions looks like on the ground, a mission that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday declared an important new element in the fight against climate change. The $15 million Clean...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
A second front in the climate war
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/opinion/a-second-front-in-the-climate-war.html
New York Times: Year after year, the worldâ€™s nations gather to find ways to reduce carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, with little meaningful progress. Frustrated by this slow pace, the United States and five other countries announced this week a modest but potentially game-changing initiative to cut three other pollutants that also contribute significantly to climate change. The three pollutants â€” methane, soot (also known as black carbon) and hydrofluorocarbons â€” together account for about 30 percent to...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Countries seek retaliation to Europe's carbon tax on airlines
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/business/global/countries-seek-retaliation-to-europes-carbon-tax-on-airlines.html
New York Times: China, the United States and two dozen other countries are looking at coordinated retaliation â€” including putting pressure on European airlines and other industries â€” if Europe tries to enforce a law requiring airlines to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions. The system, the European Unionâ€™s boldest initiative on climate protection to date, has provoked a worldwide outcry and raised the unwelcome prospect of a full-scale trade war. European officials have stood firm while challenging opponents...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Uncharted waters: Probing aquifers to head off war
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328512.200-uncharted-waters-probing-aquifers-to-head-off-war.html
New Scientist: DEEP beneath the eastern Sahara, the Nubian Sandstone aquifer was in trouble. By the early 2000s, the aquifer - one of the largest and oldest groundwater deposits in the world, which supplies Libya, Egypt, Chad and Sudan - was emptying fast. Egypt was tapping the aquifer to feed its growing desert cities far from the Nile. Libya, whose only other water source is the salty Mediterranean, was drawing water off by way of an underground network of pipes and aqueducts known as the Great Man-Made River,...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Hume: Fake skeptics of climate change won't be swayed by good science
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Hume+Fake+skeptics+climate+change+swayed+good+science/6174934/story.html
Edmonton Journal: kilometer spit of floating ice protruding into the Southern Ocean from East Antarctica. Columnist Stephen Hume says that some climate change skeptics won't be swayed by science. Thousands of personal emails, research data and other documents exchanged between scientists involved in global warming research - one of them Pennsylvania State University's Michael Mann, who is lecturing here at Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre on climate change Sunday evening - were lofted to the Internet. Bloggers...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
US wind industry warns 37,000 jobs at risk if tax credit lapses
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153303/wind-industry-warns-jobs-risk-tax-credit-lapses?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=US+wind+industry+warns+37%2C000+jobs+at+risk+if+tax+credit+lapses
Business Green: The US wind energy industry yesterday issued a stark warning that its recent progress will stall and 37,000 jobs could be at risk if Congress fails to extend a tax credit widely regarded as critical to wind farm developers. The American Wind Energy Association warned that an extension of the federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC) does not appear to have been included in payroll tax legislation currently passing through Congress. Failure to agree an extension of the tax break would...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Fears of severe drought recall the summer of 1976
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/17/fears-drought-summer-1976
Guardian: For readers of a certain age, 1976 will bring back memories of Fernando by Abba being played on transistor radios, Manchester United being humbled by lowly Southampton in the FA Cup final, inflation raging over 20%, and a blistering summer heatwave that dried up reservoirs and rivers for the first time in living memory. With much of the country baked by temperatures of around 32C and not a drop of rain in sight, the Labour government led by Jim Callaghan began to panic, so much so that it considered...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Linking human evolution and climate change
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-linking-human-evolution-climate.html
Physorg: The 2012 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference runs Feb. 16 to 20 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in downtown Vancouver. Collard will give a talk called Environmental drivers of technological evolution in small-scale populations during a seminar called Climate Change and Human Evolution: Problems and Prospects. Collard's talk on Fri., Feb. 17 will kick off the seminar. Collard will argue, "we need to better understand the ways that climate and related environmental...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Scientist Michael Mann on life in the 'climate war' trenches
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/17/michael-mann-climate-war
Guardian: It is almost possible to dismiss Michael Mann's account of a vast conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry to harrass scientists and befuddle the public. His story of that campaign, and his own journey from naive computer geek to battle-hardened climate ninja, seems overwrought, maybe even paranoid. But now comes the unauthorised release of documents showing how a libertarian thinktank, the Heartland Institute, which has in the past been supported by Exxon, spent millions on lavish conferences attacking...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
EU edges towards carbon price support measures
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153278/eu-edges-carbon-price-support-measures?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=EU+edges+towards+carbon+price+support+measures
Business Green: EU politicians have reportedly agreed a compromise text that could see the bloc withhold carbon permits from auction in order to boost low prices. The text, which will be put forward for a vote later this month, does not specify how many permits will be held back from the next phase of the emissions trading scheme (ETS). But it does raise the prospect of the EU intervening in the market in order to tackle the mounting surplus, which many traders and businesses blame for prices dropping to record...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Michael Mann: 'I've been subjected to a crescendo of attacks' â€“ video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2012/feb/17/climate-scientist-michael-mann
Guardian: The scientist on being at the centre of 'climate wars' and becoming 'battle-hardened' by the daily attacks he and other scientists have received after the publication of his book The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars

Tue, 21 Feb 12
UK to ink nuclear cooperation deal with France
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2153235/uk-ink-nuclear-operation-deal-france?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=UK+to+ink+nuclear+cooperation+deal+with+France
Business Green: David Cameron will today sign a landmark deal to strengthen nuclear power cooperation with France that could provide a major boost to the UK's proposed fleet of new reactors. The government claimed the agreement will lead to a raft of commercial deals, worth more than Â£500m, in the sector and generate 1,500 UK jobs as the country looks to build eight new plants by 2025 to replace aging fossil fuel stations. But Cameron said today's joint declaration could be "just the beginning" of a total...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Heartland Institute leak shows climate change skeptics are playing the public
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2012/02/heartland_institute_leak_shows.html
Star-Ledger: An iceberg is seen in Disko Bay, Greenland above the arctic circle in this 2005 file photo. Scientists meeting in the area said global warming has an increasing effect on the Arctic region with glaciers shrinking, temperatures of the arctic waters warming, and permafrost softening and that nations must take action against global warming. The nation`s leading skeptics of climate change science were dealt a blow this week when hundreds of private internal documents - detailing donors, spending and...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate change conversions are not all they might seem
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/geoffreylean/100138037/climate-change-conversions-are-not-all-they-might-seem/
Telegraph: There's more joy, it seems, in the climate debate about one perceived sinner who repents than over 99 who are not thought to need to do so. So both sides are quick to exult in what they see as conversions. Two such are being paraded at the moment. Those warning against the dangers of climate change are delighted that they have been joined by the oil minister of Saudi Arabia, the country that (for obvious reasons) has done most over the years to try to obstruct international agreement on measures...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Computer simulation models can predict tropical cyclone formation
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/computer-simulation-models-can-predict-tropical-cyclone-formation.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: Advanced computer simulation models can predict cyclone formation in the north Indian Ocean a week in advance, an international conference heard. Peter Webster, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology's school of earth and atmospheric sciences, US, told a meet on Indian Ocean tropical cyclones and climate change, which began this week (14 February) in New Delhi, that such models used multiple computer simulations. Webster's team tested a European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Water-Gate: Texas State Report on Dealing with Current and Future Drought
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/16/426122/water-gate-texas-state-drought-never-mentions-climate-change/?mobile=nc
Think Progress: Ironically, the cover of a major Texas report on drought and water planning points out that it`s been "dry" and "hot" and implies humans have some control over the state`s thermostat. But the report is silent on human contribution to the heat and drought now and in the future - and is thus dangerously misleading as a planning document. Can a state devastated by its most severe hot-weather drought on record actually release a water-planning report on the future of drought in Texas that never mentions...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
House passes Keystone bill, Senate action uncertain
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-keystone-pipeline-idUSTRE81G04Z20120217?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The House of Representatives passed an energy bill on Thursday that would wrest control of a permit for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline away from President Barack Obama, who has put the project on hold. The bill, part of a broader House Republican effort to fund highways and infrastructure projects, would also expand offshore oil drilling and open up parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. While approval of the Keystone measure by the House was widely expected,...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
David Cameron in France to sign nuclear power deal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/17/david-cameron-france-nuclear-power
Press Association: Britain and France are to sign a landmark agreement to co-operate on civil nuclear energy, paving the way for the construction of a new generation of power plants in the UK. Deals between British and French companies â€“ worth more than Â£500m â€“ will allow work to start on new facilities, creating more than 1,500 jobs. The prime minister, David Cameron, who is in Paris to meet the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to seal the deal, said the agreements were "just the beginning" of investment the...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Climate-change naysayers drowning out scientific research, expert says
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/Climate+change+naysayers+drowning+scientific+research+expert+says/6165986/story.html
Postmedia News: The president of one of the world's biggest scientific organizations says the research community is being outgunned by naysayers. She said she is "scared to death" by trends that show declining public acceptance of global warming and the growing influence of science skeptics, who have plenty of resources to spread their misinformation. "They are actually being effective," Nina Federoff, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said Thursday when asked about reports...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Uganda Keeps Coffee-Output Target Amid Disease, Climate Change
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/uganda-keeps-coffee-output-target-amid-disease-climate-change.html
Bloomberg: Uganda, Africaâ€™s biggest coffee exporter, is maintaining its target to boost production to 4.5 million bags by 2015 even as it faces challenges from rising temperatures and coffee-wilt disease, an industry body said. The East African nation plans to begin planting seven strains of robusta-variety trees that are resistant to coffee wilt, while climate change will partly be combated by irrigation programs, said Edmund Kananura Kyerere, quality and regulatory manager at the Uganda Coffee Development...

Tue, 21 Feb 12
Coal-Power in China Makes Electric Vehicles More Polluting
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/44010
Environmental News Network: China produces electricity for its burgeoning economy with its ample coal reserves. A full 80 percent comes from coal-burning power plants, and new plants are being constructed all the time. The country's reliance on coal power, while causing very dirty pollution, also has an interesting side effect. It takes away the "greenness" of electric vehicles. A new study from a team of University of Tennessee researchers has found that the power generated to fuel electric cars produces much greater emissions...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Anti-climate science group threatens mass lawsuits
http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/61492-anti-climate-science-group-threatens-mass-lawsuits
TG Daily: A libertarian thinktank devoted to rubbishing climate change is threatening to sue anybody commenting on certain leaked documents - even where the papers are genuine, it says. Internal documents belonging to the Heartland Institute were leaked to the DeSmogBlog website, and appear to show the extent to which the Insitute's activities are funded by major corporations, some of which publicly support action on climate change. In other material, a $100,000 program to try and stop teachers teaching...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
U.S. leads low-cost bid to curb global warming pollutants
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/us-carbon-usa-idUSTRE81F1TT20120216?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The United States said on Thursday it will contribute $12 million to a six-country initiative to fight against climate change by low-cost programs, such as promoting clean cooking stoves. Announcing the initiative, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the plan does not address carbon dioxide emissions, the primary cause of global warming that many governments are reluctant to cap. The six-country coalition, which also includes Bangladesh, Canada, Mexico, Sweden and Ghana, will tackle...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Billions Of Dollars At Stake In BP Oil Spill Trial
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/16/147002686/billions-of-dollars-at-stake-in-bp-oil-spill-trial?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The first phase of the trial for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27. Billions of dollars are at stake for BP, the other companies involved, and the states, companies and individuals harmed by the disaster. Negotiations between all parties are continuing and some observers believe the case could be settled before opening arguments even begin.

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Leaked docs offer insight into how climate-skeptic groups operate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/leaked-docs-provide-insight-into-how-climate-skeptic-groups-operate/2012/02/16/gIQAn8BKIR_blog.html
Washington Post: Recently, the DesmogBlog got its hands on a trove of alleged internal fund-raising documents from the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit that spends a lot of time trying to dispute mainstream climate science. Do they actually tell us anything? No money for you, buddy. (Nathan Denette/AP) First, some important details. At least one of the "strategy' documents (PDF) acquired by DesmogBlog appears to be a forgery -- Heartland insists that it is a "total fake' -- but the forged document...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Heartland Institute says leaked climate change documents were stolen, fake
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/green/global-warming/120216/heartland-institute-leaked-climate-change-documents-fake-stolen
GlobalPost: Heartland Institute, a think tank in Chicago known for its undermining of climate change, announced Wednesday that leaked lists of high-profile donors and details of future projects to discredit global warming were "stolen" and that at least one was fake, according to a statement from the organization. The stolen documents appear to have been written by Heartland's president for a board meeting that took place on January 17, according to the statement, and Heartland has not confirmed their authenticity....

Fri, 17 Feb 12
White House response: Obama environmental record â€œhistoricâ€ on fuel standards, climate change
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/02/16/white-house-response-obama-environmental-record-historic-on-fuel-standards-climate-change/
San Francisco Chronicle: Responding to concerns of leading progressives and donors in the Bay Area about President Obama`s environmental record, the White House says his Administration has achieved "historic fuel economy standards," while taking unprecedented efforts to supporting development of renewable energies and reduce America`s reliance on foreign oil. â€œIn just a few years the Obama Administration has put in place some of the most important public health protections since the passage of the Clean Air Act, achieved...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Heartland's leaked documents show how climate skepticism spreads
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0216/Heartland-s-leaked-documents-show-how-climate-skepticism-spreads
Christian Science Monitor: The website DeSmogBlog, which seeks to "clear the PR pollution that is clouding the science on climate change" obtained documents leaked by the Heartland Institute, including the organization's 2012 budget, its fundraising plan, and recent board meeting minutes. The institute, which has offices in Chicago and Washington D.C., has claimed that one of the documents is fake, but admits that others were authentic. The documents represent "a rare glimpse behind the wall of a key climate denial organisation,"...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
INFLUENCE GAME: Leaks show group's climate efforts
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46420632
Associated Press: Leaked documents from a prominent conservative think tank show how it sought to teach schoolchildren skepticism about global warming and planned other behind-the-scenes tactics using millions of dollars in donations from big corporate names. More than $14 million of the money used by the Chicago-based Heartland Institute would come from one anonymous man, according to the leaked documents prepared for a meeting of the group's board. Heartland is one of the loudest voices denying man-made global...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
More than 1 million acres of New Guinea forest cut from Indonesia's forest moratorium
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0216-greenomics_papua_mifee.html
Mongabay: More than 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land - including 350,000 hectares of peatland - in Indonesian New Guinea lost their protected status during a November 2011 revision of Indonesia's moratorium on new forest concessions, reports a new analysis by Greenomics-Indonesia, a Jakarta-based NGO. The report, Peatland and forest at serious risk from Merauke food and energy estate development, focuses on The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE), a giant agricultural project in...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Recent extreme weather affected 80% of Americans
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/extremes/story/2012-02-16/extreme-weather-climate-change-global-warming/53116220/1?csp=34news
USA Today: Last year was particularly awful for weather in the USA, with at least 14 weather and climate disasters across the nation that each inflicted more than $1 billion in damage. They included a series of devastating tornado outbreaks in the central and southern USA, the ongoing drought in the southern Plains, massive river flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and batterings from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Environment America's report looks broadly at county-level weather-related...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
US launches new coalition to fight climate change
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hDMDQm-jr0zYpscHvm8b4YZkqtvw?docId=CNG.231a2fa61aa1a57857a4682b54569242.51
Agence France-Presse: Faulting the world for not doing enough to fight climate change, the United States on Thursday announced the formation of a coalition to cut short-lived pollutants that speed up warming and harm health. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the coalition of the United States, Bangladesh, Canada, Mexico, Sweden and Ghana will launch a global drive to curb black carbon (soot), methane and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The chief US diplomat said such pollutants survive only a short time in the...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Methane, Soot Are Targets Of New U.S. Climate Initiative
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/16/146988856/methane-soot-are-targets-of-new-u-s-climate-initiative?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The United States and five other nations are embarking on a new program to limit pollutants connected to global warming. But they're not targeting carbon dioxide with this effort - instead, they're looking at methane gas, and soot. NPR's Richard Harris filed this report for our Newscast desk: "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is teaming up with Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Ghana and Bangladesh to get countries thinking about some potent contributors to climate change." "For example,...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Marine protected areas: changing climate could require change of plans
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-marine-areas-climate-require.html
Physorg: Decisions on where to put MPAs weren't always made with a changing climate in mind. That has researchers asking how these areas--meant to protect biodiversity--can stand the test of time. Static MPAs, or limited areas, may not work as ocean conditions change and as species shift their distribution in response to climate change. These changes will require our design and management of these ecologically rich zones to be more flexible, and will require greater collaboration and foresight. At this...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Low-carbon technologies 'no quick-fix': May not lessen global warming until late this century
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216094801.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: A drastic switch to low carbon-emitting technologies, such as wind and hydroelectric power, may not yield a reduction in global warming until the latter part of this century, new research suggests. Furthermore, it states that technologies that offer only modest reductions in greenhouse gases, such as the use of natural gas and perhaps carbon capture and storage, cannot substantially reduce climate risk in the next 100 years. The study, published February 16, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Leaked files expose Heartland Institute's secrets
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21486-leaked-files-expose-heartland-institutes-secrets.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: Environmental campaigners and climate scientists have been engaging in a merry bout of schadenfreude after the disclosure of sensitive internal documents from the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank based in Chicago that has been at the forefront of lobbying against cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions. The "deniergate" documents, as they have been rapidly dubbed, appear to reveal details of the institute's past and future planned funding arrangements, including the names of many donors. They...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Groups file suit to block Georgia nuclear plant
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120216/ap_on_go_ot/us_nuclear_power
Associated Press: Environmental and watchdog groups are suing to block construction of two nuclear reactors in eastern Georgia that would be the nation's first built-from-scratch nuclear power plant in a generation. The groups say the plant should be blocked until federal regulators approve safety changes prompted by last year's nuclear disaster in Japan. Twelve groups, including the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, say they plan to file suit Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. The Nuclear...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Heartland Institute 'fights back' over publication of confidential documents
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/16/heartland-institute-fundraising-drive-leaked
Guardian: The Heartland Institute, the free market thinktank behind efforts to discredit climate change and the teaching of science in schools, launched a new fundraising drive on Thursday after confidential documents were posted online without its consent. The thinktank launched a new appeal to donors on its website after documents were posted online by Desmogblog, a website monitoring attempts to discredit climate change. The documents included some details of where the institute gets its money as...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Tighten fracking regulations, scientists urge US officials
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/16/shale-gas-regulations-scientists-us
Guardian: An influential group of scientists has urged US officials to step up their policing of shale gas operations and to consider stronger regulations to reduce environmental and health risks at the facilities. The scientists called on regulators to revisit, and in many cases beef up, their guidelines to avoid surface spills at shale gas works, and to ensure the safe storage and disposal of toxic fluids used in controversial hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations. Though some US states have...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Karma: Heartland Institute "Shocked" That its Climate Change Lies Are Exposed
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/789836/karma%3A_heartland_institute_%22shocked%22_that_its_climate_change_lies_are_exposed%2C_after_promoting_%22climategate%22_non-scandal/
AlterNet: The laughably named Heartland Institute is shocked, shocked that anyone would use surreptitiously acquired documents to expose their lying climate denier activities: The free-market Heartland Institute has moved to contain the damage from explosive revelations about its efforts to discredit climate change and alter the teaching of science in schools, claiming on Wednesday it was the victim of theft and forgery. In its first detailed response to Tuesday's leak of documents purporting to show...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Climate Change: What Happened At Heartland?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevezwick/2012/02/16/what-happened-at-heartland/
Forbes: The Heartland Institute yesterday lashed out at the blogosphere for reporting on the contents of leaked documents that appeared on DeSmogBlog late in the night of February 14. It was material that, if legit, implies Heartland is guilty of spreading dangerous disinformation simply to make a buck (something it has long accused climate scientists of doing). Heartland, a nominally Libertarian â€œthink tankâ€, is one of the loudest voices in the climate-change denial choir, yet its prepared statement contained,...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Microsoft takes flak for donating software to think tank skeptical of climate change
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoftpri0/2017522350_microsoft_takes_flak_for_donating_software_to_thin.html
Seattle Times: Microsoft is taking some flak for donating software to Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based free-market think tank that is skeptical of climate change. The Guardian reported that Microsoft was among the donors to the institute and that that information had been revealed "after an 'insider' emailed confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising network to DeSmogBlog, which monitors industry efforts to discredit climate science." "Much of Heartland's work to discredit climate change...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Desmond Tutu tells David Cameron tar sands threaten health of the planet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/16/desmond-tutu-cameron-tar-sands
Guardian: Eight Nobel laureates including Archbishop Desmond Tutu have written to the prime minister to argue that oil derived from Canadian tar sands "threatens the health of the planet" and that the UK should support European moves to classify the controversial energy source as highly polluting. A similar letter has been sent this week to the transport minister, Norman Baker, by the shadow transport secretary, Maria Eagle, asking him "to vote in favour of labelling oil from tar sands as highly polluting...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
The 'secret, corporate-funded' plan to make Americans doubt climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/secret-corporate-funded-plan-americans-doubt-climate-change-110200601.html
The Week: In a sort of reverse "Climategate," the libertarian Heartland Institute is embarrassed by a major leak. Here, 6 of the highlights The war over climate change flared up again this week, after an anonymous tipster leaked a trove of documents from the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, a libertarian group known, among other things, for opposing regulation of greenhouse gasses. In a sort of funhouse-mirror image of "Climategate" - the giant 2009 leak of supposedly conspiratorial emails among climate...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
New U.S.-Led Program Targets Reductions in Soot, Methane Emissions
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/us-led_program_targets_reductions_in_soot_methane_emissions/3335/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: With efforts to curb global carbon dioxide emissions stalled, a group of nations, including the U.S., will unveil a new program to cut other pollutants that contribute to global warming. The program, called the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, will focus on emissions of soot, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, and other greenhouse gases that do not remain in the atmosphere as long as CO2 but are known to have significant environmental and health consequences. While...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Study shows electric vehicles more harmful than petrol
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/201202/s3432800.htm
Radio Australia: Researchers have found that overall pollution associated with electric vehicles in China is more harmful that that of petrol-based vehicles. The study was done by researchers form the University of Tennessee and published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology. Its findings challenge assumptions that electric vehicles are cleaner than petrol vehicles and it's of vital importance in China, where e-bikes and e-cars are extremely popular. Correspondent: Liam Cochrane...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Gore: ignoring carbon risks repeat of sub-prime mortgage crisis
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2152990/gore-ignoring-carbon-risks-repeat-sub-prime-mortgage-crisis?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Gore%3A+ignoring+carbon+risks+repeat+of+sub-prime+mortgage+crisis
Business Green: Investors who fail to realise the cost of carbon emissions could be making the same mistake as financiers who failed to realise the true value of sub-prime mortgages, according to Al Gore. Writing in a new five-point plan designed to encourage sustainable investment, the former US vice president warns that many investors' assets could see their value slashed if environmental externalities such as a price of carbon are taken into account. "So long as their true value is ignored, stranded assets...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Gore Likens Carbon Emissions to Subprime Debt
http://webfarm.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-16/gore-likens-carbon-to-subprime-debt-in-plan-to-repair-capitalism.html
Bloomberg: Former U.S. Vice President and Current TV Chairman and Co-Founder Al Gore speaks during the panel for Current TV's "Politically Direct" at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, California on January 13, 2012. Photograph by Mario Anzuoni/Landov Former U.S. Vice President and Current TV Chairman and Co-Founder Al Gore speaks during the panel for Current TV's "Politically Direct" at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, California on January...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Research Decodes Dialogue Between Rainforest and Water
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106778
Inter Press Service: An alteration of the relationship between the Amazon rainforest and the billions of cubic metres of water transported by air from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean to the Andes Mountains could endanger the resilience of a biome that is crucial for the global climate, warns a recently concluded two-decade research project. The Amazon rainforest is a living being that covers an area of 6.5 million sq km, occupying half the territory of Brazil and portions of another eight countries: Bolivia, Colombia,...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
EU politicians agree compromise text on CO2 allowances
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/us-eu-carbon-idUSTRE81F0RQ20120216?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: European parliamentarians have agreed to compromise wording ahead of a vote this month that is expected to increase pressure on the Commission to remove carbon allowances to prop up prices on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme which have plumbed record lows. The news helped carbon prices, with the benchmark contract up nearly 4 percent at 8.68 euros per tonne at 1250 GMT. The compromise text, as widely expected, does not specify how many carbon allowances might be withheld to tackle a huge surplus...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Busting the Forest Myths: People as Part of the Solution
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/busting_the_forest_myths_people_as_part_of_the_solution/2495/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: Some forest campaigners have been saying it for years, but now they have the research to prove it: Local communities are the most effective managers of their forests, best able to combine sustainable harvests with conservation. A series of studies unveiled in the past year have skewered the long-held view -- still espoused by many governments and even some in the environmental community -- that poor forest dwellers are the prime culprits in deforestation and that the best conservation option is...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Climate change threatens tropical birds
http://www.sciencecodex.com/climate_change_threatens_tropical_birds-86173
Science Codex: Climate change spells trouble for many tropical birds â€“ especially those living in mountains, coastal forests and relatively small areas â€“ and the damage will be compounded by other threats like habitat loss, disease and competition among species. That is among the conclusions of a review of nearly 200 scientific studies relevant to the topic. The review was scheduled for online publication this week in the journal Biological Conservation by Ã‡agan Sekercioglu (pronounced Cha-awn Shay-care-gee-oh-loo),...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Estuary report warns of dangers of climate change
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/02/16/estuary-report-warns-of-dangers-of-climate-change-91466-30340954/
Western Mail: SEA level rises of between 30-40cm in the Severn Estuary over the next 60 years could cause more than three-quarters of the estuary`s intertidal area to be lost, a new report has warned. In stark findings, The State of the Severn Estuary report warns that the impact of climate change could cause 77% of the zone -- the area that is above water at low tide and underwater at high tide -- to disappear over the next 100 years. The rapid loss of intertidal areas could have knock-on implications for...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
'New frontier' of Antarctic lake exploration
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17015559
BBC: When a Russian drilling team reached Antarctica's Lake Vostok last week, they were able to claim a world first. No one had previously penetrated one of the continent's sub-glacial lakes, prompting Valery Lukin from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St Petersburg to liken his team's achievement to the Moon landings in 1969. Whatever the comparison, it represents a remarkable feat. Over 20 years of stop-start drilling, the Russian team ground their way through 3.7km (2.3mi)...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
South Korean carbon trading bill faces further delay
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2152958/south-korean-carbon-trading-delay?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=South+Korean+carbon+trading+bill+faces+further+delay
Business Green: South Korea's long-awaited carbon trading legislation has again been delayed, after a key parliamentary vote scheduled for today was put back. According to Reuters' reports, the bill is yet to go in front of a legal panel that is required ahead of the final parliamentary vote, despite the fact a multi-party committee approved the controversial legislation last week. As a result, the final vote on the bill, which had been scheduled for earlier today, has been postponed. No new date for the...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Salmond touts green energy as key to reindustrialising an independent Scotland
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2152954/salmond-touts-green-energy-key-reindustrialising-independent-scotland?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Salmond+touts+green+energy+as+key+to+reindustrialising+an+independent+Scotland
Business Green: Scottish renewable energy from wind, waves and tides could play a major role in helping an independent Scotland to prosper, first minister Alex Salmond claimed yesterday. In a speech at London's School of Economics last night, Salmond hailed green energy as one of six economic opportunities that would help reindustrialise Scotland if it gained independence, while also helping other European countries to meet their low carbon energy targets. In a defiant speech, he argued that clean energy could...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Nobel winners urge EU leaders to back tar sands law
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/us-oil-sands-letter-idUSTRE81F0KV20120216?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A group of Nobel peace prize winners urged European leaders in a letter on Thursday to support an EU Commission proposal to class fuel from oil sands as highly polluting. "Tar sand development is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and threatens the health of the planet," eight Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, said in the letter. "As the tar sands have contributed to rising...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Asia Pacific to triple carbon emissions unless it changes course - study
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/asia-pacific-to-triple-carbon-emissions-unless-it-changes-course-study
AlertNet: Asia Pacific could triple its carbon emissions by 2050 if it continues its unsustainable use of resources, putting an unbearable strain on ecosystems at a time of mounting concerns over climate change and food, water and energy security, a new study by the United Nations and Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns. Asia Pacific is currently the world's largest and most inefficient resource user. According to 2005 statistics, the region required three times the input of both renewable and non-renewable...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12047/1210636-115.stm
New York Times: Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation's culture wars. The documents, from a nonprofit organization in Chicago called the Heartland Institute, outline plans to promote a curriculum that would cast doubt on the scientific finding that fossil fuel emissions endanger the long-term welfare of the planet....

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Energy Independence Is Golden Chance to Develop Renewables: View
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-16/energy-independence-offers-u-s-golden-chance-to-develop-renewables-view.html
Bloomberg: Ever since the 1973 Arab oil embargo prompted long lines at gas stations and helped tip the U.S. into recession, energy independence has been an elusive national goal. So it might surprise you to learn that the U.S. is now closer to achieving energy independence than at any time since the 1950s. As Bloomberg News reports, the U.S. met about 81 percent of demand through domestic sources for the first 10 months of 2011. Oil production is at its highest level in eight years, and natural gas is so...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Gore Likens Carbon to Subprime Debt in Plan to Repair Capitalism
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-16/gore-likens-carbon-to-subprime-debt-in-plan-to-repair-capitalism.html
Bloomberg: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said investors in oil and gas companies who ignore the cost of emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are making a mistake similar to those who invested in subprime mortgages. "The value of the subprime mortgages was based on a false assumption,' Gore said yesterday in an interview. "In almost exactly the same way, the value of all of these carbon fuel reserves is based on a similarly absurd assumption.' Gore made the analogy as Generation Investment...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Heartland Institute attempts to discredit "stolen" papers
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2152920/heartland-institute-attempts-discredit-stolen-papers?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Heartland+Institute+attempts+to+discredit+%22stolen%22+papers
Business Green: The Heartland Institute has claimed the leaked documents detailing its donors and strategy for the coming year were "stolen", while also insisting at least one of them is "a total fake". The papers were published earlier this week on the DeSmogBlog website, which responded to the allegations by saying it "has received no direct communications from the Heartland Institute identifying any misstatement of fact". In a statement, Heartland said the documents "were obtained by an unknown person who...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
U.S. Pushes to Cut Emissions of Some Pollutants That Hasten Climate Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/science/earth/us-pushes-to-cut-emissions-that-speed-climate-change.html
New York Times: Impatient with the slow pace of international climate change negotiations, a small group of countries led by the United States is starting a program to reduce emissions of common pollutants that contribute to rapid climate change and widespread health problems. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to announce the initiative at the State Department on Thursday accompanied by officials from Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden and the United Nations Environment Program. The plan will...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Hedegaard confident that Rio+20 can deliver
http://www.environmental-finance.com/news/view/2299
Environmental Finance: Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissionâ€™s climate chief, expressed confidence that a noteworthy agreement would emerge from the Rio+20 conference. "I'm absolutely sure,' she told attendees of KPMG's Global Sustainable Business Growth Summit in New York. "It's doable. I think there are viable, specific things that can be done so it's not just a talk show.' The landmark conference will take place in June in Rio de Janeiro like the original Earth Summit in 1992, which spawned among other things...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Ottawa defends Kyoto stance
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/Ottawa+defends+Kyoto+stance/6160287/story.html
Postmedia News: Environment Minister Peter Kent is rejecting new questions from the world's largest emerging economies about the Canadian government's sincerity and credibility on fighting climate change in light of its decision to walk away from the Kyoto protocol. "Most of the world recognized the Kyoto protocol was not working, and a post-Kyoto climate-change agreement needs to be created," Kent said Wednesday in the House of Commons in response to questions from NDP environment critic Megan Leslie. The...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
New global deal on climate change
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72957.html
Politico: Those concerned about climate change and greenhouse gas pollution have been justifiably frustrated in the last few years. Despite some significant moves by the Obama administration -- particularly improving vehicle efficiency and creating incentives for significant investment in wind and solar power -- national action has been ground down by partisanship fueled by climate skepticism. But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's announcement Thursday plants seeds of hope. The United States, with Bangladesh,...

Fri, 17 Feb 12
Enforcement lacking on environmental crimes in Asia â€“ activist
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/enforcement-lacking-on-environmental-crimes-in-asia-activist
AlertNet: Crimes against the environment are increasingly prevalent across Asia Pacific, fuelling conflict, intensifying climate change and exacerbating the threat of natural disasters, yet enforcement is lacking due to a perception that there are no victims to such crimes, an environmental activist said Wednesday. Illegal logging and fishing, dumping of hazardous waste, wildlife trafficking and smuggling of chemicals that deplete the ozone layer are rampant in the region, said Julian Newman, campaigns...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Kenya: Challenges Posed By Climate Change and Population
http://allafrica.com/stories/201202151168.html
Nairobi Star: IT is fitting that this year's UN Climate Change Conference was held in Africa, where both the current and future consequences of climate change are clearly discernible. The short and medium-term impacts of floods and drought, and the long-term prospect of rising global temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns, will continue to make Africa Exhibit A in discussions about the implications of climate change. Until recently, the dominant approach to analyzing the global impact of climate change...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Who gets paid what?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/15/climate-sceptics-pai-heartland-institute
Guardian: Anthony Watts Who they are A former TV weatherman from California who runs the "world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change", according to his climate sceptic blog, Watts Up With That? How they influence Watts has been interviewed on Fox News by Glenn Beck about climate change and spoken at climate sceptic conferences. His blog posts, and those of his contributers, are widely and rapidly linked to and discussed across the climate sceptic 'blogosphere'. Quote "Heh, I've...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Climate change may increase risk of water shortages in hundreds of US counties by 2050
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/acs-ccm021512.php
EurekAlert: More than 1 in 3 counties in the United States could face a "high" or "extreme" risk of water shortages due to climate change by the middle of the 21st century, according to a new study in ACS's Journal of Environmental Science & Technology. The new report concluded that 7 in 10 of the more than 3,100 U.S. counties could face "some" risk of shortages of fresh water for drinking, farming and other uses. It includes maps that identify the counties at risk of shortages. In the analysis, Sujoy B....

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Short-term Exposure to Pollutants Increases Heart Attack Risk, Study Says
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/short-term_pollutant_exposure__increases_heart_attack_risk_study_says/3334/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: A new report says that even short-term exposure to major air pollutants increases the risk of heart attack. In an analysis of more than 100 studies conducted worldwide, researchers from the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center found that increased exposure to pollutants -- including fine particles, coarse particles, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide -- consistently increased the health risks after even short-term exposure, or less than seven days. While the risk from pollutant...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Ending world hunger is possible â€“ so why hasn't it been done?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/15/ending-world-hunger
Guardian: Save the Children is to be applauded for reminding us all of one of the most extraordinary and humiliating aspects of living in the modern world: child hunger. Drawing a parallel with the fight to abolish slavery, the Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah recently asked what future generations will condemn us for. One sure candidate is the needless human carnage wrought by hunger. Some 850 million people (one in eight of the world's population) go to bed hungry every night. Many of them are children,...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Leaked: a plan to teach climate change skepticism in schools
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/15/10415410-leaked-a-plan-to-teach-climate-change-skepticism-in-schools
MSNBC: Internal documents have been leaked from the Heartland Institute, a Chicago nonprofit think tank, showing its funding of leading skeptics of global warming and a plan to teach climate change skepticism in schools. An anonymous person leaked the documents to several publications and activists supporting the science of climate change. "The heart of the climate denial machine relies on huge corporate and foundation funding from U.S. businesses, including Microsoft, Koch Industries, Altria (parent...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Half of UK households 'could face water restrictions by April'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/15/uk-households-water-restrictions
Guardian: Half of all households in Britain could face water restrictions unless exceptionally heavy and prolonged rain falls by April, water companies and the environment agency have warned. The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, will hold a crisis meeting of companies, wildlife groups and other river users next week after the Centre for Hydrology and Ecology (CEH) stated that the average rainfall so far this winter has been the lowest since 1972, and the English Midlands and Anglian regions have...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Documents Expose Campaign By Think Tank To Undermine Climate Science
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/documents_expose_campaign_by_think_tank_to_undermine_climate_science/3333/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: A series of leaked internal documents from the Heartland Institute, a conservative U.S. think tank, reveal an elaborate, multi-million dollar campaign to undermine the credibility of global warming science. The documents -- which were sent anonymously to several bloggers and can be viewed online at DeSmogBlog.com -- describe efforts to produce scientific studies that â€œdiscredit the UNâ€™s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Heartland Institute also allocated $100,000 to create a global warming...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Keystone XL: Five stories not told
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201202140001
Media Matters: In the media storm surrounding TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline, news outlets have largely focused on the employment impacts of the project, often parroting discredited industry statistics in the process. But jobs are only a part of the story. A review of recent testimonies, tax records and local news reports shows that, on many other important issues at stake, TransCanada has been advertising one thing to its stakeholders and delivering another. What follows is a list of stories that...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
New York City's 'once-a-century' storms could become 'once-a-decade'
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/248103/scitech/science/nyc-s-once-a-century-storms-could-become-once-a-decade-mdash-study
Agence France-Presse: Massive storm surges that statistically threaten New York City once a century could occur at intervals from three to 20 years by 2100, according to estimates by US scientists published Tuesday. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University built a computer model that simulated tens of thousands of storms under different scenarios for global warming. In the model, intense storms become more frequent by the period from 2081 to 2100, a finding that backs...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Carbon capture caught in a rut?
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3430889.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: CHRIS UHLMANN, PRESENTER: As Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd had many visions. The one was to make Australia a world leader in clean coal. So an institute was created to develop technology that would capture and store carbon from power plants. The government committed $315 million to the Global CCS Institute, but as Michael Atkin reports, its critics argue it has failed to attract major investment from its global members, and the money spent has achieved little. MICHAEL ATKIN, REPORTER: In Victoria's...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
DeChristopher's group is broke; umbrella nonprofit under scrutiny
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53512834-90/center-peaceful-uprising-dechristopher.html.csp
Salt Lake Tribune: The Utah-based environmental group co-founded by convicted climate-change activist Tim DeChristopher is broke after losing $88,000 in the suspicious closure of a California nonprofit that was handling funds for the organization and others, according to group officials. Peaceful Uprising had received major grants from the Threshold Foundation and New World Foundation, plus individual donations by check and credit card routed through the International Humanities Center in Los Angeles. That center...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Study: Sierra snowfall consistent over 130 years
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/15/BA8N1N7HNQ.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Snowfall in the Sierra Nevada has remained consistent for 130 years, with no evidence that anything has changed as a result of climate change, according to a study released Tuesday. The analysis of snowfall data in the Sierra going back to 1878 found no more or less snow overall - a result that, on the surface, appears to contradict aspects of recent climate change models. John Christy, the Alabama state climatologist who authored the study, said the amount of snow in the mountains has not...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
â€œDenier-gateâ€ scandal uncovers the flaw in pick and mix green strategies
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/james-blog/2152717/-denier-gate-scandal-uncovers-flaw-pick-mix-green-strategies?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=%E2%80%9CDenier-gate%E2%80%9D+scandal+uncovers+the+flaw+in+pick+and+mix+green+strategies
Business Green: The surprising thing is that people are surprised. It has long been suspected that organisation's such as the Heartland Institute are funded by vested interests and tasked with promoting climate scepticism through any and all means, fair and foul. And yet the leaked documents that appear to lay bare the inner workings of the self-styled free market think tank retain the capacity to shock. The Heartland Institute has dodged the opportunity to deny the authenticity of the documents, allowing green...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Super high-resolution carbon estimates for endangered Madagascar
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/ci-sh021412.php
EurekAlert: By combining airborne laser technology, satellite mapping, and ground-based plot surveys, a team of researchers has produced the first large-scale, high-resolution estimates of carbon stocks in remote and fragile Madagascar. The group has shown that it is possible to map carbon stocks in rugged geographic regions and that this type of carbon monitoring can be successfully employed to support conservation and climate-change mitigation under the United Nations initiative on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Bangladesh Braves Climate Change With Community Radio
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106761
Inter Press Service: "Welcome to Krishi (farming) Radio. You are listening to FM 98.8 megahertz and I am your hostess Shahnaz Parvin," the local community radio crackles over the mobile phones and transistors of residents in coastal Barguna district. Parvin introduces her guest of the evening, Amal Chandra Sarker, 40, a farmer who has a story to tell about how he reaped a good harvest from growing a new variety of saline-resistant pulse, developed by Bangladeshi scientists. During a 10-minute discussion Sarker...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
EU climate chief: would see merit in airline CO2
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/us-climate-eu-idUSTRE81E06620120215?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The European Union's climate chief said on Tuesday she hopes countries opposed to its rules that charge airlines for carbon emissions take their complaints to the U.N. aviation body, where talks could help to defuse tensions over the strict measures. A group of 26 countries, including the United States, China, India and Russia, have sharply criticized the EU program and will meet next week in Moscow to set a strategy to block the EU plan. Last September, those countries threatened to file a formal...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Climate change kit for kids 'apocalyptic' - The Canberra Times
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/climate-change-kit-for-kids-apocalyptic/2456699.aspx
ERT: test

Thu, 16 Feb 12
[Guyana] The Amaila project should be comprehensively reviewed by professional engineering and financial experts
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/opinion/letters/02/14/the-amaila-project-should-be-comprehensively-reviewed-by-professional-engineering-and-financial-experts/
BBC: test

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Leak exposes how Heartland Institute works to undermine climate science
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/15/leak-exposes-heartland-institute-climate
Guardian: test

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Co-op cuts emissions by 35%
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/15/co-op-cut-greenhouse-emissions
Press Association: The Co-operative has cut greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by more than a third as part of its "radical" ethical plan, it said today. A year ago the group pledged to undertake a series of environmental and social measures, including selling more Fairtrade products, cutting carbon emissions, investing Â£1bn in renewables and taking on thousands of apprentices. The Co-operative, which employs more than 120,000 staff in the UK, said it had now cut emissions by 35% on 2006 levels, for...

Thu, 16 Feb 12
Where the Colorado Runs Dry
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/opinion/where-the-colorado-river-runs-dry.html
New York Times: MOST visitors to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon probably donâ€™t realize that the mighty Colorado River, Americaâ€™s most legendary white-water river, rarely reaches the sea. Until 1998 the Colorado regularly flowed south along the Arizona-California border into a Mexican delta, irrigating farmlands and enriching a wealth of wildlife and flora before emptying into the Gulf of California. But decades of population growth, climate change and damming in the American Southwest have now desiccated...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Climate change increases risk of storm surges, according to MIT study
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2012/02/climate-change-increases-risk-storm-surges-according-mit-study/3iC046kFbxF5RtIsGXkNeK/index.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2
Boston Globe: Studies of climate change and its impact on coastal communities usually focus on rising sea level. Now, scientists from MIT and Princeton University have developed a method to examine how multiple effects of climate change â€“ including the combination of sea-level rise and stronger hurricanes -- will affect storm surges that wash over sea walls and inundate communities, damaging buildings and infrastructure. As a demonstration of the new technique, the scientists quantified how hurricane storm...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Obama's Budget Seeks $300 Million for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120214/us_ac/10966956_obamas_budget_seeks_300_million_for_great_lakes_restoration_initiative
Yahoo!: According to the Associated Press, under a budget proposal submitted by President Barack Obama, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would receive another $300 million for tackling environmental problem in the Great Lakes system. If approved, the funding would go to individual projects and partnerships the federal government has with state, local and tribal agencies that specifically seek to help alleviate ecological concerns. Initially Obama sought $5 billion for Great Lakes restoration projects...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Scientists Find Link Between La NiÃ±a and the Flu
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106757
Inter Press Service: Weather patterns could have an influence on the spread of epidemics like that of the H1N1 influenza virus, initially known as swine flu, which broke out in Mexico and the United States in 2009. That is the hypothesis set forth in a scientific article that calls for research into the links between weather variations, bird migration, and influenza pandemics. "We examined the four most recent human influenza pandemics (1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009) and found that each pandemic occurred in spring...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Population is 'our biggest challenge' says government chief scientist Sir John Beddington
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1235794/population_is_our_biggest_challenge_says_government_chief_scientist_sir_john_beddington.html
Ecologist: The next world population milestone of 8 billion will come sooner than we think - perhaps as early as 2025 - yet we remain reluctant to debate the issue. A forthcoming Royal Society report may force us to While many commentators look ahead to 9 billion by 2050 there is a more immediate statistic that 'frightens' the UK government's chief scientist: 1 billion extra people in the next 13 years. Speaking at a WWF event last week, which looked ahead to the Rio+20 conference in June, John Beddington...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Europe's Deep Freeze: Why Climate Change Is Not (Entirely) to Blame
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2106773,00.html?xid=gonewsedit
Time: Back at the beginning of January, I wrote that this season was already shaping up to be season that winter forgot in the U.S. About a month later, that prediction is coming true. The average temperature in the continental U.S. in January was 5.5Â°F above the 20th century norm, and snow was almost nonexistent -- the National Weather Service reported that 157 out of 166 American cities had below-average amounts of the white stuff. The groundhog Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted six more weeks of...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Agency: 'Vermont is experiencing more extreme rain events'
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120213/NEWS07/120213013/Agency-Vermont-experiencing-more-extreme-rain-events-
Burlington Free Press: Vermont needs to pay more attention to its rivers and may need to rethink development along their banks, the stateâ€™s environmental agency said Monday in a report on lessons from the widespread flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Irene. â€œClimate data show that Vermont is experiencing more extreme rain events, and that trend is predicted to continue,â€ according to the report from the Climate Change Team at the Agency of Natural Resources. More frequent heavy rainstorms are â€œexpected to pose a recurrent...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Canada: Gov't urged to spotlight climate-change strategy
http://www.leaderpost.com/business/urged+spotlight+climate+change+strategy/6143484/story.html
Regina Leader-Post: A pro-oil lobbying conference, involving Canada's European diplomats and industry, has urged the federal government to deliver real climate-change solutions to restore the country's sagging environmental reputation. A two-day retreat in London concluded that diplomats don't have enough resources to deliver on the government's aggressive lobbying strategy to promote the oilsands and counter foreign climate-change policies. "There was a sense that the sooner the federal government is able to...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Monsanto says to appeal French poisoning verdict
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/14/us-monsanto-france-appeal-idUSTRE81D0GC20120214?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. agri-business giant Monsanto said on Tuesday it will appeal a French court ruling that found it responsible for the poisoning of a farmer who inhaled a weedkiller in what is the first such case to reach court in France. A court in Lyon, southeast France, ruled on Monday that Monsanto was guilty of poisoning grain grower Paul Francois, 47, who suffered from memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling the Lasso weedkiller in 2004. The farmer accused the company of not providing...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Model to predict cholera outbreaks earlier, better
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/model-to-predict-cholera-outbreaks-earlier-better.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: A newly developed cholera prediction model can help warn against possible outbreaks of the water-borne disease 11 months in advance. The model, tested by a team of scientists from Bangladesh and the US, was reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month (23 January). Scientists now have a tool that can even predict the severity of a cholera outbreak, Mohammad Yunus, senior scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, and a co-author...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Biofuels pioneer urges Europe to protect bioeconomy lead
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2152047/biofuels-pioneer-urges-europe-protect-bioeconomy-lead?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Biofuels+pioneer+urges+Europe+to+protect+bioeconomy+lead
Business Green: Policy-makers must realise "it's time to get started" on advanced biofuels in Europe or risk losing the nascent industry to the US and China, according to one of the world's largest biotechnology companies. Kaare Riis Nielsen, director for European affairs at Danish company Novozymes, said using crop residues to make alternatives to petroleum fuels and chemicals could be a trillion euro industry if the right stimulus measures can be put in place. Novazymes technology is behind a plant in Denmark...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Making Wrong Case for Renewable Energy
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-14/making-wrong-case-for-renewable-energy-commentary-by-severin-borenstein.html
Bloomberg: What problems can the U.S. solve with renewable energy? Four years ago, both presidential candidates acknowledged the threat of climate change and endorsed vigorous policies to move away from fossil fuels. The U.S. seemed on the verge of committing to greenhouse-gas reductions and developing alternative-energy technologies. Since then, most Republican leaders have become skeptical about global warming and now oppose any major policy response. Democrats, including President Barack Obama, have...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Fracking study sends alert about leakage of potent greenhouse gas
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20120213/ts_csm/466462
Christian Science Monitor: Fracking may lead to larger releases of methane into the air than previously estimated, according to a new study. Scientists are now trying to find out if the underestimation is unique to the gas field they examined or whether rogue emissions from such fields are also being underestimated in other areas where there is hydraulic fracturing â€“ or "fracking" â€“ to collect natural gas form certain rock formations. The study, conducted by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Ignoring forests won't bring Rio+20's 'future we want'
http://theconversation.edu.au/ignoring-forests-wont-bring-rio-20s-future-we-want-5257
The Conversation: In June 2012 around 40,000 participants are expected to attend one of the most important environmental gatherings in a generation â€“ Rio+20. A draft agenda has been released, bearing the slogan â€œThe Future We Wantâ€. It identifies seven critical issues for new sustainable development goals that will be released in Rio: jobs, energy, cities, food, water, oceans and disasters. But with forests only mentioned briefly in the text and in isolation to other key issues, will Rio+20 really help develop...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Ecosystems Respond to Climate Change Differently as the Seasons Pass
http://planetsave.com/2012/02/13/ecosystems-respond-to-climate-change-differently-as-the-seasons-pass/
Planetsave: Scientists studying the effect of drought and heat waves on grass growth have found that it matters when during the year these events take place, and that each month yields a different effect. Scientists have found that U.S. midwest drought reduced prairie grass growth most in June. "A major challenge in studying climate change is separating the effects of long-term trends from interannual variation," says Saran Twombly, program director for the National Science Foundation`s (NSF) Konza Prairie...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
After Disclosure of Sierra Clubâ€™s Gifts From Gas Driller, a Roiling Debate
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/science/earth/after-disclosure-of-sierra-clubs-gifts-from-gas-driller-a-roiling-debate.html
New York Times: The recent disclosure of the Sierra Clubâ€™s secret acceptance of $26 million in donations from people associated with a natural gas company has revived an uncomfortable debate among environmental groups about corporate donations and transparency. The gifts from the company, Chesapeake Energy, have drawn criticism from some environmentalists. â€œSleeping with the enemyâ€ was a comment much forwarded on Twitter posts about the undisclosed arrangement. â€œRunners shouldnâ€™t smoke, priests shouldnâ€™t touch...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Database to help Abu Dhabi assess emission levels
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidGN_13022012_140250/Database_to_help_Abu_Dhabi_assess_emission_levels
Gulf News: The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) is organising a workshop to familiarise entities concerned with greenhouse gas emissions estimation tools and methods in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. Representatives of government entities at the local and federal level responsible for overseeing key emitting sectors -- namely energy, industrial processes and product use, land use, land-use change and forestry, agriculture and waste -- are attending the two-week...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Soil Erosion Increasing Global Warming Threat: UNEP
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/64676
Reuters: Global warming will get worse as agricultural methods accelerate the rate of soil erosion, which depletes the amount of carbon the soil is able to store, a United Nations' Environment Programme report said on Monday. Soil contains huge quantities of carbon in the form of organic matter. which provides nutrients for plant growth and improves soil fertility and water movement. The top meter of soil alone stores around 2,200 billion tonnes of carbon, which is three times the level currently held...

Wed, 15 Feb 12
Obama Seeks Clean Energy, Pipeline Funds In Budget
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/64675
Reuters: The White House proposed more funds for renewable energy and pipeline safety in the 2013 budget while renewing the call to end subsidies for the oil and gas sector. The budget for fiscal year 2013 proposes $27.2 billion for the Department of Energy, a 3.2 percent increase of what Congress enacted last year, and includes $2.3 billion for research and development for energy efficiency, advanced vehicles and biofuels. The proposal on clean energy research funds represents nearly a 30 percent increase...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Australia: Climate change role in floods won't be clear for a decade, say scientists
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change-role-in-floods-wont-be-clear-for-a-decade-say-scientists-20120213-1t29a.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE floods inundating northern NSW and Queensland are likely to have been driven in part by human-induced climate change - although the precise extent of this influence won't be known for another decade. Leading climate researchers said the frequency of El Nino and La Nina events that bring drought and flood to Australia seems to have increased in the past 30 years, even though such events have been occurring independently of human influence for far longer. ''It's completely naive to exclude...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
United States: Solar project on French Quarter home still lacking juice
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/02/solar_project_on_french_quarte.html
Times-Picayune: A year after the New Orleans City Council voted to let a French Quarter resident install solar panels on the roof of his 19th-century home, the project is no further along. But it's not for lack of trying. In late 2010, Glade Bilby sought approval to install the panels, which turn sunlight into electric power, on one side of the roof of his 3 1/2-story brick townhouse in the 600 block of Esplanade Avenue. However, the Vieux Carre Commission, the city's regulatory agency for the Quarter, voted 5-3...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Can Efficiency Counter a Loss of Nuclear Power?
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/can-efficiency-counter-a-loss-of-nuclear-power/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The carbon intensity of Japan`s energy mix rose after some nuclear plants shut down in 2011. In an era when almost every energy technology is unpopular with somebody, the people who donâ€™t want wind turbines, generating stations or new transmission lines installed in their neighborhoods often raise the idea of improving energy efficiency as an alternative. That argument is particularly common in New York State and in Vermont, where state governments are trying to close nuclear reactors within...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Arctic warms to highest level yet as researchers fear tipping points
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0213-hance_arctic_tippingpoints.html
Mongabay: Last year the Arctic, which is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth due to global climate change, experienced its warmest twelve months yet. According to recent data by NASA, average Arctic temperatures in 2011 were 2.28 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) above those recorded from 1951-1980. As the Arctic warms, imperiling its biodiversity and indigenous people, researchers are increasingly concerned that the region will hit climatic tipping points that could severely impact the rest...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Satellites for Climate Checks Get Boost in Demand After Durban Talks
http://webfarm.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-13/satellites-for-climate-checks-get-boost-after-durban-talks.html
Bloomberg: Brazilian deforestation and melting polar ice caps are feeding a boom in demand in the $2.1 billion market for satellite data, images and services used to monitor the planet. More images means more satellites and that need has spurred the development of the European Space Agencyâ€™s Vega rocket, which lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, today at about 7 a.m. local time to release nine satellites into orbit on its maiden flight. â€œWeâ€™re adding this smaller brother to our launchers as there is...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
With climate change, today's '100-year floods' may happen every three to 20 years: research
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-climate-today-year-years.html
Physorg: However, researchers from MIT and Princeton University have found that with climate change, such storms could make landfall far more frequently, causing powerful, devastating storm surges every three to 20 years. The group simulated tens of thousands of storms under different climate conditions, finding that today's "500-year floods" could, with climate change, occur once every 25 to 240 years. The researchers published their results in the current issue of Nature Climate Change. MIT postdoc Ning...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Pressure mounts on EU over aviation emissions trading
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2151878/pressure-mounts-eu-aviation-emissions-trading?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Pressure+mounts+on+EU+over+aviation+emissions+trading
Business Green: Europe is becoming increasingly isolated in the face of growing worldwide opposition to its legislation compelling airlines to pay for carbon emitted during flights in and out of EU airports. China has already banned its carriers from complying with the legislation, which came into force at the beginning of the year, while the US Congress is expected to express its formal opposition for the plan soon, despite the fact a legal bid by US airlines to prove the EU was contravening international aviation...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Emissions from deforestation: Out of the woods
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/02/emissions-deforestation
Economist: FORESTS are chock-full of carbon. Some three-quarters of the stuff on the Earth's surface lies trapped in leaves, branches, stems and roots. Two to three times more is buried in the soil but it is hard to dislodge. Vegetal carbon, by contrast, is released into the atmosphere whenever woods are engulfed by fire, pests or tree-uprooting winds. Or humans: some experts reckon that deforestation accounts for as much as 17% of global manmade emissions. Others, though, put the figure at as little as 6%....

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Japan approves $9 bilion support for Fukushima plant operator
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-tepco-support-idUSTRE81C07L20120213?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Japan's trade minister approved nearly $9 billion in additional support for Tokyo Electric Power Co to help compensate victims of the Fukushima nuclear crisis on Monday, but said the government would not go ahead with a plan to inject tax money into utility unless it got adequate management say. The utility's Fukushima plant was wrecked by a quake and tsunami last March, triggering the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years and swamping the firm with huge cleanup, compensation and decommissioning...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Indonesiaâ€™s Oil Supply Runs Deep
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/indonesias-oil-supply-runs-deep/497550?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jgnewsletter
Jakarta Globe: About 90 kilometers off the eastern coast of Kalimantan, Chevron is undertaking one of the most ambitious projects in Indonesia, drilling almost two kilometers below sea level to tap crude oil and natural gas from the nationâ€™s vast potential of reserves. The US energy giant began the $6 billion project in 2008 and the operation wonâ€™t start production until 2015, when it is expected to pump more than 30,000 barrels of oil per day, or about 3 percent of the countryâ€™s current annual output. Itâ€™s...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
India: Growth should not be at cost of environment: PM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Growth-should-not-be-at-cost-of-environment-PM/articleshow/11869807.cms
Times of India: Ahead of a meeting with environment ministers of BASIC countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said growth is important for the people but should take place in a way which does not harm the environment. "Economic growth is essential for the people, but we cannot allow growth to be pursued in a manner which damages our environment," the PM said on Twitter, according to the PMO. Environment ministers of BASIC countries- Brazil, South Africa, India and China- are calling upon the Prime...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
New Fukushima scare blamed on faulty thermometer
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-japan-nuclear-idUSTRE81C0FN20120213?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A scare over temperatures rising near danger level in a reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where workers are battling to prevent a resurgence of the radiation crisis, could be a false alarm, the plant operator said on Monday. Instruments showed the temperature inside the plant's No.2 reactor topped 90 Celsius on Monday, double what it was a month ago and close to boiling point, in which water cooling nuclear fuel in the reactor could evaporate and start a new meltdown. But a faulty...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
A Story of the Earth Liberation Front - BBC trailer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2012/feb/13/bbc4-tree-environment-video
Guardian: Watch the trailer for an Academy Award-nominated documentary, which tells the story of an American environmentalist involved with the Earth Liberation Front - a group the FBI came to describe as America's 'number one domestic terrorism threat'.

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Tensions grow over EU aviation emissions
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-airshow-idUSTRE81C0H120120213?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Global planemaker Airbus joined a chorus of concern that a European scheme to charge airlines for carbon emissions risks triggering a full-blown trade war, with implications for plane deals and even Europe's crippling sovereign debt crisis. The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), introduced on January 1, has drawn howls of protest from airlines around the world, with China banning its carriers from taking part. The escalating row comes on the eve of a China-EU summit in Beijing, with the EU...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
EU Won't Drop Aviation CO2 Scheme
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/02/13/business/13reuters-airshow-emissions.html
Reuters: The European Union will not bow to pressure to suspend a controversial scheme to charge airlines for their carbon emissions, but is willing to be flexible in finding a solution to a row that threatens to escalate into a full-blown trade war. The introduction on January 1 of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has drawn howls of protest from airlines around the world, with China banning its carriers from taking part. "If you think Europe will be forced to suspend, this is not the...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
EU open to talks but won't scrap carbon tax
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/eu-open-talks-wont-scrap-065924339.html
Associated Press: Europe is willing to discuss its new carbon emissions tax for airlines with disgruntled governments but has no plans to scrap the levy, top EU officials said Monday. Airlines and governments have complained the tax is too costly and was implemented without consultation. Industry leaders are warning the disagreement could spark a trade war between Europe and the rest of the world. "We're ready to negotiate within our framework," Siim Kallas, European Commission vice president and transport commissioner,...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Australia: Polluters may pay top-up fee for permits
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/12893711/polluters-may-pay-top-up-fee-for-permits/
AAP: A top-up mechanism will mean that big emitters will pay the same price for international and domestic permits when Labor's emissions trading scheme (ETS) gets under way in mid-2015, even if overseas units are ostensibly much cheaper. The Gillard government's carbon tax starts on July 1 with a $23-a-tonne fixed price before transforming to an ETS with a floating price three years later. It's possible that at that time the European carbon price - now about $9.60 - will be below the Australian...

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Canada: Pro-oil lobby retreat urges feds to deliver climate-change solutions
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/lobby+retreat+urges+feds+deliver+climate+change+solutions/6141130/story.html
Vancouver Sun: A taxpayer-funded pro-oil lobbying retreat, involving Canadaâ€™s European diplomats and industry, has urged the federal government to deliver real climate change solutions to restore the countryâ€™s sagging environmental reputation. The two-day retreat, held last February 1 and 2 in London, England, concluded that Canadaâ€™s foreign diplomats donâ€™t have enough resources to deliver on the federal governmentâ€™s aggressive lobbying strategy to promote the oilsands and fight foreign climate change policies....

Tue, 14 Feb 12
Climate change causes harmful algal blooms in North Atlantic: study
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-climate-algal-blooms-north-atlantic.html
Physorg: The study, published in Nature Climate Change found there has been a dramatic switch between the prevalence of dinoflagellates to diatoms â€“ two groups which include many of the microscopic planktonic plants forming the base of the ocean's food chain. The patterns show shifts in the distribution of species known to cause harmful effect through toxin poisoning. The researchers, from Swansea University's Institute of Life Science and the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science in Plymouth...

Mon, 13 Feb 12
The new anti-science assault on US schools
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/feb/12/new-anti-science-assault-us-schools
Guardian: You might have thought it was all over after the 2005 decision by the US district court of Middle Pennsylvania (pdf), which ruled in the case of the Dover Area schools that teaching intelligent design is unconstitutional. You might have guessed that they wouldn't come back after the 1987 US supreme court decision in Edwards v Aguillard, which deemed the teaching of creationism in Louisiana schools unconstitutional. Or maybe you figured that the opponents of evolution had their Waterloo in the 1925...

Mon, 13 Feb 12
Fukushima reactor readings raise reheating concern
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/12/fukushima-reactor-reheating-concern
Guardian: Concern is growing that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan is no longer stable after temperature readings suggested one of its damaged reactors was reheating. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said the temperature inside No 2 reactor â€“ one of three that suffered meltdown after last year's earthquake and tsunami â€“ may have reached 82C on Sunday. Tepco said there was no evidence that the melted fuel inside had reached criticality. The utility reportedly increased...

Mon, 13 Feb 12
Drilling deeper on talk of U.S. energy independence
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jontalton/2017469989_biztaltoncol12.html
Seattle Times: If you're like me, you've been reading about a renaissance in American fossil-fuel production. Not just that, but that the United States is on course to gain "energy independence" and even become a significant exporter of natural gas. "The transformation ... could see the country become the world's top energy producer by 2020," Bloomberg recently reported. Drill, baby, drill, would seem to have succeeded. Big talk is as old as the Oil Patch. Reality often disappoints. The gusher of cheerleading...

Mon, 13 Feb 12
IATA calls for U.N. deal to avert carbon trade war
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/12/us-iata-idUSTRE81B06Y20120212?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Global airlines called on Sunday for a U.N.-brokered deal to prevent a row over aviation emissions between China and the European Union spilling into a damaging trade war. The call by the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) comes amid signs that the EU may be willing to soften a unilateral stance that also risks souring efforts to resolve Europe's sovereign debt crisis with Chinese support. In an interview, IATA Director General Tony Tyler said airlines had become wedged...

Mon, 13 Feb 12
Central African rainforests disappearred from climate change
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/global-warming/central-african-rainforests-disappearred-from-climate-change/articleshow/11859410.cms
Economic Times: Climate change combined with human activity caused the disappearance of tropical rainforests in central Africa 3,000 years ago, a study has found. According to the Prensa Latina news agency, an analysis of marine sediment of the Congo river shows that at that time there was the influence of a strong chemical erosion. Experts from the French Research Institute for Marine Exploration ( IFREMER) said this deterioration occurred with the arrival of tribal communities that brought agricultural and...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
Where's the Beef? Less of It in Texas
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204662204577201121978832112.html
Wall Street Journal: A severe drought in the southern Great Plains is fueling a massive cattle drive north that is pushing beef prices higher and threatening to alter the country's production of red meat. Surrounded by parched prairies and dry watering holes, ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma have deeply culled their herds and helped cut the national cattle population to the lowest level in decades. They have found greener pastures in states such as Iowa and Nebraska, but land there is more valuable for corn than cattle,...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Problems cast shadows of doubt on solar project
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-foxes-20120211,0,4708180.story
LA Times: One of California's showcase solar energy projects, under construction in the desert east of Los Angeles, is being threatened by a deadly outbreak of distemper among kit foxes and the discovery of a prehistoric human settlement on the work site. The $1-billion Genesis Solar Energy Project has been expedited by state and federal regulatory agencies that are eager to demonstrate that the nation can build solar plants quickly to ease dependence on fossil fuels and curb global warming. Instead,...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
Iran to announce 'major nuclear progress'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/iran-announce-major-nuclear-progress
Guardian: Iran will soon reveal "very big new achievements" in its controversial nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced. Speaking at a rally in Tehran to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad also said Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment progamme. "In the coming days the world will witness Iran's announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements," Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran's Azadi [Freedom] Square broadcast on...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
Paleontologists reveal ancient Arctic ecosystem teeming with life
http://www.canada.com/technology/Paleontologists+reveal+ancient+Arctic+ecosystem+teeming+with+life/6135726/story.html
Calgary Herald: Two Canadian scientists have completed a comprehensive portrait of the lush, rainforest-like ecosystem -- populated by prehistoric creatures akin to alligators, hippos and flying lemurs -- that prevailed some 40 million years ago in what is now Canada's northernmost landmass: Ellesmere Island. The study of hundreds of fossilized species, published in the latest issue of the journal Geological Society of America Bulletin, paints a picture of the ancient Arctic that contrasts sharply with the barren...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
2 Celsius is low estimate for climate change by 2100: study
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Celsius+estimate+climate+change+2100+study/6138445/story.html
Vancouver Sun: French scientists unveiling new estimates for global warming said the 2 C goal enshrined by the United Nations was "the most optimistic" scenario left for greenhouse-gas emissions. The estimates, compiled by five scientific institutes, will be handed to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for consideration in its next big overview on global warming and its effects. The report - the fifth in the series - will be published in three volumes, in September 2013, March 2014...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
Ocean current slowdown made Earth spin faster
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328515.100-ocean-current-slowdown-made-earth-spin-faster.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: IT SOMETIMES feels as though some months go by faster than others, but November 2009 really did. Events in the Southern Ocean conspired to make the Earth spin ever-so-slightly faster, shortening half of the days in the month by 0.1 milliseconds each. Different factors affect how fast the Earth spins. For instance, if the winds that whip around the planet slow down, the Earth spins faster to conserve angular momentum. There was a more down-to-earth cause in November 2009, however. The Antarctic...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
Climate change speeds up microbial change
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Climate-change-speeds-up-microbial-change/articleshow/11849745.cms
Indo-Asian News Service: Climate change could affect Antarctica's Dry Valleys more rapidly than previously expected, particularly the microbial communities in the soil, a study reveals. "We used to think that microbial change took place slowly over centuries," said Craig Cary, professor at the University of Waikato, who led the study. "It's important we keep documenting the current biodiversity in Antarctica so we can predict the effects of climate change," said Cary, the journal Nature Communications reported. To...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
UN recognizes US Girl Scouts for palm oil effort
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/darticlen.asp?xfile=data/environment/2012/February/environment_February10.xml§ion=environment
Agence France-Presse: The United Nations Thursday recognized two US teens as International Forest Heroes for their efforts to cut the use of Southeast Asia palm oil, production of which is linked to rainforest destruction. The two 16-year-old Girl Scouts from Michigan, Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva, who shared the award with four others from different nations, were recognized for campaigning to get Southeast Asian palm oil out of Girl Scout cookies. They were among 15 finalists from 14 countries nominated...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Drought alerts remain despite rain and snow
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/drought-alerts-remain-despite-rain-and-snow-6720023.html
Independent: Much of eastern England remains in a state of drought, despite winter rain and snow, the Environment Agency warned yesterday. A broad region covering Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, west Norfolk and parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire is seriously water-stressed, with springs, rivers and wells drying up. In North Norfolk, springs at an RSPB nature reserve have run dry, leaving less marshland for wading birds to feed on; domestic wells are drying up on the South Lincolnshire limestone with...

Sun, 12 Feb 12
Trouble in the air, double on the ground
http://www.economist.com/node/21547283
Economist: COULD a fresh row over airline emissions lead to a global trade war? That is the scariest prospect raised by Chinaâ€™s objections this week to the European Unionâ€™s new plan for controlling greenhouse-gas emissions from aeroplanes. The scheme, which came into effect on January 1st, forces airlines flying into the EU to buy tradable carbon credits as part of its broader emissions-trading system. Many countries are unhappy with the policy, but Chinaâ€™s proclamations this week--official news agencies...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Makeup of rain forest may have been altered by farmer
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/10/4254976/makeup-of-rain-forest-may-have.html
LA Times: Deforestation and climate change may sound like familiar concerns to the modern ear. But a team of French scientists is arguing that even 3,000 years ago, humans may have played a role in transforming the Central African rain forest into the savannas we see today. As Bantu farmers expanded south and east into the rain forest in search of fertile agricultural land, they may have created savanna 'corridors' that cut into the forest and helped turn that lush landscape into drier grassland, according...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Climate change speeds up microbial change
http://news.smashits.com/762889/Climate-change-speeds-up-microbial-change.htm
Indo-Asian News Service: Climate change could affect Antarctica's Dry Valleys more rapidly than previously expected, particularly the microbial communities in the soil, a study reveals. We used to think that microbial change took place slowly over centuries, said Craig Cary, professor at the University of Waikato, who led the study. It's important we keep documenting the current biodiversity in Antarctica so we can predict the effects of climate change, said Cary, the journal Nature Communications reported. To do...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
States Sue E.P.A. Over Delayed Soot Rules
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/states-sue-e-p-a-over-delayed-soot-rules/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The Obama administration, already contending with a lawsuit from health and environmental groups arguing that ozone pollution standards are inadequate, now faces another suit over soot. Eleven states, including New York and California, joined forces on Friday to sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency in federal district court in Manhattan over the agencyâ€™s delays in tightening air quality standards involving fine particulate matter, or soot, from diesel trucks, buses, power plants and...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Debate Over Global Warming/Climate Change Heats Up
http://blogs.voanews.com/science-world/2012/02/11/debate-over-global-warmingclimate-change-heats-up/
Voice of America: Hardly a week goes by that we aren`t reporting a story on concerns about global warming. But, a growing number of people in the scientific community are coming forward to express doubts about the prevailing scientific opinions concerning global warming. Recently, 16 respected scientists signed a letter, published in the Wall Street Journal, which indicated there is no need to panic about global warming, arguing there`s no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to 'decarbonize' the...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Australia: Streams need trees to withstand climate change
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-streams-trees-climate.html
Physorg: Researchers from Monash University, the Environment Protection Authority and the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research studied the effects of drought on Australia's fragile freshwater ecosystems using data collected in Victoria before, during and after the severe drought that lasted from 1997 until 2009. The sustained monitoring allowed researchers to compare how sites with differing levels of vegetation responded to sustained drought. The research, published in Global Change Biology,...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Scottish renewable energy industry dismisses Donald Trump attack
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/10/scottish-renewable-energy-donald-trump?newsfeed=true
Guardian: The renewable energy industry has dismissed as "trumped-up nonsense" an attack by Donald Trump on Scottish wind energy projects. But the Scottish government has declined to respond directly to the billionaire's stinging criticism of Alex Salmond's plans for renewable energy. When asked in an interview on Thursday night about Trump's comments, Salmond replied only with a prediction that once renewable energy created a large number of jobs in Scotland, "just about everybody will get on board, even...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
4 million homes will be solar-powered by 2020
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/09/solar-power-ambition-uk?intcmp=122
Guardian: Nearly 4m homes across the UK will be powered by the sun within eight years, the government said on Thursday, in a dramatic increase of ambition for the fledgling solar power industry. But the estimate comes on the back of a cut in the subsidies available for solar energy generation, to take effect from April, which will greatly reduce the amount of money households with solar panels will receive. Ministers said the cut was needed because the costs of solar panels have plummeted in recent months,...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
EU energy-saving law hit by amendments avalanche
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/09/us-eu-efficiency-idUSTRE8180MI20120209
Reuters: Plans to improve the European Union's record on energy saving risk stalling over hundreds of highly technical amendments, including one that could be good for Germany and its giant utilities, but bad for poorer nations. Denmark has made moving towards a political deal on the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive a priority for its six-month tenure as president of the 27-member bloc. It argues saving energy through measures such as better building insulation would create jobs and help to reduce reliance...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Will New Hampshire have a say in developing a regional low-carbon fuel standard?
http://www.nhbr.com/news/949555-395/will-n.h.-have-a-say-in-developing.html
New Hampshire Business Review: Over the past few years, New Hampshire and 10 other states have been looking to develop a low-carbon standard for transportation fuels. The program would be market based - similar to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and the same states would be involved, with the addition of Pennsylvania. The plan, proponents say, would create an independent energy infrastructure, slow global warming and would have benefits for New Hampshire's wood industry. Opponents, however, see it as based on faulty...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Global warming forces elephant seals to dive deeper
http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/02/10/global-warming-forces-elephant-seals-to-dive-deeper/
Summit Voice: The deep-diving elephant seals of Marion Island, in the southwestern Indian Ocean, are going to even greater depths to find prey like squid, as global warming heats up the water. Scientists with the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research who have been tracking the pinnipeds for the past few years say that warming in the upper levels of the ocean has pushed prey to greater depths than ever before, forcing the elephant seals to follow. â€œThe food in the sea is unevenly distributed....

Sat, 11 Feb 12
NRC approves first new nuclear plant in a generation
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/09/us-usa-nuclear-license-idUSTRE8181T420120209
Reuters: Regulators on Thursday approved plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in more than 30 years, despite objections of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, who cited safety concerns stemming from Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster. The NRC voted 4-1 to allow Atlanta-based Southern Co to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors at its existing Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia. The units will cost Southern and partners about $14 billion and enter service as soon...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
In Texas Border Town, Drawing a Line on Coal for Mexico
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/us/in-texas-border-town-drawing-a-line-on-coal-for-mexico.html
Texas Tribune: George Baxter knows how to fight. The East Coast native dodged bullets while serving in Vietnam. Later, as a United States Border Patrol agent, he guarded a vast swath of rough terrain just across from Mexico. But Mr. Baxter may be gearing up for his toughest battle yet, as he and a coalition of residents in his adopted town of Eagle Pass â€” across the border from Piedras Negras, Mexico â€” fight a coal partnership that they say is intent on destroying their peaceful way of life. The Dos Republicas...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
La Nina seems to have peaked, set to decline: WMO
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/10/us-lanina-un-idUSTRE8190G920120210?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: La Nina, a weather phenomenon usually linked to heavy rains and flooding in Asia-Pacific and South America and drought in Africa, seems to have reached its peak and is expected to fade between March and May, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday. A weak to moderate La Nina pattern has cooled the tropical Pacific since around October, a considerably weaker event than in 2010-11, the United Nations agency said in a statement. "Model forecasts and expert interpretation suggest...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
For us climate change is a matter of survival: Maldives
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/for-us-climate-change-is-a-matter-of-survival-maldives/articleshow/11837156.cms
Indo-Asian News Service: The Maldives, the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago that underwent a tumultuous regime change, says the "mistrust" between rich and poor nations on climate change negotiations needs to go and all countries should shun the blame game while dealing with an issue so critical to everyone's survival, particularly small island nations like theirs. "There is lot of mistrust in climate change negotiations as developing countries think this is obstruction to their development while developed countries think...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Canada PM vows to ensure key oil pipeline is built
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/10/us-china-canada-oil-idUSTRE8190M620120210?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Canada's prime minister on Friday made his strongest comments yet in support of a proposed pipeline from oil-rich Alberta to the Pacific coast, saying his government was committed to ensuring the controversial project went ahead. Enbridge Inc's Northern Gateway pipeline, which is strongly opposed by green groups and some aboriginal bands, would allow Canada to send tankers of crude to China and reduce reliance on the U.S. market. An independent energy regulator -- which could in theory reject...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
United States: World's largest concentrated solar power tower completed
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2145387/worlds-largest-concentrated-solar-power-tower-completed?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=World%27s+largest+concentrated+solar+power+tower+completed
Business Green: US renewable energy developer SolarReserve has this week completed construction of a 540ft (165m) molten salt tower in the Nevada desert thought to be the world's largest. The tower will form the centrepiece of the 110MW Crescent Dunes concentrated solar power plant, although more than 10,000 tracking mirrors still need to be installed before it opens at the end of 2013. The mirrors will focus sunlight onto the tower, which will heat up molten salt that then flows down the piping inside the...

Sat, 11 Feb 12
Did Early Man Contribute to Central Africa Climate Change?
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/decapua-ancient-rainforests-10feb12-139081899.html
Voice of America: If humans are responsible for speeding the climate change currently underway, it may not be the first time. Scientists say a long time ago in Central Africa, early farmers may have contributed to the disappearance of rainforests. The question is being raised in the journal Science. Scientists say about 3,000 years ago some of the rainforests were â€œabruptly replacedâ€ by savannas â€“ broad grasslands dotted with shrubs and trees. It was thought that climate change was the reason. But now research...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Barker tells solar industry to "get real" over feed-in tariff cuts
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2145139/barker-tells-solar-industry-real-feed-tariff-cuts?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Barker+tells+solar+industry+to+%22get+real%22+over+feed-in+tariff+cuts
Business Green: Climate Change Minister Greg Barker has defended government plans to cut the feed-in tariff for solar PV three times this year, potentially seeing rates reach 12.9p/kWh by October, insisting the industry will continue to grow. The government today launched a package of changes to the feed-in tariff scheme for all renewable technologies, including a consultation to introduce automatic cuts designed to ensure the tariff remains in line with the falling cost of technology. Solar industry players...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Solar subsidy cuts spark job fears
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/solar-subsidy-cuts-spark-job-fears-6699359.html
Press Association: The Government today unveiled plans for further cuts to solar subsidies, sparking concerns over the future of the industry and thousands of clean-tech jobs. Energy Minister Greg Barker claimed the reforms to payments for small-scale solar would mean a bigger scheme that could deliver an "extraordinarily ambitious" 22GW of panels - the equivalent of 3.3 million installations for homes and businesses. He insisted the changes would mean that the payments tracked the falling costs of solar technology,...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Offshore energy 'needs efficiency'
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jN3lgiu9410lB0F8HttsggBVAPQg?docId=N0407971328707527389A
Press Association: Offshore renewable projects could be developed more efficiently and quickly under recommendations of a new blueprint on green energy, it has emerged. A task force examined how to streamline initial development of offshore projects, as well as the process of planning them and gaining approval. Its report, which includes a series of recommendations, has been welcomed by leading energy firms. First Minister Alex Salmond also stressed the importance of ensuring that "scoping, planning, development...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Warning on EU carbon market 'meddling'
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/37bff658-5270-11e1-ae2c-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F37bff658-5270-11e1-ae2c-00144feabdc0.html&_i_referer=
Financial Times: High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/37bff658-5270-11e1-ae2c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1luV8Xq1C Europeâ€™s largest employersâ€™ group has warned against meddling in the carbon market to prop up sagging prices, just a day after one of the continentâ€™s top energy executives...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
On the Road Back to Rio, Green Direction Has Been Lost
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/rio_20_sustainability_conference_on_road_back_to_rio_green_direction_lost/2493/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: It is easy to be cynical. Back in 1992, more than 100 world leaders, including George H.W. Bush, showed up for the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It was a two-week mega-event that attracted huge attention, highlighted by the signing of two groundbreaking treaties on climate change and biodiversity and grand declarations about creating a future green and equitable world. To put it mildly, the subsequent two decades have not lived up to the promises. George W. Bush effectively broke the climate...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Call for new indicators of sustainable development
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/call-for-new-indicators-of-sustainable-development.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: The world must develop different indicators on sustainable development that are not biased against developing countries, a major conference has heard. Bharrat Jagdeo, former president of Guyana, said current assessments and rankings use indicators such as access to potable water and sanitation, or malaria levels, which automatically rank developed countries higher. He was speaking at the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit in India last week (2--4 February), organised by The Energy Resources...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Global sea level rise: NASA mission takes stock of Earth's melting land ice
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209100544.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: In the first comprehensive satellite study of its kind, a University of Colorado at Boulder-led team used NASA data to calculate how much Earth's melting land ice is adding to global sea level rise. Using satellite measurements from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), the researchers measured ice loss in all of Earth's land ice between 2003 and 2010, with particular emphasis on glaciers and ice caps outside of Greenland and Antarctica. The total...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Study: GOP votes drive public opinion on climate change
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/study-gop-votes-drive-public-opinion-on-climate-change/2012/02/09/gIQAJxKY1Q_blog.html
Washington Post: You might think opinions on climate change are driven by news stories, or extreme weather events, or, if you're really optimistic, publicly available scientific research. But it turns out that politicians affect the way that Americans view the issue more than almost anything else, The researchers behind the study created a "Climate Change Threat Index' to gauge how the public views the impact of climate change over a nine-year period, and they conclude that GOP votes on environmental legislation...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Britain to urge green accounting at Rio+20 summit
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/09/us-green-accounting-uk-idUSTRE8181QH20120209?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Britain will urge businesses and governments to start accounting for natural capital as an additional way of measuring economic activity at a U.N. sustainability summit in June, its environment minister said on Thursday. This could mean moving towards a concept of GDP+, or measuring the use or loss of natural resources like water, agriculture and forests to gauge economic activity, in addition to relying solely on economic output. "A snapshot of the state of economies based on GDP (gross domestic...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Damage from tropical cyclones 'set to soar'
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/damage-from-tropical-cyclones-set-to-soar-.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: Tropical cyclone damage costs will increase four-fold to US$109 billion a year across the world by 2100, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change last week (1 February). Predicted increases in population and economic activity by 2100 will increase cyclone damage costs to US$56 billion a year -- more than double the current figure of US$26 billion. And more frequent and stronger cyclones as a result of climate change are expected to add a further US$53 billion a year to the bill,...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Worldâ€™s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Opens Off British Coast
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/largest_offshore_wind_farm_is_opened_off_the_british_coast/3325/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: A coalition of European companies today opened a 367-megawatt wind farm off the British coast, a massive project that developers say will power as many as 320,000 households annually and is the worldâ€™s largest offshore wind project to date. The Walney Wind Farm, located nine miles (15 kilometers) off Cumbria in the Irish Sea, is comprised of 102 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 3.6 megawatts. The Â£1 billion ($1.58 billion) project was developed by some European utility giants -- including British...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
More Gyrations in the Price of Food
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/more-gyrations-in-the-price-of-food/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Global food prices had been falling for months. However, hopes that the decline would continue, easing the price run-up of recent years, were dashed on Thursday. An index that tracks food prices around the world has taken its first monthly jump since July, and a big one. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that food prices rose about 2 percent from December to January, although the preceding months-long decline still leaves them 7 percent below the levels of January...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
UK wants sustained cuts to solar panel tariffs
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/09/us-uk-solar-tariff-idUSTRE8180XP20120209?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The UK government on Thursday recommended slashing subsidies for solar panels on homes from July 1 after a boom in installations last year nearly exhausted its support budget. The move paves the way for a gradual and sustained lowering of the tariff that aims to control spiraling costs and restore faith in the industry, according to a consultation document. It follows a government decision set out last month to halve subsidies from March 3 to 21 pence per kilowatt-hour, which could save it...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Government to half solar subsidies
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/government-to-have-solar-subsidies-6699359.html
Independent: The Government confirmed today it was halving the subsidies paid to households who install solar panels - but insisted it had made improvements to the controversial changes. Ministers have warned the falling costs of solar technology made the subsidies too generous and the feed-in tariffs scheme, which pays people for small scale renewables projects. risked spiralling over budget. But critics have claimed the bid to slash the payments could put thousands of jobs at risk in the clean tech industry,...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
New 367 MW offshore wind farm opens in UK
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/09/us-wind-idUSTRE81812120120209?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A new 367 megawatt offshore wind farm opened off the Cumbrian coast in Britain Thursday and will supply up to 320,000 households with renewable power a year, the companies behind the project said. The 1 billion pound ($1.58 billion) Walney wind farm is a joint venture between utilities DONG Energy, SSE and OPW, a consortium of the Dutch pension fund service provider PGGM and Ampere Equity Fund. The companies claim Walney is the world's biggest offshore windfarm, with 102 wind turbines, each...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Challenge Of Making Climate Change News Sound Newsy
http://news.opb.org/article/challenge_of_making_climate_change_news_sound_newsy/
Climate Central: Dog bites man: news or not? If youâ€™re a journalist, you donâ€™t even need to think about it. The phrase is our professional shorthand for an idea that hardly qualifies as news, that it's not out of the ordinary. Man bites dog (goes the second half of the clichÃ©), now thatâ€™s news! Itâ€™s not an ironclad rule, though: if the dog bites the man after winning first place at the Westminster Dog Show, or if a marauding dog is biting its way through a terrified neighborhood, or if First Dog Bo bites Sasha...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Government angers industry with move to slash solar incentives further
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2145090/government-angers-industry-slash-solar-incentives?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Government+angers+industry+with+move+to+slash+solar+incentives+further
Business Green: The government has today announced wide ranging plans to reform the popular feed-in tariff incentives scheme, promising to deliver 22GW of solar capacity by 2020. But ministers have also risked further angering the solar industry, after setting out proposals that could see incentives for installations with less than 4kW of capacity cut by 35 per cent to 13.6p/kWh - a level that industry insiders fear will lead to a significant contraction of the sector. Writing on Twitter, Howard Johns of the...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Melting ice sheets already seen driving sea-level rise
http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2012/02/08/1
Greenwire: In the Earth's frozen extremes, it appears, the future is now. For some time, it's been thought in climate science that the glaciers and ice caps crowning mountain ranges from the Andes to the Himalayas are the canaries of the cryosphere. Seen making dramatic retreats in the face of human-caused global warming, melting glaciers have been flagged as the most likely frozen source for the planet's rising seas. Ultimately, melting of the massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland would become...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Blackstone, partner raises $1 bln to develop shale fields:report
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/09/us-blackstone-idUSTRE8180B920120209?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Blackstone Group LP and an energy company it invested in raised $1 billion from commercial banks to develop shale fields in south Texas, a Wall Street Journal report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The largest publicly listed alternative asset manager is expected to announce the deal, involving GeoSouthern Energy Corp, on Thursday. The investment gave Blackstone a position in the oil-rich Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas. Blackstone Group was not immediately available for comment....

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Europe's Hedegaard is 'sure' the E.U. will not back down in airlines dispute
http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/02/08/5
ClimateWire: As diplomats entered the tense concluding hours of last year's climate change summit in Durban, South Africa, leaders of Europe's 27 member nations met for a final coordinating session. European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard wanted to make something clear. Europe was dangling a promise to sign onto future carbon cuts under the Kyoto Protocol. But in exchange, it wanted a road map with a clear deadline paving the way for a new global deal that bound all major emitters -- something...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Iran Says To Go Green As Oil Sanctions Tighten
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/64647
Reuters: Iran should invest in renewable energy to preserve its hydrocarbon reserves, Iranian energy minister Rostam Qasemi said Wednesday, as tightening sanctions make it increasingly difficult for Tehran to sell oil. With Iran's biggest buyers cutting imports of its crude and looking for other suppliers, Tehran says the time is right for the world's fifth largest oil producer and the second biggest gas holder to go green. Iran's renewable sector is tiny, as in much of the Middle East where investments...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
The Wall Street Journal and Climate Change Denial
http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/02/wall-street-journal-climate-change-denial/
Triple Pundit: A January 27 op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal contains the usual drivel about climate change denial. Signed by 16 scientists, the op-ed piece claims that a growing number of â€œscientific hereticsâ€ continues to grow every year. A cursory glance at the exact field of the 16 scientists is very telling. Only a couple of signatories are actually climate scientists, and the rest are not. At least one is an economist. As a rebuttal to the piece points out: â€œWhile accomplished in their own fields, most...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
Climate change affecting Antarctica faster than previously thought: study
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-02/09/c_131401229.htm
Xinhua: Climate change is affecting the world's last great unspoiled wilderness of the Antarctic faster than previously thought, according to a New Zealand-led international team of researchers. The scientists, led by Professor Craig Cary, of the University of Waikato, have been studying ecosystems in the continent's Dry Valleys and found that microbial communities in the soil undergo rapid and lasting changes in response to environmental conditions. "We used to think that changes in microbial change...

Fri, 10 Feb 12
BG cuts back on fracking for shale gas as prices slide
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/feb/09/bg-cuts-back-on-fracking-shale-gas-prices
Guardian: BG Group has become the latest major energy giant to scale back on shale gas production amid falling prices. The oil and gas producer, created by a demerger from British Gas 15 years ago, has joined US rivals Chesapeake and ConocoPhillips in cutting back on the controversial production process known as fracking, where a combination of chemicals, water and sand is pumped into the ground to hydraulically fracture or "frack" the rock and release trapped gas. However, concerns over the process have...

Thu, 9 Feb 12
EU Pledges Strong Support for Earth Summit
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106688
Inter Press Service: European leaders have mapped out a bold agenda ahead of the Rio summit, vowing to transform development aid, help provide renewable electricity to the worldâ€™s neediest people, and bulk up the United Nations environment body. The European Unionâ€™s â€˜Agenda for Changeâ€™ proposal calls for pumping foreign aid into sustainable growth and energy access, while European Union officials have also floated the idea of transforming the U.N. Environmental Programme into an agency with expanded influence and...

Thu, 9 Feb 12
Global Warming: Like 'Weather on Steroids'
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/global-warming-climate-scientists-effect-weather-steroids/story?id=15534047
ABC News: Are we "doping" our atmosphere? What's going on with these record warm temperatures"Â¦ extreme snowfall"Â¦ even January tornadoes? Is climate change the cause? Or more appropriately, what impact is climate change having on our weather? To help answer those questions, a group of researchers has just released a new online guide for understanding the links between more extreme weather and a warming planet. Is global warming throwing our weather out of whack? Scientists tell us there's no easy,...

Thu, 9 Feb 12
Greenpeace praises Google, slams Apple in latest green IT ranking
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2144760/greenpeace-praises-google-slams-apple-green-ranking?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Greenpeace+praises+Google%2C+slams+Apple+in+latest+green+IT+ranking
Business Green: Google has today taken top spot in Greenpeace's annual Cool IT Leaderboard ranking technology firms' environmental efforts, seizing the crown from networking giant Cisco. The influential campaign group said Google had climbed to the top of the table on the back of its high profile investment in renewable energy projects and its vocal support for US clean energy policy and EU efforts to increase the ambition of its climate change targets. However, the group again turned its fire on Apple, refusing...

Thu, 9 Feb 12
A Fresh Take on Chaotic Weather
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/a-fresh-take-on-chaotic-weather/
New York Times: The crazy weather continues. People in Europe are freezing to death in one of the coldest winters on record. It snowed on Monday in Libya. Libya! That is a country better known, weather-wise, for suffering the highest temperature recorded on earth in modern times (136 degrees Fahrenheit, in 1922). Meanwhile, the United States is enjoying a bizarrely mild winter, in stark contrast to last year`s. At Tuesday`s parade for the New York Giants, some people walked around Manhattan in short sleeves....

Thu, 9 Feb 12
Japan: Rising temperatures at Fukushima raise questions over stability of nuclear plant
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/08/fukushima-rising-temperatures-stability-nuclear-reactor
Guardian: Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant say they are regaining control of a reactor after its temperature rose dramatically this week, casting doubt on government claims that the facility has been stabilised. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco] was forced to increase the amount of cooling water being injected into the No. 2 reactor after its temperature soared to 73.3 C earlier this week. By Tuesday night, the temperature had dropped to 68.5 C at the bottom of the...

Thu, 9 Feb 12
United States: Climate Change Will Impact the Poor
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/climate-change-will-impact-the-poor/Content?oid=3120249
East Bay Express: Poor, urban, and minority residents are most at risk for health problems linked to climate change, according to a new California Department of Public Health analysis of Los Angeles and Fresno counties. The department examined social and environmental factors ranging from the rising sea level to public transportation access and found that African Americans and Latinos living in these counties are more likely to be exposed to health and safety risks related to poor air quality, heat waves, flooding,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
British greenhouse gases rise for first time since 2003
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/british-greenhouse-gases-rise-for-first-time-since-2003-6655111.html
Independent: There was a significant increase in UK greenhouse gases in 2010 for the first time in several years, Government figures confirmed yesterday. Emissions of the basket of carbon dioxide (CO2) and five other greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto protocol, the international climate-change treaty, were more than 3 per cent higher that year than in 2009, according to final data released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Emissions of CO2 itself, the principal greenhouse gas, were almost...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Cuba on the Road to Clean Energy Development
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106684
Inter Press Service: More than a decade ago, solar electricity changed the lives of several mountain communities in Cuba. Now this and other renewable power sources are emerging as the best options available to develop sustainable energy across the island. "If the world's clean energy potential exceeds our consumption needs, why do we insist on using the polluting kind?" asked Luis BÃ©rriz, head of the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (CUBASOLAR), a non- governmental...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Key House panel advances Keystone pipeline plan
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-keystone-idUSTRE81623R20120207?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A plan to fast-track the stalled the Keystone XL pipeline was passed by a key committee in the House of Representatives, as Republicans made yet another attempt to spur approval of the project that has become a major issue in the 2012 elections. The bill would wrest decision-making on the pipeline from the Obama administration and hand it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which would be compelled to quickly issue approval permits on the Canada-to-Texas project. But the plan would...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Santorum: I never believed global warming 'hoax'
http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/02/santorum-i-never-believed-global-warming-hoax-113739.html
Politco: Rick Santorum told Colorado Springs supporters Tuesday that Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich would be ineffective challengers to President Barack Obama in the general election because of their views on cap and trade. "Let's go to cap and trade. Governor Romney proudly announced that they were the first state, Massachusetts, to put a cap on CO2 emissions in the state of Massachusetts," Santorum told more than 100 supporters here. Santorum also dinged Gingrich for filming a climate change ad with...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
No, You Werenâ€™t Hallucinating: January was Really Warm
http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/no-you-werent-hallucinating-january-was-really-warm?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%253A+climatecentral%252FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: As it does every month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released U.S. weather stats for the month just ended, and the results will come as a huge shock -- if you've been hiding in a subterranean cave, at least. For the rest of us, it's not even a bit surprising that January, 2012 is the fourth warmest January since modern recordkeeping began in the late 1800's. Here in Princeton, where Climate Central has its headquarters, daffodils are poking up out of the ground...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Popular Opinion on Climate Change Traced to Political Elites
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=popular-opinion-on-climat
LiveScience: It seems the general public just can't make up its mind about the existence of man-made climate change. Rather than steadily increasing or decreasing over the last decade, the U.S. public's concern over our warming planet has jumped up and down, according to Gallup polls. But what exactly is driving this seesawing of opinions on climate change? The level of public concern about this global issue is mostly influenced by the mobilization efforts of political leaders and advocacy groups, new research...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
UK greenhouse gas rise exceeds expectations on 2010 recovery
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2144420/uk-greenhouse-gas-rise-exceeds-expectations-2010-recovery?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Updated%3A+UK+greenhouse+gas+rise+exceeds+expectations+on+2010+recovery
Business Green: The UK has been pumping out more greenhouses gases (GHG) than previously thought, according to new government figures confirming emissions rose 3.1 per cent between 2009 and 2010. The finalised figures unveiled this morning by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reveal that UK homeowners and businesses emitted 590 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2010, compared to 573 million tonnes in 2009. The statistics show DECC has been slightly underestimating the...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Cold weather drives UK emissions up 3.1 percent in 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-uk-emissions-idUSTRE81611Y20120207?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The UK's greenhouse gas output climbed 3.1 percent in 2010 as people used more gas to heat their homes amid colder weather and more nuclear plants were closed for maintenance, according to final government estimates published Tuesday. The country emitted 590.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent of the six greenhouse gases (GHGs) covered by the Kyoto Protocol, up from 572.5 million tonnes in 2009, said the government report, revising an initial estimate made last year of 582.4 million. "2010 was,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United States: Study: Minorities face greatest climate-change impacts
http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/energy-and-environment/722-study-minorities-will-be-impact-more-by-climate-change
Business Journal: The California Department of Public Health has released a study finding that heat events, flooding and wildfires --events associated with anticipated future climate change -- will impact Fresno County's minorities the greatest. Fresno and Los Angeles counties were examined for the study. The study also found areas with a predominantly minority population were more susceptible to heat stress because of a number of factors such as limited vegetation, open space, access to transportation to visit...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
India: Rise in Bangalore's temperature attributed to high carbon emissions
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/article2866584.ece
Hindu: Bangalore, which was once known for its salubrious climate, is getting hotter by the day because of the rise in global and local pollution levels, according to J. Srinivasan, Chairman of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, and Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Attributing the phenomenon to rise in carbon dioxide level in the city, he said excessive consumption of fossil fuels like petrol and diesel has resulted in carbon emission...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
UK Labour party accuses Tory right of 'contempt' for the environment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/07/labour-accuses-tories-contempt-environment?newsfeed=true
Guardian: Labour has accused the chancellor of the exchequer of "actively revelling in contempt for environmental protection", in the latest broadside in the row over green policies that has consumed the coalition since the resignation of Chris Huhne on Friday. Caroline Flint, shadow energy secretary, warned that the Tory right was breaking apart the cross-party consensus on climate change, thereby endangering the UK's economic health as well as threatening the planet with untrammelled global warming. Her...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Russians drill into untouched lake miles below Antarctica's surface
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/russians-drill-into-previously-untouched-lake-vostok-below-antarctica/2012/02/06/gIQAGziNuQ_story.html
Washington Post: Russian scientists have drilled into the vast, dark and never-before-touched Lake Vostok 2.2 miles below the surface of Antarctica, the state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Monday. "Yesterday, our scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3,768 meters and reached the surface of the subglacial lake,' the news agency quoted a source as saying. The team had "finally managed to pierce' the ice sheet into Vostok, the source said. The report could not be verified Monday, but numerous...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
France urged to clean up deadly waste from its nuclear tests in Polynesia
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/07/france-polynesia-atolls-nuclear-tests
Guardian: Seen from the air, the coral ring that separates the deep blue of the ocean from the lighter water of the lagoon lends Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls a sense of normality. But the picture changes dramatically as you come closer. Parts of the islands are covered in concrete and the vegetation usually found in the Tuamoto archipelago has given way to aito trees, a form of she-oak. "At home on Tuamoto we depend on the island for our livelihood but here it is dead," says an indignant Tuamotuan. France...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Q&A: "The Environmental Crisis Is in Fact a Crisis in Democracy"
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106674
Inter Press Service: To meet the challenges of the 21st century, including climate change, feeding the world and eliminating poverty, we need to free ourselves from the "thought traps" that prevent us from seeing the world as it truly is and narrow our vision of how to respond. At same time, we need to eliminate "privately-held government", says Frances Moore LappÃ©, author of "EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think to Create the World We Want" published by Nation Books. LappÃ© has written 18 books, including the very influential...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Rise in greenhouse gas emissions
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/rise-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions-6642005.html
Press Association: The UK's greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2010, the first increase since 2003, figures confirmed today. The final estimates for 2010 showed that greenhouse gas output rose by more than 3%, largely due to an increase in gas use for heating homes in the face of cold weather at the beginning and the end of the year. Emissions from the residential sector rose by almost 15% from 2009, the statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change showed. The rise in emissions was also driven...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Fracking Is Not a 'Fait Accompli' for 2012, N.Y. Official Says
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/fracking-is-not-a-fait-accompli-for-2012-n-y-officials-says/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: New York regulators have received more than 60,000 public comments on the stateâ€™s plan to allow hydrofracking, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomoâ€™s top environmental official said on Tuesday at a hearing. Joe Martens, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, spoke at a joint legislative hearing on the Cuomo administrationâ€™s proposed 2012-13 budget for his agency. (As I report in Tuesdayâ€™s paper, the governorâ€™s budget allocates no money for ushering in the drilling over the next year.)...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
BP squares up for oil spill lawsuits
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-bp-idUSTRE8160F920120207?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: BP ratcheted up the rhetoric around multi-billion dollar claims from the Gulf oil spill by warning it would "vigorously" contest lawsuits over one of the world's worst environmental disasters. While reiterating BP's "bias for settling" at hearings scheduled later this month, CEO Bob Dudley said he would only do so "on fair and reasonable terms." As he unveiled higher fourth quarter profit on Tuesday and a rise in the dividend, which he said showed BP was putting the spill behind it, Dudley...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Climate change denialâ€™s new offensive
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/07/climate_change_denials_new_offensive/
Salon: If we could see the world with a particularly illuminating set of spectacles, one of its most prominent features at the moment would be a giant carbon bubble, whose bursting someday will make the housing bubble of 2007 look like a lark. As yet - as we shall see - itâ€™s unfortunately largely invisible to us. In compensation, though, we have some truly beautiful images made possible by new technology. Last month, for instance, NASA updated the most iconic photograph in our civilizationâ€™s gallery:...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Russians "Close" to Drilling Into Antarctica's Lake Vostok
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/120206-russia-lake-vostok-antarctica-drilling-science-glacier/
National Geographic: Russian scientists are "very, very close" to reaching the surface of a freshwater lake 2.3 miles (3,768) meters under the Antarctic ice, news reports say. It would be the first time anyone has penetrated a subglacial lake on the frozen continent. The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported today that the team has in fact breached the Lake Vostok. However Mahlon C. Kennicutt II, a professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University who leads several Antarctic research groups, said the report...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United States: Commercial Composting a Growth Industry in Austin
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120206/us_ac/10932061_commercial_composting_a_growth_industry_in_austin
Yahoo!: While Austin, like most Texas cities, has a recycling program, the capital of the state is experimenting with commercial composting, using food and other organic waste to create mulch and potter's soil for commercial use, according to the Austin American Statesman. What does Austin currently encourage recycling? According to the Realty Austin page, Austin encourages its residents to put a variety of materials in the recycle bin. These include plastic, metal, glass, paper and cardboard of particular...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Kelly Blynn: activists not "letting the pressure off" on Keystone pipeline
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0206-ryking_intreview_blynn.html
Mongabay: Along with Bill McKibben and a small cadre of passionate environmental activists, Kelly Blynn co-founded the climate activism group "350." 350 exemplifies the power of online networks combined with activism and has coordinated some of the largest and most successful environmental protests in history. The 350 team has organized more than 5,200 events in 181 countries around the world. Kelly graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Geography and Environmental Studies and experience coordinating...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Politics may be real climate hazard - experts
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/politics-may-be-real-climate-hazard
AlertNet: Climate change impacts -- from worsening droughts to new pots of climate-related cash for fragile states -- may turn out to be a catalyst for worsening conflict. If so, keeping an eye on local politics and the quality of governance could be as important in heading off climate crises as breeding drought-resistant crops or protecting forests, climate security experts said at a recent meeting in London. Growing climate change-related tensions "are not simply about climate change but about... the...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Opponents of EU airline CO2 scheme to meet in Moscow
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/06/us-russia-aviation-idUSTRE8151QJ20120206?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A group of 26 countries vehemently opposed to the EU's aviation emissions trading scheme will meet in Moscow on February 21 to discuss a plan of action, EU and Indian sources told Reuters on Monday. The governments, which include Russia, India, China and the U.S., claim an EU law forcing all airlines touching down or taking off within the bloc to pay for their CO2 emissions from last month is discriminatory and illegal, and some are prohibiting their carriers from complying. They argue the...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
A Scramble to Rescue Dolphins
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/a-scramble-to-rescue-dolphins/
New York Times: Rescue workers transporting a mother and calf last month on Sagamore Beach in Massachusetts. The dolphins were returned to the ocean later in deeper waters. In just over three weeks, 129 common dolphins have stranded themselves along 20 miles of Cape Cod beaches. While mass strandings of marine mammals are hardly new in the area - even the Pilgrims witnessed them - this series is different. It`s the biggest single-species stranding that Cape Cod has ever seen, and the dolphins keep on coming,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
EU wind energy capacity grew 11 per cent during 2011
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2144093/eu-wind-energy-capacity-grew-cent-2011?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=EU+wind+energy+capacity+grew+11+per+cent+during+2011
Business Green: The EU added 9,616MW of wind energy capacity during 2011, making up more than a fifth of total new power installations, industry figures have today revealed. Offshore growth in the UK and onshore projects in Sweden and Germany helped push member states to a combined total of 93,957MW -- an 11 per cent rise on 2010 and enough to supply 6.3 per cent of the EU's electricity -- the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said. Overall, Germany remains the EU country with the largest installed capacity,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Climate risk of toxic shock
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-climate-toxic.html
Physorg: Increased flooding could release contaminants previously regarded as secure into groundwater, rivers, oceans, the food supply and atmosphere, the director of the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment, Professor Ravi Naidu said today. "Most of our urban landfills contain highly toxic substances from past decades â€“ and were designed for the climatic conditions at the time. These have now changed, with the risk of bigger and more frequent floods, droughts, heat and acidity...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Race to drill into Antarctic lake
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16907998
BBC: Russian scientists are racing to beat US and UK rivals and be first to drill into an Antarctic sub-glacial lake. The team has been drilling down to Lake Vostok, the largest of more than 100 bodies of liquid water buried under Antarctica's ice. The lake has been sealed off from the surface for millennia, so it may contain life forms new to science. Scientists are racing against the fast-approaching bitter cold and total darkness of Antarctic winter. However, Prof John Priscu, who is in...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Jellyfish explosion may be natural cycle
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0206-hance_jellyfish_explosion_not.html
Mongabay: Evidence that jellyfish are taking over the oceans is currently lacking, according to a new study published in Bioscience. Complied by a number of marine experts, the study found that while jellyfish have been on the rise in some regions it is likely due to a natural cycle of jellyfish populations and not a global boom. Researchers, including a number of marine biologists, have warned for years that jellyfish numbers may be exploding due to human activities, such as overfishing, warmer oceans due...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Tanzania: Bulk of Redd Payments to Benefit Communities
http://allafrica.com/stories/201202060819.html
AllAfrica: GOVERNMENT has agreed to let 80 per cent of payments done under Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) to go to communities which protect forests. An official from Africa Wildlife Foundation, Godlisten Matilya, told a Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Programme meeting held in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that after a lot of lobbying by environmental activists, the government has agreed that communities have the responsibility to protect forests hence should...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Dueling claims on Obama's energy record ignore production boom and reasons for it
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/fact-check-dueling-claims-on-obamas-energy-record-ignore-production-boom-and-reasons-for-it/2012/02/06/gIQAx4fNtQ_story.html
Associated Press: You wouldnâ€™t know it from the Republicans, but these are boom times for American energy. And you wouldnâ€™t know it from President Barack Obama, but he has very little to do with that. From the presidential campaign trail to Congress, Republicans have been hammering Obama for locking up the nationâ€™s energy resources. GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, for one, accuses Obama of pursuing policies â€œthat keep us from using our own energy.â€ But such complaints donâ€™t hold up. The U.S. produced...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Research team monitors disappearance of Arctic tundra in Canada's Yukon
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Edmonton+biologist+international+team+monitoring+disappearance/6105269/story.html
Edmonton Journal: Smith and Sarah Wheeler standing by their camp in the Ruby Mountain Range of the Yukon after an early fall snow storm knocked down their camp University of Alberta biologist Isla Myers-Smith and her colleague were taking down their research camp in the Ruby Mountain Range when a snowstorm with winds of near hurricane force blew down their tent and sent their electric generator tumbling down a hillside. For nearly three days, Myers-Smith and Helen Wheeler hunkered down, eating what little food...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Giants of the New Zealand forest give climate clues
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/giants-of-the-new-zealand-forest-give-climate-clues/story-e6frf7lf-1226263732123
AAP: NEW Zealand scientists using the rings on kauri trees to look at climate patterns are tipping global warming to bring more big weather extremes in the coming years. The Auckland University study, published in the monthly journal Nature Climate Change, identifies that growth rings from the trees in Northland provide an insight into climate variations over centuries. The El Nino weather pattern, which brings cool southwesterly winds and droughts, is linked to wide tree rings as the trees grow...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
New Zealand: Tree rings show extreme weather on the rise
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/02/06/3423860.htm?topic=enviro
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Silent sentinels If history is anything to go by, periods of droughts and flooding rains could become more common in south-eastern Australia and New Zealand, according to a new study. The study, which appears today in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests El NiÃ±o and La NiÃ±a weather patterns will become even more dominant in the region as the global average temperature increases. "As the world continues to warm New Zealand is likely to experience the impacts of El NiÃ±o and La NiÃ±o events...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
It's the economy. And politics. And not much else
http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/02/climate-public-opinion
Daily Climate: In March 1981, pollsters tucked the first question about global climate change into a national poll, asking 1,000 adults if they had "heard or read about the 'greenhouse effect.'" If you're going to have an information campaign, it's going to have to be constant. You're not going to convince the American public once and for all. - Robert Brulle, Drexel University Fourteen percent replied either "a great deal" or "a fair amount." The majority - 62 percent - said they had never heard of it. ...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
China bars its airlines from paying EU carbon tax
http://www.nctimes.com/business/china-bars-its-airlines-from-paying-eu-carbon-tax/article_ed92ee97-d240-5999-becd-34ea0dd5bd9f.html
Associated Press: China announced Monday it will prohibit its airlines from paying European Union charges on carbon emissions, ratcheting up a global dispute over the cost of combatting climate change. The charges are aimed at curbing emissions of climate-changing gases but governments including China, the United States and Russia oppose them. The ratings agency Fitch warned in December the conflict could spiral into a global trade dispute. The Chinese air regulator said China's carriers are barred from paying...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Climate change gives gardeners new options
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/06/2627560/climate-change-gives-gardeners.html
Miami Herald: If you're planting a spring garden in the U.S. this year, you may want to set aside some extra seed money. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated its plant hardiness zone map for the first time since 1990, reflecting how some crops are moving north as winter grows warmer. Despite all the long-term dangers associated with global warming, it does have a few short-term perks, such as helping some plant and animal species expand their range. And when life gives you lemons - which, incidentally,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
China bars airlines from joining EU emissions scheme
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/06/us-china-eu-emissions-idUSTRE81515720120206?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: China on Monday barred its airlines from a European scheme to reduce carbon emissions, hardening its stance a week before a summit at which the European Union will seek Chinese help to ease its debt crisis. The wrangle over the scheme, which could charge for carbon emissions from flights in and out of Europe, has also drawn ire from the United States and India. All three argue the EU is exceeding its legal jurisdiction by calculating the carbon cost over the whole flight, not just Europe. Next...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Sir Mervyn King hints at possible "carbon bubble" investigation
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2144235/sir-mervyn-king-hints-carbon-bubble-investigation?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Sir+Mervyn+King+hints+at+possible+%22carbon+bubble%22+investigation
Business Green: Governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King has confirmed regulators could investigate whether exposure to fossil fuel-related assets pose a long-term risk to financial stability, although he insisted a number of conditions would have to be met before such an investigation could be launched. Responding to an open letter from a coalition of investors, politicians and academics that warned markets could be facing a so-called "carbon bubble" due to the valuation of energy and mining companies...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Climate consensus cracking open - or not
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16906738
BBC: What's brought me here now is the letter published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) about 10 days ago, in which a group of 16 scientists declared there was "no need to panic on global warming". "A large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed," it says. In other words - in a meme that's become very familiar over the last few years - "the consensus is cracking". It's a troublesome meme in several ways. First,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
A Bay Area Experiment in Electric Bike Sharing
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/a-bay-area-experiment-in-electric-bike-sharing/
New York Times: Any cyclist who pedals around San Francisco will soon learn about the Wiggle, a bicycle route that weaves a delightfully flat path across this city of hills. But the Wiggle, just one mile long, can save cyclists from only so many hills. Soon San Franciscans will have a new option for navigating the local terrain without breaking a sweat or resorting to a car, thanks to a pioneering federally financed electric bike share program that will start up this year. Rather than zigging and zagging to...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
EU Wind Energy Capacity Grew 11 Percent in 2011, Report Says
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/eu_wind_energy_capacity_grew_11_percent_in_2011_report_says/3318/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: More than 9,600 megawatts of wind power capacity was installed in European Union member states in 2011, accounting for about 21 percent of all new power capacity installations, according to an industry report. New offshore wind farms in the UK and land-based projects in Sweden and Germany pushed EU member states to a combined 93,957 megawatts of wind power capacity, an increase of about 10.5 percent from 2010, according to the European Wind Energy Association. Overall, renewable energy installations...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Political Discourse Driving Public Opinion on Climate, Report Finds
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/political_discourse_driving_public_opinion_on_climate_report_finds/3319/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: U.S. opinion on climate change over the last decade has been affected more by the discourse of political leaders than by media reports about global warming or extreme weather events, according to a new study. Using results from 74 separate surveys conducted from 2002 to 2010, researchers compiled an index that measured the changing level of concern over global warming and its relation to weather events, access to scientific information, media coverage, advocacy group campaigns, and cues from major...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Mines Test Colombia's Commitment to Sustainable Development
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106662
Inter Press Service: "In the Andes, and all over the world, mining on mountains should be banned. Distinguished scientists and papers in the most prestigious journals are saying this," a regional planning expert in Colombia told IPS. The expert in question is forestry engineer Fernando Mauricio Castro, in charge of planning for CORTOLIMA, the top environmental agency overseeing natural resources and their sustainable use in the central Andean province of Tolima, with its capital, IbaguÃ©, located 202 km southwest of...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
China bans its airlines from paying EU carbon tax
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/06/china-airlines-european-carbon-tax
Guardian: China has banned its airlines from paying the new European Union carbon charge, state news agency Xinhua has reported â€“ stepping up the international battle over the scheme. The levy applies to all airlines flying to and from EU countries. Companies that do not comply face fines and ultimately could be banned from using EU airports. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Monday that airlines were not allowed to pay the EU charge, increase freight costs or add other fees,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Use Rio+20 to overhaul idea of growth, urges EU climate chief
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/06/rio-20-gdp-connie-hedegaard
Guardian: The world must use a landmark environmental summit this year to change forever the current damaging model of economic growth, Europe's climate chief has warned, or face future crises as severe as the one currently enveloping the eurozone. Overconsumption of critical resources, and the rising prices of key commodities such as food, energy and natural materials as a result, risk derailing the world economy â€“ but these problems will not be tackled unless today's economic models are overhauled, according...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United Kingdom: New energy secretary confirms green targets
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/06/uk-britain-energy-policy-idUKTRE8150G920120206
Reuters: Newly-appointed Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey on Monday confirmed the country's commitment to its green energy targets and its focus on growing the offshore wind power generation capacities. "There may have been a change at the helm, but there'll be no change in direction or ambition," he said at the Building Research Establishment's Innovation Park near Watford . "My priorities are very simple: green jobs, green growth and getting the best deal for energy bill payers." ...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Climate changes threaten China's boom
http://www.cdapress.com/columns/cliff_harris/article_fd548d8e-b89d-527b-8eda-9817346e3a02.html
Coeur d'Alene Press: According to a Jan. 18 article in the morning edition of the Sydney, Australia, Herald, sent to me by my friend Cecil Hathaway, China's booming economy has been "seriously threatened by climate changes, wide weather 'extremes.' Just recently, China was forced to buy corn from the U.S. due to parching drought conditions in parts of the huge country, supposedly caused by global warming. China is the world's largest consumer of cereals and soybeans. The Chinese are increasingly turning to foreign...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Australia: Floods threaten Queensland town's levees
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/06/floods-threaten-queensland-towns-levees
Guardian: Thousands of residents of the rural Queensland town of St George are waiting anxiously to see if the town's levees will hold up to a record flood. About 3,000 of the town's residents left on Sunday after a mandatory evacuation order was issued in the biggest operation of its kind in Queensland's history. On Monday, emergency crews scrambled to complete a 2.5-mile (4km) dirt levee around the town, 300 miles west of Brisbane. It is thought the levee will hold water from the rising Balonne river...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Study Reveals Climate Change's Large Scale Damages to Corals
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9010173745
Fars News Agency: The results of a study showed that climate change and dramatic shifts in sea temperatures can cause short and long term damages to the world coral reefs. Around the world coral reefs are facing threats brought by climate change and dramatic shifts in sea temperatures. While ocean warming has been the primary focus for scientists and ocean policy managers, cold events can also cause large-scale coral bleaching events. A new study by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Bill Gates backs climate scientists lobbying for large-scale geoengineering
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/06/bill-gates-climate-scientists-geoengineering?newsfeed=true
Guardian: A small group of leading climate scientists, financially supported by billionaires including Bill Gates, are lobbying governments and international bodies to back experiments into manipulating the climate on a global scale to avoid catastrophic climate change. The scientists, who advocate geoengineering methods such as spraying millions of tonnes of reflective particles of sulphur dioxide 30 miles above earth, argue that a "plan B" for climate change will be needed if the UN and politicians cannot...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Chinese airlines are complying with carbon scheme: EU
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/06/us-china-eu-airlines-idUSTRE8150RX20120206?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The European Union is confident Chinese airlines will comply with its law forcing them to pay for carbon emissions on flights in and out of EU airports, a Commission spokesman said on Monday. China earlier said it was barring its airlines from participating in the EU's carbon scheme. "The Commission of course remains confident the Chinese airlines will comply with our legislation when they are operating through EU airports," Isaac Valero-Ladron, EU spokesman for climate action, told a regular...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Invasive insects evidence of climate change
http://pressrepublican.com/0217_johnson/x1023474076/Invasive-insects-evidence-of-climate-change
Press Republican: The photo provided is courtesy of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. It shows a coal miner in the early 1900s with a canary in a cage. These birds, preferred over mice, were used to alert underground miners to the presence of carbon monoxide, a toxic gas. The birds became visibly distressed in the presence of small amounts of this gas and provided a warning to the miners. Today, observations suggest we have the equivalent of a new canary in a cage, this one for detecting climate change:...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Making climate change appealing
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/op-ed/making-climate-change-appealing-931
Financial Chronicle: The famous â€œKeeling Curveâ€ graph, which shows the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the earthâ€™s atmosphere from 1958 to 2006, had set off alarm bells in the scientific community that continues to ring loudly even today. Yet somehow, this same graph does not communicate the immediacy of the climate change problem to lay audiences. Instead, it may actually convey the message that the buildup of carbon dioxide in the earthâ€™s atmosphere has been taking place over a long period, thereby, erroneously...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Congo invites Indian companies to invest in timber
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/congo-invites-indian-companies-to-invest-in-timber/articleshow/11764843.cms
Economic Times: Home to one of Africa's largest forest expanses, the Republic of Congo wants Indian companies to invest in the timber industry, the second biggest money-spinner after oil in the central African country, says its Forestry and Environment Minister Henri Djombo. "We have a big timber industry and would want Indian private companies to come and invest in the our timber companies," Djombo said in an interview here. The country, also informally known as Congo-Brazzaville to differentiate it from...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
"Global Warming Has Stopped"? How to Fool People Using "Cherry-Picked" Climate Data
http://www.forbes.com/sites/petergleick/2012/02/05/global-warming-has-stopped-how-to-fool-people-using-cherry-picked-climate-data/
Forbes: The current favorite argument of those who argue that climate changes isnâ€™t happening, or a problem, or worth dealing with, is that global warming has stopped. Therefore (they conclude) scientists must be wrong when they say that climate change is caused by humans, worsening, and ultimately a serious environmental problem that must be addressed by policy makers. The problem with this argument is that it is false: global warming has not stopped and those who repeat this claim over and over are...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Tree rings may underestimate climate response to volcanic eruptions
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/ps-trm020312.php
EurekAlert: Some climate cooling caused by past volcanic eruptions may not be evident in tree-ring reconstructions of temperature change because large enough temperature drops lead to greatly shortened or even absent growing seasons, according to climate researchers, who compared tree-ring temperature reconstructions with model simulations of past temperature changes. "We know these tree rings capture most temperature changes quite well," said Michael Mann, professor of meteorology and geosciences and director...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Tanzania: Land-cover changes do not impact glacier loss
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/uoi-lcd020312.php
EurekAlert: The composition of land surface â€“ such as vegetation type and land use â€“ regulates the interaction of radiation, sensible heat and humidity between the land surface and the atmosphere and, thus, influences ground level climate directly. For the first time, the Innsbruck climate scientists quantitatively examined whether land-cover changes (LCC) may potentially affect glacier loss. "We used Kilimanjaro in East Africa as a test case, where a significant decrease of forests at elevations between 1,800...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Fire at Moscow nuclear institute, Russia says no risk
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/05/us-russia-fire-nuclear-idUSTRE8140IX20120205?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: There was no risk of a radiation leak after a fire broke out at a Moscow nuclear research center housing a non-operational 60-year-old atomic reactor Sunday, said officials, but Greenpeace Russia expressed serious concern about the incident. The fire broke out early Sunday in a part of the Alikhanov Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics in southwestern Moscow that contains a research collider, institute officials said in a statement on its website. There were no radiation sources...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Europe's cold snap claims more victims, travel hit
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/05/us-europe-weather-idUSTRE8140IG20120205?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Bitterly cold weather sweeping across Europe claimed more victims Sunday, brought widespread disruption to transport services, and left thousands without power with warnings that low temperatures would continue into next week. Hundreds have lost their lives in eastern Europe as freezing weather sweeps across the continent westwards, while major airports warned that services would be delayed or cancelled. Steven Keates, a weather forecaster at Britain's Met Office, said the severe wintry conditions...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Sierra Club Received Millions from Natural Gas Industry
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120205/sc_ac/10930058_sierra_club_received_millions_from_natural_gas_industry
Yahoo!: According to a blog post from Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, the environmentalist organization accepted millions of donated dollars from the natural gas industry to fight against coal-fired plants nationwide. Here are the details. * Brune stated he became aware of the $26 million in donations from individuals and subsidiaries of Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest natural gas companies in the U.S., shortly after he became executive director in 2010. The funding began in 2007,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Price of gorilla permit increases to $750/day
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0205-gorilla_permit_rwanda.html
Mongabay: Rwanda has raised the price of a permit to see mountain gorillas to $750 per day starting June 1, 2012, up from $500. While the price is steep, the program each year raises millions of dollars in revenue for gorilla conservation, including $8 million in Rwanada alone in 2008, according to a 2011 study published in PLoS ONE. The number of permits available each day is limited to reduce the impact of gorilla tourism on the endangered apes. Around 20,000 visited Rwanda's gorillas in 2008. The...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Expert speaks out on impact of logging in PNG
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/201202/s3421800.htm
Radio Australia: One of the world's leading tropical biologists says clear felling of forests on Papua New Guinea's controversial Special Agricultural and Business leases is likely to have profound impact on PNG's environment. As you heard earlier in the program, logging on SABLs has pushed PNG's log exports into record territory. In 2011, 650,000 cubic metres of logs were exported from SABLs. A prominent scientist in tropical biology says the environmental impact of this sort of logging is very significant....

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Ssssscotland here we come!
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/environment/ssssscotland-here-we-come.1328411185
Scotland Herald: The first firm evidence that the grass snake is now living in the wild north of the Border has been uncovered by a naturalist, upsetting decades of conventional wisdom. It was believed the grass snake, a non-poisonous creature native to England, has never colonised Scotland. A few kept as pets had escaped, but there was no proof that any lived here in the wild, or had spread north naturally. But now Chris Cathrine, a member of the Clyde Amphibian and Reptile Group and director of the Caledonian...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Cutting carbon is one way of creating jobs
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/local/cutting_carbon_is_one_way_of_creating_jobs_1_4213849
Halifax Courier: THE council is ready to endorse an ambitious Â£366 million scheme to create 450 jobs, slash energy costs and help save the planet. If the Energy Future Strategy works properly, it should pay for itself and slash Calderdaleâ€™s carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020. Senior Lib Lab councillors have already given the strategy the green light and Calderdale Council as a whole will be asked to back the plan at its meeting on February 15. Economy and environment spokesman Barry Collins (Lab, Illingworth...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United States: Quincy residents wary of height of wind turbine
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/02/05/height_of_wind_turbine_planned_for_moon_island_questioned_by_some_quincy_residents/
Boston Globe: As Wednesdayâ€™s public hearing on the joint Quincy-Boston plan to build a nearly 400-foot wind turbine on Quincyâ€™s Moon Island draws near, some Quincy residents are questioning the value of the project to their city and the cost in intangibles they may have to pay for it. Quincy Planning Board member William Geary said his panel doesnâ€™t have a good idea of how big the turbine will appear from the cityâ€™s Squantum neighborhood, complaining at an information session last month that the simulation...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United States: A solar farm's slow going
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120205_A_solar_farm_s_slow_going.html
Philadelphia Inquirer: When Bob Keares proposed building Pennsylvania's largest solar farm in the heart of Chester County, he expected a warm reception, certainly from environmentalists. With 35,000 panels arrayed on a steep slope in Caln Township, the farm would generate 10 megawatts of energy, pollution-free. It could power 2,000 homes, he asserted, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 200,000 tons over 40 years - equivalent to planting eight million trees. Keares' green dream did not end there. He envisioned...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
United States: Report: Power plants pollute
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x123147680/Report-Power-plants-pollute?zc_p=0
MetroWest Daily News: Power plants throughout eastern Massachusetts are the largest industrial sources of greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change in the state, according to new data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The information comes from a website the EPA unveiled in January, publicly detailing for the first time emissions reported by the largest producers of carbon dioxide and related greenhouse gases in nine major industries. All the top 10 sources of carbon dioxide emissions...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
India: Why Jog Falls have been reduced to a trickle
http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_why-jog-falls-have-been-reduced-to-a-trickle_1646006
Daily News and Analysis: "It should be called Joke Falls, not Jog Falls,' says a disgusted Yoav Masiach. The 31-year-old Israeli tourist had visited India's largest waterfall in the Western Ghats around the same time in the mid 90s and was enthralled by the four waterfalls -- Raja, Roarer, Rocket and Lady. This year, he brought his 22-year-old girlfriend Dianne Solares all the way from Goa on a motorcycle, but they were shocked to see what had become of one of the top ten falls in the world. Locals like Siddhaiah Gowda,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
VIDEO: Birds' paradise lost in Kashmir?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16881107
BBC: A suitable climate and the easy availability of food make the Hokersar wetland reserve in Indian-administered Kashmir a favourite destination for nearly a million migratory birds every winter. This year, however, heavy snowfall and below freezing temperatures have frozen the water in some parts of the reserve, making it difficult for the birds to feed. Mehvish Hussain reports.

Wed, 8 Feb 12
New transportation bill proposes big changes
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=12-P13-00005&segmentID=2
Living on Earth: Congressman John Mica(FL-R)(in shirt sleeves) chairs the House Transportation Committee.(Courtesy of the House Transportation Committee) The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has proposed a sweeping, new transportation bill. The legislation would encourage private companies to build their own toll roads and pay for infrastructure with money from oil companies. The author of the 800 page-long bill, Congressmen John Mica, highlights some of the bill's biggest proposals...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Planes, trains, automobiles; but bicycles?
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=12-P13-00005&segmentID=1
Living on Earth: The House transportation bill currently on the table cuts bicycling and walking infrastructure. Democrat Congressman Earl Blumenauer is an avid cyclist. He tells host Bruce Gellerman why he believes the bill is an assault on twenty years of progress. Transcript GELLERMAN: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios in Somerville, MA, it's Living on Earth, I'm Bruce Gellerman. [MUSIC: THEME to LEAVE IT TO BEAVER] GELLERMAN: The "Hi Mom, hi Dad, hi Beaver,' era wasn't all that long ago......

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Sacrificing the desert to save the Earth
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-desert-20120205,0,7889582.story
LA Times: Construction cranes rise like storks 40 stories above the Mojave Desert. In their midst, the "power tower" emerges, wrapped in scaffolding and looking like a multistage rocket. Clustered nearby are hangar-sized assembly buildings, looming berms of sand and a chain mail of fencing that will enclose more than 3,500 acres of public land. Moorings for 173,500 mirrors -- each the size of a garage door -- are spiked into the desert floor. Before the end of the year, they will become six square miles...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Environment agency becomes crunch issue in Rio talks
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h3TaXs_xlQj7LHL_xIsj_b8wB1Lg
Agence France-Presse: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is emerging as a hot issue in preparations for June's Rio conference, styled as a once-in-a-generation chance to restore a sick planet to good health. The US is fighting a proposal, backed according to France by least 100 countries, for transforming UNEP from a poorly noticed, second-string unit into a planetary super-agency. Environmentalists have long complained that Nairobi-based UNEP, set up in 1972 as an office of the UN and with a membership of only...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
When did â€˜climate changeâ€™ become â€˜clean energyâ€™?
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/maxwell-t-boykoff-when-did-climate-change-become-clean-energy/article_78e0aaec-6a34-5439-b721-31085e6041a8.html
Cap Times: What happened to â€œclimate changeâ€ and â€œglobal warmingâ€? The Earth is still getting hotter, but those terms have nearly disappeared from political vocabulary. Instead, they have been replaced by less charged and more consumer-friendly expressions for the warming planet. President Barack Obamaâ€™s State of the Union address was a prime example of this shift. The president said â€œclimate changeâ€ just once -- compared with zero mentions in the 2011 address and two in 2010. When he did utter the phrase,...

Wed, 8 Feb 12
European chill moves west, 122 die in Ukraine
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/05/us-europe-weather-idUSTRE8130NK20120205?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Bitterly cold weather that has claimed hundreds of lives in eastern Europe swept westwards over the continent on Saturday, blanketing Rome's Colosseum with snow for the first time in three decades and disrupting air and rail traffic. Russian gas exporter Gazprom said it was unable to meet increased European demand as it battles its own deep freeze, and had reduced supplies "for a few days" before returning them to normal levels. In Belgrade, soldiers were deployed to clear the central boulevard....

Wed, 8 Feb 12
Image of the Day: A Crack Across the Pine Island Glacier
http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/image-of-the-day-a-crack-in-pine-island-glacier?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%253A+climatecentral%252FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: A massive crack extending for 19 miles across the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica was discovered last October by NASA scientists working in the area. The crack is 260 feet wide, 195 feet deep and will eventually extend all the way across the glacier, calving a giant iceberg that will cover about 350 square miles. This image was captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft on Nov. 13, 2011.

Sun, 5 Feb 12
United Kingdom: At -37C, the big freeze tightens its icy grip
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/at-37c-the-big-freeze-tightens-its-icy-grip-6432599.html
Independent: The coldest night of winter so far left the majority of Britain blanketed in snow as temperatures dropped to -12C. Drivers were warned to take extra care and planes were grounded, including at London Heathrow where one-in-three flights scheduled for today are expected to be cancelled. A host of sporting fixtures were also postponed. The evening match at Manchester City had to pause temporarily so the pitch markings could be made clear. In Beeston, Nottinghamshire, there were more serious...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Vegetarian diet would slash Britain's carbon footprint
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/vegetarian-diet-would-slash-britains-carbon-footprint-6423173.html
Independent: f everyone in the UK went vegetarian or vegan it would have the same environmental benefit as talking half of all cars off the road, according to new research. Scientists have calculated the impact of 61 foods, with fresh meat and cheese topping the carbon footprint league. They estimate that the combined greenhouse gas emissions from the foods we eat in the UK are the equivalent of 167 million tons of carbon dioxide, and switching to vegetarian diets could cut this by between 22 and 26 per cent....

Sun, 5 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Anti-fracking demo in Enniskillen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16889695
BBC: About 100 people have gathered in Enniskillen to demonstrate against the use of fracking to extract gas from shale rock in County Fermanagh. Earlier this week an exploration company said there could be enough gas to guarantee natural gas supply for Northern Ireland over 50 years. However, the process has proved controversial elsewhere. In Lancashire, it has caused small earthquakes and in America, water has been polluted. The process used in capturing the gas from the shale rock is hydraulic...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
World at risk without climate justice
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/lifestyle/books/world-risk-without-climate-justice-992
Deccan Chronicle: The Politics of Climate Change and the Global Crisis: Mortgaging Our Future by Praful Bidwai Orient Blackswan, Rs 750 Praful Bidwaiâ€™s book The Politics of Climate Change and the Global Crisis: Mortgaging Our Future is written at a time of deep diplomatic despondency. It is brutally honest about what is at risk if no action is taken at the national and international level. It exposes the false solution offered by India in its National Action Plan on Climate Change, and its chasing the nuclear...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Can 'gamification' make your life more sustainable?
http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/02/03/1
ClimateWire: A service provider for the green consumer says it is revolutionizing the way people approach sustainability, and the key to that revolution, it says, is games. Recyclebank, a Philadelphia-based startup-turned international service provider, has spent the past five years developing programs that incentivize green activities through an emerging science called "gamification," or the use of game mechanics to modify behavior. By engaging in online activities, users are prompted to adjust their lifestyles...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Canada: Wind power sector eager to deliver on B.C. power promise
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Wind%20power%20sector%20eager%20deliver%20power%20promise/6100551/story.html
Vancouver Sun: As Christy Clarkâ€™s Liberals tie British Columbiaâ€™s economic future to an unprecedented natural gas boom, proponents of the provinceâ€™s renewable energy resources hope for an opportunity to join in. B.C., predisposed to both massive and small-scale hydroelectric power development, has been one of the worldâ€™s laggards in terms of wind energy. Independent power producers say B.C. has tremendous potential for wind power development -- but so far, BC Hydroâ€™s preference has been for small-scale hydro...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Democrats counter energy security claims about Keystone pipeline project
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/208663-democrats-counter-keystone-oil-pipeline-energy-security-claims
The Hill: Democrats this week opened an aggressive front to counter the Republican push to green-light the Keystone XL pipeline, alleging the project will do little to improve U.S. energy security. The move is meant to undercut Republicansâ€™ rationale for speedy approval of the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline â€“ that the project will make the United States less reliant on oil from unstable nations. Democrats in the House and Senate revived long-standing concerns this week that oil from the project will be exported...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Lawmakers push for sea level rise study in Hampton Roads
http://www.dailypress.com/news/gloucester-county/dp-nws-sea-level-study-20120203,0,6553743.story
Daily Press: With its low-lying military bases and waterfront houses, Hampton Roads is more vulnerable to sea-level rise than most of the United States. Yet there is no coordinated plan to adapt to waters that, combined with slow-sinking land around the Chesapeake Bay, threaten to submerge entire neighborhoods by 2100. One Republican and six Democratic state lawmakers hope to change that with a first-of-its-kind study that would inventory what's been done and what can be done to mitigate the effects of...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Global experts question claims about jellyfish populations
http://www.independent.com/news/2012/feb/03/global-experts-question-claims-about-jellyfish-pop/
Santa Barbar Independent: Blooms, or proliferation, of jellyfish have shown a substantial, visible impact on coastal populations - clogged nets for fishermen, stinging waters for tourists, even choked intake lines for power plants - and recent media reports have created a perception that the world`s oceans are experiencing increases in jellyfish due to human activities such as global warming and overharvesting of fish. Now, a new global and collaborative study conducted at UC Santa Barbara`s National Center for Ecological...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
United States: New USDA map shows Holland as warmer than Grand Rapids
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1087083170/New-USDA-map-shows-Holland-as-warmer-than-Grand-Rapids
Holland Sentinel: De Bruyn Seed store manager Jan Meeuwsen knew it before the government told her: You can grow a redbud tree in Holland, but never in Grand Rapids. The Holland area doesn`t get as cold in the winter as Grand Rapids does, a fact that`s more accurately depicted in an updated map released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new guide arrives just as many home gardeners are receiving their seed catalogs and dreaming of lush flower beds in the spring. The Plant Hardiness Zone Map - sometimes...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
EU climate chief sees 'unpleasant' talks ahead
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/EU_climate_chief_sees_unpleasant_talks_ahead_999.html
Agence France-Presse: EU climate chief Connie Hedegaard acknowledged Friday that "difficult and unpleasant" negotiations lay ahead with countries like India and China to agree a global framework to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Hedegaard played an instrumental role at UN climate talks in Durban last December in building consensus towards a legal accord that for the first time will bring all major emitters under a single legal roof. The agreement was seen as a breakthrough, given India and China's long-held opposition...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
20 Million Years Later, Russians Work To Drill Into Lake
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/04/146393720/20-million-years-later-russians-work-to-drill-into-lake?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: DAVID GREENE, HOST: Imagine a place on earth where there's been no light, no wind for millions of years. Lake Vostok is one such place. The world's third largest lake, in terms of amount of water, has long been hidden, buried beneath two miles of ice until, perhaps, this coming week. Russian researchers are about to break through that ice. And to tell us what they might find and what dangers they may encounter, we've brought in John Priscu. He's a researcher at Montana State University who's...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Oil spurs Canadian PM China visit
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16884061
BBC: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit China next week to discuss the future of Canada's oil products. The visit comes after the US rejected a pipeline route from Alberta to Texas. Five Cabinet ministers, including the ministers of natural resources, trade and foreign affairs will join Mr Harper on his second official visit to China. A spokesman for the prime minister told the Associated Press it was "absolutely in Canada's interests" to build a new pipeline to deliver oil to...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Solar power incentives lose their shine
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9059878/Solar-power-incentives-lose-their-shine.html
Telegraph: The last year hasn't been a happy one for the British economy: GDP fell by 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2011; unemployment rose to a 17-year high; and government debt recently reached a record Â£1 trillion. One sector, however, has been bathing in the broad sunlit uplands of growth. In 2010 there were 450 solar businesses, employing around 3,000 people; by the end of last year, there were almost 4,000, employing more than 25,000 people. In September alone, some 16,000 households had solar...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Texas drought forces a town to sip from a truck
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/texas-drought-forces-town-to-haul-in-water-by-truck.html
New York Times: The water that once nourished this central Texas community never traveled far: it came from a fenced-in well at the edge of Lake Travis, down a winding street next to the golf course. These days, the water that flows from kitchen and bathroom faucets takes an extraordinary journey that can be measured not in feet but in miles. This drought-stricken place in the scenic hills outside Austin has been forced to bring in water by truck from more than 10 miles away because its sole well came close to...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Activists fight green projects, seeing U.N. plot
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/activists-fight-green-projects-seeing-un-plot.html
New York Times: Across the country, activists with ties to the Tea Party are railing against all sorts of local and state efforts to control sprawl and conserve energy. They brand government action for things like expanding public transportation routes and preserving open space as part of a United Nations-led conspiracy to deny property rights and herd citizens toward cities. They are showing up at planning meetings to denounce bike lanes on public streets and smart meters on home appliances â€” efforts they equate...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Science behind the big freeze: is climate change bringing the Arctic to Europe?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/science-behind-the-big-freeze-is-climate-change-bringing-the-arctic-to-europe-6358928.html
Independent: The bitterly cold weather sweeping Britain and the rest of Europe has been linked by scientists with the ice-free seas of the Arctic, where global warming is exerting its greatest influence. A dramatic loss of sea ice covering the Barents and Kara Seas above northern Russia could explain why a chill Arctic wind has engulfed much of Europe and killed 221 people over the past week. The death toll from Arctic blast has been particularly severe in the Ukraine, where many of the dead have been people...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Indonesia to create the world's largest palm oil and rubber company
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0203-perkebunan_nusantara_iii.html
Mongabay: The Indonesian government plans to create a massive plantation firm next month when it will combine the assets of state-owned rubber and palm oil companies, reports Reuters. The new corporation, which will be consolidated under the parent company PT Perkebunan Nusantara III, will have assets worth $5.6 billion, according to State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan. It will own about million hectares of oil palm and rubber plantations, rivaling Malaysiaâ€™s Sime Darby and Singaporeâ€™s Wilmar among...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Fair Trade Going Strong Amid Global Crisis
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106647
Inter Press Service: With a steady growth in production and exports, fair trade in Argentina is proving that socially and environmentally sustainable practices can be much more than a refuge from external crises. "One of the advantages of fair trade is the stability of the demand, which has remained steady despite the crisis" in developed countries, Javier GonzÃ¡lez, manager of the Norte Grande Agriculture and Apiculture Cooperative, told IPS. This cooperative is located in the northern province of TucumÃ¡n and has...

Sun, 5 Feb 12
Island nations want climate change in world court
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2012/02/04/island-nations-want-climate-change-world-court-204269
Associated Press: Small island nations, whose very existence is threatened by the rising sea levels brought about by global warming, are seeking to take the issue of climate change before the International Court of Justice. Johnson Toribiong, president of Palau, said Friday his country and other island nations had formed an expert advisory committee to bring the issue before the U.N. General Assembly. That would allow the world court in the Hague to determine the legal ramifications of climate change under international...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Zoos tighten security as threat of animal poaching grows
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/03/zoos-security-animal-poaching-threat
Guardian: Opening the door to the animal house, passing a rhino on the way and patting the giraffe inside, Sarah Forsyth points out small white boxes that dot the walls. "Everywhere you look there's a detector or a motion sensor," she says, chuckling in front of one that presented the security firm with a peculiarly zoo-specific problem. "These are the ones the giraffe were licking." She can laugh about it now, but two months ago, when Colchester zoo decided to put in place the Â£300,000 alarm system, Forsyth's...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
How the Sierra Club Took Millions From the Natural Gas Industryâ€”and Why They Stopped
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2012/02/02/exclusive-how-the-sierra-club-took-millions-from-the-natural-gas-industry-and-why-they-stopped/
Time: Mainstream environmental groups have struggled to find the right line on shale natural gas and the hydraulic fracturing or fracking process. Gas has a much smaller carbon footprint than coal--according to most scientists--and produces far fewer air pollutants. That was enough for many major green groups to give support to gas as a "bridge fuel" to a cleaner energy future--the next best domestic alternative to coal as an electricity source while alternatives like wind and solar scaled up. But for...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
'Arctic Oscilliation' Responsible For Mixed Winter Weather
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/03/146362936/arctic-oscilliation-responsible-for-mixed-winter-weather?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: For snow fans in the contiguous US, this winter has left much to be desired. The warm and mild season in the lower 48 and the wild snow dumps and cold weather up north in Alaska can be blamed largely on a weather pattern called "arctic oscillation." Audie Cornish gets an explanation of the weather phenomenon from meteorologist Jeffrey Masters.

Sat, 4 Feb 12
New USDA Map May Mean Earlier Planting In North
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/03/146362934/new-usda-map-may-mean-earlier-planting-in-north?ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: A new map from the USDA has some northern gardeners hoping to grow plants that used to be considered too fragile for cold weather zones. The hardiness zone chart is about a half zone warmer than the last one issued in 1990. The USDA says the changes are not due to global warming, but to more sophisticated mapping methods. Seed sellers and buyers say that, whatever the reason, the warmer temperatures expand possibilities for planting this spring.

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Canada, Alberta set up oil sands monitoring
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120203/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_oilsands_environment
Reuters: Canada will set up a new environmental monitoring system for the northern Alberta oil sands as it seeks to fend off harsh international criticism following revelations that oversight of the huge petroleum development has been insufficient. The federal and the Alberta provincial governments said on Friday the new plan that will boost water sampling and increase information available to the public. They said they will take three years to implement a joint program that will continuously study...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Is there a future for carbon footprint labelling in the UK?
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1231410/is_there_a_future_for_carbon_footprint_labelling_in_the_uk.html
Ecologist: The media frenzy that erupted as Tesco admitted having second-thoughts on carbon footprint labels may have inflicted lasting damage on a once promising sector Back in 2007, when former CEO Terry Leahy promised to bring in carbon labels for all Tesco products everything seemed rosy. Soon after, the company announced a trial of the Carbon Trust's Carbon Reduction Label, promising a 'revolution in green consumption'. Consumers would be able to know from the label the amount of greenhouse gases used...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Republicans step up attacks on Obama's green agenda
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2143716/republicans-step-attacks-obamas-green-agenda?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Republicans+step+up+attacks+on+Obama%27s+green+agenda
Guardian: US Republicans are deploying a $100m election spending machine to savage Barack Obama's green agenda, with Karl Rove's political action committee releasing a new advert attacking the administration for funding a collapsed solar panel company. The latest ad buy this week raises Republican spending on adverts attacking Obama's support for Solyndra to more than $9m (Â£5.7m), with the election still nine months away. Republicans hope to frame the election in November as a choice between the environment...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Glaciers now under attack from ice thieves: UN
http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-153497.html
New Kerela: Criminal gangs are becoming a threat to the worldâ€™s glaciers, which are already receding as a result of climate change, the United Nations said on Thursday, citing a case in Chile where police are investigating the theft of some 5,000 kilograms of millennia-old ice from the Jorge Montt glacier. Mining for ice could pose a major additional threat to the 454 square-kilometre glacier, which is situated in Chileâ€™s Bernardo Oâ€™Higgins National Park, and is part of the 13,000-square kilometre Southern...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Indian PM says lack of collective will on climate change
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jRtaKR5Svfy2-ylp79GRHgdaIaiQ?docId=CNG.4c9604296620ebb0a594c9f721550abd.121
Agence France-Presse: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday that "a lack of collective will" was hampering efforts to forge a common global front against the threat of climate change. Addressing the opening of a Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi, Singh said India was committed to tackling greenhouse gas emissions, but rejected any framework that deprived the country of its right to develop. "It is necessary to recognise that currently there appears to be a lack of collective global will to...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Setting the record straight: Climate change experts respond
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3809362.html
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Do you consult your dentist on your heart condition? In science, as in any area, reputations are based on knowledge and expertise in a field, and on published, peer-reviewed work. If you need surgery, you want a highly experienced expert in the field who has done a large number of the proposed operations. On January 27, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed on climate change by the climate science equivalent of dentists practicing cardiology. While accomplished in their own fields, most...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Bird numbers plummet around stricken Fukushima plant
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bird-numbers-plummet-around-stricken-fukushima-plant-6348724.html
Independent: Researchers working around Japan's disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant say bird populations there have begun to dwindle, in what may be a chilling harbinger of the impact of radioactive fallout on local life. In the first major study of the impact of the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, the researchers, from Japan, the US and Denmark, said their analysis of 14 species of bird common to Fukushima and Chernobyl, the Ukrainian city which suffered a similar nuclear meltdown, showed the...

Sat, 4 Feb 12
Europe is too emotional about fracking, says Shell chief
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/europe-is-too-emotional-about-fracking-says-shell-chief-6316129.html
Press Association: Shell's chief executive, Peter Voser, called on Europe for a less "emotional" response to fracking, as he outlined plans to accelerate the oil giant's use of the controversial technology used to release hydrocarbons from rocks. Mr Voser said Shell would invest $6bn (Â£3.8bn) to appraise, explore and develop gas and oil reserves contained in rocks this year, as it looked to significantly expand the volume of hydrocarbons it produces. About $3bn of the total will be invested developing sites in...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Climate change should remain at the top of the local government agenda
http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-government-network/2012/feb/02/climate-change-local-government-agenda
Guardian: Four or five years ago, if you asked a gathering of local government chief executives what were the top three priorities for their councils over the next decade, a majority would have included climate change. Ask the same question today, and you'll get a very different answer. Climate change seems to have fallen off the local government agenda. A recent Local Government Chronicle poll, based on research by Green Alliance, found that 37% of councils are de-prioritising climate change, and 28% are...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Northern forests may be losing their ability to trap carbon
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-northern-forests-ability-carbon.html
Physorg: If the situation remains as it is, the forests may actually put more carbon dioxide back into the air than they absorb, the researchers said. While researchers have seen this happen in tropical rainforests, the new result suggests that this problem could be much more widespread. The scientists at the University of Quebec's Montreal campus and from several Chinese institutions, reporting in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have been able to put numbers to the fears that...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Why Barack Obama will have to talk about climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/02/barack-obama-talk-climate-change
Mother Jones: In his State of the Union address on January 24, President Obama largely avoided the topic of climate change. He talked about it once, in passing, as a topic on which "the differences in this chamber may be too deep" to enact new legislation. Its less-controversial cousin, "energy," on the other hand, got a whopping 23 mentions as an area where Republicans and Democrats should be able to find agreement. It became clear well before that address that the president and his administration don't think...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Drought, warmer weather persist in much of U.S
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-drought-idUSTRE8111R720120202?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Weird weather kept vexing large swathes of the United States over the last week, with unseasonably warm and dry conditions melting northern snows and spreading drought through the southwest, even as heavy rains soaked parched pastures in Texas and Oklahoma, according to climate experts. Unseasonably warm temperatures were noted in Kansas and across many areas of the central Plains, with Kansas recording temperatures well above 60 degrees Fahrenheit this week. For January, the state-wide average...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
India's panel price crash could spark solar revolution
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328505.000-indias-panel-price-crash-could-spark-solar-revolution.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: SOLAR power has always had a reputation for being expensive, but not for much longer. In India, electricity from solar is now cheaper than that from diesel generators. The news - which will boost India's "Solar Mission" to install 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2022 - could have implications for other developing nations too. Recent figures from market analysts Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) show that the price of solar panels fell by almost 50 per cent in 2011. They are now just one-quarter...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Storm over climate change among weather forecasters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-climate-weather-idUKTRE81120K20120202
Reuters: You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. But weather forecasters, many of whom see climate change as a natural, cyclical phenomenon, are split over whether they have a responsibility to educate their viewers on the link between human activity and the change in the Earth's climates. Only 19 percent of U.S. meteorologists saw human influences as the sole driver of climate change in a 2011 survey. And some, like the Weather Channel's founder John Coleman are vocal in their...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Water Shortage Threatens Wildlife
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106630
Inter Press Service: The story of a pair of buffalo aggressively prowling the edges of a village in eastern Burkina Faso is a warning sign of severe water stress in the region which threatens humans and wild animals alike. People in nearly half of Burkina Faso's administrative districts could face food shortages this year, and the the country's environment ministry has also warned of disastrous consequences for wildlife. Water shortages are likely to cause increased conflict between people and animals, as is already...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Thirty degrees below â€“ and at least a hundred dead: Europe's big freeze
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/thirty-degrees-below--and-at-least-a-hundred-dead-europes-big-freeze-6348751.html
Independent: With record snowfalls, icy winds, and thousands of people trapped in remote villages, much of Central and Eastern Europe is in the grip of a cold snap that has caused more than 100 deaths. Temperatures in parts of Ukraine and other Eastern European countries are hovering around -30C (-22F). The Adriatic islands of Croatia have had a rare dusting of snow, while in Romania, parts of the Black Sea have frozen over. Several towns in Bulgaria have recorded their lowest temperatures since records began...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Analysis: Canada plan to sell oil to China faces big hurdles
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-china-idUSTRE81126U20120202?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Prime Minister Stephen Harper may still be smarting from Canada's failed bid to ramp up oil exports to the United States, but his plan B could prove to be even tougher. Harper heads across the Pacific next week in a bid to convince China to satisfy its growing energy appetite with Canada's vast oil reserves. Though it appears a classic supply-demand match on the surface, the plan faces hurdles that range from how long it will take to build the pipeline to environmental dangers and questions...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Canada, Alberta to announce new oil sands monitoring
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-oilsands-idUSTRE81128420120202?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The governments of Canada and Alberta will announce details of a new environmental-monitoring regime in the province's oil sands on Friday, as they look shore up an industry whose growth plans are under attack from environmental groups. Mark Cooper, a spokesman for Alberta Environment Minister Diana McQueen, said on Thursday that the two governments would make an announcement in Edmonton, Alberta, on the new monitoring plan. He did not offer details. Separate panels commissioned by the two...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Extreme Cold Proves Deadly in Europe
http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/extreme-cold-proves-deadly-in-europe?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%253A+climatecentral%252FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: While much of the U.S. has had a mild winter this year, record cold and snow are being blamed for dozens of deaths in Europe. According to the Associated Press, snow has fallen as far south as the Adriatic Sea, and the Black Sea has frozen along the Romanian coast. In Ukraine, temperatures dipped to the -20sÂ°F, killing more than 40 people, many of them homeless, and hospitalizing hundreds more with hypothermia. A southerly plunge in the jet stream is allowing Arctic air to flow into Europe and...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Wall Street Journal attacked over climate change denial
http://www.theweek.co.uk/health-science/climate-change/44964/wall-street-journal-attacked-over-climate-change-denial
The Week UK: A GROUP of leading climate scientists has slapped down The Wall Street Journal for publishing an article which claimed that (a) global warming is used by governments to raise taxes and (b) climate change sceptics are like the Soviet scientists who were persecuted in the 1950s for believing in genetics. In a letter published by the Murdoch-owned newspaper yesterday, the climatologists said the 16 scientists who put their names to the climate-sceptic piece are "the climate-science equivalent of...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
For Republicans, Keystone pipeline is central to agenda
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/us/politics/for-gop-pipeline-is-central-to-agenda.html
New York Times: Just six months ago, Keystone for many Americans was the state nickname for Pennsylvania. But now Keystone, the Canadian pipeline, has become a centerpiece of the Republican economic and political agenda, and the partyâ€™s preferred truncheon against President Obama. On the airwaves, on the campaign trail and in both chambers of Congress, Republicans are relentlessly pushing for an expansion of the pipeline known as Keystone XL and criticizing Mr. Obamaâ€™s decision to reject the project for now, forgoing...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
The coming U.S.-China solar war
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2105734,00.html
Time Magazine: It's been a schizophrenic time for the U.S. solar industry. On the one hand, about $11 billion worth of solar power is set to be installed in 2012, with more than five times that figure in the investment pipeline. Demand for solar power rose eightfold between 2006 and 2011 -- from 200 MW to 1,600 MW. Nationally, the solar industry employs some 100,000 Americans, a number that rose by nearly 7% last year -- even as overall employment barely grew at all. Despite those rosy numbers, many U.S. solar...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Japan: Researchers produce device to create biofuel from contaminated lumber
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120202p2a00m0na009000c.html
Mainichi Daily News: A device that can decontaminate radioactive lumber and efficiently create bioethanol from it has been developed by researchers at Tokyo University of Agriculture. Masaru Ichikawa, a visiting professor at the university who was involved in the development of the machine, touted its usefulness as irradiated lumber and sludge from Fukushima Prefecture continue to accumulate. "It can kill two birds with one stone and make a positive out of this momentous disaster. I hope it contributes to revival...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Germany, China take lead in environmental policies
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-02/02/content_14521630.htm
China Daily: Strong economic ties drive the Sino-German bilateral partnership. Energy, environment and climate change issues remain at the heart of economic relations. In a joint communiqu by Chancellor Angela Merkel and Premier Wen Jiabao in 2010 as well as during the first Sino-German Government Consultations in June 2011, energy, environment and climate issues were identified as a priority for future cooperation. Both countries implemented structural changes towards a greener economy, although under...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Renewables must benefit coastal communities says Aldous
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16822952
BBC: Energy Minister Charles Hendry has said the eastern region is well placed to take advantage of the growing demand for new and off-shore energy. "In nuclear, carbon capture and storage and renewable energy, East Anglia has an extremely important role to play," stated Mr Hendry. "The skills base and the expertise which is already there is very encouraging and the ambitions of the companies involved gives us much to celebrate." He was speaking during a Westminster Hall debate called by Waveney...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Australia: Tropical cyclones to cause $109B in damages by 2100
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/02/01/sci-tropical-cyclones-damages.html
CBC: Tropical cyclones will cause $109 billion in damages worldwide by 2100 with the United States and China being hardest hit, says a new study. The figure includes population and economic growth costs ($56 billion) as well as the effects of climate change ($53 billion). All figures are in U.S. dollars. The estimates are based on a future global population of nine billion and an annual increase of approximately three per cent in gross world product until 2100, according to the study published on...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Mysteries of Killer Whales Uncovered in the Antarctic
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/mysteries_of_killer_whales_uncovered_in_the_antarctic/2490/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: On the afternoon of January 10, at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, whale researchers Robert L. Pitman and John W. Durban stood on the bridge of a cruise ship, peering through binoculars for signs of killer whales. The Weddell Sea, where English explorer Ernest Shackleton and his men were locked in the sea ice nearly a century ago, was calm and studded with icebergs. It was raining, an increasingly common occurrence in summer in this rapidly warming part of Antarctica. Around 3 p.m., Pitman...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Middle East trails again in green energy growth
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-middle-east-green-idUSTRE8111B520120202?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Talk of a Middle Eastern green energy boom is likely to prove no more than a mirage with little hope of the region saving clean technology companies from the shrinking project pools of Europe. Instead India, China and Latin America offer some hope for green energy companies struggling in a European market drowning in debt and a North American market awash with gas. "We expect some growth will happen here in the Middle East but it will take time for this to become a robust industry," Juan Araluce...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
'Oceans play important role in climate change'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Oceans-play-important-role-in-climate-change/articleshow/11724530.cms
Times of India: "Oceans and climate are linked to each other. Far from the static, Atlantic Ocean contributes a lot to climate change," shared Prof A D Singh, department of geology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He has returned recently from an ocean expedition to Atlantic Ocean. Singh, who was invited by the Unites States Implementing Organisation (USIO) through the Ministry of Earth Sciences India (IODP-India) to participate as one of the shipboard scientists in the International Ocean Drilling Programme...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
EU Biofuels Targets to Cost Consumers $166 Billion, Study Says
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-02/eu-biofuels-targets-to-cost-consumers-166-billion-study-says.html
Bloomberg: European Union policies to promote the use of biofuels for transportation will cost consumers as much as 126 billion euros ($166 billion) between now and 2020, two environmental groups said. The fuels, gasoline substitutes derived from plants, probably won't cut greenhouse gases because forests are chopped down to make way for biofuel plantations, Friends of the Earth and ActionAid said today in an e-mailed statement. The European Commission said that while biofuels cost more than fossil fuels,...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
EU climate chief calls for 'much care' on biofuels
http://www.euractiv.com/climate-environment/eu-climate-chief-calls-care-biofuels-news-510528
EurActiv: The European Union's climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, has warned about expanding the use of biofuels as the EU executive finalises an assessment of the potentially damaging effects they may have over the earth's climate. She spoke to EurActiv as part of a wide-ranging exclusive interview on sustainability issues. A draft Commission impact assessment, obtained by EurActiv last week, indicates that the greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels such as palm oil, soybean and rapeseed may exceed...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Australia braces for floods, threat to coal and crops
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-australia-floods-idUSTRE8110OB20120202?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Heavy summer rains across eastern Australia prompted authorities to issue flood warnings for vast areas of Queensland and New South Wales states on Thursday, including coal mining areas in the Hunter Valley. The Bureau of Meteorology issued the flood warnings with heavy rain expected over the next 24 hours, following saturating rains over the past week which have already swelled rivers in New South Wales and Queensland. Floods and wild weather last year inundated coal mines and damaged crops....

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Indonesia to set up $5.6 billion plantation firm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-indonesia-plantation-idUSTRE8110QC20120202?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Indonesia's government plans to create one of the world's largest palm oil and rubber firms in March by combining state planters with total assets of $5.6 billion, a government minister told Reuters on Thursday. A planned listing of the firm will tap investor interest in a country with a recently acquired "investment grade" rating and create a rival to top regional planters such as Malaysia's Sime Darby and Singapore's Wilmar. The government will consolidate the assets of 15 state firms, whose...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
Climate change precipitates food shortages, unrest
http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/climate-change-precipitates-food-shortages-unrest_756294.html
Zee News: Long-term climate change has often destabilized civilizations through food shortages, hunger, infectious disease and unrest, a study reveals. Historical records foreshadow a grim picture for a future threatened by even greater climate change, says the study by the Australian National University (ANU). Tony McMichael, professor at the ANU National Centre for Epidemiology and population Health, examined climate change and its impact over the last 6,000 to 7,000 years, as documented in historical,...

Fri, 3 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Caroline Spelman refuses to deny plans to slash environmental regulations
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/02/caroline-spelman-environmental-regulation
Guardian: The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, has refused to deny that the Cabinet Office is proposing to rip up of thousands of pages of environmental regulations and guidance as part of the government's "red tape challenge". The proposal, revealed by the Guardian, is understood to be led by Oliver Letwin and is causing deep concern among green MPs and campaigners. It follows the cutting of planning regulation guidance from 1,000 pages to just 50 pages, which sparked a national outcry last year....

Thu, 2 Feb 12
China's disregard for the environment shows no sign of improving
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9053866/Chinas-disregard-for-the-environment-shows-no-sign-of-improving.html
Telegraph: China continues to struggle to balance the demands of growing its economy and lifting more of its 1.3 billion-plus people out of poverty, with the need to protect what is left of its environment. Decades of loosely-regulated industrialisation has rendered vast swathes of China's land and waterways toxic. One-third of the Yellow River is not only incapable of supporting marine life but is so deadly it can't be used even for industrial purposes. The pollution that belches from coal-fired power plants...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
Israel: Climate Change and Forest Fires Conference
http://www.jpost.com/GreenIsrael/PEOPLEANDTHEENVIRONMENT/Article.aspx?id=256025
Jerusalem Post: On Thursday, January 26, scientists and foresters participating in the Climate Change and Forest Fires Conference organized by KKL-JNF, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, visited the Carmel Forest. KKL-JNF Chief Forester David Brand welcomed the participants, many who came from around the world, and provided professional background information during the tour. The group was greeted at a site overlooking Nahal Bustan by KKL-JNF Northern Region Director Dr. Omri Boneh,...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
Human Activity, Not Solar Activity, Drives Global Warming
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112465860/human-activity-not-solar-activity-drives-global-warming/
redOrbit: A new NASA study underscores the fact that greenhouse gases generated by human activity - not changes in solar activity - are the primary force driving global warming. The study offers an updated calculation of the Earth`s energy imbalance, the difference between the amount of solar energy absorbed by Earth`s surface and the amount returned to space as heat. The researchers` calculations show that, despite unusually low solar activity between 2005 and 2010, the planet continued to absorb more...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Ministers accused of 'negligence' for ruling out third Heathrow runway
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/01/government-negligent-third-heathrow-runway
Guardian: A commission of influential London business leaders has denounced the coalition as "negligent" for ruling out a third runway at Heathrow, and called on them to reconsider all the options for greater airport capacity in the south-east. London First, a lobbying group representing many of the capital's biggest employers in the City and beyond, has launched a report describing an expanded at Heathrow as the "only credible option" for the capital. It accuses the government of being unwilling to consider...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
Falling solar prices good for climate, bad for firms
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-climate-solar-prices-idUSTRE8100CQ20120201?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: There is a bright side to the plunge in solar panel prices that has brought down some U.S. and German manufacturers which relied too heavily on subsidies for green energy - solar power costs have fallen faster than anyone thought possible. The falls in prices for photovoltaic components, pushed down by economies of scale and fierce competition from China, have made solar nearly as cheap as conventional sources in Germany's electricity grid. The boom in Germany, the world's biggest photovoltaic...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
California Nuclear plant shuts down reactor as precaution
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120201/us_nm/us_california_nuclear_shutdown
Reuters: One of two reactors at the San Onofre nuclear power station in Southern California was shut down on Tuesday after a small leak was detected in a steam generator tube, but the incident posed no risk to the public or plant workers, the facility operator said. The reactor unit, which normally provides 1,100 megawatts of electricity, was shut down at about 5:30 p.m. local time as a precaution and will remain off line for a least a couple of days, said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
REDD: When carbon credits work in the Amazon
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/120127/redd-when-carbon-credits-work
GlobalPost: Sitting on the porch of his ramshackle wooden hut, shaded from the Amazonian sun by the thick rainforest canopy, Brazil nut collector Eleuterio Martin admits he has never heard of global warming. Yet Martin, 73, is now set to play his part in a groundbreaking new project that could become one of the most effective ways to curb rising global greenhouse gas emissions. He is one of hundreds of local people here in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, near the Bolivian border, who have teamed up with...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
REDD: Saving the Amazon rainforest
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/120127/redd-saving-the-amazon-rainforest
GlobalPost: International negotiators are closing in on a new solution for combating climate change -- and saving the world's remaining forests. Some 20 percent of all greenhouse-gas emissions now come from deforestation, especially in the lush, green band of tropical rainforest that circles the earth. That is more than from global transport. So representatives from member states involved in UN climate negotiations are attempting to hammer out a way to make it more profitable to protect forests than...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
Ministers 'misled MPs over need for nuclear power stations'
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2142852/ministers-misled-mps-nuclear-power-stations?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Ministers+%27misled+MPs+over+need+for+nuclear+power+stations%27
Guardian: Ministers misled parliament over the need to build a new fleet of nuclear power stations, distorting evidence and presenting to MPs a false summary of the analysis they had commissioned, a group of MPs and experts alleged in a report published on Tuesday (PDF). If MPs had been presented with an accurate picture of the evidence for and against new reactors, the government's plans might have been challenged, according to the report. Both the previous Labour government and the current coalition overstated...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
Multinationals getting better at cutting emissions â€” report
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=163830
Business Day: INCREASING numbers of multinational companies had reduced their carbon emissions in recent years and were beginning to look at their supply chains for further reductions, according to a report published this morning by the global climate change reporting system known as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the global management consultancy Accenture. There was a marked rise in the number of companies with climate change strategies that incorporated procurement guidelines, and more than a third...

Thu, 2 Feb 12
Argentina tries to combat a drier future
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/argentina-tries-to-combat-a-drier-future
AlertNet: For almost two months, an intense drought has been damaging crops in Argentina, especially corn and soy, threatening the economic and food security of a country where agriculture and livestock account for approximately 10 percent of GDP. German Cuadrada rents 220 hectares (540 acres) of land in Pozo del Molle, Cordoba province, where he grows maize and soybeans. Since December he has lost his entire maize crop and part of his soybeans. "If we don't receive a 100-150 mm (4-6 inches) rainfall...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
No big Fukushima health impact seen: U.N. body chairman
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-japan-fukushima-health-idUSTRE80U1AS20120131?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The health impact of last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan appears relatively small thanks partly to prompt evacuations, the chairman of a U.N. scientific body investigating the effects of radiation said on Tuesday. The fact that some radioactive releases spread over the ocean instead of populated areas also contributed to limiting the consequences, said Wolfgang Weiss of the U.N. Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). "As far as the doses we have seen...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Canada: Climate change shrinking forests in 3 prairie provinces
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/01/31/sci-climate-change-forests.html
Canadian Press: Research shows northern forests in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are drying up and shrinking from drought caused by climate change, while the eastern boreal forest is holding its own. A paper published Monday suggests the forests in those provinces are already emitting more greenhouse gases than they absorb. The finding could overturn assumptions that global warming would improve growing conditions for trees in the North. "We found the boreal east and the boreal west is a totally different...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Drought May Cause Shutdown of Texas Rice Production
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/drought-may-cause-unprecedented-shutdown-of-texas-rice-production?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: Although recent rains have put a dent in the Texas drought, a day of reckoning looms for the state's long-grain rice growers, who pump millions into the economy in Southeast Texas each year and account for about 5 percent of America's rice production. Come March 1, if there is less than 850,000 acre-feet of water in reservoirs along the Lower Colorado River, water managers will be forced to take the unprecedented step of withholding water from agricultural users, which will mean severe cuts to Texas...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Reclaimed Wastewater for Drinking: Safe But Still A Tough Sell
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/01/120131-reclaimed-wastewater-for-drinking/
National Geographic: This story is part of a special National Geographic News series on global water issues. Water filtration technology has advanced to the point where wastewater can be rendered safe for drinking, according to a new report, but legislative and psychological hurdles will need to be overcome before widespread adoption can happen. "Expanding water reuse could significantly increase the nation's water resource, particularly in coastal communities," said Rhodes Trussell, president of Trussell Technologies...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
In the Little Ice Age, Lessons for Today
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/in-the-little-ice-age-lessons-for-today/
New York Times: Gifford Miller, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, collecting plant samples from beneath the ice on Baffin Island. In the winter of 1780, New Yorkers could walk the five miles from Manhattan to Staten Island on ice as thick as eight feet. This is just one example of what happened during the Little Ice Age, a sudden cooling of global temperatures by one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) that began toward the end of the 13th century and lasted well into the 19th century....

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Record Warmth in Eastern U.S.; Temps Tumble in Alaska
http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/record-warmth-in-lower-48-while-temperatures-tumble-in-alaska?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%253A+climatecentral%252FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Climate Central: While Alaska continues to to suffer from record cold and snow, much of the rest of the country continues to experience a year without winter. This week, it's likely that warm temperature records will be broken throughout the eastern U.S., with forecast highs in New York City approaching 60Â°F on Tuesday and Wednesday, and reaching the mid-60s in Washington, D.C. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), record highs may also be set today in Islip, N.Y., and Bridgeport, CT. Satellite image...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Sustainable energy is answer to wider crisis: EU's Hedegaard
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-eu-energy-sustainable-idUSTRE80U1KX20120131?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Energy efficiency offers one of the best tools for tackling the world's debt and social crises as sustainable development comes in from the margins to the mainstream of economic debate, the European Union's climate chief said on Tuesday. EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard was speaking after Monday's summit of EU leaders sought ways to create jobs as well as to deal with massive amounts of debt. At the same time, data showed euro zone unemployment had reached the highest level since before...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Poland eyes changes to renewable support plan
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-poland-renewables-idUSTRE80U1NH20120131?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Coal-reliant Poland aims to increase support for biogas and solar generation through the end of the decade while cutting support for investment in wind and other renewable generation, a government official said on Tuesday. Deputy Economy Minister Mieczyslaw Kasprzak said a new draft bill calls for Poland to increase the share of renewables in Poland's energy mix to 15.5 percent by 2020, up from less than 10 percent in 2010. "Our goal is to simplify, optimize and improve the support mechanism...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Tropical Forests Store More Carbon Than Previously Believed, Study Says
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/tropics_store_more_carbon_than_previously_believed_study_says/3311/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Yale Environment 360: Woods Hole Research Center Biomass in the Democratic Republic of the Congo data -- including cloud-penetrating LiDAR -- and field observations from forests, woodlands and savannas across Africa, Asia, and South America, researchers say they were able to create the first â€œwall-to-wallâ€ map depicting carbon density. According to their results, Brazilian rainforests store about 53.2 billion tons of carbon, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (22 billion) and Indonesia (18.6). â€œFor the first...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
'Unusual Event' at Illinois Nuclear Reactor Causes Shutdown
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120131/sc_ac/10907059_unusual_event_at_illinois_nuclear_reactor_causes_shutdown
Yahoo!: A nuclear power plant about 95 miles to the northwest of Chicago lost power Monday morning and shut down in an "unusual event," according to WIFR. The Byron Generating Station operated by Exelon Nuclear had a power loss at 10:18 a.m., causing a unit to shut down and generators to provide power as Byron Station began to vent steam to reduce pressure. * Steam venting at Byron Station is designed to reduce pressure in the event of a power loss and the steam contains low levels of the radioactive...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
What the Occupy movement must learn from Sundance
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/31/what-occupy-must-learn-from-sundance
Guardian: So, late last year, I said â€“ to some controversy here â€“ that the violent crackdown against the Occupy movement in the United States represented the first salvos of a civil war initiated by political and allied economic elites against protesters in a nascent movement whose still-not-fully articulated agenda would represent a threat to their unmediated and untransparent hold on profits. And a civil war it has indeed turned out to be. Over the weekend, 2,000 citizens marched in support of Occupy...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
GE sees more casualties in wind and solar
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-ge-wind-idUSTRE80U0XJ20120131?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: General Electric Co. expects increased competition and a reduction in subsidies by cash-strapped governments to lead to more companies exiting the wind and solar power businesses, but the industrial behemoth still sees growing long-term demand. "There's going to be a lot of casualties in the wind and solar businesses, there already are in solar," John Krenicki, who leads GE's energy division, told Reuters in an interview on Monday. The U.S. may see an uptick in orders in 2012, prompted by the...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Northern Gateway Pipeline review board in focus
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/sustainability/2012/01/30/enbridges-northern-gateway-pipeline-joint-review-panel-explainer
Vancouver Observer: With regulatory hearings underway regarding the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline project, the three individuals on the government-appointed Joint Review Panel are responsible for making the final recommendation. But who are the panelists, and why were they chosen? With growing worldwide concern over global warming, Enbridgeâ€™s controversial oil sands pipeline has now become an international issue. In addition to the oil sandsâ€™ contributions to climate change, critics have raised serious...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Forty percent emissions cut still on European agenda
http://www.euractiv.com/climate-environment/denmark-puts-2030-emissions-target-agenda-news-510478
EurActiv: Europe's 27 environment ministers will call for a 40% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030 if they follow draft conclusions - seen by EurActiv - prepared by the Danish EU presidency ahead of a meeting on 9 March. The Danish EU presidency wants the European Commission "to present timely options for delivering the reductions in the Low-Carbon Economy Roadmap to 2050 for the period to 2030,' while taking into account the "underlying assumptions' of EU nations. The roadmap proposed a series...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
California seeks flexible power rules as wind expands
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-utilities-california-idUSTRE80T20T20120130
Reuters: The California power grid wants to make sure it can keep electricity flowing as residents rely on a greater amount of wind and solar power and strict water rules force the shutdown of power plants along the coast in the next few years, the agency said. California has the most ambitious plan of any state to expand use of renewable resources to 33 percent by 2030, by boosting wind and solar generation. California is also ahead of other states in efforts to dramatically reduce the amount of ocean-water...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
China's largest freshwater lake dries up
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/31/china-freshwater-lake-dries-up
Guardian: For visitors expecting to see China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang is a desolate spectacle. Under normal circumstances it covers 3,500 sq km, but last month only 200 sq km were underwater. A dried-out plain stretches as far as the eye can see, leaving a pagoda perched on top of a hillock that is usually a little island. Wrapped in the mist characteristic of the lower reaches of the Yangtze river, the barges are moored close to the quayside beside a pitiful trickle of water. There is no work for...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Drought and Cold Snap Cause Food Crisis in Northern Mexico
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/world/americas/drought-and-cold-snap-cause-food-crisis-in-northern-mexico.html
New York Times: A drought that a government official called the most severe Mexico had ever faced has left two million people without access to water and, coupled with a cold snap, has devastated cropland in nearly half of the country. The government in the past week has authorized $2.63 billion in aid, including potable water, food and temporary jobs for the most affected areas, rural communities in 19 of Mexicoâ€™s 31 states. But officials warned that no serious relief was expected for at least another five months,...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
United Kingdom: Flooding: 200,000 house at risk of being uninsurable
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/buildingsandcontent/9051032/Flooding-200000-house-at-risk-of-being-uninsurable.html
Telegraph: Responding to the Committee's report Flood risk management in England, Simon Douglas, director of broker AA Insurance, said, "Flood protection is a national priority, yet many people in flood-prone areas may find their homes difficult to insure from later this year. "People want the government to take decisive action now, to ensure that their homes are protected. "But that's not happening with the Environment Agency's budget cut by 10pc. What's more, the Department for Environment, Food and...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
IAEA approves stress tests on Japan reactors
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/31/iaea-approves-tests-japan-reactors
Guardian: Japan's attempts to restart nuclear reactors that were shut down in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accident were boosted after UN inspectors gave their backing to stress tests designed to confirm the reactors' safety. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] said the reactor assessments were "generally consistent" with the body's own safety standards, despite concern among some experts that the tests are flawed. The IAEA's upbeat appraisal was expected, and does not...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
UN Panel Urges World at Rio to Launch Energy Fixes
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/panel-urges-world-rio-launch-energy-fixes-15472437
Associated Press: A high-profile U.N. panel headed by the presidents of Finland and South Africa hopes to spark an "ever-green" energy revolution later this year in Brazil using a general roadmap it presented Monday on how world leaders could wean the world off fossil fuels. Its report links the world body's goals of reducing poverty and inequality to promoting the use of wind, solar and other renewable sources of energy to run the economies of nations rich and poor. To do that, the panel urges that nations...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Charles beats DiCaprio on climate
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5g2FFiYYKc9uCYnihKQgxoeTJkM7Q?docId=A107723021327946821A000D
Press Association: People in London are more likely to be influenced by the Royal Family, politicians and business leaders, than celebrities when it comes to climate change, according to new research. Prince Charles and Al Gore topped a poll commissioned by Climate Week which asked over 1,000 people to choose who from a list of famous individuals would be most likely to make them act on climate change. Sir Richard Branson came second, followed by Barack Obama and the Queen. Meanwhile Leonardo DiCaprio, one...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
Salty soils drive Tanzanian farmers into forest reserve
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/salty-soils-drive-tanzanian-farmers-into-forest-reserve
AlertNet: Thousands of farmers in Tanzania's Rufiji Delta have been accused of destroying mangroves as they search for new land to grow their rice crops, which are being damaged by salt-water intrusion. The salt water, pushed inland by surging tides from the Indian Ocean, is damaging fields of rice seedlings. Farmers in several villages in the river basin, which sprawls across the east African nation's southern half, have seen yields fall as a result. With thousands of hectares affected by saline intrusion,...

Wed, 1 Feb 12
France must extend nuclear reactors' lifespan: audit
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-nuclear-france-report-idUSTRE80U0OR20120131?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: France has no option but to extend the lifespan of its nuclear power plants as any investments to renew its nuclear capacity or to increase its reliance on other forms of energy would be too costly and come too late, the French Court of Audit said. The French independent government body, which is charged with conducting financial and legislative audits, said in a report that a lack of investment decisions to build new reactors meant there were few choices left. "...In the absence of investment...