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Utility fees sought for environmental research center
With this year's legislative session in its final days, lawmakers Monday unveiled a bill mandating new fees from electricity ratepayers to fund a University of California-run global warming research center.
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Environment agency warns government over climate change damage
Lord Smith, the new head of the Environment Agency, this week gave a cautionary warning to the government over the folly of continuing with climate damaging super projects like the third runway at Heathrow, and the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. He also highlighted the threat that climate change induced sea level rises and coastal erosion will have on the UK’s coast line and that tough choices would have to be made over whether to defend threatened communities.
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Receding Arctic icepack opens new shipping frontier
BARROW, Alaska -- Rapidly melting ice on Alaska's Arctic is opening up a new navigable ocean in the extreme north, allowing oil tankers, fishing vessels and even cruise ships to venture into a realm once trolled mostly by indigenous hunters.
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U.S. says states can lift emission monitoring bar
(Reuters) - A U.S. federal court on Tuesday overturned a rule that prevented state and local authorities from raising emissions monitoring requirements for polluting units such as chemical plants and oil refineries.
Regulatory body Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had added a rule to the existing Clean Air Act in 1990 that prevented authorities from adding to monitoring requirements.
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Grazing animals important factor in predicting global warming impact.
The impact of global warming in the Arctic may differ from the predictions of computer models of the region, according to a pair of Penn State biologists. The team has shown that grazing animals will play a key role in reducing the anticipated expansion of shrub growth in the region, thus limiting their predicted and beneficial carbon-absorbing effect.
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Study: People Rank Global Warming Lower Than Local Environmental Issues
The U.S. public, while aware of the deteriorating global environment, is concerned predominantly with local and national environmental issues, according to results from a recent survey.
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South Asia monsoon rains kill 147 as thousands rescued
Heavy monsoon rains have triggered floods across South Asia in which 147 people have been killed in the past week as the downpours swamped villages and caused landslides, officials said on Monday.
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Current climate models 'ignoring brown carbon'
Scientists have found that air pollution from East Asia contains an abundance of 'brown carbon' particles and say that atmospheric models need updating to incorporate their effect.
Current climate models take into account two types of aerosol carbon — organic carbon and black carbon — that arise from the burning of fossil fuels or biomass.
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Antarctic Climate: Short-term Spikes, Long-term Warming Linked To Tropical Pacific
Dramatic year-to-year temperature swings and a century-long warming trend across West Antarctica are linked to conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean, according to a new analysis of ice cores conducted by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Washington (UW).
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Oil and gas projects in western Amazon threaten biodiversity and indigenous peoples
According to a new study, over 180 oil and gas "blocks" — areas zoned for exploration and development — now cover the megadiverse western Amazon, which includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil. These oil and gas blocks stretch over 688,000 km2 (170 million acres), a vast area, nearly the size of Texas.
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Climate change may boost Middle East rainfall
The prospect of climate change sparking food and water shortages in the Middle East is less likely than previously thought, with new research by an Australian climate scientist suggesting that rainfall will be significantly higher in key parts of the region.
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Hot subways to floods, all part of NYC climate risk
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced an in-depth study of perils the city faces from climate change, ranging from overly hot subways to shoreline floods.
With 506 days left before his second and final term ends, Bloomberg is eager to cement his legacy by shoring up the city's finances and devising long-term plans.
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Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up
Scientists warn that the North Pole could be free of ice in just five years' time instead of 60
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UK climate protesters fail to stop E.ON output
Climate protesters scaled security fences to enter the site of a coal-fired power station in southeast England on Saturday but German firm E.ON, which runs the plant, said output had not been disrupted.
The protesters oppose plans for two new coal units at the facility, which will also be operated by E.ON.
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Torch relay enters final leg under hazy skies
China kicked off the last leg of its Olympic torch relay on Friday under hazy skies and with a threat of rain complicating plans for the opening ceremony.
Beijing has spent heavily to curb pollution, clearing over half the city's cars from its streets and closing dozens of factories, but the air quality for the start of the Games is expected to be only just within the guidelines for safe levels.
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U.N. to tighten rules on earning carbon offsets
The U.N.'s climate change agency on Wednesday proposed to make it more difficult for speculators to earn carbon offsets from emissions-cutting projects which were already profitable.
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Software predicts where El Niño will strike next
El Niño events periodically wreak havoc on the world's weather, increasing the risk of hurricanes and flooding in some regions, and droughts and forest fires in others. But despite telltale signs of their presence in the Pacific Ocean, including a reversal of ocean currents and large temperature rises, it can be hard to tell where else El Niños are having an effect.
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Lost world frozen 14m years ago found in Antarctica
A lost world has been found in Antarctica, preserved just the way it was when it was frozen in time some 14 million years ago.
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Tibetan plateau melts in the face of climate change
Climate change is affecting the Tibetan plateau, threatening regional water supplies and altering atmospheric circulation for half the planet. The plateau is the world's third largest store of ice. But its temperature has risen by up to 0.3 degrees Celsius every ten years over the last fifty years — approximately three times the global warming rate.
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Air Canada introduces offsets for corporate travel
The largest full-service airline in Canada has extended a popular carbon offset initiative to business clients. Air Canada’s program will be operated in conjunction with Zerofootprint, a carbon management firm that already has helped individual passengers on the carrier to voluntarily offset 9,417 tons of carbon.
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Conservation Coalition and States Will Sue EPA to Reduce Global Warming Pollution from Ships and Planes
A coalition of conservation groups and state attorneys general filed formal letters warning of impending lawsuits over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's failure to address global warming pollution from ocean-going ships and aircraft. The conservation groups' notice of intent to sue was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Oceana, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological Diversity.
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For second year in a row, melt may open Northwest Passage
Alaska's warm weather this summer has all "gone north." Way north. Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center say strong, southerly winds from the North Slope have devoured a huge swath of Arctic ice larger than the state of Texas in the heart of the Beaufort Sea.
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Arctic ice bigger than 2007, but thawing long-term
Arctic sea ice is unlikely to shrink below a 2007 record low this year in a reprieve from the worst predictions of climate change even though new evidence confirms a long-term thaw is under way, experts said.
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Birds fly north in climate change vanguard: study
Birds have been moving north in Europe over the past 25 years because of climate change in the vanguard of likely huge shifts in the ranges of plants and animals, scientists said on Wednesday.
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Three senators call for EPA chief to resign
Democratic senators called on Tuesday for the resignation of Stephen Johnson, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying he sided with polluters instead of fighting global warming and other ecological problems. The three senators, all active in the climate change debate, also asked the U.S. attorney general to investigate whether Johnson has made false or misleading statements in sworn testimony before the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee.
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