NewsRack: demo/Climate-Change

Green Blog: Billboard Wars, Chapter 2 (or Is It 3?) - NY Times: Science

By RACHEL NUWER — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

The media company that accepted the conservative Heartland Institute's controversial ad about climate change rejected one rival billboard but accepted another.

Activists try mainstream route to raise climate change awareness - Salt Lake Tribune

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

By JUDY FAHYS The Salt Lake Tribune Published May 17, 2012 01:51PM MDT Utah climate activists only got partway through a presentation to the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration board Thursday before it snagged on a question: What do board members think about climate change and the science linking human activities to causing it? The SITLA board, which oversees some 3.5 million acres, had set aside part of its regular monthly meeting to hear from Ryan Pluene of the iMatter climate-awareness group and his colleague Melanie Martin of the group, Uta... ...

Green Blog: On Our Radar: A Nuclear Snapshot - NYT > Environment

By THE NEW YORK TIMES — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

China has led the way in expanding nuclear generating capacity over the last decade.

U.S. Slaps Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels - NY Times: Asia-Pacific

By KEITH BRADSHER and DIANE CARDWELL — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

The United States Commerce Department concluded that Chinese producers had “dumped” their products on the American market.

Green Blog: Q. and A.: How to Save Bangladesh? - NYT > Environment

By JOANNA M. FOSTER — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Bangladesh, buffeted by climate change and flooding, is a prime example of a country whose fate could be determined by what happens at a conference in Rio next month.

VIDEO: House of Commons - BBC: Front Page

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

MPs have put questions to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey and his ministerial team.

While Japan turns away from nuclear power, South Korea sticks to its path - Guardian: Environment

Mark Lynas — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

In the same week that Japan mothballed its last reactor, South Korea began work on two new nuclear power stations The traffic lights are still blinking in Odaka town, north-western Japan, but few cars pass through these deserted intersections. Frozen in time after being hit by the triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and meltdowns in the nearby Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear plant, tables are still laid in partially-collapsed restaurants and cars are stacked up against railings where they were deposited by the retreating wave. When I visited last week, a deathly silence reigned, the only noise the chirruping of frogs in uncultivated rice paddies on the edge of town, and the bleeping of my dosimeter. Radiation readings in Odaka are well below anything that could be considered a health risk, but people are still not coming back. Indeed, the long shadow cast by Fukushima has extended over a much wider area than any scientific assessment of radiological hazard would argue is necessary. In ...

Autopsy: Mary Kennedy died of asphyxiation due to hanging - Chicago Tribune: Popular

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Autopsy: Mary Kennedy died of asphyxiation due to hanging

More households in fuel poverty - BBC: Front Page

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Gas and electricity price rises at the end of last year are expected to have pushed 400,000 more households in England into fuel poverty.

Fuel poverty figures show decrease, but are expected to rise again - The Guardian -- Front Page

Hilary Osborne — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Figures for 2010 show the number of households in fuel poverty fell by 750,000, but critics point out average bills have risen by £150 since then The number of UK households in fuel poverty fell in 2010, but rising energy bills and the reduction of funds for energy efficiency measures mean the fall is likely to be short lived, experts have warned. Figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change showed that the number of households spending more than 10% of income on fuel to maintain an adequate temperature, the official definition of fuel poverty, fell by 750,000, or 11%, in 2010 to a total of 4.75 million. Despite the fall, one in five households across the UK remained in fuel poverty, and consumer groups pointed out that a £150 increase in average bills since the period the figures cover mean many more people may have been pushed back into difficulties. The DECC's Annual report on fuel poverty statistics 2012 said the fall was mainly due to rising incomes, relatively ...

Green Blog: Clouds and Climate, Redux - NYT > Environment

By JUSTIN GILLIS — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

A new, accessible book may be useful to people taking their first dive into the role of clouds in climate.

Don't dismiss geoengineering – we may need it one day | James Wilsdon - Guardian: Science

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Though the Spice project has been dealt a blow, more research is needed to assess our options for mitigating global warming Opponents of geoengineering will no doubt seize upon this week's cancellation of the fieldwork element of the Spice project as a significant victory in their campaign to outlaw research in this area. There are important lessons to draw from the problems encountered by the project, which planned to investigate the feasibility of spraying particles into the stratosphere to mitigate global warming. But a hastily imposed moratorium on geoengineering research is not one of them. As the Royal Society argued in its influential 2009 report , more research is needed if we are to assess the feasibility, risks and uncertainties of different geoengineering options. This research needs to be carried out in a safe, transparent and socially responsible way. But without more knowledge of what might be involved, the dilemmas of geoengineering will remain impossible to debate and ...

Green news roundup: Aviation tax, Hinkley delay and green deal - Guardian: Environment

Environment editor — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

The week's top environment news stories and green events • If you're not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Environment news • Earth's environment getting worse, not better, says WWF ahead of Rio+20 • David Cameron briefed on concerns over green deal for homeowners • Geoengineering experiment cancelled due to perceived conflict of interest • UK carbon targets 'at risk over local authority funding cuts' • William Hague tells ministers to help green industries boost economy • EU hails airline emissions tax success • Hinkley nuclear power station delay deals blow to government hopes On the blogs • Eco Audit: Should a tidal barrage be built across the Severn estuary? • Luxembourg by e-bike: a natural high • Charles Rothschild's incredible legacy on the Wildlife Trust's 100th birthday • Lies, damn lies, and statistics about red light jumping Multimedia • The week in wildlife – in pictures • Birdwatching at Wormwood Scrubs ...

Beleaguered West Papuans left to count the cost of Indonesia's palm oil boom | Johnny Langenheim - The Guardian -- World Latest

Johnny Langenheim — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Indigenous Papuans are reeling from the cut-price sale of the land and forests that are their lifeblood Papua is one of the last great frontier wildernesses. Its vast rainforests and coral rich waters are home to more than 250 indigenous tribes, the most linguistically diverse population on Earth. But it is also the scene of a brutal and under-reported conflict. Indonesia took control of the western half of New Guinea – now the provinces of Papua and West Papua – in 1969. Its claim was ratified by the UN through the controversial Act of Free Choice, in which only 1,026 of an estimated population of 800,000 Papuans voted for Indonesian sovereignty, having been selected by the Indonesian military. Since then, Indonesia has been trying to extinguish an increasingly desperate independence movement. Amnesty International estimates that at least 100,000 indigenous lives have been lost as a direct result of the conflict. West Papua is of immense importance to Indonesia because of its ...

Obama greenhouse regulations up for discussion - Boston Globe: Maine

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Obama greenhouse regulations up for discussion

Moth survey 'biggest of its kind' - BBC: Science

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

About 13,000 moths are captured and recorded by citizen scientists in a project described as the largest of its kind.

Australasia has hottest 60 years in a millennium, scientists find - Guardian: Environment

Alison Rourke — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Study of tree rings, corals and ice cores find unnatural spike in temperatures that lines up with manmade climate change The last 60 years have been the hottest in Australasia for a millennium and cannot be explained by natural causes, according to a new report by scientists that supports the case for a reduction in manmade carbon emissions. In the first major study of its kind in the region, scientists at the University of Melbourne used natural data from 27 climate indicators, including tree rings, corals and ice cores to map temperature trends over the past 1,000 years. "Our study revealed that recent warming in a 1,000-year context is highly unusual and cannot be explained by natural factors alone, suggesting a strong influence of human-caused climate change in the Australasian region," said the study's lead researcher, Dr Joelle Gergis. The climate reconstruction was done in 3,000 different ways and concluded with 95% accuracy that no other period in the past 1,000 years match or ...

Cap-and-trade to generate billions, tough choices - SFGate: Business & Technology

dbaker@sfchronicle.com (David R. Baker) — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Cap-and-trade to generate billions, tough choices

UK carbon targets at risk over local authority funding cuts - Guardian: Environment

Fiona Harvey — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Committee on Climate Change has called for local authorities to have national funding to cut carbon emissions Funding cuts to squeezed local authorities are putting the UK's carbon targets at risk, the government's climate advisers warned in a report published on Thursday. The Committee on Climate Change, the statutory body set up to advise ministers on how to meet the government's carbon targets, called for local authorities to be ordered do develop and implement plans to cut carbon emissions, with national funding to do so. Prof Julia King, a member of the committee, told the Guardian that local authorities' climate change initiatives had been badly affected by austerity measures, with climate efforts often one of the first services to go during budget cuts. But she said: "Local authorities have the potential to significantly impact the UK's scale and speed of emissions reductions. There is a wealth of good work being done already at local and regional levels, but many ...

Councils 'must lower emissions' - BBC News - Science & Environment

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Local authorities across the UK should have a statutory duty to combat climate change, government advisors recommend.

It really is hot in here: U.S. has warmest 12 months on record - LA Times: Most Emailed

By Matt Pearce — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Americans just lived through the hottest 12 months ever recorded, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Tuesday.

Letter: Carbon revolution - Guardian: Environment

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Carbon capture has a lot to offer provided it is retro-fitted first to existing coal-fired power stations ( Report , 10 May). Last week Help Rescue the Planet organised an international conference on climate change at the Royal Institute of British Architects next to the BBC on Portland Place. Among the 50 or so presentations was a revolutionary method of carbon capture from a company in Finland that requires no storage as the products are all usable. The raw ingredients for their process are feldspar (abundant in the earth's mantle), water (even seawater) and CO 2 . The reaction produces useful heat, plus rare valuable minerals, aluminium, quartz sand and water with dissolved bicarbonate. The latter can be used for irrigation (bicarbonate also has a fertilising effect), processed to produce solid calcium carbonate (for use in construction), or filtered to produce drinkable water, so the process can also work as a desalination plant. Pity that none of the 50 or so journalists that were invited ...

Nargesh Keisham: a Manipuri entrepreneur - New Kerala: World News

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Should a tidal barrage be built across the Severn estuary? | Leo Hickman - Guardian: Environment

Leo Hickman — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Peter Hain has stepped down from the shadow cabinet to launch a campaign to build the Severn barrage. But what would its impact be on the environment? Leo Hickman, with your help, investigates. Post your views below, email leo.hickman@guardian.co.uk or tweet @LeoHickman 9.24am: Peter Hain , the shadow Welsh secretary, quit front-bench politics yesterday to focus on launching a campaign to build a tidal barrage across the Severn estuary. In a statement on his website , Hain said he hoped "to help secure Wales the biggest infrastructure project it has ever seen": This will require a private Bill, but I hope the Government will back it...[The Barrage] will generate at least 5% of the UK's entire electricity needs, at a time when the future of nuclear power is in doubt. Nuclear power stations like Wylfa are coming to the end of their lives – that's happening right across Britain...So what is going to fill this gap? And what is going to stop the lights going off? The Severn Barrage is one of ...

Fred Pearce's top 10 eco-books - Guardian: Environment

Fred Pearce — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

From the despair of nuclear bombs to the hope of nuclear technology, the environment journalist picks out green books that are both positive and negative about our planet's future I am not a tree hugger. Nor a people hater. For me, as an environment journalist for 30 years, the story is about people and how they work, live and dream on planet Earth. And how we – seven billion of us, and counting – can keep up the mad dance of civilisation in an ever more crowded and resource-depleted world. Luckily, I am an optimist. These books contain some stories of potential horrors ahead, like Bill McGuire's Waking the Giant. But we can and do step back from the abyss. John Hershey's Hiroshima, is a receding nightmare. I have spent the past two years researching the current global frenzy of land-grabbing for my new book The Landgrabbers (Eden Project Books). It was a sobering journey. But I don't doubt that we can – as Lynas proposes – continue to live sanely and successfully into the future. Even so, ...