climate change

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Obama, Please Impose a Gas Tax: Friedman

'Systemic approach' essential for environment, economy

(Newser) - It may be hard to sell, but a gas tax would be a “win, win, win, win” move—for the environment, the economy, the war on terror, and America’s standing in the world, Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times. Barack Obama still has the popularity to...

Climate Change Pushes Aspens to Brink
 Climate Change 
 Pushes Aspens 
 to Brink 
GLOSSIES
Dec 21, 2008 5:53 AM CST

Climate Change Pushes Aspens to Brink

New weather patterns exacerbate other issues, like the nasty bark beetle

(Newser) - Huge swaths of the Rocky Mountain landscape is being transformed as the region's signature tree, the aspen, goes into rapid decline, reports the Smithsonian. Climate change and surging population of the bark beetle is causing the grim phenomenon known as SAD (sudden aspen decline). The beetle is a mere twelfth-of-an-inch...

Obama Names 4 Top Science Advisers

(Newser) - Barack Obama today selected a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist for key science posts, in a sign he plans a more aggressive response to global warming than did the Bush administration. John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco are leading experts on climate change who have advocated forceful government action. “...

Obama Picks Physicist as Science Adviser

Harvard energy expert to get key role, cheering scientists

(Newser) - Barack Obama will appoint Harvard physicist John P. Holdren as science adviser this weekend, pointing to an expanded role for science in the next administration, the Boston Globe reports. Holdren is versed in energy, climate change, and nuclear proliferation. Coming on the heels of Nobel laureate Steven Chu’s nomination...

Arctic Melt Speeds Up
 Arctic Melt Speeds Up 


Dec 16, 2008 9:27 AM CST

Arctic Melt Speeds Up

Some temps 10 degrees hotter than normal

(Newser) - The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, scientists have found, in a phenomenon not expected for at least another decade. This fall, temperatures in some areas of the Arctic were as much as 10 degrees warmer than normal thanks to Arctic amplification, which could mean the...

Will Undersea Methane Kill Us or Save Us?

It could be worse than CO2 or viable source of energy

(Newser) - If warnings about undersea methane are true, we can "kiss our winter boots goodbye," Kirsten Weir writes in Salon. In the doomsday scenario, vast stores of undersea gas deposits will melt and send heat-trapping methane into the atmosphere. But such a crisis would require a 10-to-15 degree Celsius...

Calif. Adopts 1st US Plan to Slash Greenhouse Gases

Plan to reduce carbon emissions by 15%

(Newser) - California regulators have adopted an ambitious, comprehensive blueprint to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2020, reports the Los Angeles Times. The plan, the first of its kind in the nation, calls for 33% of the state's electric power to come from solar power and wind farms, and includes...

Fifth of Coral Reefs Dead: Study

Pollution leads to warmer, more acidic seas, scientists say

(Newser) - A fifth of the world’s coral reefs have died or been destroyed, says a study released to the UN yesterday. In it, marine scientists warned that the future of marine life and the $30 billion economic value of reefs are increasingly threatened by climate change. The report also zeroed...

Warmer Northeast Sees Fewer Snow Days

Seasonal temperatures are rising .8 degree per decade, 40-year survey shows

(Newser) - Winter in the northeastern US is less white than it used be, with rising temperatures and less annual snowfall, the Boston Globe reports. From New Jersey to Maine, seasonal thermometers are climbing nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit per decade, say researchers, who analyzed 40 years of climate data. That means 14...

Obama Energy Pick a Nobel Physicist
Obama Energy
Pick a Nobel
Physicist
Dec 10, 2008 5:15 PM CST

Obama Energy Pick a Nobel Physicist

Chu was an early advocate for climate change solutions

(Newser) - Nobel laureate Steven Chu is Barack Obama's nominee for energy secretary, the Wall Street Journal reports. The acclaimed physicist, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change, and his lab is doing groundbreaking work in developing carbon-neutral sources of energy,...

Green Protesters Vow to Target Heathrow

'Plane Stupid' group protests climate change and airport expansions

(Newser) - A British anti-pollution group emboldened by protests that shut down an airport outside London yesterday has vowed to do the same at Heathrow, reports the Guardian. The group, Plane Stupid, campaigns against climate change, air travel and airport expansion plans. "We intend to continue to directly challenge airport expansion,...

Melting Ice May Help Soak Up CO2

Icebergs may deposit nourishing iron into ocean, helping carbon-sucking plankton

(Newser) - Melting ice sheets may end up helping the planet battle global warming, the Guardian reports. Scientists say that broken ice in the Antarctic disperses iron, which fertilizes carbon-absorbing plankton and helps reverse some effects of climate change. “We see the rapid ice loss in Antarctica as one obvious sign...

Even Planes Are Greener Than This Guy

Rising meat consumption key concern at environment conference

(Newser) - This week ministers from 187 nations are gathering in Poland to discuss a new treaty on global warming, and one of the central issues will be not belching smokestacks but cows, pigs, and chickens. Rising global living standards have led to soaring meat consumption; emissions from livestock now generate 18%...

Nader: Obama Should Pitch a Worldwide Carbon Tax

Because China won't agree to a cap-and-trade

(Newser) - The cap-and-trade system Barack Obama favors to deal with climate change won’t work, Ralph Nader and Toby Heaps write in the Wall Street Journal, and it’ll lead to “trade anarchy.” Any unilateral action we take must be global; otherwise, companies will simply relocate, taking jobs and...

Slump May Doom Clean Energy Initiatives

Some nations could fall back on fossil fuel

(Newser) - Just as global warming initiatives were gaining serious momentum around the world, the financial crisis looks like it's undermining both the political will and the math that support them, the New York Times reports. With gas prices plummeting, US automakers may be scaling back investment in new technology. In Europe,...

Early Plankton Blooming May Starve Ocean Creatures

Blossoming disrupted by warming water

(Newser) - A vast and colorful explosion of life in the Arctic Sea—the sudden, unprecedented blossoming of phytoplankton prompted by warming waters—could spell death for untold numbers of creatures, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Phytoplankton, a microscopic but vital part of the food chain, is blooming—and swiftly dying—at...

Obama Vows to 'Engage Vigorously' in Climate Fight

President-elect surprises conference with video message

(Newser) - In an unexpected video appearance today at a conference on climate change, President-elect Barack Obama promised to fight global warming, saying the stakes are too high to continue delaying action and denying global warming. He vowed to usher in a “new era of global cooperation” come January and says...

A Look at Obama's Energy Blueprint
 A Look at Obama's 
 Energy Blueprint 
OPINION
Nov 13, 2008 1:56 PM CST

A Look at Obama's Energy Blueprint

Going green will help bring US out of crisis: Klein

(Newser) - Detroit's looking for a bailout. China just announced a massive stimulus package, including big investments in transportation and energy. What’s a president-elect to do? Barack Obama would be best served by making good on his promise to create an alternative energy economy, writes Joe Klein in Time. Thankfully, the...

Island Paradise Seeks New Home

Low-lying islands divert tourist funds to buy land

(Newser) - Under serious threat from rising sea levels, the government of the Maldives is saving funds from the islands' biggest industry—tourism—to finance the purchase of a new national home, the Guardian reports. Much of the country, near India, rises less than 5 feet above the water, and the UN...

Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet
 Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet 

OPINION
Nov 9, 2008 12:11 PM CST

Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet

Nobel laureate calls on Obama, new Congress to act now

(Newser) - The road to energy efficiency is paved with the same solutions needed to fix the economic crisis, Al Gore writes in a New York Times op-ed. Dismissing proposals for domestic drilling, the climate crusader says, “We simply cannot any longer base the strategy for human survival on a cynical...

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