carbon dioxide

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Charcoal Is Hot Again —and May Save the Planet

'Biochar' could curb global warming: scientists

(Newser) - Mass-production of charcoal is so 18th century—but call it "biochar" and it may help save the planet, the Economist reports. Farmers could burn millions of plants into charcoal each year before the plants die and release stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, scientists say. Then, with the Earth's...

The Latest Ozone Villain: Laughing Gas

Nitrous oxide nothing to chuckle about, climate scientists say

(Newser) - Nitrous oxide is the new chlorofluorocarbons. A study published today fingers N2O, aka laughing gas, as the most dangerous ozone-depleting gas in the air, Time reports. Nitrous oxide isn’t as dangerous as CFCs, but it’s incredibly common, emitted by everything from fertilizer to sewage treatment plants to cars....

Jellyfish Journeys May Affect Climate

Creatures' movements may carry carbon dioxide to ocean depths

(Newser) - Jellyfish may be secretly affecting the climate of the oceans: Their movements appear to help change the balance of carbon in the atmosphere, NPR reports. Many jellyfish hide from predators deep underwater during the day and head to the surface at night for a snack, says an oceanographer. When they...

Gore Works the Phones for Climate Bill

House votes tomorrow on measure to cut greenhouse gases

(Newser) - Al Gore is engaging in phone diplomacy today as the House prepares to vote on a landmark climate bill tomorrow. Original plans called for the former VP to appear in person, but Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers are close enough to an agreement that it's not necessary. Others offer a less...

EPA Backs Off Promise to Regulate CO2

Apparent flip follows White House warning on economic fallout

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency is backing away from emissions regulation after a White House memo warned of its economic consequences. As administrator Lisa Jackson presented today an agency finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health, she told Congress this “does not mean regulation.” Previously, Jackson said such a...

EPA's CO2 Ruling May Have Huge Impact

(Newser) - The EPA's decision today to declare carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases dangerous pollutants could have enormous consequences for US businesses, writes Andy Stone in Forbes. The big winner: green technology. The ruling could eventually give the EPA unprecedented regulatory control over everything from power plants to oil refineries...

EPA Finds Greenhouse Gases Dangerous
 EPA Finds Greenhouse 
 Gases Dangerous 
updated
Apr 17, 2009 11:07 AM CDT

EPA Finds Greenhouse Gases Dangerous

(Newser) - Carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gasses are indeed dangers to the public health and welfare and must be regulated, the EPA has concluded. The findings could result in sweeping new powers for the EPA to regulate emissions over a wide range of industries and automobiles, the AP reports. The...

Rocks Could Help US Bury Global Warming

Scientists find 6K square miles that could absorb carbon

(Newser) - Could the high-tech solution to global warming be… rock formations? Geologists have identified roughly 6,000 square miles of large formations in the US that could be used to store excess carbon dioxide, LiveScience reports. Ultramafic rocks, which originate deep beneath the earth, convert carbon dioxide into hard minerals. Typically...

EPA Expected to Start Limiting CO2 Emissions

Agency will act on ignored Supreme Court ruling

(Newser) - The EPA is expected to soon start regulating emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases for the first time, reports the New York Times. The agency is under an order—ignored by the Bush administration—to decide whether CO2 is a pollutant that endangers the public. Obama administration officials...

Carbon Dioxide Gets Buried in Midwest Experiment

Site in Illinois may be able to hold 100 billion tons of CO2

(Newser) - Construction began this week on an Energy Department project that aims to bury a million metric tons of carbon dioxide beneath Illinois' surface by 2012, Wired reports. While that's peanuts compared to the billions of tons emitted each year, the project—the largest such injection to date—could pave the...

Top Scientist: Global Warming Worse Than We Thought

(Newser) - You know all those dire warnings about global warming? They're actually too optimistic, says a top scientist in the field. The climate is going to heat up much faster than anticipated over the next century, with more environmental damage as a result, said Chris Field of the Intergovernmental Panel on...

Centuries of Trouble Already Locked In by Warming

Expert warns that CO2 has triggered 1,000 years of change

(Newser) - The damage from global warming will continue for centuries even if emissions could possibly be brought under control immediately, warns one of the world's leading climate experts. The heat and carbon dioxide being soaked up by the world's oceans now will be released regardless of what's done to mitigate the...

Google Search Hurts Planet, Study Says

Web giant dismisses charges about its carbon footprint

(Newser) - Googling for ways to reduce your carbon footprint may be counterproductive, according to a study. Every Google search produces about 7 grams of carbon dioxide, PC World notes, which takes into account the energy used by the search giant’s massive databases. Google says the study is flawed, and notes...

NASA Launching First Satellite to Map CO2

(Newser) - NASA will soon launch a satellite that can measure carbon dioxide concentrations near the surface of the Earth, giving scientists an accurate picture of where the gas is produced and absorbed, the BBC reports. "This is NASA's first spacecraft specifically dedicated to mapping carbon dioxide," said a project...

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...

Explorers to Probe Antarctic's Buried Mountains

Scientists stumped by mysterious range as large as the Alps

(Newser) - A unique expedition will explore a mysterious mountain range buried deep within the Antarctic, reports the BBC. Scientists, engineers, and pilots from the US, UK, Germany, Australia, China, and Japan will use ice-penetrating radar and other high tech equipment in a bid to determine how the Gamburtsev mountains—equal in...

German Power Plant Tests Underground CO2 Capture

Coal-burning facility stores CO2, sends it deep underground

(Newser) - Germany is pioneering industrial efficiency with a new coal-fueled power plant that captures and stores its own CO2 emissions, Der Spiegel reports. The Bavarian power station began testing its system of collecting carbon dioxide and pumping it into a depleted underground natural gas reservoir. A few problems remain, though.

Flat-Screen TVs Pose Major Climate Risk

Potent greenhouse gas means popular appliances aren't very Earth-friendly

(Newser) - Soaring demand for flat-screen TVs could accelerate global warming faster than coal-fired power stations, the Guardian reports. A leading environmental scientist warns that a gas used in their manufacture and not controlled in the Kyoto treaty—as other greenhouse gases are—is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide...

CO2 Catcher Could Slow Climate Change

Device in the works sucks greenhouse gas from the air

(Newser) - A team of American scientists says it's taken an important first step toward creating a so-called carbon scrubber that can rid greenhouse gases from the air, the Guardian reports. The scientists, led by a Columbia University physicist, have a prototype in the works that can suck a ton of carbon...

High Costs Put Clean Coal on Back Burner

Plans to scrub coal-plant emissions hit money wall

(Newser) - Ambitious plans to combat global warming by pumping carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants into the ground have been delayed or canned due to spiraling costs, the New York Times reports. Scientists now fear that the next generation of coal-burning plants will be built using old, emission-spewing technology, spelling disaster...

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