e360 digest
09 Feb 2010:
Great Lakes Region Looks to
Prevent an Invasion by Asian Carp
U.S. officials are considering a $78.5 million plan to prevent a Great Lakes invasion by Asian carp, a species of large, nonnative fish known to destroy ecosystems. While the fish, which can reach 3 feet in length, have not yet been found in the lakes, DNA material from the species has been found in Lake Michigan. Some worry that the fish, which was first found in the southern parts of the Mississippi River in the 1970s, could forever alter the ecosystem of the Great Lakes, which hold about 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. Meeting with leaders from the Great Lakes region in a so-called “Asian carp summit,” federal officials unveiled a plan that would include construction of barriers to prevent flooding that might encourage the spread of the fish; completion of a new electronic barrier to keep carp in the Mississippi system from reaching the lakes; and reducing the 
Asian carp09 Feb 2010:
U.S. Creates Office to
Coordinate Climate Change Data
The Obama administration is creating an office to coordinate and report the latest climate change data, a unit analogous to the National Weather Service that officials hope will help planners, businesses, and the public better understand and prepare for the effects of global warming. The office, which will be part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will assemble about 550 scientists already working on climate issues under one roof. All data will be accessible on a website, www.climate.gov. “As the realities of climate change become more obvious to more people, farmers, businesses, government agencies and public 
Jane Lubchenco08 Feb 2010:
Blue Whales Songs Deepen
As Populations Rebound, Researcher Says
Male blue whales have been singing at a lower pitch in recent decades, and one oceanographer suggests it is linked to growing populations following the elimination of whale hunting. Songs used by blue whales worldwide to warn off predators and attract mates have become increasingly deeper in tone and are now about 30 percent lower than during the 1960s, says John Hildebrand, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The reason, he believes, is that whale populations have grown significantly since hunting was banned in 1966, and male blue whales now feel less urgency to sing in a high pitch, which they may have been using to communicate with widely scattered females when populations were low. Essentially, when blue whale numbers dropped to just a few thousand during the 1960s, he said, there was a “push to have the sound go to higher frequency so that more of the girls can hear it.” With whale numbers restored, he said, 
NOAA
08 Feb 2010:
Black Soot is Main Cause
Of Himalayan Glacier Melt, Study Says
Aerosols and black carbon from air pollution may be responsible for as much as 90 percent of the melting taking place in Himalayan glaciers, according to a new study. The study, conducted by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said that soot and pollution not only soak up heat and warm the atmosphere, but the deposition of black carbon on snow and ice absorbs sunlight, further hastening glacial melt. The study, published online in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, said that warming from greenhouse gas emissions may only be responsible for about 10 percent of the rapid melting of many Himalayan glaciers. The researchers used pollution reports from the Indian government and other data to estimate what percentage of Himalayan glacial melt was caused from pollutants, as opposed to greenhouse gases. Lead researcher Surabi Menon said the results of the study show that if the governments of India, China, and other nations in the region work hard to cut pollution from cars, factories, and dirty home stoves the rate of melting of Himalayan glaciers could be significantly slowed. Reducing black carbon emissions also would cut down on extreme weather events in eastern India and Bangladesh, as the increased warming of the atmosphere causes more storms, the study says.05 Feb 2010:
Mideast Project Develops
Biofuel With Water From the Sea
Researchers in the Middle East are developing a technology they say will convert saltwater-tolerant crops into jet fuel, creating a biofuel that doesn’t consume huge amounts of fresh water or take land away from food crops. The Masdar Institute in the United Arab Emirates is creating a demonstration farm that will use a system called integrated seawater agriculture, in which seawater would be transported via canal to a desert-based farm that combines fish and shrimp farming with cultivation of mangrove trees and salicornia, whose seeds can be converted into fuel. The effluent from the fish farming will be used to fertilize the salicornia plants, which are grown in saltwater-irrigated fields, said Scott Kennedy, the project leader. The runoff of that irrigation, which by that point would be even saltier, would be used to grow the saltwater-tolerant mangrove trees. The oil-rich salicornia seeds would then be processed into biofuel suitable for blending in jet fuel, researchers said. One potential challenge for the project, experts noted, is the damage that high salt levels will likely inflict on machinery used to harvest the salicornia.05 Feb 2010:
Ancient Feathers Provide
First Evidence of Color of Dinosaurs
Researchers studying the fossils of ancient birds have been able to reconstruct the colorful plumage of ancient birds, using the first evidence of the actual colors of dinosaurs. By examining microscopic pigment sacs called melanosomes found in fossil feathers, Yale University researchers were able to construct a color portrait of the Anchiornis huxleyi, a bird that has been extinct for 150 million years. The scientists say the four-winged chicken-sized bird, which lived in China during the Jurassic era, had a gray body, a reddish-brown, Mohawk-like crest, speckles on its face, and white feathers on its wings and legs with black-spangled tips. “This is actual science, not ‘Avatar,’” said Richard O. Prum, an evolutionary biologist at Yale and co-author of the study, which was published in the journal Science. The scientists say the research supports the idea that dinosaurs evolved feathers not for flight but for other purposes, such as to attract mates, distract predators, or communicate. Similar research by British and Chinese scientists, published in the journal Nature, suggests that the 125-million-year-old species Sinosauropteryx had reddish-and-white rings along its tail. 
04 Feb 2010:
Scientist in E-Mail Scandal
Largely Cleared By University Inquiry
Michael Mann, a prominent climate scientist at the heart of the recent controversy over hacked e-mails, has been largely cleared of wrongdoing by an academic board of inquiry at Pennsylvania State University, where he works. The panel found that Mann did not “participate in, directly or indirectly, any actions with an intent to suppress or falsify data.” Nor, the panel concluded, did he “delete, conceal or otherwise destroy emails, information and/or data” relating to the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Mann wrote, received, or was mentioned in a third of the 1,000 e-mails stolen from the computer files of a climate research institute at the University of East Anglia. Critics said the e-mails show that scientists conspired to falsify data and to exclude from the IPCC report researchers who questioned global warming. One of Mann’s e-mails received particular attention because he referred to a “trick” employed in a well-known graph he developed showing global temperatures holding steady until a sharp rise in recent decades. The university concluded that the so-called trick was “nothing more than a statistical method used to bring two or more different kinds of data sets together in a legitimate fashion.” The panel cleared Mann on three of four issues and referred to another committee the question of whether Mann’s conduct deviated from accepted academic practices.04 Feb 2010:
Obama Backs CO2 Storage,
Biofuels in Bid for Bipartisan Energy Policy
President Obama is supporting an ambitious plan to increase biofuel production in the U.S. and to develop 5 to 10 demonstration projects to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and store the CO2 underground. Unveiling a policy to develop biofuels not only from corn but also from farm and forest waste and switch grass, Obama said his administration will strive to meet a Congressional target of producing 36 billion gallons of ethanol and advanced biofuels by 2022. In the hopes of finding common ground with Republicans to pass an energy bill that includes offshore drilling and nuclear power plant construction, Obama said, “So even if you don’t believe in the severity of climate change, as I do, you still 
Barack Obama
03 Feb 2010:
Origins of Life on Earth
May Have Begun at Underwater Vents
A new scientific study calls into question the long-standing theory that life on Earth arose out of a “primordial soup” of organic compounds in the sea, and instead asserts that the building blocks of life came from geochemical reactions near hydrothermal vents deep under the ocean. The new research, conducted by a team of European and U.K. scientists and published in the journal Bioessays, refutes the 80-year-old theory that life began when the sun provided the energy to convert methane, ammonia, and water into the building blocks of the first cells. Instead, the researchers contend 
NOAA
A hydrothermal vent
03 Feb 2010:
Parkinson’s Disease Study
Highlights Environmental, Regional Risks
The largest epidemiological study of Parkinson’s Disease in the United States shows that the incidence of the illness is extremely high in many parts of the Northeast and Midwest, strongly implicating environmental factors in the ailment, according to a new study. Based on data from 36 million Medicare patients aged 65 and older, the study found numerous areas in the Northeast and Midwest where 14 percent or more of the population suffers from the neurodegenerative condition, which causes tremors, stiffness, and mood and behavioral changes. Many regions of the West, as well as Alaska, had extremely low rates of the disease, according to the study, conducted by physicians at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Allison Wright Mills, assistant professor of neurology at the school, said that finding clusters of the disease in the Northeast and Midwest was “particularly exciting” because these two regions are most involved in metal processing and agriculture, which produce chemicals that have been linked to higher rates of Parkinson’s. The study, published online in the journal Neuroepidemiology, also found that Asians and blacks developed the disease at half the rates of whites and Hispanics, which Willis said may be because Asians and blacks possess genes that protect them from exposure to environmental factors that cause Parkinson’s.
02 Feb 2010:
Faster Growth of U.S. Trees
Due to Higher Levels of CO2, Study Says
Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are apparently causing forests in the eastern United States to grow faster, a new study says. Trees observed along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland are growing two to four times faster than during earlier periods, and mixed hardwood forests are 
An American sycamore
02 Feb 2010:
Nations Pledge CO2 Cuts
that Will Not Meet 2 C Goal On Warming
Fifty-five major industrial powers that produce nearly 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions have submitted voluntary CO2 reduction targets, but a top UN climate official says they still fall short of what’s needed to limit future temperature increases to 2 C (3.6 F). Meeting a Jan. 31 deadline established at the December climate summit in Copenhagen, the European Union set a goal of reducing emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020; Japan pledged to slash CO2 emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020; the U.S. set a more modest target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020; and China vowed to cut the so-called “carbon intensity” of its economy — the amount of CO2 produced per unit of gross domestic product — by 40 to 45 percent by 2020. Some conservationists hailed these targets as an important step in slowing global greenhouse gas emissions, but Janos Pasztor — the top climate advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — said that even with these voluntary reductions “it will still be quite difficult to reach 2 degrees.” Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reversed an earlier position and said he supports the ratification of a binding global agreement on CO2 reductions at the next major round of climate talks in Mexico City this December.01 Feb 2010:
Pentagon Says Warming May
Affect Global Security and U.S. Missions
In a report to Congress, the U.S. military for the first time is
warning that the effects of climate change may cause or exacerbate future global conflicts and complicate U.S. missions worldwide. In its regular Quadrennial Defense Review, the Defense Department warns that the effects of a warming world, including increased poverty, hunger and disease, could further weaken fragile governments and perhaps provoke mass migrations. “While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden on civilian institutions and militaries around the world,” the report suggests. And citing research that finds climate-related changes “in every region of the world,” the Defense Department concludes that U.S. forces will increasingly confront the effects of climate change, including extreme weather conditions and rising seas. The document describes the need not just to respond to the effects of climate change, but to adopt policies that will lessen the environmental impacts of military operations, including a reduction in the use of fuel in U.S. missions.01 Feb 2010:
China Will Pass U.S. in
Smart Grid Investment in 2010, Study Says
The Chinese government will invest more money in the development of smart grid technology than the United States in 2010, according to a new market study. China will spend more than $7.3 billion in the form of stimulus loans, grants and tax incentives this year, compared to $7.1 million by the U.S., according to an analysis by Zpryme, a Texas-based research firm. “They’ve got a strong economy to push forward,” said Jason Rodriguez, director of research at Zpryme. China’s emphasis on creating a cleaner and more efficient electricity grid has attracted the attention of major U.S. companies, including General Electric, IBM, and Hewlett Packard, who will push to capitalize on that investment. Last month, G.E. announced a partnership with the city of Yangzhou to develop a smart grid demonstration center to promote its technology in the Chinese market. According to the analysis, smaller nations like France and Great Britain will spend less money on smart grid projects, but are nonetheless “already more advanced in smart grid infrastructure than the U.S.” 29 Jan 2010:
Russia, Asian Nations Pledge
To Double Tiger Populations by 2020
Representatives from China, India, Russia, and 10 other Asian nations have pledged to double the population of wild tigers within a decade through stricter enforcement of poaching laws and efforts to protect the wild cats’ habitat. The leaders, however, committed no money to the conservation efforts, but instead agreed to work with global institutions like the World Bank to develop schemes to use money from ecotourism, carbon financing, and infrastructure projects to fund tiger restoration. Conservationists called the 13-nation agreement an important step in protecting the wild cats, whose 
stock.xchange
29 Jan 2010:
Corrupt Indonesian Military
Closely Tied to Illegal Logging, Study Says
All levels of the Indonesian military are deeply involved in the massive illegal logging that is turning vast tracts of virgin rainforest into palm oil plantations, according to a new study. The Center for East Asia Cooperation Studies at the University of Indonesia investigated the logging industry from 1999 to 2006 in East Kalimantan, in the Indonesian sector of Borneo. The center found that high-ranking military officers took bribes for arranging permits from the forestry industry, received kickbacks from subordinates involved in illegal logging, invested directly in logging companies, and established close ties with organized crime figures involved in illegal logging. The study also found that lower-ranking soldiers and officers turned a blind eye to the illegal felling and transportation of trees. Conservationists say that tropical forests in East Kalimantan are being stripped for timber and palm oil faster than anywhere else in the world. Worldwide, destruction of tropical forests is responsible for about 20 percent of global carbon emissions. As Indonesia prepares to ask for billions of dollars in payments from the industrialized world in exchange for not cutting down some of its forests, conservationists warn that widespread corruption could undermine such programs.28 Jan 2010:
Iceland Tops Environment List,
While U.S., China, and India Lag Far Behind
A ranking of 163 nations based on environmental public health and the vitality of their ecosystems places Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, and Norway in the top five, with the U.S. trailing in 61st place and China and India ranking 121st and 123rd respectively. The Environmental Performance Index, compiled by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, ranks countries based on 10 main categories such as environmental health, air quality, water management, biodiversity and habitat, 
Wikimedia
Gullfoss, IcelandRead the complete list
28 Jan 2010:
Obama Calls for Energy Bill
But Makes No Mention of Cap-and-Trade
President Obama called on Congress to pass climate and energy legislation that would include the construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants, more offshore oil drilling along the U.S. coast, and increased funding for developing renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. But the president made no mention in his State of the Union speech of controversial legislation to impose a price and a cap on carbon emissions. By backing away from cap-and-trade legislation that already has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, Obama signaled his willingness to work with Republicans to pass a scaled-back version of climate and energy legislation this year. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a leading Republican on energy issues, said he was optimistic that a bipartisan energy bill could be passed this year, but he implied that such legislation would only pass if cap-and-trade provisions were removed. In his speech, Obama said his administration will invest $8 billion in high-speed rail lines in California, Florida, and the Midwest. And he told Congress that even if some members doubted that global warming was real, “providing incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy.”27 Jan 2010:
Concern About Global Warming
Continues to Drop in the U.S., Poll Shows
Concern about global warming among U.S. adults has dropped significantly, a new poll says, with fewer than 50 percent of Americans saying they are “somewhat” or “very worried” — a 13 percent decrease from a poll taken in October 2008. The percentage of Americans who believe global warming is occurring fell 14 percent to 57 percent, and the percentage who think global warming is caused primarily by human activities fell 10 percent to 47 percent, according to the poll funded by the Yale Project on Climate Change and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. The poll also found that 40 percent of the public now believes there is a lot of disagreement among scientists over whether global warming is occurring. Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale project, suggested that rising unemployment, frustration with Washington, and the divisive health care debate have pushed climate change out of the news. And the recent controversy over e-mails hacked from a UK-based institution, he said, had eroded public trust in climate science. “Despite growing scientific evidence that global warming will have serious impacts worldwide, public opinion is moving in the opposite direction,” he said.Read the full report
27 Jan 2010:
Exposure to Flame Retardant
Decreases Female Fertility, Study Shows
A study of 223 pregnant women in California has shown that women exposed to high levels of flame retardants take substantially longer to get pregnant, suggesting for the first time that these hormone-disrupting chemicals are linked to reduced fertility. The research, conduced by epidemiologists at the University of California at Berkeley, examined the impact of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, known as PBDEs, which are widely used in furniture cushions, carpet padding, and other household items. Examining pregnant women in California’s Salinas Valley — an agricultural community with predominantly low-income, Mexican immigrants — the researchers found that 97 percent of them had PBDEs in their blood and that those with high levels of the chemical were half as likely to conceive in any given month as those with low levels. Each ten-fold jump of PBDEs in a woman’s blood reduced her odds of getting pregnant by 30 percent, according to the study, posted online in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives. The women in the study conceived, on average, after three months, although 15 percent of the women took longer than 12 months to conceive. The study suggested that high levels of exposure to flame retardants could push some women and men into a “sub-fertile” category, making it difficult to conceive.26 Jan 2010:
U.S. Wind Energy Capacity
Grew 39 Percent in 2009, Report Says
The U.S. wind power industry continued to grow in 2009 despite a global recession, adding 9,900 megawatts — a capacity increase of about 39 percent — according to a new report. That growth, which was boosted by a federal stimulus package that extended the tax credit for wind energy production and offered other incentives, represents the largest single-year jump on record for the industry, according to 
26 Jan 2010:
China Calls for IPCC Changes;
New Report Cites Continuing Glacial Melt
In the wake of a controversy over a dubious claim made about melting glaciers by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a top Chinese official says that the panel should include the views of global warming skeptics in its next report. Xie Zhenhua, vice-chairman of China’s national Development and Reform Commission, told a meeting of rapidly developing nations that the IPCC needs “to adopt an open attitude to scientific research and incorporate all views.” His comments came after the IPCC apologized last week for a faulty forecast in its 2007 report on global warming, which stated that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. That forecast was based on a press interview with an Indian scientist, not a peer-reviewed scientific paper. IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri said he will not resign over the glacier controversy and other recent criticisms of the IPCC’s methods. Meanwhile, the World Glacier Monitoring Service reported that many of the world’s glaciers, particularly those in lower-altitude mountain ranges, will disappear by mid-century. The most vulnerable glaciers are in the Alps, the Pyrenees, Arica, parts of the Andes, and the Rocky Mountains in North America, the report said. The 96 glaciers monitored by the service lost an average of a half-meter in height, and 66 of the 96 glaciers lost mass overall.
Interview: Andrew Revkin on the
Rising Heat in the Climate Debate
As a reporter for the New York Times since 1995 and author of the popular Dot Earth blog, Andrew Revkin has had an unusually high public profile for a journalist who covers environmental issues. So it attracted media attention last month when he announced he would be leaving the Times staff, but would continue writing Dot Earth. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Revkin says he will now spend more time focusing on environmental education, starting with a course he’ll be teaching at Pace University that will address a question he regularly asks on Dot Earth: “9 Billion People + One 
Andrew Revkin
Read the interview
25 Jan 2010:
Gates Fears Climate Funds
Could Siphon Money from Health Programs
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose charitable foundation is the world’s largest, said he is concerned that an initiative by wealthy nations to give billions of dollars a year to poorer nations to adapt to climate change could divert badly needed funds from health care programs. The Bill & Melinda Gates 
Bill Gates
25 Jan 2010:
Producing Biofuels from Algae
Generates High Levels of Greenhouse Gases
Growing algae for biofuels is an energy-intensive process that can generate more greenhouse gases than the process sequesters, according to a new study. Examining the life cycle of algal biofuels, researchers from the University of Virginia found that the process emits high levels of greenhouse gases because algal production requires using large amounts of fertilizer. Those fertilizers often come from petroleum-based sources, and fertilizers also emit nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, according to the study. The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, said that while biofuel production from crops such as corn, canola, and switchgrass can result in a net carbon dioxide uptake, that is not yet the case with algal biofuels. The paper said that one promising way to overcome the environmental impact of using fertilizers to grow algal biofuels is to produce them with effluent from sewage treatment plants. Proponents of algal biofuels also said it is too early to make firm conclusions about the environmental impact of the technology because it is still in its infancy.22 Jan 2010:
Kennedy and Coal Executive
Debate Mountaintop Removal Mining
Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., debating a leading coal mining executive, called mountaintop removal coal mining “the worst environmental crime that has ever happened in our history” and called on West Virginians to begin “transitioning to a new energy economy.” Kennedy debated Don Blankenship, the blunt-spoken president of Massey Energy, before an overflow crowd of 1,000 people at the University of Charleston. Kennedy assailed mountaintop removal mining, which involves blasting the tops off mountains to get at coal seams below; to date, 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried in mining debris and more than 1 million acres of forests have been severely damaged. Noting that Massey Energy has paid $20 million in fines for violating the Clean Water Act, Kennedy asked if mountaintop removal mining could be done without breaking the law. Blankenship said his company is “doing everything we can to comply with the law every day” and he held up a plastic bottle of clear water and said its contents were typical of the clean runoff from mountaintop removal sites. Kennedy noted that mountaintop removal, a highly mechanized practice, has led to a large loss of mining jobs and he called on the state to embrace renewable energy production that would create new employment. Watch a video report.22 Jan 2010: Past Decade Warmest on Record
The past decade was the warmest on record, and 2009 was the second-warmest year since 1880, when modern temperature measurement began, according to data released by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The NASA study showed that global temperatures have been rising at the relatively rapid rate of 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit per decade for the past 30 years. A separate temperature analysis by the U.S. National Climatic Data Center also concluded that the 2000's were the warmest decade since record-keeping began, although that study disagreed with the NASA study on whether 2009 was the second or the fifth warmest year on record. There is no debate, however, that the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1998, or that in the Southern Hemisphere 2009 was the warmest year since temperature measurements began. Gavin Schmidt, a climatologist at Goddard, said the debate over which recent year was the hottest is irrelevant, and that the key data is the trend of the world warming by roughly 1 degree F every 30 years. Average global temperatures have risen by roughly 1.5 F since 1880. NASA's data was collected from more than 1,000 meteorological stations worldwide, satellite observations of sea surface temperatures, and Antarctic research station records.
21 Jan 2010:
IPCC Apologizes for
"Poorly Substantiated" Himalayan Claim
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has apologized for a “poorly substantiated” claim in its 2007 report that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. The UN body was forced to review the claim after reports that it was based not on peer-reviewed studies but on a media interview with an Indian scientist. “In drafting the paragraph in question, the clear and well-established standards of 
View from a Himalayan glacier
21 Jan 2010:
Pollution from Asia
Boosts Ozone Levels in Western U.S.
Ozone and smog produced in China and southeast Asia is being blown across the Pacific Ocean on springtime winds and is increasing levels of ozone in the skies above the western U.S., according to a study published in the journal Nature. The study, which examined 100,000 measurements taken by airplanes two to five miles above the ground, helps explain why background levels of ozone have increased by roughly 30 percent in the western U.S. since 1984, even as ground level ozone has dropped because cities and states have adopted stricter pollution control measures. Independent experts said the study showed the growing impact of cross-border pollution and noted that smog wafting from Asia could complicate efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce ozone pollution by up to 20 percent. Owen R. Cooper, a University of Colorado atmospheric chemist who led the study, said that ozone levels above the western U.S. doubled when prevailing winds blew from south and east Asia in the spring. Using computer programs that compared measurements taken in the U.S. with wind patterns from Asia, the scientists traced a significant percentage of the ozone pollution to Asian countries.20 Jan 2010:
‘Eco-bling’ in the U.K.;
CO2-Spewing Lawns in the U.S.
Installing wind turbines or solar panels on homes that are not well-insulated or energy-efficient amounts to little more than “eco-bling” that makes owners feel good but does little to reduce carbon emissions, according to a study by the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering. To meet the U.K.’s goal of making all new homes and buildings carbon neutral by 2020 and slashing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, the report said, the government should focus on making new buildings highly energy-efficient, retrofitting older buildings to improve their energy efficiency, and investing in large-scale wind and solar projects. The report said that for wind turbines installed on homes to produce sizeable amounts of electricity, the turbines would have to be so large that their vibrations would damage residential structures. Meanwhile, a new study, to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, had some sobering news for homeowners hoping to reduce their carbon footprints: The study, conducted by scientists at the University of California, Irvine, said that the fertilization, mowing, and leaf-blowing of lawns produces four times as many greenhouse gases as the lawns themselves absorb.20 Jan 2010:
Wind Energy Could Supply
20 Percent of Power in Eastern U.S.
Wind energy could provide 20 percent of the electricity for the eastern half of the United States by 2024, but only if the nation makes a significant financial investment, according to new government report. About $90 billion would be required to install a network of land- and sea-based wind turbines and about 22,000 miles of new power lines, according to the study published by U.S. Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The report said that the government would have to provide a significant portion of that investment through programs such as loan guarantees. “We can bring more wind power online, but if we don’t have the proper infrastructure to move that power around, it’s like buying a hybrid car and leaving it
in the garage,” said David Corbus, project manager for the study. To reach the 20 percent goal, wind power in the eastern U.S. would have to expand 10-fold from current production. Most new wind projects should be located in federal waters from Massachusetts to North Carolina, and across the Midwestern states, the report said. The Obama administration has earmarked billions of dollars for renewable energy projects, and recently stepped in to accelerate the permitting process of a long-disputed offshore wind proposal in Massachusetts that would provide electricity for 400,000 homes.
19 Jan 2010:
Foe of EPA Carbon Rules
Is Top Recipient of Industry Contributions
A U.S. senator from Alaska who is leading the fight to block federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions is also Congress’ top recipient of campaign contributions from the nation’s electric utilities, according to a new report. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who holds a key position on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, received $157,000 from the electric utilities industry last year, the highest among U.S. lawmakers, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Since 2005, she has received more than $244,000 from the industry. The Washington Post has reported that a lobbyist for two major utility companies helped Murkowski craft a 2009 
Lisa Murkowski
19 Jan 2010:
IPCC Will Re-Examine
Report On Himalayan Glacier Retreat
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the scientific body will review a widely criticized forecast in its 2007 report that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. As has been revealed in press reports in recent days, the forecast was based not on a scientific study but on an interview with an Indian scientist in the New Scientist magazine. The scientist’s forecast was then incorporated into the IPCC’s comprehensive 2007 report. Indian Environment Minister Jairem Ramesh said that although Himalayan glaciers “are indeed receding and the rate is cause for great concern,” the forecast that the glaciers could disappear by 2035 was “not based on an iota of scientific evidence.” The controversy over the inclusion of the forecast into the IPCC report has further damaged scientific efforts to convince the public that global warming is real. It comes on the heels of a scandal in which hackers obtained thousands of e-mails from a UK climate institute. In the e-mails, some scientists discussed altering the presentation of some data to highlight the human impact on climate change. Pachauri said the IPCC will take a position on the Himalayan glacier forecast in the next several days.15 Jan 2010:
China Secures Major Foothold
in California’s Growing Solar Market
Chinese manufacturers of photovoltaic solar panels have secured an increasing hold in California, the United States’ largest solar market, doubling their market share in the last year alone, according to a new report. In the last three years, China’s share of the market increased from 2 percent to 46 percent, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research and consulting firm. The share of U.S. manufacturers in the California market dropped from 43 percent to 16 percent during that same period. “The ascendancy of Chinese manufacturers would be noteworthy regardless of market conditions, but is particularly telling in a time when purse-strings are still tight,” the report said. One Chinese company, Yingli Solar, now claims 27 percent of the California solar market. California accounts for about 40 percent of the U.S.’s total solar power business. The lower manufacturing costs of Chinese companies have given them a strong competitive advantage and have contributed to a sharp drop in solar module prices in the past year.
15 Jan 2010:
New Salmon Farming Method
Wins Backing of Monterey Bay Aquarium
A new aquaculture technology that raises Pacific salmon in closed, freshwater systems has received a strong endorsement from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a leader in the sustainable seafood movement. The technology, developed by Rochester, Wash.-based AquaSeed Corp, features numerous advancements that persuaded the Monterey Bay Aquarium to bestow its “Super Green” label on the 
AquaSeed
AquaSeed salmon eggs
14 Jan 2010:
UN Role in Climate Talks
Should Be Diminished, U.S. Official Says
Citing the “chaotic” Copenhagen climate talks, Jonathan Pershing, the U.S.’s deputy special envoy for climate change, said the UN must relinquish the central role in future climate negotiations to major nations such as the U.S., China, and India. Pershing, who participated in the Copenhagen talks, said in a speech in Washington that it was virtually impossible to conduct a serious negotiation with 192 nations present in Copenhagen and called for giving more power in future climate talks to the world’s major CO2 emitters. Given how poorly the UN ran the Copenhagen summit, Pershing also said “I am not sure that any of us are particularly confident” that the UN should manage a $30 billion fund to help poor countries adapt to climate change. Pershing’s comments signal a possible realignment in the UN-dominated framework for climate change negotiations that has prevailed for two decades. Meanwhile, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa have announced that they will meet in New Delhi Jan. 24 in advance of a Jan. 31 deadline for nations to set emissions reduction targets. The four nations are expected to forge a common position on emissions reductions and on climate aid for developing nations.14 Jan 2010:
The Limits of Wind in UK;
A Call for More Natural Gas Use in U.S.
A period of extremely cold, windless weather has brought home to the British the drawbacks of relying on wind power and the need to keep a supply of natural gas in reserve. While the cold spell has strained natural gas supplies, leading in some cases to cutoffs to industrial users, it also has highlighted the unpredictability of wind power. Although Britain’s wind farms are supposed to provide 5 percent of the country’s electricity, they were in fact only providing 0.2 percent during the recent run of frigid, still days. This pitfall was on display as the government announced last Friday that it had awarded licenses for several offshore wind projects with the potential to generate 32 gigawatts of electricity — enough to power all the homes in Britain. But, as the Telegraph noted, the government should ensure there are plentiful natural gas supplies “for a future windless, icy day.” In the U.S. two people on the opposite ends of the political spectrum — conservative billionaire T. Boone Pickens and John Podesta, president of the liberal Center for American Progress — called on the country to convert its fleet of heavy trucks and buses from gasoline to natural gas, which they said would reduce oil imports by 8 percent.13 Jan 2010:
Obama Administration Agrees
to Protection of Endangered Jaguar
The Obama administration has agreed to protect critical habitat for the jaguar and craft a recovery plan for the endangered species, paving the way for the cat’s return to the U.S. Southwest. The decision marks a reversal of the policy of the Bush administration, which rejected calls for protection of the jaguar on the grounds that the cat is native to Mexico. While the species once roamed from California to 
13 Jan 2010:
U.S. Climate Bill in Doubt;
Lobbying of EPA on CO2 Intensifies
Faced with a faltering economy, fatigue over the health care fight, and the prospect of congressional elections this November, proponents of a carbon cap-and-trade bill in the U.S. Senate face high hurdles when Congress returns from its winter recess next week. The Obama administration and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the lead author on the climate bill, insist that they are proceeding with plans to pass climate and energy legislation this year. The House of Representatives passed a bill last fall that would put a price and a cap on carbon. But some political analysts say that with the political environment shifting against the Democrats, the most that Congress may accomplish is to pass an energy bill that stimulates development of renewable sources of energy, nuclear power, and offshore drilling, while shelving plans for a cap-and-trade plan. With prospects for a climate bill in doubt, environmental and industry groups are stepping up political pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has said that it will begin regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.12 Jan 2010:
California Climate Bill
Should Give Cash to Consumers, Panel Says
A state panel recommended that most of the proceeds from a proposed carbon tax in California, set to take effect in 2012, should be given back to consumers. The 16-member Economic and Allocation Advisory Committee, charged with figuring out the most cost-effective way to implement a tax on carbon emissions, threw its support behind a so-called “cap-and-dividend” approach. Such a plan would set a steadily decreasing limit on CO2 releases by major emitters, place a price on carbon dioxide emissions, and then give most of the revenue back to citizens. The panel said that “cap-and-dividend” would cushion the cost to consumers of higher energy prices, create some political support for a carbon tax, and reward consumers who reduced energy use. Annual energy dividend checks for a family of four could reach $1,000. As federal climate legislation increasingly appears to be stalled in Congress, some states, most notably California and a consortium of northeastern states, are moving ahead with programs to cap and place a price on carbon emissions.12 Jan 2010:
Migration of Arctic Terns
Can Reach 50,000 Miles Per Year
Using a tiny device that records location, scientists have tracked the pole-to-pole migration of 11 Arctic terns, discovering that the small birds traveled an average of 44,000 miles a year, with one completing an annual round-trip journey of 50,700 miles. The new findings show that the Arctic tern migrates farther than any living thing and that, over the course of the tern’s three-decade lifespan, the bird — weighing just 3.5 ounces — travels 1.5 million miles. That’s equivalent to three round-trips to the moon. The latest study, conducted by an international team of scientists and published in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, used “geolocators” attached to the birds’ legs. The devices, weighing just .05 ounces, recorded the birds’ location by measuring light intensity and day length. The study, which nearly doubled the estimate of the terns’ migrations, showed that after leaving Greenland and Iceland in the fall, the birds fed in Arctic waters before flying south to the Antarctic Peninsula. They followed two routes, along the coast of South America or Africa. The birds then spent the southern summer in Antarctica before returning to the Arctic in April and May, following an S-shaped path to take advantage of wind currents. On the way home, the birds averaged 323 miles per day.
11 Jan 2010:
New Chinese Rail Line
Said to be Fastest High-Speed Train
China has launched what is being called the world’s fastest rail line, a high-speed train that can reach speeds of 245 miles per hour (394 kilometers) over long distances, and will cut the 601-mile commute from Wuhan, in central China, to Guangzhou, on the southeastern coast, from 10.5 hours to less than three hours. The “WuGuang” line trains, a variation of Japan’s Shinkansen and Germany’s InterCity 
A Chinese high-speed train
11 Jan 2010:
Water-free Bering Strait
Influenced Climate Cycles, Study Says
The appearance and disappearance of a land bridge across the Bering Strait as sea levels rose and fell played an important role in global climate cycles from 116,000 years ago to 34,000 years ago, according to a new study. The study, conducted by scientists at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, said that as the climate cooled because of changes in the Earth’s orbit, northern ice sheets expanded, causing sea levels to drop. Falling sea levels opened up a land bridge between Asia and North America across the Bering Strait, which altered ocean currents by choking off the supply of relatively fresh north Pacific water through the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic then grew saltier and denser, which changed ocean circulation patterns, bringing warmer water north from the tropics. That warmth melted ice sheets, which caused sea levels to rise, inundating the Bering Strait. That, in turn, sent fresher water from the Pacific into the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, which once again changed oceanic circulation patterns and cooled the Arctic, setting the entire cycle in motion again. That cycle was broken 34,000 years ago when the Earth’s orbit placed it far from the sun, ushering in the last Ice Age. One researcher said the study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, showed that “even small processes, if they are in the right location, can amplify changes in climate around the world.”08 Jan 2010:
Sub-Alpine Forests Absorb
Less Carbon As Warming Occurs, Study Says
Contradicting the belief that trees will absorb more carbon dioxide as the world warms, a new study says that sub-Alpine forests in the western United States are likely to soak up less CO2 as temperatures rise and snowpack declines. Researchers at the University of Colorado found that while reduced snowpack generally advanced the onset of spring and extended the growing season, the decline in snow slashed the amount of water available to trees in summer and fall, causing them to less efficiently convert carbon dioxide into biomass. The researchers said that snow was much more effective at delivering moisture to trees than rain, and that as late as October, 60 percent of the water in the stems and needles of sub-Alpine trees can be traced back to snowmelt. That means that even if rainfall increases, the ability of sub-Alpine trees to absorb CO2 will decline if snowpack in the Rocky Mountains declines. “As snowmelt in these high-elevation forests is predicted to decline, the rate of carbon uptake will likely follow suit,” said researcher Jia Hu, whose study will be published next month in the journal Global Change Biology. Sub-Alpine forests account for roughly 70 percent of carbon storage in the western United States.08 Jan 2010:
Scientists Call for an End
To Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Mountaintop removal coal mining is causing “pervasive and irreversible damage” to Appalachian forests and streams and the federal government should stop issuing permits for new mines, according to a report issued by 12 environmental scientists. The report, published in the journal Science, reviewed recent studies of the damage caused by mountaintop removal mining and found that the practice releases large amounts of toxic chemicals into streams, harming fish and birds and contaminating human drinking water supplies. The scientists said state and federal regulators have been paying surprisingly little attention to the damage caused by mountaintop removal mining, which involves blasting the tops off mountains to mine coal seams below, then dumping mining debris into streams. To date, 2,040 square miles of forested land have been destroyed and 2,000 miles of streams buried under mining debris. “Regulators should no longer ignore rigorous science,” the scientists wrote in their report. They recommended that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stop issuing new permits for mountaintop removal mines “unless new methods can be subjected to rigorous peer review and shown to remedy these problems.” The study’s lead author, Margaret Palmer of the University of Maryland, said, “The reason we’re willing to make a policy recommendation is that the evidence is so clear-cut.”
Watch an e360 video on mountaintop mining
07 Jan 2010:
EPA Tightens Limits
On Pollutants That Cause Smog
In a move that could lead to Americans breathing significantly cleaner air, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed further limitations on the amount of pollution-forming ozone in the air. Setting aside laxer standards adopted by the Bush administration, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said the agency intends to reduce the amount of ozone in the air from 75 parts per billion to 
Lisa Jackson07 Jan 2010:
Cell Phones May Protect Brain
From Alzheimer’s Disease, Study Finds
Microwave radiation from mobile phones may actually protect against or reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of South Florida exposed 96 mice, many of which were genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, to electromagnetic waves from U.S. mobile phones. After exposure to 918-megaHerz of frequency for up to two hours per day over 7 to 9 months — the equivalent of several decades for humans — researchers found the memory of the mice exposed to the radiation was better than those that had not been exposed. Among older mice with Alzheimer’s, deposits of beta-amyloid — the protein fragment that accumulates in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients — were erased, and memory impairment disappeared. And young mice with no signs of memory impairment were protected against the disease after months of exposure. Gary Arendash, a research professor and lead author of the study, said he initially expected the electromagnetic waves to have a harmful effect on the mice. Some human studies have suggested that prolonged use of cell phones could cause brain tumors.
07 Jan 2010:
U.S. Vows Oil and Gas Companies
Will Not Control Leasing on Federal Lands
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department will no longer be the “handmaiden” of the oil and gas industry and will conduct tougher environmental reviews of proposals to drill on public lands. Criticizing the Bush and administration for turning federal lands into a “candy store” for the petroleum industry, Salazar told reporters, “The difference is in the prior administration the oil and gas industry essentially were the kings of the world.” He said lax leasing policies “ran afoul of communities, carved up the landscape, and fueled costly conflicts that created uncertainty for investors and industry.” Salazar said he was ordering federal land managers to get out from behind their desks and to visit proposed leasing sites to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of drilling. The stricter review process would not reduce the amount of oil and gas extracted from federal lands, Salazar said, but would ensure that drilling was done in a more responsible manner. A more through review process will also reduce the number of costly court challenges to leasing decisions, said Salazar, noting that in 2008 roughly 40 percent of federal decisions to permit or deny drilling rights were challenged by one or more parties, compared with only 1 percent in 1998.06 Jan 2010:
Mountaintop Mining Project
Will Proceed Under Obama EPA Plan
A major mountaintop removal mining project in West Virginia will proceed in slightly scaled-back form under a compromise worked out between the Obama administration and the Patriot Coal company. Under the plan, the company has agreed to reduce the number of miles of stream buried under mining debris from six to three at the so-called Hobet 45 mine, and to take “avoidance and minimization measures” to reduce stream pollution. The decision angered environmental groups, which accused the Obama administration of retreating from its pledge to crack down on mountaintop mining, the highly destructive practice in which mining companies blast off the tops of mountains to get at the coal seams below. To date, roughly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried under mining debris and hundreds of square miles of forest have been destroyed. The Obama administration is reviewing dozens of mountaintop removal projects, most of which, according to environmental groups, should be canceled because they violate the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it allowed the Hobet 45 project to proceed after Patriot agreed to soften the mine’s environmental impact. The 600-acre mine is one of the few in Appalachia where members of the United Mine Workers will be employed, and union officials and the state’s senior U.S. senator, Robert C. Byrd, praised the compromise agreement.Watch an e360 video on mountaintop mining
06 Jan 2010:
Activist Boat Collides
With Japanese Whaling Vessel
A futuristic powerboat used by the anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd to harass Japanese whaling vessels in Antarctic waters has been badly damaged in a collision with a Japanese ship. On its Web site, Sea Shepherd accused the Japanese vessel, the Shonan Maru No. 2, of deliberately ramming the carbon-fiber powerboat, the Ady Gil. But Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees Japan’s whaling activities in the Southern Ocean, said the Ady Gil pulled in front of the Shonan Maru in an effort to entangle its rudder and propeller in a rope. Sea Shepherd said the six-person crew of the Ady Gil was rescued, but that one activist suffered broken ribs during the collision in frigid seas. Video of the Ady Gil showed that its bow had been sheared off, and there were conflicting reports as to whether the $1.4 million vessel was sinking. This is the sixth season that Sea Shepherd has hounded the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctic waters. The group has employed increasingly aggressive tactics to interfere with the whaling activities, during which Japan kills several hundred minke whales annually for alleged research purposes. Most of the meat is sold in Japanese markets.
05 Jan 2010:
U.S. Car Fleet Shrinks
For First Time in 50 Years, Report Says
The number of cars on U.S. roads dropped by 4 million in 2009, the only large decline in the nation’s car fleet since the government began keeping records in 1960. While consumers bought 10 million cars during the year, another 14 million vehicles were scrapped, dropping the total to 246 million vehicles, despite the government’s “cash for clunkers” program that gave individuals as much as $4,500 to exchange older cars for more fuel-efficient models. Analysts cited numerous factors for the decline, including high gasoline prices, improved public transportation, and the popularity of online social networking, which for many teens has replaced the automobile as a way to socialize. In a report analyzing the decline, the Earth Policy Institute says the decrease is not merely a temporary phenomenon caused by the recession. The group says U.S. car ownership has reached a point of saturation, and the nation’s car fleet could drop another 25 percent by 2020. Currently, there are 117 vehicles for every 100 licensed Americans, but high debt and other costs of car ownership will make consumers less likely to keep more cars than they use, said Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute. Many families with three cars will likely cut back to two, he predicts, and those with two may cut back to one or none.05 Jan 2010:
Solar-powered Irrigation
Of Great Benefit to African Villagers
Solar-powered drip irrigation systems significantly increased vegetable production in villages in the western African nation of Benin, improving nutrition and boosting household incomes, according to a new study. The study, led by a researcher at Stanford University’s Program on Food Security and the Environment, installed solar-powered drip irrigation systems in two villages in Benin and compared the 
Drip irrigation04 Jan 2010:
Tigers Top WWF List
Of 10 Most Endangered Animals
Tigers, now numbering only 3,200 in the wild, top the list of the world’s 10 most endangered species, according to the conservation group WWF. The organization said that four of the nine main sub-species of tiger are now believed to be extinct, with populations of the Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Sumatran, 
A Bengal tiger04 Jan 2010:
One-Fifth of Chemicals
Are Kept Secret from U.S. Consumers
Nearly 20 percent of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States are kept secret from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision designed to protect trade secrets, according to the Washington Post. Even though manufacturers acknowledge that many of the chemicals could pose a “substantial risk” to public health or the environment, the companies are not required to reveal them to consumers or state regulators. Under provisions of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, the identities of the 17,000 secret chemicals are known to only a handful of employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who are prohibited from identifying the chemicals to other federal officials, state health and environmental regulators, emergency service personnel, and the public. The chemical companies say the secrecy is necessary to protect proprietary chemical formulas. But the Post reports that momentum is growing in the Obama administration and Congress to reduce the number of secret chemicals when Congress rewrites toxic substance regulations this year for the first time in a generation. “It’s impossible to run an effective regulatory program when so many of these chemicals are secret,” said an official of the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization.23 Dec 2009:
Pneumonia Risk In Elderly
Rises With Increased Pollution, Study Says
Long-term exposure to air pollution dramatically increases the risk of pneumonia for older adults, according to a new study. Using air monitoring station data and air pollution models to gauge exposure in different geographical sections of Hamilton, Ontario, researchers found that adults over 65 exposed to nitrogen dioxide — which is closely associated with traffic pollution — and fine particulate matter were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for pneumonia. Exposure to sulfur dioxide was not associated with increased risk of hospitalization, according to the report, which will be published in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. In addition to traffic pollution, researchers said an industrial steel plant in the northern section of the city increased exposure to pneumonia-associated pollutants. Mark Loeb, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton and the lead author of the study, suggested that the pollutants had weakened “innate immune defenses designed to protect the lungs from pathogens.”23 Dec 2009:
Lack of ‘Personal Space’
Causes Hatchery Salmon to Falter in Wild
For decades, fisheries managers have reared hatchery salmon and released them into rivers to supplement declining populations of wild salmon. And for years, a large percentage of hatchery-raised Atlantic salmon have perished in the wild, returning to their native streams far less frequently than wild salmon. Now, researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden think they know one reason why: Young salmon, or smolts, reared in tightly-packed pens have lower rates of survival than smolts raised in less-crowded surroundings. The researchers compared smolts raised in high-density cages and those raised in low-density cages and found that young fish given more “personal space” fared better in the wild than smolts reared in close quarters. The researchers also suspect that the high-fat food pellets given to hatchery salmon also make them less suited to survive in the wild. And their research also suggests that instead of placing very young smolts in crates, the fish should be raised in an environment with structures on the bottom, such as rocks, to stimulate brain development. The University of Gothenburg research is part of a larger, government-funded effort to make hatchery practices and commercial fish farming more sustainable.NASA: The Year in Images
Every day, NASA’s Earth Observatory publishes images of our world from a perspective rarely seen by human eyes — from satellites high above the planet’s surface. In 2009, these images once again provided an extraordinary view of the powerful forces of nature, of the widening footprint of human civilization, and of the point where they often meet. In February, NASA satellite photos captured the massive brushfires roaring through southeastern Australia. Two months later, the space agency’s cameras documented the Aral Sea’s disappearance. The images expanded our view of how human land use is reshaping our world, from the patchwork farms of the U.S. Midwest to the building boom in Dubai. And the photographs illustrated that, from miles above, even the murky sediment in the Gulf of Mexico or a violent sandstorm off the Senegal coast can have a delicate beauty. Click to see a gallery of some of the more memorable images from the year.
22 Dec 2009:
Mojave Conservation Plan
Imperils Renewable Energy Projects
A California senator introduced legislation that would protect more than a million acres in the Mojave Desert, including land eyed by developers for solar and wind energy projects. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a longtime supporter of desert protection, has proposed protecting 1.7 million acres of desert, 
Mojave Desert
22 Dec 2009:
Copenhagen and Health Care
Dim Chances for Passage of U.S. Climate Bill
The bitter battle over health care legislation, fears that global warming legislation could harm the weak U.S. economy, and the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit to set binding CO2 emissions reductions targets will make U.S. Senate passage of a carbon cap-and-trade bill difficult in 2010, according to senators from both parties. Politico reports that the partisan struggle over health care reform — in which 60 Democratic senators are poised to pass a bill with no Republican support — has alienated moderate Republicans whose votes are crucial to passage of climate legislation. Referring to the health care debate, moderate Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — who has previously voiced support for a proposed climate bill — said, “It makes it hard to do anything because of the way this was handled.” Other moderate Republicans, including Susan Collins of Maine and Dick Lugar of Indiana, said prospects for passing cap-and-trade legislation were dim, with Lugar saying health care legislation has delayed the climate bill “almost indefinitely.” Moderate Republican support for the climate bill is necessary because some Democrats from hard-hit industrial states oppose the legislation, especially if major economic powers such as China do not set limits on CO2 emissions. The House of Representatives narrowly passed a cap-and-trade bill earlier this year.
Interview: Stewart Brand’s Journey
From Whole Earth to Nuclear Power
Stewart Brand is perhaps best known as the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, the eclectic compendium of environmentally friendly living that became a bible of the counterculture and the back-to-the-land movement in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. But times have changed, and so has Brand. In his new book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, Brand explains how concerns about global warming and the challenge of feeding a rapidly growing world population have led him to embrace nuclear power, genetically engineered crops, and geoengineering schemes to cool the planet. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, 
Stewart Brand
Read the interview
21 Dec 2009:
Federal Officials Promote
Use of Coal Waste on U.S. Farms
Federal officials are promoting the use of a chalky residue from coal-burning power plants as a fertilizer on U.S. farms, even as regulators simultaneously consider new rules for the waste, which contains small amounts of toxic metals. During the Bush administration, U.S. officials began promoting the agricultural use of a synthetic form of gypsum, a calcium-rich substance produced by the “scrubbers” that remove acid rain-causing sulfur from coal plant emissions. As a cheaper alternative to mined gypsum in fertilizing crops, use of so-called flue gas desulfurization gypsum, or FGD gypsum, has tripled since 2001. And with the waste piling up at coal-fired power plants around the country, officials saw it as a more “beneficial use” than simply burying it in landfills. But FGD gypsum also contains mercury, arsenic, and lead, and some environmentalists warn that not enough is known about the environmental and health effects. Federal officials insist the levels are so low that they pose no hazards to health. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is crafting the first U.S. regulations for coal waste storage and disposal in response to a major coal ash spill from a Tennessee power plant on Dec, 22, 2008 that caused about $1 billion in damage.21 Dec 2009:
Fallout from Copenhagen
Felt in Businesses and World Capitals
Reverberations from the disappointing Copenhagen climate summit continued to be felt worldwide, with political leaders blaming each other for the meeting’s outcome, U.S. senators saying that the lack of progress will make it harder for Congress to pass a climate bill, European Union carbon prices falling, and some businesses lamenting the continuing lack of uncertainty about future CO2 cuts and carbon prices. Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown told an environmental meeting on Monday that a handful of countries blocked a legally binding deal on climate change, adding, “We will not allow a few 
Ed Miliband
Read the full report.
18 Dec 2009:
Malaysian Government Allows
Logging of Tribal “Peace Park” on Borneo
The Malaysian government will allow logging to take place in a contested area of rainforest on the island of Borneo, rejecting an attempt by local tribesemen to declare part of the forest as a protected “peace park.” Hoping to establish a model of conservation and land management, and draw attention to excessive logging on traditional lands, Penan tribesemen last month designated 403,000 acres (163,000 hectares) in the state of Sarawak a so-called “Penan Peace Park.” But Malaysia, which has the fastest rate of greenhouse gas emissions growth since 1990 among middle and upper income nations, will not recognize the Penan's declaration. Len Talif Salleh, the Sarawak forest director and the secretary to the Ministry of Planning and Resource Management, said the tribe was being “instigated and manipulated by foreign non-governmental organizations,” The Borneo Post reported. The Penan Peace Park lies within an area zoned for logging by the Malaysian Samling Group, a timber company that holds more than 5,400 square miles (1.4 million hectares) of logging concessions in Sarawak.18 Dec 2009:
Limited Agreement is Reached
as Copenhagen Summit Comes to an End
In a last-minute flurry of diplomatic activity, U.S. President Obama managed to piece together a limited agreement on climate change that falls short of even the modest expectations for the 12-day summit meeting in the Danish capital. Rather than emerging with a legally binding treaty to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions — the original goal of the conference — the deal brokered by Obama stipulates that countries should list their greenhouse gas reduction targets, that negotiators establish a fund to help poor nations deal with global warming, and that the world community aim to limit global Barack Obama
Read the full report.
17 Dec 2009:
Wind Farms Do Not Pose
Health Threat to Neighbors, Study Says
Living near wind farms does not pose adverse health effects, according to a new study. The research, conducted by a seven-member panel of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other institutions, was funded by the American and Canadian wind industry associations. The 85-page report says there is no medical basis for concerns that the audible or “subaudible” sounds of spinning 
BetterPlan Wisconsin
17 Dec 2009:
Clinton Promises Climate Aid;
Leaked UN Report Sees 3 C of Warming
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton injected new life into the Copenhagen summit Thursday as she told delegates that the U.S. would contribute to a fund designed to raise $100 billion by 2020 to help developing nations adapt to climate change. But Clinton said the U.S. offer was contingent on forging a global climate treaty that requires developing nations to slow the growth of their greenhouse gas emissions and to submit to verification of emissions reporting. Later in the day, reporters obtained a confidential UN analysis stating that current emissions-cut pledges now being proposed at Copenhagen would lead to a temperature rise this century of 3 degrees C (5.4 F), surpassing the 2 
Hillary Clinton
Read the full report.
16 Dec 2009:
London Will Become
Europe’s Electric Car Capital, Mayor Vows
Speaking to a gathering of mayors in Copenhagen, London Mayor Boris Johnson announced plans to add 25,000 charging stations for electric cars across the city by 2015, turning London into a center of plug-in vehicle technology. By creating the right conditions, Johnson said the city can encourage a “golden era” of electric cars, and he predicted that every resident will be within a mile of a charging point. Johnson said the challenge of reducing carbon emissions is urgent, but should not require “hair-shirt abstinence.” London officials, who face multimillion-pound EU fines if they are unable to improve the city’s air quality, will launch an online website next year to explain the payment options for electric car owners, and plan to begin adding the new stations within two years. The plan calls for the installation of 22,500 charging stations at businesses citywide, 500 charging points on city streets, and another 2,000 in public garages and parking lots. Johnson said the city will also purchase 1,000 electric cars for its Greater London Authority. He made clear, however, that the plans will require government funding.16 Dec 2009: Deals on Aid and Forests Reported Close to Completion at Talks
With only two full days remaining at the Copenhagen climate summit, negotiators said they were close to reaching agreement on a pair of key issues — the size of a fund to help developing nations deal with global warming, and the creation of a program under which industrialized nations would pay developing nations not to log tropical forests. Leaders of the African Union and the European Union announced that they had all but finalized a deal that would provide a short-term climate MORE FROM COPENHAGEN:
Bill McKibben reports from the climate talks for e360.
fund for poorer countries of $10 billion, a sum that would rise steadily until 2020, when developed nations would contribute $100 billion annually to the fund. The fund is to be used by developing nations to adapt to climate change and to adopt renewable energy technologies. African nations temporarily walked out of the talks on Monday to protest what they considered to be paltry sums promised by industrialized nations. But Ethiopian Prime Minster Meles Zenawi and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt announced that significantly higher contributions to the fund would be forthcoming in the next decade. Negotiators are still working on ways to pay for the fund, ranging from a carbon tax, to a tax on international transactions, to direct contributions from wealthy nations or financing by the International Monetary Fund.Bill McKibben reports from the climate talks for e360.
Read the full report.
15 Dec 2009:
Soot Pollution Accelerating
Glacial Melting on Tibetan Plateau
Increased levels of black soot from air pollution sources across Asia have accelerated the rate of glacial melting on the Tibetan Plateau, exacerbating the effects of global warming in what is home to the planet’s largest non-polar ice masses, researchers say. Temperatures in the region have increased 0.3 Celsius (.5 F) in the last 30 years — twice the global average rate. After studying five glacial ice cores collected across the Tibetan Plateau, NASA and Chinese scientists said a significant contributing factor is increased soot deposits, which darken the snow and ice, increasing the absorption of sunlight. Black soot may be responsible for about half of the glacial melt, said James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and co-author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “[C]ontinued, ‘business-as-usual’ emissions of greenhouse gases and black soot will result in the loss of most Himalayan glaciers this century,” Hansen said. The glaciers provide water storage for more than a billion people across south and east Asia, sending fresh melt water down the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and other river systems. From 1950 to 1980, about 50 percent of the glaciers were in retreat, the authors say. In recent years, nearly 95 percent have been retreating.
15 Dec 2009:
De Boer Calls for Action
as Climate Talks Bog Down Over Key Issues
As the Copenhagen climate summit entered its final four days with wide differences still separating major blocs of countries, the UN’s chief climate negotiator, Yvo de Boer, called on participants to begin making more concessions and step up the pace of the talks. Saying the conference has entered “a very distinct and important moment in the process,” de Boer warned, “We have, over the last week or so, seen progress in a number of areas, but we haven’t seen enough of it. There is still an enormous amount of ground to be covered if this conference is to deliver what people MORE FROM COPENHAGEN:
Bill McKibben reports from the climate talks for e360.
around the world expect it to deliver.” As some of the 110 world leaders expected for the last few days of the conference began arriving in Copenhagen, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also called on rich and poor nations to make much more aggressive efforts to narrow differences that increasingly centered on three areas: the size of CO2 emissions cuts countries are willing to make, methods of verifying that the cuts are actually made, and the amount of money that industrialized nations are willing to contribute to a fund to help developing nations adapt to climate change and adopt renewable energy technologies. “This is a time where [negotiators] should exercise leadership,” Ban told the Associated Press. “And this is a time to stop pointing fingers, to start looking in the mirror and offering what they can do more, both the developed and developing countries.”Bill McKibben reports from the climate talks for e360.
Read the full report.
14 Dec 2009:
U.S. Gas Industry Not Using
Cleaner Drilling Practices, Report Says
The U.S. energy industry rarely uses numerous technologies designed to reduce the environmental risks — particularly contamination of water supplies — associated with drilling for natural gas in Wyoming, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and two dozen other states. ProPublica, a non-profit investigative journalism Web site, said energy companies have figured out how to drill wells with fewer toxic chemicals, enclose wastewater so it can't contamnate streams and groundwater, and sharply curb emissions from leaky gas valves. But because of loose regulatory oversight, these technologies are seldom used in the 32 states where natural gas is drilled, ProPublica said. 14 Dec 2009: Poorer Nations End Walkout After Protesting Plans to Scrap Kyoto
A large bloc of developing nations called a halt to a half-day walkout at the climate summit on Monday, ending a protest over moves by the world’s industrialized nations to abandon the Kyoto climate protocol. The talks were suspended because of the action by the G-77 group of developing nations, which accused the world’s wealthy countries of wanting to do away with the Kyoto treaty as the basis of a new agreement. But Danish officials persuaded the G-77 nations to return after assuring them that the conference would seriously consider their demands for an extension of the Kyoto treaty. The U.S., the U.K, and MORE FROM COPENHAGEN:
Bill McKibben reports from the climate talks for e360.
other wealthy nations have said that the Kyoto protocols should be scrapped because they do not require powerful developing nations, such as China, to agree to binding cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. But the developing nations fear that any new treaty will not include stringent emissions cuts for the world’s largest historical emitters, such as the U.S. “The killing of the Kyoto Protocol, I can say, will mean the killing of Africa,” said Mama Konate, a member of Mali’s delegation at the talks. “Before accepting that, we should all die first.” Ed Miliband, Britain’s energy and climate change secretary, said the conference’s Danish hosts want to leave open the question of whether Kyoto would provide the basic framework of a new agreement, and whether a final treaty — to be completed next year — would exempt developing nations from firm emissions targets.
Bill McKibben reports from the climate talks for e360.
Read the full report.
11 Dec 2009:
Draft Climate Treaty Released;
EU Pledge of Funds Angers Poorer Nations
Negotiators released a six-page draft of a climate treaty Friday that calls for limiting global temperature increases to 2.7 to 3.6 degrees F and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2050. The draft, distilled from a 180-page document, now becomes the focus of negotiations as leaders from 110 nations descend on Copenhagen next week in an effort to forge a treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The draft left many questions unanswered, as it called for reductions in greenhouse gases by mid-century ranging from 50 to 95 percent. It makes clear that wealthy nations must bear the main responsibility for slashing CO2 emissions in the next decade, stipulating that they set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas output by 25 to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Current pledges add up to about an 18 percent reduction. The draft text does not require developing countries, including China and India, to agree to specific emissions reductions targets, but states that they “may undertake autonomous mitigation actions” to limit the increase of their emissions. Negotiators had set a target of holding global temperature rises to 2 degrees C (3.6 F). But pressure from island nations — which face inundation as sea levels rise — and poor nations persuaded negotiators to set a maximum temperature target ranging from 1.5 degrees C (2.7 F) to 2 degrees C.
Read the full report.
10 Dec 2009:
Adoption of Efficiency Measures
Could Cut U.S. Energy Use 30 Percent By 2030
The adoption of stricter fuel economy standards, widespread improvements in energy use in office buildings and homes, and new efficiency standards for appliances could cut U.S. energy use by 30 percent below 2030 projections, according to a study by the National Research Council. The report said that deploying energy-efficiency technologies in buildings alone could eliminate the need to add new electricity generation capacity. Building owners could reduce electricity costs by 1.2 percent a year if they adopted cost-effective efficiency measures, the report said; buildings account for 41 percent of U.S. energy use. The report said that near-term efficiency gains in the transportation sector must come from improvements to the internal combustion engine, and that plug-in vehicles will offer a promising mid-term to long-term option. Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles may not enjoy widespread use until 2050, the report said. The report listed many potential barriers to energy efficiency initiatives, including high initial costs, a lack of incentives and information, and “Americans’ penchant for increasing vehicle size and performance.”10 Dec 2009:
Obama Calls for CO2 Cuts;
De Boer Sees Progress on Green-Tech Plan
Accepting his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, U.S. President Obama said that failing to address global warming could lead to growing conflict in the world as rising temperatures cause climate-related upheaval and an increase in natural disasters. “The world must come together to confront climate change,” Obama said in his Nobel acceptance speech, as the climate conference in nearby Copenhagen entered its fourth day. “There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, famine, and mass displacement that will fuel more conflict for decades.” At a subsequent press conference, Obama threw his support behind a plan under which industrialized nations would pay poorer nations not to cut down their tropical rainforests. Obama showed a good grasp of the details of the plan, known as REDD — Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. “I am very impressed with the model that has been built between Norway and Brazil that allows for effective monitoring and ensures that we are making progress in avoiding deforestation of the Amazon.” Obama said. “It’s probably the most cost-effective way for us to address the issue of climate change.” Developing a mechanism for REDD programs worldwide is one of the key goals of the Copenhagen climate summit.Read the full report.
09 Dec 2009:
Nine European Nations Plan
Offshore Wind “Supergrid” in North Sea
Nine European nations have agreed to develop a wind energy “supergrid” in the North Sea, a project leaders say will link at least nine nations currently developing offshore wind power to the continent’s electricity system. While the nations have yet to allocate any funds, they pledged to meet in early 2010 to 
Danish wind turbines
09 Dec 2009:
U.S. Vows Sharp CO2 Cuts,
But Will Not Pay Climate ‘Reparations’
Lisa Jackson, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, told delegates at the Copenhagen conference that the Obama administration will use its executive authority and will also push for climate legislation in an effort to place the nation on a path to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Jackson said her announcement that the EPA would begin regulating greenhouse gases as a threat to human health was not meant to supplant climate legislation now before Congress but to work in tandem with it. “This is not an either/or moment,” said Jackson. “This is a both/and moment.” Jackson is one of a handful of high-level U.S. officials and cabinet secretaries in Copenhagen taking part in climate negotiations. Another official, Todd Stern — President Obama’s special envoy for climate change — said that although the U.S. will contribute to a fund to help poor nations deal with climate change, the fund should not be viewed as a payment for the U.S. being the largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases. “We absolutely recognize our historic role in putting emissions in the atmosphere, but the sense of guilt or culpability or reparations, I just categorically reject that,” Stern told reporters. Read the full report.
08 Dec 2009:
Nanotechnology Used to Create
Batteries and Supercapacitors Out of Paper
Stanford researchers have used nanotechnology to produce lightweight batteries and supercapacitors out of paper, a breakthrough that they say could lead to storing energy for large-scale projects or for smaller electrical devices. The scientists coated sheets of paper with an ink made of carbon nanotubes and nanowires, which can be charged with energy. The nanomaterials cling to the paper’s fibrous surface, making the battery and supercapacitor durable, said Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, whose findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Society really needs a low-cost, high-performance energy storage device, such as batteries and simple supercapacitors,” Cui said. The supercapacitor, he said, may be able to withstand 40,000 charge-discharge cycles — an order of magnitude more than lithium batteries. Researchers say the paper batteries and supercapacitors could be used for numerous applications, from hybrid and electric car batteries requiring quick transfers of electricity, to large-scale electricity storage for renewable energy sources, such as wind farms and solar arrays.08 Dec 2009:
Leaked Text Causes Uproar;
EU Withdraws Offer on Emissions Reduction
Delegates from developing nations at the Copenhagen conference were reportedly incensed after reading a leaked document purporting to show that a group of wealthy nations intends to sideline the UN in future climate change negotiations and place CO2 emissions restrictions on poorer nations. The Guardian reported that the so-called “Danish text” — reputedly drafted by wealthy nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Denmark — would depart from the principles of the Kyoto Protocol requiring industrialized nations to commit to binding greenhouse gas emissions while poorer nations were not compelled to act. The draft text would hand control over financing climate change projects in the developing world to the World Bank and would make funds given to poorer nations for climate change adaptation contingent on those nations taking actions to reduce emissions. The Guardian reported that the draft text also would limit per capita carbon emissions in poor countries to 1.4 tons by 2050 while allowing citizens of rich countries to emit 2.7 tons. Meanwhile, the European Union said it was withdrawing an offer to reduce CO2 emissions 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 because other nations, including the U.S., had made inadequate emissions reduction offers in the past month. The EU is still standing by its 20 percent reduction commitment.Read the full report.
07 Dec 2009:
Copenhagen Summit Opens
as U.S. Unveils Controls on Carbon Dioxide
The UN Climate Change Conference opened in Copenhagen this morning, with conference President Connie Hedegaard of Denmark telling delegates from 192 nations that they must take action now or risk putting off for years a crucial agreement to curb global greenhouse gas emissions. “This is our chance,” said Hedegaard, Denmark’s former minister for climate end energy. “If we miss it, it could take years before we get a new and better one — if we ever do.” As the first day of the conference drew to a close, the Obama administration made a dramatic announcement in Washington, with the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) saying that her agency planned to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions because they posed a threat to human health. The announcement by EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson had been expected, but coming on the opening day of the Copenhagen conference it signaled to the world that the U.S. planned to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions even if Congress fails to pass climate legislation next year.Read the full report.
Interview: Taking on the Skeptics
Stirring Up the Warming Debate
The recent controversy over hacked e-mails in the climate science community has emboldened global warming skeptics who dismiss the notion that humanity is dangerously heating up the planet. But James Hoggan, owner of a Canadian PR firm and founder of the Desmogblog, is taking on the deniers, accusing them of cynically obfuscating an issue long ago settled by mainstream science. In his new book, Climate Cover-Up, Hoggan attacks the skeptics’ well-funded PR campaign, which he says is designed to 
Jim HogganRead the interview with Hoggan.
04 Dec 2009:
Management Plan Could End
Brazilian Deforestation by 2020, Study Says
Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has slowed dramatically in recent years as a result of stricter government enforcement of illegal activities and a slowdown in the cattle and soybean industries, researchers say. And with a sizable investment, Brazil could build on this trend and halt forest clearing by 2020, which would cut global carbon dioxide emissions by 2 to 5 percent, according to a study in Science. “Market forces and Brazil’s political will are converging in an unprecedented opportunity to end deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon with 80 percent of the forest still standing,” said Daniel Nepstad, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center and lead author of the study. Since 2005, Brazil has reduced the rate of deforestation by 64 percent. According to the study, an investment of $6.5 to $18 billion in several areas from 2010 to 2020 can help Brazil end deforestation. Key steps include supporting jobs in forest communities that do not result in forest clearing; rewarding responsible cattle ranchers and farmers; stricter environmental enforcement; and better management of protected areas.04 Dec 2009:
Byrd Decries “Fear” Tactics
to Protect Mountaintop Removal Mining
U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat and longtime supporter of coal mining, has delivered an unexpectedly strong message to the coal industry, chastising its leaders for ignoring the reality of climate change and rebuking what he called a strategy of “fear mongering, grandstanding and outrage” to protect the state’s mountaintop mining industry. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice in which 
Robert Byrd
Watch an e360 video on mountaintop mining
03 Dec 2009:
U.S. Infants Exposed
To BPA in the Womb, Study Says
Traces of bisphenol A (BPA), a potentially harmful chemical found in thousands of everyday plastics, was found in the umbilical cord blood of minority newborns, the first evidence that U.S. infants are exposed to the chemical in the womb, according to a new study. The chemical, which is known to disrupt development in animals, was found in 9 of 10 blood samples collected from infants of African American, Hispanic, and Asian descent in the study by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group. The blood tests also found more than 200 other synthetic chemicals in the newborns’ blood, including a toxic flame retardant chemical called tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA, or C4), a member of the Teflon chemical family used to make non-stick coatings for consumer products. The study of minority newborns builds on similar findings from a 2005 study of 10 babies, researchers said, indicating that chemical exposure among U.S. infants is ubiquitous.03 Dec 2009:
Renewable Energy Investments
Will Soar to $200 Billion Worldwide in 2010
Global investments in alternative energy projects will rise nearly 50 percent in 2010, climbing from $130 billion this year to $200 billion next year. In a survey of the green energy market, Bloomberg News reports that despite the dim prospects of forging a climate treaty in Copenhagen this month, companies and governments are moving rapidly ahead to build wind power farms, large solar arrays, and other green energy projects. Thanks in large part to state-funded economic stimulus programs, government spending on green energy will more than double in 2010 to about $60 billion, according to the report. Analysts said that with China, the European Union (EU), and individual U.S. states aggressively adopting regulations and incentives promoting green energy, the field will continue to rapidly develop even if a global climate treaty is not signed. “Country by country, state by state, regulations will continue to spur demand independent of what might happen in Copenhagen,” said one U.S. clean technology analyst. Major renewable energy projects are now underway across the globe, Bloomberg reported, including a $900 million offshore wind farm being built by CLP, Hong Kong’s biggest electricity supplier.02 Dec 2009:
Climate Scientist Steps Down
During Probe of E-Mail Controversy
A British scientist who emerged as a central figure in a climate research furor after his e-mails were pirated and posted online is stepping down as director of the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit while the university conducts an investigation. Global warming skeptics say a series of e-mails between Phil Jones and other climate researchers reveal evidence of a conspiracy to silence 
Phil Jones
02 Dec 2009:
Ocean Acidification Benefits
Some Marine Organisms, Study Says
While research has shown that ocean acidification threatens many invertebrate marine species, such as clams and corals, by hindering their ability to grow shells and exoskeletons, a new study suggests that some species may actually benefit from increased acidity. As the ocean absorbs growing amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and becomes more acidic, not all organisms respond in the same way because they use different forms of calcium carbonate for their shells, says Justin Ries, a marine scientist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and lead author of a study in the journal Geology. After exposing 18 marine organisms to four levels of ocean acidity — including 10 times 
A blue crab
02 Dec 2009:
Farmer Groups Protest
India’s First Genetically Modified Food Crop
Farmers’ organizations and environmental groups are fighting the approval of what would be India’s first genetically modified food crop, questioning the possible long-term effects on human health and ecology. The nation’s biotechnology regulator and the government’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee recently concluded that a genetically modified strain of eggplant called Bt brinjal is safe for human consumption, a decision that could clear the way for more GM crops in the populous nation grappling with food shortages. The strain is named for bacillus thuringiensis — a soil bacterium that creates a toxin that kills a type of moth known to destroy the fruit and stem of the brinjal eggplant. The genetically modified Bt brinjal is engineered to be resistant to the disease. Final approval rests with Jairam Ramesh, the nation’s environmental minister. Several groups are pushing for Ramesh to reject the GM crop, citing concerns about possible adverse health effects, including traces of toxicity found in animals injected with the bacterium. “We do not need GM foods in India — not now, not 20 years later,” said Puspha Bhargava, a senior biotechnologist and dissenting member on the approval committee. The genetically modified eggplant was developed by the American agrochemical giant Monsanto, which has already introduced genetically modified cotton to India.01 Dec 2009:
Corruption in Indonesia
Threatens Forest Conservation Plans
Corruption in the Indonesian government and forestry sector threatens to undermine plans to establish a carbon trading market aimed at protecting one of the planet’s largest remaining swaths of tropical forest, according to a new report. From 2003 to 2006, Indonesia lost nearly $2 billion annually in potential government revenues because of illegal logging, corruption, and government mismanagement, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. The report called into question whether Indonesia can emerge as a reliable partner in conservation schemes such as the United Nations’ REDD program, or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, under which poor nations are paid in exchange for preserving carbon-absorbing forests. Without stricter enforcement, the report said, investors will have no confidence that carbon credits would have any value and that carbon sinks would actually be preserved. “In the absence of safeguards, the carbon finance market will simply inject more money into an already corrupt system, shortcutting needed reforms and exacerbating the situation,” the report said. A 2007 World Bank report listed Indonesia as the planet’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, largely because of deforestation.01 Dec 2009:
Antarctic Climate Report
Sees Sharp Temperature and Sea Level Rise
Temperatures in Antarctica are expected to increase by 5.3 degrees F this century and the melting of much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could contribute to a global sea level rise of 4.5 feet by 2100, according to the most comprehensive study to date on the impact of global warming on the world’s coldest continent. The 400-page study, conducted by 100 scientists from eight countries, said that, paradoxically, the vast hole in the ozone layer over the continent has led to an increase in the westerly winds that spin around Antarctica, which has served to insulate most of the continent from warmer temperatures. The anticipated closing of the ozone hole in the next 50 years is expected to lead to a significant jump in temperatures across Antarctica. The report, prepared by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, said that the rapid warming of the Antarctic Peninsula has led to a decline in sea ice, a significant drop in krill populations dependent on the sea ice, an increase in rain, and the growth of plant communities on ground exposed by retreating glaciers. The report also said the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the largest ocean current on earth, has warmed faster than the global ocean and that as the water continues to warm alien marine species may migrate into the region.30 Nov 2009:
Irish University Introduces
World’s Largest Wave Energy Converter
An Irish university has launched the world’s largest hydro-electric wave energy converter off the coast of northern Scotland. The so-called Oyster is a mechanically-hinged flap that is embedded into the sea floor — at a depth of about 32 feet (10 meters) — and moves with the motions of the waves. That wave 
APL
The ‘Oyster’
30 Nov 2009: Danes Propose Emissions Goals
Denmark, host of the upcoming climate summit, is proposing that global greenhouse gas emissions be cut by 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, with emissions peaking by 2020, according to Reuters. A draft of the Danish proposal, now being circulated, said that to meet the 2050 target industrialized nations will have to slash emissions by 80 percent in the next 40 years. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he hopes that the 192 nations at the climate summit will approve a five- to eight-page “politically binding” agreement that spells out emissions reduction commitments for each nation. U.S. President Obama, who will speak at the conference, has said the U.S. will commit to reducing CO2 emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 percent by 2050. Developing countries have criticized that goal as too low, especially considering that the U.S. benchmark for reducing emissions is 2005 — rather than 1990 — levels. China has vowed to reduce its “carbon intensity” — emissions per unit of gross domestic product — by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. But even with such cuts, China’s overall emissions could still double by 2030 given the country’s dizzying economic growth.25 Nov 2009:
Agribusiness Executive
Attacks Organic Food Movement
Michael Mack, the chief executive of the Swiss agrobusiness conglomerate, Syngenta, says organic farming does far more harm to the planet than conventional farming because organic methods often require 30 percent more land. Given the need to feed rapidly rising populations this century, increasing productivity on existing agricultural land is crucial, which means that conventional methods using chemical fertilizers and pesticides are superior to organic farming, Mack told The New York Times. “Organic food is not only not better for the planet,” said Mack, whose company sold $12 billion in seeds and “crop protection” technologies last year, “it is categorically worse. If the whole planet were to suddenly switch to organic farming tomorrow, it would be an ecological disaster.” Mack defended pesticides as being “absolutely not harmful” to humans or the environment and said modern farming methods had greatly boosted yields. Organic farming, he said, is the “productive equivalent of driving an S.U.V.”25 Nov 2009:
Major Health Benefits Seen
From Reduction of Greenhouse Gases
Slashing carbon dioxide emissions has the added benefit of significantly reducing air pollution and could prevent millions of premature deaths each year, according to a series of studies in the British medical journal, The Lancet. The six studies demonstrate that cutting greenhouse gas emissions will significantly reduce air pollutants such as fine particulate matter — known as black carbon — and ground-level ozone. One study in India looked at the benefits of a proposed program that would replace 150 million heavily polluting wood or dung stoves with cleaner stoves that use renewable energy or natural gas. Replacing the dirty stoves by 2020 would not only prevent an estimated 2 million premature deaths but would also reduce greenhouse gas pollution by hundreds of millions of tons and cut down on black carbon deposits, which settle on glaciers in the Himalayas and hasten their melting, the study said. “These papers demonstrate there are clear improvements for health if we choose the right strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Linda Birnbaum, director of the U.S. National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, which helped fund the studies.24 Nov 2009: Decline of Siberian Tigers
A recent survey of Siberian tigers shows that populations of the majestic cat — numbering roughly 500 in the wild in 2005 — may have declined by as much as 40 percent because of increased poaching and habitat loss. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), working with the Russian
WWF
A Siberian tiger
24 Nov 2009:
Obama Administration to Offer
Emissions Reduction Targets at Talks
Obama administration officials say they will offer provisional CO2 emissions reductions goals at the upcoming Copenhagen climate conference, although the targets are likely to be far more modest than those proposed by the European Union and other industrialized nations. U.S. officials, not wanting to show up at Copenhagen empty-handed, said the administration will propose U.S. emissions cuts roughly in line with those being considered in legislation before Congress. Those reductions would be 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, 42 percent by 2020, and 83 percent by 2050. The EU has said it will cut emissions by 20 to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, with steeper reductions to follow. The Obama administration has been widely criticized for not committing itself to sharp reductions in greenhouse gases, but an administration official told reporters, “We don’t want to get out ahead or be at odds with what can be produced with legislation.” Obama is considering traveling to the Copenhagen conference to show the U.S. commitment to fighting climate change and to lay the groundwork for signing a climate treaty in 2010.23 Nov 2009:
Researchers Develop Machine
To Recycle Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel
U.S. researchers have demonstrated a technology that uses the sun’s heat to convert carbon dioxide and water into the building blocks of traditional fuels, a reverse combustion process that may emerge as a practical alternative to sequestration of CO2 emissions from power plants. The prototype “Sunshine to Petrol” system, developed by Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, uses concentrated solar energy to trigger a thermo-chemical reaction in an iron-rich composite located inside a two-sided cylindrical chamber. The iron oxide is designed to lose an oxygen molecule when exposed to 1,500 degree C heat, and then retrieve an oxygen molecule when it is cooled down, essentially converting an incoming supply of CO2 into an outgoing stream of carbon monoxide. Additionally, when researchers 
Sandia National Laboratories
23 Nov 2009:
Hacked Climate Change E-mails
Reveal Extent of Hostility Toward Skeptics
Scornful of the positions taken by so-called global warming skeptics, climate scientists discussed taking steps to prevent the skeptics’ work from being published in international reports and scientific journals, according to e-mails stolen from Britain’s Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. The Washington Post reports that the center’s director, Phil Jones, wrote in an e-mail that he was adamantly opposed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change publishing the work of scientists who questioned the link between human activities and global warming. In one e-mail, Jones vowed to “keep them out somehow — even if I have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!” In another, Jones and a respected U.S. climate scientist — Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University — discuss pressuring an academic journal not to accept the work of climate skeptics, suggesting that mainstream scientists stop submitting articles to the journal if it publishes the skeptics’ work. The hacked e-mails have set off widespread controversy in the climate science community, with global warming skeptics claiming the correspondence reveals a conspiracy among mainstream climate scientists to present a one-sided view of climate change.23 Nov 2009:
East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Appears to Be Melting Faster, Study Says
East Antarctica’s massive ice sheets, which scientists believed to be relatively unaffected by global warming, have been melting at an accelerating rate since 2002, according to a new study. Using a NASA satellite that can measure gravity and mass from space, researchers from the University of Texas estimated that East Antarctica lost an average of 57 billion metric tons of ice a year from 2002 to 2009, with the melt rate appearing to accelerate after 2006. The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, said most of the ice loss occurred in coastal regions such as Wilkes Land and Victoria Land. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been melting at a rapid rate for more than a decade because of rising air and ocean temperatures, losing roughly 100 billion metric tons of ice annually. Some scientists questioned the Texas findings, noting earlier estimates that the massive dome of ice in East Antarctica, more than two miles thick in places, was either losing little ice or gaining as much as 22 billion tons a year. If all of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt in coming centuries, global sea level could rise 16 feet. East Antarctica holds at least 10 times as much ice as West Antarctica, and large-scale melting in the east could trigger even greater sea level rise.20 Nov 2009:
Using Enzymes from Termites
To Make Biofuel from Plants and Wood Waste
A U.S. company has come up with a new way of producing biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks, such as agricultural waste: Using enzymes from the guts of termites to more efficiently produce ethanol. The startup company, ZeaChem, says using the enzymes from the wood-eating insects has achieved ethanol yields in the laboratory 35 percent higher than other producers of cellulosic ethanol, according to MIT Technology Review. ZeaChem uses acid to break the cellulose into sugars, but instead of fermenting the sugars into ethanol using yeast — as is customarily done — the company feeds the sugars to an acetogen bacteria found in termites. The bacteria turns the sugars into acetic acid, which produces ethanol when combined with hydrogen. “It’s not the obvious, direct route, but there is a high yield potential,” said an official from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado. ZeaChem’s CEO said the company has produced 135 gallons of ethanol per ton of cellulosic feedstock.
20 Nov 2009:
Emergency Rainforest Fund
Created by Prince Charles and 35 Nations
Britain’s Prince Charles has struck an agreement with 35 nations to contribute $22 billion to $36 billion to reduce the destruction of tropical forests by 25 percent by 2015. The Prince of Wales said the U.S. has agreed to contribute $275 million to the rainforest protection fund, which will pay countries such as Indonesia and Brazil to preserve forests rather than felling them for timber or agricultural use. Ed Miliband, the U.K.’s energy and climate change secretary, said a global mechanism for paying countries to protect tropical forests is on the agenda at next month’s Copenhagen climate summit and is “closer 
Prince Charles
19 Nov 2009:
Oceans’ Ability to Absorb CO2
May be Diminishing, New Study Says
A study of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the world’s oceans from 1765 to the present shows that as humanity pumps more CO2 into the atmosphere, the capacity of the world’s oceans to continue absorbing carbon appears to be decreasing. Researchers from Columbia University and NASA estimate that since 2000, the proportion of fossil-fuel emissions absorbed by the oceans may have declined by as much as 10 percent. In effect, researchers say that industrial activity has been producing so much C02 Nature, estimated that since 1950 that the oceans are slowly becoming saturated with the gas. “The more carbon dioxide you put in, the more acidic the ocean becomes, reducing its ability to hold CO2,” said lead researcher Samar Khatiwala, an oceanographer at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The study, published in the journal the oceans currently hold about 150 tons of industrial carbon — a third more than in the 1990s. The researchers used data on ocean chemistry, salinity, temperature, and other measures to calculate the amount of industrial carbon in the ocean for the past 245 years. The study showed that the land may now being absorbing more carbon than it is producing, perhaps because higher atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing the rate of photosynthesis.
19 Nov 2009:
Kenya Evicts Squatters
From Beleaguered Mau Forest
The Kenyan government has begun evicting an estimated 30,000 families that have squatted illegally in the vital Mau forest and caused major environmental damage to the one-million-acre woodland. The Mau forest, located in the Rift valley, is Kenya’s largest water catchment area, the source of at least a dozen rivers that feed Lake Victoria, the Masai Mara nature reserve, and the tea fields of Kericho. Over the last 20 years, however, squatters and officials in the government of ex-President Daniel Arap Moi moved into the Mau and have destroyed roughly a quarter of the forest by clearing the land for timber production and agriculture. The forest destruction has created large-scale soil erosion and caused aquifer levels to fall, exacerbating a recent drought that caused many rivers to run dry. Prime Minister Raila Odinga has made clearing the Mau of squatters and restoring the forest the nation’s top environmental priority. Already, officials report, 3,500 squatters have moved out of the forest after being served with eviction notices.18 Nov 2009:
Companies Increase Commitment
To Tackling Climate Issues, Report Says
Major corporations in the U.S. have shown an increased willingness to voluntarily reduce their impact on climate change despite a sluggish economy, according to a new scorecard produced by the nonprofit group Climate Counts. Eighty-one of the 90 major companies assessed saw an average increase of 22 percent from last year’s scorecard, with Nike topping the list with a score of 83 out of a possible 100 points. Scores are based on 22-criteria in four general areas: measurement of impact on global warming; reduction of impact; engagement in climate-related public policy; and transparency. In Climate Counts’ third corporate scorecard, several companies saw major improvements, including eBay, which completed a company-wide inventory of its effects on global warming; US Airways, which set goals to reduce climate impacts; and Apple, which resigned from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of the chamber's opposition to climate legislation. Companies with leading climate ratings include Starbucks, General Electric, HP, IBM, Unilever foods, UPS, and L'Oreal. The scorecard was developed with oversight from an independent panel of business and climate experts from universities and non-governmental groups. See the full list.18 Nov 2009:
Massive CO2 Increases
Documented in Comprehensive New Study
Emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels soared by 41 percent from 1990 to 2008 and have jumped 29 percent since 2000, according to one of the most comprehensive studies to date of global carbon emissions. The study’s lead author, Corinne Le Quere of the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey, said that unless these runaway emissions are soon brought under control, global temperatures would likely rise by 9 to 11 degrees F by 2100, an increase that most scientists say could lead to catastrophic changes, including rapid melting of polar ice sheets. Le Quere’s study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, said that humanity was pouring so much CO2 into the atmosphere that the ability of oceans, forests, and soils to absorb the gas was diminishing. These carbon sinks, which absorbed 60 percent of atmospheric CO2 in 1950, are now absorbing only 55 percent, the study said. The study reported that for the first time, more CO2 is being emitted by burning coal than burning oil, and that developing countries are now emitting more CO2
than developed countries. CO2 emissions increased at an average annual rate of 3.4 percent from 2000 to 2008 and, after a slight dip this year because of the global recession, are expected to rise rapidly again in 2010, the study said.17 Nov 2009:
Increase In GM Crops
Leads to Jump in Herbicide Use
The widespread use of genetically modified crops engineered to tolerate herbicides has led to a sharp increase of the chemicals in the U.S. and is creating herbicide-resistant “super weeds” and an increase in chemical residues in U.S. food, according to a new report. As more farmers have adopted variations of corn, soy beans, and cotton bred to tolerate weed killer in recent years, the use of herbicides has increased steadily, with herbicide use growing by 383 million pounds from 1996 to 2008, according to a report released by The Organic Center, the Union for Concerned Scientists, and the Center for Food 
17 Nov 2009:
U.S. and China Establish
Extensive Cooperation on Clean Energy
U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao have announced the creation of a joint program to develop clean energy, including the creation of a $150 million clean energy research center. Meeting in Beijing, the two presidents agreed to a seven-point plan designed to speed the development of renewable energy and improve energy efficiency. The agreement includes initiatives to establish a U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center; launch a joint program to develop electric vehicles that will include pilot projects in more than a dozen cities; collaborate on improving the energy efficiency of buildings, factories, and consumer appliances; establish a renewable energy partnership to promote alternative energy technologies, including programs to promote cooperation between states and regions in the two countries; conduct joint research into developing methods of capturing CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants and storing the carbon dioxide underground; and share U.S. expertise in extracting natural gas from underground shale deposits.
16 Nov 2009:
Dutch Cabinet Okays Tax
Based on Miles Driven by Motorists
In an effort to reduce automobile usage and greenhouse gas emissions, the Dutch cabinet has approved a driving tax that would charge motorists seven cents a mile. The plan, which must still be approved by parliament, would use GPS systems installed in each car to keep track of mileage and automatically bill drivers. The mileage charges would be higher at rush hour, for large cars, and for commercial vehicles. Dutch officials said the driving tax, which would replace existing road taxes and duties on new car purchases, is designed to cut traffic by 15 percent and reduce emissions from transport by 10 percent. Other European nations are considering similar driving taxes, and a driving tax experiment was recently tried in Oregon in the United States. The chances of a tax comparable to the Dutch tax being levied in the U.S. are slim, however, as that would more than triple the $260 a year that the average U.S. driver now pays in state and federal gasoline taxes.16 Nov 2009:
With Copenhagen Pact Stalled,
Leaders Look for Climate Treaty in 2010
With the announcement by President Obama and other world leaders this weekend that no binding climate agreement will be reached in Copenhagen next month, numerous officials expressed hopes that a treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions could be signed by mid- to late-2010. Meeting in Singapore, Obama and other leaders agreed that lack of accord on setting precise emissions reductions targets would prevent the signing of a binding climate treaty in Copenhagen. But in a process that Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen labeled as “one agreement, two steps,” climate negotiators are hopeful 
Lars Lokke Rasmussen
13 Nov 2009:
Clearing of Brazilian Amazon
Fell 45 Percent in Last Year, Officials Say
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 45 percent from August 2008 to July 2009, the largest annual reduction since Brazil started tracking rainforest destruction in 1988, government officials reported. Using satellite images from the National Institute for Space Research, Brazilian officials calculated that about 2,700 square miles of forest were removed during that span. About 5,000 square 
Mongabay.com
Land cleared for cattle ranching
13 Nov 2009:
U.S. May Endorse Scaled-Back
Agreement at Copenhagen, Report Says
The Obama administration, faced with the failure of Congress to pass climate legislation before global talks in Copenhagen next month, may endorse a more limited interim agreement and defer stronger U.S. commitments until next year, according to the Washington Post. While the scaled-back agreement would fall short of what European leaders wanted from the U.S., administration and congressional leaders say it will at least prevent the global talks from being seen as a failure. “An interim, operational deal is not meant to be seen as a substitute for a real agreement,” Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy on climate change, told the Post. “It’s meant to be seen as substantive building blocks to a full, legal agreement, and perhaps the best chance of getting such an agreement.” The interim pact, outlined last month by Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, would include “political commitments” from key nations on carbon emissions targets and agreements on how much money richer nations would be willing to spend to help developing nations adapt to the impacts of climate change.12 Nov 2009:
Colombian Farmers Sue Oil Firm
Over Long-Term Effects of Pipeline
A group of Colombian farmers has filed a lawsuit against the oil company BP, claiming that construction of a 450-mile pipeline in the mid-1990s has caused landslides, permanently damaging soil and crops and harming livestock. In the suit filed in a London court, 95 farmers claim that BP Exploration Company ignored evidence that the pipeline would damage the land, and never informed the property owners, many of them illiterate, of the risks. The pipeline, which delivers as much as 620,000 barrels of crude oil to an export terminal daily, crosses 192 rural villages. Farmers say that during construction, natural vegetation that protected their soil from the elements was removed, leading to significant erosion. Additionally, they say BP never paid them for the damage, which made their farms unsustainable. “The region has been profoundly and adversely affected causing many farms to close or drastically reduce production and causing some farmers to leave the land,” according to the suit. BP denies negligence, claiming the soil failed because the farmers removed forests for cattle grazing.12 Nov 2009:
Brown Pelican Removed
From U.S. Endangered Species List
The brown pelican, a bird once prized by hunters for its feathers and later imperiled by rampant pesticide use, has “fully recovered” and no longer requires federal protection, the U.S. Interior Department announced. Populations of the bird — a fixture in Florida, the Gulf Coast states and along 
Stock.xchng
A brown pelican
11 Nov 2009:
China's Yangtze Basin
Will See Weather Extremes, Report Says
Extreme weather events caused by a warming climate pose a growing threat to China’s Yangtze River basin, which encompasses Shanghai and some of the most productive agricultural land in the nation, according to a new study. The basin, which cuts through the center of China, has already seen a spike in floods, heat waves, and drought over the last two decades, according to the study conducted by the conservation group WWF. And over the next 50 years, the report predicts, temperatures will increase an average of 1.5 to 2 degrees C (2.7 to 4 degrees F). Of particular concern is the threat of rising waters as increasing glacier melt from the Himalayas flows into the basin, posing a greater threat of flooding to major cities and damage to corn, winter wheat, and rice crops. Sea level in Shanghai has risen by 4.6 inches in the last three decades, and will rise another 7 inches by 2050, according to the report. “If we take the right steps now, adaptation measures will pay for themselves,” said Xu Ming, lead author of the report.
11 Nov 2009:
High Levels of BPA
May Hamper Male Sexual Function
Exposure to high levels of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in thousands of everyday plastics, appears to cause sexual problems for males, according to a new study. In the study published in the journal Human Reproduction, researchers followed 634 male workers exposed to BPA at four Chinese factories. Over the course of five years, those men were four times as likely to have erectile dysfunction and seven times more likely to have difficulty with ejaculation, according to De-Kun Li, a scientist at the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute. Li said BPA, the primary component of hard and clear polycarbonate plastics — including water bottles, baby bottles, and the linings of canned foods — appears to adversely alter the hormonal balance in humans. While researchers have made similar conclusions based on studies of mice or rats, this is the first evidence of effects on humans. While men involved in the study were exposed to chemical levels 50 times higher than the average American man, Li said the findings reveal a need to research how lower exposures affect males. 10 Nov 2009:
Retreating Antarctic Ice Has
Created New Carbon Sink, Study Says
The melting of Antarctic ice has allowed large blooms of tiny marine phytoplankton to flourish, creating a significant new biological sink for carbon, according to a new study by the British Antarctic Survey. Over the last five decades, retreating glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula have opened about 24,000 square kilometers of open water that has been colonized by the carbon-absorbing phytoplankton, according to the study being published in the journal Global Change Biology. After the phytoplankton dies, it eventually sinks to the ocean floor where it can store carbon for thousands or millions of years. The researchers estimate this new carbon sink will absorb about 3.5 million tons of carbon from the ocean and atmosphere annually. “Although this is a small amount of carbon compared to global emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, it is nevertheless an important discovery,” said the study's lead author, Lloyd Peck. The authors called the new bloom the second largest factor acting against climate change so far discovered on Earth (the largest being new forest growth in the Arctic).10 Nov 2009:
UK Approves Construction
of 10 New Nuclear Power Stations
The British government has approved 10 new sites for nuclear power stations in England and Wales, calling nuclear power a “proven and reliable” energy source that will help the UK reduce its carbon emissions and become more energy-independent. Just a year after the government lifted a moratorium on new nuclear power generation, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called nuclear — along with renewables and clean coal — one of the “trinity” of future fuel options. “We need all of them in the long term because of the challenge of the low-carbon future is so significant,” he said. The government sees the new stations as an essential replacement for what is an aging nuclear infrastructure; some existing stations will have to be decommissioned as early as 2030, creating concerns that the nation could confront energy shortages. Government ministers hope some of the new stations, most of which would be built at the locations of existing plants, could be running as soon as 2018. A planning commission will make a final decision within a year. 09 Nov 2009:
Heat-Related Nitrogen Loss
Endangers Desert Plant Life, Study Finds
The loss of nitrogen from arid soils caused by a warming climate could make the world’s deserts even more inhospitable to plant life, according to a new study by researchers at Cornell University. Using highly sophisticated instrumentation that measures nitrogen in the parts per trillion — and using dark covers to remove sunlight as a factor in the measurements — researchers found that nitrogen loss in the arid soils of the Mojave Desert of the southwestern United States increased rapidly as temperatures reached 40 to 50 degrees C (100 to 120 degrees F). Noting that nitrogen is second only to water as a constraint on plant life in arid ecosystems, the researchers said a warming climate, as well as shifting precipitation patterns, could make soil arid ecosystems even more infertile. “We’re on a trajectory where plant life in arid ecosystems could cease to do well,” said Carmody McCalley, lead author of the study, which will be published in the journal Science. With deserts accounting for 35 to 40 percent of the planet’s surface, and future human developments likely to be targeted in arid and semi-arid regions, the researchers urged that climate models be altered to factor in these findings.09 Nov 2009:
Australia Invests in World's
First Utility-Scale Wave Power Project
A UK-based renewable energy company has received a $61 million grant from the Australian government to build the world’s first utility-scale wave power project. Ocean Power Technologies will begin construction of the 19-megawatt project in the waters off Victoria in 2010. The project will provide enough electricity to power 10,000 homes. Wave technology uses buoys riding up and down on waves to drive an electrical generator, and then sends the power ashore via underwater cable. The project is part of a larger $218 million government investment in renewable energy that officials say will help Australia meet its goal of generating 20 percent of its electricity demands with renewable sources by 2020. The other projects receiving government funds include two geothermal projects and a mini-grid that coordinates wind, solar, biodiesel and storage technologies.06 Nov 2009:
Philippines Targets Major
Investment in Geothermal Resources
The Philippine government plans to approve 19 new contracts to develop the nation’s massive geothermal energy resources in the next five months. A top energy official said financial incentives for the development of renewable energy projects could attract more than $2.5 billion in private dollars from domestic and international companies. “Incentives for renewable projects are giving geothermal development a much needed boost,” Alejandro Oanes, the Phllippine Energy Department's division chief for geothermal energy, said. The Philippines is already the world’s second-largest producer of geothermal energy. In fact, for more than three decades the nation has tapped into its remarkable geothermal resources, which are the result of volcanic pressures caused by the movement of the Philippine tectonic plate beneath the Eurasian plate. With about 2,000 megawatts of installed capacity, geothermal energy accounted for 17 percent of the nation’s total power output in 2008. The 19 new projects could add another 620 megawatts of power.05 Nov 2009:
Atlantic Fish Stocks Are
Moving North as Ocean Warms, NOAA Finds
About half of 36 fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic Ocean have shifted north over the last four decades as ocean temperatures have warmed, according to a new U.S. study. Comparing data for dozens of fish stock from 1968 to 2007 — and using ocean temperature records from the same period — researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that many species in the waters from Cape Hatteras, N.C., to the Canadian border have shifted northward or migrated farther offshore. Some species have nearly disappeared from U.S. waters altogether. “They all seem to be adapting to changing temperatures and finding places where their chances of survival as a population are greater,” said Janet Nye, a NOAA researcher and lead author of the study, which was published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. Researchers selected fish stocks that were consistently caught in greater numbers in NOAA's annual fish surveys and were considered important commercially or ecologically, including Atlantic cod and haddock, and yellowtail and winter flounder. 04 Nov 2009:
Seismic Fissure in Ethiopia
Evidence of Ocean in Making, Study Says
A 35-mile seismic crack that formed over a few days in 2005 in the Ethiopian desert
is evidence of a new ocean in the making, scientists report in a new study. The abrupt formation of the rift, which is 20 feet wide in places, is similar to the shifting that occurs on the ocean’s floor, according to the study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Using seismic data from the September, 2005 eruption of Dabbahu, a volcano located in Ethiopia’s remote Afar Region, scientists were able to reconstruct how,
Anthony Philpotts
The Dabbahu Fissure
Interview: IPCC’s Pachauri Still
Sees Hope for Copenhagen Talks
Despite growing pessimism that a global climate treaty will be signed in Copenhagen next month, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, believes a flurry of 
Rajendra PachauriRead the interview with Pachauri here
03 Nov 2009:
U.S. Comes Under Pressure
in Final Session Before Copenhagen Summit
With just a month remaining before the Copenhagen climate summit, delegates from 192 countries are meeting in Barcelona to attempt to lay the groundwork for a climate treaty, with some influential figures saying the U.S. must be prepared to make firm greenhouse gas reduction commitments if Copenhagen is to be a success. Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister for climate and energy, who is hosting the Copenhagen meeting, said the U.S. had risen to global challenges throughout the 20th century, adding, “I believe they have to deliver on this challenge.” The Obama administration has declined to commit to a firm greenhouse gas reduction target, saying it cannot make a commitment until Congress — which is now considering major climate legislation — passes a bill. That stance does not sit well with many in the European Union, which has committed to reducing emissions 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and 85 to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Yvo de Boer, the UN’s chief climate negotiator, said an enormous amount of work remained to be done before Copenhagen. “Do any of you believe it will be easier next year or the year after?” he asked the delegates. Read a full e360 report.03 Nov 2009:
Glacial Ice on Kilimanjaro
Melting at Increased Rate, Study Says
Glacial ice atop Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania continues to melt at an accelerated rate, shrinking 26 percent since 2000, and about 85 percent since 1912, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study’s lead author, Ohio State University glaciologist Lonnie G. Thompson, said melting of this level has not occurred on Kilimanjaro in 11,700 years. The study was based on aerial photographs and examination of long stakes of the ice core collected nine years ago.
Mount Kilimanjaro02 Nov 2009:
Prospects Dim for Passage
Of Climate Bill in U.S. Senate, Report Says
Passage of climate change legislation in the U.S. Senate appears increasingly unlikely in the face of divisions among Democrats and stiff opposition by Republicans, the Washington Post reports. Top Democrats have been unable to enlist key Republican lawmakers to support the bill, which would create a cap-and-trade system and gradually cut the level of carbon emissions allowed. One of the key Republicans targeted to back the bill, Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, has instead led the opposition, organizing a boycott of the bill’s markup at a hearing of the Environment and Public Works Committee last week. In recent days, Democrats have offered to include amendments to make the bill more palatable to lawmakers on the fence by accelerating the approval of new nuclear power plants. But even that may not be enough. A spokesman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, another lawmaker targeted by Democrats, said a “tepid nuclear title isn’t enough to get her to support a bad climate bill.” Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said a compromise remained possible since Americans are not divided on party lines when it comes to climate change. “Is there bipartisanship in the country? I think clearly there is,” Udall said.
02 Nov 2009:
New European Satellite
Will Monitor Fresh Water Globally
The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a 315 million Euro ($465 Million) satellite that will monitor soil moisture, plant growth, and the salt content of sea water, all of which will be useful in tracking environmental changes as the planet warms. The satellite, called SMOS — Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity — has the capacity to measure the water content of soil across the planet every three days to a depth of seven feet, enabling it not only to gauge surface water sources but also to monitor photosynthesis and plant growth. The data also will be valuable to scientists interested in forecasting drought and flood risk. The SMOS satellite also will measure the salt content of ocean waters, crucial information in not only tracking an increase in freshwater in oceans from melting glaciers and ice sheets, but also valuable in understanding global ocean circulation patterns, which are partially driven by water temperature and salinity. The satellite will collect the data using a variety of technologies, including microwave radiation.
30 Oct 2009:
Canadian Actions Preserve
20 Percent of Its Vast Boreal Forest
With the addition of a new forest reserve in Manitoba, Canada has now set aside 250 million acres of its vast boreal forest as parks or preserves, prohibiting logging, mining or oil drilling in these areas. The protected areas, more than twice the size of California, represent roughly one-fifth of Canada’s 1.3
Wikimedia
Boreal forest30 Oct 2009:
Thick, Multi-Year Arctic Ice
Has Effectively Disappeared, Scientist Says
One of Canada’s top Arctic experts, recently returned from an expedition in the far north, has told the Canadian parliament that the Arctic’s thick, multi-year sea ice has largely vanished, removing the last barrier to ships navigating the polar region. David Barber, Canada’s Research Chair in Arctic System Science at the University of Manitoba, said his expedition aboard an icebreaker was looking for a huge pack of thick ice that has existed for tens of thousands of years in the Beaufort Sea. But that multi-year ice, often dozens of feet thick, has largely been replaced by one-year-old “rotten” ice less than 20 inches thick, which is not an impediment to navigation. “We are almost out of multi-year ice in the northern hemisphere,” Barber told Parliament. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my 30 years of working in the high Arctic... From a practical perspective, we almost have a seasonally ice-free Arctic now.” Barber’s icebreaker did find a 10-mile-wide floe of multi-year ice that was 20 to 26 feet thick, but he said the expedition watched as those floes began breaking apart after being hit large waves. In 2007, the extent of Arctic sea ice, most of it thin, was 40 percent below the long-term average.29 Oct 2009:
Electronic Fisheries Monitoring
Proves A Success in Danish Experiment
By outfitting six Danish fishing boats with GPS systems, closed circuit television cameras, and sensors that can gauge the weight of catches, scientists in Denmark have discovered that they can accurately track which fish were caught, the size and location of the catch, and what species were thrown back in the sea as by-catch. In a year-long experiment that ended last month, Danish fisheries scientists said the new system gives “100 percent documentation of fishing activities.” The Danish system would be of little help in halting illegal fishing carried out by unregistered boats on the high seas. But Danish scientists said their electronic monitoring system could be extremely useful in tracking and regulating legal fisheries for such species as cod, sand eel, sprat, blue whiting, and Norway pout in territorial waters. A Danish fisheries manager said that “determination of where an when a fishing event takes place can be made with a high degree of accuracy.”
29 Oct 2009:
Solar Power Potential
Is Huge in Developing Countries
The developing world, where 44 percent of people lack access to electricity, could soon be one of the biggest markets for solar power, according to participants at the Solar Power International conference in California. To date, just 1 percent of solar panel production has been installed in poor nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, a situation that Michael Eckhart, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy, called “a scandal for our industry.” Eckhart and other experts said that in addition to finding financing to help low-income residents install solar panels, a major challenge is purchasing and replacing the batteries to store electricity at night and on cloudy days. Another significant hurdle is replacing the energy-wasting incandescent bulbs and old, inefficient appliances and computers often used by village households. One expert who has installed off-the-grid solar arrays in Africa and China said in regions where villagers use compact fluorescent bulbs and efficient appliances the cost of installing an adequate solar array and battery can be 75 percent cheaper.
28 Oct 2009:
Swiss Zinc-Air Batteries Store
Three Times the Energy of Lithium Ions
A Swiss company has introduced a rechargeable zinc-air battery that has three times the storage of lithium ion batteries and costs only half as much. ReVolt plans to commercialize a small version of the battery for use in hearing aids by next year, and then continue introducing larger versions, including batteries for cellphones and electric bicycles — and, perhaps eventually, electric cars. The technology is based on a battery designed by the Norwegian research institute SINTEF. While the typical battery contains the reactants needed to generate electricity, zinc-air batteries utilize oxygen from the atmosphere, which makes them less volatile and allows for a larger storage capacity. Company officials say the new battery overcomes one of the critical drawbacks of typical zinc-air batteries — they tend to stop working after a few charges. ReVolt has developed techniques to reduce the damage to the electrodes that convert oxygen into the hydroxyl ions that oxidize the zinc. The prototype lasts for more than 100 recharge cycles, according to James McDougal, ReVolt’s CEO. He hopes to increase that to 300 to 500 cycles before the technology is ready to be used in cellphones and electric bicycles.28 Oct 2009:
Surplus of Carbon Credits
Threatens EU Emissions Trading Plan
The European Union’s emissions trading scheme — which puts a price on carbon dioxide emissions with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas pollution — is threatened by a vast number of emissions credits earned by major industries and power plants in Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe. Peter Zapfel, deputy director of the environment department at the European Commission, said that because of the Eastern European economic collapse of the 1990s and loopholes in the EU emissions trading scheme that began in 2005, Russian and Eastern European enterprises have racked up 10 billion emissions credits because they released fewer greenhouse gases than originally allocated under the Kyoto Protocol. As these enterprises begin selling these credits on the EU carbon market, the price of emissions allowances could plummet, thereby defeating the goal of slashing CO2 emissions by establishing a high price on carbon pollution. Zapfel called the surplus credits the “gorilla sitting in the background and nobody dares to touch it.” The price of EU carbon allowances has fallen from a peak of 30 Euros ($44) in 2006 to roughly 10 Euros ($15) this year. The EU’s emissions trading scheme, which covers more than 10,000 major carbon emitting power plants and factories, is designed to cut CO2 emissions by 21 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.27 Oct 2009:
U.S. Awards $3.4 Billion
to Create a "Smart" Electric Grid
The Obama administration is awarding $3.4 billion in grants to modernize the national electric grid. One-hundred companies, utilities, manufacturers, and cities will receive the grants — ranging from $400,000 to $200 million — for projects that help build a “smart” grid that cuts energy costs, reduces blackouts, and has the capacity to deliver more wind and solar energy to American homes and businesses. Calling the nation’s grid system “dilapidated,” Carol Browner, the Obama administration’s top adviser on climate and energy issues, said federal funds would be used to expand the national grid and make it work more efficiently. Among the award recipients are Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, which will get $200 million to implement a “smart” meter network for its 1.1 million customers, enabling them to better manage energy use in their homes. The San Diego Gas and Electric Co. will get $28.1 million to install 1.4 million smart meters. The administration's announcement represents the biggest single-day award of funding from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.27 Oct 2009:
Ocean Acidification’s Effects
Documented in New Study of Shellfish
Relatively small increases in ocean acidity significantly harm clams, bay scallops, and oysters, particularly in their crucial larval stage, according to a new study. Researchers at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, exposed shellfish to levels of acidity expected in Earth’s oceans later this century and next century, and found that modest increases in acidity led to a 50 percent decline in survival of clam and scallop larvae, reduced the size of the larvae, and caused the larvae to develop more
26 Oct 2009:
U.S. Agency Commits $151 Million
to Innovative Energy Research Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy will pump $151 million into 37 innovative energy-related research projects through a new federal agency modeled after the Defense Department program that helped commercialize microchips and the Internet. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or Arpa-e, created in 2007 to support innovative and often-experimental projects, selected the first round of grant recipients from 3,600 proposals. While many of the ideas may never lead to practical breakthroughs, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said some could have a “transformative impact.” Among the first grant recipients are University of Minnesota researchers attempting to develop an organism that uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide to sugars and diesel fuel; a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team developing an all-liquid metal battery that could better manage the output from intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar; and a United Technologies effort to capture carbon emissions from power plant stacks using enzymes. The agency — which will target research projects by small business, universities, and corporations — will be led by Arun Majumdar, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
26 Oct 2009:
Key Wolves in Yellowstone
Killed Near Park by Hunters in Montana
Hunters have killed some of Yellowstone National Park’s best-known alpha wolves, animals vital to studies conducted in the park since wolves were reintroduced there in 1995. Among those killed was an alpha female, known as wolf 527, who was born into Yellowstone’s Druid Peak pack, featured in a PBS
PBS
23 Oct 2009:
Fewer Americans Believe
in Global Warming, New Poll Finds
Fewer Americans say they see evidence of a warming world than a year ago, and a declining percentage say they view global warming as a “very serious problem,” according to a new survey published by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The poll of 1,500 people, conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, found that only 57 percent think there is solid evidence that temperatures on Earth have increased in recent decades, compared with 71 percent in April, 2008. While 47 percent said last year that they believed temperature change is the result of human activities, only 36 percent said so this year. Yet despite the rising skepticism, 50 percent of the respondents support government limits on carbon emissions; 39 percent oppose such limits. Only 14 percent, however, say they know much about the proposed cap-and-trade mechanism that is favored by President Obama and is key to the climate legislation being debated in the Senate. While the rising skepticism is reflected across political party lines, it is most acute among independent voters. Only 53 percent of independent voters said they see solid evidence of global warming; about 75 percent said they saw that evidence last year.23 Oct 2009:
Protected Polar Bear Habitat
Proposed by U.S. Government in Alaska
The U.S. Interior Department is proposing that more than 200,000 square miles of land, sea, and ice in Alaska and nearby waters be given special protection to help preserve 3,500 polar bears threatened by the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice. The Interior Department has proposed designating the vast area as “critical habitat,” which means that any government agency or company must show that activities such as oil drilling and shipping will not affect the bears’ habitat or accelerate the extinction of the species. In 2008, the Interior Department declared that polar bears were threatened with extinction. Shell Oil this week was given permission to drill in the proposed protected area, and conservation groups have
22 Oct 2009:
Bark Beetle Infestation
Spreads in Monarch Butterfly Reserve
The world’s largest reserve for migrating Monarch butterflies, located in the Mexican highlands, is suffering from an infestation of bark beetles similar to outbreaks that have killed millions of acres of evergreens in the U.S. and Canada. In an effort to stem the spread of the infestation, Mexican officials 
stock.xchang
Monarch butterfly
22 Oct 2009:
Food Recycling Program
A Major Success in San Francisco
San Francisco’s new food recycling program — the first in the U.S. that requires all food waste from homes, apartments, businesses, and restaurants to be recycled and composted — has been enthusiastically embraced by city residents, officials say. Although the program was officially launched on Wednesday, city officials say residents have been recycling food for weeks and are already setting aside about half of the city’s 500 tons of daily food waste. The city requires residents and businesses to place food scraps in sealed buckets, and then collects the buckets and trucks them to San Francisco’s Organics Annex, where the food waste is composted. The compost is sold as fertilizer to area farms and vineyards. Seattle was the first U.S. city to require all households to recycle food waste, but San Francisco’s law covers businesses and apartments. Jared Blumenthal, the city’s environmental officer, said residents have strongly backed the food recycling plan because — overwhelmed by bad environmental news — this gives them something concrete to do. “This is not rocket science,” he said. “This is putting some food scraps into a different pile and turning them into compost.”21 Oct 2009:
Genetically Modified Crops
Needed to Avert Food Crisis, Panel Says
Further development of genetically modified (GM) crops will be needed to feed the estimated 9 billion people who will live on the planet by mid-century, according to a report from the U.K.’s Royal Society. The report said that rising populations, the impacts of climate change, and projected water shortages mean that new, drought-resistant and highly productive food plants must be developed to feed the world. The report said other economic and technological changes — such as improved irrigation and crop management — also will be necessary. The Royal Society scientists concluded that the development of new crops is an urgent priority if global agriculture and land-use problems are to be solved. The scientists’ conclusions drew fire from opponents of GM crops, who contend that the technique is unsustainable and could cause major environmental harm.21 Oct 2009:
Space Agencies and Google
To Monitor Deforestation From Satellites
Space agencies from Europe, the U.S., and several other nations are joining forces with Google Earth and a conservation organization to annually monitor deforestation rates around the globe using satellite imagery. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO), a global partnership of 80 governments and more than 50 organizations, is launching pilot projects in Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Guyana, Indonesia, Mexico, and Tanzania to inventory forests and track rates of deforestation. Such annual monitoring — which until recently has been carried out every five years — will be instrumental in helping support programs in which governments, conservation groups, and investors pay to preserve tropical forests, GEO officials said. An international mechanism for preserving forests using carbon credits is expected to be approved at the Copenhagen climate conference in December. “The only way to measure forests efficiently is from space,” said Jose Achache, director of GEO. “Investors will want some sort of guarantee that... forests will remain there and remain in good condition.” Google Earth, which already is involved in using satellite technology to monitor deforestation, will participate in the GEO effort, Achache said.
Interview: Researching the Potential
and the Pitfalls of Geoengineering
Many scientists have shied away from the subject of geoengineering — the large-scale, deliberate manipulation of the Earth’s climate system — because they feel it is a wrongheaded and dangerous path to pursue. But climate scientist Ken Caldeira has not been so dismissive, in part because his climate 
Ken CaldeiraRead the interview
20 Oct 2009:
Copenhagen Talks Will Yield
Framework But No Treaty, UN Official Says
The U.N.'s top climate official predicts that the Copenhagen talks in December may yield a political framework for future greenhouse gas reductions, but will not produce an international treaty to replace the Kyoto protocol. In an interview with the Financial Times, Yvo de Boer, the head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said there does not appear to be enough time to work out the details of a binding treaty that could be signed in Copenhagen. Rather, he said the conference needs to deliver an “overarching decision” that sets individual targets for industrialized countries, and determines what level of emissions reductions major developing countries are willing to make by 2020. Global leaders should also be ready to set a deadline for a treaty that works out those details. “If you look at the limited amount of time that remains to Copenhagen, we have to focus on what can realistically be done and how that can realistically be framed,” de Boer said. He also urged President Obama to attend the conference in Copenhagen, saying “we need a push at the highest possible political level” to reach a successful accord.20 Oct 2009:
Fossil Fuel Burning in U.S.
Estimated to Cause 20,000 Early Deaths
A National Academy of Sciences report on the hidden costs of burning fossil fuels estimates that 20,000 people die prematurely each year in the U.S. because of pollution associated with burning coal and oil. The report, commissioned by Congress and entitled “Hidden Costs of Energy,” also said that electric cars that run on energy produced by coal-fired power plants are no cleaner than gasoline-burning cars and may cause even more environmental damage when factoring in the cost of producing the batteries in electric vehicles. The report also estimated that the environmental cost of biofuels made from corn is
19 Oct 2009:
China Relocates 15,000 People
After Lead Poisoning, But Plants Stay Open
Chinese officials will move more than 15,000 people away from a lead smelting area in Henan province where more than 1,000 children tested positive for lead poisoning, but will allow the factories to continue operating. Several smelters and lead plants in Jiyuan — including China’s largest — were closed temporarily this summer when protests erupted after children living near similar Chinese smelters tested positive for cadmium and lead. The residents of 10 villages located near lead plants, including one owned by Yuguang Gold and Lead, will now be moved at a cost of 1 billion yuan, or about $150 million, according to Jiyuan's mayor. Once they are moved, the plant owner will rent their properties and plant trees to serve as a barrier to other villages. The local government just wants “to protect the plant, which pays a great deal of tax every year,” said Huang Zhengmin, whose 5-year-old grandson’s blood tests showed extremely high lead levels. “They don't care about the life and death of us ordinary people.” Lin Jingxing, of the Chinese Academy of Geological Science, said major studies of soil, water and wind patterns must be conducted before anyone can be sure just how far away from the plants would be safe. The lead industry has boomed across China after pollution concerns caused a collapse elsewhere in the world.19 Oct 2009:
Buses Using Ultracapacitors
Will Be Put To The Test in Washington
A U.S. company and its Chinese partner will test electric buses using ultracapacitors that would be chargeable at stops every few miles. The latest ultracapacitors store only 5 percent of the energy that
Sinautec Automobile Technologies
Recharging station
16 Oct 2009:
MIT Team Develops Roof Tile
That Changes Color as Temperatures Shift
A group of recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates has developed a roof tile that remains white in summer to reflect the sun’s energy then turns black in winter to absorb the sun’s rays and heat buildings. The so-called “thermeleon” (rhymes with chameleon) technology uses a common 
MIT News
Color-changing tile
16 Oct 2009:
Kew Gardens Seed Bank
Has Collected 10 Percent of Plant Species
A repository created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has collected nearly 10 percent of the seeds from the world’s estimated 300,000 seed-bearing plants, completing the first phase of an ambitious plan to preserve the seeds of all the species threatened by human development and climate change. The 
The Guardian
Musa itinerans
15 Oct 2009:
Major Arctic Ice Survey
Finds Significant Drop in Ice Thickness
A pioneering expedition to the North Pole, during which a team trekking across the Arctic Ocean drilled 1,500 holes in the ice, has found that most of the ocean is covered by thinner, first-year ice, leading scientists to forecast that the ocean will be largely ice-free in summer within a decade or two. The Catlin Arctic Survey, carried out last spring as the expedition trekked for 73 days across 280 miles of the northern Beaufort Sea to the North Pole, determined that the average thickness of ice in the area was
Catlin Arctic Survey
15 Oct 2009:
Update of IPCC Report
Says Pace of Warming Is Rapidly Increasing
A review of 400 major climate studies published since the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that the world is warming more rapidly than the panel’s mainstream projections and concludes that the rapid buildup of greenhouse gases “has most likely committed the world to a warming of 1.4 to 4.3 degrees C” — 2.5 to 7.7 degrees F — by 2100. The updated report, compiled by the United Nations Environmental Program, said events that the IPCC forecast would occur long-term are already occurring or on the verge of occurring. These include rapid acidification of the oceans, faster-than-expected melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, rising sea levels, shifting ocean and atmospheric currents, and warming polar land masses. “This compendium reminds us that the risks we face may be much greater than what’s generally represented in IPCC assessments,” said Ken Caldeira of Stanford University, one of roughly 60 scientific reviewers of the report. The report said that burgeoning economies in China, India, and other developing countries, coupled with a lack of emissions cutbacks in the industrialized world, have caused greenhouse gas emissions to grow more rapidly than the most extreme scenario presented by the IPCC.14 Oct 2009:
Salt Marshes and Mangroves
Cited as Vital in Combating Climate Change
Salt marshes, sea grasses, mangroves, and other forms of marine vegetation withdraw and store an enormous amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and should be preserved and restored by creating a new global fund, according to a U.N. report. The study, calling for the creation of a “Blue Carbon” initiative, said that although such marine vegetation covers less than 1 percent of the world’s seabed, these plants are estimated to store 1.6 billion tons of CO2 every year — more than half of all carbon buried in the ocean floor. The U.N. report said that these vital marine habitats are being destroyed at a rapid rate, with parts of Asia losing up to 90 percent of their mangrove forests since 1940 and an estimated 2 to 7 percent of salt marshes, sea grasses, and mangroves lost annually to human development. But the report said that such ecosystems can be restored, and that the restoration of large areas of marine vegetation, coupled with efforts to preserve tropical forests, could reduce global carbon emissions by 25 percent.
14 Oct 2009:
Non-Native Snakes in U.S.
Threaten Ecosystems and Other Species
Five giant invasive snake species threaten the health of native ecosystems in Florida and parts of the southern U.S. because the reptiles could decimate indigenous species of animals and birds, according to
USGS
Burmese python
13 Oct 2009:
First Passenger Flight Flown
Using Kerosene Made from Natural Gas
A Qatar Airways flight from London to Qatar has become the first passenger plane to be powered by cleaner-burning natural gas that was converted to kerosene. “Today’s flight opens the door to an alternative to oil-based aviation fuel,” said Malcom Brinded, international executive director of Royal Dutch Shell, which is partnering with Qatar Petroleum to produce so-called gas-to-liquid (GTL) kerosene from Qatar’s abundant natural gas reserves. During the five-hour flight, the Qatar Airways Airbus A340-800 jet was powered by a 50-50 blend of GTL kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene jet fuel. An Airbus spokesman called the flight “a major breakthrough which brings us closer to a world where fuels made from feedstocks such as wood-chip waste and other biomass is available for commercial aviation.” The spokesman predicted that by 2030, 30 percent of jet fuel would be derived from GTL or biofuels. Shell and Qatar Petroleum are building a plant in Qatar capable of producing one million tons of GTL kerosene annually.13 Oct 2009:
U.S. Officials More Upbeat
On Climate Progress Before Copenhagen
The U.S. Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, and a leading senator predicted that Congress will make good progress on climate legislation — and may even pass a bill — before a meeting in Copenhagen in December to forge an international treaty to slow global warming. The remarks by Chu and Sen. Barbara Boxer of California were markedly more optimistic than those of President Obama’s chief climate and energy adviser, Carol Browner, who said 10 days ago that a U.S. climate bill would not be passed before Copenhagen. Speaking to reporters in London, Chu said, “Whether there will be a bill on the president’s desk and he’ll sign it, I’m hopeful it will be... It will be tight, but there’s a good shot.” Boxer, one of two co-authors of a carbon cap-and-trade bill in the Senate, said the legislation would be passed by her committee soon, adding, “Certainly before Copenhagen, and we’re hoping maybe to even have it on the floor (of the Senate).”
12 Oct 2009:
Fight Over Wind Turbines
Splits French Environmentalists
A battle over whether to place wind turbines within sight of France’s famous abbey, Mont-Saint-Michel, has touched off a dispute within the country’s environmental community over the visual impact of the alternative energy source. A coalition of local and national conservationists has opposed locating the wind turbines within view of the abbey on the Normandy coast, even though the windmills would be roughly 10 miles from Mont-Saint-Michel. The groups say that the three, 300-foot windmills would be the beginning of an arc of 80 wind turbines rising along a ridgeline in the surrounding countryside, some of which could be seen from the abbey. The Washington Post reports that one Paris-based group, the Durable Environmental Federation, is opposing on aesthetic grounds a proposal by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to expand the number of wind turbines in the country from 2,500 to 8,500 by 2020. Some local environmentalists and many local farmers, on whose property the wind turbines would be located, back the construction of wind turbines. More than 90 percent of France’s electricity comes from nuclear and hydroelectric power, and Sarkozy wants wind and solar to replace coal and oil as the source of the remaining 10 percent.
12 Oct 2009:
U.S. Scientists Back Reduction
In Drilling Plans Off Coasts and in Arctic
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have recommended dramatically scaling back oil drilling plans off U.S. coasts and have proposed a ban on oil and gas exploration in the Arctic until oil companies significantly improve their ability to prevent and clean up oil spills. The non-binding recommendations to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar represent a stark reversal from the pro-drilling policies of the Bush administration; the new administrator of NOAA, Jane Lubchenco, is an oceanographer who has vowed to restore science to federal environmental policy. The NOAA scientists recommended excluding large tracts of coastline off California, the Atlantic seaboard, the Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska from a proposed 2010 to 2015 drilling plan that had been pushed by the Bush administration. The scientists said the previous plan understated the risks that oil exploitation posed to marine life and coastlines. In recommending the temporary Arctic drilling ban, the scientists expressed concern about the impact of potential oil spills on commercial and subsistence fisheries in the North Aleutian Basin and Chukchi Sea.
Interview: Sylvia Earle Discusses
Restoring the Oceans to Health
Oceanographer Sylvia Earle has spent nearly half a century exploring the world’s oceans and breaking numerous barriers in deep-sea exploration, including holding the record walking untethered on the sea floor at a lower depth — 1,250 feet — than anyone ever has. In her new book, The World is Blue, Earle describes the two-pronged assault on the seas — humanity’s extraction of vast amounts of marine life, while at the same time pouring into the oceans huge quantities of pollutants and carbon dioxide — and also discusses ways to bring the oceans back from the brink. Chief 
Sylvia Earle
Click here to read the full interview
09 Oct 2009:
Climate Change More Expensive
to Farmers than Climate Bill, Report Says
While the U.S. farm lobby tries to derail climate legislation it says would add crippling costs to production, the effects of climate change itself — including crop damage from increased flooding, higher temperatures, and drought — pose the real threat to the industry, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group. Proposed congressional legislation that would place a price and a cap on carbon emissions would increase production costs less than one half of one percent — increases the report says "are so small they would be lost in the background noise caused by annual swings in farm income." The far greater threat is the increase in costs associated with rising temperatures and changing weather patterns, the analysis says, citing a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that predicts a 30 to 63 percent decrease in corn and soybean crop yields by the end of the century because of climate change. The Environmental Working Group urges the Senate to enact legislation that provides incentives for farmers to cut their own carbon emissions and allocates funding for local cooperatives that reduce carbon emissions and assist farmers in protecting their land against the threats of climate change. Read the report.09 Oct 2009:
Current CO2 Levels
May Be Highest in 15 Million Years
A new study suggests that concentrations of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere are higher now than they have been in 15 million years. Reporting in the journal Science, U.S. researchers said that by studying the shells of ancient marine algae, they were able to determine that the last time CO2 levels were this high occurred 15 to 20 million years ago when the earth was 5 to 10 degrees hotter, sea levels were 75 to 120 feet higher, and there was no permanent ice cap in the Arctic. Until now, the best available climate record — obtained by examining ice bubbles in Antarctic ice cores — showed that concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are higher today than at any time in the past 800,000 years. If the research by Arhadhna Tripati of the University of California at Los Angeles proves correct, that would mean that science has been able to extend the climate record much farther into the past. Tripati and her colleagues determined CO2 levels in the algae shells by studying the ratio of the chemical element boron to calcium, and Tripati reported that her findings matched the overall CO2 trends seen in Antarctic ice cores. She called her findings “slightly shocking” and said that if CO2 levels, now at 387 parts per million, keep going up, the earth could be in store for the high temperatures and major sea level rises of the Middle Miocene period 15 million years ago.
Solar Shingles Unveiled
Dow Chemical has developed a roof shingle that contains thin-film solar power cells and can be integrated into asphalt roofs, which are used in 90 percent of American homes. Dow executives said the solar shingles can be handled like a regular asphalt shingle and can be nailed right onto a roof and
Dow Chemical
Solar shingles
08 Oct 2009:
Former Industrial Sites
Ideal for Renewable Energy Projects
The U.S. government has identified 4,100 contaminated industrial sites, covering more than 5 million acres, suitable for building wind, solar, and geothermal power installations. With concern about 
First Wind
First Wind site in Lackawanna, N.Y.
07 Oct 2009:
From ‘Albatross Cam’
New Insights into Foraging Behavior
By attaching small digital cameras to the backs of several albatrosses in the sub-Antarctic, Japanese and British scientists have discovered that the great seabirds sometimes feed in conjunction with pods of killer whales, apparently picking up scraps left by the predatory mammals. The researchers affixed the cameras to four black-browed albatrosses captured on Bird Island in South Georgia in January, then retrieved three of the four cameras when the seabirds returned to their breeding colonies. The scientists collected nearly 29,000 digital images, some of which showed albatrosses flying behind killer whales and landing in the sea near the orcas. Reporting in the journal PLoS ONE, the scientists said that the albatrosses appeared to be feeding on scraps of Patagonian toothfish or other prey devoured by the killer whales. Such interactions between albatrosses and killer whales have rarely been observed, and the researchers said that one way albatrosses may locate prey in a vast, featureless sea is by spotting orcas and feeding in their vicinity. The cameras, each weighing 82 grams, captured other images of fellow albatrosses in flight, as well as icebergs adrift in the Southern Ocean.
07 Oct 2009:
U.S. Colleges Going Green
Despite Falling Endowments, Study Says
A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities supported green initiatives during the last year despite declining endowments, according to a report released by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Twenty-six of 332 schools evaluated in the College Sustainability Report Card received the highest-possible grade of A-minus through sustainable management of campus operations and endowment practices. Now in its fourth year, the College Sustainability Report Card evaluates schools in nine categories, including climate change and energy, food and recycling, and green building. Among the schools called sustainability leaders are the University of Pennsylvania, which purchases 45 percent of its electricity from wind power; the University of New Hampshire, which buys produce from an on-campus organic garden; Oberlin College, which powers one building entirely by solar energy; Arizona State University, which operates 137 electric and 170 biofuel-powered vehicles; the University of Colorado, which retrofitted more than 75 buildings for energy efficiency; and Yale University, which has installed 10 micro-wind turbines on campus. See the full report here.06 Oct 2009:
Worldwide Recession Yields
Rare Drop in Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Global emissions of carbon dioxide will drop 3 percent in 2009, including a 5.9 percent decrease in the United States, as a result of the economic recession, according to energy forecasts. A decrease in industrial activity accounts for three-quarters of the global emissions decline, the International Energy Agency reported at U.N. climate talks in Bangkok. The rest of the decline is the result of nations switching to renewable energy sources and nuclear power. In the U.S., coal demand will likely drop 9 percent this year as electricity demand slips and more states switch to natural gas in the face of stiffer government oversight of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Economic recovery would likely reverse the trend, and the agency predicts a 1.1 percent increase in CO2 emissions in 2010. Fatih Birol, chief economist for the International Energy Agency, said the rare drop in greenhouse gas emissions gives global leaders a chance to shift to cleaner energy generation. “Because of the financial crisis, many industries have the chance to move away from unsustainable power,” he said. 06 Oct 2009:
Arctic Sea Ice Extent
At Third-Lowest Level Since 1979
The extent of ice covering the Arctic Ocean reached its third-lowest level this summer since satellite observations began in 1979, rebounding from record lows in 2007 and 2008, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Arctic sea ice, measured at its low point in September, covered an area of two million square miles last month — 649,000 square miles below the September average from 1979 to 2000. This year’s summer sea ice extent was nevertheless 409,000 square miles greater than the record low ice extent set in 2007. Ice extent grew this year, scientists say, because cloudy skies in late summer kept sea surface temperatures lower and because atmospheric patterns in August and September helped to spread out the ice pack. Despite the rebound in extent, ice thickness continues to decline, with only 19 percent of the ice cover more than two years old — far below the 1981 to 2000 average of 52 percent. Arctic sea ice is still declining at a rate of 11 percent per decade. “It’s nice to see a little recovery over the past couple years, but there’s no reason to think that we’re headed back to conditions seen back in the 1970s,” said NSIDC director and senior scientist Mark Serreze. “We still expect to see ice-free summers sometime in the next few decades.”
05 Oct 2009:
Yale Environment 360 Honored
In International Online Journalism Awards
The Online News Association has honored Yale Environment 360 with its best “specialty site journalism” award at its annual Online Journalism Awards ceremony, citing content that is “taking debate to a higher level and is so needed in the journalism community now.” In recognizing Yale Environment 360 as the best small website in a specialized category, the judges praised its mix of reporting, commentary, and discussion, as well as the quality of its writing, the attractiveness of its design, and the level of debate on its interactive reader forum. “Such a well-done site,” the judges wrote. “When you read the comments, you know the incredibly knowledgeable audience is totally engaged with the site. It’s a nice place to be and learn.” Other publications honored by the Online News Association for online excellence included the New York Times, BBC News, ProPublica, and NPR.org. The winners were announced at an awards ceremony in San Francisco.
05 Oct 2009:
European Union Recommends
$73 Billion in Non-Carbon Energy Research
The European Union will unveil a proposal this week calling for $73 billion (50 billion euros) in research over the next decade into improving wind, solar, and nuclear power technologies, as well as the development of carbon capture and sequestration projects and energy-efficient “Smart Cities.” The report, prepared by the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, says the surge in investment is necessary if Europe hopes to meet its goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The plan, which calls for coordinated research on a continental level, proposes $23.4 billion in solar power research, $8.8 billion in wind power research, $10.2 billion in nuclear power research, $13 billion for developing energy from biomass and waste, and $19 billion in carbon sequestration technology. EU officials said the proposed research program will enable Europe to remain competitive with the U.S., China, and Japan in the race to develop alternative sources of energy.05 Oct 2009:
China And Developing Nations
React Angrily to U.S. Inaction on Climate
Three days after a top Obama administration official said the U.S. will not enact a carbon cap-and-trade bill this year, China and a group of developing nations accused America and other developing countries of trying to “sabotage” upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen. Yu Qingtai, China’s special representative on climate negotiations, said the U.S. wants to scrap the existing Kyoto Protocols and replace them not with another climate treaty, but with non-binding agreements in which individual countries set their own greenhouse gas reduction targets. “The reason we are not making progress is the lack of political will by Annex 1 [industrialized] countries,” said Yu. “There is a concerted effort to fundamentally sabotage the Kyoto protocol.” Yu made his comments at preliminary climate talks now being held in Bangkok. His remarks were echoed by the Sudanese chair of the G77, the U.N.’s largest organization of developing states, who accused wealthy countries of “a total rejection of their historical responsibilities” to take the lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Their remarks come after Carol Browner, President Obama’s top climate and energy official, bluntly said at a conference that congressional passage of a climate bill before Copenhagen is “not going to happen.”02 Oct 2009:
Loss of World’s Large Predators
Causing Alarming Rise in ‘Mesopredators’
The decline of the world’s large, or “apex,” predators is leading to an increase in smaller, so-called “mesopredators,” causing significant ecological and economic damage, according to a new study. The populations of primary predators such as wolves, lions, and sharks have sharply declined because of hunting, fishing, and habitat disruption, researchers from Oregon State University say in a report published in the journal Bioscience. And in numerous cases worldwide, the next species in line — including birds, sea turtles, lizards, rodents, and insects — have flourished, often with unintended
stock.xchng
02 Oct 2009:
India’s Environment Minister
Calls U.S. Climate Bill Too Weak
Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister, criticized the climate change legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate this week, saying it would provide for only a “measly” reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Ramesh said the Senate bill, which calls for a 20 percent cut in emissions by 2020, fell short 
Jairam Ramesh
01 Oct 2009:
Drought in India
is Worst Since 1972, Government Says
With India’s four-month monsoon season now officially over, the nation’s meteorological department has announced that the country is experiencing the worst drought in 37 years, with rains 23 percent
UNEP
01 Oct 2009:
EPA Introduces New Rules
to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Obama administration has announced it will use its regulatory powers to limit CO2 emissions from 14,000 major sources, a move that puts pressure on Congress to pass a climate bill and signals to other nations the U.S.’s willingness to slow global warming. Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said her agency would begin regulating CO2 as a pollutant at coal-burning power plants, refineries, and big industrial complexes, which account for 70 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA will initially use its authority to force these emitters to employ “best available technology” to implement energy-efficiency measures and reduce emissions, but eventually the agency could place emissions caps on these facilities. “We are not going to continue with business as usual,” Jackson said. “We have the tools and the technology to move forward today, and we are using them.” Her announcement came on the day that two key U.S. Senators unveiled a carbon cap-and-trade bill, a version of which has already passed the House of Representatives. Some emitters said they would challenge the EPA, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the agency had the right
to regulate CO2 emissions under the Clean Air Act.
30 Sep 2009:
EPA Will Draft New Law
To Regulate Toxic Chemicals in Products
Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is proposing a major change in the way the federal government regulates tens of thousands of chemicals in consumer products, one that would place more of a responsibility on industry to prove that the compounds are safe. Jackson is proposing an overhaul of a 1976 toxics law that she called “inordinately cumbersome and time-consuming” and said that her agency will immediately begin analyzing and regulating six widely-used chemicals found in countless consumer products. Among the six are bisphenol A, used in plastic bottles; phthalates, found in vinyl and cosmetics; and perfluorinated compounds used in making non-stick coatings and food packaging. Many scientists say these chemicals can mimic hormones and hurt development of fetuses and children, as well as possibly causing reproductive problems and cancer. “As more and more chemicals are found in our bodies and the environment, the public is understandably anxious and confused,” said Jackson. “Many are turning to government for assurance that chemicals have been assessed using the best available science.”30 Sep 2009:
Draft of Cap-and-Trade Bill
To Be Released by Key U.S. Senators
Two U.S. senators will release on Wednesday a draft climate bill that calls for slightly higher greenhouse gas cuts by 2020 than an earlier version approved by the House of Representatives, but that also includes provisions designed to ease the financial burden of cap-and-trade legislation on business and industry. The bill unveiled by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) calls for a 20 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2020, as opposed to a 17 percent cut in the House version. Both versions set a target of reducing emissions by 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050, a goal they plan to achieve by placing a price and a steadily decreasing cap on carbon emissions. The Boxer-Kerry bill reinstates a provision — eliminated in the House version — that gives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. But the Senate bill contains elements that will soften the financial impact of cap-and-trade legislation, including provisions that would initially limit the price of carbon emissions permits and would enable industry to avoid some emissions cuts by purchasing offsets in projects — such as forest preservation — that lower overall CO2 emissions.
29 Sep 2009:
Prolonged Drought and Salinity
Threaten Water Supplies in Australian City
Portions of Australia’s largest river are running so low and have become so salty because of a crippling drought and increased consumption that the nation’s fifth-largest city may soon have to deliver bottled water to its residents. Government officials warn that some stretches of the Murray River could be
The Murray River
29 Sep 2009:
Stockholm’s Congestion Pricing
Reduces Traffic and Boosts Alternative Cars
Stockholm’s congestion pricing plan — which charges motorists for driving in the city center during rush hour — has cut CO2 emissions in the congestion zone by 14 percent, reduced traffic in the inner city by 18 percent, increased ridership on public transport, and spurred the use of alternative fuel vehicles, according to a new study. Instituted on a permanent basis in 2007 in a 24-square-kilometer (9 square-mile) area, the congestion pricing program exempted alternative fuel vehicles from the $1.50 to $3 per-trip surcharge. As a result, the number of registered alternative fuel vehicles in the city jumped from five percent of the vehicle fleet in 2006 to 14 percent in 2008, according to a study by the Stockholm Traffic Association. The association said that the reduction in traffic and emissions is not related to the recession, as sales in Stockholm’s retail core have actually increased. Stockholm’s congestion pricing plan is managed by I.B.M., which has set up a series of 18 gateways into the city center that read transponders on cars and levy the congestion toll.
29 Sep 2009:
Third World Population Growth
Contributes Little to Rising CO2 Emissions
Rapid population growth in the developing world does not significantly contribute to rising greenhouse gas emissions and focusing on the population explosion in poor countries diverts attention from the far more serious issue of over-consumption in rich countries, according to a new study. The study, conducted by the International Institute for Environment and Development, analyzed population growth and CO2 emissions from 1980 to 2005 and concluded that rising populations in sub-Saharan Africa and other poor regions have had a negligible impact on global warming. The study said that although sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 18.5 percent of world population growth, it had only 2.4 percent of the growth in C02 emissions. Overall, low-income nations accounted for 52 percent of population growth and 13 percent of growth in emissions, while high-income nations accounted for just 7 percent of population growth but 29 percent of emissions growth. The study, published in the journal Environment and Urbanization, said that a child born in the U.S. or Europe will contribute thousands of times more CO2 emissions than a poor child in Africa. World population is now 6.8 billion and is expected to rise to 9 billion this century.28 Sep 2009:
Impact of Mountaintop Mining
To Be Subject of Major Study by U.S. EPA
The Obama administration is quietly launching a major scientific review of the environmental impact of mountaintop coal mining on streams and rivers in Appalachia, according to a news report. The Charleston Gazette says that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is forming a scientific panel to study how mountaintop removal has affected headwater streams and impacted downstream water quality. The study, announced without fanfare in the Federal Register, will also examine whether coal mining companies are meeting their obligations to restore Appalachian streams where millions of tons of mining debris have been dumped. Mountaintop coal removal is an environmentally destructive practice in which companies blast off the tops of mountains to get at coal seams below, then dump the debris in Appalachian valleys. Hundreds of miles of headwaters streams have been buried in mining debris, and the proposed EPA review marks the first time that the agency will undertake a major review of mountaintop mining. The Obama administration has promised to take “unprecedented steps” to reduce the impacts of mountaintop removal.28 Sep 2009:
U.S. May Remove Humpbacks
From List of Endangered Species
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
may remove the humpback whale from its list of endangered species, citing evidence that the species has rebounded from near extinction. Since an international ban on their whaling in 1966, populations of the north Pacific humpback have increased about 4.7 percent 
Veer
A humpback breaches
25 Sep 2009: Fanged Frog and Striped Gecko Among New Species Discovered in Mekong
Scientists discovered 163 new species in the Greater Mekong region last year, including a fanged frog that eats birds and a striped gecko with cat-like eyes, according to a new report by WWF International. New species discovered in the area over the last year include 100 plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, two mammals and a bird, according to the conservation group's report. The Greater Mekong region includes Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and China’s Yunnan province. From 1997 to 2007, 1,068 new species have been discovered in this area. But the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion, could alter the ecosystems for these species, putting them at risk of extinction, researchers said. “Rare, endangered and endemic species like those newly discovered are especially vulnerable because climate change will further shrink their already restricted habitats,” said Stuart Chapman, director of the WWF Greater Mekong Programme.
25 Sep 2009:
New Mexico Utility Quits
Chamber Over Its Climate Change Stance
Another utility company is pulling out of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its stand on climate change and its opposition to cap-and-trade legislation being debated in Congress. Calling climate change “the most pressing environmental and economic issue of our time,” the New Mexico-based utility PNM Resources announced it would not renew its membership at the end of the year. This comes a week after Pacific Gas & Electric, a major California utility, withdrew from the chamber over its climate change stance. The chamber, the largest business group in the U.S., opposes any cuts in carbon emissions that would drive up energy costs, and it has been critical of President Obama’s call for tighter regulations. The organization also threatened litigation if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t revisit its findings on the effects of climate change. PNM officials said they would prefer to spend company resources working with groups that share their view on the need for “thoughtful, reasonable” climate legislation. “The climate change issue is so compelling, we felt it best to focus on those relationships that are productive,” said Don Brown, a company spokesman.24 Sep 2009: EPA Puts Pharmaceuticals on List of Possible Drinking Water Contaminants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has listed 104 chemicals, including a number of pharmaceuticals, as potential drinking water contaminants to be considered for government regulation. While the agency must evaluate possible chemical contaminants every five years under the Safe Drinking Water Act, this is the longest list ever compiled by the agency and the first time it has included pharmaceuticals. They include estrogens such as equilenin, equilin, estradiol, and mestranol, which are used for hormone replacement therapy and birth control. Also on the list are 12 microbes, including the hepatitis A virus. The EPA evaluated about 7,500 contaminants and biological agents when compiling the list. Researchers will continue to evaluate data on the 104 chemicals and 12 microbes, and by 2013 will determine whether drinking water standards should exist for at least five of them. Click here to read the full list of the EPA’s “contaminant candidates.”24 Sep 2009: Melting of Greenland and Antarctica Ice Sheets is Accelerating
Ice sheets on the edges of Greenland and western Antarctica are melting faster than expected, new satellite information shows, and scientists say in some regions the melt is accelerating at “runaway” speeds. Ice in some parts of Antarctica has lost about 30 feet of thickness each year since 2003, according to a report published in the journal Nature. The rate of melt during that span is about 50 percent faster than it was from 1995 to 2003. The findings, which are based on laser readings from a NASA satellite, confirm concerns among some climate scientists that the accelerating rate of ice sheet melting has become a self-feeding phenomenon — essentially, the more the ice melts, the more the water near the ice sheets causes more melting. “The question is how far will it run?” said Hamish Pritchard of the British Antarctic Survey and lead author of the study. “It’s more widespread than we previously thought.” According to researchers, 81 of the 111 Greenland glaciers are melting at an accelerated pace. The study does not indicate how this acceleration will affect sea level rise.23 Sep 2009: Ecuador Would Forego Drilling in Amazonian Rainforest for a Price
Ecuador says it will preserve a portion of its Amazonian rainforest — and forego drilling for the 900 million gallons of crude oil beneath it — if rich countries are willing to pay the South American nation $360 million annually. By not drilling for oil in the Yasuní rainforest, Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said, Ecuador could prevent about 410 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. The $360 million fee is about half the amount of revenue that the 900 million gallons of petroleum beneath the rainforest would generate. The proposal comes as developing nations made the case during a United Nations climate conference this week that rich nations should compensate developing countries for taking steps to reduce carbon emissions. “We have to attack the cause of climate change, which is the elevated use of energy by industrialized countries,” Falconi told Reuters. Ecuador, a member of OPEC, produces about 450,000 barrels of oil daily.22 Sep 2009: Obama Urges Leaders to Find Compromise to Avert Climate “Catastrophe”
Warning that the global climate threat could produce “an irreversible catastrophe,” President Obama told world leaders gathered at the United Nations that developed nations should take the lead in finding solutions, but that emerging countries must also be ready to act. And while conceding that the economic recession has added to the challenge, he vowed that the U.S. “will meet our responsibility to future generations.” Obama urged leaders to find a compromise as the world approaches global climate talks in Copenhagen in December. “No nation, however large or small, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change,” he said. Obama delivered his speech at a time when some international leaders are questioning the U.S. commitment to carbon emissions cuts. Chinese president Hu Jintao also addressed the UN conference, noting that China still lagged behind more developed countries and that had to be taken into account in any plans to cut emissions. “Developing countries need to strike a balance between economic growth, social development, and environmental protection,” Hu said.22 Sep 2009: U.S. Judge Puts Yellowstone Grizzly Back on Threatened Species List
The Yellowstone grizzly bear, facing the duel threats of diminished food sources and increased killing by humans, has been placed back on the threatened species list. In issuing the court order, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy cited the loss of whitebark pine, which produces nuts that many of the 600 grizzlies in the greater Yellowstone region — which includes parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming —
21 Sep 2009: U.S. Looks to Flywheel Technology to Make Grid Greener and More Efficient
The U.S. Department of Energy has granted a $43 million loan to a Massachusetts-based company to prove the value of a new technology in which spinning flywheels are used to improve the efficiency of the electric grid. Beacon Power Corp. will build a 20-megawatt flywheel plant in upstate New York in which flywheels spinning up to 16,000 times per minute will act as a sort of short-term power storage system for the state’s electrical distribution system, according to the Associated Press. Essentially, the spinning flywheels would suck excess energy off the electric grid when supply is high, store it in the spinning cores, and return the energy to the grid when demand grows. Currently, fossil fuel generation feeds such demands on the electric grid, but Beacon officials predict using flywheels would cut carbon emissions in half. “It’s a lower (carbon dioxide) impact, much faster response for a growing market need, and so we get pretty excited about that,” said Matt Rogers, a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu.21 Sep 2009:
World’s River Deltas Sinking
Due to Human Activities, Study Says
Most of the world’s major river deltas are sinking as a result of human activity, making them vulnerable to increased flooding and posing a threat to tens of millions of people, according to a new study published by the University of Colorado. In addition to rising waters caused by global climate change, dams and reservoirs are trapping sediment upstream in river systems worldwide, man-made channels are sending sediment directly to the ocean, and the extraction of groundwater and natural gas is causing increased compaction of the floodplains, according to the report, which will be published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Twenty-four of the world’s 33 major river deltas are sinking, the authors say. And in recent years, 85 percent experienced major flooding, submerging some 100,000 square miles of land. According to the report, that flooding could increase by 50 percent by century’s end if the world experiences the 18-inch sea level rise forecast by the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. “This study shows there are a host of human-induced factors that already cause deltas to sink much more rapidly than could be explained by sea level alone,” said co-author Albert Kettner, of CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.18 Sep 2009:
Climate-Related Business
Surges Past Aerospace and Defense Sectors
The world’s climate-related business sector grew by 75 percent in 2008, with revenues climbing to $530 billion, passing global aerospace or defense industries, HSBC Global Research has reported. By 2020 it could reach $2 trillion, far exceeding a 2006 Stern Review analysis that predicted climate-related revenues reaching $500 billion by 2050. HSBC analysts say revenue has shattered forecasts because more and more businesses are adapting their business models in the face of climate change concerns. Seventy-six percent of revenue occurred in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, and Spain. To reach the projected $2 trillion figure by 2020, the report notes, the climate sector will need continued government support and the world must continue to change the types of energy it produces. According to the HSBC report, the major areas of investment will be production of low-carbon energy, energy efficiency, climate-related finance, and management of water, waste, and pollution.17 Sep 2009:
NOAA Reports World’s Oceans
Had Warmest Summer Temeratures on Record
Surface temperatures of the world’s oceans were warmer this summer than for any Northern Hemisphere summer since records were first kept in 1880, according to data released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. From June to August, ocean temperatures reached an average of 62.5° F worldwide, about 1.04° warmer than the 20th century average of 61.5°. NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center also reported that the average global land and ocean temperature for August was the second-warmest on record, behind only 1998. In August, the average global land surface temperature of 58.2° F was 1.33° above the 20th century average of 56.9°. While some areas, including the central United States, had cooler temperatures than average, large portions of the world's land mass had warmer temperatures than average, including both Australia and New Zealand, which had their warmest Augusts ever.
17 Sep 2009:
Germany Creates Zones for
Construction of Offshore Wind Farms
Germany has endorsed zoning changes that promote construction of offshore wind farms in the North Sea, opening up the potential for 25,000 megawatts of new energy capacity by 2030. As it looks to offshore wind as a major part of its goal of meeting 30 percent of its energy needs with renewable sources by 2020, Germany is designating offshore zones where wind farms can be built without threatening the environment or shipping. The contribution of wind energy alone could double from six percent to 12 percent by 2020, German officials say. The Nature and Biodiversity and Conservation Union, one of Germany’s major environmental groups, said more than 20 offshore wind projects are already under review in Germany. “This initiative comes at the right time as the big energy utilities prefer to bank on a lengthening of old nuclear plants rather than building new wind parks in the sea,” the organization said in a statement.16 Sep 2009:
Rift Between U.S. and Europe
Could Jeopardize Climate Negotiations
Policy divisions between the Obama Administration and European leaders on how carbon reductions would be measured could jeopardize the chances of success during climate talks in Copenhagen, according to The Guardian. European leaders want to retain the way carbon reduction targets are counted according to a provision in the Kyoto Protocol, in which CO2 reductions are subject to an international system, but the U.S. wants each country to set its own rules. While the U.S. has not introduced specific details, a draft agreement suggested emissions cuts should be subject to “conformity with domestic law.” According to sources quoted in the London newspaper, European leaders are reluctant to challenge the Obama administration, which has shown more willingness to confront climate change than the Bush administration. But there is mounting concern that the divisions could jeopardize the chances of a meaningful agreement at the Copenhagen talks in December. Ban Ki-moon, the UN general secretary, said he is troubled by the lack of progress in climate negotiations. “We are deeply concerned that the negotiation is not making much headway,” he said.16 Sep 2009: Heat-Resistant Forests Could Reverse Warming in the Sahara, Study Says
Planting forests of quick-growing trees in the world’s most arid deserts and sustaining them with desalinated water from nearby oceans would cool the regions significantly and draw down billions of tons of carbon dioxide, according to climate simulations being published in the journal Climatic Change. The concept, proposed by cell biologist Leonard Ornstein of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, includes transporting desalinated water to parched deserts with aqueducts and pumps to support growth of such heat-resistant trees as eucalyptus. By watering the plants with drip irrigation, in which water is sent directly to the trees’ roots via plastic tubing, engineers could reduce water loss, says Ornstein, who calculated the climatic effects with NASA modelers. According to the models, planting heat-resistant trees in the Sahara Desert or the Australian outback could draw down about 8 billion tons of carbon annually. In the Sahara, temperatures in the forests could drop by as much as 8°C. The costs of building and running reverse-osmosis plants for desalination and transporting the water would be about $2 trillion per year. “Any solution to climate change has to be a multitrillion-dollar project,” Ornstein says. “The issue is what the payback is.”15 Sep 2009: U.S. Energy Secretary Urges Realistic Goals at Copenhagen Climate Talks
The climate talks in Copenhagen will not be the final chance for the world to confront climate change, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said. And while the historic negotiations should produce meaningful results on greenhouse gas reductions, he said, negotiators should avoid unrealistic goals. “You have to bring more people along,” he told reporters during a briefing in Vienna, “So don’t tee it up as now or never.” World leaders will gather in December in hopes of crafting the successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
Steven Chu15 Sep 2009:
Interior Launches Council
to Monitor and Tackle Climate Change
The U.S. Interior Department has formed a council to monitor the impacts of climate change and to suggest regional strategies for dealing with it, the Obama administration’s first coordinated plan to confront what Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the “signature issues of the 21st century.” Salazar will coordinate monitoring and response by “regional climate change response centers” among Interior’s eight bureaus nationwide, which will in turn work with local groups and other federal agencies. Among other steps, Salazar said, the council will investigate ways to sequester carbon by storing it underground and by absorbing it through forests and rangelands. The Interior Department manages 20 percent of the nation’s land mass and almost 1.7 billion acres of submerged land on the Outer Continental Shelf. A recent U.S. government report concluded that the effects of climate change are already being felt nationwide and outlined the ways in which climate is expected to change in various regions of the country.14 Sep 2009:
Iraq Approves Plan to
Convert Rotting Dates to Bioethanol
Iraqi officials have endorsed a plan to convert dates into biofuel, an innovative project they hope will boost a once-thriving agriculture economy burdened by years of drought, government sanctions and war. A United Arab Emirates-based company will produce bioethanol from the dates that farmers can no longer use because they are rotting, said Faroun Ahmed Hussein, head of Iraq’s date palm board. The nation produces about 350,000 tons of dates annually, but consumes only about 150,000 tons. While Iraq once was a major date exporter, farmers now feed much of the rest to animals rather than export them because of the poor quality, Hussein said. Government sanctions and war have exacerbated entrenched problems such as high soil salinity and inefficient irrigation to ravage Iraq’s farming sector, the nation’s largest employer. “Farmers will be happy to sell their rotten dates instead of throwing them away,” Hussein said. He would not identify the company, how much bioethanol it would be able to produce, or how much it would cost.14 Sep 2009:
Report Says Wind Energy Could
Meet China’s Energy Needs for Two Decades
With steady growth in wind power capacity each of the last five years, China is expected to pass the United States as the fastest-growing market for wind installations this year. But
this may only hint at the potential for wind energy in China, according to a new study published in the journal Science. After modeling China’s wind availability and profitability, researchers from Harvard University and Tsinghua University in Beijing calculated that wind resources, particularly in the country’s northern and western regions, could meet all of China’s electricity demands until at least 2030. Specifically, researchers say wind turbines could produce 6.96 trillion kilowatt-hours of energy at a price of 0.516 Chinese yuan, or about 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is in keeping with the current government-set rates for wind energy. To accommodate this surge in wind energy production, however, the country would have to make significant improvements to its transmission system, including smarter and stronger power grids, researchers warn.11 Sep 2009: With Melting Arctic Ice, Ships Prepare to Complete Northern Passage
Aided by thawing sea ice, two German ships are en route to becoming the first commercial vessels to complete the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic from Asia to the West. The ships, which began their voyage in South Korea in July, are scheduled to depart a Siberian port this week for Rotterdam in the Netherlands. “It is global warming that enables us to think about using that route,” a spokeswoman for the shipping company, the Beluga Group, told the New York Times. The ships have been accompanied by Russian icebreakers, but reportedly so far have encountered only scattered ice floes. The Russian government declared the Northern Sea Route, or Northeast Passage, open for international vessels after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but no commercial ships have yet traveled all the way across. The Russians hope that the melting sea ice, combined with economic benefits, will eventually make the Arctic passage a strong competitor to longer southerly routes.10 Sep 2009:
Cell Phone Radiation Levels
Ranked by Environmental Advocacy Group
The controversy over whether radiation from cell phones can cause brain and mouth cancers has intensified now that the Environmental Working Group has posted an online tool that enables people to see levels of radiation emitted by 1,200 cell phones. Among the top-ten highest emitters are the popular Blackberry and Motorola models. Traffic to the site displaying the radiation rankings was so large that the Environmental Working Group — which works to protect children from toxic chemicals and 
10 Sep 2009:
Offshore Wind Advocates
Eye Collaboration on East Coast of U.S.
Proponents of offshore wind power along the United States’ eastern seaboard are promoting a collaborative network of state and industry leaders to help the nascent industry develop. Organizers of the so-called “U.S. Offshore Wind Collaborative” say the success of offshore wind depends on the construction of infrastructure, including transmission lines, ports to deliver the turbines, and maintenance stations. That will require collaboration between the region’s state leaders, said Greg Watson, leader of the group and senior energy adviser to Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. It will also mean a single entity to lobby for federal research dollars, as well as policies to promote the industry, possibly including the extension of the production tax credit for wind projects. “There’s a difference between having a bunch of projects and having an industry,” Watson said. Among the early directors of the collaborative is Jim Gordon, developer of Cape Wind, a 130-turbine offshore project proposed off the Massachusetts coast. After years of local, state and federal review, the U.S. Department of Interior is expected to release its report on the project soon.09 Sep 2009:
EPA Seeks Revocation
Of Largest Mountaintop Coal Mine Permit
The Obama administration, which promised to take “unprecedented steps” to rein in the environmentally destructive practice of mountaintop coal mining, is attempting to revoke the permit for the largest mountaintop removal project in West Virginia. Citing the potential of the Spruce Mine “to degrade downstream water quality” and do other environmental damage, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw a previously issued permit. The EPA said the mine project would violate the Clean Water Act by blasting off the top of a mountain and then burying eight miles of streams in debris from the 2,300-acre mine. The EPA cited “new information” and data showing that the mine owners could never replace the environmental functions performed by the affected streams and that other so-called “valley fills” in Appalachia had seriously harmed stream ecology. The Spruce Mine project has been delayed by litigation, and the corps has asked a federal judge for time to study the EPA’s objections. Mountaintop coal mining has buried roughly 800 miles of Appalachian streams and destroyed hundreds of square miles of woodlands.
09 Sep 2009:
China and First Solar
Sign Accord for Major Solar Plant
U.S.-based First Solar has signed an agreement with the Chinese government to build the world’s largest photovoltaic power plant in Inner Mongolia. By 2019, the plant is expected to produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity, which the company said would be sufficient to power three million Chinese homes. The deal for the 16,000-acre plant, to be located in Ordos City, solidifies China’s position as the global leader in developing renewable energy, and further boosts the prospects of First Solar, the world’s largest photovoltaic cell manufacturer. First Solar CEO Mike Ahearn said the deal would not have been possible without commitments from the Chinese government to buy the power at preferred rates and to build the transmission infrastructure needed to send the power to China’s population centers. First Solar produces so-called thin-film solar cells, which are made of a material — cadmium telluride — that is less efficient at converting sunlight to electricity but can be manufactured far more cheaply than standard crystalline silicon cells. Construction will begin next year on the project, which is expected to cost several billion dollars.08 Sep 2009:
Half of Fish Consumption
Attributed to Aquaculture, Study Finds
Production of farmed fish has nearly tripled in volume since 1995 and aquaculture now provides 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new study. The study said that while aquaculture does provide some environmental benefits, the quantity of fishmeal and fish oil needed to produce the feed for carnivorous farmed fish — such as Atlantic salmon — is extracting a heavy toll on smaller species such as sardines and anchovies. Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study said that the feed for aquaculture fish now consumes 68 percent of the fishmeal and 88 percent of the fish oil produced globally. The authors recommended that fish oil used in fish feed be reduced and replaced with omega-3 oils extracted from algae or genetically modified land plants. The authors said that a four percent reduction in the fish oil used in salmon feed would cut the amount of wild fish needed to produce one pound of salmon from five pounds to 3.9 pounds. The study also encouraged greater development of fish farms raising tilapia, carp, and other fish with a vegetarian diet.
08 Sep 2009:
Japan’s Incoming Premier
Vows Sharp CO2 Cuts — With Caveat
Japan’s recently elected premier, Yukio Hatoyama, has proposed that the country reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels within 10 years. But Hatoyama, of the center-left Democratic Party, said his proposal is contingent on other industrialized nations setting similarly high greenhouse gas reduction targets. Hatoyama said he would push for such cuts at climate talks this December in Copenhagen. The European Union has promised to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels in the next decade and by 30 percent if other wealthy nations agree to similarly sharp cuts. The incoming premier’s proposal, first made as a campaign pledge, is encountering stiff opposition from Japanese industry, with the country’s largest business federation saying it opposes any cuts bigger than six percent below 1990 levels. Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly considering placing a carbon tax on gasoline and home heating oil. His proposal reportedly will start at 14 euros ($20) for each ton of CO2 emitted and rise eventually to 100 euros ($143) per ton.
04 Sep 2009:
Solar Power at Coal Plants
Could Cut Energy Costs, CO2 Emissions
The pairing of solar technology with coal-fired power could reduce the amount of coal required to produce energy and cut the costs associated with solar production, according to proponents of a trial plan in Colorado. A proposal announced by Abengoa Solar and utility Xcel Energy would use solar heat concentrated by parabolic mirrors to generate steam to help drive the turbines of the coal plant. Adding the array to an existing power plant would cut the cost of actually converting solar power into electricity by 30 to 50 percent, according to estimates, and make the renewable source more competitive with conventional sources of electricity. At the same time, it will reduce the amount of coal needed in the coal-fired plant and cut carbon dioxide emissions. Engineers add, however, that solar power used at solar plants will probably contribute no more than 15 percent of total electricity produced. And they will only be effective in sunny areas.04 Sep 2009:
Millennia of Arctic Cooling
Came to Abrupt End in 20th Century
Greenhouse gases released by human activity have swiftly ended a millennia-long trend of cooling in the Arctic and may well halt the next cyclical descent into an ice age, according to a new study. The report — based on a study of glacial ice, lakebed mud, and tree rings that provide a decade-by-decade record of Arctic climate for the past 2,000 years — demonstrates that humankind is now pouring so many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that we are interfering with ancient cycles of ice ages and inter-glacial periods that have occurred for millions of years. Writing in the journal Science, researchers reported that until 1900, the Arctic was cooling at a rate of half a degree Fahrenheit per millennium for the past 2,000 years. This was because of a natural cycle in which earth’s orbit is farther from the sun. But since 1900, the Arctic has warmed 2.2 degrees F, with 1998 to 2008 being the warmest decade in 2,000 years. This precipitous warming caused by heat-trapping greenhouses gases is not only melting Arctic Ocean ice and the Greenland ice sheet but, if not brought under control, may stave off the arrival of the next Ice Age, expected in roughly 20,000 years.04 Sep 2009:
Revisiting the Question
Of Corn Ethanol’s Carbon Footprint
Do biofuels made from corn emit significantly less carbon dioxide than gasoline? That debate flared up last year as global commodity prices soared and biofuel critics argued that planting corn and converting it to liquid fuel not only produced nearly as many greenhouse gases per gallon as combusting gasoline, but also drove up world food prices. The Journal of Industrial Ecology is taking another look at the question and concludes that corn ethanol probably produces about 35 to 40 percent fewer greenhouse gases than burning gasoline. The journal features several articles that debate the complicated issue of so-called life-cycle carbon intensity, which looks at all stages of fuel production to determine the quantity of greenhouse gases produced by different fuels. Scientists at the University of Nebraska argue in the journal that recent advances in refining efficiency, crop production, and utilization of by-products from corn ethanol production mean that corn ethanol generates roughly half as many greenhouse gases as gasoline. A researcher from the University of California, Berkeley, disputed that finding, saying that corn ethanol produces only about a third fewer greenhouse gases. The editors of the journal agree more with the Berkeley figures, and note that the debate is not merely academic: Accurately determining how many greenhouse gases corn ethanol generates will influence regulatory decisions on biofuel by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and states such as California.03 Sep 2009:
Deep Geothermal Project
Suspended in California After Setbacks
A $17 million renewable energy project designed to tap into the earth’s heat more than 2 miles deep has been suspended because of difficulty drilling through rock formations. The project, run by AltaRock Energy and partially funded by Google, was designed to drill down to about 12,000 feet, fracture rock at the bottom of the hole, and then circulate water to create steam. But the company reported that it had encountered “anomalies” in the rock that had prevented it from drilling deeper than 4,000 feet. State and federal officials and residents at the Geysers site, not far from San Francisco, also are concerned that the fracturing process could set off local earthquakes, as happened with a similar project in Switzerland. The U.S. Energy Department had allowed AltaRock to drill in California but not to fracture rock at great depth pending a review. AltaRock said it is suspending drilling and did not say when it intends to resume activity. Renewable energy advocates are hopeful that deep geothermal power may one day prove to be a potent source of steam-generated electricity.03 Sep 2009:
India’s CO2 Emissions
To At Least Triple in Next 20 Years
The Indian government says the country’s carbon dioxide emissions will grow three to five times by 2031 as its economy expands and its population continues to soar from 1 billion to 1.5 billion people. Government projections say CO2 emissions will increase from 1.4 billion tons last year to between 4 billion and 7.3 billion tons annually by 2031. India now produces about 5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Indian officials have rejected assertions by developed countries that India needs to rein its CO2 emissions, saying the country has the right to improve its standard of living and that per-capita emissions — expected to double by 2031 — will still remain comparatively low. “Even with very aggressive GDP growth,” said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, “India’s per capita emissions will be well below developed country averages.” That contention offers little solace to negotiators hoping to forge a climate treaty in Copenhagen this December, as the U.S. and some other developed nations have expressed an unwillingness to sharply curb CO2 emissions if developing countries such as India and China make no commitment to rein in theirs.
Interview: Connecting to Nature
Through Architecture and Design
Social ecologist Stephen R. Kellert has spent much of his career thinking and writing about biophilia, the innate human affinity for nature. His work has explored how we cut ourselves off from nature in the
Stephen R. KellertClick here to read the full interview.
02 Sep 2009:
Summer Sea Ice in Arctic
Could Disappear by 2016, Scientists Say
Summer sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean could disappear by 2016 and the thawing of the Greenland ice sheet is occurring so rapidly that the meltwater from Greenland alone could raise sea levels by one meter this century. Meeting in Greenland, scientists from the Danish Meteorological Institute, the Greenland Climate Center, and other organizations said that the thickness and volume of Arctic ice is 
NASA
02 Sep 2009:
Plastic Debris in Pacific
More Extensive Than Original Estimates
The most extensive study of the so-called ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ has discovered a far higher density of debris, spread out over a larger area, than was originally believed. A three-week expedition, conducted by scientists on two vessels, found that every one of several hundred water samples taken between the waters near San Francisco and the so-called garbage patch — 1,000 miles to the west — contained tiny bits of broken-down plastic refuse. As the boats neared the garbage patch — an area twice the size of Texas where the confetti-like pieces of plastic have accumulated because of ocean currents — researchers discovered extremely dense concentrations of the debris. The sieves “would be completely clogged with tiny pieces of plastic,” said a researcher with the California Environmental Protection Agency. The small plastic bits are eaten by jellyfish and fish, and toxic substances in the plastics are believed to work their way up the food chain to fish, such as salmon, that are eaten by humans. The expedition collected thousands of pieces of plastic of all sizes, as well as 300 fish, to test how chemicals such as PCBs migrate up the marine food chain.01 Sep 2009:
Influential U.K. Panel
Outlines Possible Geo-engineering Ideas
The U.K.’s highly respected Royal Society has released a study outlining two major potential methods of cooling the earth if mankind fails to slow global warming by reducing CO2 emissions: removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and employing technologies to deflect solar radiation back into space. Stressing that emissions reductions were vital, the Royal Society nevertheless said that scientists must start investigating geo-engineering schemes to cool the planet. It said that CO2 could possibly be pulled from the air using various technologies, such as artificial trees and carbon sequestration, or by accelerating the reaction of rocks and minerals with CO2, which stores carbon dioxide. Land use changes and planting forests also could potentially play a smaller role, the group said. Methods to deflect solar energy back into space could include releasing stratospheric aerosols, pumping seawater into the atmosphere to produce more clouds, and launching mirrors or other devices into space to reflect the sun’s energy away from earth. The Royal Society dismissed a number of ideas as too risky, including a plan to seed the oceans with iron to stimulate the growth of CO2-absorbing algae. Last week, a group of British engineers suggested more modest and immediate ways to cool the planet.01 Sep 2009:
Europe Cuts Emissions,
Imposes Ban on Incandescent Bulbs
For the fourth year in a row, Europe has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions, with CO2 output falling by 1.3 percent in 2008. The recession appears to be the main factor in the emissions reduction, as factories were idled across the continent. But European Union Environmental Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the EU’s emissions trading scheme and development of renewable energy sources also is playing a part in the reduction. “This is a timely message to the rest of the world in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate conference,” said Dimas. The EU has now cut emissions 6.2 percent over 1990 levels and is on track to meet a target under the Kyoto Protocol for reducing emissions 8 percent below 1990 levels during the period 2008 to 2012. Meanwhile, the EU began restricting the sale of incandescent light bulbs, requiring that stores no longer be allowed to buy or import most incandescent bulbs. Once current stocks are exhausted, merchants will only sell more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.31 Aug 2009:
Growth in Wind Power
Gets Boost From Change in Subsidies
Large banks, including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, are making major investments in wind farms because a change in federal renewable energy subsidies is providing investors returns of up to 15 percent, the Wall Street Journal reports. The surge in investment has been spurred in part by a new U.S. government policy, which now allows wind farm developers to receive 30 percent of the cost of the 
31 Aug 2009:
Broad Public Support
Still Exists For Obama Programs on Energy
A significant majority of Americans supports President Obama’s efforts to overhaul energy policy and a slight majority favors a controversial program to place a cap and price on carbon dioxide emissions, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll found that nearly 60 percent of Americans back administration and congressional efforts to combat climate change and develop renewable energy and 55 percent approve of Obama’s handling of the issue, compared with 30 percent who do not. A smaller majority, 52 to 43 percent, supports the cap-and-trade bill passed by the House of Representatives and now before the U.S. Senate. Support for a cap-and-trade plan grew slightly among independents, with a slight majority now favoring it, and only 5 percent of those polled said global warming is not an issue. Public support for wind power, solar power, and electric cars is overwhelming, with 80 to 90 percent of respondents approving of a shift to these technologies. In a separate report, the Washington Post describes how well-funded public relations campaigns by the oil and coal industries attacking the cap-and-trade bill are dwarfing efforts by environmentalists.28 Aug 2009:
A Call to Re-Think Expectations
For the Climate Summit in Copenhagen
Author and scholar Michael Levi says in the current issue of Foreign Affairs that the odds of signing a climate treaty in Copenhagen this December are extremely small and argues that policymakers and environmental advocates should rethink their expectations for the summit. Levi, a senior fellow for energy and environment at the Council on Foreign Relations, contends that the conventional treaty model – which focuses on high-level agreements on emissions caps and carbon trading schemes – is fundamentally flawed because emissions caps are largely unverifiable and unenforceable. Short of bullying with punitive sanctions, nothing can be done if caps are exceeded. In addition, Levi said developing countries will lobby for lenient emissions caps, in part because they can be a source of income; if emissions goals are coupled with a cap-and-trade carbon market, countries request easy targets so that they can sell carbon credits once they have exceeded their low emissions goals. Levi recommends a more bottom-up approach, saying that real change happens when individual nations adopt laws and programs to reduce carbon emissions. Rather than investing great hopes in occasional summits, Levi argues, nations should conduct ongoing climate talks — aimed, for example, at sharing technology — similar to international trade negotiations.28 Aug 2009:
A Rare Photograph
Of a Snow Leopard in Afghanistan
One of the most remote and beautiful regions in the world — Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor — is also home to one of the globe’s rarest creatures, the snow leopard. Researchers for the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) recently took some remarkable, close-up photographs of a snow leopard in the Wakhan, using a camera trap that automatically shoots a picture when a creature passes by. Afghanistan is believed to be home to fewer than 200 snow leopards, which live in the Hindu Kush mountains. The Wakhan is a narrow finger of land high in the Hindu Kush in northeastern Afghanistan. WCS researchers are conducting wildlife surveys in the Wakhan with the goal of including it in a network of parks and protected areas that the Afghan government is planning to establish in the war-torn nation. Snow leopards — found in mountainous regions of central and south Asia — are listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
27 Aug 2009:
Drilling Chemicals Found
In Drinking Water Near Natural Gas Sites
For the first time, scientists have discovered chemicals used in a controversial natural gas drilling technique in water wells near the gas sites. Scientists for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), testing wells near a major gas drilling area in Wyoming, have found traces of drilling chemicals in three wells, and other contaminants — including oil, gas, and heavy metals — in 11 of 39 wells recently tested, according to the Web site ProPublica. The chemicals are used in a process called hydraulic fracturing, in which drilling fluids and sand are injected under high pressure to break up rock and release gas. Using the fracturing technique, gas reserves are being developed in 31 states, although New York officials have imposed a moratorium on the process — which uses large amounts of water — until its environmental impact can be assessed. Congress is also considering a bill to regulate the process, but the gas industry has said regulation is unnecessary because it is impossible for fracturing fluids to contaminate underground water supplies. The recent tests, which may refute the industry’s claim, are continuing.27 Aug 2009:
Three Geoengineering Ideas
Proposed By Researchers in Britain
The U.K.’s Institute of Mechanical Engineers has proposed three geoengineering schemes officials say could be immediately implemented to slow global warming: building artificial trees that absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, using algae tubes to pull CO2 from the atmosphere, and painting the roofs of buildings white. The engineers said these three ideas, if carried out on a wide scale, could absorb much of the CO2 produced annually in the U.K. and cool temperatures. The engineers shied away from more ambitious geoengineering proposals — such as seeding the oceans with iron to encourage the growth of CO2-absorbing plankton — and focused instead on practical solutions that could be carried out soon. The artificial trees are machines the size of a standard shipping container, and the engineers said that 100,000 of these “trees” could absorb all of the emissions of the U.K.’s non-power plant sector each year. The CO2 could then be stored underground in depleted oil and gas fields. The CO2 absorbed by the algae tubes could be converted to charcoal and buried, the engineers said. The institute said a $16 million research program could be used to turn the three ideas into reality. 26 Aug 2009:
Lead-contaminated Paint
Still Used Widely Around the World
Paint with high levels of lead has been banned for several decades in the U.S. and other developed countries. But a new study shows that lead-tainted paint is still being produced and sold worldwide, posing a serious health risk to children. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati tested 373 samples of enamel paint from 12 countries and found that most nations allowed the sale of paints whose lead content often far exceeded the U.S. safety standard, which until recently was 600 parts per million and this month was reduced to 90 ppm. A third of the paint samples from China and Singapore exceeded the 600 ppm standard, while nearly all of the paint sampled in Thailand and Nigeria was above that level. Paint sampled from Ecuador contained an average of 32,000 ppm of lead. Children exposed to lead-tainted paint can suffer severe brain damage and other health effects. Paint manufacturers originally added lead to prevent paint from cracking. But the researchers — reporting their findings in the journal Environmental Research — said many low-lead alternatives are now available.26 Aug 2009:
Pachauri Supports Goal
Limiting Atmospheric CO2 to 350 ppm
Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says he supports the goal of cutting atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million, a highly ambitious target supported by many environmental activists. Speaking with Agence France Presse, Pachauri said that he cannot officially endorse the 350 target. “But as a human being I am fully supportive of that goal,” said Pachauri. “What is happening, and what is likely to happen, convinces me that the world must be really ambitious and very determined at moving toward a 350 target.” Current atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are close to 390 ppm, and if emissions are not brought under control, scientists say, levels could exceed 500 ppm this century, nearly twice as high as pre-industrial levels. Leading environmental activists, such as Bill McKibben, say that reducing CO2 levels to 350 ppm is the best way to avoid highly disruptive effects of global warming. Key climate talks will be held this December in Copenhagen.25 Aug 2009: Tree Advance Documented
A study of 166 sites around the world shows that trees are advancing to higher latitudes and higher elevations at more than half the locales, retreating in only two study sites, and remaining stable at the rest. Examining records from 166 areas where temperature and treeline records have been kept since 1900, scientists from New Zealand discovered that trees have advanced at 89 locations and remained stable at 77. The key factor in colonization of new areas appeared to be whether winter temperatures had risen in the past century, as treeline advance was most pronounced at sites where winters were warmer. Winter temperatures rose at 77 sites by an average of about 2 degrees C (3.6 F) over the past century, and summer temperatures increased at 117 of the 166 sites, rising by an average of 1.4 degrees C (2.5 F) since 1900. The findings, published in the journal Ecology Letters, seemed to suggest that rising winter temperatures were the crucial factor, because even if seedlings did colonize new areas in the warmer months, colder winter temperatures would kill them if they advanced to higher latitudes and elevations that had not warmed.25 Aug 2009:
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Wants to Put Global Warming on Trial
Facing the prospect that the federal government may soon begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is proposing a public hearing in which the chamber and allied scientists question whether human-caused global warming is real. William Kovacs, the chamber’s senior vice-president for environment, technology, and regulatory affairs, is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to hold the rare public hearing, complete with witnesses, cross-examinations, and a judge who would rule whether man is indeed warming the planet. Kovacs likened the hearing to “the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century,” referring to the famed 1925 court case in which a Tennessee teacher was illegally accused of teaching evolution. “It would be the science of climate change on trial,” said Kovacs, adding that if the EPA refuses to hold a hearing, the chamber will file a lawsuit in federal court challenging the notion of man-made global warming. The EPA — which is soon expected to declare that it will begin regulating carbon dioxide emissions because they are a threat to public health — said it had no intention of holding a global warming “trial,” calling the hearing a “waste of time” and the proposed lawsuit “frivolous.” The chamber, which represents three million businesses, is concerned not only about EPA regulation but also about a carbon cap-and-trade bill that has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and is now before the U.S. Senate.24 Aug 2009:
Small Hydropower Dams on Rise
As Concerns Grow About Big Power Projects
The number of small hydropower projects in the U.S. is increasing as utilities try to avoid concerns about the environmental impact of large dams, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission now has applications for 14,000 megawatts of hydropower projects — enough to power 7 million to 14 million homes — and most are located on small rivers, streams, and creeks.
24 Aug 2009:
China Closes Smelters
As Protests Rise Over Lead Poisoning
Chinese officials have temporarily closed at least five heavy metal smelters as concerns rise over high levels of lead found in children in nearby villages and towns. The closings have occurred after parents recently protested at a lead and zinc smelter in Shaanxi Province and a manganese smelter in Hunan Province, following the disclosure that hundreds of children near the two smelters have high levels of lead in their blood. Those two smelters, as well as lead smelters in at least three other locations, have been temporarily closed while officials conduct environmental assessments. Lead pollution can cause severe cognitive impairment and other ailments in children exposed to high levels of the metal. Reuters reports that lead poisoning is endemic in villages near Chinese smelters, and the problem is particularly acute in the ore-rich Qinling range, located in a poor and remote region of north-central China. As China’s environmental laws have been strengthened in recent years, lead smelters have moved from more populous and affluent metropolitan areas to poorer regions of rural China, where residents badly need jobs. But protests are rising as the health effects of lead poisoning are becoming more evident.21 Aug 2009:
World Ocean Temperatures
Set Record High in July, U.S. Agency Says
The world’s oceans were warmer in July than at any time in the 130 years of record-keeping, averaging 62.6 degrees F (17 C), according to the U.S. National Climate Data Center. July’s temperature was 1.1 degrees F warmer than the 20th century average. Scientists say the high ocean temperatures are primarily the result of global warming and an El Nino climate cycle in the Pacific, which boosts ocean temperatures. Unusually warm sea temperatures were recorded from the Gulf of Mexico — where temperatures hovered near 90 degrees F — to the Arctic, where ocean temperatures as much as 10 degrees F above normal were measured in some places. The Mediterranean Sea was roughly 3 degrees warmer than normal, the Indian Ocean also experienced higher than normal temperatures, and the usually frigid waters off the state of Maine rose to 72 degrees in some locales. Scientists are concerned that rising ocean temperatures will hasten the bleaching and destruction of coral. They also warn that, although it takes longer for the ocean to heat up than the air, once the ocean absorbs heat, it radiates it back into the atmosphere for a long time, further exacerbating global warming.21 Aug 2009:
Expansion of Arctic Fishery
Prohibited Until Further Study by U.S.
With Arctic summer sea ice rapidly disappearing, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke has prohibited the expansion of fishing into ice-free seas until scientists can study the marine life in the newly opened waters and devise a sustainable fishing plan. The new federal fisheries plan, hailed by environmental groups and commercial fishing interests, would prohibit commercial fishing in nearly 200,000 square miles of federal waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Scientists are beginning to study the areas within 200 miles of the Alaska coast to determine the type and abundance of fish species, after which they are to propose a plan for limited commercial fishing. Among the commercial species likely to be targeted are Arctic cod, saffron cod, and snow crab. Locke’s decision will not affect fishing for Pacific salmon, halibut, whitefish, and shellfish close to the Alaskan coast. Commercial fishing interests said the plan will prevent the over-exploitation of fisheries stocks in the newly opened waters, and environmental groups said the plan represented the first instance in which management guidelines will be developed before an area is opened to fishing.20 Aug 2009:
Slaughter of Lemurs
Rises After Madagascar Coup
Taking advantage of political turmoil in the island nation of Madagascar, hunters are slaughtering endangered lemurs at an unprecedented rate. An investigation by Conservation International reveals a growing market for lemur meat since the March overthrow of President Marc Ravalomanana. Madagascar's forest reserves have recently been invaded by illegal loggers and by poachers targeting lemurs, primarily for the restaurant trade. As enforcement has declined, poachers have targeted crowned lemurs and the golden crowned sifaka in conservation areas in the island nation’s northern forests, according to Conservation International and the Web site, Mongabay. Russ Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and a lemur expert, said the continuing decimation of lemurs is a major blow not only to the island's biodiversity, but also to its ecotourism business. “These poachers are killing the goose that laid the golden egg,” Mittermeier said, “wiping out the very animals that people most want to see, and undercutting the country and especially local communities by robbing them of future ecotourism revenue.”
20 Aug 2009:
Plastics in Ocean
Rapidly Leach Toxins, Study Says
The millions of tons of plastic bottles, bags, and garbage in the world’s oceans are breaking down and leaching toxins more rapidly than previously believed, posing a threat to marine life, according to a new study. Katsuhiko Saido of Nihon University in Japan, simulating ocean conditions in his laboratory, found that substances such as polystyrene began to decompose within a year, spreading chemicals proven to disrupt hormonal systems in animals. Among the substances being released in the world’s seas are bisphenol A, polystyrene-based oligomers, and styrene monomers and dymers, all of which can cause cancer or disrupt hormone production, according to Saido. “Plastics in daily use are generally assumed to be quite stable,” said Saido, who presented his findings at the American Chemical Society meeting in Washington, D.C. “We found that plastic in the ocean actually decomposes... giving rise to yet another source of global contamination that will continue into the future.”20 Aug 2009:
Australian Parliament Adopts
20 Percent Renewables Standard By 2020
Australia’s Parliament has passed a law requiring that 20 percent of the country’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2020, an increase from the current level of 8 percent. The standard, which matches the European Union’s, means that the households of all 21 million Australians could be powered by renewable energy in a decade. Green Party leaders said, however, that the standard should be 30 percent, and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong noted that even with the new renewable standard, the nation’s CO2 emissions are expected to be 20 percent above 2000 levels in 2020 because of the growth of the Australian economy. Meanwhile, a new report shows that electricity generated by renewable sources in the U.S. reached an all-time high in May, with alternative energy accounting for 13 percent of total electrical generation. That’s 7.7 percent higher than May 2008, with most of the growth coming from wind and solar power. Hydropower remains the largest source of renewable energy, accounting for 9.4 percent of U.S. electricity production.19 Aug 2009:
Fake Letters to Congress
Part of Campaign Against Climate Bill
A lobbying firm hired by a major coal industry group has mailed at least 13 fake letters to congressmen falsely claiming that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, senior citizens groups, and a Hispanic advocacy organization opposed a bill placing a cap on carbon emissions. Congressional investigators say that the firm working for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCE) sent out a total of 58 letters to congressmen, and that others may have been fraudulent as well. The lobbying firm, Bonner and Associates, says the letters were sent by a temporary employee, who has since been fired. The House of Representatives passed the so-called cap-and-trade bill in June, and the legislation is now before the U.S. Senate. As part of a continuing effort by many energy companies to defeat the legislation, the American Petroleum Association helped sponsor the first of roughly 20 rallies against the climate bill. At the Houston rally — attended by several thousand people, most of them oil company employees bused in for the occasion —speakers attacked the bill as an energy tax that would have devastating effects on the economy.19 Aug 2009:
Major Solar Project
Announced for Mojave Desert
First Solar, a maker of thin-film solar cells, has signed an agreement with Southern California Edison to sell the utility 550 megawatts of electricity produced by two massive photovoltaic solar farms in the Mojave Desert. The plants, expected to go online by 2015 and produce enough electricity to power 170,000 homes, would be built on federal land set aside for such solar projects. Analysts say that the First Solar deal is a sign that large arrays of solar photovoltaic panels can produce electricity competitively with so-called solar-thermal plants, which generate electricity by using mirrors to focus sunlight on liquid-filled boilers to produce steam. Southern California Edison said that Nevada-based First Solar’s solar farms also will produce electricity at a price competitive with natural gas. “This is the very largest photovoltaic project we have done, demonstrating that at a utility scale, the time has come for such projects,” said a Southern California Edison executive.
18 Aug 2009:
Borneo Dam Developer
Illegally Burning Forest, Group Says
The developer of a massive dam project in Borneo is illegally burning thousands of acres of felled rainforest, contributing to a smoky haze blanketing parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, according to a conservation group. The Sarawak Conservation Action Network reports that the developers of the controversial Bakun Hydroelectric Power Dam project are in the process of felling 200,000 acres of rainforest, a significant portion of which is being set afire. The fires, carried out by the developer’s contractors and sub-contractors, are in direct violation of Malaysia’s laws against open burning, according to Mongabay.com. Local and international conservation groups have unsuccessfully sought to block the Bakun Dam for more than a decade, arguing that the project — which will have a reservoir the size of Singapore — will displace forest communities and destroy biologically rich rainforest. The dam will be used to generate electricity for mining projects and for Singapore and Malaysia. Extensive bush and forest fires in Indonesia and Malaysia have created a dense haze covering large portions of Southeast Asia.
17 Aug 2009:
Chinese Air Pollution
Contributing to Drought, Study Says
Severe air pollution in China’s heavily industrialized east is impeding the formation of rain clouds and contributing to a drought in northern China, according to a new study. The study, which looked at rainfall and pollution patterns for the past 50 years, concluded that pollution has reduced the number of days of light rain in eastern China by 23 percent. Atmospheric scientist Yun Qian of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said that the large number of aerosols in China’s polluted skies has led to the formation of rain droplets that are up to 50 percent smaller than rain droplets in clean skies. The smaller droplets do not as readily form rain clouds, which means that lighter rainfalls valuable to agriculture — ranging from a drizzle to accumulations of .4 inch per day — are occurring less frequently, according to the study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. Qian said his research “suggests that reducing air pollution might help ease the drought in north China.” Meanwhile, a new U.N. study says major improvements in irrigation efficiency are needed to avoid large-scale food shortages that would effect 1.5 billion people in China, India, and Pakistan.17 Aug 2009:
Large Plumes of Methane
Discovered Off Spitsbergen in Arctic
British and German scientists have discovered 250 plumes of methane gas rising from the thawing seabed off the Spitsbergen archipelago in the Norwegian Arctic, apparently a result of the warming of the West Spitsbergen current. The researchers measured the plumes rising from the seabed at a depth of 150 to 400 meters (500 to 1,300 feet). The methane — a potent greenhouse gas — is being released by frozen methane hydrates on the sea floor, which are thawing as a result of a 1 degree C (1.8 F) warming of the West Spitsbergen current in the last 30 years, the scientists said. Most of the methane is absorbed by the ocean before it reaches the surface, but the gas increases the acidity of the ocean, which inhibits the ability of marine creatures to grow shells. Scientists fear that as the world’s oceans warm, huge amounts of methane will be released. The Spitsbergen researchers said they were surprised by the large number of methane plumes. “Our survey was designed to work out how much methane might be released by future ocean warming,” said one scientist. “We did not expect to discover such strong evidence that this process has already started.”14 Aug 2009:
Salmon Return to Seine,
Disappear from Major Canadian River
For the first time in nearly a century, Atlantic salmon are returning to France’s Seine River to spawn, drawn back because the river has become appreciably cleaner in recent years, officials say. “There has been a turning point,” said Charles Perrier of the National Institute for Agronomic Research. “The improvement in water quality means that salmon have returned to the Seine.” The National Federation for French Fishing estimates that roughly 1,000 Atlantic salmon may be in the river this year. Salmon populations effectively disappeared from the Seine in the early 20th century because of high levels of industrial pollution, as well as the discharge of human sewage into the river. The salmon are returning to the river without the restoration programs used in recent years to reintroduce Atlantic salmon to the Thames and the Rhine. Meanwhile, millions of sockeye salmon — a Pacific species — have failed to return to Canada’s Fraser River, which empties into the Pacific Ocean in British Columbia. As many as 10.6 million sockeye were expected to return, but fewer than 1 million have, forcing the closure of the fishery. Scientists say that changing ocean conditions and fish farms at the mouth of the river — which spread sea lice to the wild salmon — could be responsible for the decline.14 Aug 2009:
Four Democratic Senators
Call For Postponing Cap-and-Trade Bill
Four Democratic U.S. senators are calling on their leadership to pass legislation setting renewable energy targets but to postpone the key element of a major climate and energy bill, which would put a cap and a price on carbon dioxide emissions. The move by the senators — Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan, both of North Dakota — could pose a major challenge for cap-and-trade legislation that was passed by the House of Representatives in June and is now before the Senate. Referring to the renewable energy and cap-and-trade provisions, Sen. Lincoln told Bloomberg News, “The problem with doing them both together is that it becomes too big of a lift. I see the cap-and-trade being a real problem.” The Democrats control 60 seats in the 100-member Senate, but because of procedural reasons will need 60 to pass the bill. Despite the reluctance of the four Democratic senators, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed to bring the legislation to a vote. Meanwhile, details continue to emerge about how the American Petroleum Institute and other interests plan to hold town hall meetings across the U.S. in late August to rally opposition to the cap-and-trade bill.
13 Aug 2009:
Non-food Biofuel Sources
Pose Risks as Runaway Weeds, Panel Says
A federal advisory panel has warned that some grasses and weed-like plants now being considered as
Arundo donax
13 Aug 2009:
Hurricane Activity High
In Medieval Warm Period, Study Shows
The Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean experienced a large number of hurricanes from 900 to 1200 AD, a period when air and sea temperatures were high, according to a new study. After examining sediment deposits in coastal lagoons at seven sites in the U.S. and one in Puerto Rico, meteorologist Michael Mann of Penn State University and colleagues determined that up to 15 hurricanes a year struck the western Atlantic about 1,000 years ago — roughly equal to the number recorded in the past 15 years. But Mann said that the current spate of hurricanes is due primarily to higher ocean temperatures in the Atlantic and Caribbean, while the greater incidence of hurricanes a millennium ago was attributable both to warmer Atlantic temperatures and anomalous conditions in the Pacific that weakened the jet stream and allowed more hurricanes to form in the Atlantic. Mann said his study indicated rising ocean temperatures will likely lead to more frequent and intense hurricanes. Meanwhile, a study by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that one reason more hurricanes have been reported in recent decades is because storm detection techniques have improved markedly.
Interview: Obama’s Science Adviser
Urges U.S. Leadership on Climate
Six weeks after he was elected, President Obama nominated John Holdren to be chief science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Many scientists hailed the timing of the nomination — George W. Bush waited almost a year before naming Holdren’s predecessor — and the choice of Holdren, too, was seen as encouraging: He was trained in plasma physics, is a 
John HoldrenRead the full interview.
12 Aug 2009:
Obama Administration Okays
Major Mountaintop Removal Coal Project
After vowing to crack down on the controversial practice of leveling the tops of Appalachian mountains to get at the coal seams below, the Obama administration has quietly approved a major mountaintop removal project in West Virginia. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the issuance of a Clean Water Act permit for CONSOL Energy’s Peg Fork Surface Mine, an 817-acre project that would permanently bury nearly three miles of Appalachian streams in mining debris. The Peg Fork mine was one of six mountaintop removal projects that Obama’s EPA initially said it opposed because “they all would result in significant adverse impacts to high-value streams.” Environmental groups criticized the administration for failing to carry through on its pledge to crack down on mountaintop removal, with a Sierra Club official expressing disappointment that the EPA failed to “adopt new regulations or policies that would end this destructive practice.” Mountaintop removal mines in Appalachia have destroyed more than 1,500 square miles of forests and buried more than 800 miles of streams in debris.12 Aug 2009:
General Motors’ ‘Volt’ Car
Will Get up to 230 Miles Per Gallon, GM Says
The electric Chevrolet Volt will achieve a fuel rating of 230 miles per gallon in city driving and will get more than 100 miles per gallon in combined city-highway driving, according to General Motors. GM 
Chevrolet
The Chevy Volt11 Aug 2009:
Satellite Data Confirm
Rapid Depletion of Indian Groundwater
A pair of satellites that measures changes in the earth’s gravity has shown that the intense irrigation of a 1,200-mile swath of northern India is depleting groundwater at a rate of 1.5 to 4 inches per year. The satellites, part of a joint U.S.-German mission known as GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), show that the region — inhabited by 600 million people heavily dependent on irrigated agriculture — is withdrawing 13 cubic miles of water per year from underground aquifers. Reporting in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, U.S. and Indian scientists analyzed satellite data from 2002 to 2008 and concluded that Indian farmers are pumping out groundwater 70 percent faster than estimated by the Central Ground Water Board of India in the 1990s. The GRACE satellites, orbiting in tandem and flying roughly 135 miles apart, use sophisticated instruments to detect changes in the earth’s gravitational pull, mainly due to water moving on or under the surface. The satellites, which have been used to measure the rapid thinning of ice sheets in the Arctic, “can help regional water managers by giving them a holistic view” of major aquifers, according to James Famiglietti, a University of California hydrologist who worked in the Indian project.
11 Aug 2009:
Global CO2 Emissions
Rose by Nearly 2 Percent in 2008
Despite a global recession, carbon dioxide emissions rose by 1.94 percent in 2008 to 31.5 billion tons, the 10th straight year of significant increases, according to the German renewable energy institute, IWR. The institute calculated the increase using official government figures, noting that CO2 emissions have risen by 40 percent since 1990 — the year against which emissions reductions were to be measured for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol limiting greenhouse gases. “Kyoto is not working out,” said IWR Managing Director Norbert Allnoch, who called on countries with high CO2 emissions to agree to proportionately high investments in renewable energy. Meanwhile, Yvo de Boer, the head of the U.N.’s Climate Change Secretariat, said that “time is running out” to lay the groundwork for a successful meeting in Copenhagen this December to draft a successor treaty to Kyoto. Speaking to delegates in Bonn who have gathered to forge a draft text for the Copenhagen summit, de Boer said the Bonn conclave has an “enormous amount of work to do” to pare down a draft text that has burgeoned from 50 to 200 pages.10 Aug 2009:
Hundreds of New Species
Discovered in Eastern Himalayan Region
More than 350 new species — including the world’s smallest deer, a flying frog, and an ultramarine blue flower that changes color in response to temperature — have been discovered in the past decade in the eastern Himalayas, according to the conservation group WWF. But in a report entitled “The Eastern Himalayas: Where Worlds Collide,” WWF said that many of the species are threatened by human development and by rising temperatures that are rapidly melting the region’s glaciers and endangering water supplies. The conservation group said that among the new species discovered between 1998 and 2008 are 244 plants, 16 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, two birds, two mammals, and at least 60 new invertebrates. The eastern Himalayas — which include eastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, northern Myanmar, and parts of Tibet — are one of the most biologically diverse regions on earth, yet rapidly expanding human populations have left only 25 percent of the area’s original habitat intact, WWF said. Tariq Aziz, head of WWF’s Living Himalayas Initiative, also said that the region’s biodiversity risks being “lost forever unless the impacts of climate change are reversed.”
10 Aug 2009:
Wind Power in Texas
Begins to Reduce Electricity Costs
The rapid growth of wind power in Texas is already reducing consumption of natural gas and lowering the cost of electricity generation in the state, according to a Wall Street research group. Bernstein Research reports that the rising output of wind turbines in Texas — the world’s sixth-largest producer of wind power — has eliminated the need to fire up natural gas-powered generators to meet the last bit of demand during periods of low energy usage. Powering up natural gas generators is expensive, and Bernstein reports that the spreading use of wind turbines “can have a material impact on the price of power.” The report predicted that the “growth of wind power in (Texas) over the next three years will markedly lower the consumption of gas and coal by conventional generators.” The state is anticipating a glut in natural gas production, and the rise in wind power generation is expected to further depress prices for natural gas and reduce consumer costs per kilowatt hour, Bernstein Research reported.Satellite Image: Carajas Mine in Brazil
Gouged out of the Amazon, the Carajas mine — one of the world’s largest deposits of iron ore — stretches across more than six miles of rainforest in northeastern Brazil. Discovered in 1967, Carajas is an open pit mine where minerals are removed from the surface one layer at a time, as shown in this photograph taken by NASA’s EO-1 satellite in late July. In 2007, 296 million metric tons of iron ore were dug out of the mine, which is estimated to contain a total of 18 billion tons of iron ore, gold, manganese, copper, and nickel. The mine is one of scores of mining, hydropower, agricultural, and road projects that are increasingly denuding the world’s largest rainforest.
31 Jul 2009:
Arctic Tundra Undergoing
Major Changes As it Warms, Studies Show
Several recent studies show that the rapid warming of Arctic tundra is leading to a host of sweeping changes, including more extensive fires, the growth of larger vegetation, more absorption of solar energy, melting permafrost, and substantially larger releases of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases. Taken together, the studies demonstrate that rising temperatures set in motion a vicious circle of more warming and higher releases of greenhouse gases. In Alaska, scientists studying a 2007 fire that burned nearly 400 square miles of the Brooks Range found that the burned tundra lost 40 to 120 grams of carbon per square meter, while pristine tundra absorbed 30 to 70 grams. Burned tundra also absorbed 71 percent more solar radiation than normal and caused permafrost to melt to a depth of several inches. A study in the Canadian Arctic has shown that tundra vegetation is becoming weedier, larger, and darker, significantly increasing the amount of absorbed sunlight and further boosting temperatures. The study also showed the warming tundra giving off unexpectedly high levels of methane and nitrous oxide. And in Scandinavia researchers found that by warming Arctic peatlands by nearly 2 degrees F over eight years, the tundra released an extra 60 percent CO2 in spring and 52 percent in summer, according to a study in the journal, Nature.30 Jul 2009:
Energy Efficiency Gains in U.S.
Could Cut Sharply Energy Use, Study Says
A crash program to improve the energy efficiency of American homes, offices, and factories could slash energy consumption by 23 percent by 2020 and produce $1.2 trillion in savings, according to a report by the McKinsey consulting firm. McKinsey said that taking steps such as better insulating buildings, replacing old appliances, and sealing ducts is the fastest and best way to cut the country’s energy consumption. The firm recommended an investment of $520 billion in energy efficiency programs over the next 10 years, an amount that dwarfs the $10 billion to $15 billion included in the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package. McKinsey executives acknowledged that carrying out such an efficiency program on a large scale faces numerous challenges, including the reluctance of homeowners and businesses to invest sizeable sums of money and a lack of tax breaks and other financial incentives for efficiency improvements. Still, the McKinsey report said that better education of homeowners and businesses, tighter building codes, stricter efficiency requirements for appliances, and the creation of greater incentives could go a long way toward cutting the U.S.’s wasteful energy use.
29 Jul 2009:
China and U.S. Sign Pledge
To Cooperate on Climate and Energy
China and the U.S. have signed an agreement to combat climate change and to work together to help each other make the transition to a low-carbon economy. Although neither country committed to concrete CO2 emissions reduction targets or to the amount of technical aid the U.S. might give to China, the agreement nevertheless represents a commitment on the part of the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters to work to wean themselves from fossil fuels. The agreement, signed at the U.S. State Department and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in attendance, stipulated that the two nations will cooperate on research and development of energy conservation and efficiency, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage technology, sustainable transportation, modernization of the electric grid, and combating climate change and promoting low-carbon economic growth. The gap between the two countries on emissions reductions remains strong, however, as evidenced by the comments of a top climate official in Beijing. Xie Zhenhua, who coordinates climate policy in China, said that “the key to success” at upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen is “large, quantifiable mid-term emission-cutting targets for the developed nations.”29 Jul 2009: Wave of Extinctions in Oceana
Habitat destruction, overfishing, and the spread of invasive species now threaten a large number of species in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands with extinction, and governments must act quickly to create far more extensive parks and reserves on land and sea, according to a new study. An international team of 14 scientists combed through 24,000 scientific publications to put together a sobering picture of biodiversity loss across much of the southern Pacific Ocean. Published in the journal Conservation Biology, the report said that more than 1,200 bird species have become extinct on southern Pacific islands in recent centuries, that 50 percent of Australia’s forest ecosystems have been modified or destroyed by agriculture and that nearly three-quarters of remaining forests have been degraded by logging, that habitat destruction accounts for 80 percent of all threatened species in Oceana, and that invasive species have caused 75 percent of all terrestrial vertebrate extinctions on the region’s islands. Among other measures, the scientists recommended setting aside 10 percent of terrestrial regions and 50 percent of marine areas as parks or reserves, as well as restoration of degraded ecosystems such as wetlands.28 Jul 2009:
Sichuan Earthquake Destroyed
One-Quarter of Panda Habitat in Key Area
The 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, which killed 69,000 people and left 4.3 million homeless, also devastated more than 23 percent of a key swath of territory inhabited by endangered giant pandas, according to a study by Chinese scientists. The study, published in the journal Frontiers of Ecology, said 
27 Jul 2009:
Chilean Salmon Industry
Using Massive Amounts of Antibiotics
The Chilean government has reported that the country’s salmon farmers use roughly 350 times more antibiotics to control disease in fish pens than the Norwegian salmon farming industry. Chile’s Economy Ministry said that the country’s salmon operations used 718,000 pounds of antibiotics in 2008 and 850,000 pounds in 2007 — 350 to 600 times more than the roughly 2,000 pounds used in all of Norway’s salmon farms in 2008. Norway remains the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon and has developed vaccines to better control disease outbreaks in fish cages, where thousands of Atlantic salmon swim in tightly packed conditions. The Chilean salmon industry, the world’s second largest, has been plagued by outbreaks of infectious diseases that have killed tens of thousands of farmed salmon. Chile is the largest supplier of farmed salmon to the U.S., but concerns about environmental conditions at Chile’s fish farms have caused Wal-Mart and Safeway to recently reduce purchases of Chilean salmon.27 Jul 2009:
Biofuel Startup Announces
Huge Yields from Engineered Organism
A Massachusetts company, Joule Biotechnologies, has unveiled what it says is a technological breakthrough that uses genetically engineered organisms, sunlight, water, and concentrated carbon dioxide to produce up to 20,000 gallons of biofuel per acre. The much-watched startup claims that its secret organisms, coupled with photo bioreactors, not only directly produce an ethanol-like fuel but also secrete the fuel continuously. As a result, Joule officials say, its so-called “helioculture process” can produce up to 20,000 gallons of biofuel per acre — four to 10 times greater than algae-based biofuel experiments — and can do so at $50 per gallon, which is far cheaper than other algal biofuel processes. Independent observers said that while Joule’s technology looks promising, it still faces many hurdles as it attempts to take its breakthrough from the lab and mass-produce fuel. Joule says it will open a pilot plant in the Southwest early next year and commercially produce biofuels by the end of 2010. Joule’s project is one of several well-financed efforts to genetically engineer organisms to produce biofuels.
Interview: Sen. Kerry’s Blueprint
For Passing Climate Legislation
John Kerry of Massachusetts, the party’s 2004 presidential nominee, is at the heart of efforts to shepherd a climate bill through the U.S. Senate. And after watching previous versions of climate 
John KerryClick here to read the full interview.
24 Jul 2009: Melting Ice Off Baffin Island
A rare cloudless day in the Arctic summertime allowed a NASA satellite to capture this image of melting sea ice off the coast of Canada’s Baffin Island. Coastal eddies create the swirling patterns as ice, which clings to the shore during the winter, begins to melt and retreat in the summer sunshine. While this summertime melt, captured by NASA’s Terra satellite on July 11, is typical for the season, satellite imagery shows that the extent of Arctic sea ice has declined sharply in recent decades, with this year's Arctic sea ice extent expected to be the second-lowest ever recorded.
24 Jul 2009:
New Study Indicates That
Warming May Decrease Low-level Clouds
Contrary to the supposition of many climate modelers, a new study suggests that rising temperatures over the world’s oceans may actually decrease the formation of low-level clouds, which in turn amplifies warming. In a study that examined more than 50 years of data, U.S. researchers found that as temperatures rose over a large section of the eastern Pacific Ocean, the incidence of low-altitude clouds decreased. Conversely, the researchers — reporting in the journal Science — discovered that during periods of cooling the amount of low-level clouds actually increased. Most climate models have projected that rising temperatures would mean the formation of more clouds, which would help cool the earth as more sunlight is reflected back into space. But the recent study — led by a scientist from the University of Miami — suggested that as ocean temperatures rose and atmospheric pressure fell, the opposite occurs. The study examined reports of cloud cover from mariners who were in the area between Hawaii and Mexico from 1952 to 2006. It also examined satellite records from 1984 to 2005, and both sets of data showed the correlation of higher temperatures and decreased formation of low-altitude clouds. Independent climate scientists said that the results could cause modelers to increase projections of expected warming this century.23 Jul 2009:
Reintroduction of Wolves
Would Boost Ecology of Scottish Highlands
The reintroduction of grey wolves in the Scottish Highlands would create a beneficial “landscape of fear” that would prevent red deer from severely overgrazing the region, according to a new study. U.S. and Australian researchers studied the beneficial ecological effects of the reintroduction of grey wolves in 
23 Jul 2009:
Spread of ‘Feed-in Tariffs’
Will Expand U.S. Renewable Energy Use
A popular consumer program that has helped catalyze Germany’s solar-power boom is beginning to spread throughout the United States. The policy, known as feed-in tariffs, offers homeowners and other small-scale producers of renewable energy favorable long-term contracts — often above market rates — when they sell electricity to the central power grid. The New York Times reports that Washington state, Vermont, and cities such as Sacramento, Calif. and Gainesville, Fla. have all adopted feed-in tariff programs. The program approved by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.4 million people, will offer homeowners with solar panels or windmills contracts of up to 20 years to sell electricity to the grid. The utility said that some homeowners have already inquired about installing additional solar or wind capacity on their spare land and generating electricity for the region. Feed-in tariffs have been a boon to solar development in Germany, as they assure homeowners that the initial up-front investment for solar panels or windmills can be recouped over time.22 Jul 2009:
China Offers Solar Subsidy;
Spanish Wind Firm Seeking U.S. Funds
The role of government in stimulating the development of renewable energy was on display this week on two fronts. In China, the Ministry of Finance announced that it will subsidize 50 percent of the investment in new solar projects, including helping pay for expansion of power transmission networks. In remote regions, the ministry said, subsidies could reach up to 70 percent of the cost of solar projects. The government also is mandating that operators of the electricity grid buy the entire surplus electricity output from solar power projects. In the U.S., Spain’s Iberdrola company — the largest wind energy firm in the world — announced that it will be seeking $500 million of the $3 billion that has been earmarked in the financial stimulus bill this year for certain clean energy projects. Iberdrola officials said they plan to use the government subsidies to boost its wind power production in the U.S. nearly four times in the near future, from 850 megawatts to more than 3,000 megawatts.22 Jul 2009:
From Skins of Onions,
Farmers Develop Promising Biogas
A large onion processor in California is taking 300,000 pounds of onion waste a day — skins, tails, and tops — and converting much of it into a biogas that he uses to power his operation. Steven Gill, a partner in Gills Onions — which dices, slices, and purees onion for wholesale and retail customers — has worked with Southern California Gas Company to create an energy recovery system that produces 600 kilowatts per day, which meets up to 40 percent of the electricity needs of his processing plant. The onion waste is shredded and pressed to squeeze out the juice, which is then diverted to an anaerobic digester. Workers add microbes that convert the juice into methane gas, which helps power Gill’s facility. Gill used to spread the onion waste on fields but soon ran out of room. Southern California Gas provided $2.7 million in incentives for the $9.5 million energy recovery system. Gill estimates that converting the onion waste to biogas will save him $700,000 a year in electricity costs and $400,000 in waste disposal costs, meaning the plant will pay for itself in about six years. Nearby carrot and wine producers are interested in installing similar systems.21 Jul 2009:
Cost of Carbon Capture
Will Drop Sharply in Future, Report Says
The cost of capturing and storing CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants is likely to double the price of electricity in the near-term, but technological advances are expected to significantly reduce the costs of carbon sequestration in the long term, according to a report from Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Existing technologies would allow plants to capture and store underground about 90 percent of C02 emissions at a cost of $100 to $150 per ton of carbon, according to the report. That would add 8 to 12 cents per kilowatt hour to the cost of generating electricity, effectively doubling the current average price of about 9 cents per kilowatt hour. But as the technology matures, the costs will come down. Future generations of CCS — or carbon capture and storage — will cost about $30 to $50 per ton, adding 2 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour. “The range of estimated costs for [future] plants is within the range of plausible future carbon prices,” the researchers concluded, “implying that mature technology would be competitive with conventional fossil fuel plants at prevailing carbon prices.” The report also noted that capturing and storing nearly all of a plant’s CO2 emissions costs little more than capturing only a fraction of emissions.21 Jul 2009:
U.S. Meteorological Group
Is Set to Endorse Geoengineering Research
The American Meteorological Society is preparing to endorse research into geoengineering schemes as part of a three-pronged approach to cope with global warming, according to New Scientist magazine. The group — the umbrella body for U.S. meteorological scientists — would be the first major scientific group to support research into geoengineering, which would attempt to slow or reverse global warming through a variety of engineering projects, ranging from releasing light-reflecting aerosols into the atmosphere to seeding the oceans with iron to promote blooms of CO2-absorbing algae. The other two approaches the group will endorse are emissions reduction, or mitigation, and adaptation to climate change. In a position paper to be released soon, the society will support research into “deliberately manipulating physical, chemical, or biological aspects of the Earth system,” according to New Scientist. Concluding that neither mitigation nor adaptation will fully blunt the impact of climate change, the group states that “it is prudent to consider geoengineering’s potential benefits, to understand its limitations, and to avoid ill-considered deployment.”
20 Jul 2009:
Malaysian Forests Felled
For Massive Rubber Tree Plantations
Malaysia’s remaining rainforests are rapidly being clear-cut and replaced with plantations of cloned trees that yield latex rubber and can also be harvested for timber, according to a report in The Star in Malaysia. The newspaper says that permanent forest reserves — protected areas in which some selective logging is allowed — are being converted to monoculture plantations that grow not only the latex-timber clone but also stands of African mahogany, teak, Acacia, and other species. Up to 80 percent of Malaysia’s remaining intact rainforests are threatened by the plantations, which harbor a fraction of the biodiversity found in pristine rainforests, the newspaper reported. “What we’re seeing today is wholesale clearing of permanent forest reserves and massive conversion to plantations,” said Surin Suksuwan, protected areas conservation manager for WWF-Malaysia. 20 Jul 2009:
Visit by Hillary Clinton
Highlights India-U.S. Split on Climate
A top Indian official bluntly told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that there is “simply no case” for the U.S. and the West to push India to agree to a cap on carbon dioxide emissions, especially considering that India has among the lowest per capita emissions worldwide. Visiting an energy-efficient office building with Clinton, India’s environment and forests minister, Jairam Ramesh, added that, “If this pressure is not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours.” He was referring to an energy and climate bill, recently approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, that would impose import tariffs on goods from countries that do not put a price on carbon emissions. Clinton assured Ramesh that the U.S. “will not do anything that would limit India’s economic progress.” But she argued that, given India’s rapidly growing population and rising standards of living, per capita emissions are not a fair measure of climate impact. To some degree, the public debate is posturing before climate talks later this year in Copenhagen; Ramesh said that while India will not agree to emissions reduction targets, “it is possible for us to narrow our positions.”17 Jul 2009: Blueprint for Viable Biofuels
Biofuels can be produced in large quantities and with a relatively small carbon footprint, but only if they are made from certain sources, according to a report in the journal Science. Authored by scientists from the University of Minnesota, Princeton University, and three other universities, the paper said that biofuels will only be sustainable if they are largely produced from non-food crops. The authors identified five types of biofuels that can be produced in volume and with minimal greenhouse gas emissions: perennial plants grown on degraded lands or abandoned agricultural lands, crop residues, sustainably harvested wood and forest residues, mixed cropping systems, and municipal and industrial waste. The paper said that these sources could yield 500 million tons of biomass per year, which would meet a significant amount of the U.S. demand for transportation fuels.17 Jul 2009:
U.S. Agency Releases
Spy Satellite Images of Arctic Ice
The U.S. government has released 1,200 photographs of Arctic sea ice taken by spy satellites, a trove of images that scientists say will better help them understand the dynamics of the melting northern ice cap. The U.S. Geological Survey released the images just hours after the National Academy of Sciences 
USGS
Satellite image of East Siberian Sea
16 Jul 2009:
Home Solar Arrays
Expand Rapidly in California
The number of California homes with solar panels has grown from 500 a decade ago to 50,000 today, helping California produce 500 megawatts of solar-powered electricity — equivalent to a major coal-fired power plant — during peak solar periods in early afternoon. The lobbying group Environment California reported that the state’s solar market has more than doubled in the past three years, making the state by far the largest solar power generator in the United States. New Jersey is second, with a peak 
16 Jul 2009:
Wal-Mart Labels
Will Rate Sustainability of Products
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is planning to place labels on products that will rate them for sustainability, including their carbon footprint, the quantity of water used in their production, and the air pollution left in their wake. Wal-Mart said it will soon ask its 100,000 global suppliers 15 questions about the environmental practices of their companies, including whether the firms have publicly set greenhouse gas reduction targets. Wal-Mart will then use that information, along with independent verification of a supplier’s claims, to give products in its stores an overall sustainability score, including a numerical index that rates goods on their climate impact, pesticide use, and overall environmental damage. Environmental groups praised Wal-Mart’s plan, saying it would force the company’s suppliers to produce their products in less environmentally harmful ways. Wal-Mart has taken several major steps to make its massive operation more environmentally friendly, including significantly reducing packaging, cutting energy use in its stores, and selling only concentrated laundry detergent that uses 50 percent less water in its manufacture.15 Jul 2009:
UK Eyes Low Carbon Economy
Through Investment in Clean Energy
In a sweeping effort to shift the UK economy away from fossil fuels, the nation’s energy secretary has unveiled a national plan that he says would cut CO2 emissions by 34 percent by 2020 and generate 40 percent of the nation’s electricity through low-carbon sources. The comprehensive proposal includes a major investment in renewable sources of energy, increased emphasis on green transportation, and incentives for British citizens who generate energy in their own homes, including wind turbines and solar panels. On a larger scale, officials want to build 4,000 new land-based wind turbines and another 3,000 offshore. “What we are trying to do is to set out not simply targets for 2020 — which have been set — but a route map to get there,” Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC. A 2008 analysis concluded that efforts to meet green targets could bump energy bills by almost £230 — or about $377 — each year. While Miliband conceded that switching to a greener economy will be more expensive for consumers, the prices of carbon-based fuels like coal and gas will also likely rise because of surging demand in China and India.15 Jul 2009:
Ancient Warming of Earth
Not Entirely Explained by Rise in CO2
Scientists have long wondered what caused a dramatic warming of the planet 55 million years ago, when temperatures rose 5 degrees C to 9 degrees C (9 F to 16 F) in 10,000 years. A new study by U.S. researchers says, however, that only about 40 percent of the sharp rise in temperatures can be explained by increasing CO2 levels, meaning that our current understanding of how earth will react to humankind’s massive release of carbon dioxide is incomplete, the researchers say. Studying deep-sea sediments and other evidence of climate change, the researchers calculated that increases in CO2 during the Paleo-Eocene Thermal Maximum should have at most caused global temperature rises of 3.5 degrees C, or 6.3 F. Yet temperatures rose within 10,000 years by as much as 9 degrees C, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Geoscience. One possibility is large releases of other greenhouse gases, such as methane, while another is that the high temperatures during the period — when no ice existed on earth — set in motion other changes that further warmed the planet. “If this additional warming... was caused as a response to CO2 warming, then there is a chance that a future warming could be more intense than people anticipate,” said one of the study’s authors.14 Jul 2009:
Exxon Makes Investment
In Craig Venter’s Algal Biofuel Startup
Exxon will invest $600 million in a venture by human genome mapper J. Craig Venter that is seeking to mass produce liquid transportation fuel from algae. The “collaborative research project” between the oil giant and Venter’s Synthetic Genomics gives a major boost to the effort to produce algal biofuels, although both companies stressed that it would likely be five to 10 years before small-scale algal biofuel plants are operating. The joint project will dip into Exxon’s deep pockets to try to solve three major challenges: finding the most suitable strain of algae, determining the best way to grow it, and figuring out how to mass produce it economically. Exxon officials said they decided to invest in algal biofuel over other forms of biofuels because its production does not require arable land or fresh water and algae consumes large quantities of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Synthetic Genomics has been using genetic engineering in an effort to produce strains of algae that would automatically secrete a “hydrocarbon-like” liquid.14 Jul 2009:
Euphrates River Dwindles
Due to Dams and Long Drought
The legendary Euphrates River has dwindled to perilously low levels in Iraq because of a severe two-year drought, the construction of dams in Turkey and Syria, and wasteful water management by the Iraqi government and farmers, the New York Times reports. The flow of the 1,730-mile river has been so sharply reduced that lakes and wetlands are drying up; rice, wheat, and barley farmers are unable to irrigate their fields; renowned Mesopotamia date crops are withering; and fishermen are losing their livelihoods. Unless the situation improves, the Euphrates’ flow could soon be only half that of several years ago, the Times reports. Particularly hard-hit are the marshes between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which had been drained by Saddam Hussein but were on their way to being restored several years ago. Once again, however, many sections of marshland are dry. A major reason for the Euphrates’ reduced flow is the network of seven dams in Turkey and Syria, which limit the water downstream. Turkey has recently released more water into the Iraqi section of the river.
13 Jul 2009:
Protected Brazilian Timber
Reportedly Being Sold as “Eco-Certified”
The Brazilian government is investigating charges that illegal timber is being cut in protected reserves and laundered as “eco-certified” to markets abroad, including the United States and Europe, according to a report in the newspaper O Globo. A federal prosecutor says wood taken from reserves and indigenous lands in the Brazilian state of Pará was classified as certified timber, a designation that earns a higher price from international buyers interested in purchasing and marketing sustainably harvested wood. The alleged operation involves as many as 3,000 companies, according to the report. Pará, which has emerged as a major timber market in recent years, also has the highest deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon, accounting for 43 percent of total forest loss.13 Jul 2009:
Concern for Crop Safety
Leads to Damaging Farming Practices
Concerned about outbreaks of E. coli bacteria, farming groups and food buyers have instituted a series of environmentally damaging agricultural practices in California and could soon be replicating the program nationwide, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The practices — spurred by a 2006 E. coli outbreak in spinach that killed four people and left 35 with acute kidney failure — include poisoning or draining irrigation ponds, creating 450-dirt buffers around fields, and killing amphibians and wildlife in and around cropland. The new practices are being implemented by the large growers and major corporate buyers of greens that are washed, bagged, and distributed nationwide. So far the new practices are mainly being carried out in California, but the prepackaged greens industry has submitted a proposal to have similar rules apply at farms nationwide. Critics contend the new agricultural practices not only cause environmental harm, but do little to improve food safety. “Sanitizing American agriculture, aside from being impossible, is foolhardy,” said author Michael Pollan who has written extensively on the food industry.10 Jul 2009:
New Bus Systems Reduce
Traffic, Pollution in Developing Cities
Large, low-emission buses being introduced in developing cities from Mexico City to Ahmedabad, India are reducing congestion on crowded roadways and cutting pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, all at a much lower cost than constructing subways. In Bogota, Colombia, city leaders took control of two to four center lanes of major boulevards for the TransMilenio rapid transit system. Small walls isolate the “tracks” of the bus lines from other traffic, and passengers are able to board the long, segmented buses from the center platforms of modern stations. Since 2001, the TransMilenio bus system has allowed the city to remove 7,000 small private buses from roadways and has slashed fuel use by more than 59 percent, according to a New York Times report. As a result, TransMilenio last year became the only large transportation system allowed by the United Nations to generate and sell carbon credits. Climate researchers say that emissions reductions related to transportation will become increasingly urgent in coming decades, particularly in the developing world. Projects similar to Bogota’s TransMilenio are planned in Cape Town, Mexico City, and Jakarta, Indonesia.10 Jul 2009:
Floating Nuclear Plant
To Be Built By Russians in Far East
A Russian company has announced that it will build the world’s first floating nuclear plant, opening up the possibility that the Russians could use such reactors to power operations to extract oil and minerals in remote regions of the Arctic. Russia’s United Industrial Corporation said its floating reactor will go into operation in 2012 off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East and will be used to help power Vilyuchinsk, a small city that serves as an atomic submarine base. The 472-foot plant will be built in the shape of a ship, will accommodate two 35-megawatt reactors, and will cost $316 million to construct, United Industrial said. Nuclear power experts said that such floating reactors could be used to supply power to extractive industries in the Arctic as sea ice melts and Russia moves in to exploit oil, natural gas, and minerals. But putting reactors at sea, particularly in such an environmentally sensitive area as the Arctic, raises concerns about safety in extreme weather, disposal of radioactive waste produced by the reactors, and vulnerability to terrorism.
09 Jul 2009:
Poaching for Horns Driving
Extinction of Rhinos, Report Says
A surge in the illegal trade of rhino horns in Asia and Africa is pushing the already endangered animal closer to extinction, according to a new report. Increased poaching by Asian-based gangs has produced a 15-year high in rhino deaths, particularly in South Africa and Zimbabwe, according to the report by WWF-International and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The poachers are feeding a demand in Asia for horns to be used in folk remedies, including the horns’ alleged — and disproven — boost in male potency. “Rhinos are in a desperate situation,” said Susan Lieberman of WWF. While only about 3 rhinos in Africa were killed illegally each month from 2000 to 2005, about 12 of the continent’s estimated 18,000 rhinos are now killed monthly. Meanwhile, 10 rhinos have been killed for their horns in India since January. Another seven have been killed this year in Nepal. The total rhino population in those two nations is about 2,400. Lieberman said it was time for governments "to crack down on organized criminal elements responsible for this trade" and to increase funding for enforcement efforts.09 Jul 2009:
Obama Says Climate Deal
Still Possible Despite Setback at G8 Meeting
President Obama says a deal to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions is still possible, despite the failure of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations to agree on a plan to halve CO2 emissions by 2050. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama told Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that “there was still time in which they could close the gap on that disagreement” before a key climate summit in Copenhagen in December. On Wednesday, China and India objected to setting a goal of cutting global emissions by 50 percent by mid-century, saying the industrialized Western nations first needed to agree to steeper interim emissions cuts and to generously fund efforts to help poorer nations develop alternative sources of energy. The G8 did embrace a goal of limiting future temperature increases to 3.6 degrees F, but U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said the action was “not enough,” adding that making steep CO2 reductions was “politically and morally imperative and (an) historic responsibility... for the future of humanity.”
Interview: NOAA’s New Chief on
Restoring Science to Climate Policy
Last December, when President-elect Obama named Jane Lubchenco to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the reaction among climate scientists was an almost audible sigh of relief. 
Jane LubchencoClick here to read the full interview.
08 Jul 2009: Rapid Thinning of Arctic Ice
The amount of thick, long-lived sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean has declined dramatically in the last six years, with ice thinning by an average of 2.2 feet from 2003 to 2008, according to a study by scientists from NASA and two universities. In 2003, 62 percent of the Arctic’s total ice volume was stored in the yards-thick ice that forms over decades, while 28 percent of ice volume was thinner ice that melts from summer to summer. But by 2008, those percentages had been reversed, with only 32 percent of Arctic ice composed of thicker, multi-year floes while 68 percent was thin, first-year ice. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, used satellites to measure how high the ice rose above sea level — a gauge of the ice’s thickness. The rapid loss of Arctic sea ice volume and extent is due to rapidly rising air temperatures and changing circulation patterns in the Arctic Ocean, scientists said. The thinning of sea ice is significant because the first-year ice melts in summer, exposing the dark ocean beneath, which then absorbs more heat from the sun, further intensifying Arctic warming. The loss of sea ice is having a detrimental effect on polar bears, which use the ice as a feeding platform.08 Jul 2009:
Billionaire Pickens Shelves
Massive Wind Farm Project in Texas
Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has shelved his plan to build the world’s biggest wind farm in Texas, citing a tight credit market, low natural gas prices, and inadequate transmission lines. The ambitious 
T. Boone Pickens
08 Jul 2009:
Researchers Discover New Monkey
In Isolated Amazon Region of Brazil
Researchers have discovered a new species of monkey in the isolated upper Amazon of northwestern Brazil. The creature is nine inches tall, has a 12-inch tail, and weighs less than three-quarters of a pound. It also has distinctive gray and light green mottling on its back that looks like a saddle. The monkey, whose discovery was announced by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, was first seen by scientists during a 2007 expedition in the state of Amazonas. Researchers have named the creature saguinus fuscicollis mura, or Mura’s saddleback tamarin, after the Mura Indians who live in the Purus and Madeira river basins where the monkey was found. Conservationists are concerned that development — including a new highway through the Amazon, a proposed gas pipeline, and two hydroelectric dams — poses a threat to the rainforest habitat where the Mura’s saddleback tamarin lives. “This discovery should serve as a wake-up call that there is still so much to learn from the world’s wild places, yet humans continue to threaten these areas with destruction,” said Fabio Röhe of the Wildlife Conservation Society, lead author of a paper announcing the discovery of the species. The paper was published in the International Journal of Primatology.
07 Jul 2009:
Cap-and-Trade Bill
To Face Tough Fight in U.S. Senate
The U.S. Senate has begun hearings on legislation to place a ceiling and a price on carbon emissions, and Democratic leaders say they are as many as 15 votes short of the number to ensure passage. The Washington Post reports that to pass the 1,400-page bill, Senate Democratic leaders may be forced to make so many concessions to industry that the legislation could lose the support of environmental groups, most of which have endorsed the bill. The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved the legislation last month after softening emissions targets and agreeing to initially give away — rather than auction — the permits that large-scale emitters must obtain to release greenhouse gases. The Post said that to ensure passage in the Senate, the leadership may be forced to add controversial provisions, such as allowing more drilling off the U.S. coasts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hopes various committees will complete work on the bill by Sept. 18 and that the legislation will come up for a vote by late fall.
07 Jul 2009:
Climate Treaty Should Target
World’s Wealthiest Citizens, Study Says
The best way to ensure that industrialized and developing nations fairly share the burden of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is to set national targets based on the number of wealthy people in each country, a new study suggests. Reporting in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Princeton University said that the level of CO2 that each country is permitted to emit under a new climate treaty should be based on the number of affluent people in that nation. Most of those 1 billion, well-to-do “high emitters” live in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and other developed countries, but an increasing number of affluent people with a large carbon footprint will live in China, India, Russia, Brazil, and other developing nations. A climate treaty that focuses on levels of affluence in each country will help bridge a major negotiating divide between rich and poor countries, the study said. Developing countries, such as China, have refused to accept emissions limits and argue that high-emitting industrialized nations should bear the burden of reducing greenhouse gases. But wealthy nations say China and other developing countries should accept emissions limits as their standards of living rise.06 Jul 2009:
Incandescent Light Bulbs
Live on in New, More Efficient Form
Spurred by U.S. government regulations requiring improved lighting efficiency by 2012, researchers around the country are successfully turning the old, energy-burning incandescent bulb into a more efficient source of light. The New York Times reports that one company has already succeeding in producing incandescent bulbs that are 30 percent more efficient than older bulbs, which produce far more heat than light. The new generation of incandescent bulbs still does not match the efficiency of compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use 75 percent less energy than old-style bulbs. But researchers say incandescent bulbs might one day become as energy-efficient as compact fluorescent bulbs by using new filaments and reflective coatings that bounce heat back onto the filament and convert that heat into light. The new incandescent bulbs are expensive, but researchers say that as efficiency improves and prices decline, the bulbs will be embraced by people who prefer the quality of incandescent light to fluorescent light.06 Jul 2009:
Chinese to Break Ground
On Massive Wind Power Installation
China will break ground this month on a gigantic, $17 billion wind power farm in the northwestern part of the country that will produce 5 gigawatts of power by next year and 20 gigawatts by 2020, according to the official Xinhua news service. The installation in Gansu Province is known as the “Three Gorges of Wind Power” after the gigantic Three Gorges hydroelectric dam on the Yangtze River. As the Wall Street Journal notes, the Gansu wind power installation is scheduled by 2020 to produce five times the power of T. Boone Pickens’ proposed wind power project on the U.S. Great Plains. The Chinese are building wind farms at about one-third the cost of European and U.S. rivals because the price of manufacturing the turbines and installing them is so much cheaper in China. In addition to its huge installation in Gansu — which is expected to produce power for more than 10 million Chinese households by 2020 — the Chinese also are planning a half-dozen similarly large projects, many on the windy western plains. China is planning to boost its wind power capacity to eight times the current level by 2020.
02 Jul 2009: Turkey Resumes Dam Project
The Turkish government will revive a $1.6 billion dam project on the Tigris River despite concerns that it will displace tens of thousands of people, damage wildlife habitat, and destroy historic archaeological sites. Preparations for the Ilisu hydroelectric dam were suspended for six months after financial institutions in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria announced that they were withholding financial support because of environmental concerns. But Veysel Eroglu, Turkey’s environmental minister, said the financing would be made available for what the government considers an important part of a $32 billion plan to boost the economy in the nation’s southeastern corner, a region disrupted by armed conflict between the government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. Eroglu said improvements have been made to assure the project will meet international standards. Turkish officials say the dam, part of a larger proposed network of dams called the Southeastern Anatolia Project, would generate 1,200 MW of electricity after it is completed in 2013. But environmental advocates warn that the project would inundate as many as 80 towns, villages, and hamlets, and displace up to 80,000 people.02 Jul 2009: Environmental Toll of Plastics
The amount of plastic that will be produced this decade will nearly equal the total produced in the 20th century, and the substance is increasingly taking a toll on human health and the environment, a new study says. Reporting in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, more than 60