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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Pistil Whipped
Plants don't absorb as much CO2 as expected, study finds |
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13 Apr 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Pistil Whipped Plants don't absorb as much CO2 as expected, study finds Those who tout tree-planting as the answer to all the earth's problems may have to go back to the drawing board (the planting board?): A new study in Nature finds that carbon dioxide-absorbing plants can't hoover up quite as much of the greenhouse gas as had been hoped, at least not without some artificial juicing of the plants' nitrogen intake. Sorry, dreamers ... |
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| Topics: climate, news, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Breaking the Cycle
On climate-change patterns |
Umbra Fisk |
12 Apr 2006 |
Ask Umbra |
| While I am in no doubt about the effect of human activity on climate change, I have a friend who is convinced that even if we weren't destroying the earth, the earth's own weather patterns would be in global-warming stage anyway. How do we know the current climate change isn't just an inevitable part of millennia-long weather patterns? Will changing our behavior mean anything if we are all going to burn to a crisp anyway? Ad ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, climate, climate science (all these topics) |
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Governor, May I Take One Baby Step?
Schwarzenegger calls for slow and steady climate action |
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12 Apr 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Governor, May I Take One Baby Step? Schwarzenegger calls for slow and steady climate action In line with his recent climate-action plan to reduce the state's greenhouse-gas emissions 25 percent by 2020, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) called yesterday for power plants, refineries, and factories to begin ... reporting their emissions. Ah, well: baby steps. In a speech, Schwarzenegger ad ... |
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| Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, climate, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Loy to the World
Europe should push U.S. to more fully fund the Global Environment Facility |
Frank E. Loy |
11 Apr 2006 |
Soapbox |
| Recently, in Moscow, at the meeting of G8 Finance Ministers, the Europeans gave us a repeat performance of an all-too-familiar pattern: they appeased George Bush at the expense of the global environment. Show us the money. Photo: iStockphoto. At last year's Gleneagles summit of the G8 industrialized nations, the G8 leaders, led by the Europeans, invested considerable political ... |
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| Topics: climate, globalization (all these topics) |
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A Swiftly Heating Planet
Spacecraft heads to Venus to get clues about global warming |
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11 Apr 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| A Swiftly Heating Planet Spacecraft heads to Venus to get clues about global warming Venus coulda been a contenda. It's just a little closer to the sun than Earth, just a little smaller, and once had plentiful water. But instead of evolving life in a tropical paradise, the oceans started heating up and evaporating, trapping the planet in an unending cycle of warming that's resulted in a burning hellscape of sulfuric acid and carbon dioxide. T ... |
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| Topics: climate, news (all these topics) |
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If At First You Don't Succeed, Quit
Canada won't make Kyoto emissions targets; blames targets |
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11 Apr 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| If At First You Don't Succeed, Quit Canada won't make Kyoto emissions targets; blames targets Canada is nearly 30 percent above its greenhouse-gas emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol, so it's redoubling efforts to ... abandon the targets. New Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, of the less-than-ambitious Conservative Party that took power in February, concludes "it is impossible, impossible for Canada to reach its Kyoto ta ... |
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| Topics: Canada, climate, news (all these topics) |
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Lyin' Tamer
On global warming |
Umbra Fisk |
10 Apr 2006 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, The many articles on global warming conclude with something about the inherent complexity and uncertainty of the issue. So exactly what is the evidence for (and against) arguing that the current warming trend is inside the scope of normal fluctuations? What is the evidence for (and against) arguing that the trend is caused by human activities, and is not just part of a "natural cycle"? Is it true that the U.S. is just ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, climate, climate science (all these topics) |
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Field of Nightmares
A conversation with climate journalist Elizabeth Kolbert |
David Roberts |
10 Apr 2006 |
Main Dish |
| Elizabeth Kolbert. Over the past year, a perfect storm of scientific studies, dire weather events, and media coverage lifted global warming onto the mainstream national agenda. No writing had more impact than a series of closely observed pieces in The New Yorker by journalist Elizabeth Kolbert, which have now been collected and expanded into a book: Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Natur ... |
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| Topics: climate, green living (all these topics) |
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Cap of Good Hope
Biggest energy companies in U.S. call for caps on carbon emissions |
Amanda Griscom Little |
06 Apr 2006 |
Muckraker |
| Tuesday saw a tectonic shift in the climate-change debate during an all-day Senate conference on global-warming policy. A group of high-powered energy and utility executives for the first time issued this directive to Washington: Bring on the carbon caps! The Energy and Natural Resources Committee heard statements from leaders representing eight big energy companies, inc ... |
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| Topics: business, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, Muckraker, politics (all these topics) |
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Talk This Way
On talking to friends about climate change |
Umbra Fisk |
05 Apr 2006 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I need a good stick-it-to-ya comeback to friends who, while they acknowledge global warming and hear me rattle off all that is bad about it, are liking the direct effects, which right now are sunnier and warmer days. What can I do or say to get them to snap back into reality, especially when some of these folks are addicted to tanning and the sun? Kate Semmens Perkiomenville, Pa. Dearest Kate, What a ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, climate, green living (all these topics) |
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Waddle They Do Now?
Global warming also affects -- noooooooo! -- penguins |
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05 Apr 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Waddle They Do Now? Global warming also affects -- noooooooo! -- penguins Need a new weapon in your arsenal against global-warming skeptics? Try baby penguin fuzzy-wuzziness. According to a new study, penguins and other Antarctic seabirds are nesting and laying eggs later than they did half a century ago, and scientists blame ... the usual culprit. In eastern Antarctica, overall sea ice has declined, while local coolin ... |
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| Topics: Antarctica, climate, news, wildlife (all these topics) |
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We've Got Poll, and We're Super Bad
Polls find Americans worried about energy and climate problems |
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04 Apr 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| We've Got Poll, and We're Super Bad Polls find Americans worried about energy and climate problems To paraphrase Benjamin Disraeli, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and poll results. So take the following factoids from three recent polls with a big block o' salt. An Environmental Defense survey found that 71 percent of Americans think global warming is real and 53 percent think it' ... |
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| Topics: climate, Environmental Defense Fund, news, United States (all these topics) |
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Cap in Hand
California bill would mandate serious greenhouse-gas emissions caps |
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03 Apr 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Cap in Hand California bill would mandate serious greenhouse-gas emissions caps California will jump (farther) into the lead on state-level action to combat global warming if a soon-to-be-introduced bill requiring stiff emissions caps becomes law. The measure would mandate greenhouse-gas pollution cuts to 1990 levels by 2020; that's 25 percent lower than they would otherwise be by that time, according to the bill's sponsors. Shoc ... |
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| Topics: California, climate, news (all these topics) |
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Comic Re-Leaf
On plants and global warming |
Umbra Fisk |
03 Apr 2006 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, My simple understanding of global warming is that we are introducing long-buried carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is shifting the balance, leading to a host of undesirable issues. CO2 is consumed by plants, so here's my thought: Could we grow crops that consume a lot of CO2 (I'm thinking bamboo here, which grows really quickly) and then bury them, effectively taking the CO2 they've consumed out of the atmosp ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, carbon sequestration, climate, deforestation (all these topics) |
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Rebranding "global warming"
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Chris Schults |
01 Apr 2006 |
Gristmill |
| As reported in the most recent Daily Grist, a New York-based marketing firm announced that it will help with the rebranding of global warming. As we're all armchair marketers from time-to-time, how would you rebrand 'global warming'? Share your thoughts in comments and we'll send them to the experts. |
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| Topics: climate, messaging (all these topics) |
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Meet the New Boss, Slightly Less Irascible Than the Old Boss
New Exxon chair mouths same old wheeze in a breezier style |
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30 Mar 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Meet the New Boss, Slightly Less Irascible Than the Old Boss New Exxon chair mouths same old wheeze in a breezier style Watch for new ExxonMobil Chair Rex Tillerson to lighten up the company's communication style, but don't expect any substantial changes in how the world's largest publicly traded petro-corp responds to global warming. "We recognize that climate change is a serious is ... |
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| Topics: climate, commercial and industry organizations, energy, news, oil (all these topics) |
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Labor Rattling
Britain will likely miss target for slashing greenhouse-gas emissions |
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29 Mar 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Labor Rattling Britain will likely miss target for slashing greenhouse-gas emissions For years, Tony Blair and his Labor Party have waved the climate-change flag, proclaiming danger and pledging to reduce Britain's greenhouse-gas emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2010. All very inspiring, except for the whole not-actually-doing-it thing. Yesterday, after an 18-month climate-change policy review, Environment Secretary ... |
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| Topics: climate, news, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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Peak oil, coal, and bizarre optimism
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David Roberts |
28 Mar 2006 |
Gristmill |
| So last week Salon ran a big story on peak oil by Katharine Mieszkowski. It was decent, though focused a bit too much on the loony fringes. I guess the temptation to do that is irresistible when trying to make a long story about the Hubbert Curve and Venezuelan oil reserves compelling. In response, John Quiggen (at the usually excellent Crooked Timber group blog) wrote a response I can only characterize as bizarre. But the comments under the post don't treat it a ... |
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| Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, climate change mitigation, coal, energy, oil (all these topics) |
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Oh Say, Can You, Seattle?
Seattle commission unveils recommendations for meeting Kyoto goals |
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27 Mar 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Oh Say, Can You, Seattle? Seattle commission unveils recommendations for meeting Kyoto goals Ex-VP Al Gore and environmental journalist Elizabeth Kolbert were in Seattle last week (both gave PowerPoint presentations, the chic new environmental look for '06) for a series of events Mayor Greg Nickels jokingly dubbed "climatepalooza." Capping the 'palooza was the unveiling of recommendations from the 18-member co ... |
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| Topics: climate, news, Seattle, Washington (all these topics) |
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Tiiiiiime Is on Our Side, Yes It Is
Time cover story propels global warming into the mainstream |
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27 Mar 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Tiiiiiime Is on Our Side, Yes It Is Time cover story propels global warming into the mainstream "Be worried. Be very worried." So warns the latest issue of Time magazine, which focuses on every Johnny-come-lately's favorite topic: global warming. The cover story -- the contents of which will be old news for devotees of scrappy nonprofit environmental magazines that need and deserve your ongoing financi ... |
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| Topics: climate, green living, news, United States (all these topics) |
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Oceans Delve
On measuring ocean temperatures |
Umbra Fisk |
27 Mar 2006 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I've been hearing about rising ocean temperatures more and more. My question is, what are the criteria for measuring the temperature of the ocean? Wouldn't probe location, probe depth, water depth, prevailing current, time of day, and ambient temperature all potentially affect the result? Have the criteria remained constant for the recorded history? Douglas Seattle, Wash. Dearest Douglas, I became riveted with t ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, climate, oceans (all these topics) |
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TIME cover story on global warming
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David Roberts |
26 Mar 2006 |
Gristmill |
| The cover story of this week's TIME magazine is on global warming. The title: 'Be Worried. Be Very Worried.' I agree with Chris that this is a huge deal, and further evidence that the issue of global warming is nearing a tipping point in public consciousness. The Battle of the Skeptics is over. They lost. Now talk will turn in earnest to what we can do about it. Unfortunately, I can't read the whole story because I'm not a TIME subscriber. (Any intrepid Gristmill read ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change skepticism (all these topics) |
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This Is Your Train on Drugs
Environmental Defense and Ad Council debut edgy new climate ads |
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24 Mar 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| This Is Your Train on Drugs Environmental Defense and Ad Council debut edgy new climate ads You know what would really inspire us to turn off our thermostats, sell our cars, and fight global warming with all that we've got? Seeing a little girl almost get hit by a train. Or so seems to be the thinking of Environmental Defense and the Ad Council, as they kick off a new campaign with two public-servic ... |
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| Topics: climate, Environmental Defense Fund, green living, news (all these topics) |
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Who Let the Catastrophe Out of the Bag?
Earth warming, ice melting, seas rising, umpteenth study says |
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24 Mar 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Who Let the Catastrophe Out of the Bag? Earth warming, ice melting, seas rising, umpteenth study says Cutting greenhouse-gas emissions could -- maaaaybe -- stave off a catastrophic rise in sea levels that in coming centuries could return the earth to conditions last seen 129,000 years ago. We would never have guessed, but fortunately scientists keep pointing it out -- as in this week's climate-disruption-centric issue ... |
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| Topics: Antarctica, climate, Greenland, news (all these topics) |
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Do You CEO What I CEO?
American firms lag on addressing climate-change risks, study finds |
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22 Mar 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Do You CEO What I CEO? American firms lag on addressing climate-change risks, study finds Looking for a smart 21st-century investment strategy? Consider how 100 of the world's largest companies are preparing to compete in a "carbon-constrained world." A new report from Ceres, a coalition of environmentalists and institutional investors, concludes that European and Asian firms o ... |
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| Topics: climate, commercial and industry organizations, news, United States (all these topics) |
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