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What Part of
Severe precipitation in U.S. significantly increased over past half-century, says report |
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05 Dec 2007 |
News |
| "Go Away" Don't You Understand? Severe precipitation in U.S. significantly increased over past half-century, says report Posted at 5:50 PM on 05 Dec 2007 The number of severe rainfalls and snowstorms across the U.S. has increased by around 24 percent in the last 50 years, says a new report from green group Environment America. In five states -- Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont -- instances of heavy precipitation have jumped by more than 50 per ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, news, scientific research, severe weather (all these topics) |
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In Efficiency
U.S. could slash emissions at little cost through boosted efficiency, says report |
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30 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 10:16 AM on 30 Nov 2007 The U.S. could significantly slash its greenhouse-gas emissions "at manageable costs to the economy," says a new study from consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Assuming no significant change in consumer lifestyle, researchers did an in-depth cost-benefit analysis of various options for reducing GHG emissions. Their conclusions: "clean coal" is ... |
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| Topics: energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, news, scientific research, United States (all these topics) |
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The Destitution Will Not Be Televised ... But There Is This Report
World's poor to be shafted most by climate change, U.N. report says |
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27 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 6:59 AM on 27 Nov 2007 It's official: The world's poorest people will be the most screwed over by climate change and its ill effects, including drought, agricultural failures, water shortages, disease, flooding, and all the rest, according to a new report from the United Nations Development Program. "For millions of people, these are events that ... |
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| Topics: climate, news, scientific research, United Nations (all these topics) |
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POGO Shtick
Scientists urge investment in deeper understanding of the deep |
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26 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 4:08 PM on 26 Nov 2007 Things we know about the world's oceans: They're big. They're watery. They're in bad shape. And that's about it. To that end, the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans is urging the 72-nation Group on Earth Observations, which meets this week, to invest $2 billion to $3 billion over the next decade in a comprehensive marine monitoring system. Scientists say that such a system c ... |
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| Topics: news, oceans, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Dream of hydrogen car goes down in flames
Full-cell company bought by Daimler and Ford |
Joseph Romm |
21 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Ballard -- the Canadian fuel-cell company that once hoped to be the 'Intel Inside of the hydrogen car revolution -- has sold off its automotive fuel-cell business to Daimler and Ford. You can listen to a good CBC radio story on it, which includes an interview of me (click on 'Listen to the Current,' Part 2). You can read Toronto Star columnist Tyler Hamilton on the story here. A Financial Post post piece headlines the story bluntly: 'Hydrogen highway hits dead end: B ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, energy, hydrogen, scientific research, tech (all these topics) |
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OPEC joins Bush, Gingrich, and Lomborg in climate technology strategy
Research vs. cap-and-trade |
Joseph Romm |
20 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Yes, OPEC is now 'pledging $750 million for research into climate change technology' (while opposing a cap-and-trade system). [Note to President Bush, Newt Gingrich, and Bjørn Lomborg -- it ain't a good sign when your climate strategy is the same as OPEC's.] OPEC, however, seems a tad confused on just what a technology-based strategy could do for oil: OPEC is worried that a new international accord could cramp fast-growing Middle East economies, where oil use ... |
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| Topics: climate change mitigation, scientific research, international politics, carbon trading, politics, energy, climate (all these topics) |
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The Bali's in Your Court
Latest IPCC climate report comes out strong, lays groundwork for Bali talks |
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19 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 8:11 AM on 19 Nov 2007 "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal," warned the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its hardest-hitting report yet, released on Saturday. Delegates from more than 140 countries came to agreement on the document, which summarizes three previous reports and warns of the grave dangers posed by climate change. The ne ... |
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| Topics: Bali 07, climate, news, scientific research, United Nations (all these topics) |
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No Forest for the Weary
Gulf State forests ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, says study |
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16 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 12:04 PM on 16 Nov 2007 The impact of Hurricane Katrina on the people of the Gulf States is well known (if occasionally ignored), but the storm also brutalized the region's forests. A new study published in Science reports that Katrina destroyed some 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana, leading to a laundry list of problems. Federal funding for replanting has been slow in coming, and many pri ... |
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| Topics: deforestation, Louisiana, Mississippi, news, scientific research, severe weather (all these topics) |
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Original Syn
IPCC Synthesis Report coming out Saturday |
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16 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 8:57 AM on 16 Nov 2007 Policymakers of the world, get ready. Tomorrow, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases its Synthesis Report that will attempt to summarize the world's climate-y plight in a language governments can understand. Saturday's report will be the official abbreviated version of the 2,500 pages of scientific reports the IPCC churned out earlier this year. The summary aims to walk the fine line betwee ... |
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| Topics: climate, news, scientific research, United Nations (all these topics) |
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Priorities
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David Roberts |
12 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Here's a nice little graph showing U.S. R&D spending in various types of energy compared to spending in Iraq for 2007 (click on the image for background): This is what we, collectively, deem important. |
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| Topics: scientific research, Iraq, energy (all these topics) |
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Not-so-smooth sailing
New study finds that pollution from ships kills 60,000 a year |
Kit Stolz |
09 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| It's surprising how much pollution ships emit: over 2,000 tons of diesel soot a year in southern California, for example, about 10 percent of the total in the region. Worse, a new study by researchers at the University of Delaware and Rochester Institute of Technology finds that the burning of cheap, dirty, sulfurous "residual oil" on ships kills an estimated 60,000 people around the world. "Premature mortality" is the phrase used in the study. A ... |
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| Topics: scientific research, health, air pollution (all these topics) |
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The Sands of Grime
Waterways downstream from oil sands are full o' toxins, says study |
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09 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 1:46 PM on 09 Nov 2007 Fish, water, and sediment downstream from the gigantic oil sands projects in Alberta are chock-full of carcinogens and other toxins, says a new study. While the research does not make a direct link between the oil sands, the toxins, and presumed health consequences, the largely Native residents of downstream community Fort Chipewyan have long suspected that they experience high ... |
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| Topics: Alberta, energy, environmental justice, health, news, oil, oil sands, scientific research, toxics (all these topics) |
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Toxics 'R' Us
Everyday folk found to be contaminated with toxic chemicals |
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09 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 9:16 AM on 09 Nov 2007 Volunteers across the U.S. were found to have toxic bisphenol-A, PBDEs, and phthalates in their blood and urine, says a small study sponsored by a coalition of environmental health groups. The "Is It in Us?" study analyzed 35 people from seven states; while the sample size was too small to be representative of the larger population, the results were quite similar to those of a hu ... |
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| Topics: Centers on Disease Control and Prevention, green living, health, news, scientific research, toxics (all these topics) |
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Scientists and rats agree
Organic food is better for you |
Tom Philpott |
30 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| For years, studies showed no nutritional difference between organic and conventionally grown food. That's because scientists were looking at macronutrients -- vitamins A, B, C, and so on.But they've since learned that macronutrients are only part of the nutrition story. It turns out that there are all sorts of compounds like antioxidants and phytonutrients -- known collectively as micronutrients -- that fight cancer, impede aging, and maintain heart health.And if organi ... |
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| Topics: food, health, organic food, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Nuke Rebuke
Research panel discourages presidential plan for U.S. nuclear-waste reprocessing |
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30 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 2:17 PM on 30 Oct 2007 A 17-member panel of researchers from the National Academy of Sciences released a report yesterday discouraging President Bush from continuing on his quest to resume U.S. nuclear waste reprocessing. The researchers said the president's proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership plan has not been adequately peer reviewed and relies on unproven technology. Instead, the pan ... |
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| Topics: energy, George Bush, National Academy of Sciences, news, nuclear power, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Suffer the Little Children
Pediatricians warn climate-change health effects worse for kids |
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30 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 7:28 AM on 30 Oct 2007 Just in time for Halloween, there's yet another danger to children for frazzled parents to fret about. For those of you keeping track at home, dangers include strangers, tainted candy, strangers with tainted candy, razorblades, pedophiles, smut, the dark, and now ... the health effects of climate change, at least according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The academy ... |
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| Topics: climate change impacts, news, parenting, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Dropping (Fatty) Acid
Organic food healthier than non-organic, research finds |
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29 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 5:16 PM on 29 Oct 2007 Who woulda thunk: Organic food is healthier than pesticide-ridden food, according to preliminary results of a four-year study funded by the European Union. Researchers found that organic nosh contained more antioxidants (yum!) and less fatty acids (ew!) than non-organic. Organic milk was found to have up to 80 percent more antioxidants than conventional cow juice, as well as higher amo ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, green living, health, news, organic food, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Going Ape Short
Nearly one-third of world's primates at risk of extinction, report says |
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29 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 5:57 AM on 29 Oct 2007 About 29 percent of the world's 394 primate species are at risk of extinction, according to a report by the World Conservation Union. Threats to primates include hunting for primate meat and bones, the trade in wildlife body parts, and habitat destruction mostly from logging and clearing land for agriculture. The report focused on the 25 most-endangered species, of which 11 a ... |
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| Topics: endangered species, news, scientific research, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Reports of the World's Health Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
U.N. report says world environment doing quite poorly |
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26 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 6:22 AM on 26 Oct 2007 Just in case you thought the world's environment might be doing well, the United Nations Environment Program released a comprehensive 550-page, 5-year report this week declaring that things are officially not OK, environment-wise. The UNEP's Global Environmental Outlook attempted to strike that rare balance between cataloguing the world's substantia ... |
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| Topics: news, scientific research, United Nations (all these topics) |
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Those Who Repeat the Past Are Doomed to Know It
Study of fossil record predicts climate change could fuel mass extinction |
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24 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 7:42 AM on 24 Oct 2007 Photo: iStockphoto Climate change may fuel a mass extinction in which half of all plant and animal species could -- how to put this delicately? -- exit stage left, according to a new study. If the past 520 million years of fossil records are any predictor of the future, a globally warmed world will not bode well for biodiversity, researchers ... |
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| Topics: biodiversity, climate change impacts, news, scientific research (all these topics) |
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It Hasn't Sunk In Just Yet
Atmospheric CO2 rises more than expected since 2000 |
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23 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 7:11 AM on 23 Oct 2007 The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing more than expected due to less-efficient use of fossil fuels, and carbon sinks that are absorbing less carbon, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Overall, "atmospheric carbon dioxide growth has increased 35 percent faster than expected since 2000," said th ... |
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| Topics: climate change impacts, news, oceans, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Leaded Gasoline Is a Crime -- No, Literally
Phasing out leaded gasoline may have reduced crime rates, says research |
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22 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 4:39 PM on 22 Oct 2007 Thank the Clean Air Act for significantly reducing violent crime rates in the U.S., says researcher Jessica Wolpaw Reyes. The legislation was behind the phaseout of leaded gasoline in the 1970s and '80s, which significantly reduced blood levels of the heavy metal in Americans. The arc of lead-exposure rates seems to match the arc of violent crime i ... |
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| Topics: health, news, scientific research, toxics (all these topics) |
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Are scientists losing the global warming debate?
Delayers are replacing deniers |
Andrew Dessler |
19 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| There's been some hand wringing about the fact that science does not have the traction it should in the political debate over climate change. This is the genesis of the framing argument, most recently pushed by Chris Mooney and Matt Nisbet. Basically, this thesis says that scientists need to put their scientific results into a 'frame' that allows the general public to better understand how to interpret their results. I've never particularly liked 'framing, ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change skepticism, climate science, scientific research (all these topics) |
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A good month for science
Nobel Prize award and Clinton highlight importance of climate science |
Joseph Romm |
16 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. It has been a good month so far for climate science, and a bad month for climate cynics. It has been an especially bad month for those on the Irrational Right who, for whatever reason, cannot stand the thought that Al Gore has emerged so gloriously from the grave in which they thought they had buried him forever. 'So now 'Algore' will join ... |
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| Topics: scientific research (all these topics) |
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Debunking Shellenberger & Nordhaus: Part V (and final)
Time to end the phony and historically inaccurate debate |
Joseph Romm |
13 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This will, hopefully, be the last post devoted to debunking Shellenberger & Nordhaus. As noted, S&N spend far more time attacking the environmental community and Al Gore (and even Rachel Carson!) than they do proposing a viable solution. Worse, they don't even attack the real environmental community -- they create a strawman that is mostly a right-wing stereotype of environmentalists. Now it turns out they support the exact same thing the environmental co ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, scientific research (all these topics) |
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