Blogging the End of the World™
By Wan Xu and Don Durfee; Editing by Sophie Hares24 May 2012 BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central government plans to spend 170 billion yuan ($27 billion) this year to promote energy conservation, emission reductions and renewable energy, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its website on Thursday. The ministry said China plans […]
24 May 2012 (Watch the Deniers) – Some encouraging news with the Heartland Institute (HI) announcing that are going to discontinue their annual International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC). The ICCC was the big event for denial movement, an important venue to help co-ordinate efforts, generate talking points, and create the impression there is opposition […]
By Robert Johnson18 May 2012 When reaching out to Alberta oil sands companies before a trip to Canada last month, I thought all of them mined oil the same way — they don’t. The open mining most people think of when they picture the oil sands is just one way of extracting crude from the […]
By Nina Chestney and Oleg Vukmanovic; Editing by Keiron Henderson16 May 2012 (Reuters) – The chance of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius this century is getting slimmer and slimmer, the head of the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday. “What I see now with existing investments for plants under construction […]
By Suzanne Goldenberg in Chicago, www.guardian.co.uk22 May 2012 It was an odd choice of icon for the ultra-conservative Heartland Institute. But there he was in round glasses, beard, and halo of curls staring out from T-shirts and coffee mugs at their gathering of climate change contrarians this week, the scientist whose internet sting set Heartland […]
By arevamirpal::laprimavera 23 May 2012 First, young mothers with small children (photo from @mama_jp). The sign says, “Adults should protect the future of children. We’re against disaster debris burning. Protect Kyushu for Japan.” Professor Yukio Hayakawa’s tweet was: “Mothers in Kitakyushu, have they all gone nuts?” On his May 23 blog, he proclaimed, “This day […]
Trends in number of global freeflowing rivers greater than 1,000km in length Trends from pre-1900 to the present day and estimated to 2020 (line), in comparison with the number of rivers dammed over time (bars). WWF, 2006 The rapid development of water management infrastructure – such as dams, dykes, levees, and diversion channels – have […]
By Ralph Atkins21 May 2012 Frankfurt – There has been no official announcement. No terms or conditions have been disclosed. But Greece’s banking system is being propped up by an estimated €100 billion or so of emergency liquidity provided by the country’s central bank — approved secretly by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. If […]
By Bob Berwyn, Summit Voice22 May 2012 SUMMIT COUNTY – Widespread mercury pollution from wind-carried smokestack emissions has widely been recognized as a huge environmental problem, with concentrations of the toxic heavy metal building up in the food chain around the world. The pollutant has been especially prevalent in the Arctic, and now researchers think […]
[But see What makes sea-level rise?] By Damian Carrington, www.guardian.co.uk 20 May 2012 Humanity’s unquenchable thirst for fresh water is driving up sea levels even faster than melting glaciers, according to new research. The massive impact of the global population’s growing need for water on rising sea levels is revealed in a comprehensive assessment of […]