Unfazed by environmental challenges, coal industry mounts PR assault, claims social benefits of carbon outweigh costs by at least 50 times

By Ken Silverstein27 January 2014 (Christian Science Monitor) – Instead of pushing into the future, the embattled US coal industry has reached into the past with a new public relations assault, emphasizing how its product powered the Industrial Revolution and can do the same for today’s emerging nations. The pitch: The economic and social benefits […]

The Economist: European climate policy is worse than useless

25 January 2014 (The Economist) – Since climate change was identified as a serious threat to the planet, Europe has been in the vanguard of the effort to mitigate it. The policies it has adopted are designed with two aims in mind: to cut European emissions drastically and to push other big emitters into adopting […]

Climate scientist Ralph Keeling in crowdfunding plea to back key research as government funding for global warming research dries up

[University of California at San Diego, home of the Scripps program, is accepting donations here.] By John H. Cushman Jr.2 January 2014 (InsideClimate News) – Ralph Keeling, the director of an acclaimed Scripps program that keeps track of the amounts of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere, has renewed his plea for public support […]

2013 was hottest year on record in Australia – PM Tony Abbott urged to rethink climate policy

3 January 2014 (ABC) – Australia has just sweltered through its hottest year on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Average temperatures were 1.20 degrees Celsius above the long-term average of 21.8C, breaking the previous record set in 2005 by 0.17C, the bureau said in its Annual Climate Statement. All states and territories recorded […]

Video: Solution to cloud riddle reveals hotter future – ‘Rises in global average temperatures of this magnitude will have profound impacts on the world’

Contact: Deborah Smith, 0478 492 060, deborah.smith@unsw.edu.au; Alvin Stone, 0418 617 366, alvin.stone@unsw.edu.au 1 January 2014 (UNSW) – Global average temperatures will rise at least 4°C by 2100 and potentially more than 8°C by 2200 if carbon dioxide emissions are not reduced, according to new research published in Nature that shows our climate is more […]

Canada dead last in ranking for environmental protection –‘Canada has been the only country that’s fallen’

By PAUL WALDIE 18 November 2013 LONDON (The Globe and Mail) – Canada has fallen behind in a global ranking on international development initiatives and ranks last when it comes to environmental protection. The Washington-based Center for Global Development assesses 27 wealthy nations annually on their commitment to seven areas that impact the world’s poor. […]

Acid test: The world’s seas are becoming more acidic. How much that matters is not yet clear. But it might matter a lot.

23 November 2013 (The Economist) – Humans, being a terrestrial species, are pleased to call their home “Earth”. A more honest name might be “Sea”, as more than seven-tenths of the planet’s surface is covered with salt water. Moreover, this water houses algae, bacteria (known as cyanobacteria) and plants that generate about half the oxygen […]

Arctic Ocean leaking methane at alarming rate –‘What we’re observing right now is much faster than what we anticipated and much faster than what was modeled’

By WESTON MORROW29 November 2013   FAIRBANKS, Alaska (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner) – Ounce for ounce, methane has an effect on global warming more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and it’s leaking from the Arctic Ocean at an alarming rate, according to new research by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Their article, […]

Bloomberg: Five bad arguments from the coal industry

[Desdemona strongly supports the War on Coal: Earth’s greatest mass extinction caused by coal: study] By the Editors11 November 2013 (Bloomberg) – The logic is pretty straightforward. Carbon dioxide emissions are threatening the planet. In the U.S., coal plants are the second-largest source of those emissions, after transportation. Therefore, the Environmental Protection Agency should impose […]

Global boom in coal plants: Nearly 1,200 coal-burning plants are on the drawing boards

By John H. Cushman Jr.22 November 2013 (InsideClimate News) – The smoldering debate over whether coal has a future in a low-carbon world has flared up with new intensity in Warsaw, the site of this month’s annual United Nations negotiations toward a global climate treaty. With world coal use growing at a staggering pace, top […]

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