Graph of the Day: The World in Carbon Dioxide Emissions

By Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk Monday 31 January 2011 10.40 GMT  The deepest recession since the 1930s has failed to reverse rising global carbon emissions, as plummeting industrial output in the west was offset by the continuing rapid expansion of China and a handful of other emerging economies, new statistics for 2009 show. While […]

Saying the unsayable: ‘Kiss goodbye’ to the 2°C target for global warming

By Roger Harrabin19 January 2011 It is virtually impossible for the world to keep within the CO2 limits defined as safe for the climate, according to the chief economist of the International Energy Agency think tank. Dr Fatih Birol told an audience in London that key nations were not prepared to take the steps necessary […]

Earth’s greatest mass extinction caused by coal: study

By Leanne YohemasJanuary 24, 2011 About 250 million years about 95 per cent of life was wiped out in the sea and 70 per cent on land. Researchers at the University of Calgary believe they have discovered evidence to support massive volcanic eruptions burnt significant volumes of coal, producing ash clouds that had broad impact […]

Climate change: Driving straight into catastrophe

By Julio GodoyJan 24, 2011 PARIS (IPS) – Despite repeated warnings by environmental and climate experts that reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is fundamental to forestalling global warming, disaster appears imminent. According to the latest statistics, unprecedented climate change has Earth hurtling down a path of catastrophic proportions. The Paris-based International […]

Forest accords not saving trees: report

NEW YORK, 24 Jan 2011 (AFP) – International accords on saving vulnerable forests are having little impact because they do not attack the core causes such as growing demand for biofuels and food crops, a new report said. With Africa and South American alone losing 7.4 million hectares (18.3 million acres) of forest a year, […]

Republicans meet with polluters to plan legislative attack on Environmental Protection Agency

By DARREN GOODE & ROBIN BRAVENDER1/20/11 4:32 AM EST Top staff members for key House and Senate Republicans met in a closed-door session Tuesday with energy industry interests to work on strategy to handcuff the Obama administration’s climate change agenda. With the backing of GOP caucus leaders, aides for House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred […]

Ocean acidity: Small change, catastrophic results

By ANDREW SHARPLESSTuesday, 01.18.11 Sometimes, seemingly small numbers can have remarkably big consequences. Miss a single free throw, and your team loses the championship. The economy slows by few percent, and millions of Americans are out of work. Your temperature rises by a degree or two, and you are down and out with a fever. […]

Climate change to continue to year 3000 in best-case scenarios

New paper in Nature Geoscience examines inertia of carbon dioxide emissions Contact: Jennifer Myers, myers@ucalgary.ca, University of Calgary 9-Jan-2011 New research indicates the impact of rising CO2 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere will cause unstoppable effects to the climate for at least the next 1000 years, causing researchers to estimate a collapse of the West […]

Subarctic wildfires a ‘runaway climate change’ risk

By Marlowe Hood – Sun Dec 5, 1:57 pm ET PARIS (AFP) – Global warming is driving forest fires in northern latitudes to burn more frequently and fiercely, contributing to the threat of runaway climate change, according to a study released Sunday. Increased intensity of fires in Alaska’s vast interior over the last decade has […]

Jellyfish are taking over the oceans: Population surge as rising acidity of world’s seas kills predators

By David Derbyshire3 December 2010 Britain’s beaches could soon be inundated with records numbers of jellyfish, marine experts warned today. Scientists say the number of jellyfish are on the rise thanks to the increasing acidity of the world’s oceans. The warning comes in a new report into ocean acidification – an often overlooked side effect […]

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