Climate Climate & Energy
All Stories
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Anyone Got an Extra PFD?
Earth nearing warmest point in a million years, may see rougher El Niños The earth is the warmest it has been in the last 12,000 years and is within 1.8 degrees of its highest average temperature in the past million years, scientists report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The global surface […]
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When Teshekpuk Comes to Shove
Sensitive Alaska wetlands spared from drilling plan — for now In good news for conservationists, the Department of Interior has announced willingness to exclude the sensitive Teshekpuk Lake wetlands from a region of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska that it wants to open to oil and natural-gas drilling. The move has little to do with concern […]
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Worth about $20 million per word
Eliciting gasps and goosebumps at a press conference this morning at the Clinton Global Initiative in midtown Manhattan, Richard Branson, CEO of the mega-conglomerate Virgin Group, announced a commitment to invest a staggering $3 billion toward solving climate change, focusing his investments on developing biofuels and other oil alternatives. The transcript of his public vow follows:
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I Say Good Day to You, Sir
Brit scientists tell Exxon to stop the poppycock and folderol In a highly unusual move, Britain’s top scientific body earlier this month sent a letter to ExxonMobil — since leaked to the press — calling on the oil giant to stop lying … er, misrepresenting the science of climate change, and to stop funding other […]
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What the Fuqua?
Emails show that Bush administration micromanaged scientist interviews Emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that the Bush administration micromanaged media requests for interviews with climate scientists after Hurricane Katrina, aiming to downplay the influence of global warming. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration press officers were required to get clearance from the Dept. […]
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Chagrin and Bear It
Melting sea ice makes polar bears starve, drown Travel agents hawking trips to the Arctic have been boasting lately of an increased likelihood that tourists will see polar bears — because starving bears are encroaching on human settlements to scavenge for food. Polar bears have traditionally used ice floes to hunt seals, their favored prey […]
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Wigley Room
Spewing sulfur dioxide into atmosphere could slow warming, says research On earth, sulfur dioxide contributes to acid rain and harms human hearts and lungs — but if injected into the stratosphere, says new research in Science, it could shade the sun’s rays and keep global warming at bay. Hey, if volcanoes can spew it, why […]
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The Ice Has It
More evidence of global warming from study of Arctic winter ice A NASA scientist has wrested free of his muzzle to declare that the drastic melt of Arctic sea ice is likely caused by global warming. New research published in Geophysical Research Letters shows that for the past two winters, Arctic sea-ice growth at its […]
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Put That in Your Pipe and Spill It
BP spills in California, wants to open Alaska pipelines Beleaguered oil giant BP has admitted to yet another misdeed: a leak of 1,000 barrels of refined petro-product from an underground pipeline at the port of Long Beach, Calif. About 870 barrels had been recovered as of yesterday; authorities believe the leak did not taint water […]
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We’ve Got a Helsinki’n Feeling
Asia-Europe Meeting provides lots of talk, little action A club of 38 European and Asian leaders concluded a two-day summit in Helsinki, Finland, yesterday, saying what they always say and failing to make the concrete plans they always fail to make. The leaders agreed to continue to cut greenhouse gases after the Kyoto Protocol expires […]
