Climate Climate & Energy
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Apollo 18
To meet energy demands without escalating the problem of global warming, humankind must embark on a research effort as grand in scale as the Apollo project to put a man on the moon, say scientists in a study published today in the journal Science. The 18 researchers — coming from government, universities, and even such […]
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Sulfuring Succotash
Refiners should have no problem producing nearly sulfur-free diesel by 2006, according to a report released yesterday by an advisory panel to the U.S. EPA. The panel was convened last year by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman to assess possible technological barriers to complying with a clean diesel rule issued in the final weeks of the […]
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Delhi Pickle
India, the nation that is hosting the eighth in a series of U.N. meetings on climate change, is using the occasion to chastise industrialized nations for pressuring poor countries to cut greenhouse emissions. Speaking at the meeting in Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee argued that emissions-reduction programs would undermine efforts by India and other […]
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Yukon Take Your SUV and Shove It
Despite increasing awareness of alternative-fuel technologies and growing concern over U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the fuel economy of American cars is only getting worse. Statistics released today by the U.S. EPA show that the average fuel economy of the new fleet of cars for 2003 is 6 percent lower than it was 15 years […]
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Hot Pea Soup
Fog and rain are as much a part of London as bobbies and Buckingham Palace — but global warming will change all that over the next half-century, according to a newly released report on the anticipated impacts of climate change on the U.K. capital. The London of the future will likely be sunnier, but don’t […]
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The Personal Is Political
Never mind corporate responsibility, or government responsibility; let’s talk about personal responsibility. That’s the gist of Canada’s new plan for fighting global warming. The proposal, which is being released today, entails convincing every last Canuck to reduce her or his own contribution to greenhouse gas emissions by one metric ton annually (or about 20 percent). […]
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Give a Hoot
Today is the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act — and although the United States has made some strides in improving water quality, it has still got a long way to go. A whopping 81 percent of major wastewater treatment plants and chemical and industrial facilities in the U.S. contaminated waterways beyond what their […]
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Oh My Cod!
Cape Wind Associates has been given the green light on a project to build a data-collection tower that could lead to the largest renewable-energy plant in the United States — 170 windmills off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. The collection tower, opposed by locals for its possible harm to tourism and the environment, will […]
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What in the Sand Hill?
High on the list of Very Remote Places on Earth are the Great Sand Hills, a 730-square-mile stretch of sage brush and dunes in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. There is one road in the region, and precious little traffic on it. The main residents are mule deer, coyotes, burrowing owls, and the endangered Ferruginous hawk. But […]
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Running Knows
Climate change is caused by human activities — and maybe by more of them than previously thought. That was the conclusion of a report released today by NASA, which found that land-use changes such as farming, irrigation, and urban sprawl contribute as much if not more to climate change than does the burning of fossil […]
